CarusoBlog

Idiot Proof Recipe for 100% Accountability

Composed in Akron, Ohio--

I am the problem.

I am the solution.

Things I Learned From Super Crunchers

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

I've never excelled at math, but that's why number intrigue me.  Super Crunchers--Why Thinking By Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart is written by Ian Ayres. 

Here are some of the things I learned from his book:

• "The Wisdom of Crowds," named by James Surowiecki, states that most random groups of people will be smarter than any individual person on a particular issue

• Corporations use large data bases to predict consumer behavior

• Harrah's casino can predict when you will be unhappy with your losses, so they dispatch a "luck ambassador" to treat you to dinner if you walk away from the game immediately

• Use www.Farecast.com to tell when airfare is going to go up or down

• The data mining of cell phone records was used to capture the two men who killed Michael Jordan's father

• Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis of Vienna General Hospital discovered germ theory of disease in the 1840s.  He was ridiculed when he suggested that doctors were causing their own patients' deaths by not washing their hands.  Semmelweis was fired, had a nervous breakdown and died in a mental hospital at the age of forty-seven.

• Ronald Fisher was the father of randomized testing in 1925

• Kryder's Law, named after Seagate CTO Mark Kryder, states that the storage capacity of hard drives is doubling every two years.

Want the 411 on Storing Information?

Composed in Phoenix, Arizona--

It's the Information Age, baby.

My brother Rob just wrote to inform me of his new online storage account with a company called Carbonite.  Now he can store his computer files off-site and save room on his hard drive.  Scoff if you will, at the concept of paying rent for your .jpgs, .pdfs and .movs.  This information racket ain't what it used to be.

Consider that I'm composing this blog entry on a 60 gigabyte Dell Inspiron notebook computer.  It's my primary computer and the same machine that I take on the road when I'm out speaking.  Over time, I'm accumulating  tons of correspondence for my business, Edison House, not to mention my niece's cheerleader photos.   

The computer's hard drive filled up a while back, so I bought an external drive and then another.  External drives have amazing capacity, but without a better data storage system, I'll soon have a whole closet full of external hard drives.

The newest and largest hard drives feature a terabyte of storage.  A terabyte is about 1,000 gigabytes or one trillion bytes. A terabyte is roughly the equivalent of the contents of books made from 50,000 trees. Tera comes from the Greek word teras meaning monster.  As in pterodactyl.

(I know pterodactyl begins with a "p" and doesn't even have the word tera in it, but this is an article about the wonder of numbers, not the craziness of language.)

Anyway, back to this business of using external drives to solve the info storage problem.  Here's the bad news:  all drives go bad.

Ian Ayres, author of Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart, reports that the entire Library of Congress takes up about twenty terabytes, but WalMart's data warehouse takes up about 570 terabytes.  We're storing more information than ever before.   

I guess it's time to get with the times.  As always, the trick is to anticipate what comes next after what comes next. 

Petabytes.  Petabytes are next.  A petabyte is around 1,000 terabytes. 

That's the 411 on storing information.

An Answer Can Be Right, Wrong and . . .

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

Solving problems is guess work until one finally attains the correct solution. 

The older I get, the more I realize that in many situations there are many solutions with varying degrees of correctness.  Things get even more confusing when, to our chagrin, not everyone agrees on what is correct. 

Scientists spend their careers formulating hypotheses, testing them and evaluating the results.  I'm told they classify results in three categories:  right (multiple possibilities) , wrong (even more possibilities) and "not even wrong."

The latter phrase is featured in Peter Woit's recent book, Not Even Wrong:  The Failure of String Theory And the Search for Unity in Physical Law.

Everything Is An Illusion

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

I've been looking into an old spiritual belief called maya.  The premise of this concept is that everything is an illusion.  The more I think about it, the more it seems to be true.

Your attitude is an illusion. A good mood can dissipate quickly during a day filled with bad news.  Conversely, a bad mood is easily lifted with a stroke of good fortune.

Your job is an illusion. Retirement is perhaps the best evidence that work is an illusion.   Thousands of workers are laid off every year, suddenly forcing workers into a world where there long-time job is a distant memory.

Your family is an illusion. A family is a group of people that temporarily keeps us company.  Our original nuclear family is replaced by another family a generation later.  Eventually every person leaves the family in one way or another.  Losing a life partner can be extremely traumatic because the survivor cannot adjust to his or her new reality.

Life is an illusion.  I lost an old friend this week.  Ralph Horan--a widower and a good man--fell in his home and bumped his head causing a cerebral hemorrhage that did him in.  Ironically, a man who had won dozens of ballroom dancing contests died because he lost his balance.

