Mulligan. In Golf, it means if your very first swing is a bit off, you can ask your fellow golfers for a do-over.  The term has become synonymous with do-overs in all areas of life.  There are a number of times in my life where I wish I could have a Mulligan…

Oddly, if the second shot is worse than the first, the term for that is a Finnegan.  Why is there so much meaning behind Irish names?

We all built it, and they are coming (and asking some serious questions)

Twitter is still popular, because we made it so; but as more people step into social media, straighten themselves up after climbing the learning curve and look around, questions come up.  Newbies are beginning to ask why it is that some unknown guy in Pakistan who stopped tweeting 6 months ago has over 45,000 users, while they are fighting to come up with original multi-media content that connects them with their (average user follower base of) barely over 130 people?

Twitter’s errant first swing

Twitter’s been around for 5 years, and has proven to be one of the most successful social media networks in the World, with an estimated 10,000,000 users interacting with each other.  It’s incredible simplicity in design has allowed for its growth to be directed organically by its many users.

Because of the desire to keep things open, a number of abusive practices have occurred on Twitter over time, and we have simply grown used to them while we say “hello” and “how are you” and “I can lick my own elbow” with our friends…

The stranger behemoths - We’ve all seen these guys.  They stomp around on Twitter with their insanely huge followership, but don’t say anything of value.  They’ve developed and played systems designed to artificially inflate their numbers, rather than earn it through making comments people actually appreciate.  To them, it’s all about the big, shiny rodeo belt buckle…  We are not impressed.  Planning to cash in those followers for some cold, hard cash someday?

There are tens of thousands of Twitter accounts held by these otherwise unknowns that have for years driven up their numbers by auto-following a thousand people daily, and unfollowing those that did not automatically follow back.  The process is repeated daily, as Twitter allows for up to 1,000 follows a day.  How daunting it must be to a new Twitterer to see these large, lumbering beasts of false renown!  And how frustrating to see how hard it is to quickly connect far and wide.

The recommended list - Newbies upon account creation are provided a list of celebrities, authors, chefs, social media mavens, sports figures, former MTV spotlight-mongers and whatnot that Twitter has hand-picked as desirable to begin with, to simply get the conversation started.  Although I’m not sure how much @sockamillion the cat will actually listen to what’s happening in your life, and stop to chat with you.

There’s an issue with the Recommended List.  Many on its occupants don’t necessarily tend to follow or talk back to all the newbies coming in, so no conversations really get started by following them.  C’mon, someone with 450,000 followers and 147 follows simply isn’t going to talk with you, even if your avatar is completely naked and you’re smokin’ hot.  Okay, maybe he’ll follow you. Being on this list can also inflate one’s numbers in a fairly rapid manner, with no actual social work required.

The auto-bots – If you joined Twitter years ago, you got your share of Britney porn-bots, and blocked dozens of them on an almost monthly basis.  Businesses began monitoring tweets using the search feature or creating monitoring systems.  If you so much as mentioned Starbucks, you got a follow from them.  If you talked about how much you loved chocolate, Ghirardelli showed up as a follow.  If you say you can lick your own elbow, there’s this woman in Milwaukee that will start coming on to you…  Sorry Sadie, but someone had to say something. It’s getting embarassing.  So please stop DMing me.

Anyway, the gist of what I’m saying is that if you are new, there are many who came long before you and have found ways to gain vast followerships, and they drive those Cadillac accounts around town proudly, tooting that horn and shouting “Orálé!”  I have no idea what that means.  They also try to sell you their SEO-Godlike “proven techniques” for gaining a following, despite knowing they used a below-the-counter method to gain theirs.

Twitter has done quite a bit lately to tone down this activity.  They’ve recently shut down open account access to applications that allow you to bulk auto-follow and auto-unfollow users, so you will never be able to game the system like that guy in Pakistan (and so many others) previously did.

But what to do about those people that already bulked up their accounts artificially? Hmmmm…..

Should Twitter get a Mulligan?

Socks is not happy with this!

I’ve seen posts begin to emerge asking if Twitter should have a Mulligan of its own. Should @Ev and @Jack and the other folks who brought us this wonderful means of sharing rich multi-media simply hit the reset button?  How would things look if everybody, from the new guy with 28 followers to the social media moguls with over 4,000,000 lost all their connections, overnight?  What if all the follows and the followers disappeared, and we all had to start over from scratch?

