Comments on: A true story about a chair http://blog.foghound.com/241/ News and views about marketing and communications Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:56:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Lois Kelly http://blog.foghound.com/241/#comment-1679 Lois Kelly Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:09:33 +0000 http://blog.foghound.com/241/#comment-1679 Hi Bill, Thanks for the tidbits -- and especially the advice on being willing to slowdown. (and of course the tech snags heads up!!!) Wrapping up lunch today a friend who is a sr. exec at a major global company asked a simple, wonderful question, "How can I help you?" Wow. It opened up some great ideas.Imagine if we all asked professional colleagues and friends that question more often. Lois Hi Bill,
Thanks for the tidbits — and especially the advice on being willing to slowdown. (and of course the tech snags heads up!!!)

Wrapping up lunch today a friend who is a sr. exec at a major global company asked a simple, wonderful question, “How can I help you?” Wow. It opened up some great ideas.Imagine if we all asked professional colleagues and friends that question more often.

Lois

]]> By: Bill Ross http://blog.foghound.com/241/#comment-1642 Bill Ross Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:57:30 +0000 http://blog.foghound.com/241/#comment-1642 Hi, Lois, First, I was looking for the most obvious recent place to ping you about how John Battelle is singin' your conversational song: >> The Successful Business Owner... >> ...is a great conversationalist. Part Two of my series over on the Amex site... >> It’s a truism for nearly every successful local business I’ve seen: The owners are engaged with their clients, they know them well, and moreover, they are seen as leaders and storytellers – masters of their domain, and more than happy to talk about it. http://battellemedia.com/archives/004323.php === Meanwhile, this story about the lady and her two chairs really strikes to the heart of a great principle we all need to routinely remember to return to: looking for the Simplest approach to fulfilling a need. From my own humble online speaking, a couple samples of posts tagged "simplicity," one of my favorites: "Can trends be predicted, much less created?" (Oh, look, this one quotes *you* -- what a coincidence!) http://rosswriting.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html#1049122634016901443 Or, say, "Serious Fun Dept.: The Playpump" http://rosswriting.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html#5670811944253520571 Last thought: the key to being able to see simple solutions? It almost invariably starts with being willing to s l o w d o w n... Hi, Lois,

First, I was looking for the most obvious recent place to ping you about how John Battelle is singin’ your conversational song:

>> The Successful Business Owner…
>> …is a great conversationalist. Part Two of my series over on the Amex site…

>> It’s a truism for nearly every successful local business I’ve seen: The owners are engaged with their clients, they know them well, and moreover, they are seen as leaders and storytellers – masters of their domain, and more than happy to talk about it.
http://battellemedia.com/archives/004323.php
===

Meanwhile, this story about the lady and her two chairs really strikes to the heart of a great principle we all need to routinely remember to return to: looking for the Simplest approach to fulfilling a need.

From my own humble online speaking, a couple samples of posts tagged “simplicity,” one of my favorites:

“Can trends be predicted, much less created?”
(Oh, look, this one quotes *you* — what a coincidence!)
http://rosswriting.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html#1049122634016901443

Or, say,
“Serious Fun Dept.: The Playpump”
http://rosswriting.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html#5670811944253520571

Last thought: the key to being able to see simple solutions? It almost invariably starts with being willing to
s l o w d o w n…

]]> By: Lissa http://blog.foghound.com/241/#comment-1255 Lissa Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:13:06 +0000 http://blog.foghound.com/241/#comment-1255 Flat out love this story... Flat out love this story…

]]> By: Anthony Russo http://blog.foghound.com/241/#comment-1186 Anthony Russo Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:42:23 +0000 http://blog.foghound.com/241/#comment-1186 I come from New York City and one of the things I used to do on my lunch hour when I was working in Downtown Manhattan was to sit and play chess with one of the people that sat in the park with a Chessboard setup and would play for money. I wasn't playing for money, but just enjoyed a good game of chess with an experienced player. One of them I played with a few times told me that he was only there every day really for the conversation. Chess was the side thing going on while he got to talk with a wide range of people. He was more interested in just talking with people than the money, or the game. I think people really do like to meet others and talk about things in general, but it's the initial start of it that is the obstacle to overcome. Jill removes that with an inviting way to be approached and reaps the benefits of that, as do her guests. Great anecdote. Anthony I come from New York City and one of the things I used to do on my lunch hour when I was working in Downtown Manhattan was to sit and play chess with one of the people that sat in the park with a Chessboard setup and would play for money. I wasn’t playing for money, but just enjoyed a good game of chess with an experienced player.

One of them I played with a few times told me that he was only there every day really for the conversation. Chess was the side thing going on while he got to talk with a wide range of people. He was more interested in just talking with people than the money, or the game.

I think people really do like to meet others and talk about things in general, but it’s the initial start of it that is the obstacle to overcome. Jill removes that with an inviting way to be approached and reaps the benefits of that, as do her guests.

Great anecdote.

Anthony

]]>