The Benefits of Failure

My wife and I were doing some research into how education is handled in various countries when we ran across some interesting statistics. Basically researchers took middle school age children from a bunch of different countries and tested them in mathematics. The US children did very poorly compared to the rest of the developed world.

However, the researchers went a step further and asked the children to rate themselves in mathematics. The US children consistently ranked themselves higher than the children in the countries who were actually more skilled in math. So while the US wasn’t the best in actual mathematics, they are the best in teaching students how to feel like they are good at mathematics

Obviously giving students self confidence is of tremendous value. I believe that the art of teaching comes down to arranging lessons so each one builds on the previous and students use small successes to catapult themselves forward and small failures to help motivate them to try harder.

Failure is still a very important part of learning and if children are never allowed to fail, they are being done a great injustice. If you never fail, it is difficult to really understand how you need to grow and improve.

I attended a seminar at Harvard a few years ago that discussed the changes in education caused by the Internet. One of the professors talked briefly about how we need to be careful to not violate the privacy of the classroom because it is important to give students a safe environment to fail. She mentioned that at Harvard, many would fail for the first time in their lives and it was important to give them the experience in a “safe” environment.

Small failures are vital to the learning process. I am not saying that you should try to fail, but if you avoid situations where failure is a possibility, you are avoiding the areas where you have the greatest potential for growth.

10 Articles on Creating the Perfect Resume

• A Professional Resume is Essential- Carla Vaughan
  According to Carla Vaughan, writing an impressive resume is not as difficult as one might initially think. The important headings for the content of your resume are your contact information, education and objectives as well as a few others. Because many employers simply scan resumes, these headings are essential to the creation of a well-written resume.
• How to Create a Resume that Gets Results-Penny Loretto
  In this article, Penny Loretto describes the importance of a resume. She highlights the purpose of a resume by pointing out that it should work toward the ultimate goal of providing the interested party an interview, and perhaps, the job he or she is seeking. The author also includes some basic guidelines to prevent redundancy or irrelevance in the content of the resume.
• Your Resume: General Concerns-The Online Writing Lab, Purdue University
  A resume can take on several different connotations and contexts. A few of the different categories that resumes can be divided into are the generic approach, the tailored approach and the combined approach. Each of these types has advantages and disadvantages, but choosing the correct type for a person’s own needs will aid in the development of a useful resume.
• The Very Best Way to Create Your Resume-Collegegrad.com
  This article focuses on the premise that, a good resume will not give you the job, but it might prevent you from being hired. The author of this article speaks about the writing process that most individuals employ to create their resumes. Because many people write and update the information on their resumes as they go, this information stays current. This allows a person to access the resume at a moment’s notice. The author also recommends keeping a back-up copy of the resume to prevent its untimely loss.
• Create Your Resume-Myfuture.com, Toolbox
  In this article, the author provides a few simple steps for anyone to follow in creating a good resume. These steps include creating a career objective, listing a your experiences, listing your skills, interests, educational information and any awards that you have been given. This article is an excellent guideline for anyone that is looking for the very basic elements needed in a resume.
• Free Resume Writing Tips- How to Write a Resume.org
  Many people sit down to write a resume and wonder exactly where to start. This article gives a person a basic outline of the necessary elements used to create a resume. A few of these tips are the need to determine your objective, the necessity of being clear and concise and also the advantages provided by the use of bullet points.
• Outline of a Resume: Things that Every Resume Should Have-How to Write a Resume.net
  Because there are certain rules of etiquette in the business world, a person must be especially aware of these rules when applying for a job. This article helps outline the do’s and don’ts of resume writing, and gives a person a better idea of the basic outline that most resumes follow.
• Write a Resume-Trinity College
  Many of us have discovered that there are some basic conventions and rules for writing a successful resume. This particular article focuses on the recommended conventions such as font size, the actual length of the resume and types of layouts, as well as a few others. Because companies generally only scan through the contents of most resumes, the conventions that a person uses have become of paramount importance.
• How to Write a Resume-The College of Wooster
  This article shows the importance of highlighting your credentials in today’s job market. Your education and the skills that you have gained from that education are essential to you in finding a good job. It is recommended that you include in your resume a clear and concise representation of your credentials, an invaluable marketing tool, and it is also recommended that your resume be easy to read and grammatically well-constructed.
• Resumes-Brea Barthel and Amanda Goldrick-Jones
  These authors provide a basic outline for a well-written and concise resume. They recommend including a description of a person’s honors, skills and activities, as well as matching your skills to the employer’s needs. By highlighting the skills that you already have that coincide with the employer’s needs, you will automatically allow yourself a better chance at obtaining the job in question.

