You see them everywhere, well at least I do. They are usually together, in a collection on a rack or shelf at a bookstore, department store and always at airport gift shops. The titles are somewhat catchy and who created them are familiar because you have seen them before, even if you don’t have first-hand familiarity with them. If it wasn’t for me getting one of these for Christmas last year. I probably would’ve never entered their world, or at least this soon.

What am I talking about? Where the technical term may be non-fiction novels, I refer to them as “big” novels – stories written by authors who have written many books over the years, and when I mean many I mean in the dozens. Thanks to that gift from my Mother-in-law, I am now proud to say I have read a “big” novel.

My entry into this universe is A Time for Mercy by John Grisham. I was eager to read this because I was always curious to read Grisham, but also because it took an awful lot of room on my already burgeoning bookshelf. It seemed like a good book to take on the road, and when we recently took a family trip – no less on an airline that had no Wi-Fi – this was the perfect opportunity to disconnect from the world and connect with this story.

A Time for Mercy is the fictional tale of a murder case taken on by Jake Brigance, a lawyer in a small Mississippi town in the 1990’s. Grisham himself was a lawyer, I found out afterwards, and this explains its extensive yet enjoyable-to-read detail. So would I have takeaways from such a tale? But of course.

Great storytelling – From the moment of take-off to throughout the trip and to the flight home, I really enjoyed it. This was perfect escape from me and helped me relax while on vacation (I know, me!). There was great storytelling throughout its 400 pages and it was a very compelling read.

Doing the work can make for good reading too – Many times when you take in a story, especially a legal one, it never gets into the grunt work that goes on behind the scenes leading to the main dramatic events. In A Time for Mercy there was sufficient detail of this mundane work woven throughout it. I found it not only important to how the story unfolded but refreshing. Over this same time period my family was binge watching the TV show Suits, which is a perfect example of just the opposite – drama without the detail.

Need to mix in more books from other “big” authors – Fortunately my wife has some of these books on her nightstand so when I get through the myriad on my own bookshelf, I may borrow one or several from her.

A Time for Mercy was an enjoyable read and recommend it to anyone looking for a thematic escape. Even if you are not into legal tales, this tells a good story of those impacted by the case, in and out of the court room. Eager to give this one away due to its size, I sent it to my cousin along with a coffee mug and Starbucks gift card, and my hopes he gets an enjoyable escape when he reads it as I did.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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AI-generated image of someone looking at someone else thru a lens by DALL-E

You may have heard the expression, “you don’t control your brand, your customers do.” This comes from the belief that the perception of a company and its products, despite the efforts they put, will likely come from how they resonate with their customers. This perception may impact a company overall or just to a few customers. There are rare cases where this can be extreme; Bud Light is one that comes to mind. I am aware of this as it has happened to me over the years. I’d like to share one story of how this happened with one client, despite them being a referral from another client.

Referrals are good, right?

One day a very good client told me she was going to connect me to someone who needed help with their Web site. I had redesigned this client’s Web site and added significant dynamic functionality, to which she was very pleased. She however wasn’t specific as to the needs of whom she was referring me to though. I thanked her for the referral and I took it from there. Or so I thought.

The referral was independent contractor who had done some work for my client. I quickly assessed they were very confident in their abilities and spoke very highly of themselves. As we got into the specifics of their needs for their Web site, I didn’t get a strong sense she knew what she wanted despite how confident she was that she did know. In the end it was settled she wanted an unspecified content refresh. I suggested we start on a time and materials basis (aka hourly) and upon agreement I sent a contract. It was signed and we went to work.

As we started I did a top-level assessment and delivered it to her verbally, something I often did for similar projects. The Web site looked good but there were some issues I found, namely a lot of text in images. This was met with a unexpected refusal; even though she complained about having a lack of search engine prominence (tip: text in images is not a good thing for many reasons, especially for being found in search results) she liked text in graphics as it was esthetically pleasing to her.