Oh, it sounds enticing, doesn’t it?  Or downright scary.  Some reading this have already peed a little in their undies.  Sorry. As you can see, @socksamillion is not happy with this concept. The stranger behemoths would lose all of their fine work, and may even have to resort to tweeting again.  The celebrities to be sure would see their following return again, fans being what they are.  You might see the auto-bots more readily if all you had were 200 followers for awhile…  And it would be difficult to pretend I was a social media powerhouse if all had were 137 followers, and those “proven” techniques I previously bragged over and over about to “connect” and “gain a following” seemed to be missing the mark…

Those that honestly worked hard to obtain their following would see all of their fine work lost overnight, and to me that seems to be such a waste, a great hardship to bear for them.  I’m sure they deserve their following, and to reap the benefit of these relationships built over time.  So how does Twitter allow for a more even playing field, while allowing those legitimate hard Tweeters to keep their social media structures?  I’ll explain a possible method in a moment…

My Personal Twitter Mulligan

Last year, I broke a big Twitter rule.  I jumped off the online cliff.  I did a crazy thing.  I thumbed my nose and flew in the face of Twitter conventions.  Just what terrible catastrophe did I willingly wreak upon my social media existence?

I announced to my followers that I’m going to drop my old Twitter account.  That’s right, I started all over, and informed my 3,400 followers. Yes, a whopping 3,400.  LOL. Those of you who are social media heavyweights with 200,000+ followers, you can stop your snickering now.  Like you’re reading this blog anyway… I created a whole new Twitter username.  And avatar.  And background image.  As the social media pundits call it, I de-”brand”-ed.  Woot.  Can you hear the crickets in the background? Skreek, skreek, skreek…

To be sure, I am not starting over completely from scratch.  I invited everyone who wants to follow me over in this transition to please do so.  A handful did so almost immediately.  Because I took the advice of Twitter heavyweights, I previously used an auto-follow feature with my old account, and had to meticulously pour through my reciprocated 3,500 follows.  I chose 500 to follow with my new account, and sent out a general invite.  It’s a joy to see what these amazing people have to say without the distractions of others selling me something, asking me if my teeth are white enough, or trying to show off their thong.  Okay, I think I saved her, but she is really nice, and a Democrat…

The process was humbling, to say the least.  By doing this, I found out who was actually listening to me, appreciated what I had to say, and wished to continue interacting with me.  Less than 10%. When i formally closed down my old account, I dumped almost 3,000 businesses, porn accounts, SEO “Gods,” serial RTers, stranger behemoths, recommended favorites, auto-bots and more generally people who continued following me only because I auto-followed them back.  To me, it was the equivalent of leaving the huge ballroom, drink in hand, and inviting the pretty girl to step outside on the balcony, into the fresh night air…

Twitter 2.0

I believe the discussion about a Twitter reset has a lot of merit, and wish there were an environment where we can take all of our lessons learned and begin anew, all from scratch.  I also understand the need to reward those that worked hard for their current following.

Here’s how to keep both intact…  Twitter could:

• Purchase another URL, like http://www.twittertoo.com
• Load Twitter’s code on this new place.
• Current accounts are automatically reserved in Twittertoo.com, so people won’t have to worry about losing their cool Twitter name suddenly, and people won’t be able to pretend they are @aplusk in the new environment just ’cause they got there first. No tweets in 6 months? Your account is closed and your name opens up…
• Twitter.com will stay up, and people can continue to stay there if they please, glaring at the lumbering giants or blocking the spambots.
• In Twittertoo.com, everyone begins with zero follows and followers from the start.  Develop your connections as you normally would.
• People may go to Twitter.com and invite their followers to follow them to Twittertoo.com
• Bulk transferring of follows and followers from Twitter to Twittertoo will not be provided for or allowed in the coding process.
• There will be no recommended lists.  Find people on your own, dude, or provide everyone 20 randomly chosen people from a survey of what their interests are.
• The new partnerships with desktop apps like Tweetdeck and Seesmic will be controlled through closer partnerships and monitoring.  No open authorization for reciprocal follower websites.
• No bulk-following or auto-following, to remove the incentive for stranger behemoths, auto-bots and spammers.
• We must approve our followers by manually clicking an approval button.