American Express Concierge

This post was originally published on March 3, 2008. I’m republishing it because it has received a number of comments from people who work for American Express Concierge and a mention in Boston Magazine, Flyer Talk and a number of other places.  If you have thought about getting a Platinum card to make use of the concierge service be sure to check out the comments. The former employees give some great insight into how things work behind the scenes.  If you are a journalist and looking to contact  former Circles employees, send your contact info to contact @ productivity501 . com and I will forward it on to them.  If they are interested they will get back with you.

In my quest to finding a remote executive assistant, I decided to give American Express’ concierge service a try.  If you have a Platinum or higher card, AmEx offers a concierge service.  Basically you call or email them a request and they will get back to you–usually within three days.  If you need to buy something (from a place that takes American Express) they can make the purchase and put the charges on  your card.

AmEx gives some pretty interesting examples of concierge things they have done.  One that stuck out to me was sending someone on a motorcycle to the Dead Sea to collect some water for a card  holder’s child’s science experiment.

So here is one of my interactions with them:

I am going to be in Tulsa, OK this Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.   Could you find a local volkswagen dealer and schedule my car for a tuneup and oil change on Saturday morning?  The earlier the better.  I will drop the car off and get a ride with a friend.  I will be staying near XXXX S. Lewis in Tulsa so if there are multiple dealers start with the closest.

My car is a 2003 Passat Wagon.

Thank you.

Mark Shead
xxx-xxx-xxxx - mobile

I thought I had covered all the bases, but evidently not:

Dear Mr. Shead,

Thanks for using American Express Concierge! I understand from your email that you are looking to schedule a tune-up at a Volkswagen dealer in Tulsa. Below you will find the address for Brad Noe Volkswagen dealer and the web address where you can request an appointment. I did not release your personal information, as I did not have your permission.

Name: Brad Noe Volkswagen
Address: 4240 South Memorial Drive Tulsa, OK 74145
Phone: (918) 712-8989
Website: http://www.bradnoevw.com/ServiceApptForm

If you would like for me to schedule the appointment on your behalf, please don’t hesitate to contact Concierge. I’d be more than happy to do so with your permission. Concierge is also available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, ready to secure dining reservations or Valentine flower orders at your convenience. I hope you have a great afternoon and I look forward to assisting you again soon.

Ok I’ll try again:

Yes I wanted you to schedule the appointment per my instructions in the original message.  I’m sorry I wasn’t more clear. You can give them the necessary information for setting the appointment.

Mark

And their reply:

Once again, thanks for using American Express Concierge. I was able contact Brad Noe Volkswagen in Tulsa. Unfortunately, they are unable to schedule a tune-up and oil change on Saturday. They are fully committed and the first available appointment would be Monday or Tuesday. I realize you will be out of town by this time, so I did look for other VW dealers in the area. These would be located quite a distance away in Lawton or Oklahoma City. I do apologize for the inconvenience and would be more than happy to research reputable mechanics in Tulsa at your request. Concierge is available by phone or email, if I can provide any additional conveniences. I hope you have a wonderful weekend in Tulsa.

This isn’t necessarily their fault, but it underscores the need to be very clear when explaining exactly what you want.  It is entirely possible that the service was booked up when I sent my first request.  I might have had better luck calling the service instead of emailing. AmEx kind of implies that the concierge will be able to do things that you can’t do on your own (like get you reservations at fully booked restaurants), but I’m guessing that isn’t the case–unless they have some type of prior arrangement with the business.

It also looks like they might be a bit more useful for Valentine’s gifts or similar purchases, since they keep offering to do that in their email messages. 

Watch for more Monday posts about working with a remote assistant.

Mobile Me Email Down for a week.

