Business Jazz – 13th June 2013 – Customer Service: Good and Bad

TOPICS THIS WEEK: Customer Service: Good and Bad

The biggest threat we used to be able to make when we received bad service was to write a letter. That was utterly ineffectual in most cases. The letter was conveniently filed in the bin. Things have changed a bit. These days we can publicise our anger (or our delight) online.

But have companies woken up to this? Many haven't.

Social media is a great opportunity for businesses to engage with dissatisfied and satisfied customers alike. The latter is especially overlooked. Many companies are missing a fantastic marketing opportunity by not encouraging pleased customers to use social media.

In this episode, we run through some stories of good and bad service, and how the companies involved responded.

The video

Here is the video of the Google+ hangout recorded during the recording of this week's podcast episode:

Links to people and things we mention

David Bailey
Cherry Host
Phil Sorrell

New rallying point

You are a big part of the story of this podcast. We'd like you to be an even bigger part of it. To help with that, and to help us have discussions about being genuinely attractive in business, we've established a LinkedIn group. Please knock on the door and we'll let you in.

Country tally

We're hoping to get a listener in every country in the world. The amazing, super, fantastic, wonderful Phil Sorrell has produced an interactive map for us. If you have a Twitter account, you'll be able to add yourself to the map. Hurry – maybe you can be the first in your country.

You can find the map here: Business Jazz Global Listener Map.

Listening to the podcast

You can listen to this week's podcast using the player at the top of the post or download it directly here: Business Jazz – 13th June, 2013.

We're also in iTunes. We'd love it if you subscribed or left some feedback.

Business Jazz Players

This podcast is a collaboration of people dotted around the world. Most of us have never met each other. It's quite a story and it's still evolving. 
If you'd like to read what's happened so far, you'll find it here: Our Story.

Who won the Cold War

I sometimes wonder, who the real winner of the Cold War was. Traditional wisdom is that capitalism won over communism, right ? The Western world over the Soviet bloc. Freedom and liberty over authoritarianism and government control. Etc Etc. But I wonder if this is really true ?

Take the capitalism versus state enterprise debate. Today capitalism is a four letter word to much of the world. The fastest growing economy in the world and the second largest, China,  is significantly  state enterprise driven. Government expenditure as a % of GDP is 53% in France (surprise surprise), 47% in the UK, 43% in Germany and in supposedly the bastion of free market capitalism, the United states, 39%. Government spending has propped up the global economy for five years now and bailed out financial institutions when they were mired in the quicksand.

What about freedom and liberty. After the revelations over the last couple of days from a certain Edward Snowden, we may have to redefine the word liberty. If I told you that the government listened to your every word, read every e mail and tracked every movement of yours, you would naturally think that the government in question would be Russia or North Korea. Instead we now know that it is the US of A and that their snooping is not not just restricted to US nationals, but literally everybody in the world (the fact that there are howls of protest in the US about snooping on US citizens , but perfect acceptability of snooping on an Indian citizen like me is an interesting definition of the word liberty in America). That this revelation is met with a big yawn in China, where this is just routine practice further annotates my point.

Force feeding prisoners in Guantanamo, keeping them in detention forever without a trial is not very different from what the gulags did in the Soviet Union.  Even at the height of its powers the Soviet Union did not kill citizens of another country from the air with impunity as the US does today with drones. If the Soviet Union brutalised Afghanistan invading it needlessly and tyrannically, you could perhaps make the same point with the US and Iraq.

The citizens of the Soviet Union could never get out and go elsewhere. Those in the  West were blissfully free to go where they pleased. Is that really true now ? Anybody from any country who has to get a visa to go to another country , just to visit (forget emigrating), might have a different point of view with regard to freedom of movement.

What about the West over the Communist bloc ? Well, if you define the communist bloc widely enough to include China, the verdict might be closer to a draw than a clear cut victory. 

