Petey’s Blog

Peggy Noonan recently wrote an article for the WSJ – American’s Crisis of Character.  To quote her “…People in politics talk about the right track/wrong track numbers as an indicator of public mood.  Only 24% of Americans feel we’re on the right track as a nation.  That’s a historic low.  Political professionals tend, understandably, to think it’s all about the economy, unemployment, foreclosures – we’re going in the wrong direction.  I’ve long thought that public dissatisfaction is about more than the economy, that it’s also about our culture, or rather the flat, brute, highly sexualized thing we call our culture.  Now I’d go a step beyond that.  I think more… Continue Reading

Chuck Ganapathi writes that our world is changing and the rules of customer service are being rewritten… With over 100,000 new blogs being created each day, every individual’s voice can be heard.  And with more ways to connect with one another people are starting to tap into the power of the online community. What does that mean for customer service organizations?  The rules are being rewritten to provide instant access and gratification of the Internet. Self service is a way of life – plus an unhappy consumer has the power to destroy a company’s brand with a single click. With on-demand, companies can deliver a fully branded, personalized customer portal… Continue Reading

That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum After returning (January 2012) from Vietnam and Cambodia I was consumed with the question of whether or not other Countries were pulling ahead of America – or if America is simply falling behind.  It is of great interest that my next selected book on tape happened to be That Used to be Us and the very first CD addressed the subject of China.  The authors point is: most people like myself with concerns about the dynamics of that country seems bigger than life may… Continue Reading

Reclaim your desk! Know what to trash and what to stash!  According to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance article,  Keep all of your old tax returns, and hang on to the supporting documents for three years after a return’s filling due date – six years if you have self-employment income (some states require records from earlier years in an audit). For more on tax –related record-keeping, see IRS publication 552, Recordkeeping for Individuals. Trash bank withdrawal and deposit slips, credit card receipts and ATM receipts once you’ve compared them with your monthly statement: paycheck stubs after you check them against your Form W-2: and monthly bills for utilities, cable and credit, unless… Continue Reading

“Focus and Balance” is the 2012 motto for a special client of mine.  Stop and think about it –  A few minutes of being focused and “getting IT done” soothes anxiety, gives you a sense of accomplishment, and generally adds to your productivity.  An old “Momism” teaches, “A stitch in time saves nine”!  In explaining it to my 5 year old granddaughter – that tiny hole in her prized ‘blankie’ would have been much easier to sew upon discovery instead of waiting until it was more of a ‘make-over’.  She now brings me mildly broken items to decide how many stitches we’ve saved. Can’t the same thing be said about… Continue Reading

If it’s time to cross over the bridge to becoming a more profitable company or organization…are YOU changing or realigning??? There’s a big difference. Change:  To make different- to put in place of something else Realign: To arrange in a straight line – to readjust alliances or working arrangements between or within groups There seems to be a general assumption that CHANGE is the answer to solving problems.  I would argue that a large percentage of time a great deal of time, effort and dollars can be saved by simply realigning the people, processes and planning you already have. For instance:  You may want to take a good look at… Continue Reading

Forgiveness and willingness to improve can take you in some wonderful new directions…

…pay attention to those friends and family closest to us. Look for the silver lining in all you have.