I believe that by Twitter asking us for a Mulligan, and using careful new controls, those who make the move to this new and improved Twitter environment will find many people there working hard to develop relationships, same as in the old Twitter.  And they will enjoy the new quiet as the spammers and behemoths stay in the old environment, working their dark, evil magic.

Those that worked hard to achieve their merited following will be able to invite their following to successfully follow them over.   If they don’t all move over, then they weren’t listening anyway, right?  C’mon, how about a reality check?  Prove your cinnamoney sweet SEO magic works.

I believe celebrities, legitimate news providers, wonderful personalities and individuals of renown will see the same large tide of followers vying to interact with them, sharing their tweets with others and enjoying the social media realm.  People with little to say will still not “get it” and have a limited following.  Social media flowers will blossom, just as they did in Twitter, version 1.0

Until then, I will send my invites out to my new account, and enjoy all of the wonderful people who have joined me in the cool, night air…  Let’s hope that I didn’t pull a Finnegan…

You can humor and follow me at @YouKnowSteve on Twitter.  I’ll find you pretty easily, trust me…

I’m sure by now you’ve read the story about how a bunch of people pick a day in January to go to work without their pants.  I’m not going to actually suggest you bring on the Full Monty this time around.  Rather, I thought this would be a good time to discuss exposing yourself emotionally and professionally.  I’m talking about honesty.

We spend our workdays adrift in a sea of financial uncertainty, often leaving our very financial futures in the hands of a cast of varied characters assembled by our higher-ups.  Where we work is often little more than an organized group of competing, individualistic, and emergingly symbiotic relationships.  That’s a fancy way of saying it’s dog-eat-dog sometimes, and frankly I stopped trying to be the Alpha Male in the pack a long time ago…  Wow.  That picture needs a little cropping, doesn’t it?  Stop looking already…

Honesty in the workplace.  It’s one of the most difficult environments to create in such a field of competing egos, inflamed in a hard economy.  Many of us don’t like to have ourselves laid bare at work, open to questions from anyone, naked to constructive criticism.  But if you can figure out a way to develop a more nakedly honest office, you and your coworkers will be a lot happier, and productivity will actually increase.

After my obligatory in-depth research involving a quick and dirty 5-minute Google search, followed by reading 5 whole articles by other people with a lot more knowledge than I. (I know, I know, I work hard for you, I really do…) I came up with a few suggestions.  Read on as you strip down at your desk.  I’ll beat-box that boom-chicka-boom music for you, quietly so I don’t bother the guy in the next cubicle…

Never withhold information

You return after a 2-week vacation in Italy, tanned from the Tuscan sun, ready to tell everyone about your wine-and-laughter-filled experience, when you are called into a staff meeting. As you sit and sip your stinky American coffee, you realize that your coworkers and boss are head-long in implementing what you know to be a horrible idea. Whatever it is, was tried long before, and you know why it failed miserably. As that happy Italiany smile begins to melt from your face and your toes begin to curl up in your loafers, do you sit still and keep your mouth shut, or say something?

Being naked at work means never purposefully withholding information from your boss or coworkers, whether to make the situation seem better or to get along with what seems like a popular idea. You will have to bare it all and raise that hand and clear your throat. Take the time to explain fully your company’s past experience with this idea, and why it failed. With your new office nudity, also be ready to accept if conditions have changed, and the environment might be ripe to try that old idea again…

Never fake illness

It’s Monday, and as the alarm clock plays Achy Breaky Heart at a volume level designed to utilize sound waves to catapult the sheets off your warm body, you contemplate feigning the sniffles.  Get up, Stupid.  Let me paint a picture of you later that day hiding just inside the entrance of Victoria’s Secret, huddled under the colorful thong shelf with shopping bags crammed under your knees, your newly-spilled caramel latté next to you on the floor.  As your boss wanders in to check out the racey laceys, your cell phone begins to ring with your oft-played-at-the-office Jay-Z ringtone, as your mother calls you back to ask why you hung up so quickly.

Are you prepared to lose your job just because you need (or want) to run a few errands?   Yes, I know you work through your breaks and sip down a cup o’ soup at your desk half the time during lunch, but use some of that built-up comp time or take a short vacay in order to complete the things you need to do during work hours.  Naked honesty can be hard sometimes, especially when you know your coworkers are not as forthwith in their days off.  You can do it, and you will feel better about  yourself in the long run…

Don’t hide problems

You have a deadline staring at you from the shelf to your right.  It’s right by that plant that jerk of an ex-boyfriend gave you last month.  You know, the little once-green Dieffenbacchia you don’t water much anymore, a chlorophyllic voodoo doll held captive to your crumbling, roller-coaster emotional state.  If you don’t think you are going to meet a deadline, get your newly-naked self up and make an appointment with your boss.  Let him or her know when you are not going to meet a deadline, no matter how big or small the project is.