After much back and forth (looking back, too much back and forth) it was decided to refresh the photos on the Web site, a combination of new and enhancements to existing ones. Though not a graphic designer I did the work myself, for the basics of what I know in PhotoShop seemed sufficient based on the request. When I was done and presented the work, it was picked apart to a level I did not see coming, with the implication I didn’t get at all what she was looking for. So I went back and made further adjustments, to which she was content, and the changes went live. I sent an invoice, she paid, transaction complete.

Along the way I talked with this new client about the full breath of services I offered, to which I got a lukewarm response, but not a definite “no” as she saw a redesign of the entire site sometime in the future. Shortly after my work for her was done, she referred to someone else, another independent contractor, who wanted some unspecified work done to their Web site. It was starting to feel like déjà vu all over again, both from their approach and my own. Despite this, I still reached out, and my hunch turned out to be correct. I did some small work for this new referral, but eventually turned down additional work.

While I was the midst of doing the final work for that second referral, I saw the first one relaunched their Web site, clearly working with someone else. Despite the fact I articulated my services, something did not resonate with her that I could do a full redesign, just small updates. That was my gut feel and I never did bother asking her why. As you might guess, I didn’t do any other work for her after that.

Deconstructing How Other See Us

This was a truly learning experience. I needed to stick to and continuously refine my approach on vetting clients, especially from referrals, and taking on new work. I burned a lot of my time with both of these referrals, something I didn’t see when I was in the midst of negotiating and working with them. They weren’t, fortunately, my only clients, as there were plenty of others I was working with the way I wanted to work with a mutual benefit for all.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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"You should read Animal Farm..." was advise someone gave me a while back, that someone I now forget who they were. As I am someone who enjoys curling up with paper book - never an eBook - I often get such suggestions. However this one continued with, "... it's a short book, but don't let its size fool you." With a work trip earlier this year, I thought no time like the present to finally tap into this recommendation.

Animal Farm was written by George Orwell and published in 1945, four years before his most famous novel, 1984. It is the story of anthropomorphic animals on a farm who rise up against the humans who run the farm and proceed to take it over. Where I was always aware of the general premise of the story and that there was a cartoon movie made from the book, that was about it. My assumption that I thought it was more of a children's story was debunked quickly as I flew back to the US East Coast absorbing this page-turner of a story.

So what could I possibly takeaway from a book that featured talking pigs and horses?

To Russia with Disdain – The plot of Animal Farm, though satirical, is based on Orwell's perception and objection of Joseph Stalin and the Communist Soviet Union of that era. This was something I first learned of in the introduction of the book and not going into it. Where to some this may be considered a spoiler, it actually helped me frame the actions and behaviors of the farm animals as I traveled across the book’s pages.

Checks and balances – When power is centralized, there is the chance that little can be done to resist or change it. The same can be said for animals that act like people. Interestingly I think about this fact as much today when I read the news as I did when I read Animal Farm and was thinking about the time it was written.

Indoor and Outdoor talk – This concept cane from introduction of the book by author Tea Obreht when she was comparing 1940’s Soviet Union to when she grew up in 1980’s Yugoslavia. It literally refers to how people would talk about topics – mostly politics – differently inside their house and with family as compared to what they shared with others in the outside world. This of course harkens back to the oppressive governments in each of those times and places and how people would be turned in by neighbors for their resistance (or merely suspicion) to the government, usually to their ultimate demise.

Animal Farm is a very creative way to tell a story. Remove the fact that you are reading about farm animals, it is sad tale of human interaction. Add back in the animal element, and you have a tale that starts out jovial and encouraging but quickly turns sour.

I enjoyed reading Animal Farm and I recommend it to anyone as it is a classic with deep meaning. I decided to be in the moment when I finished it and left in the airplane's seat-back pocket, hoping serendipity would prevail and someone would notice and do as I did and read this classic, it’s lines and between them.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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AI-generated image of a mass of people returning merchandise at a store by DALL-E

Over the Christmas holiday last year, I started reading news stories regarding the increasing volume of returns to both online and brick-and-mortar retailers. In them they discussed the business and logistics of returns to how returns are mounting despite efforts by retailers to curtail them.

