Independent Thinking Blog
Independent Thinking Blog
The Problem with Soundproof Rooms
Soundproof rooms can be great if you're practicing the piano or planning a coup. And while they provide you with a distraction-free space to work, if you're not careful you might just shut out conversations you should be heeding. In the early 1990s, U.S. agribusiness...
Generations, Geography, and the Workplace
Just a short post today to point you to some fascinating research on generations, geography, and how these forces shape the way we view work and the workplace. In Generations and Geography, Tammy Erickson and Tim Bevins look at the impact of historic events on...
Nickels and Dimes
It's never a good idea to insult your customers. Fire them? Go for it. But badmouth them and you come out looking bad. That's what this restaurant did recently on a slow afternoon. After we'd already ordered expensive beers and an appetizer, I overheard one waiter say...
Would You Hire Someone You Don’t Trust?
Would you hire someone you don't trust? This should be an easy one. My answer: Of course not. So why do so many companies refuse to let their employees tweet, post, or otherwise represent them online? Take Security Public Storage, for example. The facility near me is...
How Not to Be Dumb, Slow, and Expensive
When a colleague asked me whether I wanted to review David Siteman Garland's new book I did what every Web-savvy marketer would do: I went to Amazon to read the reviews. I got no further than the author's own video introduction. In other words, he found a smart, fast,...