USA Today: Global Updates Daily Via Satellite

Posted on April 11, 2007 by Harry K. Jones

Happy Birthday to USA TODAY!

In mid-September of this year, USA TODAY celebrates 25 years of service to readers all over the world. It is published via satellite at 36 locations in the USA and at four sites abroad. With a total average daily circulation of 2.3 million, USA TODAY is available worldwide. USA TODAY is published by Gannett Co., Inc. Often fondly referred to as the Nation’s Newspaper or McPaper, this colorful daily is published Monday through Friday and is one of very few to inform readers nationally and internationally with such in-depth news coverage.

To celebrate their 25th birthday, they will be offering a series of commemorative Top 25 lists. You can find their full-page specials in the paper or online every week from now until September. The first two have both offered a fine mixture of entertainment and education. Check it out for some great reading material.

The first week they focused on 25 years of changing trends that changed the USA. When you see the many changes all profiled, with photos, on one page, it’s mind-boggling. It truly makes you wonder how we handled so many cultural changes at the same time so successfully. It certainly speaks to the character, tenacity, and determination of our country and its people.

They feature 25 major changes in their first article. Allow me to give you a short sampling of their in-depth research in hopes of enticing you to jump on this weekly bandwagon.

Safety: Fear of terrorism has changed our lives in so many ways. Color-coded threat levels, removing your shoes at airports, no-fly lists, Columbine, Amber alerts, and “America’s Most Wanted” to name just a few. I find it amazing how quickly we adapted to these many changes and now seem to take them in stride.

Snuffing out smoking: In 1982, you could smoke just about anywhere you chose. Then the banishment began in offices, then airplanes, then restaurants, public places, and now there’s a possibility of adding your car and home to this growing list. And don’t forget the availability of the nicotine patch, nicotine gum, and multi-million dollar lawsuits against big-money tobacco companies.

Tech creates cult of “me”: This trend seemed to appear overnight, and it’s growing at a tremendous rate of speed. Look at the advances in computers and cell phones. Consider the revolutionary switch from cassettes and VHS to CDs and DVDs. The internet opened the floodgates. Many of us are still unsure about MySpace.com, Facebook, and Blogs. It’s all about customization and personalization. Shop on TV with eBay and Amazon.com. Confirm your travel plans via dozens of expert websites. Use your TiVo to record any program to be watched at a more convenient time. Do the same thing by downloading your favorite music on your iPod or MP3. Capture your most secretive moments to play back for the world on YouTube, take pictures with your cell phone, or take part in your favorite reality TV program.

Bigger is better: We preach smaller but live bigger … McMansions, SUVs, Minivans, Megachurches, big-box stores like Wal-Mart and Costco. Megaplex theaters offering 55-gallon drums of Coke and box cars of popcorn. And have you tried Hardee’s Monster Thickburger (1,420 calories)?

A nation divided: Reagan Revolution. Bill Clinton. Rush Limbaugh. Al Franken. Hanging chads. Voter fraud. Red and blue states. Iran and Iraq. Border disputes. Halliburton. Gay rights. Governor Arnold. What’s next? First female President? First African American President? Anything could happen!

Global warming: Real or imagined. Everyone’s talking about carbon footprints, The Kyoto Protocol, the shrinking polar ice cap, melting glaciers, monster hurricanes, El Niño, La Niña, and Al Gore.

Pick up a USA TODAY for many more details and an on-going offering of interesting articles like this. We can look forward to these weekly treats every Monday from now until September 10th.

As the nation’s best-selling newspaper, the USA TODAY brand also includes: USATODAY.com, which is an award-winning news and information web site that is updated 24 hours per day, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, which is a magazine for enthusiasts of pro football and baseball, and USA TODAY LIVE, which is the television arm of the USA TODAY brand.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services.

Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.

For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Fact-A-Day from Harry K. – April 10, 2007

Posted on April 10, 2007 by Harry K. Jones

Fact-A-Day from Harry K. In the spirit of C.A.N.I. (Continuous And Never-ending Improvement), here are this week’s new facts—one for each day of your coming week. Pass them on to others to keep the spirit alive or invite your friends and family to visit our blog where they can also view previous entries.

