CameronMathews.com: May 2015

Friday, May 29, 2015

Understanding How People Watch NCAA Sports (It's a Marketing Post)

One of the responses to my quick couple of questions last Friday (you can still answer them - I'll still read your responses) on what I could help with was: "Understanding how people actually watch and follow NCAA sports." Now, the survey was anonymous, but I figured out who posed this question since it was a friend of mine and we have had conversations on the topic before. Since sports in general are not really the primary topic of this blog, I'll work in something else, but I'll give you the answer I gave my friend as well (since I do like some collegiate sporting events).

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Time to Think Retirement

One of the questions I got from last week's quick questions (click if you haven't answered, I'm still reading responses) was to talk about how early to start saving for retirement. There is a very simple answer: as early as possible. That said, I thought it would be much much easier to give you a nice visual and some numbers.

So I decided to profile three investors. But to level the playing field, I gave them all the same income levels: $51,939, which was the median household income (note: household, not salary) from 2013. I gave them all the same investment strategy as well - invest 15% of your total household income into stock-based mutual funds over a long-term investment target. Finally, I gave them all a 9.3% annual return, which is the fifty year average on the stock market. The only variable in their investment strategies was when they started investing.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

We're Talking About Practice

I saw a mention the other day in USA Today that we had just passed thirteen years since Allen Iverson's rant on practice (embedded video above from YouTube). If you've never seen it, go ahead and watch. I'll wait. The background is that some reporters questioned Iverson on missing some practices to which he responded in such a way that every time someone mentions the word "practice" this press conference comes into my mind.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

No Job Too Small

Photo by manuelwagner0 on Pixabay

Hey everybody, first I want to say thanks to everyone who answered my three questions from last week. Truly appreciate the feedback and ideas, and if you haven't had a chance, I would really appreciate if you could spend a minute answering the three quick questions.

Have you ever met someone who honestly thought that certain jobs at work were "beneath" him or her? Maybe it is making copies, answering phones, scheduling meetings, or other tasks that they refuse to do for some reason. That thought process does not make much sense to me and seems a bit too arrogant to have a place in a good collaborative environment.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

If You Build It

Nebraska Furniture Mart - Texas

This past weekend, we took our first trip to the Texas Nebraska Furniture Mart, located just outside of Dallas in The Colony, Texas. As you can see from the above picture, it is a massive store, located in a massive parking lot with its own parking garage (off to the right there), and a huge warehouse attached. As we drove up (after coming up behind the warehouse and searching for the entrance, which is, of course, on Nebraska Furniture Mart Drive or some such appropriately named street), I was impressed by the sheer magnitude of the place.

The interior is no less impressive. It is reminiscent of a football field stacked upon a football field, filled with everything from flooring options, to countertops, to electronics, to appliances, to decor items, to its namesake, furniture. The products were of good quality, and the Grand Opening prices were pretty good (but the "normal" pricing was good, too).

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The Worst Kind of Meeting

By JanDix on Pixabay

Individuals in corporate settings spend somewhere between 25 and 80% of their time in meetings. As one of those individuals, I can say that there are several differentiating factors between highly productive meetings and those meetings that are a complete waste of time, but I will save many of those observations for a future post.

This post is about what I consider to be the worst type of meeting that I have ever attended. I call it "The Public Reading."

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The Good Kind of Attrition

By tedgresham997 on Pixabay

Many companies struggle with attrition, where good employees are leaving to find other positions with other companies. Lose key resources, and your organization suffers. Lose too many in a single departure, and your business may be dead in the water in a certain function.

The negative perception of attrition, though, may be extremely one-sided. When managed appropriately, attrition is just like trimming a shrubbery that is grown out of control. It's not a huge negative impact overall to the operations of the company (unless you are in a very small company where losing one or two people is a huge percentage).

Monday, May 18, 2015

Happy New Year

By cbaquiran on Pixabay

It's not New Year's Eve, and I did not get the scheduler off on this post. Sunday was my birthday (and a good one at that).

Having a birthday, though, always makes me just a little introspective (in between deciding where to go for dinner and reading all of the people that were kind enough to wish me happy birthday on Facebook). It is a unique time to think about goals for the next year and how to achieve them.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Are you winning or losing?

By Wokandapix on Pixabay

Have you been winning or losing this week? Crushing every goal you had for yourself or letting the week get the best of you, hoping to make some valiant efforts at the end of the week to finish something?

You're in luck.

Friday is like the fourth quarter of a game. Still time to turn it around if you're losing, time to seal victory if you are winning.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

7 Tips for Dealing with Squeaky Wheels

By PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay

We've all met someone who we would classify as "the squeaky wheel." Squeaky wheels thrive on the ability to make noise about their situation as if it is so much worse than any other situation that exists, so that they can get the appropriate attention.

