The 463: Inside Tech

Lemonade Out of Lemons – How A Crisis Reflects the Best of A Company

(Tom Galvin) Everyday, we are reminded that no matter how noble, smart and well-managed a company is, sooner or later it’s going to find itself under the glare of intense scrutiny. I’ve seen it from all sides; from inside a “can do no wrong” company that had to explain how it stumbled and break a vow never to lay off thousands of employees to companies accused of monopoly behavior to accusations of prostitution to an organization finding out an employee’s child had the H1N1 virus – a day after that child was at headquarters for “Take Your Child to Work Day.”
 
And what always impresses me is how often a crisis brings out the very best in people, and therefore, organizations. I know it’s not the image we see on CNBC. But in most cases -with notable exceptions (re: Enron) - companies that face a crisis truly try to do the right thing.  But that doesn’t mean they don’t make mistakes.
 
Oftentimes, a crisis is simply an issue that wasn’t managed well and has turned into a crisis. In other instances, a company simply doesn’t react fast enough to limit the damage and it spirals. But all crises have some common themes and lessons:
 
-        A crisis is like a book. It has chapters. Some are long and some are short. The basic chapters are 1) what happened? 2) who’s at fault? 3) what is going to happen because of it? 4) how will it be stopped from happening again.

More often than not, the company controls how long the chapters are. For example, when a company that get accused of something and doesn’t respond in hopes it will die down just gets stuck in that chapter.  And the company wonders why the press won’t let go. The simple is they won’t until they can complete the chapters.
 
-      Guessing is the worst thing. It’s important to put out information fast, but only if you are certain it’s accurate. Too often companies panic and put out information, only to have to correct later on. Now they look like liars. Only put out what you know when you know it.

-      As bad as it may feel, a crisis is an ideal time to articulate and project the values of a company. If you messed up, say so (even if it leads to a big fight with the lawyers). If you miscalculated, own up to it. There is nothing more inspiring than an organization that holds itself accountable, explains what went wrong and demonstrates how it is going to become better because of it.

So the next time your organization falls short of its financial expectations, gets called up to testify and get scolded by Congress, or does something harmful, remember that in its toughest moments are its opportunities to prove what’s best about it.

Thanks Daniel Snyder for Seeing the Light.

(Jim Hock) Yeesh, writing that title was difficult.  While it pains me to walk in my son's Redskins painted room or give any kudos whatsoever to team owner Daniel Snyder bc of his gross mismanagement, I do have to give credit where its due.  And that's new solar installation being installed at Fedex Field.

This is great news that demonstrates the power of renewable energy. All told, there will be 8,000 solar panels to generate a "portion of the stadium’s power on game days and all of its electricity the rest of the week."

Great news.  And as a Volt owner, I am also pleased that the 850-space covered carport will feature 10 charging stations for electric vehicles.

For once at least for me: Way to go Danny-boy!

The South Will Rise Again. And Partly Due to Clean Energy.

(Jim Hock)  The title is tongue in cheek of course, but the new report from Brookings on the clean energy economy shows that more than 2.7 million Americans work in the clean energy sector.  That’s not the future.  That’s today.   

And in 5-10 years, it will be even more.  What’s more, these jobs are well paid and are spread in all regions of the country according to Brookings.  It’s more than the fossil fuel industries and the South has the largest number of clean-economy jobs – or 1 in 3.   Roughly a quarter of US clean tech jobs are in heavy-export manufacturing, according to the study. By comparison, less than 10% of jobs in the broader economy are in manufacturing, the study found.
 
All in all, good news for the advanced energy economy and our country.  Check it out here. 

There’s loads of great facts and cool interactive graphics too.

First date? No problem. Research your date with just a click!

(Emma Nay) Remember back in the day when you had a little crush on someone and you wanted to get to know him or her more?  First, you had to build up the courage to ask them out on a date and hope that they say yes. Second, if you’re lucky enough for them to say yes, then you had to think about where you wanted to take them for your first date. Last, but not least, you had to come up with some ideas to keep a decent conversation going with them the whole time. (Hopefully, you found your date to be very compatible and you two eventually blossomed into a wonderful relationship.)

Well, thanks to social media, people get the opportunity to get to someone before they even get a chance to talk take them out, or even meet them for the first time. People can easily get to know a person’s interests through social media sites like Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, assuming that their pages aren’t private.

 If you were to look at my Facebook page, you could easily find some of my favorite bands and movies, what sports I play, my political views, the fact that I enjoy video games, and the fact that I’m obsessed with Jeep Wranglers. Although, my information may be different than most, many other Facebook and other social media users post just about the same amount of information on their pages.

 As fun as it is taking a look at your crush’s Facebook or other social media sites, I feel like it kind of takes the fun out of the first date. Looking through all of their information, their tagged pictures, and recent tweets can spoil valuable time you could be spending getting to know the person one-on-one.  Maybe it would be best to save the Facebook “stalking” until after you get to know the person.