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The warning signs of defending the status quo

When confronted with a new idea, do you:

• Consider the cost of switching before you consider the benefits?
• Highlight the pain to a few instead of the benefits for the many?
• Exaggerate how good things are now in order to reduce your fear of change?
• Undercut the credibility, authority or experience of people behind the change?
• Grab onto the rare thing that could go wrong instead of amplifying the likely thing that will go right?
• Focus on short-term costs instead of long-term benefits, because the short-term is more vivid for you?
• Fight to retain benefits and status earned only through tenure and longevity?
• Embrace an instinct to accept consistent ongoing costs instead of swallowing a one-time expense?
• Slow implementation and decision making down instead of speeding it up?
• Embrace sunk costs?
• Imagine that your competition is going to be as afraid of change as you are? Even the competition that hasn't entered the market yet and has nothing to lose...
• Emphasize emergency preparation at the expense of a chronic and degenerative condition?
• Compare the best of what you have now with the possible worst of what a change might bring?

Calling it out when you see it might give your team the strength to make a leap.

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Posted by Seth Godin on August 29, 2011 | Permalink

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« Form design | Blog Home | Waving to myself »

so true

yes !

API

I created a very simple and crude API. It's under fair usage. In other words, if you hit it too much then I may have to throttle the IPs but I honestly hope it doesn't come to that. I built this for everyone to enjoy.

Examples

curl http://lorem-ipsum.me/api/text
      curl http://lorem-ipsum.me/api/json?format=html
      curl http://lorem-ipsum.me/api/xml?format=plain&type=blog

Alternatively, you can use the Rubygem. Install with gem install lorem-ipsum-me and then you can use it in your projects.

require 'lorem-ipsum-me'
      LoremIpsum.generate # Takes optional arguments too. Check the README/rdocs for more.

Languages Returned

• JSON
• Text
• XML

Formats Returned

• Plain
• HTML

Types Returned

• Essay
• Blog

nice idea for generating holding text, we like!

genius

If the embedded video doesn't work, you can also watch this video at youtube.

nice