Jake Greene's Blog, page 2

Friends With (Business) Benefits

 
In business as in love, the "Friends with Benefits" arrangement sounds ideal.  You just set up a little somethin' somethin' on the side without setting any expectations. It's added excitement without additional overhead.  No commitment.  In theory, it sounds perfect.

In reality, the FwB thing rarely works out.  Sure, it starts out great – you get together once a week, mess around a little bit, talk about how clever you both are, etc.  Unfortunately, as time goes on things go wrong.  Someone get

Phones Still Work.

Memo to Gen Y: Do not fear the phone. 

Unlike floppy disks, Folgers Crystals, typewriters, and videotapes, the telephone is not an artifact from a previous professional era. The telephone is still useful, so get comfortable with it.

I know, I know, the phone is so inefficient.  Texting is simpler and email reaches more people at once.  However, in the event that you need to communicate with one person directly, the phone is still #1.

Cosider the following two sentences:

I left you a voicemail.

Rush Hour Radio Blues

Is rush hour radio better than it used to be?

 

 

When I first graduated from college and took a 9-5, I remember thinking that rush hour radio (e.g. “Morning Rush Music” and “5 O’clock Rock Block”) was incredibly lame.  It was all early ‘80’s “Whip it” garbage and over-played tracks from The Eagles and The Police. 

 

 

Lately, however, I feel like the lineups are improving.  Last week, while driving through rush hour in Los Angeles, I was pleasantly surprised with the radio play list.  “Summert

CorporateToolz for the Summer

I am happy to report that, after a 5 month break (while my partners moved to Abu Dhabi) new CorporateToolz cartoons are on the way.  The new website isn't quite ready, but I will let you know when it is.

In the meantime, here's a new sketch.  I hope it doesn't bring up too many vivid memories of office-parties-gone-awkward...

 

When Professional and Social Networks Collide (Questions Arise)

For the past few months, I have been traveling around the Southeast and Midwest, helping Gen X and Baby Boomer executives develop social networking strategies for their businesses.

The following is a list of the most common questions my partners and I have heard during our sessions:

1. Who really cares about social networking?
Answer:  Several million more people than last week. This is a fairly odd question, given that the inquisitor registered for our event, but it comes up in every city.   

10 Soul-Searching Career Questions

Be honest…

1. Would you rather be wealthy or memorable?

2. Do you want a job that you think about after work?

3. Would you like to be the smartest person at your office?

4. At what age would you like your “Most Exciting Career Moment” to take place?

5. Could you fire your closest colleague at work?

6. If you had to quit your career and start over in a different industry, what would it be?

7. Would you rather be in demand for the depth of your expertise or the breadth of your versatility?   

8

"Green" is the new "Goth"

Last season, South Park did a brilliant episode about Vampire Kids.  Twilight (the movie) was huge and all the preppy kids at South Park Elementary began dressing like vampires, wearing fangs, and drinking fake blood.

The craze infuriated the “Goth” kids of South Park, who had been wearing eye-makeup and trench coats long before the vampire trend.  All of a sudden they were being referred to as “Vamp” along with all the posers.  Nobody cared about their genuine commitment to darkness because da

Desperate Times Call For Direct Advice

VH1’s newest trashy dating show, “Tough Love”, has me feeling inspired this week.

Like most of VH1’s dating shows, the casting on “Tough” is brilliant and there are plenty of “Oh no she didn’t” moments.  However, what sets this show apart from its predecessors is the host, Steve Ward.  Say what you will about the man-scaped, East Coast, frat-boy matchmaker, but the dude gets to the point.  His advice may be blunt, impolite, and controversial, but he gets the attention of his desperate and delu

Drive for Better Ideas

I believe in the idea-generating power of road trips.  There’s something about the open road that invites inspiration. Throughout my career (and college before that) many of my best ideas have surfaced while I was doing 79 in between Nashville and Atlanta, Minneapolis and Madison, or San Francisco and Reno.

I think I’ve figured out why.

The following is a list of reasons why lightening is more likely to strike in the car than in the office. 

1. My brain is free to wander down the road.
Removing

First Rule of Business Presentations: Don’t Aim For Lame

The following three things are guaranteed to make me tune out and start daydreaming:

1.  Dinner conversations involving 401k allocation and/or wedding dresses
2.  Group musical numbers on American Idol
3.  Bullet points that appear/disappear via Power Point’s “spiral in” and “fly out” animated features.

All three items on this list are incredibly lame.  Luckily, the first two are avoidable.  The third, unfortunately, is an everyday part of my white-collar world. 

In my line of work (author/spe