Rothacker Reviews

Recently Lost Your Job?

What does a creative person do when they lose their job? Why make lemonade, of course! As I am still experimenting with a concoction that I can live with, you can bet I will take glassfills of inspiration from these guys!

Lemonade Movie Site

Retail Business: We are really busy!

As a retailer, did you ever think about the message that you send to your customer when you tell them how busy you are? We've had two businesses in the last three days tell us how busy they were. One in person and the other over the phone.

Business in person - Best Buy, Wesley Chapel, Florida. Rosemary and I took our vehicle in to have a stereo installed. There was one person working in the mobile installation department. This fellow had to answer phones, wait on customers and in between he was installing audio gear in a car. He acknowledged our presence and got to us as soon as he could. While we were filling out a form he dashed back to the car for a couple minutes of work.

I don't recall this gentleman's exact words, but he said they were busy. Stevie Wonder could see this guy was busier than a one arm paper hanger, but he maintained a pleasant tone with us. When I asked if he could get to the car before closing, he said he'd be finished with it even if it meant staying.

So, what do you suppose Rosemary and I, two people with a combined fifty plus years in management think of this situation? From where we stood this dude is an outstanding employee. Secondly, we question management. To have one person answering phones, waiting on customers and installing gear, is bad business. Of course we were exposed to a ten minute window in this operation. Perhaps they normally have two people working in this department. A pleasant employee who acted as if he wanted to be there and acted as if he wanted us to be there, overcame this slip in operations. And speaking of operations, the smart and clean way the installation shop was kept speaks volumes for this business.

Business over the phone - I am going to be a little critical here. Basically this person was pleasant and maybe what she said would not effect most people. We called to have service performed at our house. She said, "I guess everyone waited till the holidays to call. We are very busy."

To Dave-the-former-manager, this comment neon signs these sentiments: 

• We are a poorly run company
• We are short of help
• We can't keep competent help
• Dispatcher: I'm stressed
• Dispatcher: I don't like my job

Unless you are able to overcome your we are so busy comment like the Best Buy guy did, it's better if you do not mention how busy you are to your customer.

Mark Matteson: Why Should You Read?

I would rather write than verbalize a message. I would rather write a message than articulate one in a video. I would rather write than give a speech. I like to think I have the ability to convey a message via the written word in such a way that someone might say, "this guy's a good writer."

It's close, but I probably like to read more than write. So, with something that I am so passionate about, you'd think I could cast a magic pen and dazzle readers with a bevy of reasons to find inspiration from reading books.

But I don't have to. Mark Matteson already did. And way better than I ever could. Check out Mark's essay titled: 12 Reasons Why Reading Books Will Inspire. Mark does to stories what Andrea Bocelli does to songs.

By the way, I've read A Simple Choice and I highly recommend that you read it as well!

Home Office Design

This is a most prolific list of ideas and resources to help organize your home office from Career Overview.

Image by OutinHome.com 

Tiger Woods and a Reporter's Voice

Philly.com reporter Howard Gensler writes about a relevant and progressively seedier topic - Tiger Woods' infidelity. I love his style of writing here. Howard's voice makes the story.

By the way, Howard drops a most relevant tidbit in his piece: powerhouse global management consultancy Accenture pulls Tiger's sponsorship.

Tattle: Tiger shtups as dad dies | Philadelphia Daily News | 12/14/2009.

Megan Allen Florida's 2010 Teacher of the Year

This one's for the Rothacker Time Capsule - that little nuance of digital freedom that my ancestors will one day discover buried under the blocks of Typepad.

Megan Allen was selected Florida Department of Education/Macy’s 2010 Teacher of the Year. From the Florida Department of Education press release:

Florida's top educator is selected on the basis of his or her outstanding ability to teach and communicate knowledge of the subject taught, professional development, philosophy of teaching, and exceptional school and community service. The winner must also show a superior capacity to inspire a love of learning in students of all backgrounds and abilities.

Future Rothacker's, I would like you to hear what being a teacher means to Megan by way of Steve Otto and his column in The Tampa Tribune. Your ancestor here believes that teachers, most especially those like Megan, have the most important job in the world.