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Category Archives: communication
Why is the law so hard to read?
If I could wave a magic wand, I would pass a law that read, “Every law must be comprehensible by the people it is meant to govern.” and then I would pass another law that read, “For the purpose of the law, attorneys are presumed to have infinite intellect, and can punish themselves with whatever […]
Montien Thai Restaurant Pricing Practices
Last night I ate at Montien, a Thai restaurant in Boston. The food was good, as usual. When we got the check, I noticed one entrée was $2 more than the menu list price (about 10%). I didn’t think much of it. It seemed pretty normal that a printed menu might have fallen out of date. The waitress came by […]
How Twitter Became an Alternative to Small Claims Court
In July I did some freelance consulting work for a client who shall remain nameless. If you’ve been following my posts, you will remember who this was. You can imagine my dismay in October when, after many attempts to contact the client for payment, I filed a small claim in Worcester District Court. The money […]
Elevator Pitch at Boston ENET
Last Tuesday I had the chance to give an elevator pitch for ArtistBomb at Boston ENET. (The pitch was recorded, so I can post a link if it gets uploaded somewhere.) I’d like to share the formula I used so that you can adapt it for your own work. What’s the Goal of an Elevator […]
An Entrepreneur Neither Loved nor Savvy
After leaving my corporate job last fall, I joined up with elance.com, a site designed to help freelancers find work. I submitted 29 bids and got selected once, the one time I offered to work for less than minimum wage. The economics are tough: elance is a global marketplace, so I was bidding with my […]
How to Tackle Someone in an Elevator
I’ve been going to meetings for the Boston Entrepreneur’s Network for a while now. I like the group a lot and have found the meetings to be very well moderated and timed. (This is a big deal for me; it means I know the guest speakers have had a chance to say what they wanted to […]
Too Few (likable) Women at the Top
Sheryl Sandberg is the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. If you haven’t heard about her new book, Lean In, you’re missing out. Her fifteen minute TED talk gives a recap. At 7 minutes 30 seconds in she cites a Harvard Business School case study, which you can listen to her describe, or read my summary […]
What if you change your mind halfway through a negotiation?
Inconsistent decision making sometimes leads to a crummy result. Here’s a thought-provoking, quantifiable example from real life. Two of us were preparing to drive from Boston to New York City. We both wanted to go there, and if we didn’t drive together we would have gone separately. We could take his car, a mid-size sedan […]
Positivity
Today I was at a management meeting to solve some specific problems, and at the end of the meeting, as often happens, we allowed for some off-topic suggestions and comments. (People should have a chance to say what’s on their mind.) One of the managers recommended that we devote some time during our “all hands” […]
