Tony Paganelli's Notebook

Seth Godin on Bad PowerPoint

Tony Paganelli — Tue, 04 May 2010 00:55:44 +0000

Legal Writing Tips from a Frustrated Judge

Tony Paganelli — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:00:53 +0000

The Lawyerist reported a little while back on a memo sent out by an exasperated judge on legal writing mistakes he’s tired of seeing. Lots of good tips to be found here.

Today’s Lawyer Joke

Tony Paganelli — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:12:30 +0000

The Godfather suspects that his bookkeeper, Enzo, has cheated him out of ten million dollars. His bookkeeper is deaf. That was the reason he got the job in the first place. It was assumed that Enzo would hear nothing that he might have to testify about in court.

When the Godfather goes to confront Enzo about his missing money, he takes along his lawyer, who knows sign language. The Godfather tells the lawyer, “Ask him where the ten million bucks is that he embezzled from me.” The lawyer, using sign language, asks Enzo where the money is. Enzo signs back, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The lawyer tells the Godfather, “He says he doesn’t know what you are talking about.”

The Godfather pulls out a pistol, puts it to Enzo’s forehead and says, “Ask him again!” The lawyer signs to Enzo, “He’ll kill you if you don’t tell him.” Enzo signs back, “OK. You win! The money is in a brown briefcase, buried behind the shed in my cousin Bruno’s backyard!” The Godfather asks the lawyer, “What did he say?” The lawyer replies, “He says you don’t have the guts to pull the trigger.”

Steve Jobs is Ron Popeil, and I mean that as a compliment to them both.

Tony Paganelli — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 01:00:32 +0000

I’m reading Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, “What the Dog Saw.” It is a collection of his essays from The New Yorker. I like some of them very much, especially a profile of Ron Popeil called “The Pitchman.” Give it a read from the archive on Mr. Gladwell’s website, and substitute “iMac” for “Showtime Rotisserie Oven.” I think you’ll see that Steve Jobs and Ron Popeil are very similar personalities on a number of levels. I’m a huge Steve Jobs fan, and I mean this as a compliment. To both of them.

Especially interesting is that both men share a fanatical obsession about perfecting even the most minor details of their products that would be insignificant or go unnoticed by others, and that both men see marketing and product development as fundamentally interwoven rather than two separate business functions. Also, both are consummate “pitchmen.”

Hip vs. Smart

Tony Paganelli — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:00:37 +0000

When I was in college 20-something years ago, I clipped a text-heavy ad (from TV Guide of all places) and kept it on my bulletin board for years. The message made an impact on me. The clipping eventually got lost in a move but I never forgot it. Now, courtesy of the internet, I have rediscovered the text:

Hip vs. Smart

Hip is transitory. Smart endures. Hip is defined by others. Smart is defined by intelligence. Hip is only for the moment. Smart is timeless. Hip is driven by trends. Smart is driven by performance. Hip is perpetually looking over your shoulder. Smart is making your own decisions. Hip is mango-chestnut gelati. Smart is chocolate ice cream. Hip is often difficult to define. Smart is always logically defensible. Hip is flash. Smart is substance. Hip is something that looks cool. Smart is something that works. Hip talks the talk. Smart walks the walk. Hip gets you a $300 a week cocaine habit. Smart gets you a big raise and the corner office.

Six-Word Memoirs

Tony Paganelli — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:00:07 +0000

I’m a fan of concise writing, having never forgotten Strunk & White’s admonition to “omit needless words.” I was intrigued recently to learn that Smith Magazine publishes “six-word memoirs,” in which contributors summarize their lives in–you guessed it–six words. (Example: “So many kids call me mom.”)

They published a compilation last year, and another has just been published. I intend to check them out.

Meanwhile, I wonder if I could write my life story in six words. Can you? I think I’ll give it a try.

P.S.: Take a look at their six-word resolutions too.

“What Are We Supposed To Do with Our Tablet Computers?”

Tony Paganelli — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:05:25 +0000

I’ve wanted a tablet computer for years, and I’ve been waiting for the technology to catch up to my wish list for the magical slab of plastic and silicone. Now that Apple’s rumored tablet is (may be) almost upon us, and other companies showed off prototypes last week at the Consumer Electronics Show, one of my favorite technology writers, Slate’s Farhad Manjoo, asks the obvious question: The tablets are coming, now what?

Today’s Lawyer Joke

Tony Paganelli — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:00:52 +0000

Q: How do you save a drowning lawyer?

A: Take your foot off his head.

This Week’s Lawyer Joke

Tony Paganelli — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:05:54 +0000

Q: What’s the difference between a dead skunk in the middle of the road and a dead lawyer in the middle of the road?

A: There are skid marks in front of the skunk.

Michael Hyatt on Leadership

Tony Paganelli — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:08:10 +0000

Leadership is a topic that will come up periodically at The Productive Lawyer. I believe you must become a leader to be truly productive. Delegation and management are lawyering skills that I’m trying (and trying, and trying) to master, and I believe leadership skills are critical to success in those areas.

Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson publishers, is one of my favorite bloggers and I’ll be linking to his great work often. Here’s his recent repost of a piece last year on a new model for leadership: “Leading Powerful Conversations.”