Ctrl Alt Delete – Our Future Depends On It

Back in mid-90’s I met this cool smart dude when we were both slogging it out in the music industry. He was running a music magazine and working with musicians while I was programming radio stations.

Fast forward a couple or 20 years and Mitch Joel has become a great friend, someone I look to for advice, and always enjoy reading his daily blog posts.

He Started It

This site exists because five years ago Mitch kicked my ass to write and keep writing. And you can call him a 25 year overnight success because he only works every day at his craft while sharing constantly, speaking around the world, and ensuring his digital agency Twist Image remains healthy and strong. Other than that, the guy's a slacker!

He published his first book Six Pixels of Separation which you should have if you don't already.  Now he has released his new book which may scare you then inspire you.

Joel's second book Ctrl Alt Delete: Reboot Your Business. Reboot Your Life. Your Future Depends On It is out this week. Mitch and I will have a chat about it here on the site in a while so we can get even more insight from him. We may even talk a little music while we're at it. Pick up the book and let's learn together. Congrats Mitch!

And check out the best book site ever right here.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

Mitch Joel | Ctrl Alt Delete

Decisions and Impatience

We live in an instant gratification world where quick wins are lauded and our impatience fills the zeitgeist. Get it now, fix it now, win it now, make that call, close that sale, launch that product, etc. I am working on a new venture and we want stuff done yesterday. In my quest to speed up the process, I often get in the way which is something we all need to keep in mind.

Managing our patience takes skill and dedication. When do you make a quick decision? When do you wait? When does it require more data? When are you getting lost in data and scope creep?

One of the biggest stories this week is the departure of JC Penny CEO Ron Johnson. Mitch Joel features the Johnson story in his new book Crtl Alt Delete and recently wrote about the swift departure, saying; “I hope 17 months doesn't become the norm.” 

Nimble is the norm and impatience is riding shotgun

In some cases, 17 months is too long, in others too short. I worked with a guy who proclaimed his mantra was - ready shoot aim. Make a decision, do it, deal with the consequences. I think some aiming is important but often we get stuck during the indecision stage, so balance is always the challenge. But waiting for the perfect time to move is a deadly pursuit.

Johnson was tasked with turning around an old brand in a very busy sector shrouded in churn and impatience. But Ron was fired and they're bringing back the CEO he replaced a year and a half ago hoping this time it'll work. Cue the Einstein quote.

Culture is king

Zappos is often used as an example where leadership, patience and culture merge into a cool place to work that makes healthy profit. Culture and revenue can live happily together if done right. The Zappos’ family values are; Deliver wow through service. Embrace and drive change. Create fun and a little weirdness. Be adventurous, creative, and open-minded. Pursue growth and learning. Build open and honest relationships with communication. Build a positive team and family spirit. Do more with less. Be passionate and determined. Be humble.

CEO Tony Hsieh admits both fast and slow decisions cost Zappos a lot of money while affecting their culture.


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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture Strategist, Writer, Speaker, Executive Coach engaging leaders to build successful talent and profitable business.

Flickr | Inc. | Tony Hsieh

Inspirational People | Mitch Joel

We recently started a regular feature on this site. The idea came from wondering about the people who friends and readers enjoy and give them inspiration.

There were three simple rules. Is the information valuable to my work or life? Is the author doing actual work to back it up? Do they challenge me, make me think, and/or make me move to do something? If you have someone in mind, send me an email.

Mitch Joel | Six Pixels of Separation

Anyone who knows me in a real way knows that I value Mitch’s friendship and creative mind. He is the President of a thriving digital marketing firm Twist Image. When I started to publish content on a regular basis in 2008 (over 850 posts so far), Mitch reminded me consistency is the key. And he walks the talk publishing seven fresh pieces of content every week. For free!

If you're wondering if blogging and/or podcasting can help your business, Mitch's focus has created opportunities that would not have otherwise happened.

It Takes Work

Each week, Mitch writes and publishes five new blog posts, one podcast, and a list of interesting links. Despite a demanding speaking schedule (go see him if you haven’t, he’s an outstanding speaker), working on his second book Ctrl-Alt-Del, running his agency, providing solutions for clients, and spending valuable time with his family, it’s rare when his input drops below that goal. Did I mention it was all free?

In more than a decade, he has only asked his readers for something on three occasions. Once to promote his first book – Six Pixels of Separation, second was to help raise money for the End Malaria effort, and recently to help Light The Night Walk.

Joel is an avid reader, defender of the written word, and open minded enough to take on new ideas and perspectives. And he's a funny guy!

Thanks Mitch, for sharing and inspiring.

Kneale Mann

watchmojo

It’s Not About The Canvass Or The Canvas

It’s everywhere: pontification, prediction, forecasting, and we still have no idea what’s next. And we never will know. The reason we all try our best to look toward the future is because we think that something magical will happen some day that will solve any problems we may be facing today. All we have is now.

Media Media Media

Media is a word lobbed around to give us all the appearance of knowledge and wisdom. It seems to be all about social media, digital media, or mass media.

The word media is used primarily as a technological reference. Whether it is a radio station transmitter, a website mainframe, an outdoor surface, or a television broadcast tower; content transmitted from one source to a desired listener, user, viewer, or community seems to be the reference point.

But as you know, media is simply the plural of medium. Medium is the canvas that content is placed upon, that’s all.

Toys Have Become The Message

What is scary is when the content becomes less important than the thingamajig.

The most successful of the last decade is the iPod. It’s portable, (mostly) user friendly, nimble and cool. Apple has done a remarkable job of creating a need to own their portable mp3 player which has given them more than a 70% share of the market.

It matters not that the battery dies too quickly, the ear buds are uncomfortable, and the sound quality is horrible. Audiophiles need not apply. And it doesn’t matter.

Facebook has an estimated 100 million profiles and growing every day. But the interface is still awkward to navigate and there are very few customizable options – other than adding more applications to the left side of the screen or in a hidden box. It’s not the prettiest website on the planet. And it doesn’t matter.

Radio has been under attack for many years because of their musical safeness, horrifically inaccurate ratings’ system, and lack of deep rich content. Instead of growing bands online and on the street, the response for the most part has been to create even safer environments and hope not to cause “tune out”. The phrase “shut up and play the hits” grew tired decades ago.

Have you ever been watching TV, scrolled through hundreds of channels several times only to find “nothing to watch”?

Have you ever experienced the Google stare? There are an estimated 10 Billion websites available at a click, and you don’t have a clue where you want to go.

And I'm done with the BlackBerry vs iPhone discussion. Pick your favorite, you're both right.

Toys and sites are cool. They are requisite to all of this. But if we don’t continue to work on the stuff that we’re putting on the stuff, we may as well offer the unit in fifty colors. It won’t matter.

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