As a scrawny freshman the prior year, I got plenty of playing time on the varsity team, playing defense alongside my brother Alex who was three years ahead of me (one of the most fun experiences of my sports career).  This year, having grown both as a player and in physical size, I was excited to take a starting position on varsity defense.

The day after our first pre-season varsity practice I was walking off the field with the varsity lacrosse coach.  I still distinctly remember the purple color of the lilacs in the meadow below the field and the feeling of bitter disappointment when my coach told me that for the upcoming season I would have to play on both the varsity and JV squads.

The season was brutal.  I played in 26 lacrosse games over the course of 16 weeks, frequently playing two games in the same weekend.  Despite the fact that I somehow “felt above it,” I still played hard in all the JV games and helped the team compete and grow.

Looking back I can confidently say that my only mistake that season was harboring feelings of superiority.  Playing those extra games helped me develop my skills twice as fast as all of my classmates who played only on the varsity squad.  I simply played more lacrosse.  Also, playing both varsity and JV allowed me to develop multiple skills at the same time.  On JV I learned how to rally a team and help less skilled players perform beyond their natural level of ability; I was also able to practice some of the more advanced take-away checks that would later become one of my core strengths as a defenseman.  On the varsity team I was able to compete with the top players, study the impact of positive chemistry with my teammates, and learn how to win at the highest level.

It was hard for me to recognize it at the moment, but looking back the benefits are clear.  After my sophomore year I went on to play two seasons where I was selected for the prestigious MIAA all-conference team and was recruited to play at the college level.

In my career I frequently think back to that one, very tough lacrosse season.  In the work place it’s easy to get swept up in the rungs of corporate ladder and with fancy titles and management responsibilities.  However, no matter what role I’m playing, in order to ensure long-term success I always hope to be in a position to play varsity and JV at the same time.

Like many skills, I learned how to give an effective presentation from my father.  It’s unlikely that he was actually trying to teach me anything at the time – and it’s even less likely that he remembers the occasion – but the unlikely lesson has stuck crystal clear in my mind.

I was a young teenager and my entire family was gathered at my grandparent’s house over the winter holiday.  One night, as an after-dinner activity my whole extended family divided up into teams and prepared for a characteristically competitive game of Pictionary.

Through several hours of the game my aunts, uncles and cousins drew actions, objects and people and advanced our game pieces all the way around the Pictionary board.  On the verge of victory, my team was stuck for several turns – failing to accurately guess our drawings – while our opponents caught up.  In the dramatic climax of the game, my father was drawing and pulled an unusually difficult word that both teams had to draw for a chance to win.  As my father and my uncle both put pencil to paper for a chance to win the game, my uncle started scratching frantically trying to depict the target word.  Amid his frantic scratching he was noticeably confused when my father slowly started drawing a dinosaur.  My father took his time as he carefully outlined and detailed an elegant looking Brachiosaurus.  Dinosaur! Brachiosaurus! Land of the lost! Our team furiously cried out guesses trying to identify my father’s picture.  Through all the noise, he was unfazed.  As the timer drew down to the last few seconds, my father held his careful drawing so only our team could see it and emphatically crossed out the Dinosaur.  Extinct.  That was the winning word.  Our team was victorious.

On that night my father taught me that the most important part of a presentation isn’t what you’re drawing or what you’re saying, it’s what your audience is thinking. The secret to an effective presentation is taking your audience on a journey, building their knowledge carefully, and then letting them discover the answer for themselves.

This day was no different.

Three gentlemen were furiously arguing about the events of the previous night’s event.  Just as I was tying the laces on my shoes, one of the sportscasters began a long-winded tirade about “unforced errors” and how you can’t expect to get elected if you make so many mistakes.

Wait, what?  Elected?

I looked up from my shoes and after 15 minutes of listening to the television discovered that someone had changed the television channel to NBC.  The three ‘sportscasters’ I heard arguing were really political pundits talking about the republican primary debates.  They made so many sports analogies and they argued just like the sportscasters on ESPN that I actually thought they were talking about sports!

This was quite an epiphany for me – sports, especially football, are some of the most popular television events around.  Every year networks make hundreds of millions of dollars off advertising during sporting events.  It’s obvious why NBC would want to turn this:

into this:

The more we make politics like sports, the more people will get interested in politics.  The more people who are interested in politics, the more people will watch politics and the more advertising dollars will go to the TV networks – everyone wins, right?

The only problem is that sports, by nature, are based on adversarial events.  There are two teams and there is always one winner and one loser.  No one has ever proposed that two football teams put aside their differences and work together toward a common goal.

Happy super bowl Sunday!

Allow me to explain exactly what I mean.  If you go to Amazon and request to preview a random page from this book (http://www.amazon.com/Power-Pull-Smartly-Things-Motion/dp/0465019358 if you want to play at home) I guarantee that the page you find will contain some variety of plural pronoun abuse.

