Apocalyptic prophecies, unemployment and social media. Oh my!

Exponential growth, I fear, makes exponential decay, unavoidable. 

by Stan Faryna

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If you live within 5 miles of a 7-11, you’re toast.

- Paul Milne

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Apocalypse Now: Surfing and Napalm

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The boss was upset about a failed factory – the losses were increasing with an alarming rate of exponential decay. The bottom line kept dropping out to deeper and deeper depths of red. So he decided to close the factory down.

Discussing the matter with Abe, a world class manager known for his emotional intelligence and servant heart, Abe was stubbornly against the shut down.

“There’s gotta be at least 50 good employees there. I know people. There’s more good than bad. You can’t close it down,” argues Abe.

“We can turn this around. It just needs a little love and some solid innovation and change. Going social at the organizational level is an untried option.”

“Can we turn it around if our best workers represent less than 1 percent of the workforce?” asked the boss.

“Those good workers still got to eat,” Abe appealed to the boss’ sense of compassion and empathy.

Abe knew that he needed 20 percent to attempt a turn around. Or so the Pareto principle (80-20 rule) suggested to him. But Abe believed he had an obligation to minimize the casualties. And zero was a perfect number.

“They got families, hopes and dreams. They’ve got mortgages. They’ve made investments in this factory and community– emotional and financial.”

The boss, a good guy, considered Abe’s argument with a charitable heart. The factory, he knew, was a lost cause. He knew it for some time. But he could afford to keep it on the books for a little longer – in service to those good few who have served the company with a spirit of excellence.

So the boss reviews the performance evaluations and HR files and he can’t find 50. But Abe was so sure that excellence could be found.

EVERYONE without exception clocked in late (30 minutes or more) at least once per week.

Sick and personal leaves were on the rise. Personal internet usage was up 10 percent across all departments and the total average user time for personal internet activity was hitting about two hours per day. Paper and printer ink costs had increased despite the paperless office push – some suggested that personal use of the company printers was the problem.

And sales and marketing were demanding iPhones and new laptops as mission-critical.

All this, of course, was just the tip of the iceberg.

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Psy, Gentleman

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For example, Abe didn’t mention the fact that the plant manager had a million hits on a recent YouTube video touting his raid exploits in World of Warcraft. Nor did Abe mention that, last week, the network administrator registered 10,000 requests for Psy’s latest video, Gentleman. What’s 1o,000 views out of 200 Million? Right?

“Those aren’t hard performance indicators,” Abe argued passionately.

“Is just showing up a signal of performance?” grumbled the boss.

“Is keeping busy doing your job? Is it advancing the mission and vision? And if this is a charity – why do people expect iPhones?!”

Abe, however, had access to overwhelming information and data that could suggest just about anything.

Maybe, the video sharing on Psy could be viewed as team-building – if not leadership training, Abe thought to himself. But Abe thought he’d keep such a suggestion to himself. Or tweet it on Twitter.

So the boss and Abe haggled about the measurement methodologies and tools, what constituted a fair number of good employees that made such charity worthwhile, and whether or not iPhones were relevant.

In the end, however, they couldn’t find excellence demonstrated consistently in a single week by 10 employees. Not by any measure.

The factory was closed and burned to the ground. And Abe, fortunately, he wasn’t fired for being obtuse. After all, Abe’s heart was in the right place. Love never fails!

And that’s something that can warm our hearts – myself included.
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This modern redaction of an ancient story (Genesis 18:22 – 19:26) was inspired by a recent blog post at Bill Dorman’s place: Whose team are you on anyway?
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Stan Faryna
18 April 2013
Fairfax, Virginia

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Recent blog posts:

Beauty, Come and Get Some

Freedom is Solid

Season 3 Finale of The Walking Dead

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Click and buy the mug shown below and help feed kids.

Will you kill to be cool? And other social media DOHs

How cool is it to kill? And other social media DOHs

by Stan Faryna

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“With great power comes great responsibility.”

- Uncle Ben

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Would you kill to be cool?

It’s hard to command an audience on social media. And those that do – they often bring the snark and fun that lighten things up. Calvin Lee, a Los Angeles website designer, is a social media rock star. He’s not a kid, but he’s got lots of Klout. And Klout perks. I even remember when I started following him years ago on Twitter.

I upset Calvin today – that wasn’t my intention. I pointed out that his sharing yet another insulting meme-graphic of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un… was problematic. The conversation is captured below in the snapshots.

