Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Ted Tuesday: The Talks Everyone Talks About

"Google was not the first search engine and Facebook was not the first online social community. Very few TED Talks are about original ideas. Simon Sinek was not the first person to talk about identifying the purpose for your life and work, nor was Amy Cuddy the first person to talk about how your body language and posture shape your self-confidence."





Good Morning Folks,

The TED platform is about “ideas worth spreading.” Watch any TED Talk and you can observe that everything a speaker says is in service of advancing one key idea, and making audience members so passionate about the idea that they want to spread it as well. This is why so many TED Talks go viral. The speaker does not just successfully convey an idea — they make everyone watching excited to share it too.

If you look at any TED Talk, you will discover that the thought leader’s delivery style can be categorized in one of the following five ways. The speaker is either a:

==> Change agent: 
Uses language, stories, and pictures that show what is possible when the change being shared happens

==> Scientific expert: 
Relies on logic and evidence to present an idea

==> Performer: 
Incorporates theatricality into the delivery of a message

==> Vulnerable expert: 
Connects life experience and stories to a message

==>  Inventor: 
Discusses an original idea, product or service and breaks it down into easy to understand, digestible parts

When you look at the most successful companies — such as Google and Facebook, or popular TED and TEDx Talks by Simon Sinek and Amy Cuddy — most are not household names because they came up with something original. Google was not the first search engine and Facebook was not the first online social community. Very few TED Talks are about original ideas. Simon Sinek was not the first person to talk about identifying the purpose for your life and work, nor was Amy Cuddy the first person to talk about how your body language and posture shape your self-confidence.

What each company or person did, however, was improve upon an existing idea. That should be the goal of entrepreneurs. While being first to market is nice, it’s rarely possible. If an idea can be monetized, it likely already has been. Plus, the first incarnation of a product or service often has significant flaws in its design or user experience. Entrepreneurs can and should focus their attention and strategizing on advancing business ideas that already exist by improving upon problems or frustrations for its customers and clients.

Check out our extensive library of Ted Tuesday Talks featuring Simon Sinek and Amy Cuddy and others on life, love and happiness, HERE (scroll backwards).

Thanks to Forbes for today's message and to you for listening.

Have a GREAT day and…. Love Life,


Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Ted Tuesday: Ruth Chang- How To Make Hard Choices

"Imagine a world in which every choice you face is an easy choice, that is, there's always a best alternative. If there's a best alternative, then that's the one you should choose, because part of being rational is doing the better thing rather than the worse thing, choosing what you have most reason to choose."




Good Morning,

Here's a talk that could literally change your life. Which career should I pursue? Should I break up — or get married?! Where should I live? Big decisions like these can be agonizingly difficult. But that's because we think about them the wrong way, says philosopher Ruth Chang. She offers a powerful new framework for shaping who we truly are.

Chances are, the hard choice you thought of was something big, something momentous, something that matters to you. Hard choices seem to be occasions for agonizing, hand-wringing, the gnashing of teeth. But I think we've misunderstood hard choices and the role they play in our lives. Understanding hard choices uncovers a hidden power each of us possesses.

Far from being sources of agony and dread, hard choices are precious opportunities for us to celebrate what is special about the human condition, that the reasons that govern our choices as correct or incorrect sometimes run out, and it is here, in the space of hard choices, that we have the power to create reasons for ourselves to become the distinctive people that we are. And that's why hard choices are not a curse but a godsend.

Enjoy the program that over a million people have already seen:



Remember as Ruth says, happiness is a choice. So be happy!

After watching this, how can one not be pumped, super excited and ready to rock.
Have a GREAT day and…. Love Life,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  


Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the second consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

See a brief video portrait of who we are and what can can do for you, HERE

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Now Boarding: ALA Toronto and a LinkUP to Your In-Flight Infotainment

"We can't wait for conventioneers to experience firsthand what we've been telling you all along: What makes FSO the industry's fastest growing company and our competitive market advantage is hospitality delivered with a personal, passionate and productive tradition of service extraordinaire that's has never been duplicated."