Of course, this post stretches the facts, but only to make a point. The scale of what happened in the Communist Bloc during the Cold War may have been beyond anything you see today. But then, although the Soviet Union collapsed, aspects of its ideology are thriving in many places around the world.Perhaps they lost the battle, but haven't yet been defeated in the war. 

Yes, they may never be a winner in the capitalism versus communism debate.  As indeed in the democracy versus totalitarian debate. Alas, what a pity, at least in the case of the former.

The Business- June 12th 2013: The Family Jules Edition

This week’s Business is studded with precious gems.  Who are all studs.

Jules Posner has been described as a comedian who, “puts the ‘b’ in subtle”. Jules started performing at various open mics around the San Francisco Bay Area in January of 2009 and has quickly established himself in the comedy community. Recently, Jules was featured on Jokes.com’s No Drink Minimum. 

Mike Spiegelman grew up in New Jersey, and, like half his high school class, moved to San Francisco. He has opened for Neil Hamburger, Emo Phillips, David Cross, the late Mitch Hedberg, Robin Williams, and many more. He is a frequent host of the Darkroom Theater's "Bad Movie Night". His humor site is Luggage Tuesdays.

Red Scott never saw things the same way as other kids; he thought he was cool. Born in the early 80s, he established himself as a trend-setter — fat, asthmatic, and socially inept years before Asperger’s was a syndrome or obesity an epidemic. On his way to finding the stage, Red had several diversions, ranging from working as a Software Developer to delivering for Pizza Hut in South Central Los Angeles.  Red is free is not delivered within 30 mintues.

Josef Anolin was born and raised in Oakland, CA thanks to his parents. Josef likes to tell jokes that offer audiences fresh perspectives on "hot button" issues like race, class, gender that are simultaneously respectful and tounge in cheek offensive. Josef has been peddling his humor to audiences throughout the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Oregon, Nevada, Hawaii and may have been the first comedian to do a joke about NY Knicks Point Guard, Jeremy Lin (albeit back in 2010 when he was still a Golden State Warrior and irrelevant).

Plus resident studs of The Business Sean “Ruby Cheeks” Keane and Bucky “Brass Knuckles” Sinister.

$5.  Just $5!

We sell out.  Get there early for a seat!

BYOBurrito and if you love it put a ring on it.

Read Like a Detective Book Study & Freebie

Have you read Teaching Your Students to Read Like Detectives?  It's a close up look at training students how to analyze and dive deeper into the text, as well as learn how to discuss text in a meaningful way.  I heard someone recently say, "When you teach kids to read like this, it's more like scuba diving, than water skiing."  
My teachers and I pulled together for a book study so that we could better prepare ourselves for Common Core and teaching kids to read more rigorous text with a purpose.  We had some fun along the way and I'd love to share the highlights.

Valuable lesson #1:  We decided it's important to create not only a text dependent classroom, but a SAFE, text discussion-based classroom!  By setting the stage early, you can foster a classroom where everyone's opinion, comments, expertise, learning, etc. has value.  The book discusses some key components to creating this type of environment.  I created an acronym to post on an Anchor chart to help remind our students what type of Reading classroom we would be! 

Valuable lesson #2 and key "take-away" from the book was the importance of keeping kids IN the text.  OH, how easy it is for them (and us) to jump into personal schema and bring what WE know (or think we know) to the text, instead of keeping our conversations centered around what the AUTHOR wanted us to focus on. The book gives some great question stems to help guide teachers BACK to the text when students start to stray.

Valuable lesson #3:  Teaching Narrative text (fiction) is still VERY RELEVANT and EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!  When Common Core came along, one of my very first introductions to it was someone who said that Non-fiction was here to take over the world.  Okay, maybe not that extreme, but I began to wonder where literature would fit into all this Common Core stuff.  It didn't GO anywhere!  It's still as relevant and crucial to teach as it ever was!  