On my first try I got page nine and found this sweeping generalization:

“Push programs have dominated our lives from our very earliest years.  We are literally pushed into educational systems that are designed to anticipate our needs…”

On my second try I found this gem on page 169:

“We live in personal ‘ecosystems’ – our local communities, our extended networks of friends and associates, and, increasingly, virtual networks and communities that dramatically amplify our reach.”

It’s true that I like to think about all humans as being fundamentally more similar than different – but when it comes to specific aspects of our educational histories or personal networks it’s outright ridiculous to assume any sort of baseline common experience.  It only compounds the issue that these broad statements are presented unqualified – tacitly asserting that anyone who has not been personally affected by new technology is somehow less than human.

Part of me feels that the increase in books about how the Internet has changed the world – and the declining quality of these books – is supporting the inflation of a second Internet bubble.  I suppose the question is: why do I keep buying them?

In my reading, every once in a while I stumble upon a gem of knowledge so great I can’t help but share it here.  This week, I’m reading Marshall Goldsmith’s What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.  In his book, Goldsmith talks about all of the things that managers do wrong.  There are some obvious ones, like taking credit for the achievements of others and not giving enough praise – but he also highlights some mistakes that are more nuanced.  One of those pitfalls is what Goldsmith refers to as executing a new project and pulling a “1,2,3,7”.  At this point, you’re probably as confused as I was when I first read this phrase (Goldsmith doesn’t explain what the numbers mean until the following paragraph either).

Every successful new project must go through seven steps in the correct order.  If any steps are omitted, skipped, or misplaced – the project will fail.  The steps are as follows:

1. Assess the situation

2. Isolate the problem
3. Formulate a plan
4. Woo up to your superiors
5. Woo laterally to your peers
6. Woo down to your direct reports
7. Implement the plan

A common mistake is for managers to go “1,2,3,7” – missing the crucial steps of pre-selling their superiors, peers, and direct reports on their plans.  When I saw this list – I stopped reading and went back, re-reading it over and over until I had it memorized.  I suppose I knew this all along – but regardless, I wish someone had given me this list three years ago.

It was during this time of bad press when I first learned the key to Walmart’s success.  It was my Sophomore year of college and I was in Accounting I.  My professor – a tall older man with distinguished white hair wrote in capital letters on the chalkboard: “VOLUME.”  His scratchy voice belted across the classroom: “If you’re a company that manufactures shirts and you usually sell them for $50 a piece – Walmart would come to you and place an order for a million shirts – but demand a volume discount down to $25.”  He explained, as a shirt manufacturer it’s hard not to take that deal.  Even if the final price barely covers your costs – getting your product out to such a large population is very valuable.

Is this starting to sound familiar?  Groupon (and all companies like it) uses the very same volume-based negotiation tactics that has made Walmart so successful.  The only difference is that Walmart is a single entity and therefore must take on risk.  If Walmart places an order for a million shirts and sells none, they’re left holding the bag.  Alternatively, Groupon, who has capitalized on the same volume-based negotiation leverage, works in a very decentralized manner.  The result is that Groupon can negotiate worry free, holding no liability if no one buys a deal.

This begs the question – will Groupon threaten Walmart’s retail dominance?

Also, how long will it take for Groupon to develop a negative reputation?  It was barely a few months ago when I saw the first New York Times article criticizing Groupon’s tactics.  The article was about a cupcake shop that nearly went out of business trying to meet the demand for their cupcake offer on Groupon.  The shop had offered a dozen cupcakes for half price, which ended up being below their costs.

It will definitely be interesting to see what happens.  For those who have been critical of Groupon’s 12 billion dollar valuation, just remember that Walmart’s market cap is 200 billion.

What are your thoughts?

Manhattan real estate is very competitive and high priced – but it’s also very organized.  There is a central registry that more or less all realtors can access.  Brooklyn real estate is different.  In Brooklyn, a few dozen real estate companies have private relationships with the families or management companies that own different buildings.  There is no central registry and in order to find the perfect apartment, you first have to find the realtors that represent the perfect apartment.  The whole ordeal is a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack – only first you have to find the right haystack.

In our search, we ended up talking to a lot of realtors, walking all over Brooklyn, and signing a lot of documents filled with legalese.  Most of the documents didn’t seem to have much importance outside of protecting the realtor’s fee (which is exorbitant) – but one document really interested me. Form DOS-1735-a is required for all real estate transactions conducted by a realtors inside New York City.   It’s a very basic form that simply states (with check boxes) if the realtor is working as agent for the landlord, working as agent for the tenant, or working as “dual” agent for both the landlord and tenant.  When I asked why this form was required, one of our favorite real estate agents told us about her many years of experience working for landlords and tenants.  In her mind, the most difficult role is that of “dual” agent (representing both the landlord and the tenant).

As she was talking about her moral quandary over representing both sides of the same deal, my mind quickly raced through all the similarities between her industry (real estate) and my industry (advertising).  Suddenly, I had an epiphany.  No matter what business you’re in, there are always three types of roles: buyers, sellers and brokers.  The roles of buyer and seller are always clear – but if you’re the broker, it can be very hard to stay perfectly spaced, representing the buyer and the seller equally.

