I mentioned in a post yesterday that as a business strategy, our firm focused on case management and farmed out other assignments that were not related to our core. The reason behind this is that we want to be rock stars (to coin a very overused phrase) at what we do and not get bogged down trying to be all thing to all men.
The tech blogosphere is alive today talk of Apple‘s swing at social with its new service Ping. Fred Wilson‘s post this morning is spot on so I won’t rehash it but I will add a few thoughts of my own. First, I am an Apple fanboy convert. I love their stuff. I bought a MacBook Pro three month ago and am a full on evangelist for their products. Simply put, they make beautiful, aesthetically pleasing products that just work. I don’t worry about viruses with my MacBook like I do with my PC. The computer is blazing fast and integrates with everything I use on a daily basis. Good times. The one thing I don’t like about Apple is that they are serious control freaks. Everything about the Apple experience is controlled. For instance, as beautiful as the iPhone is (and don’t kid yourself, it’s beautiful), I refuse to by one while it’s on the AT&T network which is pretty much garbage everywhere I go. I haven’t purchased music from iTunes in forever (I use Amazon mp.3 files) because the AAC format is unique to Apple and their DRM policy doesn’t allow me to port my music. And since I’ve purchased it the music would be mine and I should be able to do whatever I want to do with it. Bottom line, what Apple does well (make beautiful, functional computers) they do extremely well and what they do otherwise (sell music, be social) is somewhat lacking. Ditto for Google- what they do well (search) they simply crush and as for social (hello Wave and Buzz), not so much. I don’t include the Android operating system which is terrific but not organic to Google. The bought it.
My point is this- I think it’s better to drill down and be incredible and at small field than to do the shotgun approach and do a halfway job with everything. Be a master and not a jack(wagon).
Update: Dan Byron correctly notes that Apple went to its “Fairplay” system of mp.4 distribution a couple of years ago. While the DRM was somewhat loosened, I continue to maintain that the folks at Apple are weasels when it comes to selling digital content.
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I tweeted some time ago that being an elite flyer in an airline’s frequent flyer program is akin to being in an abusive relationship. I also said it warranted a blog post. Not unlike Orson Welles touting the wines of Paul Masson, we will offer no post before its time. It’s now time.
My history as a frequent flyer is long and less than distinguished. In the early nineties, I worked for a window and door company that had me on the road a fair amount. Since most of my travel was to the east, I chose USAir as my airline of choice. I was giddy when I made their base level of elite flyer (as all of the road warriors in office had) and proudly strapped my luggage tag on my briefcase. From 1995-2007 I really didn’t fly much. I had two accounts, one with Northwest and one with American. My job started sending me to New York with some regularity so I juiced up the American account. When South Florida was added to the mix I merged my Northwest WorldPerks account into a Delta Skymiles account. Last year, I became a base level elite with Delta on September 4. This year it was on June 1. I am on schedule to move up to the next level some time in October based on my current schedule. Again, my travel until recently was centered on New York (Delta hub), Atlanta (enormous Delta hub) and South Florida (tons of Delta service).
Around May an interesting thing happened. I found myself going to Philadelphia. Then in July I had one of my partners quit and I found my self going to Philadelphia a lot. The problem is, Delta (who was the only airline I considered flying) is lousy in and out of Philly. Enter one week last month when I had to get to Philly and it just wasn’t happening with Delta. I cheated. I took the non-stop from Columbus to Philly. 448 miles in just over an hour. It was exhilarating but I swore I’d never do it again. Sure, it was fun, new and super convenient but I was loyal to Delta. I was going to be a super elite flyer. Sure, they have (multiple) delays and cancel (an alarming number of ) flights but there was always the carrot of first-class upgrades and more miles after you got whacked in the head with the stick. Trust me honey, I’ll never lay a finger on you again (or something like that). And I believed them. I continued to schedule flights with connections on Delta when there were non-stop flights to these cities on other carriers. Why? Because I’m an idiot.
Somewhere along the way my thinking changed. Perhaps it was the weekend of 10 hours of delays by Delta in and out of Philly. Maybe it was the canceled flights when I literally drove home faster than the planned rescheduling. Likely, it was that I began to view the trip and simply conveyance from one city to another rather than a lasting relationship. Sure, I would get the occasional (nee:frequent) goody for being hosed but what I really wanted was to be home with my family. And ten million miles won’t get you there if the planes aren’t flying.
So this morning, I hopped on my USAirways flight out of Columbus and one hour and five minutes later I landed in Philly. No fuss no muss. Made my meetings in time and everything. Friday afternoon I will reverse the process. No connections just me flying home. I’ll get to spend a Friday evening in Columbus with my family rather than cooling my heels at the SkyClub in Detroit. That’s a trade I’d make everyday.
I don’t even feel bad about it.
Note: This was originally a Tumblr post. I liked it so much I moved it here.
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You may be wondering (or not) what inspired the change back to WordPress. Here’s the deal. I originally went to Tumblr to limit searches. At the time, I was doing a fair amount of legal work and was getting pinged frequently for folks looking for info on my on cases I was testifying in. This was not a huge deal (I’m pretty transparent on this stuff) but it was a pain. Ergo, move to a less searchable platform.
We made the strategic decision as a firm last year to concentrate on our core business ie, case management. This required us to farm out our life care planning and legal work (good riddance) except for a few exceptions. I was personally happy with this because case management allows you to develop a long-term relationship with the family vs. the quick hit relationship in the legal arena. We are also in a couple other lines of work that are being farmed out as well. I firmly believe that to be awesome you must pick one thing and put laser like focus on it. That’s probably a post for another time.
Anyhow, blogging wise, while I like my Tumblr theme I didn’t love it and wanted something more blog specific. I decided over a month ago to make the switch back to WordPress but hadn’t found the time due to my completely stupid travel schedule. Vacation has allowed me to get back on the ball.