Good Morning Folks,

As we prepare to pack our bags and board a our flights to Toronto, I wanted to send you my best wishes for an amazing ALA Annual Conference experience. The annual event brings to together leaders in the legal industry to discuss the challenges and opportunities in today’s legal environment.  

Our team has worked with a the ALA and it local organizations for the past few years to better understand the challenges of this unique industry in order to help better tailor our services to their specific needs. We are very proud of our association with the ALA. 

We leave today to embark on a mission. To win the hearts and minds of the legal community. 

Remember we are three and a half years young besides my 20 plus years of experience. And what FSO has accomplished in this short period of time has rocked this industry and me. Lol

We have come out of no where. And while others have been doing year after year for so many years, they have not been able to accomplish what we have REIMAGINED in recent years. 

We wanted to let you know that while you are on-site at the ALA next week, FSO will be making news launching some exciting new services. We will also provide live, ongoing Twitter updates on @FSOOutsourcing@MWeinerFSO and of course as always on my Linked In page.


We will be using hashtags #ALA2014 and #FSOALA2014, so stay tuned to those.


For your downloading and in-flight reading pleasure, here's a LinkUP to popular legal-related posts that are sure to be hot topics at ALA:


Oh! Ricin and Anthrax and Cyanide and a Hero… oh BOY! (Suspicious Package Security)


Law Firms: What If Gordon Gekko Bought Your Outsourcing Partner?


Revolutionizing Records Management In the Digital Practice of Law


Before You Engage Or Renew Another Onsite Outsourcing Provider, These Are The Differences That You Need To Consider


Throw Back Thursday: Remember A Function Called "The Law Library"? (The ongoing debate about the value of law-firm librarians in an age when much information is available online)


FSO Onsite Outsourcing Legal Services To Present at ALA Toronto, May 19th - 22nd


Ted Tuesday: ALA Keynoters— Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly: Be Passionate. Be Courageous. Be Your Best. (A sneak preview of what you can expect from the keynote)


We can't wait for conventioneers to experience firsthand what they've been hearing in the marketplace: 
What makes FSO the industry's fastest growing company and our competitive market advantage is hospitality delivered with a personal, passionate and productive tradition of service extraordinaire that has never been duplicated. 

The passion we have for our business, the drive for excellence we instill in our employees and the involvement of myself in every opportunity and client interaction will never change no matter how much we grow. Our entire company will be the HAPPIEST PLACE TO WORK. This is not a marketing buzz word. This is the fabric, culture and commitment of our company to its employees and our client
s. 

Our culture at FSO is one that can never be rattled. And it will take us too new heights. 

For those traveling to Toronto, have a safe sand productive conference.

Lets keep the torch lit and go forward with that passion instilled in all of us, enjoy life!

Have a GREAT day,


Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

...................................................................................
“Each of us has been put on this earth to do something well. 
We cheat ourselves and the world if we don’t use that ability as best we can”
...................................................................................

Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest growing companies for the second consecutive year, FSO’s growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients’ bottom lines, as well as their employees’ careers and lives. See us in action HERE


Wednesday, May 14, 2014

FSO Onsite Outsourcing Legal Services To Present at ALA Toronto, May 19th - 22nd

"At FSO, we are driving change and ushering law firms into the digital 21st Century and beyond. It's the kind of change that's top of mind for this year's ALA attendees.










Good Morning Folks,

We are proud to announce our participation in the Association of Legal Administrator's (ALA) annual Conference and Expo, May 19th - 22nd at Toronto's Metro Toronto Convention Center. The annual event brings together leaders in the legal industry to discuss the challenges and opportunities in today's legal environment. 

These few days of knowledge and collaboration are just one of the many ways we are spreading the FSO way, driving visibility for our great brand and making powerful connections.

