Comments for Stephen Dill Interactive

Comment on The Occupy Movement is About Flaws in the “Progress” of Mankind by Stephen Dill

Stephen Dill — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 22:18:42 +0000

Luca,

I have to apologize! Obviously I never made it to the end of your work or I would have had a totally different take on this epic construct.

I am short on time to think through my response; suffice to say I will be in touch, for I sense there is more I would like to convey than the simple respect I can provide right now.

Stephen

srdill at me .com

Comment on The Occupy Movement is About Flaws in the “Progress” of Mankind by Luca Oprea

Luca Oprea — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:47:51 +0000

Hello,

Have to address this.

The manifesto is not a group work, but rather my own, and it is signed as such at the end.

Would I have preferred that it be a collaborative effort?

No. Simply because, if you look at the declaration that the original Occupy Wall St group has published after three weeks of discussions, it is one small page of rather ho-hum observations.

I don’t believe groups are good at thinking together, and certainly not at creating a strong narrative with a compelling voice.

There is a great deal of internal, unspoken work that goes into that.

In fact, I wrote the whole thing in about six hours, and posted it unedited (I gave it a quick edit a couple hours ago).

That sounds like a very short time, but in fact many months of thought went into – not the manifesto itself – but understanding all these apparently disparate fields and then finding a reason – the reason for which they exist and are relevant.

After that it was just a matter of grinding out a text while thinking about who I am addressing. Who needs to read this, and why, and most of all – if I am speaking of a human thing, then it must truly be human, it must truly speak to all but those who would deny it out of hate or strong preconceptions.

Whether I managed to do that or not (personally, I think it’s not exactly shining work), it couldn’t have been done as a group. Never ever.

But I am passionate about groups. In fact, I am working on a site where I want to revolutionize both group work and community building theory. http://www.verigalipsa.com it’s quite a mess right now but will evolve in the coming days

Where groups shine is in gathering information and making a million wrong observations, that can form a massive structure you can whittle away at.

One mind moves easily through the large forms of the world and the universe, but when it comes to details, many minds must do the job of melding the unstructured into structure, then that structure has to be refined and completed, transcended, if you will, from structure to usable understanding, by very few minds, or just one.

This is not an argument for individuality, but rather for intelligence. The higher the minds in the group, the quicker they will move, and the higher the structure they will create. But eventually, somewhere, someone, will have to grind the edge on the sword. And you can’t have 20 people grinding an edge, it’s a mess.

If you would like to send me a list of some of the grammar mistakes, I would be grateful for that.

Luca Oprea

lucaoprea a tt gmail .com

Comment on Greatness Passes in Sharon, MA by John Darien Gillen

John Darien Gillen — Thu, 12 May 2011 03:00:44 +0000

Hello Mr. Dill. I must ask you. In your talks with George Bailey, did he ever mention being at Bikini Atoll, Eniwetok in the South Pacific? I am looking for a gentleman who worked with my father there in 1958 also named George Bailey. PLease let me know if you are able. I live in Southern California. My dad passed away back in 2001. I have pictures of him and some of his crew there at Eniwetok. Would love to find some of them. Thanks.

Comment on Do You Give Good Recommendations? by Stephen Dill

Stephen Dill — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:40:08 +0000

You are most welcome, Chuck. Your experiences inspired and motivated me once when I needed it the most. I am glad to be able to return the favor in some small way!

Comment on Do You Give Good Recommendations? by Chuck Goetschel

Chuck Goetschel — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 07:14:00 +0000

As someone who has received one of your LinkedIn recommendations, I must say that your effort and level of detail is certainly appreciated. You are a true professional! Thanks.

Comment on Business by Alison Gilbert

Alison Gilbert — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 23:29:22 +0000

I really like what you wrote about MLMs and I love the two image links you have. The one for your Yelp reviews (I get such a kick out of writing them, too) and the online ID calculator. Now that is fascinating. Posted it to fb and mentioned your site as where I found it. If you do not mind my asking, how do I go about setting up both of these image links on my site. I imagine they are affiliate relationships.
You seem to be quite of source of inspiration and information for me.
Alison Gilbert
‘MarketingBytesMaven.biz aka lady in the hat! Connecting biz and buyers with Inbound Marketing, Social Media, and traditional graphic design.’

Comment on Do You Give Good Recommendations? by Stephen Dill

Stephen Dill — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 14:56:43 +0000

Many thanks for the perspectives, gentlemen. The prevailing themes of “value if written for depth,” and “best taken with a grain of salt” make sense. I do wonder why they are as rare as Marsh says. Could it be that not enough people know to ask for them? Or is the process seen as of little value? Or are people just not willing to devote the time to recalling the essence of what it was like to work with the person they are recommending?

Regardless, there is opportunity in both the giving and the receiving. Do NOT pass it up!

Comment on Do You Give Good Recommendations? by Christopher S. Penn

Christopher S. Penn — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:45:03 +0000

On the topic of recommendations, I also suggest being extremely selective about who you recommend. I typically don’t recommend people I haven’t had a lot of time to work with because unlike a network connection, a recommendation is an explicit endorsement. Give, but give wisely, as your name and credibility are on the table as well.

Comment on Do You Give Good Recommendations? by Marsh Sutherland

Marsh Sutherland — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:35:49 +0000

Stephen,

I whole-heartedly agree with you. But unfortunately as a recruiter, LinkedIn recommendations are rarely present. But if they are present, and really good, I include them in my submission email of a candidate. This is also kind of a permission for a hiring manager to contact a recommender as well for a back door check.

And the fact they are rare, makes them very compelling for those that have them.

I talk about some best practices and how to get thm in my upcoming book New Job Now! to be published in 2011.

In my opinion, Jim Krieger is the King of LinkedIn Recommendations and he’s benefited greatly from an expedited fast-tracked interview process because of them. http://www.linkedin.com/in/krieger

Comment on Do You Give Good Recommendations? by Chris Bilotta

Chris Bilotta — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:05:32 +0000

As a recruiter and executive search consultant, I am always seeking third party recommendations and referrals on candidates. However, I take these with a grain of salt. In my experience, it has been extremely rare that anyone ever provided a reference that wasn’t glowing at best or neutral at worst.

I do find that LinkedIn recommendations can be a good start on drawing a picture of a prospective candidate, particularly when they go into very specific details as you have illustrated in this post. Usually when someone is willing to take the time to give examples and provide a thoughtful, in-depth look at the candidate, then the information can be very useful. Standard, trite, or gratuitous comments come across as shallow and add no value to the process.

In recruiting, candidate recommendations, whether direct or on LinkedIn provide additional data points for consideration, but I believe they must be taken in context with everything else you have learned about the person.