Don't Become an Expert — It's Overrated

Here's a fantastic post about how being an expert is overrated.

I couldn't agree more. If anything being an expert too often means that you are comfortable with the knowledge you have and are unable to see changes that might be happening.

Look at the newspaper industry and how many so called experts were too focused on protecting print revenue so they couldn't see the internet changing their business. Yet any non-expert who understands the internet would have been better suited to provide strategic direction...but of course they didn't have the 10 years of experience in the news industry so they were (and are still) ignored.

If you look at the top CEOs, you'll notice how they "hop" from one industry to the next. How is that possible? They know business and understand people.

Don't worry about who knows your industry and who's an expert...find people who can think differently and they will be the leaders in your industry.


I'm sick of being admonished that success is predicated on spending the next 10,000 hours of our lives becoming "an expert."

I'm sick of hearing about how I should be molding my life in the image of Michael Phelps or Albert Einstein, because the only thing that separates me from genius is identifying my strengths and working really really hard.

I'm calling bullshit.

 

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Charlie Crist is against gay adoptions in FL — How can I be GOProud?

Until recently candidates like Charlie Crist had me feed up with the republican party. I do see hope in the Republican party becoming more open
That's the why it's important to work to make it known to all, including politicians, that a lot of people in the GOP (including some of it's leadership) support LGBT issues. Charlie Crist doesn't speak for all republicans and is doing things in a desperate attempt to appear "Conservative." Note that it's not working.

What's important to point out in Scott's column is:
"Crist's office confirmed Friday that he supports the ban — even though a growing number of Floridians, including republicans, do not.
Imagine how much better a country for LGBT individuals we would be if LGBT issues weren't about partisan politics. We shouldn't reward folks like Charlie Crist by allowing them to turn these issues into a way to appear "Conservative." Instead we should do as those at CPAC did and boo them off the stage.

Folks can say what they want recent change in they typical republican candidate but most of them aren't trying to use LGBT issues as a way to show how conservative they are. Instead they stick to the issues that most American's are concerned about. That makes me GOProud.

If you are interested in learning more about GOProud, you can visit their website at GOProud.com and follow them on Twitter @GOProud.

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The GOP’s Big Tent? - GOProud participates in CPAC...better crowd then anti-gay groups

While I was flipping through the autobiography, a woman approached the booth. Catherine Sumner, it turned out, was part of GOProud, a group of openly gay Republicans and conservatives that for the first time is taking part in CPAC. “Is this your flyer?” Sumner demanded, waving the white and green pamphlet. Thus launched a debate about gays in the military that pretty much ended when the booth attendee told her that homosexuality is a sin and she's going to hell.

“It's insulting,” Sumner, 31, who edits a military magazine, said turning away. “Across the board the reaction to GOProud's presence here has been positive, but then you have guys like this. Even Dick Cheney came out and says he supports us. Conservatives have to be more inclusive, they have to be.” In fact, just one group, Liberty University, boycotted CPAC over the inclusion of GOProud, though the Catholic crowd weren't the only ones unnerved by their presence: one booth down from GOProud's set up in the fourth row, those manning the National Organization for Marriage, which works to ban gay marriage, kept casting nervous – and slightly envious – glances at the somewhat larger crowd surrounding GOProud's booth.

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Follow me on Google Buzz - http://www.google.com/profiles/MSokoloff

So I'm using Google Buzz quite a bit and wanted to invite everyone to follow me on there. I'm posting more on there then on Twitter or Posterous. Here's a link to my profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/MSokoloff

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Love Mint.com but hate Mint.com customer service and support

It's great to have a fantastic website...but if you can't provide quality customer service you are going to lose customers.

I've been using Mint.com for a couple years and love it. I've referred it to many people and still would but I also would like to get some decent customer service.

For your enjoyment and in hopes that Mint.com/Intuit will see this and fix their problems here are my e-mails over the past couple of months with their customer service rep.

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On 10/9/09 I submitted:

Tribune 401K - Currently tribune is using Hewitt and when I use any of my tribune or Hewitt logins I can't get it to work.

What is the URL for the account access?

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response that day:

 

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Mint.com.

We have two factors why customers may fail to add their accounts. These are:

1. Customer's Bank login URL is not same with Mint supported login URL

2. Customer's Bank Login Form is not same with Mint.

To identify and determine the root cause of the issue. We need details on the factors that we have mentioned.

A. Login URL, please provide your login URL.

B. Bank login form with HTML screenshot.

Provide us the HTML screenshot of security questions for this bank (Click the file menu of your browser then save as html). Please provide us with the complete set of security questions being asked at your bank site in the form of drop downs in page such as "Challenge Security Questions" Page. You can get these Challenge Security questions by logging in at your bank site and navigating further from links such as "User Options" or "Preferences" link. Alternatively, you can also get these security questions by navigating further from "Enroll Now" link.