Letting your boss know of an impending missed deadline and the issues related to it says you care about the work needing to be done.  You might wind up getting others to help you, or a more respectful boss with a greater understanding of the issues involved with your work.  On the flip side, if your boss has to remind you that a deadline has come and gone, you will likely already look in his or her eyes as a procrastinator, or plain forgetful.  Lump that in with the Victoria’s Secret fiasco, and you might find yourself walking the pavement for another job…

Stop the gossip already

Did you hear that John had an affair?  Did you know that Susan got a breast enlargement?  Did you hear that David has a file cabinet filled with Army C Rations and Ensure, in case the world ends and he is trapped in the office? Did you?

There are few habits more pernicious and hurtful in a workplace than gossip.  I know it is hard sometimes to turn your back on the newest issue of the Daily Whisper, because it helps to pass the time, it brings certain high-and-mighty coworkers to their knees for your amusement, and it makes your problems seem more distant.

Stop with the office gossip, beginning with yourself.  Check the “evil tongue” at the door, and allow people their privacy. No matter how juicy a tidbit of information about a coworker appears, sharing it will only tarnish your reputation as well.

Tell Mrs. Wormwood Slipperytongue to take her business elsewhere, because you are no longer buying.  And develop that long-term relationship with David, because 2012 is just around the corner, and C Rations have significantly improved over the  years, especially the canned shredded turkey in gravy…

Share the nudity

If your company doesn’t hold scheduled staff meetings, then suggest it to your boss.  Invite everyone, no matter on what level they work.  Call in the delivery people, mailroom guy, secretaries, mid-managers, and that cute barista in the lobby who always asks you if you want whipped cream on it with that devilish smile.   (Note to my very lovely fiancée — This is a purely fictional character, and in no way is an indication of my interactions with people in or near my office.  I haven’t had a latté since that incident with the boss at Victoria’s Secret!)

Major corporations, including Google, Inc., find weekly to be a good frequency for getting everyone together. For many offices, this is a monthly evolution. No matter how often you meet, make it a point to stick with that frequency, no matter what.  Believe it or not, there are people who look forward to the next meeting, and they aren’t all axe-grinders.

Staff meetings must be a place where anything can be asked by anyone.  Management is informed beforehand that they must answer to the best of their ability, but within reason and corporate policy. This open environment, where your very own pet projects might get discussed in front of everyone else, will seem a bit awkward at first. Having Sean, who spends hours daily outside the back door on his cell phone with that hooker from Phoenix, ask you to state why it’s taking you four months to create that dynamic list of business contacts based on zip code and shoe size might leave you red-faced afterward.

Eventually things will improve, as everyone in the office begins to make decisions with an eye toward how their actions will look to everyone else.  Maybe Sean will find a way to break it off before Mrs. Slippertongue calls and lets his wife know the 411.

Bare naked evaluations

Employee evaluations ought to be honest and up-front.  An employee’s areas for improvement must be discussed. Maybe you think if you simply gloss over his answering of the office phone with the catchy phrase “Yo,” your employee-friend Alex will keep playing squash with you on Sunday mornings at the Y.  Maybe your real problem is an inability to genuinely connect with anyone, so you can’t make friends anywhere except by cornering the people who have to spend 8 hours with you each day of the week.  The people who rely on you for their rent money.  Hmm.  I dunno.

Being nakedly honest during evaluations and covering those areas needing improvement may seem scary, especially if that person is a high performer, but it’s needed both for you and the employee. If you don’t tell the employee what’s wrong and how to improve, they will spend yet another year making the same mistake, and ultimately productivity (or office morale) can suffer.   Other employees may think you’re playing favorites.  You might simply avoid the issue by giving important jobs to other workers, creating even more tension between you and the problem employee. This could result in your employee quitting or complaining, causing greater disunity in the workplace.  And nobody to play squash with.