The old adage says, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." There is a huge problem with that statement, though. It purports the squeaky wheel to be a good thing. It encourages people to become squeaky.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Nobody's Perfect

By Lindsay Jayne on Pixabay

Nobody hits the bullseye every time they throw the dart. Nobody gets a hole-in-one on every golf swing. Nobody writes a million words without a typo. Nobody gets everything right the first time.

That's OK.

In the end, we're all human. To me, this blog is even as much about things I would like to do consistently as it is things I know and have experienced. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess there are a few things you've gotten wrong yourself.

Again, that's OK.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Which Way Are You Running?

By skeeze via Pixabay

Businesses and careers often come to a tough decision point, sometimes with huge implications for the direction of operations or an individual's job.

Whenever those types of decisions come up, I always like to make sure I evaluate whether I am running from something or running to something.

The distinction is pretty simple: Either you are trying to flee a situation that you are unhappy with, or you are trying to go to something that is a great opportunity.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Mockingbird Chasing A Hawk

By skeeze on Pixabay

Have you ever seen a mockingbird chasing a hawk? If you haven't, you can find quite a few YouTube videos of such an event. We have a couple of sets of overly protective mockingbirds nesting in our yard this year, and while I haven't seen a hawk lately, I did see one of them running a pair of crows out of town.

The mockingbird is, of course, just protecting the nest, harassing these larger potential predators to keep them away from little mockingbird offspring. But if you have watched the mockingbirds go at it, you have to admire the tenacity and passion by which they go about their protective duties.

Friday, May 8, 2015

A Book: Start.

Instead of my normal Friday post, I thought I would try something different. I read a few business books or motivational books every now and then, and thought I might share.

In transparency, the links I post here to the books are, in fact, affiliate links with Amazon, and I will get some small chunk of change if you buy a book I am sharing here through this link. If you don't like that, you can always go directly to Amazon and search for it, or hit up a bookstore without using my links. I won't be upset. Mostly because I won't know you made that choice, but also because $0.11 a book or whatever is not a steady stream of income that I would depend on for anything.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Uh Oh, Time to Get More Stuff Done

By bohed via Pixabay

So, if you've been playing along with my "how to be more productive" posts here, you are already getting two things done every day, right?

If you don't know what I am talking about, start here (wherein you'll get something done every day for two weeks).

After two weeks, then move on to this post. Don't rush it. You really need to establish the habit of completing something every day before you start getting particularly ambitious about it. And once you've gotten in that habit of completing two things a day for a month, come back and pick up here.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Breaking the WIIFM barrier

By StartupStockPhotos on Pixabay

I was in a discussion the other day about trying to persuade a group of people to adopt a new behavior. It was something that made total business sense, but would have caused the group additional work.

It was pretty obvious that the group felt that additional work was being forced on them and they would not reap the benefits.

I think what was happening was a devolution to a general question that plagues all of us, even when we are trying to do our best for the organization: "What's in it for me?" or WIIFM (pronounced "whiff-em" in some circles - not mine) for short.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

The Power of a Question

By geralt on Pixabay

Often the best answer to a question is a question. Of course, there's no need to devolve into a Rosencrantz and Gildenstern game of back and forth.

People may come to you all the time with problems, questions, or just generally seeking wisdom or advice. Your inclination, like mine, may be to blurt out the first thing that pops into your head, taking the (slightly arrogant) route in believing, "They asked me for my opinion, therefore they know that I am capable of solving their problem."

Monday, May 4, 2015

You Are Not A Luggage Rack

Easy to remember, right? You are not a luggage rack. So don't let people come and drop their baggage with you, unless, of course, you are a valet or concierge or skycap or someone who has literal baggage receipt as part of the job description. I'm not talking about real luggage or baggage, though. I am talking about emotional baggage or work stress or problems or interdepartmental relationships.

It is perfectly fine to vent. It is actually healthy and stress-relieving to blow off steam and unload on a close friend. But before you do, you should make it clear that you are just venting and not looking for them to assist with solving your problems. Because they are your problems, and no one else's. It would be unfair of you to demand that someone else solve all of your problems for you, and frankly would call into question your ability to solve your own issues.

Friday, May 1, 2015

What You Can Learn From A Boss

Love this picture. Who's the boss in this one?
By ChadoNihi on Pixabay

I've had a few bosses over the years. In fact, I've had about fifteen or so. Some were great, some were difficult, but all of them have helped me become a better manager myself. The truth is, you can learn something from everyone you work with, but you learn best by trying to replicate good experiences.

So here's a little list of lessons I learned from various bosses. I can't say I always execute perfectly on these lessons, but they do stick around in my mind. See if you agree with any of these nuggets (not in chronological order to provide some anonymity, I suppose):

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