Once filed, please remain the account attached though with error till we resolve the problem. If you have removed it please re-add and leave the account attached.

We greatly appreciate your assistance.

Thank you,

Michelle Tatlonghari

Mint.com

 

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My response the same day:

 

Hi!

Thanks for your prompt response.

First I go to: https://tribuneathome.com/extranet/index.jsp to login (See Extranet.html)

Then I click to get to the Hewitt area which sends a popup to authenticate (see Hewitt Pop Up.html)

Then I am taken to the lb22.resources.hewitt.com domain.

I hope this helps.

Let me know if more information is needed.

matt

 

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October 11:

Dear Matt,

I am forwarding this issue to our Engineering team to find the root cause then eventually solve this problem. Sorry for the frustration this is causing you. We will keep you posted for any update and once when we know it has been resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thank you,

Michelle Tatlonghari

Mint.com

 

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On 11/5/09:

Hello,

As per our Engineering team analysis we found that you have deleted the account from Mint. Please re add the account in order to investigate the issue further.

Note: Please do not delete your account while we are investigating this issue.

Thank you,

Michelle

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I don't recall deleting it but sure enough it was gone.

 

10/16/09:

My apologies....It has been added back in.

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11/5/09: (almost a month latter to tell me what the correct URL is...note that at Mint.com it says the URL is Tribune.com which is incorrect)

 

Hi,

As per our Engineering team analysis, we found that we support Tribune - 401k account with the following login URL http://resources.hewitt.com/tribune/

Please check whether he can logon to the end site using the login URL, if yes than please update the credentials in Mint, if not then please let us know so that we can file a new service request.

Please check and contact us back if the issue has been resolved. Thank you for the assistance and have a good day!

 

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11/5/09:

 

Hi,

Thanks for your help.

I was able to login to that URL. I made sure that I am using the same credentials in Mint. I even removed the account from Mint and put it back in and I still can not authenticate.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

matt

 

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11/6/09:

Hi,

I will escalate your response to our Engineering team regarding to this issue. We will keep you posted for any update and once when we know it has been resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thank you for the assistance and have a good day!

Note: Please do not remove your account while we are investigating this issue.

Thank you,

Michelle Tatlonghari

Mint.com

 

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11/10/9:

 

Hi,

After our Engineering team analysis, we see that the login URL which we are using is http://resources.hewitt.com/tribune/, which is different from the login URl https://tribuneathome.com/extranet/index.jsp which you are using.

Please communicate it to the user and raise a NSR request if required for the other URL.

--

OK so now this is the second time they are sending me the new url which I have told them I can login at. Also notice that they forwarded me copy that was clearly not meant for me.

--

 

11/10/09:

I am able to login on both URLs but not on Mint.

Matt

Sent from my iPhone

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After not hearing back for 2 months I started trying different usernames and passwords.

--

 

1/13/10:

Hi,

You have provided the username consisting 6 characters as against the minimum length of the username being 8 characters and maximum being 20 characters for Tribune - 401k account which is resulting in an error: 402 for the user.

Please update the proper credentials in the end site and in the application for the above account and following confirmation from your end that the customer has performed the above task, we will be able to proceed further with our investigation into the reported issue.

Thank you,

Michelle Tatlonghari

Mint.com

 

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1/13/10:

I have tried various passwords and can not get it to work.

Can you tell me the URL where I can login outside of Mint? It provides Tribune.com but there is no login there.

Also just to make sure...there are other Mint users who are able to login to the Tribune 401k account?

Thanks for your help!

matt

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I figured I would check one more time that I was logging in at the same adress. I was also trying to so if anyone else was able to actually login for this provider.

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1/19/10:

Hello,

After analysis we see that the login URL which we are using is http://resources.hewitt.com/tribune/, which is different from the login URl

https://tribuneathome.com/extranet/index.jsp  which you are using.

If you can't login to the URL above, you may request we support your bank/financial institution by clicking "request that we add your bank" or "tell us about it" links in the Add Account tab, after you search for a certain bank. Just fill out all the necessary information then submit.

While Mint's provider does a solid job at capturing many account types for many financial institutions, there will be times when one or the other may not be supported from the single login. We're gathering data on this information and will attempt to get them added via our provider. Unfortunately, Mint can't provide an ETA for this.

Here's what you can do:

1. Do a search for your financial institution on our site.

2. If the search result yields just one account, this means that we only support that account as of this time and the others are not.

