The Truth Hurts

So I purchase some nutrition bars from a prominent online store. 

If you click on 2 boxes (12 bars each), they charge you $30. 

But if you look over a little on the website page, they have 24 bars for $24. 

I contact customer service and start chatting with them about this. 

Basically, I wanted the difference refunded to me. 

Surely, not a lot of money, but more the principle of it. 

They are charging 2 different amounts for the very same thing! 

The lady on the other end of the chat asks me to forward her the link for the product. 

I comply. 

She says, “You see that link is 2 boxes for $30!”

I say, “No, that’s just the primary link to the product, and it has 2 different prices for basically the exact same thing.”

She says, “On that link you sent it has 12 bars x 2, which is different than ordering 24 bars!”

I’m thinking, Oh really!  What math class did she take in elementary school???

And then for good measure, she adds socking one to me:

“Truth Always Hurts!”

At this point, I couldn’t believe my chat “ears”.  

Aside from her “truth” not being “the truth” in any universe…

I was in shock and said something like “How dare you.  You are incredibly rude.  Put your supervisor on.”

She says: “Well, my supervisor will tell you the same thing!”

I repeated once more: “Please let me speak to a supervisor.”

Finally when I got the supervisor, who was a more normal, reasonable person, and also could do simple arithmetic, she immediately apologizes issuing me a refund. 

She asked if there was anything else she could assist with.

I asked, to confirm again, “Are you a supervisor?”

She responded affirmatively. 

I asked her to review the chat with the prior customer service rep and asked, “Is this how you want your company represented to your customers?”

Needless to say, she was flabbergasted by what she saw from their outsourced “customer service” representative.

She assured me she was flagging the chat for review by management and that this outrageous behavior from this company representative would be addressed. 

To me, it is amazing that our companies not only outsource the manufacture of our vital goods, but they also outsource customer service to people that barely seem to speak the language, can’t do basic math, and have zero customer service skills. 

This does not bode well for American competitiveness–in the age of Coronavirus or at any other time. 

I believe that this truth hurts much more than any company’s horrendous customer service. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Coronavirus – Something or Nothing?

I don’t know about you but I have found the communication about the Coronavirus to be absolutely confusing.

And the actions demonstrating unpreparedness, disorganized response, general chaos, and panic do not match the few calming words we are getting. 

No wonder everyone is panicking and the bottom is falling from the market.

On one hand:

– The officials tell everyone to remain calm, and there is no reason to panic. 

– Help is on the way.

– People are overreacting.

– Most people that get Covid 19 won’t even know they had it or the symptoms will be mild (or maybe moderate)

– The death rate is “only” like 3 or 4% and it’s mostly older people or those with chronic ailments anyway (as if these people don’t matter). 

– Younger children aren’t really getting it (although we don’t know exactly why or the impact on pregnant women). 

– It’s less contagious and deadly than the flu (wait, it’s more contagious and deadly). 

– There are plenty of tests available for everyone (no, there aren’t).

– It will be over in a few weeks when the seasons change and the temperature goes up. 

– A vaccine will soon be ready for testing and then distribution after 12-18 months. 

– The numbers of infected are going down in China–see they have it under control!

– Maybe we should allow investigative drugs to be used (or maybe not, the FDA thinks this is a bad idea).

– The impact to the economy will be over probably by August (or will it?). 

– It’ll ALL be over soon.

On the other hand:

– We don’t know what we’re facing (people are routinely using the words apocalypse and armageddon). 

– This could be the “big one!”

– Is this a punishment from G-d (and is the Messiah coming)? 

– This has reached pandemic proportions. 

– We are declaring a national emergency. 

– This may have come out of a Chinese bioweapons lab.

– Also, China suppressed information and initial response on this making the outbreak worse. 

– “China should be punished for these things” (or some version of this).

– Cases are raising around the world. 

– The contagion is worse than initially thought (there are comparisons to the Spanish Flu of 1918 which killed around 50 million people)

– The death rate is higher than expected. 

– We don’t know why or where certain people got Covid 19 from.

– The hospitals are already overwhelmed and are unprepared for a real surge of cases. 

– We need to “flatten the curve” so our healthcare system isn’t brought to its knees. 

– We are already triaging patients and our doctors and nurses are working extra long hours and are exhausted. 

