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Communications

Wanted – Team Player

What does being a team player in a business environment mean? It’s probably easier to describe the characteristics of a non-team player. In 1964, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart wrote about a decision on pornography by saying that he couldn’t define it, but “I know it when I see it.” Thus was born a new colloquialism that many hiring managers apply to the characteristics of the ideal candidate for a job. It’s frustrating for sourcers… Read More »Wanted – Team Player

Go Forth and Spam No More

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The debate rages on at conferences, meetings, online media, and in just plain gossip. Why does everyone say they hate spam and then engage in the same practices they deplore? This is especially puzzling when the spaminator is a recruiter who is not only supposed to know better but also needs to woo a target audience, not turn them off. Is it the fault of the individual generating the spam or the people that encourage… Read More »Go Forth and Spam No More

Technology and Respect for Its Roots

One of my favorite pieces of art is Winston Link’s photograph “Old Maude bows to the Virginia Creeper” in which an old horse seems to be giving deference to the approach of new technology. Gene and Roy Hampton just happened to be at the crossing with a sledge of wood destined for their nearby farm when Link asked them to wait for a photo of them with the approaching train. Maude was described as being… Read More »Technology and Respect for Its Roots

The Rules for Being Funny… or Serious

Here it is in a nutshell: There are no rules. I’m sorry if you expected more than that, but anyone who professes to know a one-size-fits-all definition for each band of the humor spectrum is lying or misguided at best. It is usually a matter of situation and timing for something to be found funny. In company reorganizations we can refer to misguided efforts as “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,” but there was… Read More »The Rules for Being Funny… or Serious

Cynicism Is Also a Basis for Ethics

This article originally was posted on May 10, 2013 under the title “Corralling, Conquering, and Cultivating Cynicism.” To say that this was edited for the series on ethics would be too kind… it has been butchered, disassembled, and put back together again. Cynicism is one of the basic foundations of how we think and is sometimes a pathway to the truth. Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said, “I think there ought to be a club in which… Read More »Cynicism Is Also a Basis for Ethics

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