Those are my suggestions for being naked at work today and every day.  Print it out and slide it under your boss’ door during today’s lunch hour.  He’s probably at Victoria’s Secret again right now anyhow.  And if you like this story, go ahead and share it far and wide.  Then send me your shoe size, ’cause I gotta finish this stupid customer database before the next staff meeting…

January 25th is Speak Up and Succeed Day, dedicated to helping you actually get what you say you want in life, to help you reach your goals by opening your mouth and asking for it.  Or in the example I’m about to introduce you to, by using your smart phone.

I have had the pleasure of recently talking with Peter Ma, website and mobile app developer.  Peter was recently invited to attend the 2010 TEDGlobal Conference because he was the grand prize winner of Snaptic’s first Move Your App! Developer Contest.  The contest encouraged application developers to use their skills to create something specifically designed to get people outside and exercising with others.  The contest was also sponsored by famous television chef Jamie Oliver (pictured with Peter.)

Peter Ma is a very active man, and enjoys participating in local pickup sports games.  His problem with this?  His friends sometimes bail on him at the last minute.  Sound familiar?

Peter decided to use his programming skills to create Pickup Sports, a website and mobile app that brings together people who live close to each other for shared sports and workout activities.

“My ideal goal is to educate people and get them to be active, this way people become more healthy and we’ll have a better world. Spreading information about local activities is the first step to reach that goal.”  - Peter Ma

To join and find an exercise workout partner or put together a local soccer (or any other) pickup game, visit Pickup Sports and connect it to your Facebook account.  You can also download the app from iTunes, the Android Marketplace, or WebOS Store.  Find your location and choose to create a new game.

A simple drop-down menu will allow you to pick from popular sports activities, hitting the gym, running or other activities. Others in the same area who are interested in finding someone to exercise or play games with will come across your information and can respond.  Simply pick a good time to meet up and follow through!

Think hard, my friends.  Remember what it was like to not have to squeeze into those old slacks, or to not have to suck in that tummy whenever someone cute walks by?  Why not use that Facebook account to do something more than simply tell people that second helping of twice-baked potatoes was “da bomb?”  Why not give Pickup Sports a try, use it to speak up to people in your area looking for help too, and see if it can help you succeed, too!

To learn more, you can follow Pickup Sports at its Facebook and Twitter page.  You can say hello to Peter on Twitter here.

Today is Winnie the Pooh Day, in honor of the birth of Winnie’s creator, Alan Alexander (A. A.) Milne, in 1882.  The Winnie the Pooh series of stories are one of the most famous and dearly loved pieces of children’s literature ever, as well as a movie favorite.

Milne dearly loved his son, Christopher Robin, and enjoyed watching him play with his stuffed bear, Edward.  Milne would take his young son often to the London Zoo, where they enjoyed watching the animals at play together.

The Day Christopher Robin met Winnie

Christopher Robin and Winnie

One day, Milne and son came across a black bear named Winnie, recently donated to the zoo by Henry Colebourne, a soldier from Winnipeg (hence the bear’s name) who had just finished up his service during World War I.  Baby Winnie was purchased for $20.00 by Henry during a train stop in Ontario, on his way to an assignment in France.  Winnie became a hit with Henry’s unit, beloved by all for his antics and constant search for food.

Stopping through London, Henry decided to leave Winnie for a few weeks at the zoo, while he took care of business.

Edward becomes a Winnie, too

Young Christopher Robin fell immediately in love with Winnie, visiting him often at the zoo, and even playing with the bear in his cage.  It was during this time that Christopher Robin renamed his toy bear Winnie, in honor of his favorite animal friend.  The title “Pooh” was added in honor of a swan Christopher met during a holiday trip.

The story begins to take shape, out of love

Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh

Enamored by Christopher’s love for animals, Milne began in earnest to write Winnie-the-Pooh in 1926.  The story was to include the adventures of his sweet son and stuffed friends.  Winnie the Pooh’s friends Tigger, Kanga, Roo, Piglet, and Eeyore were copied from Christopher Robin’s toys as well, and appeared over time as he wrote.

Winnie the Pooh’s story is almost always about relationships, as Pooh seeks out fellowship with his friends, whether they are in a good mood or bad.  He always seeks to help out others, provided they are willing to share some honey with him.  Sundry adventures ensue, as Pooh learns how to communicate with others.