– We aren’t prepared for this–our healthcare system and government has “failed us”. 

– We’re rolling out unprecedented economic assistance from the Fed, the Treasury…another trillion dollar deficit (no answer for how this gets paid, if ever…can anyone say runaway inflation in the future and lots of worthless dollars). 

– Washing and “Social Distancing” are paramount. 

– There is a run on toilet paper and disinfectants and these are either sold out or vendors are price gouging these items. 

– We are shutting down the country (workplaces, fitness centers, eat-in restaurants, entertainment, travel, places of worship, and any significant gathering of people). 

– The instructions to stay at home in “indefinite”!

– People are stuck in the house and worried about how long this will go on. 

– Some places like New Rochelle, NY are under quarantine and the National Guard has been called out.

– There is talk of a curfew and further measures of quarantine to be enforced under penalty of imprisonment. 

– The lines at the stores (Costco, Sam’s Club, Supermarkets, Groceries) are out the door and the shelves are empty. 

– Amazon announces that they are running out on consumer stables!

– Businesses are suspending workers, moving them to part time, and laying them off. 

– The stock market is down by 1/3 and we’re told that this could just be the beginning. 

– A recession is looming and the economic impact and duration is unknown. 

– Italy is on lockdown. 

– Borders are being closed. 

– People can’t get home from abroad. 

– Cruise ships aren’t being allowed to port. 

– Airlines are screaming for a financial bailout. 

– Navy Hospital Ships with 1,000 beds each are being deployed to the east and west coast. 

– We’re sending $1,000 checks (or something like this) to people below a certain income level (maybe $65,000).

– Taxes are supposedly being deferred (although not filing of returns or estimated taxes yet).  

– People are wearing masks everywhere (but we are being told only the sick ones need to wear it and we see everyone in China wearing it and of course our first responders and medical professionals, so which is it).

– Primary voting is delayed in some states and there is question whether the November Presidential election will also be delayed.

Summary:

Does anyone know WTF is going on around here???

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Interplanetary Travel – Coming Soon

Awesome presentation on Interplanetary Travel by Charlie Kuehmann, VP Materials Engineering at SpaceX and Tesla. 

Interplanetary travel and colonization is one of the most exciting possibilities for mankind.  

 

It’s all just beginning (we’ve only been in orbit for about 50 years). 

One of the keys Charlie mentioned at SpaceX and Telsa is how quickly we learn. 

It’s okay to fail, as long as we learn quickly and progress from it.  

The progress with reusable rockets at SpaceX is impressive. 

Can’t wait for more to come soon.  😉

(Credit Video: Andy Blumenthal)

Lasting Decisions

So it’s a funny thing about decisions…

Decisions are supposed to represent the conclusion of a process involving the following steps:

– Research of the problem

– Decide on the scope

– Discover the requirements

– Determine viable alternatives

– Evaluate costs, benefits, and risks 

– Do some soul-searching

– And then resolve and commit on a way-ahead

While these steps are typically formalized in a work-setting, they may be done informally in our personal lives. 

But even after all this, we need to remain adaptive to changes in the environment that would cause us to reevaluate the decision and alter course. 

So a decision is a decision until we revisit the decision. 

The problem is that in some highly complex, unstable/turbulent environments, or ones where there are a lot of disagreements among stakeholders (such that there was perhaps not a consensus on the original decision to begin with) then “decisions” may be short-lived.

In this case, decisions may be half-baked, not even last until the ink is dried, and certainly not have a chance in hell to be executed on or seen through to determine whether they actually would’ve worked. 

In a way a decision that is so temporal is not even really a decision, but sticking your toe out to feel the temperature of the water, and any commitment of resources can and probably will be a complete throw-away.  

We’ve got to do the investment in the upfront work, really make a good data-driven (and inspired) decision, and give it an opportunity to blossom. 

Yes, we need to remain agile and change as we sincerely need to, but too much change and for the wrong reasons leads to going nowhere fast.  😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Excellence Vs. Mediocrity

So we all know how hard it can be to get ahead.  

The long hours, hard work, and grueling repetition to try to reach near-perfection. 

Even then, of course, we need G-d’s mercy and blessings and a measure of good luck to succeed. 

Also, by definition, not everyone can be “the best” at everything. 

I suppose the expectation for most people is that they try at least to excel at the things that they need to do or are most important to them, as well as maintain work-life balance. 

