It’s Friday! On Wednesday Bill Prettyman emailed me about something we normally do on Thursdays and, when I told him it was only Wednesday, I think I took a few seconds of his life.
Bill! It’s Friday now!
We’re getting ready to launch beta 1.0 of Project Jack Bauer next week and soon you will know what the heck it is, what name we’ve chosen, and how you can get involved. Things are moving really quickly (too quickly) and we have only nine weeks left until launch. After the excitement of launching wears off, I’m mostly looking forward to sleeping.
It’s been kind of a slow news week this week, other than some New York Times blogger making me mad, but we still managed to find some goodies for you!
So, without further ado, the Gin and Topics for the week.
5. Five Year Old’s Advice to Women: Get a Job! If you haven’t already seen the video making the rounds of the little girl talking about telling a man she’s not going to marry him until she gets a job, please do yourself a favor and check it out now. It’s on Shelly Kramer’s blog and the commentary she puts with it is just as priceless.
4. Jack Griffin’s Ouster: Lessons from a Failed “Change Agent.” If you’ve ever worked in a place (or hired someone) that brought in leadership to make change, this story may hit a little too close to home. It’s an exploration of Time Magazine’s CEO, Jack Griffin, who was fired after only six months on the job. Thanks to HBR editor, Julia Kirby, for the really good lessons for all of us (including getting rid of the term “change agent”).
3. Why I Sold to Amazon. I’ve been waiting for this story! The one where Tony Hsieh talks about what it’s like selling your company to the man and working through a contract where you’re no longer your own boss. It’s pretty interesting to read that the only change has been “swapping out the board of directors” and seeing Jeff Bezos for only two hours per quarter.
2. Jack Welch Talks Up Innovation. It turns out, even the older and more removed from business he gets, the message from Jack Welch remains the same: Fire the bottom 10 percent of your performers every year. This is a really good recap of a keynote he just gave, including his thoughts on how both Taco Bell and Toyota handled their respective crises.
1. The Problem with Public Relations. Oh yes. It made the list. Mostly because I want you to read it before I blog about it next week. This is one I’ve let sit for a few days so I have time to calm down and properly reflect. Shonali Burke would be proud (based on what she wrote yesterday)!
If you’re in Toronto and going to PodCamp this weekend, don’t forget to find me!
Have a great weekend!
Thanks to Jennifer Hallowes for the awesome photo!