It has been said that the interactions in the Pooh stories closely mirror A. A. Milne’s perception of a young Christopher Robin learning and reflecting upon familial relationships as well as the scarier, wonderful, greater world around him.  Winnie the Pooh, his world and his friends, are all a carefully constructed window into the mind of a well-loved, maturing boy.

The gate to Five Hundred Acre Wood

Winnie the Pooh finds a home

The Milne’s lived in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, next to a forest known as Five Hundred Acre Wood.  This was likely the reason A. A. Milne used the name Hundred Acre Wood for the setting of the Pooh stories, as a number of special place names mentioned in the stories are also in Five Hundred Acre Wood.  To a young Christopher Robin, it must have been strange, to grow up in both an ethereal yet very real place…

Remembering Winnie the Bear

Henry and Winnie

On May 12, 1934, Winnie the black bear passed away in the London Zoo, after having put smiles on the faces of thousands of children who visited with and loved him.  A statue at the Zoo commemorates Winnie and Henry Colebourne, who ultimately decided after his short stay in London that Winnie needed to stay and entertain the children who loved him so.

A childhood best seller becomes a beloved movie

Following his string of successes with the Pooh series, A. A. Milne did not want to write any further stories, feeling that he had lost quite a bit of freedom in what he could write, and wishing to return to full-length novels and mystery stories.  It wasn’t until Walt Disney purchased the rights to the stories from Milne’s widow in 1966 that Winnie the Pooh and friends got new life in a world in love with the cinema.  To all of the familiar friends of Hundred Acre Wood, the characters Rabbit and Owl were added by the Disney screenwriters.

Where is Winnie the Pooh now?

Original Pooh and friends

The original stuffed animals the characters are derived from are currently housed at E. P. Dutton’s office in New York, with the exception of Roo, which was unfortunately lost long ago.

If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you. ~ Winnie the Pooh

Through sharing the many wonderful adventures of Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne helped us to fall in love with his forever-young son Christopher Robin.  Through the doe-eyed, inquisitive acceptance of silly little cubby all stuffed with honey, we learned once again to appreciate the innocence of children everywhere.

Thank you, Winnie, for many blustry memories…

Afternote

Toronto rapper Drake, during a 2010 interview regarding his then-upcoming CD Take Care, cited the Winnie the Pooh book series as a major influence in his life.  He is purported to have recently spent tens of thousands of dollars in purchasing a first edition of the series…

Dedicated to my friend Gary Arbaugh’s little Piglet, which passed away after only a day of life, on this day…

MLB Rule 6.10

Today is the 37th anniversary of the creation of rule 6.10 of Major League Baseball, forever changing the game.  The rule is more widely known by its popular name, the Designated Hitter Rule.  Prior to this rule, every team knew that the god-like pitching arm that devastated their batting order would eventually have to take his turn at home plate.  Indeed, it was a rarity in baseball to find a man whose sinewy arm not only launched lightning-filled strikes but could also hit anything worthy from the plate.  It was considered an easy out for both teams…

The argument against the Designated Hitter

Although it does not sound like Casey was a pitcher by trade, it sounds rather un-American for a player in any sport to be allowed to step aside, to shirk what appears to be his turn at a team effort, simply because of an inability to accomplish greatness while taking his turn, right?  After all, if I were to pull forth one of Major League Baseball’s greatest (and most well-known) historical home-run hitters, it would be a pitcher.  Before taking the mantle of home-run guru, Babe Ruth began his career as a pitcher for the Red Sox.

Needed even before its creation

While the actual Designated Hitter rule is not all that old, requests to take advantage of a replacement batter are almost as old as the professional form of America’s game.  Blame it on the groans from the stands whenever a gangly mustachioed pitcher walked up, a giant among men when it came to slinging a curve ball, but now clumsily winding his bat in little circles, approaching the plate for another strikeout.

“The best case for the Designated Hitter is this: It represents that rarest of things, the triumph of evidence over ideology. The anti-DH ideology is that there should be no specialization in baseball, no division of labor: Everyone should play “the whole game.” That theory is obliterated by this fact: Specialization is a fact with or without the Designated Hitter. Most pitchers only go through the motions at bat.” – George F. Will

The argument for the Designated Hitter

Those standing for the rule reason that many sports have specialized positions within them, in order to obtain and allow for the best players (and skill sets) to be utilized fulfilling them.  Training can be targeted to best suit those skill-sets, and older, injury-prone players such as Edgar Martinez were (and are) allowed to continue their careers as designated hitters.  After all, not everyone has to take a turn on the pitcher’s mound too, right?

