Open Discussion on the Book Written by William Poundstone

Tuesday evening 01.24.12 at 7

Can you get "Smart Enough?"

Greetings All,

This is the one-hundredth post for this blog. I am not smart enough to work at Google, nor do I aspire to. Yet still, it seems that Google is the new epitome of W-2 and 1099’d success in these days. It demands consideration though of “what is ‘smart enough?’ to work at Google” or anywhere else that you might have ambitions. The equation appears to be a long and contorted one. Is it really? Or is it a delicate balance of many of the same standards that we confront on a daily basis? Research has shown that the traditional interview isn’t a very good predictor of actual job success.  The Google model of detailed “work sampling” offers a much better gauge as it illustrates flexibility, openness and creativity.

This intelligent book is for dedicated brainiacs, coder monkeys, interview mercenary guerrillas, seasoned contract workers, puzzler fanatics, consultants, analysts, and those addicted to challenge. Also still it should be considered seriously by those facing staunch challenges in an excruciatingly tight market, and those looking to add razor-sharp edge to their interviewing arsenal.  This book will certainly tweak and turbo-charge your thinking processes. It will also give you some peace of mind that in hiring matters “smart enough” is rarely a “mathematical definitive” and often (like horseshoes) more of a “theoretical approximation.” Because sometimes close enough is good enough.

Scary thought, even Wal-Mart uses some of these interview techniques.

 “Smart Enough” Discussion Points:

• Are you “Smart Enough to Work at Google?” How would you prove that?
• Can you get “smarter?” How?
• Who decides “smart enough?” and how?
• Once “smart” is confirmed what other factors must be proven? How?
• What if you had interview without words or digital devices?
• How much money is “Smart Enough” worth these days?
• Is the algorithm weighted toward “smart” or something else?
• What percentage of “smart” is generated from “experience?”
• What percentage of “smart” is generated from “strategy?”
• What percentage of “smart” is generated from “creativity?”
• What percentage of “smart” in generated by “confidence?”
• What part of “smart” is pure “dumb luck?” That includes guessing!
• Why do the interviewees hate “offbeat questions?”

“A neat little manifesto on interview technique…Touring through a huge number of puzzles, he provides a truly exhaustive account of all the factors you’re meant to consider when thinking your way through the solutions. Tackling [them] is incredibly gratifying, when you’re not withering under the baleful eye of a potential employer.” – (New Scientist Culture Lab)

Our conversations are always intelligent, even if not so by Google hiring standards. We continue the discussion at Steak & Shake following $timulus.

Join us, won’t you?

Monte

Just how smart do you have to be today to gain entry at Google, or anywhere else?

$timulus: An Open Book and Networking Group

Barnes & Noble in the Streets of West Chester

(I-75 Exit 19 Union Centre Blvd., Past The Rave Theater)

9455 Civic Centre Boulevard, West Chester, OH 45069

Every Tuesday evening at 7:00 P.M. (Weather Permitting)

There is no charge for $timulus!!!

Monte at 513.769.6313 or montewashburn@gmail.com

Guest Facilitated by Jenny VanDenBurg and Darian Johnson

Tuesday evening 01.17.12 at 7

Greetings All,

Jenny Vandenburg and Darian Johnson will be guest hosting at $timulus this Tuesday evening. Official NOOK business calls me away.  Jenny and Darian are long-standing group members both know for their dedication to maintaining strong values and attitudes of positivity, strong faith in job search and career moves, starting over. Both are entrepreneurs that have been through a great deal. From catering, H/R, business operation, cookies, patent paralegal orchestration, and entrepreneurial pursuits and jumping fighter jets off the U.S.S. Enterprise off of Iraq- Jenny and Darian have a much to share.

How do you maintain a positive attitude when nothing “positive” is happening? How do you “start over” when it has been years in the same industry, job, relationship and you just don’t feel that you can? Are there any safe moves or places to be these days? What next? What about lack of support or conflict from significant family members and such? Where do you go with health or emergency issues? How does one handle it when even the small issues start to feel overwhelming? What else is there to do when there is seemingly “nothing left to do?”

It will be a great discussion.  It always is.

Life is a series of collisions with the future;

it is not the sum of what we have been,

but what we yearn to be.  - Jose Ortega Gasset

Join them, won’t you?

Monte

Thoughts count!