Beauty, come and get some

by Stan Faryna

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If you put a gun to my head and told me I could only do one thing in this blog, that one thing would be to share beauty with you.

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Thanks to a G+ post by Betsy Cross, I have beauty to share with you, today.

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A blog post. And this blog post is both epic and lyrical. It is fucking beautiful!

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WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE: HOW WE CAN BENEFIT FROM FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND SOCIAL MEDIA

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Stan Faryna
10 April 2013
Fairfax, Virginia

Sex and Reciprocity. And other Social Media DOHs

by Stan Faryna

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ATB, Ecstasy

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Marjorie Clayman reflects here on the triumphs and defeats of the Medici as an inspiration for social media success. It may even apply to gaming. And sex? Yes, sex too.

Wealth, power and influence – for the obvious reasons – will always be interesting.

But I have occasionally wondered whether or not the meek, the poor in spirit, and the pure of heart can profit by the ways and means of the wealthy, powerful and influential. Are these ways and means the rising tides that can lift small boats?

This was, in fact, the hope, promise and merit of capitalism.

Reciprocity, itself, is a greater challenge than we may care to admit – especially when everyone, equally, wants something for nothing.

However, if reciprocity is to be providential and reciprocal, it must provide an equity in results – not action.

The economics of sex should be fairly obvious in regard to results and satisfaction. I hope you can forgive me for not illustrating the intimate details of our expectations, results and satisfaction. But I would like to imagine that you get my point.

Likewise, if you mention me on your Facebook fan page and bring me to 50,000 eyes, my mentioning you on your fan page to 100 eyes is not a reciprocity. Reciprocity requires me to commit myself to liking a 100 posts (or more), supporting your posts with encouraging comments for months and months AND sharing your posts across Facebook, G+, etc. across a year.

Who does that?! Who tries?

Sadly, it is the rare individual who pays his/her social debt. And rarer for the individual who pays it gladly. And this, I fear, is why more people do not succeed in their ambitions – social, game-wise, friendship, or everlasting love.

Alas- even the meek, the poor in spirit, and the pure of heart seem to lack a basic understanding of economics. And equitable reciprocity.

Of course, I could be mistaken. But I also could be a little bit right.

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Stan Faryna
25 March 2013
Fairfax, Virginia

What the bleep can you do with a G+ Community?

What the bleep do you do with a G+ Community?

And other social media DOHs.

by Stan Faryna

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Annie Lennox, Why

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What’s missing in the new G+ Community?

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Below is my short list:

1. Documents and Document Management

2. Gallery and Image Management

3. Pinned Posts

4. Drop Down Linked List of Recent Uploaded/Modified Documents (left column)

5. Drop Down Linked List of Recent Uploaded/Modified Images (left column)

6. Drop Down Linked List of Most Commented on Posts (left column)

7. Drop Down Linked List of Most Liked Posts (left column)

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What’s your short list?

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Stan Faryna
11 December 2012
Bucharest, Romania

Zombies, Self Defeat and Consequence. And other social media DOHs.

Zombies, Defeat and Consequence.

And other social media DOHs.

by Stan Faryna

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Moby, Natural Blues

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Self Defeat

Something is not going where you want it to go. Not fast enough.

It’s not taking you where you expected to get.

Social Media. Blogging. Your job. Your relationships. Whatever.

You have dreams and vision, but the long road of hope smells like fingers – as Bill Dorman has said.

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Professional brand (yours) and other social media DOHs

Professional Brand. And other social media DOHs.

by Stan Faryna

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The consideration of personal brand here reminds me of a question that I often revisit.

What makes a professional brand exciting to me?

And admittedly, I often get to the same chicken and egg conundrum.

Where is the priority? Existing relationships or value proposition.

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This is not either/or – success and results demand both. Seemingly, equally.

Existing relationships can be a powerful indicator of recognized, proven value.

Value proposition invites and sustains connection, interest, and engagement.

When I consider a potential employee’s or business partner’s online presence, I want to see shares, reach, connection, engagement, and contribution (professional and otherwise). Buzz – not so much.

But I also want to see something that sets them apart and represents their intelligence, curiosity, character, collaborative capacity, and, for lack of a better term, humanity.

The later are the best indicators of the real value and resources they can bring to an organization or project(s).

For example, I would hire or work with Jack Steiner in a heart beat – if the results demanded that collaboration. And not just Jack.

