Douglas Karr's Articles on Martech Zone
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Indianapolis Marketing & Business Book Club
Today at lunch I met with quite a few colleagues to discuss Naked Conversations. We had a fantastic group of individuals representing many industries: legal, public relations, television, telecom, internet, email marketing, sports, entertainment, information technology, marketing, and publishing! Not bad for a first showing! Most of us had fully read Naked Conversations, some were part way through it, and…
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When Psychopaths go to Work
Many of my closest friends and colleagues know that I had a very terrible experience leaving an employer of mine a while ago. Some people may wonder why folks can’t simply move on after something like that. When that employer is a very large organization it tends to repeatedly come back and remind you. Unless you actually leave the city,…
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Why Do You Blog?
I like to seek and pass on information. I have throngs of family, friends, coworkers, and clients who ask for my opinion, and I love to give it to them. Unfortunately, I have more questions and more folks needing assistance, so sometimes, even my family gets mad that I’m not responding. But it is what I’m good at. I like…
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Chasing The Tail: Harry Potter and The Long Tail
Saturday begins with my regular stop at the local bookstore. I happened to see the book If Harry Potter Ran General Electric. This isn’t a review of the book (which I would recommend); it’s an article about the utilization of Harry Potter to accelerate this book’s reach and sales. I’m reading The Long Tail, which speaks to the intriguing concept…
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Godin: Intuition vs Analysis
Seth Godin asked a great question that is usually quite a point of contention for SaaS or technology companies and their product managers…. Do you go with Intuition or Analysis? My personal view on this is that it’s a delicate combination of the two. When I think about analysis, I think about data. It could be data regarding competition, use,…
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My Freakonomics: How To Save Your Personnel Budget By Increasing Wages
I just completed reading Freakonomics. It’s been a while since I couldn’t put down a business book. I purchased this book on Saturday night and started reading it on Sunday. I finished it a few minutes ago. It took up some of my mornings, even making me late for work. At the core of this book is the unique perspective…
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Jack Welch is Wrong
I’m so glad to finally see an article that questions the methods that Jack Welch evangelizes. I believe he’s inconsiderate, mean-spirited, selfish, and greedy. He was only successful by making customers and employees suffer. He may alone be a winner, but it was at the expense of many others who have lost. New RulesOld RulesAgile is best; being big can…
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Never Lose Sight of Who Pays You
Sometimes, we forget that our customers ultimately pay us. Look, I feel bad for my friends and colleagues at GM. But I don’t feel sorry for them. They forgot design, they forgot the customer, they forgot R&D, they forgot they are a car company. Their demise was clearly a choice. Not a symptom of our economy, but a choice made…
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Invest in People. You Won’t Be Disappointed!
I’ve joked with quite a few folks that since my divorce (and subsequent dissolution of all of my worldly assets), I have spent my last five years investing in people. That may sound very strange, and hopefully not selfish, but I feel that by focusing my attention on mentors, friends, and family – I will live a much more fruitful…
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Proverbs and Product Management
It’s not often that I look to scripture for inspiration for product management and the development of software, but today, a friend sent me some great words of advice: He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray. Proverbs 10:17 This proverb underscores the value of being open to learning and the…
