willie jackson

Month: November 2011

  • Keeping the promise

    Yesterday, I paid to have my dry-cleaning delivered (don’t look at me like that; I live in NYC) and noticed that my receipt proudly states “All Work Done On Premises.”

    When said laundry wasn’t delivered within the window specified, I went there to investigate. When I explained what happened, the gentlemen immediately said that it “must be the wash and fold — it’s always late.”

    (This illustrates that all work is actually not done on the premises, of course.)

    Sigh.

    If the promise is that your company conducts business in a particular way, it’s critical that you deliver on the promise. This should be obvious.

    What’s baffling is when companies not only fall short on the promise, but on an even acceptable level of service.

  • A short poem

    That’s what’s being published today through The Domino Project.

    Poetry has always been important to me, as I grew up in a household where Langston Hughes was quoted in the car, and the memorization of short poetic works came as second nature.

    In college, I helped found an Urban Arts Organization (it was essentially a poetry troupe, but we were in college and “urban arts” sounded more sophisticated…) and enjoyed both writing and performing my work.

    Sarah Kay’s book is special because so much care was taken to preserve her art. (It also tickles me to see spoken word at TED, but that’s beside the point.) Her poem is beautiful, timeless, and it’s hard to imagine that Sarah isn’t 45.

    Such poise and grace and talent and class.

    It also happens to be the last hardcover released under the Domino imprint, which brings this past year into focus for me.

    Yes, almost twelve months have passed since I read the post that changed everything. I’ve written about the experience here (and here) as well.

    What a year.

  • Being selfish

    Sometimes the path to doing your best work, serving your community, and leading your tribe involves being selfish. It’s paradoxical to think like this, but operating in your most rested and present and mindful state often requires complete autonomy over your schedule.

    This means that you’ll miss some dinners, parties, and events that you’d love to attend…but the result is greater control over your time and the space with which your creative work is given to grow and thrive.

    A weekend spent planning and resting and creating can set up weeks of creative flow, whereas a habit of allowing external factors to negatively impact your schedule…can result in a contant state of stress and fatigue.

  • Enduring criticism

    You can only toil in the shadows for so long when doing anything of significance or influence or importance before criticism seeks you out. It might be a mindless remark by a family member or a scathing hit piece in a major publication, but the criticism will find you.

    Some people crumble in the face of the slightest criticism, and some thrive in the attention that it brings. Assuming that what you’re doing is something that you believe in and that you also have a worthwhile goal in mind, criticism can often be used as an indicator that you’re on the right track.

    It’s probably worth deciding ahead of time how much of it you’re willing to endure before throwing in the towel. I imagine public figures and musicians and Presidential candidates have discussions about such topics before they make decisions impacting their career.

    I don’t think there’s any shame in quitting something, generally speaking, but I do think it’s helpful to make as many tough decisions — before you’re forced to — as possible.

  • The new tools for employment

    The job opportunities of a few years ago are gone and never returning.

    Gone are the days where a degree and nice résumé are able to consistently result in job offers. Advanced degrees, experience, and a nice haircut won’t even save you.

    You know this already, though.

    I graduated from college at a time when a smile and the ability to tie a tie reasonably well could land you an interview.

    Some of my friends opted to stay in school for two more years to get their Master’s degree. Many of them missed the market and have had a hard time finding the type of work they deserve.

    One of the things that bothered me most when I worked for Accenture is the inherent unfairness that I perceived: much of the work I did could have been done by my sister who was in high school at the time. Simple Excel trudging…but I had the shiny IT degree.

    I have friends who chose to get degrees in English Literature and African-American Studies (yes, law school was a part of the plan for them…), and they would have been much better consultants than I was.

    They literally could have shadowed me for two weeks, learned the job (in many cases), and replaced me without issue.

    But we all know that Corporate America doesn’t work like that. Let me digress.

    The tools of today (and tomorrow) are storytelling, drive, initiative, and giving a damn.