So, if everything is an illusion, why not choose an illusion you can be happy with?  Choose an attitude you like.  Live in a place you enjoy and spend your time working at something you love.

Play With People Who Are Better Than You

Posted from Nashville, Tennessee--

When I was young, I played a lot of chess.  I quickly discovered that the best way to improve was to play people who were better than me.  This isn't a bad approach to learning anything, including the game of golf.

I received a great tip from a great player yesterday.  Jeff Lichty invited me to play the famous Shepherd's Hollow Golf Course in Clarkston, Michigan.  Shepherd's Hollow is rated by Golf Digest as the 37th best public course in the country and I really enjoyed the day. 

Jeff offered me a simple, yet very effective golf tip that helped my game almost instantly.  His advice:
Swing slowly.

Try to hang around with people who are better than you and you will become better. 

Do You Acknowledge Your Own Bad Judgement?

Composed in Irving, Texas--

Years ago, the Caruso Brothers band was touring on the college circuit, trying to find its place in the rock 'n' roll pantheon.  Along the way, we found it necessary and rather fun to pass judgement on other acts that were engaged in a similar struggle. 

I remember that the brothers and I spent a lot of time criticizing a young, trampy woman from Michigan who seemed to be sleeping her way to the top.  Certainly, she could never be a star with her thin, reedy voice and utter lack of musicianship.   She didn't even play an musical instrument!

Yeah, well Madonna did okay for herself.  Meanwhile, the Caruso Brothers did some good work and petered out well before becoming famous.  We were wrong to criticize The Material Girl and we apparently thought a little too much of ourselves.  All in all, the brothers' judgement was way off.

People who are critical are often wrong.  Today, many people maintain that Madonna is a "no talent" and undeserving of her success.  And yet, she is worth millions.

Consider criticism from another angle.  People who are criticized are often wrong, too. 

Perhaps you've heard of Suze Orman, the ubiquitous author and television personality who has become famous for giving women advice about money.  Many women don't care for Suze.  An overwhelming majority of the women who disparage Orman don't have much money.

Orman is a former bakery shop waitress turned financial planner.  She currently has a net worth of $32 million.  Her TV work has earned her an Emmy.  She has published six best-selling books.

Here's the best part.  Orman's new book, Women & Money, contends that women don't do enough to fend for themselves when it comes to money.  She's the gender's biggest chearleader and most women aren't paying attention to her valuable message.

Perhaps women don't like Orman because of her message.  She says that many women fear money or at least fear not having it.  She says that this fear is compounded by the shame women feel over not knowing about money and their tendency to blame others for not teaching them.

These are harsh things to say to your core audience, but that doesn't mean Orman is incorrect in her assessment. 

Women have come a long way in earning money and power.  They are a growing force in the economy.  I hope they will exercise good judgement when it comes to good advice.

Meanwhile, the Caruso brothers are no longer angry young men.  To a person, we are less critical of others.  I think we are also more realistic about ourselves.  Most people use better judgement as they mature.  I guess one of life's shortcuts is to acknowledge our bad judgement before it occurs.

The Best Way To Solve a Smelly Problem--Own the Problem

Posted from Mundelein, Illionois--

I'm delivering three keynote speeches in three states in three days.  Day #1 is in this sleepy suburb northwest of Chicago. 

My hotel is high-profile brand name.  The overall quality and service are quite good, but something unusual happened last night.  Around 1:30 am, I was awakened by an odd, yet familiar odor.  Even before I was completely awake, I knew there was a skunk staying at the hotel.  Judging by the intensity of the smell, he was either outside on my first-floor patio or under my bed. 

Early the morning, I mentioned the incident to the front desk clerk and the bellman.  They were at the end of their shift and had dealt with a few complaints about the smell during the night.  Neither  seemed terribly interested in solving the problem. 

The bellman admitted the skunk odor was bad, but he shrugged as he said, "I went out outside to look around, but I didn't see anything."

Clearly, my city slicker friend doesn't know much about skunks.  My boyhood home was adjacent to a wooded area so I've had some experience with these creatures. 

Skunks are not attention seekers.  These rodents are solitary and notoriously shy.  Skunks have virtually no defense system, except an aroma that many describe as a cross between rotten eggs, garlic and burnt rubber. The glands are appropriately located in the skunk's anus.

The animals are nocturnal and tend to linger around locations that offer food and harborage, like say, hotels.  So now the hotel owners have a problem.   They will have a bigger problem if people start requesting refunds because they can't sleep.

