“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Here’s what I’ve got coming up in regards to teaching…

Hillsborough Community College

MAN1021 (04327)- Principles of Management (9/14-12/14)

This course presents an overview of the management functions including planning, organizing, controlling, leading, and problem-solving in organizations; reviews foundations of management thought and managerial processes that lead to organizational effectiveness in today’s global business environment. College level reading and writing skills are required.

GEB1011 (04062) – Introduction to Business (8/24-12/14)

Presents an overview of the practices and procedures of the business world. Topics include the main functions of business, management, marketing, accounting and finance.

University of South Florida – Executive & Professional Development

eMarketing Strategies – (2/4 & 3/25)

**As for the GMAT, I’m still hoping to be ready by October so I can get the PhD application end before November.  <fingers crossed>

I recently reached out to people on LinkedIn and even Twitter some time ago and wanted to know what perceptions or for that matter misconceptions existed regarding quality.  It was a work related project initially, but I admit the conversation did get me thinking.  After a decade of working in the quality assurance industry, was my opinion skewed?

I did discover the obvious… but in an interesting way.  For people not in the quality field, the responses are generally leaning towards more tolerance of non-compliance.  For example, the majority of my students will say they would prefer to get a lot vs a little if the decision came down to quality.  They wanted more for less… and that’s usually going to boil down to a decision regarding how well the “thing” performs as expected.  Interestingly, no one mentioned that quality should ideally be expected and the trade-off shouldn’t even exist.   Not realizing that ensuring quality can actually reduce costs is still a foreign concept to many.

But, it’s a different story when you talk to people who work in and are responsible for quality.  The conversation gets passionate very quickly, but that’s not really surprising.   There’s a great group on the ASQ LinkedIn forum! I’ve recently gotten some excellent feedback on the misconceptions of quality, as well as some pretty awesome quality quotes to use in the Pro QC newsletter.

So, what was surprising about all of this was something that happened with my 5yr old… It’s left me shaking my head.

Aidan was given $100 to go on a shopping spree with my parents for his birthday.  They told him he could buy anything he wanted. After me consistently talking about the importance of demanding quality and paying a little more if necessary for something that’s going satisfy you (even if that means getting less), he ended up buying an obscene number of generic building block sets when given the opportunity.  So, instead of LEGO kits like we always get ($$$), he got Best Lock kits ($) so he’d “have lots.”  The result was there being all kinds of predictable issues with these, such as instruction errors, poor fit, etc.  He doesn’t care about these issues at all.  He doesn’t care at all…

Listography… Your life in lists.

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Vertigo
3. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
4. Star Wars – Return of the Jedi
5. Avatar

I’ve always loved ads… on my own time of course.  I get just as frustrated as anyone else when it comes to advertisements being forced on you, but there’s certainly a way to inform and persuade without being pushy.  Now more than ever, I think companies are realizing this and trying to integrate rather than infiltrate.

One of the fascinating things about ads is that they represent little snapshots in time.  When I came across this FOX News slideshow of 41 vintage ads, I was reminded just how much our culture has changed in such a short period of time.  From the perception of women’s role in culture to the many fabulous benefits of smoking, you really do have to wonder how today’s messages will be received at some point in the future.  Will we look back and wonder how stupid we were to force tobacco companies to issue ads against their own products or how ridiculous it was for pharmaceutical companies to market their wares despite significant chances of “heart attack, stroke,severe infection or death”?  What about ads for politicians, personal lubricant, soda, frozen dinners, etc.?  What will become of them?   With pressure on ads to be more captivating to suit our shorter and shorter attention spans, will we even have time for promotional messages as we know them now?

A quote I recently picked up from one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in a while, Art & Copy: Inside Advertising’s Creative Revolution ,is “Advertising: Art Serving Capitalism.”  So true… so true.