Maurilio Amorim

Author: Maurilio Amorim

  • Austrian Traditional Jacket Migrates to Tennessee

    While in Vienna last week, I couldn’t help notice the traditional Austrian Loden jacket, sometimes called a tracht coat. It’s popular in Bavaria and Austria and has been around for centuries. The coat is often made of wool, where the fibers are boiled than pressed and become water repellent called Loden wool. These days it is blended with alpaca, mohair, camel or cashmere. Loden is traditionally of dark green color with a laid down and pressed pile finish.

    I really liked the six buttons on the front and the streamlined collar, or, as some refer to it, “collarless.” I went ahead and bought one for the Fall. I chose the traditional navy Loden wool and cashmere with brass buttons–a thing of beauty if I say so myself.  I hate to have to wait several months before I get to wear mine, but since these jackets have been around for hundreds of years, I’m not worried they will become unfashionable anytime soon.

    Austrian Traditional Jacket
    I like the coat, but I'm not sure I'm ready for "saffron" as a color option
    With all these buttons the ettique is to button only buttons 3,4,5
    Loden coat with vest
    Love the jacket. The vest, not so much. Too many buttons. I cannot imagine going through airport security trying to take that vest off because of the brass buttons.

    leather Austrian coat
    They now come in different materials. Here in leather.

    What’s your take on the Austrian jacket?

  • Why Google Is Failling in Social Media

    I have been puzzled about Google’s inability to do well in the social media space. I have watched them take over Blogger and instead of making it better and more relevant, they managed to lose market share. There were another string of failures like Dogeball, Jaiku, Lively, Buzz and Wave. Even Orkut, the largest social network in Brazil, is now losing the Brazilians to Facebook. I have seen several of my friends migrate from Orkut recently. It wasn’t until a recent article in FastCompany profiling Larry Page, Google’s CEO, that I got a clue into the search giant’s ineptitude at social media. As it turns out, Larry does not use social media. Now it all makes perfect sense.

    Why Google is failing in social media

    Organizational culture is driven from the top. It makes sense that what the leadership values, their passion and interests get researched, funded and developed. It’s interesting to me that such a large and entrepreneurial business as Google where workers are given free time to work on pet projects, still manages to fail in what has become the hottest and fastest growing sector of the internet. Interestingly the founders of Twitter and Foursquare are former Google employees. But it wasn’t until they left their jobs at the Googleplex that they were able to create their social software that has changed the way we communicate.

    The implications here are many. But for me there are two critical ones. First, as a leader of my group, I will determine the culture and the emotional intelligence of my entire organization. Consciously or subconsciously I will hire, fund and develop people who share some of my value and interests. Secondly, those who are passionate about something other than what their organization’s DNA will be frustrated in their jobs until they find a place that aligns more closely with their passion.

    As Google seems to be proving to us, not even free time to work on any project,  a massive budget, and brilliant people can create products outside the core interests of the organizational leaders. My assumption based on personal experience is that bottom up movement can only occur when there’s strong buy in from the top.

    Have you ever been in a situation where you tried to convince your superior to try something new? How did it workout?

  • How to Attract More Professionals to Your Church

    In a bad economy, Pastor Steve Robinson knows how to get things done. He leads Church of the King, a fast-growing dynamic church in New Orleans that despite Hurricane Katrina,  the stock market crash, is managing to build a beautiful new building with cash. Church of the King is starting 3 new campuses this year as well. If you ask him how he has managed to attract generous business people who give liberally to the ministry his answer is simple: turn down the volume and turn up the light. Could it be that easy?

    How do I reach more professionals in my church?

    Steve is a great communicator and leader with a strong team guiding the church always looking for new ways to help people in their community to connect with God. But I also know a lot of other pastors like him all over the country who share the same gifts. As a matter of fact, Church of the King has had more challenges in its young existence than most churches will ever face in a lifetime. I have thought about that statement a lot in the past few days since our conversation. It’s still resonating with me.

    Church start ups want to be relevant and reach their community, but could it be that our relevance quotient stops at age 25? The assumption is that everyone wants to listen to a rock concert at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning. Not everyone, I guarantee you. I think Steve is right on when he says, “I find that successful professionals don’t want to bring their peers to an extremely loud and dark room for a church service.”