As of this morning, however, I promise you that the hotel bellman will not solve this problem because he doesn't yet own the problem.  Going outside to look for the skunk is not nearly as effective solution as trapping the skunk or taking away its food source.

Even if the bellman never decides to own the problem, the skunk may not be around long.  Skunks have terrible vision and often become roadkill during their late night foraging expeditions.  According to Wikipedia, fewer than 10% of all skunks live longer than three years.  I guess they never rack up many Priority Club points at the Crowne Plaza.

   

You Can Have Moral Authority Even If You're Not the Boss

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

     As an author and professional speaker, I've consulted with many companies on the subject of leadership.   Effective leadership is the art of harnessing our most important resource—other people—and making good things happen.

     While position power, seniority or a title can help a leader get things done, the strongest, purest form of leadership may be moral leadership. An individual who has established moral authority can get people to perform even if that individual is not perceived as "the boss."

     In my new FastLearnerAudio series on leadership (FLA2), I contend that a person can establish moral authority even if he or she isn't the boss.  Indeed, moral authority may be the strongest form of leadership.  People with moral authority are able to influence others, often by not trying to convince others.  We listen to people with moral authority because it seems like the right thing to do.

     Here's an excerpt from FLA2 that illustrates the fantastic power of moral authority:

     Uli Derickson was a flight attendant on TWA flight 847 when Lebanese Shiite Muslims hijacked it in 1985.  When one of the hijackers put a gun to her head, she simply said, "Maybe I can help you."  That was when leadership began to be transferred from the gunmen to the flight purser, a TWA crew member smack in the middle of the flight crew's organizational chart.

     One of the Muslims spoke German and so did Derickson.  Lines of communication were opened and dialogue was established.  This communication turned out to be a stronger tool than the hijackers' guns.  Occasionally singing and telling jokes, Uli hoped to provide levity for the passengers while building rapport with the hijackers.

     She talked to the gunmen about the Koran.  She offered them tea.  She made one of the men smile when she commented on his sneakers.  She told the men about her seven-year-old son and they looked at her with apparent concern.

     At times, Derickson thought she was making progress with her captors.  At one point, the German-speaking gunmen told his partner that he would like to marry her.

     Despite ugly scenes involving the beating of crew members and passengers, Uli "always looked upon [the hijackers] as human beings."

     The plane landed in Beirut for fuel on its way to Algiers.  "Let the women go," she pleaded with the terrorists.  Her request was denied.  Rather than back down, the flight attendant was even more specific.  "Let the older women and the children go."

     Surprisingly, the gunmen relented.

     A stubborn Beirut ground crew had no intention of letting the plane depart without payment for the fuel.   The hijackers had no intention of paying.  Derickson produced her personal Shell credit card and said, "Charge it."

     The hijackers escaped and the brave flight attendant lived to tell her story.  Before finally exiting the plane, Derickson donned her uniform jacket.  It seemed like the right thing to do.

     The FastLearnerAudio for Leaders program comes with four one-hour CDs and four 30-page e-books.

You Can Brand Anything

Posted from Royal Oak--

     A new year is pending.  Would you like 2007 to be better than 2006? 

     You can virtually guarantee more success by differentiating yourself from the competition.  All you have to do is be different (better) without being weird (worse). 

     Birds do it.  Bees do it.  Even educated fleas do it.  My apologies to Cole Porter.

     Manufacturers do it.  Designers do it.  Authors do it.  Of course, I do it.

     When you distinguish your offering from others, you will attract attention.  Your product or service will be become more coveted and usually more valuable. 

     Don LaFontaine does it.  You may not recognize his name, but I'll be you recognize his brand.  In fact, LaFontaine has branded something that almost everyone has, which goes to prove that even ordinary things can be postioned as extraordinary. 

     Who is this mystery man?  He happens to be the busiest actor in Hollywood.  He's worked on over 4,000 films and his brand is so recognizable, movie producers wouldn't think of using anyone else.

     Don LaFontaine, known in motion picture circles as the "Voice of God," has branded his voice.  You've heard his dulcent tones on almost every movie trailer in recent history. 

     Branding is fun!  I've had a great time creating and marketing the 5 Cool Ideas book series and my new FastLearnerAudio series. 

     What are you branding to make you special?  A skill set?  Your knowledge base?  More on this at my Creating Success Habits tele-seminar on Wedesday, January 3 at 4 PM ET.

     Brand to win.  Brand for success in 2007.