Links for August 28 2011
- Stop Ignoring the Stalwart Worker – Thomas J. DeLong – HBS Faculty – Harvard Business Review
Quote: That’s because, despite the number of Stalwarts in an organization, these good, solid citizens of the organization go largely unnoticed. Few leaders think about the motivation, inclusion, and explicit career management of the solid performers. One Fortune 500 leader said, “I thought that it couldn’t be true that so many workers are systematically ignored through no fault of their own (except for the fact that they may not be politically astute or they don’t draw attention to themselves). But the more I reflected on my own company, the more I realized that I spend all my time worrying about the high performers and assume that everything is OK with everyone else.”
- Know the 6 Stages of Your Customers’ Purchase Process by Gary Gebenlian on MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog
Quote: Most of us are guilty of not being focused. We want to sell our product or service to as many people as possible. So, we go out there and market with a message that’s some flavor of “buy my product or service.” The spirit of this is not a bad thing—after all, most of us are in business to sell our product or service. But marketing is about changing behavior. And if you’re going to change customer behavior effectively, your marketing message needs to be focused
- Users First, Brands Second by Fred Wilson on A VC
Quote: The biggest problem with a Brands First, Users Second approach is you can get caught up in product development efforts to satisfy the brands and as a result you can’t put enough energy into satisfying the users. And if that happens too much, you end up servicing the needs of the brands over the needs of the users and then you are a service business not a platform.
- An Interview with Alistair Cockburn (circa 2001) by Jim Highsmith
Quote: Bottom line of my research: Put four to seven people who exhibit good citizenship [behavior toward each other] in a room, and you will get software out. Playing well together is the bottom line.
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