What have you bought for the holidays? More than last year? The same? Less? Did you bargain hunt? Negotiate? Wait out the best price? Pass up on what you really wanted to buy?
Monday, December 14th, 2009
What have you bought for the holidays?
- Very good article. I was recently blogging on The Netflix Prize, which deals with the quality of the recommendation. However, conclusions are drawn primarily off of user ratings. People don't seem to bother rating on facebook, I know I don't. I wonder what correlations exist there... Read more >
- This reminds me of a call in Slate Magazine for President Obama to follow the lead of Presidents FDR and Lincoln to choose a 'brain trust'/'team of rivals' for his cabinet. It isn't enough to be the guy in the job, you need also to surround yourself with the right 'right-hand' men and women to provoke thought and engage ...Read more >
- This year I'm going with highly PERSONAL approach and in high SUPPORT of an arisan's life. There is nothing more meaningful than getting a hand- / self-made present, but who has the time for that?! The other way to go is to have your own vision/dream/teaser of a present made a reality by an artist. This year I've only commissioned ...Read more >
Monday, December 7th, 2009
CW
CW – Conventional Wisdom – a term used to describe ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public or by experts in a field. The term implies that the ideas or explanations, though widely held, are unexamined and, hence, may need to be reevaluated upon further examination or as events unfold.
- Maggie did me a great favor!!!! I was going to post it myself -- worth a read -- saw it minutes after I posted this -- THANK YOU MAGGIE
- URL would help: http://nymag.com/arts/all/aughts/62505/
- Great article on Conventional Wisdom in NYMag about published works from the past 10 years that 'disprove' conventional wisdom. Interesting blurring of the lines between un/conventional and questioning of the wisdom involved.
Monday, November 30th, 2009
WHYES
WHY? Yes…WHY?
What I mean is, WHY?
In other words, WHY?
You see, I think we often get caught up in the “sureness” and “rightness” of our arguments but don’t spend enough time explaining the WHY – the benefit, the advantage, the gain, the win.
- Do you think there's a cultural evolution in what works as grounds for persuasion? I recently read from different marketers the argument that interest has lost its appeal/credibility and that marketing needs to rely more on shared values, common goals, a larger picture/story, etc. Isn't that what Obama did, appeal to shared values and common goals instead of particular interests ...
- Asking "why" questions of reality and the way things work is usually good. However, asking people "why" questions about what they do, and the particular ways they do it, can lead to trouble. "Why" questions to people often sound like accusations ("why did you do that"?) and put them on the defensive. So, focus the "why" questions on the reality ...
- In fact, the answer also lies in your last post - the importance of listening. When 'making a point' becomes most important, few have the inclination to go beyond the rational surface to the emotional core. The right answer to 'why?' takes time and energy to arrive at, and isn't that what we can't seem to find any of these ...
