Play ‘Em Like You Got ‘Em

I think it’s time for all of us to begin treating our collective economic challenges like my mother did when she played cards. A little explanation is in order.

When I was a teenager and young adult, my parents, grandmother and I frequently spent evenings playing “500,” a trick-taking card game, something like bridge or euchre.

As Wikipedia describes, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/500_(card_game)) the standard “500” deck contains 43 playing cards: a Joker is included, and the 2s, 3s, and two 4s (typically the black ones) are removed. Cards are dealt to each of the four players and three are dealt face down on the table to form the kitty (also known as the widow or blind.) Players play in pairs.

After the deal, players call in turn, electing either to bid or to pass. A bid indicates the combined number of tricks the bidder believes he and his partner will take and the suit that will be trump for that hand, or that there will be no trump suit. For instance, a bid of “seven spades” indicates that the player intends to win seven or more tricks with spades being the trump suit, whereas a bid of “seven no-trumps” indicates that the player intends to win seven or more tricks with no trump suit (in which case the only trump card is the joker).

The goal is for the team who wins the bid to take at least as many tricks as they bid. Points are awarded according to the number of tricks taken and the suit. For example, 6 spade tricks earn 40 points, while 6 hearts is scored as 100. Both diamonds and hearts are more valuable than spades or clubs. The first team to reach 500 is declared the winner.

Now, my mother was a fierce competitor. She and I typically teamed up and she wanted to win! About the second or third hand of the game, she would look over at my dad (who always served as scorekeeper) and say “Honey, how many tricks do I need to win?” Dad would check his sheet and announce something like “8 hearts.” Mom would quickly quip, “I’m bidding 8 hearts.” About this time, my heart would nearly stop because, invariably, all I had in my hand were spades and clubs.

But no matter. She’d say, “Ok… we’re going to play ‘em like we got ‘em.” It didn’t matter what we had in our hands, we were going to win. And by being creative, taking risks and generally just acting like we were on top of our game, we usually were.

While the recession is supposed to be over, I think our collective psyche is still paralyzed by the fear that we’re only holding spades and clubs, when what we need are diamonds and hearts. It’s time to take some risks – time for banks to fund business loans, for companies to make acquisitions or invest in capital projects (and thus create jobs and hire additional employees), for our elected officials to stop bickering and for individuals who have money in their wallets to open them and start spending those green backs.

So, how about it? Let’s play ‘em like we got ‘em. Let’s act like winners!

www.thecapstonegrp.com

How Big?

When I was a child, my mother used to laugh because I used the word ‘million” to express everything from how much homework I had (a “million pages”) to how many birds were sitting on a wire. It was a number that meant, “too big to count.”

Recently I’ve been reading I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America after Twenty Years Away (http://tinyurl.com/yaqnuae) by Bill Bryson (author of A Walk in the Woods). Published in 1999, it’s a compilation of a series of articles he wrote for Night & Day magazine, the Sunday supplement to London’s Mail on Sunday.

In his chapter called “The Numbers Game” he talks about how big numbers are simply beyond what we are capable of grasping. He uses the federal deficit as a way of explaining how large a trillion is. In 1999, the deficit was $4.5 trillion (today it’s roughly $12 trillion).

Bryson says “Imagine you were in a vault filled with dollar bills and that you were told you could keep each one you initialed. Say, too, for the sake of argument that you could initial one dollar bill per second and that you worked straight through without ever stopping. How long do you think it would take to count a trillion dollars?…You would make $1,000 every 17 minutes. After 12 days of nonstop effort you would acquire your first $1 million. Thus it would take you 120 days to accumulate $10 million and 1,200 days – something over three years – to reach $100 million. After 31.7 years you would be a billionaire…But not until after 31,709.8 years would you count your trillionth dollar (and even then you’d be less than one-fourth of the way through the pile of money representing America’s debt.”)

Now, my commentary is not meant to be a political statement. It’s only meant to demonstrate how much a trillion is. Initialing dollar bills as Bryson suggests would take a person more than 120,000 years to get through our national debt. Or, by my calculations 2,000 people could each spend 60 years nonstop.

In fact, a trillion pieces of paper laid end-to-end would stretch from the earth to the sun … and back … with a lot of paper to spare. One trillion seconds is much, much longer than recorded history. A million minutes ago was just under two years. A billion minutes ago was just after the time of Christ.

One trillion is literally a 1 with 12 zeros. Scientists estimate that the Milky Way has somewhere between 100 and 400 billion. Imagine that you could see all of them and then realize how many more a trillion would be!  

Talk about being too big to count or wrap your head around!

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A Good Idea or Just Free Advice?

Finding a job has never been more difficult. Simply applying seems equally challenging.