    I wonder how much more attractive some of our contemporary churches would be if they pull back some decibels, turned off the fog machine, and brought up the lights so people could see. That sounds so obvious, but if you visit as many churches as I do, you would be surprised.

    How about your church? Could it benefit from turning the volume down and the lights up?

  • The Problem with Fakes

    Last time I was in Hong kong I bought a couple of Rolexes. Instead of costing thousands of dollars each, they cost less than 100 dollars for both watches. These are great-looking replicas of the original. From the heavy weight of the watch to  the smooth second hand movement, these watches look and feel like the real thing. After I bought them, I reasoned with myself, “why did I ever by a real one?” There’s only one problem with my imitation watches: they can’t keep time. Every time I wear one of my Falsex watches, I’m reminded why I love my real Rolex.

    The problem with Fakes Rolex

    In life, much like my watches, the fake seldom deliver on their promises. In the business world we deal with salespeople and companies that promise us a product or services just as good as the high-quality, more expensive version, but for less than half of the price. Right. When we deal with imitations, the illusion of quality is only temporary because, ultimately, an imitation cannot deliver on its promises. It lacks the inner strength that make the real thing, well, the real thing.

    Unfortunately, I come across people who are imitations of the better person they portray. You have met them too. They are well put together, they say the right words, and they make a strong impression as they quickly become part of your life. However, there’s not enough substance to them, and they don’t come through when you most need them. You want to give them the benefit of the doubt for breaking their word, for flaking out on the relationship, but they don’t have what it takes to do the right thing. It’s just not in them. Like the fake Rolex, what’s inside is not quality.

    I want to be the real thing. I want to deliver on my promises, keep my word and be the person I represent, not just talk a good game. To me that means paying a higher price and putting the time and effort to become the real deal.  It means doing the difficult things I might not like to do because they will produce long lasting fruit.

    I pray that you will join me today and choosing to be the real thing and not a cheap imitation that shines for a moment, and then becomes a lifetime of disappointment.

    How do you deal with fakes in your life?

  • A Survival Lesson from a 108 Year Old Retailer

    Retail is a tough business these days. Mega stores are shutting down mom & pop operations all over the world. Saturday afternoon I visited a clothing store downtown Vienna that has been in business under the same family ownership for the past 108 years. That’s staying power. It has endured two world wars, bombings, fires, the great depression and numerous other challenges that I can’t even begin to imagine. As I compare my experience of buying a traditional Austrian coat at Loden-Plankl with my previous week’s shopping attempt in Vienna in which I blogged about here, there are obvious differences that I am certain have contributed to their century-long staying power.

    a Survival lesson from 108 Retailer Loden-Plankl

    Unique Merchandise. Loden-Plankl sells primarily traditional Austrian clothing. While it might not be the “it” thing to wear, their apparel is never out of style ( I thought the multi-button collarless sports coat was a very stylish, thus my interest). In a sea of stores selling the same stuff, Loden-Plankl was the top-of-the mind suggestion from my friend Barbara Shantz.

    Location. You don’t stay around for a century at a bad location. The store was at the heart of tourist and local traffic near famous landmarks. Even without a map I was able to find the store on my own.

    Service. I had strong complaints about the lack of help and friendliness of Viennese retailers. Not true here. I was helped right away by a knowledgeable and helpful older gentleman who knew exact what size of coat to show me.  Even though he first told me he didn’t speak much English, he made it work.

    Quality. I bought a cashmere wool coat that fit like it was tailored just for me. The craftsmanship is obvious by the hand stitching and the subtle piping along the lapel, pockets and back of the coat.

    Fair prices. Ok the coat was not what one would consider a bargain, but it was not grossly overpriced as were most the other designer apparel nearby. My friend Steve who was with me at the time even commented: “I expected it to cost much more than that.”

    Most small shops are disappearing from the market because they cannot compete with large retailers playing the margins’ game with merchandise that’s found the world over. if I were in the retail business I would take a serious look at successful enterprises like  Loden-Plankl and take a clue from their playbook. After all, they have stared retail giants down and keep carving their own niche.

    How was your last customer service experience?

  • Partnership as a Business Model

    Years ago I decided to make a major shift in my business. We moved from being a vendor of services and resources to our clients to becoming strategic partners. If we cannot be a strategic partner, we’ll most likely decline the work, specially if it’s an involved and complicated project.  This shift in strategy has had a very positive impact in our effectiveness, quality and  profitability.