The legal profession, always slow to adapt to change, finds itself in a new environment of increased competition, client-initiated pressure on expenses, rapid migration from paper to digital records and the relocation of back-office tasks out of city centers where space and labor savings go direct to the bottom line.

I launched FSO with a vision, a dream of changing the outsourcing business in a way that was never done before. At FSO, we are driving change and ushering law firms into the digital 21st Century and beyond. It's the kind of change that's top of mind for this year's ALA attendees.

A highlight of the conference for me, as Chief Happiness Officer, will be the keynote by Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly. Talk bout possibility thinking and overcoming adversity.

Their address will be called "Endeavour to Succeed" taking place Tuesday 20th at 8AM Sharp.

On January 8, 2011, Mark Kelly faced the toughest challenge of his life when a would-be assassin shot his wife, who was then serving as a U.S. Congresswoman. His dedication to family and Gabby Giffords' arduous road to recovery captivated the world.

The Gifford's embody all of the goodness which lies within us. Theirs is also a story of teamwork at its best. At FSO, we are getting bigger, better and stronger as a TEAM.

You can see a preview of what the Giffords might be speaking about on their TED talk, that was featured on our Ted Tuesday series right here.

To learn more about how FSO (re)imagines the ways Legal Services are run, visit booths 631 & 633 on the Expo Floor.

Until then hope you are feeling great and having a personal, passionate, productive week.

Love Life!


Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  


About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the second consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

See a brief video portrait of who we are and what can can do for you, HERE



Thursday, May 1, 2014

Throw Back Thursday: A Reader's Challenge— My So Called "Paperless" Life



"For several years I have been meaning to write a blog posting about how great it was to go from a messy stack of papers on my desk to a having paperless office. But, this is the year I began leading a paperless life. All my business and personal documents exist only in the cloud. I feel a huge sense of freedom, I feel more modern, and I feel more organized."





Good Morning Folks,

Today's throw back Thursday is truly interactive as I challenge all employees, customers and fans to do for yourselves what we at FSO do for our clients— make paper digital, retrievable, useful and enjoyable again.

Our friend Eric Borgos has been kind enough to share his own step-by-step recipe for throwing back through old boxes of childhood memories, old schoolwork, albums and cds,  old businesses and past lives you've been apart of and making them digital and sharable for your current an future generations to enjoy.

In the process you'll rid yourself of clutter and paper, have better documentation for insurance and ensure your precious memories survive inn the unlikely event of floods, fires and other natural disasters (especially because you will back up the files you create on the cloud.)

Eric over to you:

==> My Paperless Life by Eric Borgos, President of Impulse Communications, Inc.

For several years I have been meaning to write a blog posting about how great it was to go from a messy stack of papers on my desk to a having paperless office. But, I have now moved on to even loftier goals. This is the year I began leading a paperless life. All my business and personal documents exist only in the cloud. I feel a huge sense of freedom, I feel more modern, and I feel more organized. I would liken it to the nirvana of the elusive inbox zero (getting down to 0 unanswered emails in your inbox), or for the less tech overloaded, the feeling of having a clean room/house.

Here’s the top 10 ways I accomplished my paperless life:

1. Office Clutter – 
I started several years ago by converting to a paperless office using a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner (you can buy one for around $500 on Amazon.com). It converts everything you scan to keyword searchable PDF files. Each pile of papers I had is now a file on my computer. For example, credit card statements from 2013 are 2013CreditCards.pdf. Some files are more general, like 2008-2013BusinessPapers.pdf. The Fujitsu scanner scans both sides of each document, and it is not a problem if the paper sizes vary (like a small receipt). Every few months I scan in whatever documents I have accumulated, and then at the end of the year I combine them into 1 big file (like 2013CreditCards1.pdf and 2013CreditCards2.pdf and 2013CreditCards3.pdf all merge into 2013CreditCards.pdf).