Wild elephants eat about 220 to 440 pounds each day of all types of vegetation, including grass, fruit, leaves, and bark.
Because bottled water is considered a food, it is regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration. Tap water is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Both types of water are subject to testing for contaminates.
Chocolate is a product of the cacao tree, and the seeds its fruit produces are called cacao beans or cocoa beans. The powder made from these beans is called cocoa powder.
There are two types of boomerang, returning and non-returning. The returning boomerang was invented by Australian Aborigines thousands of years ago.
Fortune Cookies were invented in America in 1918 by Charles Jung.
The first jigsaw puzzle was produced around 1760 by John Spilsbury, a London engraver and mapmaker.
The first metal lunchbox produced was the Hopalong Cassidy created by the Aladdin Company of Nashville in 1950. They made a blue and a red lunchbox with a four-inch decal on the front side.

Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.

For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Michelangelo: A Man for the Ages

Posted on April 5, 2007 by Harry K. Jones

Look-Listen-Learn What comes to mind when you hear the name Michelangelo? Prior to solidifying a visual image, consider the following information. As each fact is revealed, your image of this historical icon should become a little clearer in your mind. Let’s take a look.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was his full name.
He was born in 1475 and lived to be 89 years of age.
He was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet and engineer.
He was perhaps the greatest influence on western art in the last five centuries.
He is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival and fellow Italian Leonardo da Vinci.
When the sheer volume of correspondence, sketches and reminiscences that survive is taken into account, he is the best-documented artist of the 16th century.
He created a huge statue of the Biblical hero David (over 14 feet tall) in Florence before he turned 30.
He painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome (commissioned by Pope Julius II).
He designed the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, completed after his death.

Michelangelo Now deliberate for a moment on that personal image that emerged as you read the above details of his life. With that image in mind, can you imagine this man sharing the following wisdom with the world?

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it!”

”Excellence can be obtained if you:
… care more than others think is wise;
… risk more than others think is safe;
… dream more than others think is practical;
… expect more than others think is possible.”

“I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.”

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

Can you imagine that these observations were made more than 500 years ago? Michelangelo said things at that time that can easily be adapted to today’s chaotic business environment. Note how relevant his words are … even though they were spoken more than a half century ago. That’s true of so many great minds over the years. There’s a reason these words of wisdom have lasted so long. They ring true because they have proven to be so ― time and time again Michelangelo was obviously a visionary as so many people of his time labeled him. I believe he would easily fit into our society today with very few problems. The question is: Would he want to?

Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.

For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Does Circuit City Carry Calculators?

Posted on April 4, 2007 by Harry K. Jones

Nary a day goes by that I don’t run across something in the newspaper or on a TV newscast that boggles my mind, drops my jaw, and challenges any concept of conventional wisdom.

I constantly see absurd decisions being made by corporate leaders who, a year later, are receiving severance packages consisting of hundreds of millions of dollars and benefits that easily rival the most outrageous lottery winnings.

For instance, Circuit City, the nation’s #2 consumer electronics retailer behind Best Buy, has announced plans to fire 3,400 retail workers because they’re making too much money! Yes, the word was “FIRE,” and the reason was exactly as stated above. They’re also going to fire about 130 corporate information-technology employees.

Let’s take a closer look and, as we do, ponder the facts and think about the possibility of whether you would consider such a strategic move if you were in charge of this organization.

Circuit City will absolutely save a great deal of money as they replace those they fire by hiring lower-paid workers! There is positively no question about that fact. However, I do have another question. I’m pretty sure that Circuit City sells calculators. I’m not quite as sure if they know how to use them.

While they stand to savor a substantial savings, let’s contemplate what they stand to lose.

Consider these potential speed bumps:

How will this strategy affect their customer service levels as they replace 3,400 seasoned, well-trained employees with novice, inexperienced, less-paid stand-ins who lack product knowledge?

What caliber of new employee can they expect to attract after demonstrating how they’ve treated loyal employees who have put forth an effort to grow and prosper? Can these replacements anticipate pay raises and promotions or will achievement equate to possible termination? What’s the incentive for these rookies to strive for excellence? If there is no incentive, what level of service can we anticipate as consumers?

