Should Kids Get Allowances? WCCO and a Good Question.

Recently WCCO broadcast a story in their Good Question series about whether kids should get an allowance.  Good topic, poorly executed however.

I haven’t children so you might think I am not the person the criticize the story, but keep an open mind.  I don’t think this is that complicated.

Reporter Heather Brown relied a Nicole Middendorf, a financial adviser, as her expert resource.  A financial adviser might not be the last person I would choose to answer a question about kids and allowances, but I don’t think she would be the first either.

What’s happening here is simple confusion that happens all the time.  We mistakenly treat kids as little adults, which they are not.  Nicole Middendorf, I presume, advises adults and as a professional financial adviser, she likely advises adults who already possess some degree of financial sophistication and experience.

Kids, on the other hand, are different.  They are kids.

Will giving this kid a quarter a day help?

There is no shortage of advice about kids, money, and allowances, most promote the positive benefits of teaching kids about money, but I sense that it is too easy to think that passing the buck — literally and figuratively — to kids will teach them more.

Lewis Mandell, for example, has researched the issue and found no simple correlation between allowances and financial literacy.  It is worth a look.

But back to WCCO.  Middendorf’s advice struck me as subjective and somewhat arbitrary.  Why should kids divide their allowance into thirds for spending, saving, and charity?  And starting with an allowance when a kid is in pre-school?  She talks about teaching kids the difference between “wants” and “needs”, if we start giving pre-schoolers cash are we introducing them to questions of want and need a bit prematurely?

Middendorf wasn’t alone in offering questionable advice.  Is it smart, for example, to give kids money you would spend on them anyway — presumably for things like clothes — and let them decide how to spend it?  What, exactly does that teach children?  And maybe more importantly, what does that approach teach kids about being a parent?

Kids are not adults, not even little adults, and the relationship between parents and their children should not be like a relationship between an employer and an employee.   There is a lot to consider about money, kids, and allowances, but I think this Good Question topic raised more questions than answered them.

Related articles

• Twin Cities: KSTP or WCCO? (alittletourinyellow.wordpress.com)
• Expert: Paying Kids Allowance is ‘Cruelty’ (business.time.com)
• Chores and Allowance: Tie them Together or Split Them Apart? (everydayfamily.com)

 

I Started to Write Something, But…

…I cannot write a damn thing.  Obviously.

Hit when the hitting is good, or something like that.  Hit when its hot.  Right now the only thing that’s hitting are ideas, one after another they hit the trail.  (Can ideas hit the trail?)  One will not coalesce with another.  No way, not happening.

But I am forcing myself to write something anyway and you’re reading it.  Push through, write on…kind of like public speaking, you only have a moment to recompose and you cannot go back, it’s best to put your head down and move to your next point.  No looking back.  Keep going, keep doing it…like this.

Less than 12 hours ago I was full of ideas.  My thoughts we sharp and nimble.  This morning, however, I feel about as sharp and nimble thinking as a Republican.  That isn’t good.  Frustrating for me, but you know…I almost feel sorry for Republicans as I think about it.  I mean I literally feel it, feel what it must be like to be so…dumb.  In fact, I almost understand the appeal of the stupid clichés they follow…Ha!…They cannot think bigger!  It is a real experience, a real way of being, and, alas, kind of sad…

But back to me!

What should I write?  (Submit ideas here.)  Golly, I had such brilliant ideas last night.  Wow, I was something!  (You would have been impressed.)  The lesson here, boys and girls, is strike with the idea is hot.  Don’t turn out the lights and tell yourself you’ll be double-sharp in the morning.  No!  Put your ideas down when you have them.

Otherwise you might be writing something like this.  Or worse…empathizing with Republicans.

Related articles

• I want to start a blog… (beingmrsjaeger.wordpress.com)
• Writing…Do we need to know Everything? (cdsimmons.com)
• Writer’s Block Sucks (thoughtdumpingtime.wordpress.com)
• Mind Writing (hardeeksshah.wordpress.com)
• Reflections Of A Late Winter Storm (myupscalegaragesale.wordpress.com)

 

Productivity

I have to comment on “Relax! You’ll Be More Productive” printed in today’s New York Times Sunday Review.  I have been wanting to write about a related topic.  The timing is spot on.

