A Pipeline of Dreams

I passed a van with a Career Builder sign on it while walking home from my chiropractor a little while ago.  The sign said something like “Dreams have low ROI.”  I guess that’s true if you have a career path that you walk on alone.

My sales and marketing guys taught me to think in terms of a pipeline.  It’s moving things through the pipeline that creates value, they say.  I realized that was what the Career Builder sign was missing.  It’s really dreams that are flying loose, that aren’t part of a pipeline, that have low ROI.

I have a pipeline of dreams.  One just move a little closer to reality.  it took Jessica, the Vision Mover (and programmer extraordinaire) to understand it enough to say, of course we can do that.  And Heather, the Conductor (and amazing database whiz) to say, I’ve got just the program for that.  And Dr. Jack, the Curator (and resident Wizard) to unlock the doors to the vault of wisdom I want our users to have access to.  Now I know it is truly a dream moving down the pipeline.

Making a List!

I’ve never applied to be on a list.  You know, the ones that ask you what you’ve done and why you should be one of the 30 under 30 or 40 under 40 or people to watch in <insert name of city>.  So I was surprised to get a Google Alert telling me that I’m on this list: WE Magazine’s 101 Women Bloggers to Watch Fall 2008!

How cool is that?

So now I’m off to make a list of things I’ve been meaning to blog about!

We’re Playing Tag!

Bloggers are so much fun!  HR Maven blogtagged me. It’s a new game, at least to me, where you tell your readers six random things about yourself and then pass it on, along with the rules.

Here’s me:

1. Between the old stuff I’ve done and the system I architected (www.RightFitToolkit.com) I’ve assessed over 10,000 people

2. I only like metrics that are meaningful.

3. I really am working on my sixth book.  None of the others have taken this long but I didn’t have a blog then!

4. I did not learn to network until a few years ago.  Better late than never, and now I love it.

5. There is nothing better than a slab of brie and a crisp red delicious apple.  This is equally true whether we are talking about breakfast, lunch or dinner.  And it does not require cooking.

6. My husband is really, really cute.  Sometimes he reads my blog.

And here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

I tagged:

Simon Meth

Cathy Martin

Dave Elchoness

Gerry Crispin

Jenn Barnes

Laurie Ruettimann

The Importance of Having a Curator on the Team

Happy Labor Day to all who are off today.  As an entrepreneur (who at one time in my life was not only a union member, but the grievance chairman for my location!) I’m celebrating my ability to work today.  And mostly, I’m celebrating that at least one of my team is right there with me going back and forth over the web working on presentations with me.

A couple of hours ago I was working on a presentation for a panel on talent management.  I found an old handout I’d used before and sent it to Jackfor his opinion.  He IMed back, “I have something better” and this is what he sent:

Develop and Keep Your Best Employees. Follow The Ten Commandments for Running an Organization:

1. Assume that your staff has the best interests of the organization in their intentions.
2. Be forgiving, even when they make mistakes.
3. Be merciful when they make big mistakes.
4. Be compassionate: don’t place them in tempting circumstances.
5. Be gracious, even to those who don’t return it.
6. Be slow to anger when people disobey.
7. Be abundantly kind and assume people mean well.
8. Never renege on your word.
9. Remember the times when people do something right.
10. Always allow people to repent their error, carelessness or apathy and forgive them.

At the end of the list was my name.  I don’t remember writing it though I have no doubt that I did.

This is the advantage of having a Curator on any corporate team.  Curators are amazing.  They know what’s worth saving and what’s worth tossing out and when they save something they can actually find it.  They’re the corporate keepers of the wisdom and I fear they are an endangered species, allowed to leave organizations without passing on the keys to the kingdom.

The Curator

Thank you, Jack valued friend and team member.  You make this entrepreneurial life so much easier.