 $timulus: An Open Book and Networking Group

Barnes & Noble in the Streets of West Chester

(I-75 Exit 19 Union Centre Blvd., Past The Rave Theater)

9455 Civic Centre Boulevard, West Chester, OH 45069

Every Tuesday evening at 7:00 P.M. (Weather Permitting)

There is no charge for $timulus!!!

What if your superpower was the ability to "Cold Call?"

Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work!)

Open Discussion on the Book by Stephan Schiffman

Tuesday evening 01.10.12 at 7

Greetings All,

What if one of your superpowers was exceptionally incisive cold calling? What if you had the ability to make highly triumphant cold calls that lead to an unusually soaring percentage of your goals and objectives coming to fruition with far less effort than usual? Is it doable? Is it learnable? Does it take years of practice and training? Seasoned sales pro, Stephan Schiffman, says that it only requires a diligent effort and heedful attention to a few key areas that he discusses in his book. You won’t need a spreadsheet or a glossary to follow his math or plan.

This book is not merely for sales people. If you have an agenda that you want to see furthered whether it be a job search, career re-direction, 501-C purpose, political or spiritual campaigns you could benefit from this quick and easily readable book of just over one-hundred pages. This is one of the cheapest books that I have ever reviewed and also one of the best. This $9.14 investment could land you much more if applied. And the book comes with a money-back guarantee.

The first incarnation of this book was over twenty years ago. The photograph on the back is probably the biggest change though this review is of the newer eBook version. It is from a very selfish perspective and moving into the New Year I want to accomplish greater and more meaningful objectives and rely less on luck and random success.

Pick up this book and that phone. This could be your year, you call it!

HOT “COLD CALLING” Discussion Points:

• Do you really have to “cold call” if you are good at whatever?
• Why not just succeed with “referrals” alone?
• Do you know who your “biggest competitor really is?”
• Do you know the point of your cold calling?
• The single point that most callers omit
• Knowing the difference between leads and prospects
• Does your script sound like, well, a script?
• Should your “cell phone” be your “sell phone”
• Getting a “proper grip” or “why ‘wrong’ sometimes feels right”
• Are you willing to wait until “eventually” rolls around?
• Understanding “On-Peak” vs. “Off-Peak” mentality and drive
• Do you know the true reason that most business fail?
• Do you “know your numbers?”
• Downfall of “Gerbil Selling” or such approaches
• Valuing and dealing with the “NO!” or “Not Interested”
• Finding valuable leads and prospects
• Simple, no, REALLY simple “implementation techniques” that you probably aren’t using

“Cold calling strikes more fear into people’s hearts than anything they may have to do. Yet the ability to cold call can set you apart from your job search competition, and allow you to fully utilize your network. Beyond job search, it is an incredibly useful skill that will serve you in many aspects of your life.”  – Jeff Winters, CEO of OurExperienceCounts.com

Join us, won’t you?

Monte

 $timulus: An Open Book and Networking Group

Barnes & Noble in the Streets of West Chester

(I-75 Exit 19 Union Centre Blvd., Past The Rave Theater)

9455 Civic Centre Boulevard, West Chester, OH 45069

Every Tuesday evening at 7:00 P.M. (Weather Permitting)

There is no charge for $timulus!!!

Monte at 513.769.6313 or montewashburn@gmail.com

Open Discussion Tuesday evening 01.03.12 at 7

Greetings All,

I have invited Mr. Craig Stafford to facilitate this first Tuesday of 2012 as I will be on official NOOK business. In the event that Mr. Stafford is unable to attend please choose a discussion leader and carry-on. You know how we do this by now. $timulus is coming up on our third anniversary.  I will have the group signs and chairs set up in advance.

What are your resolutions for the New Year? Do you prefer to call them goals, objectives, projects, targets? How will you move toward them? How will you know? Do you seek group accountability or are you a lone wolf? For the most part statistics claim that we are pretty bad at keeping our New Year’s resolutions yet we seem unable to break the traditions of setting them anew. If that is you, then what will you do to change it for the coming year?

Please resolve to join our group or another new one this year.

