ADMIT ONE · Sound familiar?01 / 10
Your phone is dead. “Call us.” A bold strategy for a phone company.
The hotline loop
Read the storyThe Carousel of Truth · Step right up
Why is this
so hard?
The Carousel of Truth is a collection of everyday frustrations: getting the runaround, promises that fall flat, and simple problems nobody will fix. Each card names one. Each link takes you to a real story or something I’ve written about it.
Browse the truths. See one you recognize? Read the story—or share your own.
Ten truths. No sugar-coating.
1 / 10
The story behind this
The hotline loop
Personal experience · August 22, 2026In my account of switching mobile service to Optimum, the recovery instructions depended on the phone service that had stopped working. The lesson: a support script needs an escape route when its next step is impossible.
Optimum customer-service accountAll ten problems and the writing behind them
These lines use humor and exaggeration to describe recurring problems. They are not quotations; the stories below explain what actually happened. The links distinguish personal accounts, client work, and published arguments.
01 · The hotline loop
Your phone is dead. “Call us.” A bold strategy for a phone company.
In my account of switching mobile service to Optimum, the recovery instructions depended on the phone service that had stopped working. The lesson: a support script needs an escape route when its next step is impossible.
Personal experience · August 22, 2026Optimum customer-service account02 · The responsibility ride
You own the problem. Someone else owns the decision. Good luck with your promotion.
My technical-leadership coaching case describes work that grew beyond a monitoring assignment. Making progress required a clear case for authority, capacity, and executive decisions—not simply asking the person to work harder.
Coaching case study · Published case studyTechnical leadership and enterprise influence03 · The five-minute errand
You wanted a fishing licence. The website would like to discuss deer.
I tried to buy a one-day fishing licence and described hunting-heavy pages, unclear choices, and difficulty accessing proof of purchase. The service organized itself around its own categories instead of the beginner’s task.
Personal experience · August 30, 2026I Wanted a Fishing Licence. New York Gave Me a Deer.04 · The departmental merry-go-round
Five departments. Five gold stars. One customer still on hold.
My corporate-marketing lessons describe brand, product, legal, sales, regional, and agency teams each optimizing their part while ownership of the whole experience blurs. The missing job is looking after the promise across those boundaries.
Career reflection · Published career reflectionCorporate marketing accountability lessons05 · The disappearing balance
$25 of gas. A $150 hold. Apparently your debit card needs a full tank too.
I wrote about finding a $150 pending debit-card hold after buying $25 of fuel. It was a temporary preauthorization, not a final $150 purchase. The customer problem was the unexpected loss of access to the money.
Personal experience · January 17, 2026The $150 hold for $25 of gas06 · The victory lap
The dashboard is green. The customer is seeing red. Great quarter, everyone.
In MarTech, I reflect on success measured through titles, budgets, activity, and internal approval while business outcomes remained distant. The article argues for reconnecting marketing with the product, service, and buying experience.
Published argument · April 14, 2026Marketing looks successful, but misses what matters07 · The never-ending follow-up
You unsubscribed. They miss you already. Seven times before lunch.
My MarTech essay connects personal boundaries with automated marketing that keeps pushing after disengagement. It argues that a refusal should remain a refusal, and that persistence belongs in solving the customer’s problem.
Published argument · January 30, 2026No means no, even when the system refuses to listen08 · The honesty test
“Bring your whole self to work.” Please leave your opinions in the car.
My essay on candor examines the gap between leaders inviting direct feedback and rewarding compliance. The problem is not collecting more opinions; it is making honest feedback safe enough to change a decision.
Published argument · August 22, 2025Marketing leadership asks for radical candor but wants compliance09 · The not-my-job booth
Your car is smoking. Help is outside their job description. The smoke didn’t read it.
I contrasted two responses to my smoking car: one gas station declined immediate help, while another engaged with the problem. My account asks what ownership looks like when a person’s need falls outside the routine.
Personal experience · August 6, 2026A Tale of Two Gas Stations10 · The people-first poster
“People first.” Printed beautifully. Practiced occasionally.
In my conversation with Richard Birke, I describe learning through a university bookstore that my teaching role had ended. The discussion connects that experience to workplaces that publish caring values while losing the human conversation.
Personal experience and interview · April 16, 2026Why Burnout Isn’t a Personal FailureFor truth seekers
What’s your “are you kidding me” moment?
The endless transfer. The broken promise. The simple request that became a whole afternoon. Tell me what happened and what should have happened instead.
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