2. Magazines – 
I used to subscribe to a bunch of magazines such as Wired, Fortune, Inc., Entrepreneur, Business Week, and Fast Company, and they would pile up waiting to be read. Now instead I can read those and 150 other magazines (Rolling Stone, People, US, Time, etc.) using a new service named NextIssue.com, which costs $10-$15/month. For that fixed monthly price, you can read as many of those 150 magazines each month as you want on your mobile phone, tablet, or PC. I read them on my iPhone.

3. Old Boxes – 
I scanned my boxes of childhood memories. Old schoolwork, old businesses I had started (I began my entrepreneurial career when I was 10), old poems I had written. I even scanned my shoebox full of notes from girls that I had kept all these years. Also, I found some tapes of songs I wrote and recorded as kid, and used a special cord I bought on Amazon.com to transfer the cassettes to MP3 files on my computer.

4. Music – 
No more CDs. I used to have a collection of over 200 CDs (rock/pop/country), which I manually copied to MP3 files a few years ago. I eventually threw out the CDs and was happy with just the MP3 files. A few years ago I signed up for rdio.com (unlimited online music for $4.99/month) and have not bought a CD since. They have 99% of all the CDs I had, and 99% of all the new ones I would buy. This week I took it a step further, and deleted all my MP3 files (they were taking up space) since with services like Rdio.com, Spotify.com, Rhapsody, all the music I like is forever available in the cloud.

5. Books – 
No more books, just e-books. In fact, I have had people give me an book I thought looked great, but bought the e-book instead of reading the real book I already had, just because it is much more convenient for me to read things on my iPhone.

6. Photos – 
I had boxes of old photos, home videos (the old VHS kind), and photo albums from when I was a kid. I shipped them all off to ScanDigital.com, at 70% off via a Groupon offer, where they were converted to digital files. Now I can much more easily share these photos with my family, and they will be better preserved for future generations.

7. Taxes – 
I e-file my income tax returns using TurboTax.com, and all my old tax records are scanned into a folder named /taxes .

8. Contracts – 
No more printed contracts. As described in my previous post about Electronic Signatures, I sign contracts online using an e-signature.

9. Checks – 
No more check writing. I make every available effort to use services that offer automated monthly billing or Paypal.

10. Cloud Storage – 
I store all my computer files on a cloud service like Box.com (most people can use their free plan). That way I can access my files from anywhere on any device. I used to use Gotomypc.com to connect to my office PC, and that worked, but was slow and not very efficient.

There are also other advantages to being as virtual and paperless as possible. Several times my basement flooded and things got ruined. Luckily not anything important, but I could have easily lost all of it in a fire or a more severe flood. I have also moved a bunch of times, and for every move I had to deal with all my old boxes. And, with everything packed away, I did not have easy access to it. I never knew exactly where certain items were, and a lot of things I just forgot about. Now I have full access to all my stuff, anywhere, anytime, so I highly recommend going paperless to everyone reading this.

As you know, FSO has worked with organizations as varied as insurance companies and law firms to implement outsourced document and records management strategies" and to offer significant reductions in paper

At FSO Client Weitz & Luxenberg, our Bobby Dillon got his MBA in Records Management during a massive 3 ½ year project, the largest and most successful document conversion in the New York market and surrounding areas - migrating over 35 million pages of paper to an electronic format at the famed barristers.

Bobby and his team achieved this by following rigorous checks and balances, quality control and document processing perfection. This is the type of success and model of perfection that Bobby leads across all of FSO’s client locations.

Because Weitz & Luxenberg deals with Asbestos cases, the law still requires paper records retained for 30 years, so 25-30K bankers boxes were sent offsite to low cost storage, freeing up an entire floor of premium Manhattan office space for lease to others or more profitable venture.

Now thanks to Eric Borgos, all of us at FSO can walk the walk, rather than just talk the talk. To go through the experience of a digital conversion and be able to compare life before and after, you will be more effective whether you are serving a client working for FSO or the clients themselves.

If know of someone who would enjoy working for or with FSO please do not keep us a secret.


