Cyber Ethics

Dan Lohrmann at CSO blog explores why security officers are reluctant to discuss cyber ethics.

His list contains some reasons why many business people are hesitant to bring up any ethical issue. It is far easier to sound an alert on a possible legal violation than to note that there might be an ethical lapse. In the latter case, personal defense mechanisms are quickly triggered and the speaker risks being accused of self-righteousness or zealotry.

Wooing "Helicopter Parents"

To recruit daddy's little girl, some employers in the U.S. are courting daddy.

Companies are reaching out to parents to woo a generation of college students raised by ever-more-involved parents. Merrill Lynch & Co. invited interns' parents to visit company offices. Ernst & Young LLP is packaging company information for parents. Vanguard Group Inc. sends letters to recruits' parents and has advertised on the parents sections of college Web sites. Deloitte & Touche and other big recruiters are weighing similar moves.

Read the rest of the CareerJournal article here. (I think the entire approach is a little strange.)

Quote of the Day

Kodak sells film, but they don't advertise film. They advertise memories.

- Theodore Levitt

Workshop Tips

In the course of conducting a mega-number of seminars over the years, I've picked up some tricks of the trade that may help if you're ever required to make a presentation. Some of them are:

Prepare slavishly. There is no substitute for this. There is no minor audience and no easy gig. Each audience is different, even if they come from the same industry.

Have a simple goal. I can't recall where I got this tip but it is my mantra: You want to provide practical information that is easy to understand and which can be put to immediate use. Beware of information that is simply interesting but not helpful. Be especially wary of information that may only be of interest to you.

Think of the questions that you'd ask if you were a skeptical audience member. Try to weave the answers into the body of the presentation.

Consider surveying the audience at the beginning. Ask them to give you the burning questions that they'd like addressed. Write those on a flip chart. Answer each question in the course of the program.

Keep the presentation as simple as possible. I don't mean talking down to people. I mean keeping the technology under control and having fewer bells and whistles. If the substance and the presentation are strong, in many cases a flip chart and some markers will be all of the equipment you need.

Don't become too smooth. People prefer genuine over smooth.

Remember the funnel and the bridge. Some presentations involve showing how facts lead to a particular conclusion (the funnel) and others show how doing a particular thing (the bridge) will take people to the Promised Land.

Keep it short. It's better if they leave a little hungry for more information.

Give a break every hour and give odd times - nine minutes, eleven minutes - for the breaks. The audience needs to stretch and they'll pay more attention to the return time.

Have passion for your subject. If you aren't interested, why should your audience be interested?

Negative People

Zig Ziglar jokes about the sort of person who brightens a room by leaving it.

You know the type: Always negative. Eager to chip away at the ideas of others. Tending to cloak their cynicism under a cover of sophistication but seldom willing to present their own proposals.

I'm not talking about The Office Curmudgeon, the crusty character who doesn't fall for Management by Best Seller and who cuts through the bull. The Curmudgeon is tough but caring and a large part of his or her gruffness stems from a deep concern for the well-being of others and for the team.

There are many organizations and teams that would suffer greatly if the Curmudgeon walked out the door.

The Negative Person is different. This bitter person's sole interest appears to be raising self-image by tearing down others. Organizations and teams improve when these people walk out the door.

What is baffling is how long it takes some managers to catch on to that fact and then to take appropriate action. I sometimes ask managers to name the negative people in their departments or divisions. They often rattle off a list of names.

The next question is obvious and it does not necessarily reflect the caliber of the manager:

Why are the negative people still here?

Quote of the Day

Tell me, how did you love my picture?

- Samuel Goldwyn

Recipe for Rejuvenation: Fallow Time

For years, I've been advising my coaching clients to set aside at least one hour a week to go off and think.

This usually has to be done during the work day. Arrival at home only permits the second shift to take over and demand time. By Sunday night you feel like you've been nibbled to death by ducks.

I'm now expanding that recommendation: Set aside a sizable block of time - at least three hours - to do absolutely nothing that is work-related. Read a novel, take a long bike ride or hike, watch birds, swim, or write a play. The only rules are that it cannot be related in any way to your job and it cannot be an unenjoyable chore. (For example, some people love gardening and others regard it as a necessary task. Gardening would not qualify if you're in the second group.)

Since most of us won't be able to carve out that much time during the work week, then the weekend will have to do. If you are already doing this, good for you. For most of my coaching clients, however, weekends are simply a disguised version of work. I'm also a sinner in this area.

The goal of this fallow time is to rejuvenate thoughts, energy, and creativity. One observation: Most of us are taking this time now in smaller, unproductive, bits wedged in between the doing of chores. This use of a larger block of designated "goof off" period will produce far greater benefits than chaining ourselves to various tasks and pretending to work.

Mumbai: Maximum City

Spiegel on what’s happening in India’s version of Shanghai:

Bombay, or Mumbai as it is now officially called, well-deserves its nickname, Maximum City. It is as avant-garde, trendy and hungry for superlatives as its Chinese counterpart Shanghai, a comparison that Indian politicians are happy to make. The city is home to India's oldest stock exchange, its most important banks, its wealthiest business moguls, its most beautiful movie stars and its most feared gangsters. Mumbai provides more than one third of all taxes the government collects, as well as hoarding vast amounts of illegal earnings. Forty percent of international flights to India land in this city, which already counts more than 18 million inhabitants today. According to a United Nations estimate, it will be the world's second largest city after Tokyo by 2015 -- and will have more inhabitants than either Australia or all of Scandinavia.

Quote of the Day

Our life is frittered away by detail....Simplify, simplify.

- Henry David Thoreau

Rings, Law Firms, and Job Interviews

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog stirred up a lot of comments with a post on the question:

Should a woman take off her wedding or engagement ring when interviewing for a job with a law firm?