My .mac (now Mobile Me) email has be non functional since last Friday.  I can’t believe a company with the resources of Apple can’t get an email server fixed in 4 to 6 hours much less a whole week.  Walt Mosberg says the other services aren’t very reliable either.  I had been told that they were storing all incoming emails in a queue, but when I asked them if they could print out my emails and fax them to me (I know that is insane, but they weren’t offering me anything useful and being down for a whole week is even more crazy than faxing emails) I found out that their servers are simply rejecting incoming connections so after four days they will be returned as undeliverable.  At this point, Gmail looks a whole lot more reliable than the Apple’s service.

iPod Shuffle Giveaway on Twitter

If you use twitter, you might want to enter our iPod Shuffle giveaway.  Ends in 4 hours.  You simply retweet the linked message and make sure you are signed up as a follower of Productivity501. Good luck!

FDIC Insurance - When Banks Fail

This post was originally published October 29th, 2007.  I’m bumping it up because in today’s financial climate it is extremely important.  If you have any experience in dealing with getting money back from FDIC, please read the comments.  Several people are having problems getting their money.  Any advice you can give would help them out.

Recently NetBank was shut down by the FDIC. The FDIC was created to prevent runs on the bank. They insure your accounts so even if the bank goes under, you will get your money back out. In exchange the bank gives up some control. The FDIC can come in, inspect things and force the bank to sell out to another financial institution if the FDIC doesn’t feel the bank is managing things correctly.

That is what happened with NetBank. Most of the savings/checking accounts were sold to ING Direct (the Orange savings account people). For most people this simply means that people were unable to access their accounts for a few days. FDIC insurance covered everything up to the $100,000 (or $250,000 for IRAs) limits. However, the people who are in trouble are the ones who had money over the limits. The FDIC will distribute anything that is left of the assets to these people, but it looks like they will only get about 50% of the amounts they had over the limits.

The $100,000 limit is per depositor per institution, so you can get another $100,000 in insurance by moving any money in excess of the limit to another bank.  $100,000 may seem like a lot of money, but if you have a consistent saving strategy to plan for retirement and emergencies you are probably going to exceed the limit at some point in your life.  It is important to plan ahead so you don’t accidentally end up losing a bunch of money because of a bank failure.

If you have a business this is especially important, because it is very common to have a balance of over $100,000 just to maintain adequate cash on hand for meeting payroll and paying operating bills.

It is also wise to keep an eye on your bank’s financial status.  If it is a publicly traded company, keeping an eye on the stock price should give you an idea of how the bank is doing as will the financial statements and SEC filings.  A private bank may be a little more difficult to track, but you can generally get an idea based on their press releases.

Update:  More recently the FDIC shut down another bank called IndyMac also known as IMB or Indy Mac Bank.  On Friday the FDIC seized all of the bank’s assets and took control of running IndyMac.  They were open again on Monday, but this time under the government’s control.  The bank is now known as Indy Mac Federal Bank.

One of the interesting side effects of this is that the bank stopped foreclosing on homeowners who were in default.  This probably won’t last forever, but the government is looking for ways to keep people in their houses if at all possible.

For the approximately 10,000 people with money at IndyMac that wasn’t insured, they are being allowed to withdraw up to 50% of their money.  It is possible that they may get more in the future.  People who are under the insured limit of $100,000 are able get their FDIC insured funds out immediately. There have been long lines, but people are getting their money out.  If you have money at IndyMac, it might make more sense to do a direct transfer to another bank instead of going down, waiting in line and trying to get the money out in cash.

Many people end up here looking for an FDIC “watch list” or FDIC “trouble list”.  The FDIC never releases its information about banks to the public. They especially don’t publish a list of troubled banks.  This is part of their policy. The role of FDIC is to provide insurance–not rank banks. However, they do suggest a  number of third party rating services that can provide information about the financial condition of banks.  Most of these charge a fee. Most of these ratings take the following into account:

• Capital
• Asset Quality
• Management
• Earnings
• Liquidity
• Sensitivity to Markerts

Update 2: Toward the end of July Federal regulators shut down two more banks.  First National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank of Newpart Beach, CA. The accounts were sold to Mutual of Omaha so it appears that no one lost any money.  The transaction ended up costing FDIC under $1 billion.

