Making Ripples: post-corporate adventures in Floyd County Virginia

Prosperity happens to the extent we create it

With all of the doom and gloom promoted by mass media, it can be easy to miss the fact that the economy is kept going by a lot of hard working individuals putting their money and their effort into creating better services and products for their customers.

We have a number of these individuals in Floyd, Virginia.

Coffee shop owner Sally Walker and artist/sign painter Greg
Locke plan a window sign to highlight Cafe del Sol specialties
so they can be easily seen by people driving by.

Sally Walker is an excellent example of an entrepreneur who has created a pleasing experience for lovers of good coffee and tasty snacks. Her Cafe del Sol offers gourmet soups, sandwiches and salads along with a wide range of expresso-based beverages. She and her capable staff also cater for local functions.

She has managed to survive and stay cheerful in spite of cranky air conditioners, lack of space, and the usual problems that plague any startup operation. She has invested in training her staff and the results show it. You get cheerful service and tasty food even when Sally is away from the Cafe.

Visiting the Cafe del Sol is one of the high spots in my frequent trips to Floyd. I never know who or what I am going to see there, but it is always a good value and that is what keeps an economy and a business going.

What are businesses in your area doing to make things go right in this uncertain economy?

Strangely unreliable customer service at Countrywide

Two years ago we ran into a Countrywide loan officer who didn't have both oars in the water. We refer to this loan officer as Mrs. Glib because she made reassuring statements that were not supported by facts. I wrote about our adventure with Mrs. Glib on this weblog and thought we has seen the last of this kind of unreliable service from Countrywide.

Recently, we were encouraged to make a new mortgage agreement with Countrywide and we dealt with a loan consultant who seemed to be quite knowledgeable and sincere as well. He was quite thorough and took pains to explain every aspect of the financial transaction we were interested in.

At the end of our conversation, he repeated the essential facts to us so that we would all be on the same page. He even rechecked the spelling of our names. His final words were that we would receive a loan package through Fedex to review and sign and return and that a "loan processor" would help us answer any questions that we had with the package.

We commented afterwards, how refreshing it was to deal with someone who knows what he is doing.

Little did we know...

The loan package arrived and it looked as though it had been prepared for two other people! My name was misspelled throughout 20 30 pages of documents and the financial data we had provided had been altered repeatedly and differently on different documents.

We thought, what the hell, we will just call the name of the loan processor who was supposed to help us with any questions. This "loan processor" woman blithely chattered away and skillfully avoided answering any questions we had. In twenty minutes, she provided not one factual answer.

When Gretchen pressed her for specifics, she brightly said that these were preliminary documents and it didn't really matter if there were errors on them. Gretchen called her on that and said, "We cannot sign these documents! They are full of outright falsehoods. You have changed the data that we provided and the loan payments bear no relation to the numbers that were given us by the loan officer."

The loan processor started speaking faster and faster as if she could baffle us with BS. Gretchen tried to get her to slow down with no results. Gretchen finally cut her off gently and said, "We may not have a deal here. We are going back to the loan officer and see what is going on."

The loan processor continued to chatter until Gretchen finally hung up.

Gretchen sent the original loan officer an email. We received a conciliatory email back.

He was saddened to hear of our difficulty.

Interesting choice of words. I thought it was significant that that he was saddened, but not surprised. I wonder if he is one of the few competent people working there. What an environment to work in!

Is Countrywide coming apart at the seams? This was more like dealing with a used car dealer than with a financial institution. I felt we were experiencing a new kind of bait and switch operation. If it was just incompetence, I will feel strangely relieved.

Has anyone else been dealing with Countrywide lately? How was your experience?

Some unconventional tips on working for yourself

Since more people are considering working for themselves, this may be of interest.

I was interviewed a few years ago by Leah Maclean at workingsolo.com.au on the subject of working solo.

She had read Danger Quicksand - Have A Nice Day and asked if I had any unconventional advice on working solo.

Here are my top five tips from that interview:

A. If you are viewed as a good employee, you may not be ready for self-employment. Self-employment requires making decisions in the absence of complete data. Employees who do that are usually in trouble with management.

