I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the power of words in our work. Not just how we write but also what we say about the people and communities we serve. This thinking goes beyond the people-first language approach, which is critical for writing or speaking in a way that does not label or stigmatize a community. This thinking has also challenged me to examine the ways I talk …
Random
It doesn’t take any real level of scholarship to understand Mississippi has struggled with equity since it was granted statehood more than two centuries ago. That trend has continued with the state’s latest—and honestly feeble—attempt to address the disproportionate economic and social toll the COVID-19 pandemic is exacting on Black Mississippians, who represent nearly 40 percent of the state’s population. It’s important to keep that number in mind. Forty …
Inspiration is the good friend who sends the unexpected but perfectly timed text message or DM. This morning I noticed a police car idling in the parking lot. My lived experience and recent history urged caution and concern. Curiosity (and chores – I had to sweep the front steps) urged me to investigate. What I saw was as striking as it was inspiring. The officer ( I wish I …
What remains is contradiction: We must believe in the dream and we must accept that it is false—then, perhaps, we will be capable of building a land where it will yet be true. These are the words of Gareth Cook, shared at the end of his recent article on accomplished economist Raj Chetty in the August 2019 issue of The Atlantic. Cook explores the corners of Chetty’s version of …
It seems like a new study comes out every day about something. Theories are posited. Hypotheses are proven or disproven. Claims are made, then retracted. It can all be a bit confusing. However, over the past fifteen years, one piece of data has remained persistently and painfully true. There is a huge chasm in exposure and opportunity for children based purely upon their socioeconomic status. A recent episode of Innovation …
A few years back I scrolled across an article that I am still not one hundred percent sure is real, but it made me think about mandatory laws requiring spouses to disclose cosmetic plastic surgery before marriage. Much like my last story, I’ll give you some history followed by my thoughts. The History: Years ago, I read an article that detailed how a man was divorcing and suing his wife …
Later is a creeping, cunning, Siren-Decepticon. Later has this tricky way of shape shifting into something else entirely. The word “later” is actually an adjective AND an adverb (already doing The Most). It slinks through our vernacular, modifying whatever it can get its hands on: nouns, verbs, adjectives, even other adverbs. As in other situations, in language too, a modifier is intended only to enhance or just ever so slightly …
As I scrolled through my personal Twitter feed this past weekend, I scrolled upon a post of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. The post included the above picture of Bezos sitting at a desk with one computer in a makeshift office on which the walls hung an airbrushed “Amazon.com” banner. The text attached to the picture read, “Jeff Bezos 1999. Next time you want to give up, think of this.” …
Last weekend, we had our annual team retreat in New Orleans. Yes, we actually worked while we were there. Probably because Mardis Gras hadn’t yet begun, but also because we tend to be fairly responsible professional adults. Fairly. Our home for the weekend was a partially renovated duplex near the French Quarter that had lots of character but not a lot of insulation, which meant there was liberal use of …
It’s hard to believe it has been three years since I read this New Yorker article chronicling the graphic and traumatic experience of Kalief Browder, one of the most courageous humans to ever live. We are five episodes into the six-episode Netflix series, Time: The Kalief Browder Story, and the depth and detail of Kalief’s story, especially the tale of his life post-exoneration, are troubling, tragic, and terrifying. If you have not …
Disclaimer: This post is really just way for me to share some dope new and old school hip-hop videos, but you might find something of value. Actually, you’ll definitely find some value. Enjoy. “In my city, they have a ball, but no, not me, ’cause after all, I work.” – Phonte/Foreign Exchange, Asking for a Friend Why do you go to work (check out the Kool Moe Dee video below)? No, seriously, …
How many times have you heard someone give a motivational speech and say with authority, “It’s not the destination, but the journey that matters” or “life’s a journey, not a destination”? Well, let’s say this idea is true. How does it play out? If the destination doesn’t matter, then as I’m falling off a cliff with the ground quickly rushing towards me, do I take a fraction of a second …
So, basically, all I have to say is watch these videos and shout out to GJAC. Later.
The world ends. Or at least it can feel that way. This, like many if my random revelations, has an odd derivation. I have very excited about seeing The Foreign Exchange (TFE) live at this show in Charlotte. If for some odd reason you are not a fan of The Foreign Exchange, please watch this and listen to this and then come back and finish reading this post. I’ll wait. …
I recently stumbled upon a headline on forbes.com that read “New Report: Women CEOs Make More Than Men”. This headline caught my eye… but not for the reasons you might think. You may believe some celebration is in order, however, I’m not ready to party just yet and I don’t think you should be either. I am afraid that people will read this headline rather than the entire article. Or, …
I never interned while I was in college, so I missed that whole experience. After six years, I have gained plenty of experience being on the other side of the internship equation, and as an employer (i.e. the offerer of internships), I have gleaned a few things from some extremely pleasant interns and other excruciatingly painful internship periods that may be helpful to other small businesses thinking about offering an …
Disclaimer: I usually don’t waste time writing open letters to corporations unless there is some gross violation of civil or human rights. This letter is definitely not that. However, there are some larger points that I felt could be made by sharing some of the horrible experiences I’ve had an Enterprise. To the Enterprise Holdings Leadership Team: I’ve recently had a terrible string of rental experiences at Enterprise. I want …
The Netflix series Last Chance University is arrestingly interesting. It’s also maddeningly disappointing, gut-wrenchingly frustrating, and unfortunately truthful. If I were able to watch Last Chance University for pure entertainment, like I’m sure so many people can, it wouldn’t be so difficult to accept. And although this is rather off-topic for our blog, I feel the need to share. So I will. And I’ll do my best to put a nice …
So, this is a very random post. Kind of. We devote the last 30 minutes of our day every Friday to writing (or preparing to write or thinking about writing or thinking about preparing to write – you get the picture). Unless of course our perfect world is disrupted by work, which happens from time to time (can you believe it?). As I was preparing to think about what I …
We didn’t win last week. Technically, one of our clients didn’t get the win it was seeking, but from our perspective, when one of our clients doesn’t achieve its goals we don’t achieve ours. You’ll notice that I didn’t say we, or our clients, lost. Because we didn’t lose. True, we did not get the result we were seeking last week, and that’s not something we’re happy about. We did, …
Everyone wants to go fast, but fast doesn’t always win (see Aesop’s The Tortoise and the Hare as told through this classic Walt Disney cartoon). Paul Graham outlines a basic truism for business growth in his post Startup = Growth: For a company to grow really big, it must (a) make something lots of people want, and (b) reach and serve all those people. First, your business doesn’t have to …
What does best in the world mean? Seth Godin poses that question in “The Dip” episode of his Startup School podcast. The concept of “the dip” is interesting enough to be explored at length another time, but my attention was arrested with the idea of being the best in the world. To quickly summarize, Godin defines the terms in this way and in this order: The world: the only …
Here are six surprising facts you might not already know about how the creative mind works, which can hopefully to get your own creative juices flowing: 1. Workplace clutter makes you more creative. Here’s a creativity fact Martha Stewart certainly wouldn’t agree with: clutter actually makes you more creative. Research by the University of Minnesota discovered people in a disorderly room were more creative than those in an orderly …
Creating content on a regular basis for your company’s website, blog, and social media channels is no easy task. Therefore, our strategy focuses on efficiency and effectiveness. We understand that our fans, like us, are inundated with emails, updates and countless other sources of information every day. To avoid irking them with long and seemingly useless updates, we churn out content that is simple, relevant, brief and valuable. Here are …