Not long ago I was talking with a friend who works for a large sales company.  He had a good year.  In fact he finished among the top reps in his region, posting solid account growth and second-best net gains.

Thousands of reps work for this company and they are expected to comply with a standard set of expectations.  Sales reps are measured on a half-dozen indices, give or take.  Recognition goes to only those who meet expectation in all indices.

My friend’s complaint and frustration is all about the big picture.  Despite his performance, he came up short in one metric.  He was short by one sale to meeting a minimum objective for new clients.

He retained more and renewed more existing clients than all but one other rep while he increased their business with the company significantly, again only being out-performed by two or three other reps on that measure.  Overall he exceeded sales objectives by over 130%, or more than twice what was expected, far outpacing nearly all other sales reps.

But his managers wanted 36 new clients on the books at the end of the year.  He had 35, which still put him among the top in that in that metric, too.

Here’s the problem as I see it.  The month of December was spent chasing new sales to get as many as could be found into the books.  Existing accounts were put on hold.  Larger accounts were put on hold.  He sacrificed a month chasing one objective.  And…as a result…the company lost money.

They also slowed a rep, putting a speed bump on the fast course, to say nothing about burning enthusiasm, an important part of success.

We met a week ago and I asked how January was going.  Not so good.  Being passed over for a promotion and getting no recognition at all deflated a lot of enthusiasm.  A month squandered chasing random accounts killed momentum.  He worked through his Christmas holiday, a time normally spent away from home.  This year time spent poorly, not invested wisely.  And now he is working hard to get the sales machine humming again, back where it was for most of the previous year.

So what did his managers advise?  Work harder.  You had a good year.  Just not good enough.  Put in some extra time next year and make it happen.

What do you think?  The managers are whacked and out of touch, out of touch with managing strong performers and out of touch with priorities maybe?  Most of us are in business to grow business.  Growth should be rewarded, not arbitrary lines in the sand.

Remember, good performers don’t quit companies, they quit managers.

Related articles

• Scott Steinberg: Sales Management Secrets: 7 Ways Leaders Sell to Win (huffingtonpost.com)
• Five Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail (hiscoxusa.com)

Simple Work Made Complicated

FAX (Photo credit: Independent Curators International)

Someone is going to get hurt.  And it isn’t going to be me.

I know we are all special in our special way.  We are all God’s children, even Republicans.  But I don’t think there is a gentle explanation for the frustration caused by people who can unnecessarily complicated even the simplest task.

Consider the fax machine.

What is so difficult about sending paperwork from Point A to Point B for approval and then asking for that fax to be returned from Point B back to Point A?  We’re on not our second attempt here and not on our third, but we are now attempting to send a fax from Point A to Point B and get it returned for the FOURTH GODDAMN TIME!

Look, this is something your 5 year-old kid could do…and probably does do.  (Did you really order that Let’s Rock Elmo song book?)  Apparently faxing is…I don’t know…passe?  We are losing our competitive edge, people.

I had the fax sent with careful instructions, which included the line “Return all four pages of the agreement to me at …”   Guess what I got.  I got one page and it wasn’t even one of the pages of the agreement!

So I had the fax sent again with big Xs and “Sign Here” marked boldly on the agreement.  Guess what I got.  One page.  They lost pages 3 through 4.

Sent again.  This is attempt three.  I had our assistant call when we faxed.  Do you have the fax?  Yes.  Good.  Can you sign the fax now and send it back?  Yes.  Good.

Guess what happened.   Ten minutes pass.  Fifteen.  Half an hour.  So I ask the assistant to call again.  ”Oh, we’re sorry.  Got distracted.  Just a minute.  I’ll send it now.”  Ten minutes pass.  Fifteen.  Half an hour.

Ok, what is complicated about this?  Right now — with you patiently waiting – I will go through the motions of signing a simple contract, dial a number on a fax machine, place the document in the fax machine, and hit send.  I am going to time it.  I am even going to sip coffee between each step to more accurately reflect real life.  Ready?  Here I go.