“Resolutions” Discussion Points:

• What are your favorite resolution categories- career, weight, health, relational, other?
• What gets in the way each year?
• Where/how do you start?
• Are your resolutions attainable?
• Are your resolutions to small?
• If your goals aren’t clear what can you do to clarify?
• Do you have a clear vision of what success looks and feels like?
• Is there any way that you are sabotaging yourself?
• Are there others in your life that in some way sabotage you?
• How does procrastination weigh on you?
• What are your strategies for staying motivated?
• Do you use any web sites or apps for monitoring yourself?
• Have you placed your resolutions in writing? Shared them? With who?
• Do you have a list of specific people that you want to connect with in 2012?
• If not of specific target people, then targets in corporations, industries, 501-C’s?
• If 2012 were the end of the world what would you STILL want to accomplish?
• Is failure an option?
• What rewards will attaining/keeping your New Year’s resolutions bring?
• Who are your favorite change gurus? Why?

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.”  ~Benjamin Franklin

Join us, won’t you?

Monte

 $timulus: An Open Book and Networking Group

Barnes & Noble in the Streets of West Chester

(I-75 Exit 19 Union Centre Blvd., Past The Rave Theater)

9455 Civic Centre Boulevard, West Chester, OH 45069

Every Tuesday evening at 7:00 P.M. (Weather Permitting)

FREE! There is no charge for $timulus!!!

Monte at 513.769.6313 or montewashburn@gmail.com

Opportunity: It is out there but you must go find it!

OPEN DISCUSSION: 2011 IN REVIEW

Tuesday Evening 12.27.11 at 7

Greetings All,

We meet at Barnes & Noble in the Streets of West Chester on Tuesday evening to review the year 2011. This meeting will also serve as a planning meeting to discuss topics and focal points for 2012.

Join us, won’t you,

Monte

Are you heading in the right direction going into 2012?

$timulus: An Open Book and Networking Group

Barnes & Noble in the Streets of West Chester

(I-75 Exit 19 Union Centre Blvd., Past The Rave Theater)

9455 Civic Centre Boulevard, West Chester, OH 45069

Every Tuesday evening at 7:00 P.M.

There is no charge for $timulus!!!

Monte at 513.769.6313 or montewashburn@gmail.com

There will be no meeting of $timulus at Barnes & Noble this Tuesday night.
We meet at Steak & Shake in the Streets of West Chester at 7:00 P.M. for our annual Holiday Ball and Banquet. Formal attire not required. There will be no book. In general we will review the last year.

For open discussion: Are you celebrating or mourning 2011?

Join us, won’t you?

Monte

$timulus: An Open Book and Networking Group

Barnes & Noble in the Streets of West Chester

(I-75 Exit 19 Union Centre Blvd., Past The Rave Theater)

9455 Civic Centre Boulevard, West Chester, OH 45069

Every Tuesday evening at 7:00 P.M.

There is no charge for $timulus!!!

The Levity Effect: Why It Pays to Lighten Up

Book was authored by Adrian Gostick and Scott Christopher

Book Review and Discussion Tuesday evening 12.13.11 at 7

Greetings All,

So a bestselling author and a humorist go into a bar…

We need to get serious about the need to “lighten up.” Yes, regardless of how your sales are tracking, investments maturing, love life or job search you need to lighten up and the authors of our book for this week detail the scientific and common sense reasons why.  The authors of this compelling work challenge us to reconfigure our thoughts about the value and place of levity throughout our lives. There is a proven correlation between levity and creativity.

Best-selling author, Adrian Gostick and humorist Scott Christopher draw upon scientific and personal experience in bringing appropriate humor and fun into our daily lives. They outline some companies that you would expect to hear about and others that may drop a bomb on you. The holidays can be a painful time for many depending on the circumstances and this book offers some exquisite ideas and well-deserved permission to lighten up during this season regardless of what it might throw at you. “Lighten Up” and read this book if you can’t make the group.

Serious Discussions Points on “”Levity:”

• So just what is your definition of “levity?”
• How can you “lighten up” when it just doesn’t “feel right?”
• How much fun is “too much fun?”
• Is “levity fun” or something else?
• Shouldn’t the holidays be somber even?
• Can “levity” really elevate your career, networking or job search?
• Can “levity bolster personal and/or corporate profits?” How?
• What companies do you think of upon hearing the term levity? Boeing?
• What are the best arguments for levity on a personal note?
• What does it mean to “nurture a culture of levity?”
• How does “levity build camaraderie, and encourage creativity?”

“Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice.” – Dr. Sidney Freedman to the M.A.S.H. 4077th

Our conversations always draw us to Steak & Shake for generous serving of “Levity” following B&N.

Join us, won’t you?

