Blame Architects for America’s poor recycling habits

Blame Architects for America’s poor recycling habits

According to articles I recently read, only 50% of Americans recycle on a regular basis.  No matter how much education is done, how many pleads from the tree huggers out there. I don’t care if environmentalist start strapping dynamite to themselves, it is not going to change. I have a theory I would like to share.

Blame the architects.

What? Is this some strange vengeance I have on a noble profession?  Do I blame the architect who designed my house for the leaky roof…for the thousands of damage that was done to our wood floors?  No, that was the cheap builder who skimped on ice&snow water shield on the roof.  The architect did a great job.  I do blame the architect for me not wanting to recycle.  Here is why.

Until I have a walking-talking robotic assistant in my home. (I will line up faster than for an iPad II).  I will not be as likely to recycle as much as I should.  Again…why?

It is not easy.  The majority of what could be recycled goes into through the kitchen of the home.  Glass, plastics, paper, food wrappings, etc.  What does your kitchen garbage look like?  Here is mine:

It is tiny. It is not well thought out.  It is too small for a house our size. (2 Adults, 4 children and a 180 pound dog).   It is the same size as houses that are 1/2 or apartments that are 1/4 my house size.   The design is made for throwing everything in 2 bins. Bin #1 put all the recyclables and bin #2 everything else.  The recycle bin includes everything, glass, cardboard, cans, plastic, all put together.  When I was a child in the 1970′s, we had one bin.  No recycling.  Somewhere along the way someone felt warm and fuzzy about themselves and added bin #2 as a recycling bin.  It is not much better than the 1970′s.  It is inadequate.  Whose fault is it?

Blame the architect!

For me to recycle, the current configuration is not optimal.  The “recycle” bin fills up too quick and spill over happens.  Pick up my 1 year old and teach her colors or separate trash?  An extra minute reading with my 7 year old daughter or separate trash before the garbage truck comes on Friday?

The reality is that the typical design of the American home makes us trash separators vs. recyclers.  I have no problem with recycling, but if I have to be trash separator, I probably won’t do it. For high adoption a task needs to be simple.  I learned this by watching sales people use a CRM software system.  Human nature.  If it is harder than it should be, people won’t do it.  Make it simple and you will get high adoption.

The answer to the problem is simple.  Design houses with appropriate space so each major type of trash needs to be thrown out one time.  No trash separation.  Simple.  The effects on the entire industry could cascade.

Don’t the local landfills separate trash?  Maybe on inspection day.  Take a look a what is inside most garbage bags.  Cans, bottles, plastics, newspapers, etc.  Things that should be recycled are not being recycled.  I think that the 50% of Americans recycle article is actually bullshit!  I would like to see how they collected the data.  From personal observation…50% is way too high.

What if architects got with the program?

  • Homes and businesses would be designed for “one-toss” recycling.  No separating it after you throw it out the first time.
  • The size of the recycle area would be associated with the size of the house.  They do this for septic systems… and it is part of the local code.  Why not trash?
  • Garbage services should give you larger recycle containers.  We requested a larger one from our provider…so we could recycle… and they denied it!  The thing we have is too small for our family.
  • If the stuff was already separated, the recycling centers would have an easier time of it.
  • Not every type of garbage would have to be picked up every week.

Let’s so Architects,  make a stand.  Come up with an elegant solution.

Donato Diorio
March 2011

Boosting creativity with dream recall

Boosting creativity with dream recall

Staring at my hands in a dream

If you are close to your dreams you can leverage them to your advantage. My best ideas have come from dreams.  Software, stories, new business models as well as training and webinar ideas.  All from dreams.   Many of my close friends know this.  From talking with them, I know that I am lucky.   I dream every nearly every night.

The exception is when I have a drink, which is fairly rare.  Usually, I can remember one and sometimes two or three dreams each night.   I have 27 years worth of journals.  The mundane mixed with the inspirational and sometimes, prophetic.  Stop there if you think I’m going esoteric.  If you are absolutely focused on a problem and you bring that resolve into your subconscious, your dreams, you can come to conclusions you would never have touched with the waking mind alone.  No burning bush crap.

I do understand that I am in a small minority.  Our society does not promote dream recall.  Have you heard that dream recall is like a muscle?  That is not entirely correct.  It is not like a muscle, but more complex; an athlete.  The ability needs cross training, but it also needs a coach, and resolve.  Coach: That is you. Resolve: also you.  Training: that’s right, you again.

For all those I have talked to over the years and asked me about dreaming.  I am writing this for you.  My dream recall was not something I always had; I trained myself to do it.

When I was 19, enrolled at the University of Miami, the ability to recall my dreams on a regular basis held a great interest for me.  Having already devoured many books on philosophy and religion, my interest in the more esoteric was awakened.   Many of the groups had interesting philosophical swag.  Scientology and Eckankar were two groups I frequented.  The people were really out there and the groups attracted outlier personalities that I enjoyed meeting. While it took a while to realize that both these groups were not what they outwardly projected, I decided not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

It was the time at UM that I joined an Eckankar class on dreaming.  It was clear from being a good observer that Scientology just wanted $$.   At the time, Eckankar was not looking for my cash and they had a nice group of people who I would truly classify as “seekers”.  To be clear, Eckankar is a cult and I’ll blog about it at length in the future.  This is what sparked my initial interest in knowing more about dreams.  The class, the talking about dreams, yes even the chanting. All of it enhanced my dream recall.