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Need a list?

Breakthrough professional insight - is awesome, but breakthrough insights are as rare as Osmium.

Independent thinking - irreverent opinion and skepticism is often mistaken for independent thought; the substance of rain-making, critical, independent thought, however, will never resemble molecular acid.

On the other side of the coin, pink bunnies and strident positivity never proliferate as measurable advantages, added value, or results. In fact, the pink bunnies have an uncanny pattern of trending toward death marches, failure, repeated failure, sustainable failure, and/or a high casualty count.

Creativity – but don’t bring your crayons or the naiveté of the grade school artist to the table. There is no vacant space on my fridge, thanks. If it doesn’t address or solve my (or our) problem, keep it on your fridge and do something better.

Passion – not to be mistaken as a license for licentious self-expression, unending self-defeat, or exhibition of behavioral issues that will get in the way of our collaboration. Be real and, sometimes, be the fool that battles windmills – this will recommend your courage and sincerity. But do not drool.

Vulnerability – as in own up to your mistaken opinions and failures, say your sorry, and give honor to those who deserve your recommendation. As often as you can! But do not paint a self-portrait that suggests you are a ticking time bomb. Or just another zombie.

The later only invites head shots – if you didn’t know. [grin]

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Stan Faryna
22 October 2012
Bucharest, Romania

How I opened a can of whoop a$$ on the Hulk. And other social media DOHs.

I opened up a can of whoop a$$ on the Hulk

And 3 other social media DOHs.

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by Stan Faryna

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Eye of the Tiger

I opened up a can of whoop a$$ on the Hulk. But you don’t have to take my word for it. I gots screenshots.

And knocking down the big boys has a lot to do with social media and making bank (someday-somehow).

How else are you going to grab for more reach? More eye balls? More views?

So I killed the big guy in two shots. But I wish I could have done it in one shot.

That would have been epic!

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Survivor, Eye of the Tiger

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Love and Acceptance. And Other Social Media DOHs

Conversations with a Vampire Hunter (alternate title)

by Stan Faryna

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Elbow, Everthere

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You know what’s hard for me to admit?

That I want to be loved and accepted.

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The problem is that love and acceptance are NOT unconditional. Love and acceptance comes with expectations, obligations and responsibilities.

It’s how it works. This is a law. Just like gravity. Ignore it at your own peril, disappointment and self-defeat.

But don’t get mad at me for pointing out the elephant in the room.

Just like you, I often find the burden of that vector to be difficult, frustrating, exhausting and problematic.

Because I want to be loved and accepted for what makes me happy.

Just like you, I want to be loved and accepted without all that seemingly self-compromising consideration, opinion, and necessity of others.

Just like yours, my own idic legalese, however, contradicts (often) that intimate, inseparable and unavoidable nature of love and responsibility.

This selfish and naive expectation, however, cannot ever overcome the truth that we are here for each other as much as (if not more than) for ourselves.

Because this world is a world of we – not a world of my ways (Sorry Mr. Sinatra!), gimme’s and gotta be me’s.

That’s why it is so frelling hard to admit.

That I do want to be loved and accepted.

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Because we know (without a doubt), that love is inseparable from responsibility and, worse, it is inseparable from the expectations, opinions and necessities of others.

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Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.

Abraham Lincoln

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Stan Faryna
16 September 2012
Bucharest, Romania

Once upon a time in social media. And other social Media DOHs!

Once upon a time in social media part one

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by Stan Faryna

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Once upon a time, a boy and girl went into an wardrobe and found themselves in a fairy tale. They emerged from a burrow of moss and jasmine and found themselves looking out upon a grassy overlook. Nearby, a black unicorn pranced to the delight of half-foot-tall, laughing faeries. The little people worked as they laughed; they wove a garland of fragrant, pink peonies for the unicorn’s reward.

A faun too frolicked in his labor. Oh how the faun leapt! As high as three meters at times. At times, he gathered red pomegranate fruits. On other leaps, bunches of juicy, green grapes – each grape as big as a plum. Of course, the gentle faun shared gladly and freely with anyone who desired the fruit of his labors.

A Blue-fronted Amazon parrot flew up from a pomegranate branch shaken by the faun and complained bitterly at the rude awakening. The faun had disturbed the parrot’s nap!

Without delay, the faun apologized profusely. Reluctantly, the green breasted parrot accepted his apology. And all was well in paradise.

Cold Play, Paradise

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