Have a fabulous, sunny, productive day filled with love and inspiration.  

Hugs all around.











Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer


Learn more about what DIFFERENTIATES FSO here


About the author:

Eric Borgos is the President of Impulse Communications, Inc., an Internet company that owns over 250 websites such as CheapFlowers.com, Dumb.com, and Adoptme.com. He is also an active investor with a portfolio of that includes Weights.com, Pastries.com, and Physical.com.

Mr. Borgos graduated with a finance degree from Babson College in 1991 and ran several different businesses until he found his calling on the Internet in 1995. Since that time Eric has been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, Readers Digest, USA Today, Popular Science, and Inc. Magazine; and his websites have been talked about on radio stations such as National Public Radio (NPR) and TV shows such as Extra and TechTV.


Some of the more interesting facts about Mr. Borgos include:
  • At one point had over 15 people working for him but never met any of them (only used email)
  • Invented a toy and got it sold at Toys “R” Us.
  • Bought 2 retail flower stores thousands of miles away without visiting them first or knowing anything about flowers or retail stores.
  • Tried to go public in 2000 through a reverse merger.
  • For years had an office 3000 miles away but never once went there.
  • In 2008 sold his Bored.com network of websites for $4.5 million
  • In 2011 sold a portfolio of 4000 of his sites for $1.3 million.
Eric is also an amateur musician, having written and recorded over 100 songs (see MCEricB.com to listen to them for free) including such viral music video hits as “Pimp My Sleigh”, “Hip-Hop Hanukkah”, and “The TurboTax Rap”.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Ted Tuesday: Larry Page Makes the Case for Electronic Medical Records

"When I look at electronic medical records, and say 'Wouldn't it be amazing if everyone's EMR would be available anonymously to research doctors, and when someone accesses your medical records you could see which doctor accessed it and why? You can maybe learn about what condition you have. I think if we just do that, we could save a hundred-thousand lives this year. "


Good Morning Folks,

Larry Page is the CEO and cofounder of Google, making him one of the ruling minds of the web.

Onstage at TED2014, Charlie Rose interviews Google CEO Larry Page about his far-off vision for the company.  Says Larry, "Like I state in my keynotes nowadays, 2015 will be the year of Google and Apple entering aggressively into the Health-arena."



See the whole interview with Larry (who lost his voice a while ago and is slowly getting it back). As of 13:30 he's talking about electronic medical records.

Google some years ago had a project called Google Health started in 2008, a Personal Health Record (PHR) which they discontinued June 2011. A decision i think was too early, because patient empowerment was very small back then, but everyone sensed it would grow over the next years. As a matter of fact, we at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen are enrolling Hereismydata™ in exactly the way that Larry describes in this interview. 

Larry Page and Sergey Brin met in grad school at Stanford in the mid-'90s, and in 1996 started working on a search technology based on a new idea: that relevant results come from context. Their technology analyzed the number of times a given website was linked to by other sites — assuming that the more links, the more relevant the site — and ranked sites accordingly. In 1998, they opened Google in a garage-office in Menlo Park. In 1999 their software left beta and started its steady rise to web domination.

Beyond the company's ubiquitous search, including AdSense/AdWords, Google Maps, Google Earth and the mighty Gmail. In 2011, Page stepped back into his original role of chief executive officer. He now leads Google with high aims and big thinking, and finds time to devote to his projects like Google X, the idea lab for the out-there experiments that keep Google pushing the limits.


FSO has worked with organizations as varied as insurance companies and medical litigation-focused law firms to implement outsourced document and records management strategies" and to offer significant reductions in paper

Our Bobby Dillon should know. As Best Practices Experience Director, he brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise across all of FSO’s services from mail, logistics, copy, print and scan to document production – just to name a few.

At FSO Client Weitz & Luxenberg, Bobby got his MBA in Records Management during a massive 3 ½ year project, the largest and most successful document conversion in the New York market and surrounding areas - migrating over 35 million pages of paper to an electronic format at the famed barristers.

