Dell Laptops A Burning Issue

Thomas Forqueran has a message to Dell Computer Company after his laptop exploded: 'Fix Grandpa's truck'.

Better yet, buy him a new one. Forqueran's priceless truck is burnt beyond repair, caused by his Dell Inspiron laptop exploding.

July 13th, at Greg's Hideout, Lake Mead National Forest, Nevada:

"It was about 1pm. My friend Rod Riddle and I had just put the ramp up on the back of the truck to start loading our camping gear. I already had my Dell Inspiron laptop on the floor of the passenger side," says Forqueran.

"All of a sudden my truck – a family heirloom—burst into flames. Just three minutes previously, Rod had put a few things on the passenger seat and heard a 'popping' noise. Then I smelled smoke. I looked up and saw flames shooting out the passenger side window so I ran to the driver's side (I had three boxes of ammo in the glove box and wanted to get them outa there) and saw flames shooting from my Dell laptop. The flames had already engulfed the passenger side and were spreading fast. We both ran for cover and I barely got time to duck behind my quad [all terrain vehicle] when the ammo started firing and then the gas tank exploded."

It was 100 degrees outside and the men were stranded – Forqueran's cell phone had also gone up in a pillar of black smoke. Luckily for them, a nearby boater saw the fire and had to travel several miles out of the park to use a phone and call Park Ranger Brandon Marsmaker.

"The park ranger was our saving grace and he made an extra one-hour boat trip to bring us ice water," says Forqueran. Incredibly, the men escaped unharmed except for Riddle who suffered heat exhaustion and Forqueran had a few minor scrapes and burns. His biggest loss was the truck.

"I can never replace "Grandpa's truck" or all the hours of fun at the Route 66 Fun Runs or the daily compliments I received on my 'fine truck'. Grandpa bought it new and kept it that way.

"You can bet I'm going to pursue this. My homeowner's policy is covering the laptop and some of my personal property I had in the cab but I only had collision insurance on my truck. My insurance company had no problem realizing the laptop caused the fire.

"My truck is beyond repair and I'm pissed off. Sean from Dell Computers called and took a statement, saying he would pass it on to the legal department. He gave me a phone number to call if I didn't hear back from them right away. What a joke-- it was a number that requires you to key in a special numerical code. He forgot to give me the code.

Dell is going to have to pay attention sooner or later. The sooner they get hold of me the easier it'll be for them. And I'm not the only person whose laptop went up in flames – this is not an isolated incident. For more information on exploding laptops, visit from www.laywersandsettlements.com.


And here is another random article you might be interested in...

A Leadership Screw Driver: The 90 Day Improvement Plan

I was talking with first-line supervisors in a utility company about how to deal with poor performing employees.

"You've gotta put the screws to him!" suggested one supervisor to his colleague who was having trouble managing one particular poor performer.

"I've put so many screws to him he's dead weight!" the supervisor replied.

We all knew what "putting the screws to him" meant -- using rewards and punishments to force change in behavior.

The trouble is, rewards and punishments are the least effective ways of dealing with poor performers. That's because poor performers are usually smart, motivated, and tenacious -- when it comes to poor performing.

To change the behavior of poor performers, avoid the outside-in approach of rewards and punishments and cultivate an inside-out approach.

Aesop understood that. There is the Aesop's fable of the wind and sun competing to see who can remove a coat from a man. The wind tries to blow the coat off, but the man clutches it tightly to his body. Then the sun grows hotter, and the man, perspiring heavily and getting hotter and hotter, gladly rips the coat off.

The leadership lesson is clear: You can bluster and blow to get somebody to accomplish a task, but that's not as effective as setting up a situation in which the person gladly does it.

Here is a way to deal with poor performers using Aesop's lesson: the 90-Day Improvement Plan. A business leader tells me that he uses such plans as tools for change. Each plan is comprised of two pages: the first page pointing out that the individual must improve and the second page detailing the precise ways that improvement must take place.

"Be specific about improvement," he says. "For instance, one leader I gave an Improvement Plan to was very bright but was not getting results. He tended to deal with future, strategic issues; whereas our business wants results now, preferably yesterday. We identified specific ways he could improve his performance in getting results, such as precise calls to make and exact, quick-closing targets to pursue."

The objective of 90-Day Improvement Plans should not be to get rid of people. "Their objective is to improve performance," he says. "Though I do write on the first page, 'If the objectives are not met, further actions, including dismissal, can be taken.'"

He sometimes combines Improvement Plans with the force-ranking of all his leaders into a 20/60/20 continuum. The bottom 20 percent get the Plan. He says, "My objective is to have the bottom 20 percent be indispensable leaders."

Mind you, in developing a 90-day Improvement Plan, keep Aesop's fable in mind and seek not compliance but commitment. The Improvement Plan must not be imposed from without but agreed upon. Here is a four-step process to do that.

First, all parties must agree to develop a 90-Day Improvement Plan. If people are forced to do it, it won't work as it should.

Second, ask the poor performers to describe what should be in it. Remember, you can veto any suggestions. However, it is best if its key components come from the other people. Only after they have run out of suggestions do you incorporate yours.

Third, develop the Plan together, and agree on its action steps.

Fourth, implement it. Have weekly or bi-weekly meetings to insure the Plan is being carried out.

If the Plan is forced upon someone, it becomes just another screw, another imposed reward/ punishment. However, if it is put together with mutual consent, indeed with mutual enthusiasm, it becomes the screw driver by which poor performers may very well gladly put the screws into themselves.

2006 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com

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About Brent Filson

The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc.  and for more than 20 years has been helping leaders of top companies worldwide get audacious results. Sign up for his free leadership e-zine and get a free white paper: "49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results," at www.actionleadership.com. For more on the Leadership Talk: http://www.theleadershiptalk.com.

brent@actionleadership.com