With my interest in dreams ignited, I started recalling dreams much more. Fast forward a few years.  The new setting:  New Paltz State University in upstate NY.   If there was Olympic training for dream recall, this is when I did it.

The old X10 Control Unit

Home automation has always been a hobby of mine. My off campus apartment was wired to the computer (I think it was a 486..yikes).  Everything was controlled by plug-in-the-wall devices called X10 units.  It was college days, hard futon next to a wall of books.

X10 Computer Interface

As an experiment, I set the X10′s to wake me up with an alarm clock periodically during the night.  If I recall correctly, I went to sleep around 10pm.

At first, I set them to wake me at 2, 4, and 6am.  It was hit or miss on the dream recall.  I did this for about a week and was walking around real tired; it was effecting my sleep.

Next I used a light next to my bed that would slowly brighten over a period of a few minutes.  At the end of the brightening cycle, the radio sound would go on. With the light waking me in a more gently manner, the recall increased again.  It was clear the radio was too harsh a noise, so I replaced it with environmental sounds like thunderstorms and ocean waves.   Lastly, I played with the intervals and it turned out that 1, 3 and 5am were much better times than 2, 4 and 6am.

Key observations.  I needed to have about 3 solid hours of sleep before performing any interruption of my sleep cycle.  The cycles ended up being longer in the middle of the night and shorter towards the end of the night.  Eating too late would interrupt the cycles (still does to this day).

The time span I played with my sleep cycles spanned a few months.  Eventually I did not need the sound; the light was enough to wake me.  Within a month I had a dream to recall whenever the light woke me.  Along the way I abandoned writing in the middle of the night. It was usually illegible and the medium interrupted the free flow of the thoughts.

For efficiency, I switched to a micro cassette recorded.  This is where it got weird.  When I wrote things down,  the next morning I remembered what I wrote. However, when I started recording my dreams, eyes still shut, the next morning was a wonderland in decoding.  In the first few weeks it took a concerted effort to understand the more cryptic.  One thing I realized is that I favored a different vocabulary in my half-sleep state.   The words I used recording were more poetic compared to my every day choice of words.

Sometimes I would have a “note to self” dream.  For me, these are the most fun.   An old librarian gives me a book that I need to deliver.  Same dream every time, different book, different note to self.  Another common occurrence was a ferry ride; many symbols that each had a specific meaning for me.  Once I had a dictionary of my common themes and symbols I was able to write closer to the heart of the dream when I wrote it down the next day.  I realized that the very act of changing the original words in the dream corrupted the recall of the dream itself.

This was the final bridge for me.  The breaking down of conscious and subconscious thought patterns.  I got to understand my own dream imagery.  Everyone has their own imagery.  No one can tell you about your dreams except you. Sure there are some common symbols, but I would not go so far as to say universal.  The conscious and unconscious parts of my mind play nicely together, it has allowed a greater creativity in my life.

You don’t need to go to the extremes that I did, if you want to recall your dreams.  A simple mental command, with a verbal affirmation before bed should do it.   “I will remember my dreams”.  That is it.

Get your pocket recorder ready.

The “After Show” Effect, CES in Las Vegas

The “After Show” Effect, CES in Las Vegas

You picked the right trade show, you got people to your booth.  Great conversations and a pile of cards.  Your sales team is excited!  What next?

There are many facets to success at a trade show.  Elevator Pitch, pre-show marketing, booth setup, etc.  If you don’t have a good elevator pitch, here is a blog that can help you.   Nailing the 30 second Elevator Pitch.

Again, I ask…what next?   Think about this scenario, it is an important concept.

For the sake of this scenario, our fictional vendor is TabletCo.  They sell the hottest new Android Tablet for the educational market.

A prospect, Harry, walks up to your TabletCo booth.  He loves your product! Harry is excited about using the tablet at the school where he is a History teacher.  The school district is large. It is a good opportunity.  Some further questioning yields the fact the entire school district wants to have a tablet for each student.  Being a conscientious sales rep, you get Harry’s card.  You are all set for the follow up…or are you?

This is the disconnect point.  Not just in sales at a trade show, but sales in general.  Important questions:

  1. Is Harry the decision maker?  Can he say YES to a purchase?
  2. If is he the decision maker, is he the ONLY decision maker?
  3. What is the approval process for purchasing at Harry’s district?  Is Harry even aware of the process?
  4. Is the information on Harry’s card current?  He is a teacher, did you get a cell phone, direct line and email address?
  5. What happens if Harry moves to a different position in the next week?
  6. What happens if Harry gets laid off?
  7. What are the names, titles, emails phone numbers and backgrounds of other people that will participate in a decision?