La de da de da…La de da de da…La de da de da…La de da de da…La de da de da…La de da de da…

Done!

I took my time and I still completed the task in 34 seconds.

Hours have passed since this all began and I’m twitching just a bit.  I am not thinking good thoughts.  The whole point of this was saving time.  I could have crawled to this office and had better results.  So I asked my office to send the paper work ONE MORE TIME and I this time I got on the phone.  Do you have the fax?  Yes.  Good.  Can you sign each page now?  Yes.  Can you send the fax now?  Yes.  Thank you.

Guess who just called…Literally, called just now…it was my office.  Guess what they just received.  ONE FUCKING PAGE OF THE GODDAMN AGREEMENT!

Honestly, I am going to quit.

Related articles

• Google Fax Tutorial Now Available for Gmail Fax Users (prweb.com)

Mountains and Seashore

The rush of twilight (Photo credit: kern.justin)

Are mountain tops brighter than seashores?

I remember talking with someone who was travelling to Israel so she could treat her skin along the Dead Sea.  She explained that the added depth of the atmosphere in a valley below sea level filtered out just enough sunshine to make the sunshine absolutely correct for her skin.  It didn’t hurt that the Dead Sea infused the dry desert air with a healthy mix of beneficial minerals either.  So if a few hundred feet can make a difference, a couple thousand must be an entirely different class.  I wonder how her skin turned out.

Anyway, it is mid-August now – the angle of the sun is in retreat for the season – and I am struck by how brightly it shines .  What is really going on here is I never give the brightness of the sun much thought.  It is either sunny or not, maybe hazy or golden at the ends of the day, but in the overall way of things, it is just sunshine.

So I wonder then…If I made a trip to the ocean and then another to the top of a mountain just to see if I could notice any difference, would I notice anything more or less revealing than simply taking close notice of the sun’s brightness now?

Probably not.

So I think again…If people seek something different just to find something brighter, what can they gain if they cannot already see brightness shining vividly in the things of life surrounding them now?  It makes me wonder if I have been paying attention.  Maybe if I find the answer here it will unfold everywhere and then I can enjoy the mountain tops and seashore so much more.

Related articles

• The Dead Sea ~ Interesting Videos and Facts (rainsoftottawa.wordpress.com)
• Dead Sea salt as medicine? (foxnews.com)
• The Dead Sea (ireport.cnn.com)

If I Had Hair This is What I Would Do…

After several hundred posts, I am slowly fine tuning the art of being a mostly-missed, poorly-understood small time blogger.   And I’ll share a tip with you, maybe one that is obvious.

Tip:  Don’t write about the big events of the day and expect big results.

When Mitt Romney rolled out dangerously misguided Paul Ryan as his running mate, I made the mistake of jumping into the fray.  The result?  A dozen or two readers.  The day before when I wrote about ghosts, ballerinas, and wood nymphs, I had several hundred readers.

Of course I have brilliant insight and comments to make about the decline of political leadership in the United States, but so do hundreds and thousands of other people who actually have followers.  They are going to take the lion’s share of the feast.

But if you want to know about screech owls or old people sitting on park benches, then I am your man.  So let’s see what happens if I just throw a random one out there.

If I had hair — and if I were a young woman — I would wear my hair as shown in Picture 1.  It is somewhat cheesy in a stylish sort of way, but interesting, kind of like me.  And if I were to wear my hair like that — and if I were a young woman — I would find a rooftop upon which to stand and gaze thoughtfully out over the trees and roof tops of the world.

So how is that?  Kind of a nice break from everything else that is going on in the world.  In fact I very nearly wrote about Helen Gurley Brown today only because I had yet another one of those strange congruences of experience and events.

Within the last week — I swear — I saw something about Cosmopolitan and, being convinced Helen Gurley Brown had already died, I asked myself when.  I could not remember.

So today…within minutes of looking for something other than Paul Ryan to write about … I see Helen Gurley Brown’s death announced, just as I am surfing Cosmopolitan for ideas.  Try to tell me that isn’t odd.