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the game of baseball in all its beauty and entirety is the National League game. I would kick the Designated Hitter out so quick it would make your head spin.”  ~ Tony La Russa

In reply to this split in philosophy, Rule 6.10 has only been utilized by the American League, while the National League leaves their pitchers in the batting lineup, same as always.  And in response to this, the batting averages of teams in the American League have risen higher over time.  There are a variety of rules pertaining to using Rule 6.10, including that the designated hitter must be formally stated before a game begins in order to use him, the DH cannot play a field position, and cannot be replaced with anyone else in the formal lineup.

Do we need designated hitters?

However you feel about the use of designated hitters in baseball, we all come to a point in our professional (and even personal) lives when we are overwhelmed with responsibilities.  The better we are at doing something, the more likely we will have additional duties placed on our shoulders. As the quote goes, “The reward for hard work is hard work.”  And just as a pitcher in the National League dreads the weight of another likely unsuccessful at-bat, if we do not learn to delegate some of our work, we may begin to dread facing our responsibilities at all.

So in commemoration of the anniversary of Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, as well as in honor of the Mudville 9 honored in Thayer’s beautiful poem, I offer 9 tips to keep you from striking out when attempting to delegate your workload to others….

How to delegate your work

1. Personally visit and talk things over with some of the coworkers you think might actually be willing to take on the additional work you give them.  Don’t email – do this in person, so you can actually determine from their body language their desire.  Write down the names of all interested parties.
2. Determine the skill-set of each person you spoke with.  Mull over in your mind what it is they do, as well as skills they might have but currently don’t use.  What are their interests?  Be sure to work to your new team-mates’ strengths.  Do your best to ensure that the task(s) you give over will help others grow new skills and confidence, which you can then turn around and build on further with additional tasks.
3. Make sure that you are not putting together people who have difficulty working together.  Personality issues in (or even out) of the workplace will carry over to your projects if you create a bad environment for your team.  The price for ignoring this is a failed project, which gets reassigned back to you, of course…
4. Ensure you create mile-markers, and take the time to ensure your team is correctly handling the assignments.  Find out if they have any questions and provide answers.
5. Don’t micro-manage the work, or demand it be done in the way you would’ve done it (unless it has to be based on specifications.)  Allow your new team to create their own processes in which to complete the job, and don’t be afraid to make these processes your own as well.
6. Be sure that you have taken the time to discuss the scope of authority for the tasks to be done.  You always want your helpers to know that although authority can be delegated to do jobs, responsibility cannot, and that you are ultimately held to the quality of their work.  It is imperative that they not overstep the boundaries of the work, to ensure its success and compliance with dictates handed to you in the first place from the higher-ups.
7. When choosing your team, avoid the appearance of favoritism.  Don’t hire all of your friends to help you, as this will not only tick of your other co-workers, but also could lead to disastrous results.  If your friends fail in helping you or overstep their boundaries, it will likely strain your personal relationship with them.
8. When the work is complete, you had better not forget to provide ample congratulations and thank yous to the team, or expect them to politely say no the next time you ask for more help…
9. This is an important one.  Many a delegator has become so good at what they do, that they find themselves out of a job.  Sure, it would be nice to come into work each and every day and simply tell your co-workers how to do your work.  But your are not the boss.  And you don’t want your boss to recognize that you are no longer the one doing your work.  After all, what a financial savings to let you go and allow your co-workers to continue performing your duties!

Good luck in trying these out yourself!  I am certain that if you take these 9 steps to heart and properly follow them, your workplace will not find itself divided as baseball finds itself, and you will be able to take that workplace mantle of the Mighty Casey (sans strike-out, of course…)

Perhaps if Casey had been a pitcher he could’ve gotten himself a designated hitter….

Perhaps, like me, you took a bit too long to put away those Christmas ornaments at home, enjoying for a time the lilting tones of procrastination playing in the background of a quiet, too-short vacation.   But we finally did it, didn’t we?  The red and green plastic wreaths are back home in their cardboard shelters, the strings of lights nestling like endless multi-colored snakes, entangling themselves further as you read this.  The Christmas tree broken down, branches pressed together again in a goodbye embrace, wrapped in bubble wrap and shoved improbably into a too-little box (or for you real tree lovers, pushed to the curb to be recycled and become fertilizer for next Spring’s lawn.)