3. If the search yields multiple results, such as (bank name), (bank name-credit card), or (bank name-investments), this means that we support the banking, credit card & investment account options for this bank.

Thank you,

Michelle Tatlonghari

Mint.com

 

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Hey that e-mail looks familiar.

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1/20/10:

I just confirmed that I can login on that site...and updated the Mint info and it now says "Temporary Issue Connecting."

But I can confirm that I can connect at http://resources.hewitt.com/tribune/

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It's as if we are making progress....I'm getting a different error message. And here just to make sure they know I tell them I am able to login at the URL they provided.

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2/11/10:

Hello,

Try deleting the Tribune - 401k account card from Your Accounts by clicking on the "Delete" mark on the upper right corner of the account box, then add it again. Some users are able to fix the problem by doing this. Make sure you set up same set of security questions on Mint.com exactly in the order and as they appear on your bank site.

We analyzed the issue and found that you have not updated the credentials correctly. Please try to update the correct credentials and refresh the account in our provider and confirm the resolution.

Please contact me back if the problem persist.

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WHAT! After all this you can only tell me to do what I've clearly been doing (and you've e-mailed to tell me not to do)?

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2/11/10:

Hi Michelle,

I've removed and added back the card.

I am still getting a "Temporary Issue Signing In" message. I have confirmed that I can login at http://resources.hewitt.com/tribune/ using those exact credentials.

I also tested putting in incorrect credentials and I get a message that lets me know my credentials are incorrect instead of the "Temporary Issue Signing In." I have put back my correct credentials.

I am using the same credentials that work at http://resources.hewitt.com/tribune/.>

matt

 

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Again I'm reminding them that I am using the correct URL.

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Hello,

After analysis we see that the login URL which we are using is

http://resources.hewitt.com/tribune/, which is different from the login URl https://tribuneathome.com/extranet/index.jsp which you are using.

If your account type is not listed though others are there, you may request a support for your bank/financial institution by clicking "request that we add your bank" or "tell us about it" links in the Add Account tab, after you search for a certain bank. Just fill out all the necessary information then submit.

While Mint's provider does a solid job at capturing many account types for many financial institutions, there will be times when one or the other may not be supported from the single login. We're gathering data on this information and will attempt to get them added via our provider. Unfortunately, Mint can't provide an estimate for this. As of this time we do not support MFA (multiple-factor authentication) login.

Here's how to spot this issue:

1. Do a search for your financial institution on our site.

2. If the search result yields just one account, this means that we only support that account as of this time and the others are not.

3. If the search yields multiple results, such as (bank name), (bank name-credit card), or (bank name-investments), this means that we support the banking, credit card & investment account options for this bank.

For current announcements and updates, please keep an eye on our forums at forums.mint.com.

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THIS E-MAIL AGAGIN!!! Clearly they aren't reading my e-mails.

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2/15/10:

I am using http://resources.hewitt.com/tribune and stated that in my last e-mail.

I feel like you aren't even reading my e-mail but are just copying and pasting predefined e-mails.

I am using http://resources.hewitt.com/tribune and am getting a  message of "Temporary Issues Signing In."

Please help me troubleshoot this.

matt

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About ready to give up.

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Why Google Buzz might just work - It's a good distraction

I had two quick thought about Google Buzz when I first heard about it:
- Really, another status update site?
- If Google is getting in the game they are going to be serious about it

Now i've realized that the main reason it might just work is because it's so connected to Gmail. As of this morning I have checked my "Buzz" at least 10 times and haven't even looked at my Facebook or Twitter.

That's because every time I check my e-mail I see that little number in parenthesis and it make me click. I'm sure some will find it a distraction....but let's be honest Twitter and Facebook are also pretty big distractions. Which is why they work.

So I'm posting this to my Posterous which will feed to Facebook, FriendFeed and Twitter which will feed to Google Buzz...which will hopefully give you a quick distraction from your work. Now it's your turn to reply and give me yet another distraction. Thanks!

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Why some Democrats and Republicans don't support PAYGO

While the Republicans are being criticized for not supporting PAYGO, I thought it was important to highlight that not all the Democrats support the legislation. Fifteen democrats didn't vote for it including Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach who was at one point a cosponsor. Here is the explanation of why.

Meanwhile, a Kosmas aide wrote this in response to the question about today’s votes:

“She is a strong supporter of PAYGO (cosponsored it, voted to pass it clean), but she is committed to fiscal responsibility and felt that despite the procedural attempt to separate out the PAYGO from the debt limit increase, the underlying resolution would increase the debt limit and she does not want to play procedural games with our nation’s financial future.”

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