After the end of my recent trip to the Twin Cities, my lovely wife and I headed back to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport for our flight back to the Windy City. Being the adventurous souls we are and supporters of public transportation, we decided to take the light rail train from downtown Minneapolis to the airport. After boarding the train and checking out the uniqueness of it over other cities’ service, we saw signs that the train would not take us directly to our terminal, rather we would have to get off at the first terminal and take a bus. Little did we know that in the name of honoring local patriots, we would get lost and have a lesson in usability presented to us.

Recently the airport code-named MSP added a new terminal and named it after former US senator from Minnesota, Hubert H. Humphrey. The other and original terminal is named for aviator Charles Lindbergh. Our flight was out of Humphrey, but the light rail only stopped at Lindbergh. When we got off at Lindbergh and headed to the bus to Humphrey, the signs did not completely connect the dots and we were left wandering.

When I asked people for directions, I kept saying Lindbergh instead of Humphrey, and people would tell me that I was there already. Why the confusion? Usually airport terminals are named things like A, B and C. Sometimes letters skip, like in Atlanta, Boston and Chicago O’Hare, but they are simple letters. As L comes after H, but Lindbergh was the original terminal, this did not help. It wasn’t until I recalled the chronological order of fame by each namesake (Lindbergh before Humphrey, or at least that's how I recall learning history) I realized the new terminal was Humphrey. We finally found the signs, and made the connection in time to fly home.

To add insult to injury, the recorded announcements coming over the PA system were in a British accent. In Minnesota? Now this is not a dig on Midwesterners who are still sore over the accents in the movie Fargo, but a British accent – anywhere in the US? Sure, many international tourists come to the airport to go to the Mall of America, or connect through it, but a British accent?

Build as beautiful of a terminal as the taxpayers will allow you, put up a bronze plaque or statue to a famous person, but keep it simple for those who actually have to use it.

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They say in a relationship there are three sides to every story. There is one person’s side, there is the other person’s side, and somewhere between them is the truth. Understanding this helps in life and in business, and getting reminders of it is, in my mind a good thing.

This was the biggest take-away for me from the book Cancer’s Spouse. It was written by very good friends of mine, Mark and Glenna Sanford. Glenna is an amazing person, and now is going on 5 years as a cancer survivor. The book chronicles the time from when she was first diagnosed to today, and all of the trials and tests that come with it. What is unique about the book is that each chapter is broken into two – Mark’s side, then Glenna’s side. Apparently the book wasn’t planned to be written that way from the beginning, but in the end it is a unique tale of a family’s journey.

In addition to the many sides of life, another great takeaway I got from this was keeping in mind there may be issues you are not aware of. This can be hard for many people, as emotions often come into play. In business, we tend to lose sight of this and overanalyze situations when things may not be going as planned, only to find out something else is going on. The fact that someone hasn’t returned a call, for example, could be due to a family emergency or a surprise visit from a friend.

I highly recommend people read this book, and it’s not just because I know the authors! For anyone who is or has gone through an illness personally or alongside someone close to them, it gives perspective over that trying time. If thus far you have been fortunate to not have gone through such an experience, the book can prepare you for it. Part of the proceeds from the book goes to cancer research, so another side is also enriched by the purchase of this book.

Book Take-Aways • Business • Diversions • (0) Comments • Permalink

The next likemind will be this Friday, July 20 in dozens of cities around the world. In Chicago, it will be at Intelligentsia Coffee,, 53 E. Randolph, at the corner of Wabash.

What is likemind? I call it a gathering of creative-minded people, from various disciplines. It's early in the morning, and only creative people would get up that early to have coffee and converse!

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As a few people have asked me already, I thought I’d go public and say that, with regrets, I will not be at TECH cocktail 5 (or TC5) tonight at John Barleycorn – Wrigleyville in Chicago. I have a prior engagement, my improv show, and as they say... the show must go on!

Good luck to TC’s founders Frank and Eric, and thank you for starting and leading what has become Chicago’s leading networking event for the tech / online world. I am looking forward to TC6 already!

Diversions • Technology • (0) Comments • Permalink

There’s been a lot of talk in the media about mobile phone service, or cellular or wireless service as most Americans call it. As the rest of the world calls it mobile, and their service and phone offerings are superior to ours here in the States, I use the term mobile in hopes we catch up someday, but I digress.

First there’s the iPhone. I don’t have one and I don’t plan on getting anytime soon. No, I am not an anti-Apple crusader. I bought a Treo 680 less than a year ago and it is working great for me. Plus, iPhones only work on AT&T (oops, at&t) and I am a happy customer of T-Mobile, so I see no need to switch.

A couple of observations on the iPhone – nobody has called me on one yet, and when I went to the Apple store in Chicago last week to look at Apple TV, the clerk was ecstatic that I came in to look at something else.

Then there’s Sprint Nextel who “fired” over 1,000 customers who were apparently calling customer service repeatedly. My one question is simple – what were they asking? Was it how to use the phone, or billing questions, or what? As they tracked the number of calls I am sure they categorized them, and that information would certainly be of interest to more than just inquiring minds.

Every day decisions are made that ultimately impact the service offerings of a company or organization. Sometimes those changes are so small that they are not noticed until after time, when something comes to a head. Apple’s decision to go with one particular carrier has certainly led to many people changing service or wondering how to, as well as people figuring how to hack around it, though the impact on the masses is still small. Sprint Nextel’s decision has wider reach, and it will be interesting to see if or how they come forward with more information, or if other carriers follow them.

Business • Technology • (0) Comments • Permalink