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Everything You Do is Marketing
I was listening to a marketing class where they interviewed Ken Clement, a McDonald’s franchisee in Arizona. Say what you want about their food, and experiences may vary, but I’ve often been surprised at the friendliness (and family-friendliness) of McDonald’s restaurants. Clement talked about the importance of treating his customers well and giving them a…
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The Evil Villain of Communication
We’ve all fallen prey to it before. Your text message says, “See you there at 8”, and they showed up in the morning instead of evening. Or the Help instructions say, “Select the brush icon from the toolbox”, to which you respond, “Where the heck is the toolbox in the first place???” You’ve just been…
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Steve Jobs
I just started reading the biography of Steve Jobs and I’m having a hard time putting it down. I was a little late to the Apple (and Steve Jobs) bandwagon, so a lot of Jobs’ story is fairly new to me. He was a very interesting man, and very inspiring. Below is one of his…
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City Unite
Check out the new City Unite website! A movement based in the metro Denver area, City Unite focuses on uniting the body of Christ in each city to transform their city. Because of the geographical nature of their mission, the website centers around the map on the homepage as a central image and navigation point.…
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iPads, Autism, and the Story You’ll Tell
The other day I watched two brilliant stories. They contrast the amazing diversity of stories being told these days, and got me really excited for the opportunities we all have to tell stories of our own. The first is a short TED talk by Joe Sabia. With faster iPad fingers than you’ll ever see on…
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Do Beautiful Things Work Better?
I still remember the first time I went snowboarding in my (then) new snowboard pants. My first real boarding pants, they felt good, looked great, and changed my world. As I became one with the mountain that day, I honestly felt like I became a better snowboarder. But can new pants really make you a…
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The Art of Asking Amazing Questions
I’m terrible at asking questions. Even when it comes to talking with people that I admire or want to understand more, I find it difficult to ask questions that unlock people. But I was inspired to ask great questions by Marc Prachter’s 2008 TED talk. Prachter shares about a series of interviews, or “living portraits”…
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Everybody Has a Junk Drawer
Or, as a friend put it strongly a couple months ago, “Everyone’s a shit show”. We were talking about building friendships after moving to a new place, and how difficult it is to get to know people. My friend suggested that it was hard to develop deep relationships because most of us have such a…
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Flow
I just finished reading Dan Pink’s Drive, in which Pink explains why traditional carrot-and-stick motivators are out-dated and need to be replaced by the intrinsic motivators of Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. (For the abbreviated version of the book, watch Pink’s TED talk, which I’ve mentioned before). One thing I learned was the importance of experiencing…
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The Gifts We Made
For the past month or two our house has been slightly resembling Santa’s workshop (minus the elves, reindeer, and some other things) as Anna and I tried our hand at making some of the gifts we gave to friends and family. Here’s a look at a few of the things we made. Did you give…
