What happens when attention spans hit zero?

“This is taking too long.  I’m bored.” – overheard from a participant in a recent 50 minute workshop

I just presented at a string of conferences and meetings, and a disquieting trend is headed our way.  Our collective attention span is trending toward a smaller number every day. Now?  10 seconds.  Soon?  Zero.

I would have said this is changing every year, but this is happening faster than that.  I’m well equipped to keep up, as I am probably slightly ADD, but it means we will have to shift how work is defined, and how people are a part of organizations.  It also puts pressure on me, the presenter, to keep moving, keep changing, and turning up the entertainment part of my platform skills.

We will also need to face facts – the speed of adaptive abilities will become a differentiator between organizations.  There are people who are not wired with short attention spans, and they need to be in positions that reward exactly that.  Every pot has a lid, and management will need to add attention span to the core competencies that fit modern jobs.

And, in the modern world, this is about the right length for a blog post.

Tomorrow, slightly shorter.

Back in the day, this was pretty high tech. No auto correct, no cursor, and you had to THINK before you committed a letter to paper, as there was no turning back…

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HOW Many calories for a small Chocolate shake? AAAAH.

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Another step toward the Supreme Court

Why can’t we just get there faster?

The next step in deciding the constitutionality of the key provision of Health Insurance Reform took another step this week.  I was in Cincy speaking on the subject, and the Federal Court in Richmond, VA spanked the lawsuit brought by VA’s Attorney General and Liberty University and threw it out. 

The full story can be read in the Richmond Paper here.

We all know that it will end up with the Supremes, and we know it will be next year.  We need a faster answer – as we know, business wants to know the result, quickly.  They want the punch line first, not a long, slow buildup that serves no purpose…

Business wants the answer, now.

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Thoughts from watching a Scooter get towed

No, it’s not a metaphor or the title of a book…

So, a Turquoise Blue scooter spent two weeks in a prime parking spot in our office parking lot until yesterday.  Justice descended in the form of a very large and imposing tow truck, ordered to remove the offending vehicle.  The driver was clearly puzzled.

He said this was his smallest job, but the one that was giving him the most trouble.  His rig was designed for handling 4-heel vehicles in the 2 ton range.  This was neither. 

What happens when you use the wrong tool for the job...

The tow guy said his normal hookup time was around 5 minutes – “less if it’s a repo, and the owner may have a gun…”  He struggled with this for almost an hour, finally driving off with the offending Vespa trussed like a chicken on his pickup fork.

 

The lessons?

1. Small projects are often more problematic than big ones.

2. Use the right tool for the job. 

3. Learn to pick locks and just drive it to the impound yard – think outside the box…

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An early mother’s day for turtles

I wish you were there.  I was in basic business drive mode, leaving one meeting and heading to another, putting together mental lists and checking things off.  The cars ahead suddenly swerved and slowed – clearly something in the road.  But what?

A big, hostile momma snapping turtle.  As big as a serving platter, and happy to bite off any fingers that got close to her front end.

I kept my fingers out of the way - she wasn't happy with my intervention...

The pond she lived in was on the left of 116th St.   A hill to lay her eggs on was across four lanes of traffic, and she was firmly on track to get there.  I hopped out, came up from behind, and picked her up by the shell.  Yikes – she almost got me.  But, I carried her to safety and reminded myself that Mother’s Day applies to all creatures…

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms, everywhere.

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A call for action…

Let me get straight to the point.  I have several breast cancer survivors as co-workers and good friends.  I will be walking as a part of the team at Gregory & Appel, and  I am hoping for some donations.  If you’re feeling generous, here is the link.  The entire team thanks you!

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It must be open enrollment season…

As the seasons change, benefits professionals know that the first frost happens around the same time as open enrollment.  We’re here.

Grr. Time to scrape.

I love a well-timed exit in the morning.  Hot coffee, pack a lunch, head to the office a few minutes before the morning rush.  This morning was the first frost.  Grr.  Thought I would share….had to scrape the windshield and resolve to clean out my space in the garage.  Just sharing.

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Good morning, campers! Libby Sartain starts the day

Opening session with Libby Sartain was a good fit for the conference.  I thought that the crowd was low energy at first, then I realised that everyone was listening pretty intently to the content, not needing a constant string of punch lines to stay engaged.  Good.  When a funny story was told, the laughter was there.

Libby’s message was a mix of generational issues and aligning HR with corporate strategy.  A few key points:

When you terminate people, make sure you do it in a way that you remain “friends” if at all possible.  The example she gave was of the relationship you might have with a headhunter.  You hire them, do the search, then end the arrangement with an agreement that you might work together again, or might not.  In the brave new world of the future, that is a description of the “just in time” nature of the coming workforce.

Many of her stories were from her time at Yahoo and, to a lesser extent, Southwest Airlines.  She gave examples of the hiring practices of Google (trendy and “out there” ) to Yahoo ( more “normal”) and reflected that the results produced different cultures.  Overall she said that Google probably hired more innovative thinkers, and Yahoo hired more methodical types that “get more done”  Different alignment, different cultures.

On social networking:

Social media is essential to new “consumers of work”.  When fresh MBA students were asked what would make them NOT consider a firm.  “Not being able to use Facebook at Work.”  the reason given is that their peer group and their problem solving resources are all on Facebook, and they want access to the resources they have always used.

Will Work for Peanuts - got this guy a job at Southwest. Then, he quit for more pay...

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Yerkes is in the house

Big turnout for the pre-conference legal update.  Proof that if you want to gather an HR group, offer them some inexpensive legal advice.  I’m just saying.

Making order from the chaos in a very sincere necktie

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Why marketing is killing us

Human nature is powerful.  I’m working on a wellness project, working with health benefits and nutrition to help our employees live healthier and happier lives.  This isn’t helping.  I quote from the IndyStar web page about the State Fair:  “Blake Reas freezes the butter and covers it in cinnamon before cutting it into cubes and frying it in something that’s been at the fair for years: funnel cake batter.” 

The story also discusses the doughnut hamburger and chocolate covered bacon.  Argh.  You can read the story here.

The CFO Roundtable will be meeting at the State Fair tomorrow for lunch.  Watch this space – I’ll be trying to eat food that is both tasty and healthy, if that is possible…

State Fair Food

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