-  Since the year 2000 the US National Debt has increased from $5 trillion to $15 trillion
-  Unemployment rates have hovered between 8% and 10% for the past two years
-  The S&P500 index began and ended 2011 at exactly 1,257 points – showing zero growth on the year
-  Republicans and Democrats in Congress seem locked in a perpetual stalemate – and outside of Congress both sides have launched grassroots protests against the direction our country is heading

As I sat last night watching the televised coverage of Times Square, I couldn’t help but wonder if all those people huddled in the streets were celebrating the coming of 2012, or the end of 2011.  The noise makers and dancing people would suggest a celebration; however the commentators and street-interviewers were sure to insert periodic reminders that our economic wounds are far from healed.

As midnight approached, a practically inaudible Dick Clark served as a solemn reminder that our country has aged.  His appearance, year after year seems to embody our desire to keep the past alive – to hold onto the boom times of the 70’s and 80’s.

However, amid the darkness – some hope shows through.

-  Every US Soldier that had been stationed in Iraq got to spend New Year’s Eve at home
-  Osama Bin Laden no longer threatens the world
-  The Internet continues to bring people together and make the world a smaller place

Here’s to 2012.

Now, based on the picture I’ve painted for you – there are probably a number of scenario’s you are conjuring in your imagination.  Although I take no prejudice to the following arrangements, for the sake of clarity, I will tell you that my grandparents are NOT engaged in any of the following potentially controversial marriages: interracial, same sex, polygamous or interfaith.

Can you guess where the controversy lies?

Additionally, they are almost exactly the same age (born within 10 weeks of each other), they are both Ashkenazi Jews, they both grew up in the same town in Baltimore to middle class families and they even attended the same primary school.

How about now – Any guesses?

Based on modern standards, my grandparents are engaged in the least controversial marriage imaginable.  However, 60 years ago their relationship was quite taboo.  The reason is because my grandfather is a German Jew and my grandmother is a Russian Jew.

It seems illogical, even silly today that a difference so small would cause religious controversy, but back then it was a serious issue.

Personally, I take some comfort in this story.  It makes me think that as time goes on the differences between people will continue to become less and less significant.  Who knows which seemingly insurmountable differences today, in 60 years will be considered insignificant and silly.

It also makes me think that as the world becomes more connected we choosing to focus more on our similarities than our differences.

Happy Holidays.

Here is my secret: I have a very strict routine.

Every day I wake up at the same time (6am) – I pack my gym bag the exact same way, I get on the same train (6:35am F train), I do the same workout at the gym from 7am – 8:05am – Spin on Mondays, Weight lifting Tuesday-Thursday (yes, the same exact weight lifting schedule each day).

I get to the office around 8:40 and go through the same routine each morning – eat 2 hard-boiled eggs and a bagel.  I read and respond to emails from 8:40-9am, I check our global ad metrics from 9am – 9:15… – you get the idea.

The reason I’m so adamant about my routine is because having this routine allows me to maximize my intellectual capital.

Let me explain.

Remember the last time you tried to do something new?  The example I always think of here is learning a new pen trick (e.g. flipping your pen over your thumb) – but riding a bike works too.  At first it’s very hard to do, but then as you build up the muscle memory it becomes easier and easier.  Eventually, it will be hard to imagine that you were ever unable to flip your pen (or ride a bike).

Building up muscle memory allows you to literally make new connections in your brain to more easily complete a task.  When you try something for the first time it takes a large portion of your overall brain to do that task.  However, as you do a specific task over and over – you use an ever-decreasing portion of your brain.  Eventually you may find that you complete a specific task with such a small portion of your brain – you may not even remember doing it (think – locking your car, or brushing your teeth in the morning).  Doing your required daily tasks over and over again (and sticking to a strict routine) allows you to minimize the amount of your brain that is used for those tasks and frees up your brain to do other things.

By sticking to this disciplined routine each day, I minimize the amount of brainpower it takes to do my core tasks, like commute, exercise, pack my gym bag, etc.

My goal is to spend all non-work hours with 95% of my intellectual capital available to think about non-core thoughts.

Everyone wishes there were more hours in the day, but as it is we all have a hard stop at 24.  Cut out eight hours of sleep and 11 hours of work – that leaves us with only five hours, or 300 minutes of non-work, non-sleep time.  If you cut the floating load on your brain down from 50% to 5% during your “free” time – you will end up with 135 extra “thinking” minutes per day.  For me, that time is more than enough to think about something to blog about.  When I get inspired, I write a few thought starters down on a notepad or email them to myself.  That way, when I sit down on Sunday to write my entries, half the work is already done.

It’s also worth noting that I was originally inspired to blog weekly by David Sable: (http://www.weeklyramble.com/) who has been publishing his weekly blog since 2005.