B. Do not consider self-employment unless you understand that you are totally responsible for what life throws at you. If you can accept that responsibility and the freedom it gives you, you will probably succeed as a self-employed person.

C. Be realistic about your capabilities and use others to do tasks you are not able to perform to professional standards. There is no problem being a small company as long as your products and services are of high quality.

D. Small companies have an unfair advantage if they realize what it means and take advantage of it. Every customer gets to deal with the man in charge. If you care for your customers and keep them informed and make them part of the decision-making process, you will earn their undying loyalty.

E. Most important of all: Promise only what you can deliver and deliver what you promise.

Finally, here are some things to consider:

You will become one of "them", the people whose insanity you have been complaining  about for years - an employer.

Your past experience may help you more than you think

Right answers are the ones that work

For the full interview visit Working Solo.

Do you work for an insane company?

Maybe you have suspected it, but this is the time of year when your worst fears may be realized. (This is what an insane company feels like)

Companies which have been focused on making the numbers look good finally face up the fact that they need to make changes. Unfortunately, too many make the wrong changes and never recover. Their first choice is to lay off those employees whose negative comments have been making management nervous.

That cuts down the noise level and management feels that there is hope of getting the situation under control now that the complainers in marketing and customer support are gone.

This hope is short-lived as they find themselves inundated with customer complaints that just will not go away. Somehow in their zeal to clean house, they have laid off the people who were working hardest to provide customers with good service. Then the contract cancellations begin...and the layoffs begin in earnest.

Perhaps you were so buried in work that you missed the warning signs.  You may have been the ideal employee, but that doesn't help when the corporate ship is coming apart at the seams.

If the corporate culture is sick, various levels of the company will be fighting each other and there will be little agreement on helping customers. You could view it as a multiple-personality disorder, with interesting overtones of paranoia, insane rage, and despair, whatever.

The bottom line as always, is that no one is having a good time and customers are getting the shaft.

What is not generally understood is that corporate culture is "the ghost in the machine" It is a set of agreements that grow out of the million and one discussions and interactions that go into creating and mobilizing a company. It is the most important component of any company.

Furthermore, like the human spirit, when the corporate culture is gone, the company is for all practical purposes, dead.

A sane culture is one which values and supports every part of the organization; it values customers and employees, it values the environment, and it values investors.

An insane culture values abstract numbers rather than real accomplishments. When a company shifts from satisfying customer requirements in an ethical way to meeting profit goals regardless of what shortcuts are taken, the cultural agreements are being broken and the company is on its way out.

If your company is ethically challenged, that is something you should be aware of and work to change, if possible. If you can't change your environment for the better, then you need to find an organization that operates with integrity and give it all the support you can.

Insanity is catching. Ask anyone who has worked in a sick corporate culture. Recovery can take a long time.  Spend your time working with people who recognize your worth and reward you appropriately.

For a more thorough treatment of this subject read the five articles I wrote about corporate insanity starting on June 21, 2005.

Floyd, Virginia, a county full of good ideas

I fell in love with Floyd county on my first visit. It has a lot of scenic vistas, but it is the people that made me feel that I had finally arrived where I was meant to be.

There is a hospitality here that I have not found elsewhere. There is also a creative spirit here that inspires one to join in and do things that don't seem possible elsewhere. Talent is encouraged, rather than stifled.

Hard work is also encouraged and one finds many talented people holding several jobs and still managing to create with music, clay, fiber, or paints.

There are other people working harder than you could ever imagine to raise money for the local library, or food for disadvantaged children, or to provide art training for seniors and for children

There is an attitude here that it is OK to major in Art or to work instead of going to college, or to move to Alaska and homestead, or to spend a year volunteering in Africa.

Success for most is not measured by high paying jobs and extravagant lifestyles. There are some here who enjoy both, but you would not know it by their dress or by their speech.

This is supposedly one of the fifty poorest counties in the US, but it has a richness of spirit and a bounty of creative ideas that more pro$perou$ locales might envy.

