Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Who Cares About The Next....................... ?










The renowned William James was speaking of men who had never found themselves when he declared that the average man develops only ten per cent of his latent mental abilities. "Compared to what we ought to be," he wrote, "we are only half awake. We are making use of only a small part of our physical and mental resources. Stating the thing broadly, the human individual thus lives far within his limits. He possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use." (Dale Carnegie - How To Stop Worrying And Start Living Chapter 16)


Let me tell you how I come up with some of my topics. I listen to enough talk radio that when enough people bring up the same thing I tend to come up with my own reaction. All I hear about today : Is Rory McIlroy the next Tiger?? The guy won his first major at 22. First of all really hard to do. He lapped the field in a major tournament. Enjoy the moment and maybe he will be very consistent or maybe he will flame out or somewhere in between.

The problem with us is we can't let performers be themselves. God gives us all different talents. And we can all be different. It's our fault that we tend to shortcut and undercut appreciating people by giving them a label. When I was a lot younger, Harold Miner was supposed to be Baby Jordan. How many of you remember him????




We saw that problem in quite recently in basketball with Dirk Nowitsky. Everybody insisted on comparing him to Larry Bird. Just because he is a tall white guy with an outside shot. The thing was Larry is Larry and Dirk was Dirk.









Of course this shortcut lazy guy thinking is not confined to sports. Bob Dylan was a phenomenon in the sixties. His longevity lasts to this day. I have a book somewhere around here called the book of Rock Lists. In it they had all the singer/ songwriters tagged as the new Dylan. I wish I could reproduce the list here but if you can remember the 70s, almost anybody who was better than David Cassidy and Donny Osmond was on it. Among them two of my absolute favorites. Randy Newman and Bruce Springsteen. You can read my past blogs how I feel about Bruce and Randy but just know neither was Bob Dylan. Both were fine being themselves. They were not Dylan copycats. Both got away from the cliche love lyrics and took chances.





You have heard the advice a zillion times: be yourself. Well, let me quote Dale Carnegie again. Since only he can put it this way:


You and I have such abilities, so let's not waste a second worrying because we are not like other people. You are something new in this world. Never before, since the beginning of time, has there ever been anybody exactly like you; and never again throughout all the ages to come will there ever be anybody exactly like you again. The new science of genetics informs us that you are what you are largely as a result of twenty-four chromosomes contributed by your father and twenty-four chromosomes contributed by your mother. These forty-eight chromosomes comprise everything that determines what you inherit. In each chromosome there may be, says Amran Sheinfeld, "anywhere from scores to hundreds of genes -with a single gene, in some cases, able to change the whole life of an individual." Truly, we are "fearfully and wonderfully" made.

Even after your mother and father met and mated, there was only one chance in 300,000 billion that the person who is specifically you would be born! In other words, if you had 300,000 billion brothers and sisters, they might have all been different from you. Is all this guesswork? No. It is a scientific fact. If you would like to read more about it, go to your public library and borrow a book entitled You and Heredity, by Amran Scheinfeld.



See? Scientifically proof that you are unique and that uniqueness should be celebrated and developed. Be yourself. Comparisons may be inevitable but do your best to see something for what they uniquely are. Stop looking for the next..... Granted the scariest thing I can possibly think of is the next Ed Lopez.



Ed



http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1209



http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/152 (Springsteen)

Thursday, June 16, 2011

All It Takes Is A Few Idiots Looking For Attention Vancouver In Tatters



View of smoky downtown Vancouver from the North Shore.




Vancouver turns into Lord of the Flies

"Canucks will be facing a non New York Team in the final. Translation : book the riot in Robson Street. "



I said that May 25, '11 10:04 PM. Sometimes I hate when I am right.

I will not get into the psychology of what happened. Though it might be as simple as people wanting attention. The last time there was a riot in Vancouver after a Game 7. I was there. We went to a bar that night and we were looking at the TV. I saw some violence in the streets and I thought Man that New York is rowdy. The Rangers after all beat the Canucks that night. Traditionally, its the winning team's city that celebrates by going nuts. I guess Vancouver never got that memo. Vancouver is a truly beautiful place. I should know I lived there for a while. The people are beautiful too.

Red Rider in the song Power said " People do some strange things when they're all together, that they wouldn't even dream of by themselves." The riots today make a good case study. The place where my mom is staying is about a kilometer or two from Ground Zero. She did not answer her cell twice. When she finally called, luckily she had enough load to return my calls. She did go out to dinner that night but came back early enough.

