Thom's Guided Tour

Beware of CLMs

Thom — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:07:55 +0000

Unfortunately most CLMs aren't this easy to recognize.

Recently a soon-to-be college graduate set up a networking meeting with me. I willingly agreed, not only because I enjoy helping people if I can, but also because I usually learn something as well. What surprised me was the lack of awareness this individual had about the realities of today’s professional world. Over the space of one short meal he made five CLMs. CLMs for those of you who don’t know stand for Career Limiting Moves or Career Limiting Mistakes. And the worst part is that he is smart, hard-working and would be an asset to most organizations, once some of the rough edges are cleaned up.

Social Media Missteps

Thom — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:46:46 +0000

Embracing Social Media is about more than just using the tools.

As everyone and their grandmothers rush to embrace Social Media, it’s fun watching companies really begin to leverage the power of the platforms. But it’s also very painful to see the missteps and mistakes that people and companies make – most of which could be avoided with a little forethought and planning. Here are some of the most common social media mistakes: Spew, Relevance, Inattention and Boredom. Each is detailed below.

Brett Favre, Social Media and Soap Operas

Thom — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:50:03 +0000

Madden NFL games have long since sent these Mattel Football games into retirement.

So what do Brett Favre, Social Media and Soap Operas have in common? Not much unless you count Favre’s on again/off again retirement soap opera and it’s coverage in Social Media. Seriously the only real connection is that I’ve written previously about all three and here are some updates on those three topics.

Superbowl Ad Breakdown

Thom — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:48:20 +0000

Reading the Superbowl Logo is the only time I get to use my years of Latin.

Admit it, plenty of you watch the Superbowl solely for the commercials and not for the football. If that’s true then you must have been disappointed last night because the football game was great for a change while most of the broadcast ads were boring at best and atrocious at worst.

Familiarity vs Knowledge

Thom — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:27:54 +0000

Acquiring knowledge takes effort.

Too many people and companies mistake familiarity for knowledge. A while back I was working with a CIO, whom I’ll call Ray, and realized that while he was familiar with several technologies, he had no actual knowledge about them or how they could help transform the business.

Read more on Familiarity vs Knowledge…