How about the remaining store associates who were not fired? What did this do to their morale, productivity, and aspirations of a career in their chosen field of endeavor? I can’t wait to visit one of their stores to be greeted by this bunch of “happy campers.”

By the way, those being fired will get severance packages and may apply for any open positions after 10 weeks. What’s the message here? “Even though you were fired, you’re welcome to come back as your dismissal had nothing to do with your performance. However, you’ll be returning at a lower pay rate — equivalent to those we recently hired with less experience and product knowledge than you have.” How many do you think will return?

When you consider the escalating cost of advertising, what do you think Circuit City will have to invest in order to compensate for the tremendous negative publicity they’re currently receiving in newspapers, magazines, radio and television newscasts, and Internet reports? This story spread world-wide within minutes of its release and received very little positive response. It’s difficult to calculate the loss of public trust and image. How many customers are now willing to return to Circuit City? Some will question the level of service they can expect. Others will express dismay in the treatment of those fired. Some will challenge the wisdom of leadership decision-making skills. Many will simply decide to “wait and see.” All because Circuit City didn’t pro-actively utilize their very own HP 12C Platinum 25th Anniversary Edition Financial Calculator.

I have one last question: Do you think the Best Buy CEO will send the Circuit City CEO a formal “Thank You” note or will he simply remain safely hidden in the wings serenely smiling as he surveys the most recent stock market results? We’ll never know.

Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.

For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Fact-A-Day from Harry K. – April 3, 2007

Posted on April 3, 2007 by Harry K. Jones

Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined.
10% of the salt mined in the world each year is used to de-ice the roads in America.
The Pentagon has twice as many toilets as necessary because in the 1940s, when it was built, the state of Virginia still had segregation laws requiring separate facilities for blacks and whites.
More people are allergic to cow’s milk than to any other food.
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, never phoned his wife or mother, as both were deaf.
Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina state anthem.
1/100th of a second is known as a “jiffy.”

Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.

For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

212 – The Extra Degree

Posted on April 2, 2007 by Harry K. Jones

A few weeks ago, I directed you to the web site of “Simple Truths” to view the short, three-minute movie called “The Dash … Making a Difference With Your Life.” I hope it was as thought-provoking for you as it was for me. It certainly makes you re-evaluate your current priorities. More than 30 million people around the world have viewed it since its appearance on that site, and more than 20,000 a day continue to watch it as a result of folks passing it along as I did to you.

The following week I again directed you back to that same web site to view still another three-minute inspirational video called “The Nature of Success.” I found this one to be inspirational, energizing, and insightful as well.

Well, apparently good things come in threes as I just received another invitation to return to their web site to observe a third video. This one is titled “212 – The Extra Degree.” Again, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality, inspiration, and impact of what I witnessed. I found this one especially interesting as it reminded me a great deal of a familiar theme we share in many of our training seminars and keynote presentations … Sweat the Small Stuff. Little things do make a big difference, and we witness examples of this simple fact every day. It’s the “small stuff” that really makes an impression on us when it comes to making the decision to spend our hard-earned dollars on products and services of any kind. It’s also the “small stuff” that disturbs us to the point of deciding to take our business elsewhere on occasion.

This particular video is based on the fact that at 211 degrees water is hot; at 212 degrees it boils and turns to steam, and steam has enough energy to power a locomotive. It’s that one extra degree that makes all the difference. Some might consider one single degree as being “small stuff.” However, look at the impact it can have! If you enjoyed the first two videos, you’ll want to see this one as well. It’ll only take a few minutes, it’s absolutely free, and it’ll provide you with some serious content to ponder and share with others. Give it a look-see, you won’t regret it!

Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.

For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

AchieveMax® Blog

Business articles on change, creativity, customer service, leadership, motivation, teamwork, and time management, written by AchieveMax® professional speakers.

Monthly Archives: April 2007

USA Today: Global Updates Daily Via Satellite

Fact-A-Day from Harry K. – April 10, 2007

Michelangelo: A Man for the Ages

Does Circuit City Carry Calculators?

Fact-A-Day from Harry K. – April 3, 2007

212 – The Extra Degree

Motivational Training or Motivational Keynote Presentation Information

Motivational and Inspirational Articles

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