For the record, all my friends from Vancouver based on their Facebook reactions are totally ashamed of how this ugly incident portrays the city to the rest of the world. I love Vancouver,I hate what happened today. You want a better idea of what Vancouver is like when it comes to the Canucks look here. Just know that those people that defined the mayhem today were not Canuck fans , hockey fans, sports fans but morons. Like the ones we currently have in Malacanang.




Ed


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Stanley_Cup_riot

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13788491

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1249/See_What_The_Canucks_Are_Doing_To_Vancouver


P.S. My actual notes on the series:
  • Bruins deserve to win.
  • Outplayed the Canucks overall.
  • Bruins won the only road game.
  • Bruins made Luongo look third string at times, Miller was mighty even in defeat.
  • I love the Canucks but with the biting, the taunting, the devastating hit, the choking many outside of Vancouver saw them as the Heat on ice.




It's getting hot in here.






Is this guy really triumphant?? Is civilization?











If these guys bothered to vote I bet they voted NDP or Green Party.







What does looting have to do with anything???



Yes, that's tear gas.





There was more action in the streets than what was provided by the home team.














Saturday, June 11, 2011

See What The Canucks Are Doing To Vancouver




The video is not really about the Canucks but what it's like in Vancouver right now. June 10 2011 over there. The Canucks have been to the finals only 3 times in their 40 year or so existence. I was in town for two of those heartbreaking losses. To the Islanders in 82 and the Rangers in 94.We have seen so much losing what you are seeing is a collective exhale.


They only give out the Stanley Cup once a year and 30 teams all want that one championship. Unlike the PBA which hands out about 6 championships a year to 8 teams. Four of those teams belong to the same guy. Just to give it some perspective. Great series despite the Canuck clunkers in Boston. Watch the video to see how the town is taking it. Go Canucks Go!


Ed



http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2011061022


Technical note: Pics and video all captured from my VHS recorder.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Canucks Overtime Goal



Look at he mishandling of the puck by Boston after they won the face-off. Less than ten seconds later the "biscuit was in the basket". The third video shows all Vancouver goals in game 2. Watch Boston net minder Thomas try to take the man instead of staying in goal. You will appreciate a lot of split second decisions that cost the whole game in 11 seconds.


Ed


Additional notes :

Biting incident-- http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Video-Canucks-8217-Alex-Burrows-makes-the-Bru;_ylt=ArOcemw_w.3Vf0e6vEKwFUc5nYcB?urn=nhl-wp6450



You may notice the dark guy on the set wondering what is he doing discussing hockey-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Weekes-



















Saturday, June 4, 2011

An Alternative to Filipino Customer Relations Handling




Quick 3 Step Course in Filipino Customer Relations





1. Listen to complaint till customer finishes.

2. Smile and say "Ma'am/ Sir pasensya na po "

3. Repeat number two until customer gets tired of complaining.



Hands up those who tell me they have lived in Manila and never encountered that.


Let me recommend to you free of charge an alternate way of handling complaints and objections. I got this from Tom Hopkins Sales Course.




The author with Tom Hopkins in Las Vegas


First of all complaints are just a test that if you pass, a customer will be more open to supporting your business again. Sorry "paensya na po" does not guarantee an automatic pass. That is the response of morons. Sorry my opinion for any management that believe that generic statement pacifies anybody.


6 steps to handling customer objections.

The diagram may seem convoluted but there is logic in it.

Feedbag is held up by the question mark. The feedbag is pouring into the ear. The question mark is attached to an answer sheet. The answer sheet attached to a confirmation slip which is held up by a hand waving.


Huh? What is that supposed to mean????



To the best of my ability it's like this.


1. Ear- listen to complaint very carefully. Do no interrupt. Hear them out
2. Feed it back to them. So they know you heard it.
3. Question the importance of their point.
4. Answer their objection or complaint.
5. Confirm with them that it's fine.
6. Change gears to your next topic. The fact that you took the time and have a method helps make it a smooth transition . That's why the hand waving.



For similar information please visit.




http://www.tomhopkins.com/anger.shtml

http://www.tomhopkins.com/blog/objections/objections-as-hurdles


It's a heck of a lot better than "pasensya na po".


Ed