helping others

Want to make a new friend? Grow your circle of influence? Maybe sit down with Mr. Bigshot? Give them an idea.

Before you give them an idea, make sure it’s not any idea. Most people will not be receptive if you say, “I have an idea! When you get hungry you should eat something.” A dunce cap will magically appear upon thine noggin. ABRACADABRA!!!

The sad part? This is what retailers and salespeople do. This is what people who don’t listen, or don’t want to listen, do. This is what annoying coworkers and bosses do.

Walk into a store and almost every time you’re greeted with a variation of “Can I help you with something?” It’s phrased as if everyone walking in has no idea why they walked in, or how to navigate a cookie-cutter mall store. It’s borderline insulting.Read more

Have you ever had a salesperson help you find what you’re looking for whether or not they’d get the sale?

It happened to me this morning. My fiancée and I are looking for a place to hold a wedding reception. The coordinator we met with, Marla, from one of the places we looked at over the weekend, the Emerson Inn, called me to ask if we had made any decisions in a courteous way. I told her we loved the place, though we want an evening reception and the Emerson only does afternoons. She asked a few more questions about what we were looking for and offered to send me some suggestions via e-mail. I thanked her and hung up.

Her e-mail hit my inbox about 3 minutes later.Read more

Would you rather have someone offer to help you with a mistake you made, or punish you for making the mistake?

In 2001 Portugal decided to decriminalize drug possession (dealing is still illegal), replacing jail time with meeting with a “Dissuasion Commission.” These 3-person commissions have at least one lawyer or judge and one health care or social worker, and they recommend treatment, impose a small fine, or send the person on their way.Read more

Do you read a bunch of blogs or news websites? Let me make your life easier.

A few weeks ago I began reading every blog I follow and many key news websites I read by going to one webpage, which tells me when there are updates and lets me read them without having to go from page to page. All I use is an online feed reader. Google Reader to be specific.Read more

I think we could all use some good news, so here’s my latest bit: the company I work for, AiM&M, hired another employee today as we expand again.

A lot of the people I’ve interviewed these past few months have talked about security. Security means different things to different people. There are two main ideas about security people talked about with me.Read more