February 12th, 2010
Funny Friday: Dilbert’s Performance Review
Have a great long weekend. Enjoy!
courtesy of Dilbert.com
Archived Posts
Posts in the ‘Funny Friday’ Category
February 5th, 2010
Funny Fridays: Terry Tate Office Linebacker
Performance management NFL style!
Like this? Check out last week’s Funny Friday: Performance Review lessons from the Office
January 29th, 2010
Funny Fridays: Performance Review Lessons from the Office
Now this is how to have a successful performance review…
January 22nd, 2010
Funny Fridays: The Real Meaning of Performance Reviews
What do all those generic performance review phrases really mean? Probably one of life’s more important questions to answer. Courtesy of Blog Tactic, HR language translated into plain old Queen’s English:
HR: Active Socially translate English: Drinks A lot
HR: Independent Worker translate English: Nobody knows what he/she does
HR: Has Leadership Qualities translate English: Is tall or has louder voice
Read the rest of the translations in What yearly performance reviews words really mean
January 8th, 2010
Funny Fridays
Maybe something to try in your next performance review…
Hope you have a great weekend! Courtesy of dilbert.com
December 23rd, 2009
Rage Against Simon Cowell
It’s almost Christmas, which for most people (those who celebrate Christmas at any rate) means spending time with family, eating too much, and, of course, eggnog. But for Jon and Tracy Morter of England, Christmas time means defeating Simon Cowell.
Jon and Tracy organized a Facebook Campaign which attracted nearly 1 million followers and helped launched Rage against the Machine’s 1992 hit, Killing in the Name, to the No.1 Christmas song in the U.K. They used Facebook to capitalize on young people’s growing unhappiness with cookie cutter pop, with which Cowell has become synonymous. Cowell’s new act, Joe McElderry, was heavily favored to reach the number 1 spot but was defeated thanks to Jon and Tracy’s campaign.
How perfect is this? Rage Against the Machine, the iconic anti-establishment group, defeating the pop establishment. (Some hardcore Rage fans may think it’s a little ironic that it was because of Facebook that this happened, but hey, I’m not going there). This is a great example of how tools like Facebook and Twitter can be used to make the voice of the people heard. These are tools which bring together like-minded people to share their opinions and have their voices heard. And, as seen here, they can actually cause change.
Must be something to do with this time of year — all the giving and such — because this post almost has a bit of Marxism to it. This may not be the proletariat rising up and over throwing the bourgeoisie, but hey, I’m sure Marx would be happy to not have to listen to Simon Cowell’s brand of music over the holidays.
Happy Holidays!
December 4th, 2009
Getting Negative Feedback
Received some negative feedback? It can be tough to take. On the other hand, if you think you’ve got it bad, check out what happens to Derrick.
Enjoy your weekend!
December 2nd, 2009
You don’t want to Break Things
In Dragons’ Den and the Value of Feedback, I wrote that every individual has the ability to influence how people view your brand. This is exactly what I meant:
This song apparently cost United Airlines $180 million…ouch. That’s the power of one person.
Ok, so maybe you won’t lose $180 million. The point is you never know who you’re pissing off, and what they’re going to do about it.
July 28th, 2009
Rudyard Kipling was an entrepreneur
I was recently sent a speech that John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, gave to Roxbury Latin Academy’s graduating class. John shared Rudyard Kipling’s powerful poem If.
If was first published in 1895, but it’s incredibly relevant to life in a startup in 2009. Kipling understood the plight of an entrepreneur. His words will help you through those late nights and early mornings when your boss is bearing down on you to get it done!
For those tough times, here’s my “entrepreneurial analysis” of his poem. Enjoy!
IF . . .
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Kipling speaks to all of us with outside stakeholders: investors, customers, partners, family, etc. When you feel the pressure of those who say “hurry up, and make it happen” hold your course and have faith in yourself and your team. Be strong, and show them that you will succeed.
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
Thinking of a world-changing idea is great but only half the battle. You must make that idea a reality. Roger Martin and Kipling would get along.
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
This cuts straight to the essential character of an entrepreneur: don’t believe your own hype, and don’t let failures stop you.
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
Kipling knew all about ’skin in the game’. To succeed you must be willing to fail. Put your money where your mouth is.
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
In the words of another famous poet “Don’t give up the fight!” – Bob Marley
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
A simple but important lesson: always work as hard as you possibly can.
Kipling may have ended If with the line “And – which is more – You’ll be a Man, my son!” What he really mean to say was this:
And – which is more – a successful startup will become!
May 21st, 2009
Today Yoda-Talk you may hear. Panic you must not. Embrace your inner Yoda, you must, and fun you shall have … yes, hmmm.
Want to make an instant connection with your brilliant Gen Y employees? Or simply want to become as wise as Yoda?
Help you, Rypple can. Less than a minute, it will take! Use the force, dear reader and click. Herh herh herh:
- Been clear enough about our priorities, have I? Improve, how?
- My greatest strengths and weaknesses from your experience in working with me, what are, hmm? Yes, hmmm.
- Keep everyone focused on the meeting agenda, did I, hmm? Hmmmmmm.
- Where to focus delivering a better presentation, should I? Herh herh herh.
Wondering what’s going on here? Today is Talk Like Yoda Day! This is perhaps the one day of the year where you can talk like everybody’s favorite Jedi Knight without people snickering at you.
Don’t know how? Try this handy how-to guide or this Yoda-Talk converter. For example, to answer the age old greeting: “How are you?”, why not try: “Excited for Yoda day, I am. Talking like Yoda today, I will”.
Besides talking like Yoda today on Rypple, you can follow @talklikeyoda on Twitter. If you’re a Twitter user already, let everyone know you’re joining in by sending a tweet with the channel tag #talklikeyodaday.
Happy Ryppling!
Recent Comments