Valuable lesson #4:  Expository Text IS making a bigger splash! There are many cool non-fiction genres to expose children to.  The book gives a list of some signal words that help lead students to a better understanding of how text can be organized.  I put them on Anchor Charts to help alert children to some of the different types of expository text they would be exposed to!  They're NEW, but my ultimate goal is that they will carry over into the different genres of writing.  If students are writing a compare/contrast piece, the "signal" words on the anchor chart can also be used in their writing to assist them in keeping it a true compare/contrast!  

Finally, Valuable lesson #5:  Collecting evidence from the text can be fun!  I've included a FREEBIE template that can be used in your Common Core Reading classroom.  As you do a 'Close Read' of a text, you can have students scour the text for a variety of information you want them to focus on. There are lots of suggestions in the Teaching Your Students to Read Like a Detective book.  Our teachers will simply add the labels to the magnifying glass handles for what evidence they want the students to locate in the book. Students will record in the magnifying glass circles and share.  Click on the image to grab the freebie template!  :-)


If you're an educator and are teaching Common Core, this book is an excellent resource for your professional library!  If your faculty is into book studies, this one is a quick read and provides teachers with some essential tools for tackling the Common Core in Reading.  

Bananas for anything that helps my students become better readers,

Business Jazz – 10th June – Access and Boundaries

TOPICS THIS WEEK: Access and Boundaries

Gary Vaynerchuk is a visionary social media expert and entrepreneur. He recently announced that he had tasked one of his staff to shadow him and produce social media content based on his comments. His thinking is that more content equals more exposure, and more exposure brings more business.

In this week's episode of Business Jazz, we talk about some of the issues this raises. Specifically, we look at access and boundaries. Many businesses are wary of letting people in. They aren't comfortable lifting the veil. So how much access is good?

We also look at the issue of setting boundaries for employees who are producing social media on behalf of a business. Trust and responsibility become big factors.

The video

Here is the video of the Google+ hangout recorded during the recording of this week's podcast episode:

Links to people and things we mention

David Bailey

New rallying point

You are a big part of the story of this podcast. We'd like you to be an even bigger part of it. To help with that, and to help us have discussions about being genuinely attractive in business, we've established a LinkedIn group. Please knock on the door and we'll let you in.

Country tally

We're hoping to get a listener in every country in the world. The amazing, super, fantastic, wonderful Phil Sorrell has produced an interactive map for us. If you have a Twitter account, you'll be able to add yourself to the map. Hurry – maybe you can be the first in your country.

You can find the map here: Business Jazz Global Listener Map

Listening to the podcast

You can listen to this week's podcast using the player at the top of the post or download it directly here: Business Jazz – 10th June, 2013.

We're also in iTunes. We'd love it if you subscribed or left some feedback.

Business Jazz Players

This podcast is a collaboration of people dotted around the world. Most of us have never met each other. It's quite a story and it's still evolving. 
If you'd like to read what's happened so far, you'll find it here: Our Story.

The Business June 5th, 2013: The Competitively Erotic Edition

The line to get into the Business was thick and sinewy that Wednesday night.  It wound its way around the block, caressing it every crevasse.  The sidewalk groaned at the line’s mass, the pressure almost unbearable.  The grey stone yearned for the sweet release it craved, it needed to feel the door open, the door of the Dark Room.

The door is open for you, CUM INSIDE.  

(Please do not literally cum at The Business.)

But do COME, because this week’s guests are fantasy-worthy. 

Baron Vaughn.  BARON VAUGHN!

Baron Vaughn recently released his first album, Raised By Cable, produced by AST Records, is available at Amazon (mp3 and CD), and has debuted to a 5-star review on iTunes. Baron played Leonardo Prince, or “Leo“, on USA’s Fairly Legal, and has performed stand-up on Conan (below), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and has made numerous appearances on Comedy Central, including Live at Gotham and The Awkward Comedy Show (DVD and soundtrack available). He’s performed in the 2006 HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, The South Beach Comedy Festival, San Francisco Sketchfest, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, Vancouver Comedy Festival, All Points West, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, and Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. He has also appeared in many shows on VH1, MTV, FUSE as well as the films Black Dynamite, Cloverfield, and The Other Guys. 