On the surface, it sounds like this is a relatively new phenomenon. Most people reading this post have likely returned something to Amazon or some other retailer recently or even this week. The volume of returns has been growing over the years, combining among other reasons the move to buying more items online that – though you can see pictures of it – you are not actually touching the item until you receive it, to simply more competition in the retail space, where you may find a lower price the next day.

However returning merchandise is nothing new. Where I am not a retail industry expert by any stretch, I’d like to share my unique point of view on retail returns as I had some education on this from my Aunt who years ago who worked for a local department store. She was a long-time employee of Steiger’s, a family-owned chain of stores in western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut. They had about a dozen stores in total before they closed down in the early 90s and sold off their stores to Filene’s, eventually to be engulfed by Macy’s.

What’s Old Is...

My aunt’s job at Steiger’s was processing returned merchandise at the company headquarters. Returns would come into her office from all of the stores. Some items were truly damaged or had some defect. Others were still new and just not wanted, and some were likely worn once and then returned as no longer needed. In some cases items were returned to the manufacturer, but often the maker did not want them back and would simply refund the store. Those items were kept and she facilitated a quarterly sale for employees where they could buy the items for pennies on the dollar of their original retail price. Needless to say, we had a lot of items around our house and clothes in our closet from those sales.

When I was old enough to understand about money and how much things cost, my Aunt explained to me about the business of returns and how that fit into the overall cost and pricing of merchandise. She told me, for example, if an item on the rack at the store had a sticker price of $100, the actual cost to Steiger’s for the item may have been as low as $10, of course depending on the brand. That allowed profit to be made with discounts that you see stores offering for 10% to 30% off right-away on new merchandise. It also allowed for profit to be made when the sticker price is reduced over time; even at 50% off a profit can be made. The items on a deep-discount rack were also helping the bottom-line of the store.

After my Aunt came over to our house with things she got from the employee sale – not going to lie, she would set aside things for her sister and niece and nephew – even then there was some profit made by the store. When manufacturers and wholesalers gave credit back to the store it was to offset the fact that they didn’t want the items back or it cost more to ship and process them than their actual value. Rather than throw them away, the 4 times a year sale became an employee perk.

... Not Necessarily New

Now fast-forward to present day. The 800 lb. gorilla in the room, Amazon, has been facing a growing number of returns as, well, people have been buying more from them. They have built an evolving infrastructure to manage them, from returns to Amazon lockers, Kohl’s department stores and UPS Stores to crediting your account now or doing a cash refund days later, to asking more and more questions as to why you are returning an item. Other online retailers are using third-party services for similar drop-off returns, as I have gone to random stores to bring back something from a random online site my kids bought from facilitated by some random service.

As mentioned in the above-linked articles, online and retail stores are also taking steps to try to curtail returns, from shrinking return windows, offering only credit for returns and using third-party services to track frequent returners. But long before Amazon was on the scene, I knew people who would often buy multiple items, say clothing, then try on at home and return the ones they didn’t want. This, of course, being something that required a physical trip to a store, not to mention a lot of time.

Today you can buy something from your mobile device in the time you are stopped at a red light (no, I have never done that, of course not!). The convenience and impulsive nature of doing so drives increased sales, and with that naturally comes the possibility for increased returns. Just this week I returned a lamp I got from my daughter that barely illuminated a small spot on her desk, something we couldn’t have known from the pictures or random reviews on the Web site. Other returns in my household have been for items that just didn’t fit right – how else would you be able to try it on without buying it first?

As I write this, it is a point in time. I am sure I, and everyone else in the world, will continue buying more and returning more. Also as I write this, I am awaiting my return home to a pair of sneakers I bought online... this is the second pair from them, as the one I bought last week were not the right side – I bought the size based on other models from the brand that always fit – and I hope these fit. If not, I am going to return them, likely paying shipping back as the exchange had no added shipping cost (for me) and shop a local store where I can actually try them on.

Do you think about retail returns as much as I have here? That or any other thoughts are welcome in the comments of this post.