I am sure the topics here will vary but I would expect the family/work/church meme to persist. As always, community input is what makes any blog groovy.
So that’s the story of where we are. Let me know how you like the new theme.
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Hello all! After a year on the Tumblr platform we are back and rocking it on WordPress. Still doing a lot of fiddling behind the curtain but it’s good to be back. I’m not certain how much of the very limited actual blog content I can import from Tumblr to here but in any case, there will be new content here. Good times.
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Fiddling with the blog. Nothing to see here. No really, there is nothing to see here anymore.
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I find that I have mixed emotions about our government right now. Allow me to explain. I was able to catch a little of the Inaugural concert from the Lincoln Memorial yesterday. The concert itself was excellent and it seems the entire mood of the country has improved and is filled with hope. This is curious. I saw a poll the other day where Mr. Obama has a 71% approval rating. That’s pretty good considering he hasn’t done anyting yet (and I voted for him). I think it is representative of the amount of goodwill that the country has for the incoming president and the desire for him to succeed in these turbulent times. Based on this alone, you could say that it feels like a new era is upon us.
However, you only have to read a little further in the paper to see that it’s more of the same. Congress is set to release the second $350 billion of the TARP funds. My thought is, Why? Because the first disbursements went so well? We have, as taxpayers, given a 5% loan to multiple financial entities because they were, in no particular order, stupid and greedy. Which brings me to point number two. Recently, it was noted that our new Treasury Secretary designate had some back self employment tax issues that hadn’t been resolved. This is problematic on a couple of fronts. First, the IRS is in the purview of the Treasury Secretary (see the problem). Second, these taxes are from 2001-2003. I had a self-employment tax issue from 2006 that the IRS was clearly prepared to make a federal case out of and yet it seems that, with a little access (being president of the New York Fed provides significant access), you can put off your liability. I also found it interesting that should I let my tax bill linger the interest and penalties would add up to about 22% a year. So, let me get this straight. My government is going to charge me 22% interest for Social Security and Medicare that I will likely never see but only charge Citigroup, Bank of American, American Express, and the auto industry (among others) 5% on their incompetence. Nice.
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It is conventional wisdom (or perhaps urban legend) that the larger a church grows the more it forsakes the gospel. Put another way, there are those who believe that the only way to grow a church is to compromise your beliefs. Check out this survey from the good folks at Barna Research:
Religious Beliefs of Protestants, by Congregational Size
(N=1,334)
| Belief description* |
1-100** |
101-200 |
201-499 |
500-999 |
1000+ |
| Bible is totally accurate in all the principles it teaches |
60% |
63% |
70% |
67% |
75% |
| Have personal responsibility to tell others your beliefs |
41 |
44 |
47 |
53 |
61 |
| Your religious faith is very important in your life |
82 |
83 |
90 |
88 |
90 |
| Satan/devil is a living being not just a symbol of evil |
30 |
29 |
36 |
38 |
51 |
| A good person cannot earn a place in Heaven |
33 |
39 |
47 |
48 |
55 |
| On earth Jesus Christ did not commit sins, like other people |
49 |
50 |
59 |
65 |
74 |
| God is the omnipotent, omniscient creator who rules all |
81 |
81 |
86 |
86 |
90 |
| Born again Christian (see definition below) |
63 |
64 |
69 |
81 |
75 |
| Evangelical Christian (see definition below) |
9 |
11 |
21 |
24 |
25 |
| Number of respondents in this subgroup |
547 |
306 |
247 |
120 |
114 |
These results fascinate me. It appears that, based on the info presented, larger churches are more orthodox in their message. Anecdotally, I watched this phenomenon via Twitter last night. I follow a number of pastors, many of whom have large churches. They were baptizing thousands of people yesterday as more and more folks made public confessions of their faith. While I might not completely agree with the doctrinally, I am impressed by the results.
There is no moral or message to this post. Just some interesting thoughts. Although, if there was a message, it might be that you don’t have to water down your message to grow your church.
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Why yes, I believe I am. The NFL returns tonight. Praise God!
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I am most fortunate to be a reviewer for the good folks at Thomas Nelson Publishing. I get free books and get to write about them. Click the badge on the right side of this blog for more info.
Fearless is the most recent book by Max Lucado. Lucado is a master storyteller (if you’re not familiar with his work) and this work is no exception. Lucado is a pastor and, like any good pastor, uses illustrative points from life to make his point from the Word of God. In each chapter of this book the author discusses various types of fears and how they impede us in both our life in general and our Christian walk in particular. This is all done in the familiar, engaging style that we have come to expect from Lucado.
I will confess that I read half the book in one setting- it’s that engrossing. I saw myself over and over again in the stories (both current and Biblical) that are presented for consideration. The salient issue is that God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7) and it is, in fact, the will of God that we overcome fear and live a victorious life. What is especially gratifying to me is that these are not esoteric pronouncements with no relevance outside of the church house. To the contrary, much of the authors wit and wisdom are very applicable in the marketplace as well as the ministry. Again, I found this most helpful and gratifying.
If you are familiar with Max Lucado’s work, you will be glad to add this latest volume to your collection. If you’re new to his work, I highly recommend it.
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I am currently on the J train heading out to Long Island. On the seat across from me, a gentleman is reading a Chinese newspaper. The guys next to me are speaking Spanish. The mom and daughter across the way are speaking Italian. One of the things I love most about NYC is that it stretches me culturally. I live in a very homogenous community and so when I come here, I am exposed to sights, sounds, smells, and tastes from all over the world. It allows me to rethink my world view.
Once again, very thankful for my extremely cool ob that allows me to experience so much.
I typed this post on my Blackberry so excuse the typos.
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