Category: Business

A fix involves addressing the symptom, a solution involves addressing the root of the issue.

To “fix” your sore tooth problem, apply Anbesol as frequently as the directions allow. The solution, however, might involve a root canal.

To fix a slow leak in a tire, you only need to keep your supply of fix-a-flat stocked. The solution, of course, is a new tire.

Fixes are tempting because they’re easy and make problems disappear quickly. Clients understand fixes, and it makes us look good to implement them rapidly. They are almost never worth the trouble in the long term, though.

That five minute email turnaround with good news is much less commendable when you can’t send the same email two days later (but need to)…

I’m currently in Mexico with some friends celebrating my birthday, not being in Manhattan during winter, and any other excuse we can tack onto that last item.

We’re literally in the middle of the jungle, renting what is essentially a vacation compound that was originally designed for the owner’s family to escape the city (Playa del Carmen). Today, we got to meet him and learned about the history of the place.

The onsite staff is comprised of native Mayans who have been working with the owner for, in some cases, 20 years. The owner values loyalty, the plight of the Mayans, and creating memorable experiences for customers.

When we (a group of people who make our living on the Internet, most of whom live in NYC) shared how much we enjoyed being there, the owner got emotional, nearing the point of tears twice. It means a lot to him that people are enjoying what he’s built and the property obviously has significant sentimental value to him.

This stands in stark contrast to the ruthlessly profit-driven focus that characterizes the NYC entrepreneur stereotype, and it was refreshing.

When dressing for the cold, it’s not the ambient temperature that gets you — it’s the wind. When making projections on your company’s growth (or simply your personal income), it’s not your monthly nut that gets you — it’s needing a new transmission.

When we go into situations looking to be reassured by the best-case scenario, we undermine the very perspective needed to ensure our long-term success. Michael Jordan never prepared for Championship game based on how the Triangle Offense works in the absence of tenacious defenders…

Last night, I caught wind of Society Coffee‘s closing, which apparently happened in October.

If you visit that link, it should result in absolutely nothing happening, because the site is down. My “humor” is an acquired taste, I know…

I’m disappointed with the closing of Society Coffee for two main reasons:

1. Practical: It was a great café with wonderful employees and delicious food
2. Sentimental: I organized an event there with my Fairy Blogmother last year

Thinking back, there were obvious areas for improvement, and no one did anything to address them.

For what felt like months, Society punished its patrons with inadequate AC during the warm NYC summer. This is one of the reasons I stopped visiting, frankly.

The food at Society was a bit expensive, and it was not uncommon for them to be out of critical items in the kitchen.

They would have benefited from more community involvement (poetry slams, live music on weekends, etc.)

Service was not always up to par, and some employees were a bit unfriendly.

I could go on, but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened — how things might be different — if I had cared more and shared these frustrations with the owner.

What a shame.

I talked about this recently, but I thought I’d deal with the idea in less abstract terms once more: a lack of planning and perspective often results in unnecessary strain to a system.

In academics, this requires a student to cram at the last minute. Poor retention, and sleep schedule shot to hell. Long-term mastery is traded for short-term information regurgitation, undermining the point of the academic pursuit.

When trying to reach a short-term fitness goal (looking great in a swimsuit for an upcoming trip, for example), diets often aggressively curtail the intake of essential dietary components at the expense of long-term health. Training the body to hang onto carbs and fat once they’re reintroduced to the system (see: after vacation) would seem to be a bit unwise…

And reaching a short-term revenue goal (for the short-sighted freelancer, this is known as “making ends meet”) with a rushed scramble for contracts can result in damaged relationships and lost business.

The situations we get ourselves into by not pacing success over the long haul are completely avoidable. By eliminating unwise, unhealthy, and unprofitable habits on the day-to-day, we set ourselves up for Ben and Jerry’s style success: manageable and even predictable over time.

We’re used to the big push, and type-A workers love “performing under pressure” but the kind of lifestyle you deserve is one that requires long-term planning and the corresponding daily habits.

Until recently, GoDaddy was simply an average domain registrar with a terrible user interface and bargain basement web hosting solutions. With their support of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), however, they inadvertently positioned themselves in the crosshairs of frustrated geeks everywhere.

The backlash was swift, with tens of thousands of domains being transferred away in just two days. Some highly visible opponents of the Act made very public pledges about the action they will take. After downplaying the impact of the boycott, GoDaddy publicly withdrew their support for this astonishingly terrible piece of legislation.

The problem, of course, is that the retraction wasn’t a result of their leadership’s change of heart; it was a purely financial calculation.

And as it turns out, GoDaddy has not actually withdrawn their support at all. What’s further, they are exempt from potential shutdowns under SOPA. There is also evidence of GoDaddy temporarily blocking the transfer of domains away from them.

December 29th is Move Your Domain Day, and there will be a mass exodus of GoDaddy customers to registrars like NameCheap and DNSimple, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Resources:

• A step-by-step guide to transferring domains away from GoDaddy
• How to talk to Congress (about SOPA)
• Contact information for companies supporting SOPA
• A glimpse of the Internet under SOPA
• What you should know about DNS

Some chase after the right approach and management methodology and degree and book and blog to help them in their pursuit of success, but one simple way to see progress is to just care more.

…don’t exist everywhere.

Sure, it would be great if every opportunity and project came with the resources and clarity of purpose to make roles and responsibilities clear, but the reality is that these are often a luxury afforded by established businesses.

And even then, said titles are often given as a formality rather than out of necessity. Executives and founders and self-starters don’t have clear delineations between what they do and what their counterparts (or employees or secretaries…) do; their job is to get it done, whatever “it” is, and no matter what it takes.

There’s a marked difference between the person who says “that’s not my job” and the person who doesn’t say anything at all (because what needs to be done is simply done, and there’s no discussion needed).

It’s not hard to engineer pleasurable experiences into customer interactions.

Here’s what people want:

1. To get what they ask
2. For you to deliver on your promise(s)
3. Simple interactions with no curveballs

Here’s what people won’t tell you that they want (but do):

1. To be appreciated for their business
2. To feel like they got a bargain
3. To be given special treatment

And here’s what can be done to delight them:

1. Deliver service faster than you say you will
2. Extend exclusive offers to valuable customers
3. Provide good news, positive reinforcement, and genuine gratitude when transactions are processed

If you build success into your process (timelines you can beat, prices that can be lowered, etc.), you lose nothing. What you stand to gain, however, is tremendous.

One of the best interviews I’ve read in a very long time.

Check it out.