I’ve been on both sides of the hiring desk – sometimes the applicant and sometimes the employer. And, yes, for some jobs, I gave a test. When I was hiring a research analyst, I would narrow my field of candidates down to the top five or so and then give the finalists a set of data to see what they would do with it. In an hour, could they separate the wheat from the chafe? Could they make sense of the numbers, draw conclusions and express them in well-crafted and thoughtful language?

While I gave this test to only the best of the bunch, not as part of my initial screening criteria, I am hearing from colleagues today that they’re being asked to submit marketing or business plans, develop strategy or design a website from the ground-up – all before even getting the first interview!

Fellow blogger, Matthew E. Berger at Sphere, writes about Hannah Reed, 22, who applied for a part-time administrative position with The New Teacher Project in Oakland, CA. She was asked to answer mock e-mails from potential clients, which required research into the organization, and to create a plan for an educational event. Was she hired? No.

As Berger notes, “Reed’s experience highlights a new fact of life for those on the losing end of a labor market where every ‘help wanted’ ad can draw a flood of interest, and fewer people wait on the other end to read all the resumes. More and more, recruiters and hiring managers are asking prospective employees to complete lengthy assignments before they will even be considered for an interview.”

It’s true such screening techniques illuminate those with poor writing or critical thinking skills and perhaps reduce the number of resumes to a more manageable number. It’s also true that applicants are given the opportunity to showcase their talents and business or scientific acumen.

However, for someone looking for a job and who knows that it will take hundreds of applications to even snag an interview, these prerequisites are undoubtedly daunting. Spend 20 or 30 hours on an assignment and then still not get an interview?

Are these exercises really meant to screen candidates or are they just a repository of free advice? How many of the submitted ideas will become part of the hiring organization’s marketing plan or training curriculum or web content? Makes one wonder.

www.thecapstonegrp.com

Into a Quiet Place

My regular readers may have noticed that I did not post last week. That’s because I was camping on the desert in Anza Borrego. For those who do not know this place, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California. Named for the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and the Spanish name borrego, or bighorn sheep, this area with five-hundred miles of dirt roads, 12 wilderness areas and miles of hiking trails provides visitors with a chance to see wildflowers (after spring rains), palm groves, sweeping vistas, and all manner of wildlife.

For me, the desert, with its spectacular sunrises and sunsets, is a very quiet place. This particular visit, my husband and I were the sole campers in the area of Palm Canyon where we chose to set up. The stillness was broken only by the sound of a covey of quail warning of the approach of a pair of coyotes and the scurrying footfalls of two kangaroo mice and their brood of quadruplets.

I tend not to write about religious themes, but in the quiet, God, Yahweh, the Creator is very close. I understand why the Israelites needed to wander in the desert for 40 years, why Jesus sought solace there and why Native Americans consider it a sacred place.  

Some people are frightened by the idea of absolute quiet. We live in a world of noise – of cell phones ringing, TVs and radios blaring, cars honking, heavy machinery toiling to build roads and highways, dogs barking, children crying, people arguing.

Mo Rocca recently did a piece about noise (http://tinyurl.com/njsueh). He noted how the world keeps getting noisier; how we’re simply drowning in the din and ruckus of everyday life; and how the noise drowns out our power to listen to ourselves, simply making it impossible for us to hear ourselves think above the din.

Are you looking for a bit of quiet and solitude? Perhaps you can’t go to the desert today. But you can find everyday moments of peace and stillness. Take a walk in a nearby park or beach without your iPod; silence all your tech gadgets for an hour or two, watch the sun come up…or go down, work in the garden, sit in a comfortable chair and read a book.

How do you feel about being quiet? Where do you go?

www.thecapstonegrp.com

Completely Random Musings

Generally I write about a single topic – typically something about communication, change, strategic business planning or corporate culture. A few times I have provided commentary, such as last week’s post about drowning in clutter or the series “Who’s Counting” and “Throw ‘Em a Bone.” 

This week has no theme. I’ll be filing it under commentary. But truly, it’s just a set of random thoughts, links, and recommendations.

Websites – I’m new to designing sites, but I’m an advanced user and know what I like. I want to be able to easily read the text. I may be a baby boomer, but I’m one of those rare ones who can still easily read 6 pt type. So, I’m not personally concerned about that as much as the color choices for background and fonts. Please make sure the text is actually visible on the color background you have chosen. Oh, and those embedded flourishes…they obscure the text. You do want me to see it, don’t you? Other pet peeves: broken links, overused stock images and auto-played music.

For a perspective about the most used and abused web design trends of all time, you might want to check out this post http://bit.ly/BSfQ7 by Jacqueline Thomas. 