This creativity attracts still more creative people who want to contribute to the motion. The lack of jobs and local industry seem to stimulate the ingenuity of those who see in Floyd the answers they have been seeking. They come and create small businesses and in the process they enrich the county with new ideas and new services.

Not all share in the bounty, but grumblers who resist change are to be found everywhere. In Floyd County, the grumblers can be heard if you listen hard enough, but their influence diminishes every year.

The people with positive ideas who are willing to work for the good of the county seem to be growing in numbers. I meet more of them every month. As I said at the beginning, Floyd Virginia is a county full of good ideas.

They even encouraged me to hang my photo of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Chamber of Commerce office. I am happy to contribute to the Floyd community and there were no barriers to my participation.

More localities could benefit from this approach.

This is the most bizarre scenario...

This is a direct quote from a really helpful person in the Medicare organization who was trying to help me sort out something that has happened to my Medicare insurance coverage.

First of all, I would like to express my appreciation for the nine employees of the Veterans Administration and the Medicare Agency of the US Government who attempted to assist me during my two and a half hours of phone calls today. Every one of them was unfailingly polite, even if they did not have information that would help sort out my problem.

I am relating this story in the hopes that it will amuse and also that someone else may have encountered this and resolved it somehow.

I have been receiving Medicare payments against my medical bills for several years. I am very happy with the coverage that I have received up to a few months ago. I am thankful to the elected officials whose efforts made this all possible. I don't need medical coverage very often, but it's nice to know that Medicare is there when needed.

Until a few months ago...when I received a call from one medical provider that my treatment was not being covered by Medicare because I had other Primary Insurance Coverage. Hello?? I have not had any other medical insurance for years! Where was this coming from?

I called the medical provider and said I had no other insurance. They gave me a Medicare number to call and I did. I was told they would look into it and get back to me.

I took my attention off this because Medicare was still paying claims from other medical practitioners I was using. It seemed as if it had somethng to do with this particular medical practice and I thought no more about it.

Fast forward a few months and I receive bills from my favorite local medical practice that show that Medicare is no longer paying toward my medical expenses because of an existing "Other Insurance Primary".

I make a few calls and find that this other Primary Insurance Coverage is supposedly provided by the VA! I am sure I don't have any VA insurance because my military service from 1957-1963 was spent mainly in the Active and Inactive Reserves.

I call Medicare and get no relief because the first few people I contact say they can do nothing and that I have to talk to the Veterans Administration. I call four or five people in the VA until I get someone who actually looks me up in the system and says, "I can find no record of you at all. You are not in our system."

So, back to Medicare again and I call a couple of people until I find a woman named Tammy who actually looks up my Medicare records and asks lots of detailed questions. Then she goes off and asks someone else for help and asks me more questions. She tells me that this Primary Insurance Coverage started in 2003, so I ask why hasn't it shown up before this? She doesn't know.

I ask, "If I have this other insurance coverage from some unknown source, how do I contact them to get them to pay up? Also, how come Medicare is paying on my other medical claims? Why only this provider?"

She looks at my Medicare records some more and laughs. "This is the most bizarre scenario I have ever seen!"

She is sending the report to the Medicare Benefits Coordination group and I should hear from them in two business days.

It will be most interesting to see what turns up. I will keep you posted.

Has anyone else encountered this situation?

Finding an Ethical Employer

One of my readers is taking a break from corporate life and is living in a quiet corner of France to settle her nerves. She writes:

I am keen to return to work but having re-read my diary for 2003 I am determined NOT to fall foul of another bad position. ARE there ethical employers out there? And if so how do I recognize one?

The simple answer is that you need to look for an employer who does the following:

Promises only what he or she intends to deliver
Keeps their word once given
Follows through so as to meet expectations

A more useful answer is that you need to thoroughly understand both the company and the people you will be working for. For example, there ARE ethical employers which have some managers of doubtful sanity. There are also ethical and sane managers who work in insane companies. There are ways you can determine this during the interview.

The complete answer is that seeking to return to a job arena that has chewed you up and spit you out without reading Danger Quicksand - Have A Nice Day is foolhardy in the extreme. It is available as a FREE download, so there is no reason not to spend an hour or two reading up on the key factors in finding and securing the right job.