    Lingua DMS TWR

    Yesterday The A Group unveiled to 28 different countries in Europe and north Africa a very large and dynamic online tool for TWR.org, the largest Christian broadcaster in the world. This online tool gathers media content from users world wide in 160 different countries and 200 different languages and organizes, re-purposes, and makes information available to multiple devices, i.e. phone, website, and download. The successful launch happened because of our strategic partnership and how the A Group team and TWR’s team worked together during the discovery and development phases. Here’s how I see strategic partnerships:

    Alignment. There are shared values on both teams. You cannot be a strategic partner with someone or an organization you don’t share common ground.

    Openness. You cannot partner with someone where open communication is not an option. Push back from both teams is critical in bringing a complicated project into completion.

    Respect. I often say we are not hired monkeys that just execute tasks. Without mutual respect from both teams, partnerships are disastrous. I have walked away from deals where I felt our expertise and experienced were not going to be leveraged or respected. In the past those projects seldom succeeded and when they did, the pain factor was not worth the money.

    How’s your work environment? Do you have more partnerships or do you feel more like a working “monkey”?

  • How Social Media Has Changed the Way I Travel

    Social media has changed my life. That’s a bold statement but I really mean it. The latest impact has been on how I travel. It has created an entire new dynamic experiencing that has enhanced the joys of discovering new places, meeting new people and eating well.

    How social media changed the way I travel Prague

    Recently I was planning a trip to eastern Europe which I’m currently on, and tweeted that I was going to visit Prague. One of my tweeter followers Jennifer Lyn King, saw the post and reached out to me. She’s a Texan living in Prague with her family. Since she has followed me for a while she knows my love of good food and recommended several great local restaurants most tourists would never find, and where reservations a week ahead are a must. She also took time to meet us face-to-face and give us a tour of the city. What a great way to discover a new town!

    Prague Monastery View

    I’m glad I had reservations to La Terasa last night, because I had a great meal with an incredible view of the city. I posted a couple of pictures of the view and food on Tweeter and Foodspotting and had several friends stateside share in that experience with me.

    Prague bridge view

    During our first night night I didn’t know where to eat so around dinner time as we walked around historic Old Town Prague, I checked my Trip Advisor app and found recommendations for a highly rated restaurant with reasonable prices. Right from the app I mapped the walking route, less than a kilometer (I’m in Europe, so metric rules), and called the place by tapping on the phone number already on my map to see if they could accommodate us. Less than 15 minutes later, we were welcomed at The Phoenix restaurant with a beautiful view of the river.

    Prague square at night

    None of that would be possible just a few years ago. Social media continue to change the way we create community. Several people have tried to tell me my virtual friends are not “real” friends. Try telling that to Jennifer or the several great people whom I’ve not met face to face who are a constant part of my life.

    How are you using social media?

  • Vienna Needs a New Retail Strategy

    I have been in Vienna for a couple of days now and while my body is getting used to the 6-hour time change, my mind still struggles with some of the mindset that’s very unlike my own. I’m going to refrain from labeling my sensitivities as American/Brazilian, but I’m sure they have foundations on both cultures. One facet of the Viennese culture I’m having a hard time accepting is the retailers attitude toward consumers.

    Vienna Needs to Retrain Its Retail Workers

    Those of you who know me personally, know I actually enjoy shopping.   Yesterday I went to no less than a dozen stores, both bargain as well as high end. Throughout the entire day, not once a store clerk approached me and offered to help or even the simple, “let me know if I can help you with anything.”  Sometimes workers stood right next to me stocking shelves, other times they stood at their post next to the cash register. But no matter where they were, one thing was for sure, they were not going to make eye contact with me until I decided to engage them first and ask for help. Once I did, they answered my question but never went beyond the minimum required effort.

    Cultural sensitivities aside, retail stores, whether small boutiques or large department stores, are in business to make money. The way they make money is by selling goods. Even at the most expensive and exclusive boutiques in New York City, sales people are at minimum helpful and at best solicitous. I would say that the Viennese retail workforce is at best cordial, but most of the time, completely disengaged from the customer.

