Designers, people with photoshop, snooping relatives, etc. What do you think of this as a possible logo for Simonds Media (my slightly more formal presence online)?

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In the spirit of all the list posts floating around looking forward to 2010 and back at the previous decade, I’ve decided to make a different sort of list. This is a list of mistakes. A list of things I’ve learned from in the past and am reminded of constantly as I run into others making the same blunders.

Context: My experience is in entertainment and last-mile logistics.

1. I failed to verbally acknowledge stressful moments

There’s a line between exchanges that boost morale and encouraging inappropriate personal disclosure. In my case, I failed to share enough and it cost me many valuable learning and morale-boosting moments. Why? Because I’m a pro at smiling when I don’t feel like it. I can have a rotten day and choose to grin through it. I can hide my pain when I have a job to do. Most people struggle with that and such a struggle can lead to rotten service and unhappy customers if left unchecked. I was working so hard to lead by example that I forgot to tune others in to what I was doing. That was a mistake.

2. I maintained pet peeves

Sometimes a piece of gum isn’t worth fighting over.

3. I neglected consistent contributors

It’s easy to spend a lot of time on a few “problem” employees and end up fostering resentment in the stellar contributors who show up on time and give 100% every day. Mitigating factors aside, I failed to sufficiently recognize those who made a difference on a daily basis. That was a mistake.

4. I overlooked individual goals in pursuit of business targets

People fulfill the requirements of their job descriptions in order to get a paycheck. They do remarkable work for other reasons. Looking back, I can think of times when I failed to connect an individual’s goals with those of the organization we worked for in a way that left us both feeling like a win could be had. That was a mistake.

5. I failed to show the people working for me that I cared about them as individuals

As the middle of 11 children, you’d think I might know a thing or two about falling through the cracks of an organization. Growing up, my father scheduled one-on-one time with each kid as a way to make sure nobody felt left outside the huddle. While I in no way view myself as a father figure, there have been times when I would have done well to take a page from my dad’s play book and scheduled more short meetings to check in with employees. 70 people is not so many that any should have felt like I didn’t know who they were as valuable individuals. That has happened, though, and it was a mistake.

6. I failed to take proper care of myself

Happy people do great work. I can look back and identify times when I should have taken time off, exercised regularly, eat better, pursued outside interests and generally set a better example for those working for me. Fewer mistakes in my personal life would have translated into a stronger and more attentive presence in my work life. I didn’t take great care of myself and ended up missing out on some cool moments and great opportunities because of it.

7. I spent more time optimizing machines for pennies than I did investing in people for dollars

The inclination to micromanage is never far behind an increase in power. Micromanaging leads to a laundry list of idiocy that fuels a cycle of unhappiness and results that seem to come only through blood and tears. Loyalty and enthusiasm aren’t easily tracked on a spreadsheet so increasing morale is often the last thing on a list of ways to improve profits. That’s a big mistake. I’m one of the people who has made it before and I fear that the temptation to do so again will always be there.

I’m sure there are others that I may be reminded of shortly but these seven are the first that came to mind in writing this post. Why would I write something like this? Why would I admit to having made mistakes? I don’t see much value in pretending to be perfect. My mistakes aren’t remarkable. My only chance at progress is found in learning from my stumbles and finding ways to avoid new blunders in the future.

What mistakes do you look forward to avoiding in the years ahead?

I stand across from the bespectacled man, breath bated, waiting for him to reach out and allow me to grasp the much-lauded future of electronic reading devices: the Nook. Beneath the august names bolted to the painted concrete storefront is a word that explains the birth of this Kindle killer. “Bookseller” says the sign in glowing green letters. That’s what this device, this gray bit of plastic that reminds me vaguely of a knobless Etch-a-sketch, is intended to do: sell books.

Smiling like a junior high school student who knows something I don’t know, this man whose breath somehow seems to steam in a warm room–his name is Gary–refuses to let me hold the Nook as he expounds upon its features. I hear, “2 Gigabytes of memory” and “share books with friends for free” as the tech-enthralled beast inside me grows ever more angry at this character for holding out on me. He continues his pitch with, “You can take notes and search for…” but I can wait no longer.

“Gary, could you hand me that Nook? I’d like that.” Gary reluctantly gives up this precious harbinger of literature’s future.

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This my 100th post on sethsimonds.com.

I think it’s fair to say that I’ve given you a decent body of work to judge me by.

Now, how would you like me to monetize my online presence?

Would you like me to update my Twitter account with a few tweets each day to various products? Would you like me to begin writing sponsored articles on this blog? Perhaps you’d like me to privatize my writing and charge a modest subscription fee to read my work?

Free is dead. Free doesn’t help me support charities or give of my time and talent to people, causes, and projects that need it most. Free doesn’t create relationships, it fuels apathy.

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Used car dealerships love to give away hot dogs. They think that giving away something small in order to bring in people to buy something big is a worthwhile concept. Why? Because the people who don’t make a purchase will think nicely of you while those hesitant to buy are more easily convinced (ostensibly) because you’ve given them something already. They “owe” you in the same irrational way a girl owes a guy sex after dinner and drinks.

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It’s been 3 months since United Airlines was dragged into social media. There are hundreds of social media sites a big brand could use to connect with customers. Twitter, as the real-time queen of social media, is a good place to look for evidence of social media savvy and evolution.

Here’s a current snapshot of @UnitedAirlines:

“Twanksgiving Tware” says a lot about where United is with their understanding of how Twitter works. I feel for them like I feel for the baby boomer who uses ancient surfer lingo in attempts to connect with today’s youth. It’s awkward.

And what about the page design? If United Airlines offered deals on deep-sea expeditions through their Twitter page, the gradient would make sense. The logo hesitantly bobs above the heavily-cropped portion of an airplane. If you breathe deeply, you get a hint of mothballs as you

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What would a new media conference look like if conference organizers stepped outside their immediate social networks and set aside gender and racial bias when scheduling presenters and panelists?

It would look like this:

The Speakers

(Topics are assigned – Bobby will, of course, talk about whatever he feels like at the time.)

Heidi Swanson

Topic: Pavlov’s Blog – Meeting the expectations of a salivating digital consumer.

Heidi’s writing and photographs have been featured in Food & Wine magazine, The Washington Post, Glamour, Whole Foods Markets, Saveur, and Fast Company. Her recipe journal, 101 Cookbooks, has been the recipient of many awards, serves more than 1 million page views per month, and has 350,000+ subscribers. (In comparison, Mashable has 319,000)

Juan Williams

Topic: Angry Islands – Polarization, hyperbole, and politics in real time.

During his 21-year career at The Washington Post, Williams served as an editorial writer, op-ed columnist, and White House reporter. He has won an Emmy award for TV documentary writing and won widespread critical acclaim for a series of documentaries including “Politics – The New Black Power.” He is a contributing political analyst for the Fox News Channel and a regular panelist on Fox News Sunday. (Excerpt)

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