I wrote this unconventional guide to surviving corporate employment for hardworking people who have had career experiences that have crushed their spirits.

Chapters 6 - 8 describes exactly how you can find the right employer for you. The rest of the book will help you survive almost any career experience with your sanity intact.

It has produced some amazing results, but only when read.  :)

The magic of the Friday Night Jamboree

The Friday Night Jamboree leaves an indelible impression on all who experience it. Tonight I observed something that has escaped my attention until now. The magical quality of the Friday Night Jamboree is a product of the street that it is staged on.

Some people will tell you that it is the pervasive sound of Bluegrass and Old Time music being played on the street by groups of musicians who play for the love of it.

Some will assure you that it is the ambiance of the Floyd Country Store and the crowded dance floor full of cloggers beating out a thunderous accompaniment to a riotous dance tune that has been a popular favorite for many years.

Others will nod quietly and smile, content in their knowledge that it is the music in the hearts of the men and women who carry their instruments from their cars to the groups that welcome them to join in and play.

Strangers from far places marvel at the easy grace with which musicians join with one another and celebrate life with music and song on the streets of this tiny town in southwest Virginia.

Spectators cluster around performers in rapt attention and reward each tune with generous applause. Cameras click and spectators murmur as music touches the heart again and again. Some spectators are so stirred by the melodies playing that they burst into impromptu dance performances.

Children dance along the sidewalks to the delight of all concerned. Their enthusiasm for the music transforms their faces.

Those who sit in the alcoves along Locust Street and watch the show will be tapping their feet while chatting with neighbors and passers-by.

These are components of the magic, but the real magic of this Friday Night Jamboree is that it all occurs in a space that encourages and facilitates easy communication.

The magic that I see occurring every Friday night in front of the Floyd Country Store in Floyd, Virginia, is that all of the things I describe happen in a bounded area that is large enough to allow free movement and free discussion without being overwhelmed by sound volume and is small enough that you can walk from one end to the other in a matter of minutes.

By accident or by design, the Friday Night Jamboree is small enough for a feeling of intimacy and distributed enough so that you can carry on a conversation with everyone you meet without annoying others or having to shout over the music.

It has all of the elements of a successful party or mixer, lots of great music that doesn't overwhelm, a place to dance with a lively crowd on the dance floor, multiple musical groups offering Gospel, Bluegrass, Old Time Music, Blues, and Jazz, and places for uninterrupted talk with friends.

My take on it is that a number of Floyd citizens and County officials have contributed to this magic by creating a unique environment on Locust Street which has all of the elements needed for a successful party for up to 500 people.

Woody and Jackie Crenshaw have created enhanced the Friday Night Jamboree by their expansion of the Floyd Country Store which is the glowing center of the Friday Night celebration. Local and regional musicians gather weekly to jam in freeform musical clusters up and down Locust Street. The new broad sidewalk with spacious alcoves for musical performances provides a structure that encourages performances by all who desire to play.

The Cafe del Sol, the El Charro and the Floyd Country Store have delicious food and snacks for the floods of visitors roaming Locust Street on Friday nights, so there is no reason to wander further unless you want to sample the cuisine at Oddfellas Cantina or the country goodness of the Blue Ridge Restaurant or the Pine Tavern.

If you have ever attended a party that was held in a space that was too small or way too large, you know how the setting can make or break an event. The Friday Night Jamboree occurs in a space that is just the right size for the current number of attendees.

As attendance grows in the future, care must be taken so that the musical activity can spread out gracefully and that people can still wander freely about and converse during the evening. Easy communication amongst the visitors will keep the magic of the Jamboree alive.

Bait and switch employment tactics

If your future employer plays games with his original salary offer, you have encountered a nasty example of organizational insanity and you need to respond appropriately or you will regret it for the rest of your employment. This is a "bait and switch" tactic of the lowest order.

Fortunately, there is a way out.  During your job interview, you are in the strongest bargaining position you will ever be in and you need to take advantage of it.