I do believe that we exist within connections of which we really cannot be aware.  It is something more than instinct and something more than foresight.  It is that sort of gut sense, the uncanny, maybe.

And I remain steadfastly convinced we connect with things that matter well before and after we might have an opportunity to experience them; experience and emotion somehow link up despite the chaos of it all.

At times this seems painfully simple and obvious.  But then I have to wonder why some of the best, most cherished connections defy the sense that made the connection in the first place.  When something comes undone, what is happening?  And why don’t I have hair?  There has to be something behind all of this…a hidden reason.  Having faith in that is like having religion.

Now please scroll down this blog and find something worth your time.  Tell your friends and family to do the same.  Then tell me about it.  I am eager to discover with you.

Related articles

• Media giant’s own family attacks Cosmo ‘porn’ (wnd.com)
• How Cosmo Conquered the World (nytimes.com)
• Review: Sex and the Single Girl (steadydietoffilm.typepad.com)
• USAT/Gallup Poll: Paul Ryan gets low marks for VP (tribuneofthepeople.com)

The Demon of Regret

Saturday.  I have wasted an awful lot of time and recently that trend seems to be on a crescendo pace.  There isn’t a lot to show for it.  Trusting my gut hasn’t panned out all that well.

However, if you want good advice, I have it.  After all, what do they say about the cobbler’s kids?  They don’t have any shoes, right?  But the cobbler is still a cobbler.  Or is it something they say about the plumbing leaks at the plumber’s house?  Either or.

So I am going to “either or” my way to something.  I feel like a quiet place with beer, a cozy place where I can collect my thoughts and read the paper.  I might come up with a way to shrug off a demon or two.  No regret there.

Any suggestions?

When a Sales Call Goes Bad

I am going to talk a little about identifying a call that is failing and what you might do when that happens.

I found myself on the losing end of a failing call tonight.  The prospect was no where near where I thought he was.  He seemed unable to grasp even the most basic parts of our recommendation.  This can be a very disconcerting feeling, especially when you are not prepared for it.  But there’s the rub, you should always be prepared for it.  Don’t presume the sale.  Ever.

There are things to learn from this.  First on the part of the business owner I can share some advice that might help us all.  People who are slow to make decisions tend to be among my least successful clients.  I am not entirely sure why this is true, but it is true.  People who suffer from paralysis by analysis often suffer from compromised decisions.  Time is wasted and often the meek make weak decisions.

Our prospect tonight went overboard on what he thought might go wrong.  Certainly, make an informed decision, but make a balanced decision, too.  Even worse for this business owner, meeting him tonight felt like meeting someone who was not a part of any of our meetings.  Maybe he wasn’t.  Being in a meeting is one thing.  Participating and using a meeting is another.

This business owner was ready to make decision, but a bad one.  Tonight, in fact, I refused to take the requested order.  This is a business that wants to advertise in the New York DMA on a Grover’s Corner budget.  Literally.  He shed 90% off of his budget and dumbed-down his goals so much that the program would fail.  Someone else can sell him the underpowered waste of money he’s looking for.  I won’t.

I asked him instead — as politely as I could – to call me when he was ready to advertise in New York.

There is more important advice for salesmen that I can share from my position.  As a salesman you need to push value at every opportunity.  You need to stay engaged with your prospect and never take a sale for granted.  If you can justify it, you can sell it.  Make sure you can justify your proposal…and make double-sure your client is following.  Presumptions derail the best plans.

But sometimes a client simply doesn’t get it.  You can justify your sale perfectly, but they cannot see it.  Or perhaps they will not see it.

Perhaps they don’t have the resources or understanding…maybe they don’t see the need…possibly they are intimidated.  A variety of hidden issues can prevent the sale.  Rarely is it the stated objection.  And you can bet your last dollar if the client is trying to out-think you, you don’t have agreement.  He’s looking for holes, he’s looking for an out.

When you get to this point, you have lost control of your sales call.  It happens to the best of us, but in the end it is how you recover that matters.