$60,000 Jobs Going Unfilled – Several times in recent days I have heard or read about high paying jobs that are going unfilled. According to economists quoted by http://tinyurl.com/ye68pz8, “the main problem is a mismatch between available work and people qualified to do it. Millions of jobs with attractive pay and benefits that once drew legions of workers to the auto industry, construction, Wall Street and other sectors are gone, probably for good. And those who lost those jobs generally lack the right experience for new positions popping up in health care, energy and engineering…It’s become especially hard to find accountants, health care workers, software sales representatives, actuaries, data analysts, physical therapists and electrical engineers, labor analysts say.”

Really? I agree that one can’t become a nurse or an electrical engineer over night. But I know dozens of highly educated, intensely qualified individuals who are currently out of work and whose skills would be easily transferred to other positions or industries. Come on employers. Be creative. Adjust your thinking. You won’t be disappointed.

Can’t Wait to Taste that Pumpkin Pie? – You may have to. Did you know there is a pumpkin shortage? Oh, no, Charlie Brown! Bad weather ruined many patches this year. About 1/3, in fact. Some places like Indiana and Iowa don’t have any canned pumpkin on their shelves and few of the big orange globes either. If you haven’t already purchased your supplies for Thanksgiving, you might want to do so soon. And for that carved Jack O’ Lantern, be prepared in some locations to pay more.

Need Some Inspiration? – Every morning after I check Facebook and Twitter, I click on Jack’s Winning Words (http://jackswinningwords.blogspot.com/). This retired minister posts a quote each day and adds a few thoughts of his own. A few of my favorites: “The problem with people who have no vices is that generally they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues.” (Elizabeth Taylor); “Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.” (Hugh MacLeod); “Never insult an alligator until you’ve crossed the river.” (Oriental Proverb); “The future has a way of arriving unannounced.” (George Will); and my favorite, “Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded.” (Jess Lair)

A Fabulous and Cheap Discovery – Have you tried Swai? What the heck is it, you ask? Swai is a tasty fish, with a delicate texture and nice white flesh that is native to Southeast Asia – Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Beyond being delicious by itself, it is the perfect foundation for any number of sauces and toppings. It holds up under baking, frying, broiling and remains moist throughout. And, besides being incredibly versatile, it is dirt cheap. I find it in my local Henry’s and Ralph’s all the time for less than $3/lb. Last night, I first dredged two fillets in a combination of seasoned flour and grated parmesan, lightly browned in a little butter, then placed in a baking dish. To the leftover butter and topping in the pan, I added the juice of two lemons and 2 Tbs. of capers.  Once heated, I poured over the fish and baked for 20 minutes at 350. Delicious!   

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Drowning in Stuff

My husband and I have too much stuff. Now, I know this may sound odd because his business is “stuff.” As an antique dealer (www.vinshoppe.com), he’s constantly on the prowl for heirlooms and treasures. One afternoon recently when I was working his shop, a customer and I got into a conversation about the early pioneers who settled the West. Everything they owned – everything – had to fit into a wagon that was typically 10’ by 3 1/2’.  We’re talking about bedding, food, clothing, cooking utensils, weapons, tools, and perhaps a few luxuries.

Who could do that today? Most Americans, even those of modest means, have more stuff than they could use in ten lifetimes. We are all drowning in our own homes and apartments surrounded by so many things we do not need and rarely use. Attics, basement, closets and rented storage units are full of clothes that no longer fit, pasta machines, Grandma’s old dishes, ice cream makers, electric juicers, holiday decorations, crock pots, waffle makers, and on and on.

For the last several months, I have been helping to clean out the house of a relative who passed away. Henry Van Dyke, American clergyman, educator, and author’s quote about “What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else” is constantly on my mind. Did our relative really need a case of window cleaner? Or dozens of sets of towels? Or every item of clothing purchased in the last 30 years?

It seems to me that once we’ve accumulated a certain amount of stuff beyond what we really need, the stuff begins to own us. As fellow blogger Paul Graham (www.paulgraham.com/stuff.html) wrote, “I know of one couple who couldn’t retire to the town they preferred because they couldn’t afford a place there big enough for all their stuff. Their house isn’t theirs; it’s their stuff’s.”

Paul goes on to say that “The worst…may be stuff you don’t use much because it’s too good. Nothing owns you like fragile stuff. For example, the ‘good china’ so many households have, and whose defining quality is not so much that it’s fun to use, but that one must be especially careful not to break it.”

Even though, I am quite organized and my husband can always find a space for this or that, I find a house full of stuff – mine or others – to be rather depressing. And, it’s not even that easy to sell or give away the items we no longer use. Have you seen all the items on ebay? So much of it isn’t even receiving bids. Yes, we can blame the current poor economy for some lag in sales, but I think more and more people are realizing they have what they need. Landfills are becoming the repository for everything they don’t.