Bobby and his team achieved this by following rigorous checks and balances, quality control and document processing perfection. This is the type of success and model of perfection that Bobby leads across all of FSO’s client locations.

Because Weitz & Luxenberg deals with Asbestos cases, the law still requires paper records retained for 30 years, so 25-30K bankers boxes were sent offsite to low cost storage, freeing up an entire floor of premium Manhattan office space for lease to others or more profitable venture.

FSO can provide the full outsourcing of business processes, for example managing invoice processing, HR, finance and accounts and also IT outsourcing. 

Using a single provider offers the potential to deliver further cost savings, increase productivity and also enable tighter process and financial controls through better regulatory compliance.


If you’d like to explore how FSO can bring your records management into the digital age, contact me personally at 212-204-1193.


Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.










Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer


Learn more about what DIFFERENTIATES FSO here

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Ted Tuesday: ALA Keynoters— Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly: Be Passionate. Be Courageous. Be Your Best.

"He has combined teamwork, leadership, communication and family in an unwavering commitment to succeed. "













Good Morning Folks,

In just a few short weeks several members of the FSO family and I will be on our way to Toronto for the Association of Legal Administrators premier annual event. These few days of knowledge and collaboration are just one of the many ways we are spreading the FSO way, driving visibility for our great brand and making powerful connections.

A highlight of the conference for me, as Chief Happiness Officer, will be the keynote by Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly. Talk bout possibility thinking and overcoming adversity.

Their address will be called "Endeavour to Succeed" taking place Tuesday 20th at 8AM Sharp.

On January 8, 2011, Mark Kelly faced the toughest challenge of his life when a would-be assassin shot his wife, who was then serving as a U.S. Congresswoman. His dedication to family and Gabby Giffords' arduous road to recovery captivated the world.

For Kelly, focus equals success-even in the face of adversity. Personifying resilience and spirit, he was a combat pilot in Iraq, an astronaut on four Space Shuttle missions and commander of the final flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. He has combined teamwork, leadership, communication and family in an unwavering commitment to succeed. Kelly shows audiences how to accomplish their missions while maintaining the love and devotion to family that make up the foundation of true success.

Kelly and Giffords will have their international bestselling book, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, available in the onsite ALA Bookstore, with a book signing to follow the ALA Keynote Address on Tuesday, May 20.

In today's Ted preclude to their keynote , Be passionate. Be courageous. Be your best, the pair describe their lives both before and after the accident -- and describe their political campaign against gun violence.



The Gifford's embody all of the goodness which lies within us. Theirs is also a story of teamwork at its best. At FSO, we are only going to get bigger, better and stronger as a TEAM.

To our team: You have been given the opportunity to show what you’re made of, to be so much stronger and better than you were just the day before and to show the world of business a better way.  

So as you get ready to start your day take a second to think; how am I contributing to the FSO competitive difference? How can I be better?

How can I get to infinity and beyond? 

How can I be that star, that hero that brings to our clients all the positive change, wealth and success they deserve?

I hope you are feeling great and are geared up for another personal, passionate, productive week.

Because IT IS YOU that makes FSO who we are. 

Love Life!


Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  


Meet our passionate onsite staff who deliver service extraordinaire to our clients each and every day



Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Ted Tuesday: Dr. Michael Norton: What To Do With Your Money?

Dr. Michael Norton shares his research from behavioral economics about ways to spend money to increase happiness. Hint: it is not about buying more for ourselves..







Good Morning Folks,

I'm on the road so I have to be brief but I've found a special treat to inspire you on Ted Tuesday.

Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton's counter intuitive talk challenges the way we think about money. If you think money can't buy happiness, maybe you're not spending it right.

Indeed money can buy happiness — when you don't spend it on yourself. Listen for surprising data on the many ways pro-social spending can benefit you, your work, and (of course) other people. (Filmed at TEDxCambridge.)