He is also in the new season of Arrested Development, a fact which caused members of the business to literally stand up and cheer. AND his Comedy Central Presents- The Half Hour premiers June 21!

PLUS the creator of the wildly fun, nationally acclaimed show, Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction, Bryan Cook!

Bryan Cook originally hails from the barren hellscape of rural Maine, and began his comedy career in Seattle, before relocating to Los Angeles where he writes for Joan Rivers’ Fashion Police. Cook is the host and creator of Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction, presented every month at the esteemed Nerdmelt Theater in LA, as well as all over the US. In 2012, he was featured as an opening act on Kyle Kinane’s Great Mistakes Tour, and has performed at the Bridgetown Comedy Fest, Riot LA, and Bumbershoot Festival. Cook has also performed at some of the finest alternative rooms in the country, including Holy Fuck (LA), Big Terrific (NYC), and The Grawlix (Denver). He has had the honor of sharing the stage with Nick Kroll, Hannibal Burress, Jen Kirkman, Todd Barry, and has contributed to McSweeney’s.

Your regulars will also be there, “Naughty” Nato Green, “BIG BIG” Bucky Sinister, “EASY Breezy Beautiful” Caitlin Gill and Sean “Lady in the Streets, Freak in the Sheets” Keane.

Just $5.  It’s a little price, but it’s not the size that counts, it’s how much you laugh when you see it.

BYOBurrito. A big, meaty, hot, wet, juicy, sloppy one.

Antiquated & to be Annihilated? Is an On-line Revolution Brewing in Business Education?

We hear more and more talk about how the traditional model of business schools will be annihilated by the disruptive innovation of on-line education, so-called MOOCs (massive open on-line courses). An increasing number of voices can be heard to proclaim that business schools with their lectures and study groups are doomed, antiquated, overpriced, and that people who doubt that are just in denial and one day will wake up finding themselves obsolete and plain wrong.

And, arguably, case studies on the effects of disruptive innovation conducted in industries ranging from airlines and newspapers to photography and steel mills, have shown that often the established players in the market are initially in denial, slow to react, suffering from hubris and, eventually, face crisis and extinction.

Yet, when it comes to on-line education, and its potentially disruptive influence on higher education, including business schools, I doubt that on-line education will replace face-to-face lectures and study groups.

The arguments that people use to proclaim that traditional business schools will be replaced by on-line education include the notions that it is much cheaper, can be more easily accessed by a much wider audience, and customers (students) can access the materials wherever and whenever they want.

And this just reminds me of the printing press.

Oral lectures have been around since the times of Socrates and Plato. I am sure when the printing press was invented and became more widespread and accessible, an increasing number of voices could be heard to proclaim that such lectures and schools were going to be replaced by books. That is because books are much cheaper, can be more easily accessed by a much wider audience, and students can access them wherever and whenever they want. But they did not replace face-to-face lectures and study groups.

And that is because books and on-line educational resources offer something very different than the traditional lectures and school community. They are complements rather than substitutes. Of course the arrival of the printing press quite substantially changed schools and education; business schools without books would be very different than they are today. Hence, it would be naïve to think that on-line resources are not going to alter traditional business school education; they will and they should. Business schools better think hard how they are going to integrate on-line education into their courses and curricula.

But this means that it offers opportunities rather than a threat. And research on the effects of disruptive innovation – for example in newspapers – has also shown that established players who treat the arrival of a new technology as an opportunity, rather than as direct substitute, are the ones that are most likely to survive and prosper.

Freek Vermeulen is an Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the London Business School. In 2012, BestOnlineUniversities elected him number 1 in their global list of “top 100 web-savvy professors”. You can find him on-line at www.freekvermeulen.com and at @Freek_Vermeulen. He regularly blogs for Forbes, the Harvard Business Review and The Ghoshal Blog.