Sometimes a dud is a dud and you’re not going to make a sale.  In cases like this look at how you failed to pre-qualify your lead and set the agenda.  “Will you be ready to do business with me if what we talk about makes sense to your business?”  Then make sure you’re presenting features and benefits of your product to answer that question in the affirmative.

But again…sometimes you just don’t make the sale.  Sometimes you don’t have what the prospect wants or needs.  Sometimes someone outsells you.  These are facts.  Wasting time, however, is something you can learn to control.

If you start to lose your prospect, as I did, and he wastes your time, you have to act to cut your losses.  Determine if you need to stay in the game.  Sometimes it is simply a matter of being frank.   Tonight my lead imploded before my eyes.  I recognized that, but chose to hang on and play along instead of regaining control.

Legitimate concerns and questions…yes, of course, you answer those, they reinforce your sale.  Those are good.  Overcoming objections is a salesman’s job and it shouldn’t be a game.  It is straight forward.  Let experience and your own understanding tell you when you’re in an incoherent loop.

Many times you have bring the client back to why you met in the first place.  “Can you still see how this can help your business?”  Or maybe call the question:  “I don’t think you understand.  Do you mind if I ask if there is something you haven’t told me that is raising these questions now?”

I generally believe if you’re still talking, you’re still selling, meaning dialogue is good.  If you’re client is asking and answering questions, you’re still in the hunt.  But if you are simply chasing scattered “yeah buts”, that isn’t a very meaningful hunt.  Stop wasting your time.

As far as this sales call is concerned, I will call this client again.  I won’t expect him to call me.  I will ask if he’s thought more about the proposal.  Yes?  No?  Can I answer any questions?  If he refuses, I will send a short letter thanking him for his time, hit on a key benefit of our proposal, and ask him to give us an opportunity to work together.   He will be in my future follow up file.

There are many, many other leads out there.

It Feels Like a Bad Date

Let me write from a perspective I know a little something about:  Bad dates.

I have been on the receiving end — and the giving end — of far too many bad dates and I have strong opinions about them.  They should be avoided, obviously, but if you get caught unguarded, a bad date should end.

I feel so strongly about it, in fact, that if you had been on a date with me and wondered where I went…I simply thought I was a bad date and I decided to spare you the pain.

Now consider this:  When we watch Republicans campaign today, what are we experiencing if we are not experiencing something tantamount to a bad date?  Are we being courted by the candidate or not?  Campaigning Republicans epitomize the bad date.  Who in their right mind would put up with it?

Picture a Republican campaign speech or debate.  Now picture a bad date.  Do the two meld into one?  They do for me.  It doesn’t take a deep imagination to see that this is true.  (Even a Republican can understand it if he or she had the propensity for understanding.)

Go to a GOP campaign rally or watch a debate.  These aren’t only bad dates, they’re stalking freaks!  (I won’t comment on whether I have a first-hand perspective regarding the latter.)

Like a bad date, these tiresome bores cannot shut up.  Even obviously failing candidates (e.g., Bachmann, Paul) make stage appearances acting as if we care.  And their flailing efforts are incessant.  They won’t let you grab the check and go home; they want YOU to believe THEY still have a chance.

What motivates them to believe?  Have you ever seen such a hapless lot?

Good lord.  Look at them!  Where is the style?  The panache?  The promised personality?

Republicans and bad dates alike show no signs of that sort of thing.  Boring, dull, and dressed like a college basketball coach.  You know it when you see it.  It just isn’t your thing.  I’m not sure about you, but I like something more than blue suits and red ties or red dresses and pearls.  The two-dimensional lack of substance and depth might be superficial, but when it comes to Republicans you can indeed judge the man (or woman) by his style.  In this case, the conservative cardboard look fits the bill, giving the classic grey flannel suit a bad rap.

But I’ll try to be fair and somewhat less boorish…so I’ll move on.

Recall an occassion when your date talked endlessly on and on and on about something you could care absolutely nothing about.  First off you didn’t really believe your date was both captain of the football team and the prom queen, for example, but you politely nod and smile anyway.  Isn’t that kind of like a Republican telling you about his or her record?

