Phineas is a nine-year-old parrott and has a life expectancy of about 60 years. All pets should live so long. Phineas is attempting to do a hand-stand despite not having hands. A real trooper. The woman in the background is probably not a bird person. [flickr]
Office walls memo
The official memo hit my in-box today. If I read it correctly, there will be no un-approved “stuff” on the walls of our offices. No John Wayne or Elvis life-size cardboard cutouts. No B. B. King posters. Nothing. Just plain, white (or beige) walls. I understand why this is necessary but can’t help feeling that something has been lost.
Steve Mays West
Just spent a fascinating two hours drinking beer with Steve Mays (we agreed that–when in Seattle– I would be the “other” Steve Mays). He’s a 42 year old attorney. Married. Child free. (Like me). He had a very successful radio career that started in Oklahoma City and wound up in San Francisco. (Sort of like me, except for the success part). He went to law school. Like me. But instead of dropping out after three months, he graduated and has a small but successful practice here in Seattle. And next week he joins a software company as in-house council.
Sitting in the bar waiting for him felt uncomfortably like a blind date. But after we sucked down a few of the delicious Seattle micro-brews, it was like…two guys with the same name. I was a little amazed at how much we had in common besides our name. My plan is to track down *all* of the Steve Mays’ and see what they’re like.
Jonathan Schwartz on executive blogging
Jonathan Schwartz –president and COO of Sun Microsystems– on executive blogging:
“If you want to be a leader, I can’t see surviving without a blog. It’s as important as having an e-mail account and a mobile phone. It doesn’t count if you delegate the task of maintaining your blog to someone on your staff.”
Schwartz says that too often, communicating with employees and business partners is like a game of telephone. You speak to a group of people close to you, and they speak to their teams, and so on and so on. With a blog, “you hop through 12 layers of management to get directly to someone in New Zealand.” It also opens up a channel for receiving feedback and ideas from that employee in New Zealand.” [Fast Company]
I have been (gently) lobbying the COO of our company to consider blogging. He’s a smart and funny guy (neither necessary for blogging) and would be very good at it. But it is a bit like having a puppy. A lot of work and sometimes messy.
Perfect Day in Seattle
No-sweat e-ticket check-in. Barely had time to take off my shoes before I was through security. Zero delay on the flight to Seattle. And now I’m sitting in the bar of the Edgewater Hotel, sucking down micro-brews (and free wi-fi). Christ, can life get any better?
On Wednesday, I’m meeting The Other Steve Mays for drinks. Tomorrow we do Pike Place Market. Watch for photos.