Performance Zen

Author: spierzchala

  • Contextual Seach from Yahoo

    I like this. And the Firefox integration is sooo easy!
    Read more here and here.

  • New Education, More Learning

    In an e-mail I had with Scott Jones last night, I talked about how I was getting an business and marketing education through some of the best minds in the world…those in the blogosphere.
    Then Kathy Sierra weighs in with some comments on upgrading your users/customers.
    That is how I am using the blogosphere. I have gained more insight, mentoring and information on sales and marketing in the last 3 months of reading and writing a blog than I likely could have through an intensive MBA program. I have been easily able to transfer this new knowledge into my day to day working life, and see what I do, what my employer does, in a whole new way.
    I have been upgraded.
    Now, imagine if you do the same with your customers. Expose them to people who are passionate about your products, people who use your products and services in innovative and exciting ways. They will see you in a whole new light.

  • Two Ships Passing in the Night

    Just before bed, I had to add this.
    Obviously, this person has not seen this.
    Would love to see his updated review!

  • Great Links for Travellers

    Looks like I may be doing a lot more travelling in the near future. Got handed a really cool research project that involves customer interviews, strategic positioning, and market research. All of the elemnts of my bag of tricks I want to exercise.
    In that vein, here are some cool tips for frequent travellers.

  • David Parmet gets Scobelized

    Check this out.
    I had something like this (much smaller scale) happen to me when Sitemeter went out.
    Sitemeter Hits

  • Why Performance Reviews are Evil

    Read this. You will understand.
    I have been lucky to be on the good side of performance reviews for most of my career. And, when I don’t have to deal with them every single hour of every single day, I lavish instense attention on those customers that I speak with, write to, and meet with. I treat them as though they are the only customer I have at that moment.
    But the other side of the coin is that the customer has to give me 100%. I have been learning that there are some customers you can’t help because they are not ready to be helped. The hard part for me is learning to say no.

  • MSN Gets CSS’d

    MSN gets new CSS driven design. [here] Substantial comments.
    Comments from an MSN Developer. [here]

  • Gmail as an RSS Feed

    Just noticed that when I went to my GMail account, the Firefox Radar Icon popped up.
    I dropped the link in FeedDemon. You can now get your new Gmail as an RSS Feed.
    Ummmm…wow. Looks like I may be one of the first to notice this…or I missed it completely the first time around.

    Yup, missed it the first time around. Can you see the giant “L” on my forehead (not brought to you by eBay).

  • Seth Godin Quote Week Continues

    Seth, who I am quoting way too often this week, has three great posts on finding a job. [here and here and here]

    I am one of these people. I have a degree in History. I work in high-tech. I can write code when I want to. I can limp around linux, Windows and pretty much and Unix-like environment. I know a fair amount about HTTP, TCP, SSL, Apache, databases, MySQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL, QA, Customer Service, Marketing, Sales and a few other things I can’t remember now.

    Macs don’t scare me.

    So, what does the work world do with a polymath generalist? Employers hate people like me, because we don’t fit a mold, a niche. I hate structured job roles. I want to achieve excellence, not mediocrity.

    I got my last job by sending an e-mail to all of the executives at the company and saying ‘Look, you need me. You will not get better without me. Hire me now.’ Two months later I was leaving the Bay Area for Massachusetts, much to the chagrin of my former employer, to join a company that created a position for me.

    I want to work for companies that do that. Companies that build themselves around key people, amazing talent, a desire for excellence.

    The growth trend of more small companies appeals to me. Hey, even a company of one can be huge.

    Thanks for the great read.

  • Windows iPod Edition

    You have to Giggle at this.
    I wonder what BGates uses…Scoble?

    Scoble uses an iPod. Hey Robert, when you move on to a portable media player that is more cool, can I snag your used iPod?