Update 3: In August the FDIC shutdown First Priority Bank in Florida.  Most of the assets were purchased by SunTrust Bank.  Currently it is estimated that there is about $13 million in uninsured accounts–this is money that depositors will probably only get a fraction of as the bank shuts down.

If you had money at IndyMac, First Priority, or another failed bank, please leave a comment to let everyone know if you were able to get your funds out of the bank and particularly how the process worked.

“Free” Color Printers Warning

If you’ve seen Textronic/Xerox’s offer for a free color printer, take a look at this post before signing up.

Reader Question: Why isn’t my assistant saving me time?

I just got a personal assistant, but they aren’t saving me any time. What am I doing wrong?

Several people have asked me about this. There are many different issues that could be involved, but I see a lot of people who hire an assistant and then can’t think of what they wanted them to do. Either that, or it turns out their original ideas are all things that really can’t be handed off to someone else.

Benefits of a Large Monitors

If you are thinking about adding a larger monitor to your workspace, you might want to checkout these articles:

• Large Monitors for Productivity - Jason Calacanis
• The Large Display Paradox - Jeff Atwood
  
• Increase Your Productivity - Buy a Large Monitor! - Andrew Mason
• Dual Monitor Display Increases Productivity - Chris
• A Large Monitor Makes You More Productive - Jeremy Zawodny
• Big Monitors Can Increase Productivity? - DanB
• Enhance Your Productivity with Multiple Monitors - Mike Gunderloy
• Multiple-Monitor Productivity: Fact or Fiction? - Patrick Dubroy
  

No Flotation Devices

We signed our 15 month old daughter up for swimming lessons at the city pool. Arriving early, I read the pool rules for the regular swim periods. I hadn’t been to the pool in about 14 years and was suprised to see that they didn’t allow any type of flotation devices. No rafts, life jackets or arm “floaties”.

I asked one of the lifeguards why, and discovered that the city pool puts some real thought into their policies–much more than the local library. The lifeguard explained that when people have a flotation device, they tend to rely on it instead of their swimming skills. A child with a life raft is more likely to get into water that is too deep than one without. Worse still, parents don’t watch their children as carefully when they have the “floaties” on their arms. They decided it was safer to ban flotation devices entirely because it made people more responsible.

I realized that this is the same problem I have with many of the devices and systems that are supposed to increase your productivity. Palm Pilots, Smart Phones, and organization software are all useful, but many people think that having a good tool will somehow do the work for them. I’ve seen unproductive people buy software package after software package just trying to find the perfect tool. Their tool set isn’t the problem. The problem is that they aren’t taking responsibility for getting the work done on their own.

If you don’t learn to swim and spend all of your effort on finding the perfect flotation device, you will eventually get yourself into trouble. If you don’t learn to actually execute and spend all of your time trying to find the perfect way of listing your tasks, you aren’t going to be effective.

Most execution problems are not technology issues, they are simply a lack of self-discipline. Technology can help you keep track of things, but if it ever becomes a distraction from work, you are in trouble.

I will leave you with a few thoughts about how to implement technology effectively.

• Think in terms of return on investment - If you invest 40 hours in finding and implementing a new tool, how long will it take to “pay you back”? 40 hours in finding a tool that saves you 15 minutes each week is probably not worth it.
• Discipline first - If you are having trouble accomplishing things, start off assuming it is a problem with your self discipline. Technology may help, but work on the discipline part first. If you are not disciplined, technology is not going to help you, anyway.
• Be slow to change - If you have a process that works, don’t be quick to change to something else–especially if it involves buying a new gadget. Just because an iPhone comes with a great task management application, doesn’t mean it is any more effective than your 3×5 cards that you’ve been using for the past three years.
• Technology for collaboration - As a general rule, technology for managing what you need to do is much more useful in a collaborative environment. No matter how special, it is hard to make an application that works better than paper at keeping track of the five items you need to do today. This does not mean you should avoid any type of digital to-do list. You just need to be aware of what types of things technology is good at and what types of things will only result in marginal improvements.

Whatever gadgets or tools you use to organize your life, make sure they are actually helping you and not just giving you a false sense of accomplishment.

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