Don’t get me wrong, though. I am not ant-consumerism. I am 100% for the free market economy. Plus, I majored in marketing! I am just thinking about the saying “tread lightly upon the earth.” I wish I were doing a better job of that. How about you?

www.thecapstonegrp.com

Throw ‘Em a Bone, Ok?

Last week in my piece about the many self-employed individuals who have seen their businesses slow or dry up completely, I also wrote about the millions excluded from the latest unemployment rate because they have given up the search for work.

And why did they stop? It’s simple. They became discouraged.

Michael Luo in his Sept. 7 NY Times article (http://tinyurl.com/lnuxtx) shares the story of Rick Alexander, a master carpenter who had run his own successful home-restoration business for 28 years. After moving to Florida to take care of his ailing parents, he began applying for jobs. He devoted eight hours a day to the task, sometimes sending out three or four applications a day.

Mr. Alexander began a targeted search for jobs in construction, and then branched out to lumberyards and other wholesalers, Home Depot, Lowe’s and finally for “everything under the sun,” including the overnight shift at convenience stores. Eventually he stopped looking.

As he noted to Luo, “There are thousands of people applying for every job I’m looking at, and potential employers won’t even give me the courtesy of acknowledging I applied.”

There are legitimate reasons why an employer will ignore a particular candidate. A weak resume (poorly crafted with grammatical and spelling mistakes), lack of experience in the discipline being sought, and geographic location (often there’s no economic justification for moving someone across country) are some of these reasons.

But I personally know people who are extremely well qualified, who match a job description perfectly, and expend the effort to tailor their resumes so that they mirror the potential employer’s search criteria. And, still nothing. The resume, application, cover letter, work examples disappear into a black hole. Were the materials received? Who knows?

I have a couple of suggestions. Employers and recruiters, please use an automated email system to thank potential candidates for their application and perhaps provide an application number and a promise to follow up in the future if you are interested. While some companies have a system like this, many do not. It’s a simple piece of programming. But it’s a tremendous reassurance for those who have just pushed “send.”

And, please think about the person behind the resume. Yes, there’s spam. But the majority of inquiries are from legitimate people who want to work. Can you put yourself in their position? What response would you want? Is there anything you can tell them about your hiring and decision process that would help in a future search? Throw ‘em a bone, ok?

For those looking for work, it’s important for your resume to be electronically compatible (despite the black hole). It will likely be scanned whether you send it by email or snail mail. Be sure to include as many appropriate keywords or skill words in it as possible. A very good set of tips on this topic can be found at http://www.careerplaybook.com/guide/resume.asp.

And, job seekers, don’t just rely on a resume. Yes, it’s a tool that must be well honed. But get out there and “meet and greet.”  Remember the adage, “It’s not what you know, it’s who.”

www.thecapstonegrp.com

Who’s Counting?

The first in a two-part series

Michael Luo’s Sept. 7 NY Times article (http://tinyurl.com/lnuxtx) points out that millions of people were excluded from the latest unemployment rate, as they are every month – folks who are not counted in the rate because they have simply stopped looking for work. Not because they didn’t want a job, but because they are just too discouraged (or perhaps realistic) to keep searching.

The latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the unemployment rate to be at 9.7% in August, a figure that is much higher in states like Michigan (15%), Nevada (nearly 13%), and here in California (just shy of 12%). To be included in these figures, a worker must be actively engaged in finding a job at some point in the preceding four weeks.

In addition to the official unemployment count, the BLS estimates that there were approximately 758,000 “discouraged” workers nationally, compared with 349,000 in November 2007 (just prior to the start of the Great Recession).

While these figures are startling enough, they do not include a group that no one in the government or media seems to be covering – the self employed. I’m talking about the beautician, the small shop owner, the gardener, or the communications consultant. Since these people cannot file for unemployment when their business slows or dries up, they are not part of the statistics. And, there are countless entrepreneurs in this camp.

It’s true that the self-employed may, for awhile, have some business. The beauty shop owner whose clients now come once every three months, instead of monthly, still has a stream of income. But shop rental and many other expenses tend to remain flat, so that ultimately, the business which once supported the owner is now in the red and unsustainable.

Walk through the business section of many cities and small towns. How many “Going out of Business” signs do you see on the small boutiques, the independent book stores, the resale shops? I bring these examples up, not to further depress our national psyche, but to just point out a huge group of entrepreneurs who are not being counted in BLS data.

What can be done? Probably not much on a macro level until the economy turns around. But if you’re employed or if you operate a business that’s still doing ok, think about the “uncounted.” Get that haircut. Buy that nice antique liqueur set. Talk to the web designer about updating your site or teaching you how to capitalize on the social media scene. Do strategic planning now so you’ll be ahead of the recovery curve. Some small business owner will thank you!

Next week: Throw ‘Em a Bone, ok?

www.thecapstonegrp.com