OK folks. I have to run or I will be late. Promise me to not let anything get in the way of your passion to succeed. Reach. And to be the best you can be. So go out of your way to smile to everyone. Or to nod. Or to introduce yourself. You are the right people at the right time to make something great.


Have a GREAT day and…. Love Life,


Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Ted Tuesday: Advertising Guru Rory Sutherland— "Perspective is Everything"

"In truth, brand value is not determined by the flagship product or main service of an organization, it is determined by all of the factors that affect perception. What affects perception? Everything and anything that a customer perceives and thinks about your business," says Rory Sutherland. At TEDxAthens, he makes a compelling case for how reframing is the key to happiness.


Good Morning Folks,

What a rare treat we have for you this fine Tuesday morning.

Rory Sutherland is Vice chairman of Ogilvy. He stands at the center of an advertising revolution in brand identities, designing cutting-edge, interactive campaigns that blur the line between ad and entertainment.

From unlikely beginnings as a classics teacher to his current job as Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, Rory Sutherland has created his own brand of the Cinderella story.

He is creative, funny and compelling in this amazing brilliant talk opining why looking at our lives through a different lens may be the key to greater happiness, no matter what challenges we face.

Motivating people, our own key to success at FSO, is often about perspective. Really small changes can make dramatic impact of whether something is boring or interesting, good or bad, safe or unsafe, ... you get the picture.

Rory also gives really strong arguments that:
- when making decision we should base it on technology, economics and psychology
- selling our product is not solely about the quality of product or price but also about perception of our service
- if we have a great service/product but perception of it's quality is that it's bad, don't spend money making it better, spend money changing perspective

All of this is supported by high amount of examples. Rory touches on an interesting topic which is mechanistic innovation and blooms into perception…

‘The london underground cost several billion dollars to reduce commutes by 40 minutes.’ – alternatives would have been to serve free alcohol on the trains or hire supermodels to patrol the aisles. Both would have been cheaper and would have changed perception on the trains being much faster”

This is an interesting distinction, the truth is irrelevant, and in many cases, the truth is more costly than changing the perspective of the user or customer. Several times, the truth isn’t even relevant. When users of the London underground were polled after the 40 minute reduction in time, many didn’t care.

When a problem is solved or an innovation is being created, the truth should not be the end goal, but whatever perception aligns with the business in changing customer perception cheaper. When a company listens to the customer and directly affects the perception, it is a powerful differentiator.

A second point, is thinking from a logical and somewhat economical perspective isn’t always what’s needed. The most difficult things in business to replicate are experiences. Ask yourself if Star-bucks had the goal of being the fastest coffee barista, how difficult would it have been for others to improve and replicate?

Although a customer’s time is important, if Starbucks focused on being fast at delivering coffee instead of their focus on overall experience, it would have become an entirely different company.

A third and final point is the value of brand equity in influencing perception. Rory describes a 5-star restaurant with world class food, yet sewage runs throughout the restaurant. The restaurant could spend a high amount of money on making the food even better, yet no matter how much money is spent on improvement, the sewage has a greater negative affect on perception.

In truth, brand value is not determined by the flagship product or main service of an organization, it is determined by all of the factors that affect perception. What affects perception? Everything and anything that a customer perceives and thinks about your business –  from a negative yelp review to brand confusion caused by mixed marketing messages, to a change in positioning that has not yet affected perception. All of these misalignments are more powerful then truth, and that folks is the truth. 

What a great speech. ENJOY!



After watching this, how can one not be pumped, super excited and ready to rock.

With hat tip and big shout out to the Cleverly Engaged blog for your input.


Have a GREAT day and…. Love Life,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  


Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE
About the Author:
Welcome to the fastest growing onsite outsourcing company in the nation! Led by Mitch Weiner, co-founder and industry pioneer, FSO is "the" award winning enterprise-wide outsourcing and people solutions firm servicing a multitude of clients across North America.

Contact Mitch: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email