Chris Handy

The First Daughter #libbyshashtag

“Alexa, assemble this bed” did not work. #smartbedframe #falseadvertising

Business owners often ask me how to get to #1 in Google. The answer is sometimes shocking to them. There is no longer a #1 in Google.

The reality is that there is a different search result for every person. What they see depends on their previous search history, current location, if they are on desktop or mobile and a whole lot of other factors.

Nearly 40% of people search only on a smartphone in an average day as they look to meet immediate needs. As a result of this shift, more Google searches are happening on smartphones than computers. - Google Research

Google’s job is to deliver the best answer to the your question that they possibly can. If they fail to do that, you’d be likely to start looking elsewhere for your answers wouldn’t you?

It’s no surprise that they spend an awful lot of time looking at what, when, why, where, and how people search. They are always analyzing intent and context. They customize the results searchers see based on any one of those factors above. See this slide from Google’s research to get some context behind the “Why”.

Understanding how people actually search is a key element to the answer to the question. Many searches start on mobile and are upgraded to computer depending on their level of complexity.

Here are some more of Google’s takeaways from their latest research:

1. We live in a mobile-first world: In an average day, more than 1/4 of all users only use a smartphone, which is nearly 2X as many as those who only use a computer.
2. We freely move back and forth between devices to get things done: Over half of users rely on more than one type of device in an average day, with 1/5 of them using another device while concurrently using a computer.
3. Where we are influences how we use our devices: The top three places people use their smartphones are home, work, and in a store.
4. Search has gone mobile: Of those who search, nearly 4 in 10 search only on a smartphone in an average day.
5. The web is one of our most used resources: Of those who browse the web in an average day, almost half do so on multiple devices. More than 7 in 10 users browse the web on their phones or computers in an average day.

Source: How People Use Their Devices

I think it's really a shame when people’s voices aren’t amplified by their company.

An article I read exemplifies the problem:

Unlike Facebook and Google, which let employees publish their scientific breakthroughs in scientific journals and on blogs, Apple prevents its staff from talking about their research both online and offline.

Is secrecy worth the stifling of innovation and employee growth-stunting?

I see it happen all the time in business that merits no secrecy. Small business owners often decide to limit the voice of their employees for no good reason.

If this is you; think about the fact that you already choose to put your employees in front of flesh and blood customers in the real world. Why should the digital world be any different? Is there a difference anyway?

Facebook’s AI director explained why some of the world’s brightest minds might not want to work for Apple (FB, AAPL) - Business Insider UK

Link

How Sheryl Sandberg negotiated for a position as a negotiator

In this HBR article, you learn a little bit about how Sheryl Sandberg, of Facebook, negotiated her first package. My takeaway is to always consider what the other person is expecting to see on the negotiating table.

Check out the quote and then read the rest of the article, which is very much worth reading.

First, you want to explain to your negotiating counterpart why — in their eyes — it’s legitimate for you to be negotiating (i.e., appropriate or justified under the circumstances). Sheryl says that in her negotiations with Facebook, she told them, “Of course you realize that you’re hiring me to run your deal team so you want me to be a good negotiator.” Sandberg wanted Facebook to see her negotiating as legitimate because, if she didn’t negotiate, they should be worried about whether they’d made the right hire.

Second, you want to signal to your negotiating counterpart that you care about organizational relationships. After pointing out that they should want her to be a good negotiator, Sheryl recounts saying, “This is the only time you and I will ever be on opposite sides of the table.” In other words, “I am clear that we’re on the same team here.”

Source: Why Women Don’t Negotiate Their Job Offers

I know that one of the first things I do when evaluating buying anything is to read the reviews.

Especially on Amazon.

What is so great about reading the review there is that you get to see all the different peoples opinions. But I always bring my salt.

One of the things that I learned over the years is that you learn to ask yourself several kinds of questions when reading reviews. Here are a few examples:

What was the reviewer trying to accomplish with the product?

Sometimes folks have unreasonable expectations.

Was the reviewer like me, or were they vastly different from me?

Context means everything, if the person seems to have similar taste it becomes a whole lot easier to accept the word at face value.

Do I think that the reviewer’s budget had an effect on the value expected from the product if it fell short?

If they felt like they spent a considerable amount (compared to overall budget) on the product, the stakes tend to be much higher than someone who may have made a more discretionary purchase.

These considerations can help you separate less valuable emotional charged reviews from honest and thoughtful reviews without being as susceptible to cognitive bias.

Many folks I speak with insist on their business being a superhero with no flaws to speak of.

They are always on-time, on-target, mobile, social, and with the best customer service of all time.

It’s hard to connect with something like that. The invincible nameless faceless entity.

Sometimes, connecting with customers on an emotional level requires opening up about your own mistakes.

I discovered Dave’s Killer Bread in our pantry this morning.

Who is Dave?

Dave has a story. But his and his brothers’ story are what drives the mission of Dave’s Killer Bread.

This mission seems like a noble one, and one that I can get behind — importantly though, there are many folks that might not get behind it at all.

You never know who you will connect with. My wife doesn’t typically bring ex-cons into our home, but she is a compassionate person. This bread connected with her. She mentioned that she could really get behind that and planned to continue to buy Dave’s.

Sometimes you have to choose who your customers are and invite them in. You may find that while some will vehemently reject the invitation, there are likely a lot more that will accept it.

It’s when you get no RSVP at all that you may be doing something wrong. Your message may not be striking any emotional response at all — and that’s the worst place to be.

