Working Hard to Look Busy

Via The New York Times

by Jan Hoffman

TO a passer-by, the chic clothing store on Mott Street in Manhattan looked like a tumult of activity. On a recent weekday afternoon, Carolyn Bailey, a supervisor, was fussing with the window displays of women’s clothing, shifting piles of perfectly folded sweaters, spacing hangers a finger-width apart, debating avidly on the phone with a higher-up about coordinating outfits.

Though she appeared occupied, intently so, she was creating an illusion of busyness. The NoLIta shop was empty.

“You don’t want anyone from corporate to walk in and see you doing nothing,” Ms. Bailey said. “You’ve got to keep busy for them and the clients. You have to be proactive —” she broke off to reposition a handsome pair of boots, “so we’ll do a lot of refolding and dusting. Hey, I might just mop!”

By day’s end, six customers had wandered in. Ms. Bailey charmed three into making purchases.

“I’m putting the energy out there,” said Ms. Bailey, a single mother. “I have to stay positive. And busy.”

In a sunny economy, workers joke about frittering away the hours during traditional slow times, like January, confident that things will eventually pick up. Looking busy when you’re not in order to fool the boss can be something of an art form.

But now, when business is verrry slow and the possibility of layoffs icily real, looking busy is no joke. In retail and real estate, restaurants and law offices, many workers are working hard to look necessary — even when they don’t have all that much to do.

Their concerns are warranted. The unemployment rate is 7.2 percent, more layoffs have been forecast for 2009 and employers have been shrinking workweeks. While staff reductions have left many remaining employees feeling breathless with too much work, at companies where downtime is glaringly obvious, employees are becoming creative about disguising idleness.

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On The Job Training: Can Obama's Huge Infrastructure Program Really Work?

via The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Anyone looking for an indication of how dramatically the American political landscape has changed since September 2008, when the global economy slid into its meltdown, should consider this: The proposal floated recently by President-elect Barack Obama to spend at least $675 billion over just two years to stimulate the moribund economy ?-- with the largest share of the money slated for infrastructure projects aimed at repairing crumbling roads, bridges, sewers and the like -- is drawing no serious political opposition, even from conservatives who not long ago would have railed against such a massive spending increase. To win even broader support for the proposal, Obama advisors announced a plan this week to include about $300 billion in tax cuts for workers and businesses.

To be sure, Obama's infrastructure plan has drawn considerable debate, but mostly over the details -- the size of the stimulus program, how to structure the plan to create the most jobs in the shortest time, and how to administer such a large program to limit corruption and pork-barrel projects.

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Keeping The Ball Rolling

THE UN-COMFORT ZONE with Robert Wilson


I know an advertising agency owner who never fully takes a vacation. He takes his family to fairly exotic locations, but never so alien that they are outside the reach of modern communication. In other words, he is never further than a cell phone call or email away. He checks in with the office several times a day – much to the chagrin of his family who want him to be fully engaged in the holiday at hand. So, he ends up sneaking off under the guise of visiting the restroom, or going to the bar for a cocktail, in order to connect with his staff, a client or a prospect. His wife and kids aren’t fooled; they just sigh and accept the inevitable. I used to think he was a control freak – someone who couldn’t let go and let someone else take over – until I came to understand the concept of Momentum.

In science, Momentum is equal to Mass times Velocity. Or just think of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark running as fast as he can out of the tunnel while that huge stone ball rolls faster and faster after him. In business, Momentum is the point at which success begins to come easily. Business veterans jokingly refer to it as having, “paid my dues.” In short, Momentum is an accumulation of acquired knowledge, skill, experience and connections. And, those who understand it... also know it can be fragile and easily lost.

Sales professionals who have achieved Momentum will tell you that you must pursue a number of activities to generate sales leads: phone calls, emails, sales letters, networking events, etc. You keep it up building dozens, then hundreds of leads at a time. Then to convert those leads to sales you keep following up on each of them in a timely fashion. Meanwhile, you are still maintaining all the activities that continue to generate leads. So between generating leads, following up on leads, then turning leads into sales, you begin to feel like the guy in the circus who spins plates on top of poles – rushing from one plate to the next to keep them spinning.

No wonder these folks hate to take vacations – it breaks the Momentum they’ve spent months or years creating and they know it takes time to get it going again.

Years ago when I first started giving speeches, a seasoned professional speaker advised me, “It took me ten years to quit sweating cash flow, but even so, it is still all about non-stop marketing.” In other words: maintaining Momentum.

For a growing company, Momentum is the point where you have done enough advertising, marketing, public relations, networking, customer service, and so forth that business begins to flow. It is the point where you are garnering the precious and often elusive word-of-mouth referrals. Momentum is about building a reputation. Acquiring it, however, doesn’t mean you can taper off on your efforts... but it does mean that your efforts will become easier.

The best thing about Momentum is that once you get it, motivation becomes self-perpetuating. Momentum is energizing. It keeps you on your toes. And, the rewards come quickly and regularly.

I have found this to true in all pursuits. Even when I am writing fiction there is always a certain point in a novel that it takes on a life of its own and demands my daily attention, energy and focus until it is complete. Unfortunately, nothing quite puts the brakes on Momentum like finishing a book, or completing any other major task. The trick to avoid losing that Momentum is to begin another book or another task before you complete the first one. Then you just shift your energy over to the next project that is already under way.

Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. is a motivational speaker and humorist. He works with companies that want to be more competitive and with people who want to think like innovators. For more information on Robert's programs please visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com.

Innovation Should Mean More Jobs, Not Less

Via New York Times

By JANET RAE-DUPREE

CREATING new jobs is a good way to get America’s economy moving again. That’s not the controversial part of President-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plans. As usual, the devil is in the details. And innovation advocates fear that if the devil runs amok, a short-sighted emphasis on jobs over long-term productivity may bog down the economic recovery.

The problem, as they see it, is a centuries-old misconception that innovation is synonymous with automation, which in turn leads to the elimination of jobs.

“If you invest in a technology that makes something more efficient, the fear is that people will be put out of work,” says Kevin Efrusy, the venture capitalist whose firm Accel Partners is the lead funder of several important Silicon Valley start-ups, including Facebook. “But it’s just the opposite. When anything becomes cheaper, we consume a lot more of it. The overall economic effect is, you create and expand entire new industries and employment goes up.”

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