It always amazes me how, with almost military precision, under the ever-vigilant eye of my better half, each and every bit of decoration is put away for 10 more months of quiet slumber in the corner of our crowded garage.  As I write this, I wonder why I have not attained the same level of tradition when it comes to keeping up a space I inhabit year round – my desk?

Today is National Clean Off Your Desk Day.  It’s a clarion call to de-clutter, to make your workspace more efficient, and to find that cool pen you bought last year and promptly lost under a stack of paperwork.

So how exactly do I clean my mess up?

Getting yourself into a safer place – what to do immediately

Go through your desk’s paperwork and determine which of it you really never needed to keep.  Shred or recycle promptly.  Go through what’s left and put in the following piles:

• Things not needing a response that you want to keep.
• Things that can be taken care of in less than 5 minutes.
• Things that’ll likely take longer than 5 minutes to complete.

For everything you want to keep and doesn’t need any action, create files for (if needed) and file away.

For everything needing less than 5 minutes, put them in order of priority in a To-Do box or folder.   Put the greater than 5 minutes items in a Project box or folder, in order of priority.

When you begin tackling your To-Dos and Projects, hit the priority level items that are an emergency until you are in a safe zone.  Take a breather then hit the rest at a more leisurely pace.

How to maintain a better organized work area

Once you get things cleaned up, here are 8 ways to keep your desk looking spic-n-span, and to re-prioritize what dares come across your work area in the future:

1.  Go digital, go paperless – Scan documents you don’t look at anymore but want to keep, and toss the hard copies.  Make sure to create a simple yet understandable file structure to help locate these files in the future.  A flash drive backup would be desirable, but also consider creating an account at a cloud-based storage site like Google Docs or Dropbox and organizing your scanned and archived documents there.  Cloud systems will allow you to access your important documents even on the road or at home.

2.  Eschew Post-Its – These are far too easy to lose.  Instead, take advantage of an online service such as Google Calendar or your Outlook/Entourage email system to create alerts of the things you need to take care of and when.  Tie your smart phone to your account to send you text message reminders.  When you get business cards, place them in your online contacts list and throw away the card, or simply offer to use a contact sharing app like Bump to electronically share contact info.

3.  Don’t use your printer as a reminder –  Avoid printing hard copies of emails or attachments as reminders, if you don’t have to.  Any file emailed to you can be electronically transferred to another online service for storage.  If the email or attachment is related to a job needing completion, tie the information to an electronic To-do or as an event in your calendar software.  You can normally attach an electronic file there, to show up with the event alert, so you won’t have to worry about losing the paperwork.

4.  Dump the pens – Over time it’s easy to accumulate a number of ink pens.  Gather them up as you re-discover them, and keep 2 or 3 of the best ones.  The rest?  Put them in an office pen supply drawer for use by other pen hoarders.

5.  Give up the schwag – Do you attend a lot of conferences? If so, you have likely assembled quite the assortment of pens, pencils, stamps, stickers, lint cleaners, screen wipes and so forth.  I know the feeling when you got them, as though you were interoffice royalty having magical gifts bestowed upon you.  Ditch them now, and treat future offerings as though they were inherently disease ridden.  After all, if you find them buried away on or in your desk, you never really needed them in the first place.

6.  Burn the books – Well, not literally.  If you’re not reading it for work often, or can find the information easily online, give away or take home the book.  Consider purchasing eBooks in the future when searching for office-based literature – they’re easier to cross-reference and take up no additional desk space.

7.  Eat away from your desk – Not only will you get a break from the office, adding mental clarity and happiness to your life, it will avoid the forks, knives, soda cans, napkins and other clutter associated with eating at your desk.  It will also help avoid devastating spills next to important paperwork (or electronics!)

8. Just how many family photos do you need? – Seriously, nobody needs to see your little boy hitting a baseball at three different angles to know he plays on a city league.  A nice family photo or a single cute head shot of each will suffice.  We know you love them – How about putting a bunch of nice photos in a screensaver, to play when you are away eating lunch under a shady spot?

Hopefully you find this advice helpful, give straightening up your work area a shot, and can add your own tricks to the mix below in the comments!  If you need additional incentive, I can send my better half to stand by your desk and provide tough love until good judgement finds you…