I've been avoiding shopping at Walmart for years.

Years.

Part of the reason has been that I hate to see employees treated like they don’t matter. Walmart has been one of the biggest offenders in my opinion.

What if paying workers more, training them better and offering better opportunities for advancement can actually make a company more profitable, rather than less?

They kept wages down, limited hours to avoid being obliged to provide benefits, and would cut people early like it was a slow lunch shift at a seafood restaurant. Except in this case, the employees didn’t have a chance to make their own tips.

The left brain in me though had admired Walmart’s operations management and extremely efficient way of doing business.

For example, Walmart runs their own weather center to predict needs in the market, and help route logistics. Their swift response in many natural disasters bests FEMA because they have the real-time data and the ability to act fast.

The efficient use of resources is admirable when it means making the best and most cost-effective use of machines, and other resource inputs to make the operation run smoother. When it becomes deplorable, is when Human resources are treated in the same way.

It looks like there may be hope for Walmart yet.

The following snippets are from an article in the New York Times

How Did Walmart Get Cleaner Stores and Higher Sales? It Paid Its People More

A couple of years ago, Walmart, which once built its entire branding around a big yellow smiley face, was creating more than its share of frowns.

Shoppers were fed up. They complained of dirty bathrooms, empty shelves, endless checkout lines and impossible-to-find employees. Only 16 percent of stores were meeting the company’s customer service goals.

But in early 2015, Walmart announced it would actually pay its workers more.

That set in motion the biggest test imaginable of a basic argument that has consumed ivory-tower economists, union-hall organizers and corporate executives for years on end: What if paying workers more, training them better and offering better opportunities for advancement can actually make a company more profitable, rather than less?

Read the full story on how Walmart has been changing their model here:

http://nytimes.com/2016/10/16/upshot/how-did-walmart-get-cleaner-stores-and-higher-sales-it-paid-its-people-more.html

It's easy to read something in a book and call it knowledge; but only when you get your feet wet trying it can you really know it well.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to experience something.

It isn’t ever quite like what you thought it’d be. There are always a few surprises.

For example, I remember seeing a client in person for the first time recently (we’d only previously video-conferenced). I hadn’t expected him to be as tall.

But it’s more than appearance. It’s how something is going to be. Have you ever done something new that you had been nervous about and thought, “That wasn’t so hard” or the opposite?

"Of the three ways in which men think that they acquire knowledge of things—authority, reasoning, and experience—only the last is effective and able to bring peace to the intellect." (Roger Bacon, English philosopher and a major progenitor of modern science.

Over the years, I have gained a completely different outlook on my own profession. I feel like I have a few things figured out that I can’t quite put into words, yet. I’m working on that…

The point is that I can remember a time many years ago when I went out and hung a shingle and told myself that I had to figure it out as I went along.

I’m still doing that. And I’m never going “figure it out” but, I’ll tell you I learn what not to do along the way and that helps me build up my know-how. I wouldn’t be as far along on my never-ending journey to self-actualization as I am if I had never gotten started.

You can always count on learning something when you actually jump in. If you are waiting on something to happen before you take a leap in your life, don’t. Jump in with both feet and you just might learn something.

My friend, John, asked this question on Facebook:

Let's talk about email. Is it dead? Why would anyone use it for official communication? Marketing? Sure. But official stuff? No way. What will replace it? Coffee shop chats? Love that idea.

I was provoked to think about this question; my wheels got turning, and I wrote a reply. I’ll share that with you here now:

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I don’t think email is dead John, as I think it’s It’s the fastest way to share an attachment or a link with someone at another company.

There’s no qualifier needed to understand if they are on iOS or android, or another slack team to join. And texting/iMessage isn’t great for sharing docs and especially links meant to be consumed on a desktop.

Email is kind of a universal post office replacement for information/doc sharing.

But… I think the greater point you are getting to is that we need more face to face. I think we don’t pick up the phone enough and call people in favor of text/email.

We don’t get in front of people often enough to actually catch up. And if you believe what the loud folks keep say about millennials ; they have lost the physical ability to speak and only communicate through emoji. I don’t think it’s gone that far, but it’s definitely worse than it used to be.

I’m on the older side of that spectrum in the “official age range” of millennial and I haven’t lost my ability to speak on the phone, but definitely default more than I should to a quick text based message. I need to work on that.

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So that's it?

I need to work on my communication skills when it comes to reaching out to people either on the phone or face to face.

Am I hiding behind the asyncronicity of email, text and everything besides speaking directly with that other person?

I might actually be.

The convenience and performance enhancing factors of using tools like Slack to move things along when getting work done, and to get quick answers are unmistakeable. But sometimes you have to get on the horn or in front of a whiteboard and hash it out.

But I know that there are times that I know that should, that I haven’t picked up the phone or made the face to face.

And I think that this is why so many “millennials” get a bad rap. They (we? You be never thought about myself as being in that category, but I think I may be wrong) don’t see the total eschew of phone and meetings as different.

Young Dogs, New Tricks

If we are talking about how to navigate within a team; what we have is a couple of extremes; and when everyone can meet closer to the middle and give a little, it all seems to work out much better.

It’s when you have old dogs and young dogs both unwilling to learn new tricks that the worst kind of conflict and resentment build within a team.

It’s up to you/me/us to be willing to learn the new tricks and accept that many folks come from different places. We have to assimilate and be a team.

If you have an opinion on this: Email me. Or call me, or WhatsApp me, or we’ll have coffee. At this point, I’ve decided I’m game for whatever.