I wonder if Marshall McLuhan meant that the 15 minutes of fame had to correctly spell your name or not?
Peter Brockmann (even though the WSJ misspelled my name in the article) made it to the Wall Street Journal's Cubicle Corner (subscription required) by Jared Sandberg, September 18, 2007. Of course, they do get my newspaper subscription correct even though I haven't received a paper with my name on it in 3 years. Our delivery man delivers a paper with every other subscriber's name on it, but never mine.
Here's my excerpt:
When Peter Brockmann worked for a high-tech company, he witnessed a peer get a promotion to a job Mr. Brockmann thought was well over his head. Holy cow, he thought to himself, how did that happen?
At first it was a blow to his confidence, he says. "But then it helps it. I was emboldened." His colleague's success prompted him to start discussions with his boss that led to a promotion, 30% raise and options just three months later. Had that colleague not been promoted, he says, "I wouldn't have felt it, or thought about it."
The article, entitled "If That Guy Earned A Promotion, Mine Can't Be Far Behind" was about relative self-esteem. We are who we think we are considering the other blokes around us. Fun.