Monte

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

NO $TIMULUS MEETING AT BARNES & NOBLE ON TUESDAY 12.20.11 WE WILL BE HAVING OUR ANNUAL CHRISTMAS BANQUET AT STEAK & SHAKE STARTING AT SEVEN O’CLOCK! FORMAL ATTIRE NOT REQUIRED!

Could your sales, relationships, or job search benefit from some "levity?"

$timulus: An Open Book and Networking Group

Barnes & Noble in the Streets of West Chester

(I-75 Exit 19 Union Centre Blvd., Past The Rave Theater)

9455 Civic Centre Boulevard, West Chester, OH 45069

Every Tuesday evening at 7:00 P.M.

There is no charge for $timulus!!!

Monte at 513.769.6313 or montewashburn@gmail.com

How to Be a People Magnet: Finding Friends and Lovers and Keeping Them for Life

(Maybe even customers, job connections, and hiring managers also!)

Audiobook created by Leil Lowndes

Discussion (Conversation) Tuesday evening 12.06.11 at 7

Greetings All,

People Magnets! You can probably think of some right off the top of your head. They walk into any room and attract an instant crowd of fans. Better yet, they arrive with their own harem or Paparazzi in tow. They don’t go looking for jobs so much as offers fall upon their doorsteps or land in their .txt boxes even in the toughest of times. Were they born this way? Can it be reproduced? What special magic do they employ? Furthermore; these same people seem to exude this enchantment throughout their entire lives in the spectrum ranging from friends and lovers to careers and business. Envious? Envious enough to read and discuss the thoughts of a professional on the topic?

Leil Lowndes, communications expert, shares a revered alchemy that is much simpler and easier to conjure once you have heard or read her words. Lowndes shares that while there is both an art and science to becoming a “People Magnet” it can be done.  Throughout this work and others by Leil Lowndes she offers proven techniques for melting the ice and tweaking up the heat in your life from jobs and finance to fun and romance. What better time than the holidays to try out her tips. The parties will be happening. Use the skills that Leil offers and maximize those events. If you can’t make our discussion on this audiobook by Leil Lowndes seek her out in your favorite bookstore or library. She is a proven veteran in this field and she is a game-changer for those that heed her wisdom.

“PEOPLE MAGNET” Polarity and Discussion Points:

• What does it mean to be a “People Magnet?”
• What special powers does this type of person have and why are they important?
• What area of your life would you like to turn on your own “People Magnet” abilities?
• What is “holding you back?” from being as “connected” as you wish that you were?
• Is there a subtle or not-so-subtle self-sabotage happening in one or more areas of your life?
• How do you rate your “social interactions?” How would others rate you? Have you asked?
• Do your “networking connections” come through for you or falter?
• What mistakes get made when meeting someone new in a business or social setting?
• Do your existing relationships tend to strengthen over time or drift away?
• Do shy and/or introverted persons need a different strategy?
• What about starting anew? In business, jobs, careers, cities…
• Can you roll out your own red carpet? How? Why? Where?
• What is your “OQ” or your “Optimism Quotient?”

“Every single person I know asks, ‘How can I meet her/him?’ At last I have the answer—read this book!” – Regis Philbin

Our conversations always draw us to Steak & Shake for a “MAGNETIC” finish following B&N.

Join us, won’t you?

Monte

Would you like to be a people magnet?

$timulus: An Open Book and Networking Group

Barnes & Noble in the Streets of West Chester

(I-75 Exit 19 Union Centre Blvd., Past The Rave Theater)

9455 Civic Centre Boulevard, West Chester, OH 45069

Every Tuesday evening at 7:00 P.M.

There is no charge for $timulus!!!

Monte at 513.769.6313 or montewashburn@gmail.com

Make Yourself Unforgettable: The Dale Carnegie Class-Act System

Audiobook created by The Dale Carnegie Organization

Discussion (Conversation) Tuesday evening 11.29.11 at 7

Greetings All,

Are you unforgettable? After all, it really is all about how well you sell yourself and what kind of impression and personal brand you drive. How well you sell yourself, legally, of course, is the key to staying ahead in a turbulent market. This builds on our discussion regarding the value of the “conversation” last week.  Do you “differentiate” yourself from your competitors in a significant and monetized way? Could some old inner-voices be giving you outdated messages regarding “self-promotion?” This clear message in this fine material is that you don’t want to “peddle” yourself but that a true class-act deserves to be given an audience.

