In case you hadn’t heard, Andrea and Matt had their little baby boy! Also, he’s incredibly gorgeous, and not in an “all babies are beautiful by definition” kind of way. Good genes, those superheroes.

More tributes to Leslie written by The Morning News contributing writers.

My friend Leslie Harpold died a few days ago.

When she heard about the baby, Leslie sent us a care package because she thought an email wouldn’t be enough of a celebration. It contained:

-Punk Rock Baby and Hip Hop Baby, lullaby versions of punk rock and hip hop classics
-Two bibs, one that reads, “Notorious B.I.B.” and another that says, “Mutha Sucka”
-A onsie that says “Mama ain’t rasin’ no fool.”
-And mittens to keep the baby from scratching. One says “LOVE,” the other “HATE.”

Those mittens, especially, made me feel like a mom for the first time. They got me thinking about tough little baby hands.

Years ago, I wrote a quote on our hallway chalkboard that said, “What you are thinking about is what you are becoming.” Leslie read it and cringed. “That’s hideous,” she said.

I wish you’d known Leslie. And if you did know her, wasn’t she something?

My good friend Brent Rector of the Fuel Creative Group just finished designing his first book! It’s called Rockin’ Down the Highway: The Cars and People that Made Rock and Roll. It’s a gorgeous coffee table book filled with rock stars, hot rods, and lots of meaty articles about both. If you have a grease monkey in your life, you know what to get them for the holidays.

The most compelling parts of The Big Moo, edited by Seth Godin:

(Thanks for the loan, Evan!)

Name something.
“If it has a name, your peers can measure it. If it has a name, they can alter it. If it has a name, they can talk about it. And if it has a name, they can eliminate it.”

Finish with something remarkable.
“Those last five minutes make it easy for your customers to find the difference between you and everyone else.
“It takes 99 percent of the time you spend just to be average.”

Question yourself.
“What if we did things the way our competition did them?
What if we could charge ten times as much for this?
What if we had to charge one tenth as much?
If we were on Oprah, what would she say about us?
Is it generous?”

Ask your customers.
“He loves his customers, and his customers love him.”
“What am I doing right?
What am I doing wrong?
what can I do better?
What else do you wish I would do?
Tell them your biggest ideas about your company’s future.”

Learn from new hires.
“Make it a habit to sit down with your new hires at about the three-month point. But don’t give them a performance review—ask them to give your operation a performance review. After three months, their eyes are still fresh enough that they’ll be able to see things you’re missing. And they’ll have been on the job long enough to know how things really work. Chances are good that they’ll have great ideas to contribute.”

Reach out.
“Make a list of people you know whose minds you genuinely respect. Make it a point to call them on a regular basis for a conversation. All you have to ask is, ‘What’s new?’ Then listen and take notes. Journalists do it all the time; it’s called developing sources.”

Ignore critics, embrace criticism.
“Online critics are motivated by a need for attention… So ignore the harshest ones. But don’t ignore what they say. This is valuable feedback. It’s free, and it’s quick, and it’s useful.”

Know what the customer expects.
A product isn’t for everyone, it’s for someone.

Care.
It’s the essence of good customer service. Caring goes a long way. Caring shows up in your tone of voice, your interactions, and your policies.

Smaller can be better.
“A group of two people needs only one meeting to exchange information. Fifty people, on the other hand, need 1,225 one-on-one meetings to have a similar exchange… If you want to do something really extraordinary, take a colleague and set up your office in the Kinko’s across the street. Come back to headquarters when you’re done.”

Have fun.
Your attitude should say, ‘I’m prototyping, playing, and palling around.’