Welcome to this week’s Elephant Post Question. I’m Greg Lambert, and you’re not.

Since we’re only a couple of days away from Christmas, we thought we’d throw out a fun Elephant Post this week that was 35 years in the making. We love Monty Python, and Star Trek, and Star Wars, and Doctor Who… but we are all big fans of Saturday Night Live, too. There’s hardly a day that goes by that I don’t toss out some quote from SNL… usually as a snarky response to something I just read or in a conversation that needs to be lightened up. In fact, most of the time that I talk with my co-blogger Toby Brown, the conversation usually starts out with “Toby, you ignorant slut.”

So, we’ve got some library, competitive intelligence and marketing folks sharing with us some of the SNL quotes they like to pull out of the bag at work and why they like to use it.

I think we’ll skip the Elephant Post next week, but that will give you an additional week to come up with a contribution for our first Elephant Post of 2011. What Is Your New Year’s Resolution For Your Profession? Instructions for how you can contribute are listed at the bottom of this post (it is super easy!!)

Law Librarian Perspective
Cindy Bassett
Bad Idea

I am the person in meetings coming up with crazy projects for everyone to participate in.  The ones that will take over my colleagues’ work life . Some of my ideas are brilliant (at least to me and the patrons they would serve) and some…not so much. At times, I can almost hear the “Bad Idea” mutter coming from my colleagues.
I never think this myself though. 😉

Law Librarian and Competitive Intelligence Liaison  Perspective
Jan Rivers
The Big Picture

“And that, my friends, is the Big Picture.”
During SNL’s Weekend Update, A. Whitney Brown would comment on current events and put them in perspective by ending with, “And that, my friends, is the Big Picture.”
I make passing reference this at work and live by it on a daily basis.
To bring value to your business, you must be aware of the Big Picture.
What are the goals and objectives of your firm? How does your organization operate? How are profits generated? What are the issues that keep management up at night, etc., etc.?
You must understand how you fit within the Big Picture of not only your firm, but also your profession and industry.
If you don’t have the context of the larger whole, you make decisions in a vacuum and waste time and effort on tasks that are not valued or necessary.
With the advent of the “New Normal,” it is more important than ever to have a robust understanding of the Big Picture surrounding your work and your firm so that you can be nimble and proactive in the face of change.

Competitive Intelligence Perspective
Zena Applebaum
Hit and Run, Dine and Dash….


As CI people, we sometimes have to deliver news that no one wants to hear: a key competitor won a bid that your firm lost, a client has had a class action filed against them and so forth. Often, when faced with delivering this news, I think of Dennis Miller and the Weekend Update.  “That’s the news, folks, and I am outta here!”

Marketing Analyst Perspective
Danny Johnson
A hug from God

“I believe it’s just God hugging us tighter” – Tina Fey as Sarah Palin in response to her thoughts on global warming.
Every Friday the marketing and support teams at NetDocuments have lunch together and politics seems to be the popular discussion point. When a climate change issue came up a year or two ago, someone asked me (the moderate voice in the room) what my stance on global warming was. Being the witty man I am, and being fresh off of seeing SNL, I said, “”I believe it’s just God hugging us tighter.”” Half the room thought I was a mastermid…the other half thought I was an idiot. I don’t think their opinions have changes since.

More recenlty, when Russia was awarded the 2018 World Cup, a co-worker sent me an email saying, “at least Sarah Palin will be able to watch the World Cup from her house.”

Internet Marketing Perspective
Lisa Salazar
That’s so funny, I forgot to laugh!

Here in law firm-ville, humour can be sorely lacking.
Every once in a while, to smooth the way, it’s good to inject some humour into meetings. It’s amazing how things can turn around and lighten up.
So maybe, next time you walk past your colleague, just say, “”there’s that wild and crazy guy.””
Make ’em laugh. I dare ya.

Knowledge Management Perspective
More Cowbell!
How many times do you sit in meetings and watch as the discussion focuses in on some minutia while skipping over the pivotal pieces that are important to getting things done? Whenever that happens, I want to say “you know what this policy needs?? More Cowbell!” 
Alternative Fees Perspective
I’m Not Worthy!

NOTE: Actually, Toby didn’t contribute to this week’s post, so I just thought I’d put that in there to make him feel bad about not contributing! – GL
What Is Your New Year’s Resolution For Your Profession?

What are the things you want to accomplish this year? What trends do you see on the horizon? What trends will get left behind in the year that was? 
Let us know what you plan to do this year. You can go to the Google Docs Form to share your New Year’s Resolution with us! Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!