As always, a quick review of the content will be provided and then we will throw it open for discussion. This audiobook is a compilation of Dale Carnegie Organization works. It may not be “gasp” illuminating but it is always bullet-proof. The next few weeks may be challenging in terms of cornering buyers, hiring managers, clients and key contacts. Why not take some time to carefully review your skills set before the coming New Year, because in the end result it is all about you. You must be unforgettable. You just want to be so in an acceptable and appropriate way. I hope that we don’t miss you.

“UNFORGETTABLE” Discussion Points:

• How do you define a “memorable class-act?”
• Just how do you “Sell Yourself?”
• Personal presentation- are you cool calm, and in control?
• What about written and electronic communications?
• What’s luck got to do with being unforgettable?
• What are the stumbling blocks to being unforgettable?
• What about resiliency?
• Are you good at “impromptu?”
• What “social skills are demanded?
• How do “emotions” factor in?
• What does fear and anxiety have to do with it?
• Do you emanate confidence? If not, what?
• Have you studied your competitors’ style and execution?

“Unforgettable, that’s what you are. Unforgettable, though near or far…” – Nate King Cole

Our conversations always continue at Steak & Shake for an “UNFORGETTABLE” conclusion.

Join us, won’t you?

Monte

JUST HOW "UNFORGETTABLE ARE YOU?

$timulus: An Open Book and Networking Group

Barnes & Noble in the Streets of West Chester

(I-75 Exit 19 Union Centre Blvd., Past The Rave Theater)

9455 Civic Centre Boulevard, West Chester, OH 45069

Every Tuesday evening at 7:00 P.M.

There is no charge for $timulus!!!

The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure

The book was written by Catherine Blyth

Discussion (Conversation) Tuesday evening 11.22.11 at 7

Greetings All,

We need to talk- to have a conversation about, well, the conversation. Some of us, under times of stress, find that our power message gets a tad paltry, our elevator speech gets stuck between floors and our USP sounds rather common, far too salesy, and more like a mere proposition. Perhaps the job search is not going well? Maybe the quotas and the spreadsheet aren’t looking so pretty? And yes, small talk can seem insignificant and small and you just aren’t in the mood perhaps. But through all history much has hinged upon the “art of conversation.” How good are you?

Poor conversationalists, the shy, the Introverted? Are we doomed?  Catherine Blyth says that we are not doomed. Not even in a world that has become increasingly shallow, high-speed, techno-distanced, disconnected and superficial. She challenges us to recapture the beauty and art of the conversation and to take it to new heights. Furthermore, the holiday season is the perfect season to flex your conversational muscles. The holidays often abound with multiple opportunities to meet new and diverse persons. They provide an excuse to reconnect with old friends and to interact in new and different ways with your established circles.  But do you maximize those opportunities? You can still create a strategy to make a meaningful impact now and throughout the coming year if you make a goal of it?

A short review of this eloquent work by Blyth will be presented on Tuesday evening and then we’ll talk. Hopefully we will have a great conversation. We always do.

“Conversation” Points Not to be “Neglected:”

• Why are we having this conversation? Do you know your objectives?
• Is “small talk” ever really small? If so, why?
• When and why did we start “neglecting conversation?”
• What is a “social conjuror?”
• And of what value is “laughter?”
• Why do we fear the “big conversations” and what are they about?
• How do you “tailor topics?” What’s “off-limits?”
• “Um, ah, er, and, like- you know” verbal mitigation
• What if circumstances are hindering your conversations this year?
• Huh? What was that about “active listening?”
• What made “Andy Warhol a conversational genius?”
• And what of “silence?” How much, when, and where?
• What are the dangers of isolation and failure to connect during the season?
• But what if I’m “shy” or “introverted” or a Grinch?
• What do the “visual cues” tell you?
• Balancing talking and listening, how best to?
• How do you survive a conversational “FAIL?”
• What about “bores, conversational hijackers and other miscreants?”

“As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.” – Benjamin Franklin

Our conversations always continue at Steak & Shake after we conclude at B&N.

Join us, won’t you?

Monte

We need to talk!

$timulus: An Open Book and Networking Group

Barnes & Noble in the Streets of West Chester

(I-75 Exit 19 Union Centre Blvd., Past The Rave Theater)

9455 Civic Centre Boulevard, West Chester, OH 45069

Every Tuesday evening at 7:00 P.M.

There is no charge for $timulus!!!

Monte at 513.769.6313 or montewashburn@gmail.com