All Talk

“More than words is all you have to do to make it real.
Then you wouldn’t have to say that you love me.
‘Cause I’d already know.”
More Than Words — Extreme

Despite the omnipresence of cute little screens and the preeminence of video, the go-to method of corporate presentation is still all talk, all text, all

The Tie Break

“Well we all have a face that we hide away forever.  And we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone.  Some are satin some are steel.  Some are silk and some are leather.  They’re the faces of the stranger but we love to try them on.”
“The Stranger”
– Billy Joel
American musician and pianist (1949– )

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An Engraved Invitation

“Opportunity does not knock; it presents itself when you beat down the door.”
— Kyle Chandler

Waiting for an engraved invitation?  A signing bonus?  A big fat salary and lots of perks?  Someone to meet you at the door to hold your coat and your hand?  An elder confidante who commiserates at how competitive and frustrating it is to be

Forgiving Faster

“I concluded a particularly humbling foreign assignment and came home to lick my wounds.  The Boss, after a solicitous interval said, ‘Are you going to be laughing about this in 20 years?’  I responded, ‘Well, yes…’ He smiled and said, ‘Why not laugh now?’”
— Jennifer R. StJohn

There’s a lot of time wasted in self-flagellation

Shelf Space

“In the supermarket, there’s a noisy and expensive war going on between Brand A and Brand X.  Brand A is the favorite, and they have the money to protect their position, so they spend a lot of it renting the most valuable shelf space: precisely at eye level! And the truth holds: Whatever is seen repeatedly at center stage, SELLS!” […]