In this light, it was interesting to hear a story recently about mediocrity (and not excellence). 

When asked to step up on the job, one person responded in the negative saying:

C’s get degrees (too)!

Of course, this must have sounded pretty shocking and off-putting. 

In other words, they weren’t going for the “A” or even a “B”.  A “C” grade was fine for them–as long as they didn’t completely fail with a big “F”.

Who knows what circumstances may have led this person to settle for mediocrity–just wanting to pass.

Perhaps they had serious personal or family issues–and had good reason to be taking a step back (for a while). 

But I think there could also be more tactful ways to say it too–like explaining if there were mitigating or challenging circumstances in their life right now. 

If there really wasn’t mitigating circumstances and the person was just “slacking off” or didn’t care, one has to wonder why–are they just “milking the system” or is there something more fundamentally wrong?

C’s get degrees, but to me the real question is: Are you doing your best given your particular life circumstances?  😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Success Anchored in Function AND Beauty

Just a saying from Dr. Ferry Porsche (as in Porsche cars) that I liked:

“It has always been a principal of our company that function and beauty are inseparable.”

If you can make something useful and attractive–you have a real winner!

Companies like Porsche and Apple get it (many, many others are clueless).  

Product development is both art and science and therein lay the foundations of their success or failure. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Hopefully, All’s Well That Ends Well

I liked this Hebrew sign that says (translated):

When the end is good, all is good. 

Or as we commonly say:

All’s well that end’s well. 

Lot of truth to this. 

And there are so many languages that talk to this.

I remember my father used to say it in German as well.

When things end well, it’s as if everything went well. And when things end badly, it’s as if everything was bad. 

The human mind seems to focus on the last thing (and forgets virtually everything leading up to it). 

Perhaps, we justify the means with the end (i.e. all the time and effort leading up to it). 

Or maybe we recap our lives as either a success or failure by how things ended up. 

In 20/20 hindsight, we can see the consequences of our actions.

– Was all the hard work worth it?

– Did we even focus on the right priorities and goals in life?

– Were the choices and decisions we made well-founded? 

– What was the impact on ourselves, our loved ones, and more broadly?

We look for meaning and purpose in our lives, and hopefully in the end when we look back, we are blessed to see that it was all for the good. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

You Ended Up In Hell City

So a friend told me something funny.

It was about being given what appears to be a wonderful opportunity, but in reality it’s not all roses. 

In short, it went something like this:

There was an exciting competition and a prize at the end. 
Everyone prepared and worked hard to win it. 
But when the competition was over, what was the prize?
The 2nd place was two weeks in Philadelphia. 
The 1st place was one week in Philadelphia. 

I had to think about that for a second, but that is really pretty funny and true. 

No not about Philadelphia, but about life–that what we often mistakenly want so badly and strive for with all our energies, and then only to find out that it really wasn’t as good or amazing for us and our families as we imagined. 

Yes, very often you set your sights on certain goals to win the competition, but then you find out that the BIG prize (“first place”) is really not something to get excited about, because it’s in Philadelphia!  😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Solving Computer Problems

Funny T-Shirt on solving computer problems:

Does it work?

Did you screw with it?

Does anyone know?

Can you blame anyone else?

This little flowchart seems to capture so many issues in the office like:

– Accountability

– Problem-solving

– Doing the right thing

Oh, maybe that’s a different flowchart. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Victory Or Defeat

I was reading Vladimir Jabotinsky’s “Story of My Life.”

And there is this quote that I really like attributed to Kipling in it:

Victory or defeat: learn to accept both with equanimity since both are deceptions.

I just thought this is profound.  

We never really fully win or lose. 

Everything is on a spectrum. 

And where we think we are on that spectrum is often not even nearly correct. 

You think you won that one, but guess what someone else has outsmarted you and you don’t even know it yet. 

Also, wins can be easily followed by loses and vice versa.

Things can turn on a dime and who’s up becomes who’s down–as the wheel of life turns and turns again. 

Recognize that you don’t control everything–actually, the only thing you do control is how you react and behave.

Everything else is a test to teach you and help you grow. 

And as I heard from a speaker yesterday, “you can’t make up in space, what you have lost in time.”

Victory or defeat, both are deceptions. 

Only how you choose to act is the real win or lose. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)