We Want Knowledge

One of the worst things you can do in terms of customer service is keep secrets, or simply fail to share knowledge.

Sometimes just answering the question “why?” will give you an order of magnitude better customer service.

A couple of examples:

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It’s Not A War On Truth

Many people are suggesting that there’s a war on “truth”, for whatever “truth” they happen to believe in.

I think that’s a gross over-simplification. I think the problem goes much deeper than that.

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Confirmation Bias is a Bitch

We love confirmation bias; you know, the fact that we more readily believe those things that confirm, rather than challenge, our existing beliefs.

We love it when we can use it to explain the behaviour of others, or our inability to persuade them to our way of thinking. “Oh, they’ll only listen to things that they agree with.”

But we have a blind spot:

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Deep Thought

I sometimes wonder if we’re becoming less and less capable of what I’ll call deep thought.

And by “we” of course I mean “I”.

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We Are All SO Different

I often like to tell people that I love my coffee but that I can stop any time … because I’ve done it before.

Some years ago I elected to try reducing my coffee intake to zero, and did so cold-turkey. What amazes most people is that I did not experience headaches as a result. Honestly, it was more of an “oh well” experience. (And, for the record, I tend to drink strong, caffeinated coffee). Similarly I’ve been known to have a cup of said strong brew … and then take a nap.

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Thick Skin Required

Had someone call me an idiot and a moron yesterday for my Galaxy Note 7 piece. (Don’t look for it in the comments, it was an emailed reply.) Apparently he had a beef with Samsung.

Whatever.

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Why Public?

One of the first questions I asked myself about doing this whole daily thing is “why make it public”? Why am I doing this on a public blog where anyone can come along and read … and judge?

Because of course judge, they will.

A couple of reasons came to mind.

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An Exercise in Focus, Writing, and Gratitude

In 321 days I’ll turn 60. One of those arbitrary, round-number birthdays (though a friend often argues our “real” birthday’s are 280 days earlier). Nine years ago I did a “what I believe” post on my 50th, and I kind of expect to do the same again.

Between then and now I want to model one of the people I admire – Seth Godin. Seth posts something on his blog every day, and I’ve recently learned that he often doesn’t know what it is he’s about to write until he sits down to write it.

This appeals to me personally for a few reasons:

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