Simple questions.  Do you normally have the answers after the show?  Why is it important?

Having multiple points of contact is the single greatest factor in getting a sales advance.

What is a sales advance?  It is not a sale.  A sales advance is forward movement in the sales process.

Having, and leveraging 3 points of contact “after show” will give you a 9X success factor over following up with a single contact.

Did you get 3 points of contact or a single card? How do can you turn a single point of contact into multiple points of entry?

Turn this:

Scan of Donato's Biz Card

 

Into this:

 

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After spending $1000’s at a trade show, every lead is precious. Don’t waste them.  If you have the opportunity at the show, leverage each connection to get as many points of contact as you can.  Some good questions to ask:

Does your contact sign off on the purchase or does she simply recommend? Who are the parties involved in the decision process?  What are their titles? When was the last time your contact signed off on something?  What is the approval process?  Are they currently using another vendor? When does that contract end?

If you are having trouble getting those additional points of contact, a great resource is Broadook’s Profiler.

Bottom line.  If you are not prepared, your first outreach after a trade show can be your last. Spend the time to get as much out of your leads as possible.

Last thought:  Think hard.  People getting back from a trade show are bombarded with every vendor emailing and calling after the show.

How are you going to stand out?

CRM:  The Third Implementation

CRM: The Third Implementation

There is the common, but false belief that a successful CRM implementation is complete once users are up and running and the technology replaces the manual tasks of tracking prospect/customer information. That is certainly a milestone, but not the end of the CRM implementation journey. Invariably, real-world usage leads to requirements not foreseen in initial CRM planning.  Salesforce.com pioneered the AppExchange™ and solved the challenge of the second implementation.  Thousands of apps, ready with tested business logic, encompassing millions of lines of code can seamlessly plug into Salesforce to complete the second implementation. Before the AppExchange, companies would find themselves with a total re-engineering effort or CRM failure. Well done Salesforce!

What is the Third Implementation?

Today, the focus now turns to the third implementation; and it is all about data. Unless specifically addressed, every CRM has a problem with dirty data.  Regular de-duplication is NOT the solution. De-duplication treats a symptom of the dirty data disease; it does not cure the disease itself.  To cure the disease, you must stop dirty data from ever getting into the CRM. Dirty data can enter a CRM via a user, application or the system.  Each source of data needs to be addressed.

Enter the CRM Data-Plan

A CRM Data-Plan is a single-point-of-truth for treating data across an enterprise. It consists of a robust set of rules that details standards for treating data. Amazingly, less than 3% of CRM administrators have a CRM Data-Plan.

The challenge for CRM providers is that they cannot solve the issue with a one-size-fits-all solution. The business requirements of some companies call for verbose data, while others may prefer a high usage of abbreviations.

A good CRM Data-Plan ensures that company names, titles and all forms of CRM data are normalized to a single standard.  With a systematically applied Data-Plan, gone are the days of searching for a company in your CRM five different ways. Multiple sales reps no longer work on the same account listed under several different company name formats.  Marketing has the ability to segment markets and get a stronger perspective on customers and prospects.  CRM data augmentation is no longer a nightmare.  With a strong CRM Data-Plan, you no longer have to fear importing new data in your CRM and hearing the word “foobar” from your CRM administrator. The efficiencies gained are tremendous.

Enforcing the CRM Data-plan:  Introducing CRMShield™

Without a method, an unbreakable method to enforce your CRM Data-Plan, the plan is a paper tiger.  Broadlook’s CRMShield™ empowers CRM administrators to seamlessly create a CRM Data-Plan and enforce it for users, vendors and administrators.

Using a single global standard crafted by your CRM administrator, CRMShield™ protects and cleans your CRM in real time. Say goodbye to duplicate and dirty data. The CRM Data-Plan is saved in the cloud, at a single location, therefore the entire enterprise, small or large is protected.  Changes made to the CRM Data-Plan propagate to the enterprise so all data, even from different silos, conforms to a single standard.

Take the Dirty Data Quiz

The Dirty Data quiz serves as a report card. How does your company rate?  Do you have a CRM Data-Plan?  Is your CRM administrator helping or hurting? What are the steps you need to take to keep your CRM clean? Visit: www.broadlook.com/dirtydataquiz

Free Tool:  Create your own CRM Data-Plan

Every company should have a CRM Data-Plan. With this free website, you can get started on the road to a clean CRM system. Visit: crmshield.broadlook.com

The “After Show” Effect, CES in Las Vegas

The iPhone Recruiter. Don’t make the mistakes I made (new blog)

Looking to build you own iPhone app?  Don’t make the mistakes I made.  It is not just about developing the application;  you need the talent to do it.

So  I’m at it again.  Too much content for one blog.  For those readers of mine that are in the recruitment industry and digg the iPhone, you may want to check out iPhoneRecruiter.com.  Since I have recruited for iPhone Development Talent and led cross platform mobile applications, I’ve got some experience to share on the topics.

www.iPhoneRecruiter.com