    Employers (big corporations, small businesses, startups, etc.) want you to have an opinion as well. A point of view on something, in your field, instead of being a blank slate on which to absorb a bland “corporate culture.”

    It’s time to usher in the new way of thinking, and I’d love to see more job seekers teaching employers what they need, rather than the other way around.

  • Making a habit of being different

    If most people you know sleep in on the weekends, use this as the time where you get ahead.

    If your revenue is such that you’re operating from a position of power rather than scarcity, be more aggressive.

    If everyone in your space is charging for a particular product or service, figure out how to give it away for free.

    If something is generally created in what feels like an assembly line process, figure out how to inject love and care into whatever it is.

    It’s not easy to rethink everything that your company does, but I think the exercise of trying to is critical.

  • Thanksgiving 2011

    • I’m thankful for more work than I can keep up with.
    • I’m thankful for clients who teach me just as much as I teach them.
    • I’m thankful for a chance to do work that matters every day.
    • I’m thankful for the heavy disappointment I feel when I don’t live up to my potential.
    • I’m thankful for the beauty and art in the little things.
    • I’m thankful for supportive parents.
    • I’m thankful for mentors who answer my emails.
    • I’m thankful for friends who respect me.
    • I’m thankful for clients who value my work, opinion, and expertise.
    • I’m thankful for life, health, and strength.
    • I’m thankful for the New York City subway system.
    • I’m thankful for Haribo Gummi Bears and my boyish good looks.
    • I’m thankful that you guys don’t take me too seriously.
    • I’m thankful that you read (and share) my posts every day.

  • What you’re paying for

    I reached out to a friend for a quote on some graphic design work I needed. He came back with a quote that was 2.5X what I expected, and I let him know it.

    He reminded me that I wasn’t paying for his ability to wrangle a few pixels or tweak the things I can do myself…I’m paying for his taste and design expertise. His art.

    Touché.

    He’s exactly right, of course. He isn’t participating in the race to the bottom: he drew a line in the sand, made something up, and takes his craft seriously enough to charge what he’s worth.

  • One in Eight Million

    I call NYC the land of a thousand strangers.

    So many anonymous faces; everyone in such a rush. The subway is crowded with people from all walks of life, many of whom you will never see again.

    Faces painted with burdens and hope, fatigue and fantasy. Some passing through the city for a night, some here for what must feel like an eternity.

    After you’re here long enough, however, the faces become more familiar. The archetypes more endearing. The strangers, not so strange.

    People smile and hold hands. Art is evident in the little things. Stories etched in alleys and walkways and archways…

    * * *

    The New York Times published a beautiful project in 2009 that tells the story of 54 New Yorkers:

    New York is a city of characters. The Green Thumb, whose community garden in a Brooklyn housing project shows children that eggs don’t come from eggplant. The Dictaphone Doctor, last of a dying breed. The Jury Clerk, who ways ‘Good morning’ 200 times a day and means it. The Teenage Mother. The Tabloid Photographer. The Iraq Veteran. The Walking Miracle. Throughout 2009, The Times introduced 54 such individuals in sound and images, ordinary people telling extraordinary stories — of passions and problems, relationships and routines, vocations and obsessions.

    Ancillary: This is a example of Flash being used brilliantly for its intended purpose: adding an immersive richness to the web browsing experience (not for an entire restaurant website).

    [Amusingly, Adobe is ending development of Flash in favor of HTML5, and this experience could be recreated today (and work on mobile devices like the iPhone) without Flash.]

  • Essential WordPress Plugins

    When site owners new to WordPress discover what plugins are, they often go wild and install plugins that add an incredible amount of unnecessary functionality to their site.

    The problem is, many plugins are of very poor quality and thus full of security holes. Adding a lot of poorly-coded plugins will also slow your site down dramatically, and you probably know how I feel about that.

    So I’ve put together a small list of plugins that I use on this site and would recommend on the basis of their utility and quality. I hope you find it useful:

    As the date for my first live WordPress event in NYC draws closer, I will publish a few more technology-related posts.