And what is worse on a date than hearing your date talk about how bad his or her last relationship was?  “I’m such an easy girl to date, but Johnny never made me feel special…”  That sort of thing.  Soon you start to feel sorry for Johnny, right?

I want to suggest that just as you can judge a bad date, you can likewise judge bad politics. If a candidate is nothing but blame, chances are good a lot of blame belongs with the candidate. In the case of Republicans today, we have a very, very bad — and even delusional — date. (Stay away from the crazies! My attorney has scolded me more than once.)

Democrats ruined everything.  Republicans, as they tell it, were the “low-maintenance” steady part the past’s bad relationships.  Problems today?  Oh no, not their fault, not their problem.  This, of course, is all about the bad things other people did.  Bad, bad, bad.  Them, them, them.

An important bad date corollary to blaming others is to bestow undue credit.  If the previous relationship was bad, the future is just grand.  You know the type….family is perfect, job is perfect, friends are perfect, pet is perfect…everything you cannot see and touch is perfect.  And they talk on and on and on and on about this.  Am I right?  Of course I am.

Now consider this in the context of GOP politics.  Everything is perfect.  In place of the perfect family, you have Ronald Reagan, the kindly old uncle who passed away “but you would have loved him.”  In place of the job you have big-spending donors and their think tanks.  Standing for friends are the brainwashed minions drooling in the audience.  And the pet?  How many candidates don’t have a spouse?

Finally, and most tiresome of all, is the date that simply talks and talks as if they have something important to say.  Again, listen to a debate.  It amazes me that a guy like Rick Perry can screw it up.  All these guys have is the same answer to everything.  On a GOP date, all the talk is tax cuts and job creators, whatever those things might be.

“My cabbage is rotten.”

“Cut taxes!”

“I have cancer.”

“Support the ‘Job Creators’”

These people appear to believe their childish myths very much in the way that a coddled misanthrope believes he was once both football captain and prom queen.  It doesn’t matter that he knows nothing about what he’s talking about or that most of it is a lie, he likes the story, he likes the lie, and he’s convinced you will like it too.  Doesn’t that sound like a bad date who relentlessly praises himself?

Of course there’s another and more convincing way to look at this, too, but to see that we need to turn to Josef Goebbels and the Big Lie.  If you’re going to tell a lie, tell and big one and tell it often.  Eventually enough of it will stick.

And who hasn’t been on a date with a liar?  We all have!  The difference is these are just dates and most of us walk away from them.  It might cost us a $50 and that’s it.

The GOP…well, they want to move in!…and that is not what you want.  Think again of a bad date.  Would you want that bad date moving in?  No, of course not.  Why would you want anyone as equally flawed doing so?

Live intelligently.  Don’t vote Republican.

Related articles

• New at Reason: The GOP Presidential Online Dating Game (reason.com)
• America to Republicans: We’re Not Going Down That Road with You (slog.thestranger.com)
• 2012 Should Be About Ideas, Not GOP Star Power (usnews.com)

Don’t Underestimate the Hassle…

My computer went kaput Thursday night. After a small investment at a computer repair shop, I am slowly getting back on track. There’s still plenty of work to do. A lot of software to be loaded, for example. But perhaps the biggest hassle are all the account passwords and settings and things like that which need to be found and re-set. In a word, it stinks.

In fact I am now testing a new-to-me version of WordPress that popped up when I reset my password and such here. I’m not sure what this is, but it appears to be a stripped down version of my primary WordPress dashboard for quick, short posts. I’m simply babbling here to test it out.

And to warn you…back up all of your precious files, save and store your passwords, and it might not be a bad idea to keep a list of the programs, applications, and things that you use every day.

Finally…I don’t know why I hate to say it (probably because Google kind of creeps me out with all of its simplicity)…but having a Google account does indeed make restoring a lot of your internet information (bookmarks, contacts, etc.) very, very easy.

Now that I am back, look for more good things here soon. Until then, scroll down through this blog and find something good to read. And tell all your friends and family to do the same.