Friends of Dave #80: Gonna Take A Lot To Take Me Away From You
Independence Day should always be the first Wednesday of July....
That is, if you absolutely want to kill American productivity in the third calendar quarter....
A midweek July 4th is always a blessing and curse -- while it is great for the commute, people always end up taking book end days off (like a 5 day weekend), making it near impossible to get anything accomplished for almost a week and a half. And with August now completely dominated by extended vacations, particularly if you do global business, it really only gives you about 8-10 total weeks to be productive in Q3.
So given all of that, I am quite certain this week's FoD email is finding most of you either on a beach, in transit, or in the middle of catching up from a few days off. Doesn't mean we are going on hiatus though -- always time to learn something new.
Scan the abridged link section below -- it's shorter than normal, but I promise still some good stuff there. And stay tuned this summer, Friends. It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you....
XOXO
Dave
2 About Communication...
Why Blunt People Make The Best Friends — kiddy.org.uk
We need someone who will be in our corner, unconditionally. We also need people who will challenge us and make us be the best person we can be.
You really should read this one.....just sayin'.
There's only one way to truly understand another person's mind — qz.com
Basically, imagining another person’s perspective may give us the impression that we’re making more accurate judgments. But it doesn’t actually improve our ability to judge how another person thinks or feels.
May seem a little obvious, but a good reminder than actual, direct communication is a much more efficient way to understand someone than imagining what they must be thinking.
2 For Your Day Job...
Are Customer Retention Benchmarks Increasing Your Churn? — labs.openviewpartners.com
Good look into the issues that arise when using benchmarking data for customer churn and retention.
How Machines Are Learning From Customers And Predicting Human Behavior — www.datasciencecentral.com
Customers leave behind an incomprehensible amount of data. Making sense of that data and reacting in real time can be integral to driving excellent customer experience.
3 Random Ones For You...
Why your pool lifeguard is more likely to be a senior citizen than a teen — www.washingtonpost.com
HINT: they live for telling kindergartners to slow down and walk on the pool deck.
History of the PB&J, from Spa Food to School Lunch — www.bonappetit.com
WARNING: If you have allergies, know that this newsletter is not a nut-free environment.
How David Bowie Invented Ziggy Stardust — www.rollingstone.com
I believe there will be a follow up article on how he also, inadvertently, gave birth to the hockey mullet as well.....
And The Last Word....
Weezer Covers Toto's 'Africa,' Taking Us Deep Into The Internet's Heart Of Beigeness — www.npr.org
At the behest of a 14-year-old fan who launched a Twitter campaign, the forever-game pop-punk faves have covered one of the Internet's favorite summer songs from the 80s. The crossover is, somehow, pretty illuminating.