    Some might make the case they do not need the business. I don’t think so. The global recession has hit Europe as well. But no matter your cultural background, we all want good service, we valued a shopping experience that makes us feel special, we welcome someone to help us understand the merchandise or navigate the latest fashion trends. All of us want to feel good about our purchases and a well-trained store clerk could be extremely helpful and the difference between making a sale or losing, between someone buying one item or several.

    During my shopping trip I kept thinking, “if I can train these people, I bet they would double their sales.” I really believe that. Globalization is bigger than just goods being shipped around the globe. Consumer expect attentive service from retailers. I made through the entire day without making one purchase not because I didn’t find anything I wanted, but because I was not going to fight for the privilege to buy over-priced goods from less-than-friendly sales people.

    Have  you ever walked away from a store because the workers were not helpful?

  • My Travel Fashion Strategy

    I travel a lot. A whole lot. People are always asking me how do I go for a week with just one carry on. How do you decide on what to take on a trip? While none of us want to take extra stuff, we certainly don’t want to be caught with less stuff than what we need. Over the years I have come up with a traveling fashion strategy.

    fashion packing for a business trip

    Pick a color palette. When I’m traveling for business, my color palette is usually black and one or two accent colors for shirts. This way I make sure that every shirt, socks and pants match each other. If you have a spill or pull a button or hole then it could ruin your one good outfit you had planed. When I go on vacation or to the tropics, I usually pick a navy or tan color scheme. Right now I’m on my way to Europe with my black color-scheme.

    Find the right basics. I have been wearing ExOfficio underwear for years. They are virtually indestructible, anti-microbial (no smells), and dry in 2 minutes. According to their marketing copy you can go to 6 countries, 2 continents with 2 pairs of underwear. I have not tried that yet, but I can see how one could do that even while not being French. Good socks are also important. I usually buy them with a small percentage of spandex so they hold their shape and are easy to clean and dry if you didn’t pack enough. I usually pack one pair of dress as well as my running shoes and wear the casual ones on the plane. A transitional belt that can go business or casual, so I usually wear one on the plane with me. I also pack workout and running gear. But since they don’t wrinkle, I  roll and stuff them inside my running and dress shoes. (I wear a size 12/13 so there’s plenty of room inside my shoes)

    Smart pants. Depending on your line of work you can wear dark jeans for travel and pack a second, and potentially third, pair of dress slacks. For my European trip, I have brought two pairs of dark jeans and one black dress slacks for a more formal event. One of my jeans is silicone infused. It keeps it’s sheen and dark color from fading but it also resists spills, so I know they’ll look good even after a nasty brawl in a nightclub in Paris (Not that I would know that from personal experience, however).

    Defining Shirts. Most of the year, you can get by without wearing a coat, so your shirts will be the most impact-full element in your wardrobe. I brought several different kinds that would work with or without a coat and all of them go well with all my pants, belt and shoes.

    Sports coats. Whatever you do, please, please, please fight the urge to wear your sport coat with shorts and flip flops as you travel. I see men doing that all the time and it saddens me. Wear a t-shirt or casual shirt and your jacket on the plane, or learn to fold your blazer so it travel in your suitcase without wrinkling. (I’ll do a video on that soon). Currently, I’m wearing a black polished cotton casual coat on my trip and I have another, more formal one inside the suitcase.

    What’s your travel fashion strategy?

  • You Cannot Be an Original If You Don’t Find Your Voice First

    Until we figure out who we are, we are always going to be an imitation of those whom we admire. While emulating our heroes and mentors is not necessarily a bad thing, it always falls short of the original. We must first find our voice in order for us to break away from merely being good at something to being great.

    find your voice

    I remember finding my voice as a writer. It was my second semester of graduate school and the long paper I turned in to my adviser was not the strung-together researched quotes with personal commentary woven in. For the first time in my English-writing career I had something to say in my own voice and the research quotes became a distance secondary focus. I noticed a difference in my writing and so did my teacher who wrote, “congratulations you’ve found your voice!” in bold red ink on the cover of the report.

    The same process is true for singers, painters, doctors, designers, architects, managers, programmers and most professions. Greatness happens when you stop imitating your inspiration du jour and allow all your professional influences, life experiences, and individual talents to come together in your craft. When that happens, you’re no longer a copy, but an original.

    Some discover their voices early in life, while others spend a lifetime imitating. Don’t get me wrong, a good imitation is not a bad thing, but it will never be a masterpiece.

    Where are you in your journey in discovering your own voice?