Deconstructing Retail Returns

There will always be retail returns. No matter the reason, people want what they want and if they don’t want it they will return it. Efforts to curtail returns could have consequences, and likely will be eased in or built into alternative ways of doing business with a retailer. In a world where every store in the world is literally in the palm of your hand, a long standing part of commerce shouldn’t not be expected.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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All too often we get swept up in the minutiae of the work day and the next thing we know we are at home, plunked on the couch and say to ourselves, "Self, what the hell happened today?" When we then try to answer the question, we will find what we did was tactical and likely necessary, but was it the best solution or the best we can come up with, not to mention even remotely strategic?

One day being overcome with this feeling I was not being/acting strategic led me on a quest – where I may not be able to affect things surrounding me, I can try my damnedest to affect those in my three-foot world. So I did what anyone these days does when in a conundrum – I did a simple Internet search on the word “strategic.” Near the top of the results page was a link to the new book Strategic: The Skill to Set Direction, Create Advantage, and Achieve Executive Excellence by Rich Horwath. A Chicago-area consultant, he runs the Strategic Thinking Institute and is a speaker and consultant on strategy. From that description alone I felt like I struck gold, so I ordered a copy of the book right away.

When Strategic arrived I put aside the two other books I was simultaneously reading and dug into this, which I felt was a smart and – dare I say – strategic decision on my part. So it comes as no surprise I had a slew of takeaways from the book, and I will summarize some of the top ones here.

What strategic is and isn’t – The book opens with his definition of what strategic is: possessing insight that leads to advantage. Later he goes into details on what it is not: the ABC’s, aspiration, best practices and cautious. As the book flows, the topics discussed are built on these.

Strategy Quotient Assessment – Throughout the book there’s a plethora of models and tools to help you in analysis and decision-making that will lead to insight. One of them is the Strategic Quotient Assessment which is an online survey of 50 statements offered by the Strategic Thinking Institute to determine your strategic quotient, or SQ. As of this writing I have not yet taken it myself, but this assessment that comes with a cost is something I plan to do.

Note to Self: Read The Art of War – Several times in recent weeks I have seen references to this book that is over 2 millennia old and attributed to Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu. One of those was in this book. What’s interesting about these references is that in all cases they were related to business, not war. Needless to say it’s on my summer reading list.

Kill failing projects quickly – A quote in an article from Harvard Business Review on why execution of business strategy unravels in the book stated, and I am paraphrasing, if you decide to kill a failing project, do it right away and quickly.

When I read this I thought of the quote the great triad of Canadian philosophers, “if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.” This phrase, now over 2 score old, reinforces something I have experienced over my career when leaders cannot decide to stop doing something soon enough, even when armed with the evidence needed to do so.

Don’t skip manager/staff meetings – To say we are overbooked with meetings is an understatement, and when looking to squeeze room into a packed calendar, often standing meetings with staff are canceled. Horwath stresses this should not be the case for a number of reasons that I, as someone who has been on the receiving end of this too often over the decades, completely concurs with. Remember, such one-on-one meetings should not be solely for the benefit of the staff person.

Strategic is a great read and packed with a number of decision-making models, advice and real-world experience from Horwath’s own consulting and coaching career and many well-known companies. Throughout it there are references to articles which are listed in the endnotes, which in itself is a great reading list that can provide you with a wealth of information in itself – I got a lot from the one I mentioned above and several others I read. The only critique I have of Strategic is that it uses business examples from well-known organizations like Amazon, but no names of small or mid-sized businesses, which may be relatable to the average reader. That being said, the points he used to reinforced with said company names were certainly not lost.

To say I recommend Strategic to anyone is a no-brainer. Whether you feel you are already strategic or tactical, a leader or staff worker, this book is for you. Where I typically give away books, this is one I am holding onto. It will be a reference and inspirational guide for myself to reread in part or whole to remind myself of what I need to be doing to not feel like I originally did when I sought out the book. This is also not Horwath’s only book as he has written several other books on strategy, including a strategy graphic novel. After going back in time and reading The Art of War, I may come back to present-day Earth and read some of these others.

Have you read Strategic? Have I inspired you to read it? I welcome your thoughts in the comments of this post.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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