Here is the typical situation: You go through a thorough interview process for a position with a defined starting salary. The salary is mentioned at least once right up front and is used to stress the importance of the position.

You complete the interview process successfully and are told you have the job. Then, sometime later, you are told that there will be a probationary period during which you will be paid less than what was promised and if you do well, after a period of three to six months, you will start to receive full pay.

This probationary period is never mentioned until you are emotionally committed to starting the new job and may even happen after you give notice to your old employer.

This bait and switch activity may be triggered by your eagerness to begin the new job and the hiring manager realizes that he or she might have negotiated better. It also occurs when you are dealing with people of low integrity. They always intended to have you start at a lower salary, but couldn't confront saying so during the interview process. They may even say that their other employees are getting lower salaries and your offer will bring things out of line.

Whatever the reason, you are now facing a decision which will affect your life from here on out. If you accept the lower salary, they will not give you the promised raise at the end of the promised time. The reason is simple. Your performance will never live up to their expectations and you will piddle along at the lower salary for a long time, grumbling to yourself all the time.

The bright spot in all of this mess is that you will never have a better bargaining position than when you are interviewing for a job. If you can't convince them to give you the salary they promised when they are eager to hire you, just imagine what it will be like after you have worked there for a while! They will have made up a dozen reasons why your performance is marginal, your attitude is poor (and it will be!) and you will feel lucky that they are not firing you.

If you are a risk taker, and many of you are, tell your interviewer that you will make a counter offer. You need to make it plain that you view a bait and switch activity as a bad way to start a working relationship. They promised a salary and you will start at that salary and if they are unhappy with your performance, they can let you go. Stress the fact that trust has to work both ways. If they think that you are the person for the job, they need to pay you what they were promising.

This low-ball offer has been made to me several times and a few times I was wise enough to say thanks, but no thanks. Twice, for reasons I can't fully explain, I accepted a last minute switch in starting salary or benefits and I regretted it almost immediately. In both cases, the lack of management integrity made the job a living hell.

By the way, if you successfully negotiate the original starting salary, you may find that you are resented by the person who attempted the bait and switch. This is better than you resenting the result, but it can affect your career over time. If only one individual was involved in the bait and switch, others may feel that you should get the salary you interviewed for and you may succeed in the end. Just watch your back.

If you are risk averse, just let the hiring organization know at several levels that you view that particular hiring tactic as unethical and withdraw. If there are ethical people in the organization who need your skills, you will probably get a firm job offer. If not, you will hear nothing or possibly a dismissive rejection letter.

Just think about it. If a company cannot be trusted to keep their word when they are hiring you, what will life be like when you are working there and have no other options?

This does not apply to the job situation where the hiring company states right up front that there is a probationary period at reduced salary and reduced benefits. In this case, you need to determine for yourself whether your experience level merits a probationary period. If you are experienced, you can usually prove your qualifications during the interview and you get to determine whether a probationary period applies or not.

What happens when your plans don't work out?

Adventure is what happens when your plans don't work out and you have to improvise. (This is the South Coast of Crete)

My plans in 2001 were to help develop a new product offering for Sun Microsystems. Unfortunately for my plans, Sun offloaded several thousand of us in an effort to become profitable.

As a result, in April of 2002 I found myself on the Southwest coast of the Island of Crete researching lost cities for a historical fantasy I was writing.

I had chartered a small boat so that my guide and I could explore sites of ancient cities accessible only by boat. As we moved eastward on the empty sea, the morning sun dispelled mist from the towering cliffs and turned the water the brightest blue I have ever seen.

Sometime during this morning, I realized that I had embarked on an adventure that would never lead back to working in a cubicle again.

It is now six years later and the memories of that research trip are still with me. It wasn't a vacation. It was a learning experience of the highest order and it all came about because my carefully executed plans for a life in high tech did not work out.

I still make plans and strive to execute them, but if circumstances change for reasons beyond my control, I am reasonably sure that adventure waits ahead. It always has and is now something to look forward to.

May those of you currently facing adversity find a similar adventure on the other side.