Tag Archives: Panic
You Can Purchase Our Book Synopsis Presentations – Subscription Plan Now Available
Let me take a moment for a “commercial.” This blog is a place to learn information, a place to be challenged, a place to think about ideas for effective business ideas and strategies. But occasionally, I would like to share a little about what we do.
Karl Krayer and I have spoken monthly at the First Friday Book Synopsis for over 12 years. We are book readers, thinkers, consultants. We also offer training in a number of areas: writing skills, presentation skills, leadership, time and energy management, among others. (Read our bios here).
In addition, we provide book synopsis/book briefing presentations to companies and organizations. You can choose from any of the books we have presented, or we can custom prepare any book for your organization.
To contact us for any of these programs, visit our web site here, or send me an e-mail: . Contact us, and Karl Krayer or I will get back to you.
We have recently upgraded our companion website, 15minutebusinessbooks.com. We have been “behind,” but we are catching up with the synopses of many of the books we have presented at the First Friday Book Synopsis. For example, we have just uploaded our presentations of these books:
Drive
Free
Panic
Reality Check
The New Experts
Linchpin
The Post American World
10-10-10
Maestro
Others are on the way soon. And from this point forward, we should have the two books from the most recent First Friday Book Synopsis within a couple of weeks after each event.
Note: it is important to read the faq’s before you make your first purchase. These address many of your questions (read the faq’s here). Each presentation comes with the handout plus the audio of our presentation. The handout is intended to be used with the audio. The vast majority of the recordings are from our presentations at the First Friday Book Synopsis, but not all.
Some people purchase these, and listen on their own (in their car; in their iPod/MP3 while they exercise). Others listen, following along with the handout. (This is probably the way to get the most out of each presentations).
And we have some who play the audio for a group, then lead a discussion of the implications and applications. Great idea!
You can purchase at two price points: $9.99 per synopsis, or a yearly subscription, with full access to all of the archives plus the 24 new presentations a year. A bargain!
Browse titles with the catalog, and make individual synopsis purchases, here.
Sign up for the annual subscription, get instant and full access to all the presentations already up on the web site, and access all new presentations for the next 12 months, here.
I hope you will give our services a try. Either bring us into your company or organization, or purchase our book synopsis presentations through our web site. These will provide valuable content and useful help as you build your future.
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Note: Karl Krayer and I work together in Creative Communication Network. In addition, we have blogging team members who work independently..
Our blogging team partner, Bob Morris, is available as a consultant. He is an invaluable resource for an array of business issues and problems. He is also a master interviewer (just browse through his interviews!), and can provide custom interviews to fit the needs of your company or organization. You can contact Bob directly at .
And our other blogging team partners, Cheryl Jensen and Sara Smith of C&S Knowledge Company provide valuable services. Visit their web site here, where you can also find their contact information.
A Jobless Recovery and a Slip Down Maslow’s Hierarchy
The message seems to be clear, and oft repeated. We are in a “jobless recovery.” I read and hear from all sorts of sources that jobs are scarce, especially the good jobs are scarce, and insecurity is the defining characteristic of the era.
a little wisdom for companies in better times...
Not too long ago, it seemed like there were plenty of jobs to go around, and people like Geoff Colvin could describe how workers could be “picky.” Here’s a passage from his book Talent Is Overrated — What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else:
Today’s best young employees, the ones on whom future success will depend, are demanding that employers help make them better performers… Organizations are finding that the advantages of building a big reputation for developing people are even greater than they may have thought. Such a reputation grants these companies a “first-pick advantage,” an edge in attracting the cream of college and business-school students.
Understand that each person in the organization is not just doing a job, but is also being stretched and grown.
This is true, of course – in an ideal world. People want jobs that stretch them, train them, help them develop into what they could be with such attention given to future building.
But this is not such an ideal world. “Panic” seems to be the response to the uncertainty. And everyone and anyone with a job wants to keep it, whether it is “helping them become better performers” or not. The uncertainty is too… uncertain.
To borrow just the title from Michael Lewis, Panic: The Story of Financial Insanity, insanity underlies our uncertainty.
So, I was thinking about all this, and realized that there is a simple way to grasp and explain what has happened. And it is demonstrated in the always reliable Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. You remember the hierarchy:
Well, I think it is obvious we have slipped down a notch or two. While just a brief time ago we were a nation looking for self-esteem and self-actualization in our work, we may be back down to physiological needs and safety needs. We need to pay the bills and survive this jobless recovery, and self-actualization will have to wait a while.
Personally, I wish we had a job-filled recovery. What about you?
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Update:
Doug Caldwell, a regular participant at the First Friday Book Synopsis, linked to this post on his blog, and points us to this not-so-encouraging article about the duration of this jobless recovery: Wait Until 2017 Before Job Market Recovers, Report Says. Here’s what Doug said to do before you read this article:
If you are in a good mood or have had several adult beverages you can read this blog post sitting down that employment won’t be ‘normal’ until 2017.
