U2 Stands Up for a Free Iran
How long must we sing this song?
July 3, 2009
June 26, 2009
Jack and Suzy Welch's Reality Advertising
Jack and Suzy Welch star in a Microsoft-sponsored, web-based, business reality show. The site is here, but it's too cluttered (I think they were trying to be cool).
I do think this is a great advertising campaign, if the branding fools don't destroy it (by placing too many Microsoft (yawn) pitches in the margins, for example).
Watch the first show below. Jack jumps in and "surfaces" a few issues at Connect by Hertz - a new car-sharing venture. In a way, the fact that Jack pulls these issues out in 5 minutes sorta tells us how out of it Hertz is.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
After watching this I get the feeling they don't understand VG's Box1-2-3 strategy for innovation. In fact, they are most likely going to fail. After 30 days, the CEO has still NOT created a global business unit for Griff. Not good. No follow through on commitments.
One more thing. Why doesn't Microsoft bring Jack and Suzy into Microsoft for a few days? They could wake the sleepyheads real fast. Stop one: The Automotive group!
Also, I'd like to see Obama send Jack and Suzy into GM for six weeks. That would sure be a reality show worth watching.
BTW: A quick ecosystem analysis shows that Zipcar is beating them hands down. Rankings: almost 600,000 for Connect by Hertz and 22,000 by Zipcar.
A Brave Witness
June 24, 2009
John Hagel on "The Big Shift"
June 17, 2009
ROI for Democracy: The Value of Twitter
What's the business value of democracy?
Finally, the real value of Twitter revealed>>
“We’ve been struck by the amount of video and eyewitness testimony,” said Jon Williams, the BBC world news editor. “The days when regimes can control the flow of information are over.”
June 14, 2009
Twittering Iran: The Struggle for Democracy in Real Time
This is very moving - the faint twitter of Democracy in Iran.
The question: is this going to be another Tiananmen Square? Or is there hope for a middle-eastern Wenceslas Square?
Ahmadinejad, you have lost the election and your soul.
June 11, 2009
Health Care Scare Tactics
Nicholas Kristof's article on the difference between health care in the US and health care in Canada is a must read for everyone.
And it's good to know that the AMA is a crooked organization as well. What did you expect? Medicine is a for-profit business. Anything else is socialism... right?
The Thanatos Syndrome
And darkness covered his eyes.
Madness = an 88-year-old white supremacist.
Who is to blame? The NRA? The schools? Parents? Republican extremism? FOX News? The Neo-Nazis? Operation Rescue?
Hate closes down the world.. And hate speech begets hate-filled actions.
June 8, 2009
O Jerusalem: The Rise of Jewish Fascism
The extremists seem to have taken over Israel's soul.
Watch >>
Tragic blindness.
Max Blumenthal says about his video:
I hope those who have watched it, especially those predisposed to dismiss it as anti-Israel propaganda or shock video with “no news value,” will at least ask how vitriolic levels of racism are able to flow through the streets of Jerusalem like sewage, why the grandsons of Holocaust survivors feel compelled to offer the Shoah as justification to behave like fascist street thugs, and how the sons and daughters of successful Jewish American families casually merged Zionist cant with crude white supremacism. The willful avoidance of these painful questions by self-proclaimed supporters of Israel is setting the stage for the complete delegitimization of the country they claim to love. As Obama said, “any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. So whatever we think of the past, we must not be prisoners of it.”
And on top of this we have morons like Rupert Murdoch.
On the other side, we have the moving story of Josh Lipsky and his trip to Buchenwald.
I see how easy it is to use hate to unite people - the Christian fundamentalists, white supremacists, Jewish settlers, Zionists, Hamas, Taliban, Al-Qaeda - flip sides of the currency of terror.
The world is not against you, Israel. You are against you.
Hat-tips to Dera and Steven for sending me these stories.
June 7, 2009
Crooked Politics
Funny how Palin has to steal content from Gingrich. If she was doing this in college, she'd be expelled...
Maybe stealing is at the core of the GOP brand DNA?
June 5, 2009
The Bravest Man in History a.k.a.The Birth of Chinese Democracy
Never, never, never, never. Never will we forget this anonymous hero.
When China does get democracy one day, they will build a statue for him at the very spot in Tiananmen Square.
June 2, 2009
Virtual Warfare: China Leads the US
"When the US Department of Defense is the target of no fewer than 128 information infrastructure attacks per minute from China, and we discover that while DoD is almost universally using off-the-shelf Microsoft Windows systems while China is engaged in working toward 100% military deployment of security hardened FreeBSD, it becomes clear that there’s definitely something wrong with US information security policy."
Burger King: "Global Warming is Baloney"
Business stupidity is always a sign of something else more worrisome. Several Burger King franchises in Tennessee have been displaying "Global Warming is Baloney" signs outside their restaurants.
Now that they've decided to speak their minds, how about we speak ours with signs like these:
- "Try our Massive-Coronary-Failure Burger - Buy 1 get 2 Free"
- "No Mad Cows Allowed on Premises"
- "Our Burgers are E-Coli free, or Your Money Back"
- "Our Rats are Sanitized for Your Protection"
- "Our Employees Wash Their Hands after Using the Restroom"
See what I'm getting at?
The franchises are all owned by a company called the Mirabile Investment Corporation (MIC) that owns more than 40 Burger Kings across Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.
Nice going, guys. What next? A "whites-only" sign?
Burger King should yank their licenses. I'm sure they can get some other, more responsible, business owners to take over.
May 31, 2009
John McEnroe: Give Tennis a Chance
The political machinations you find in national sports authorities, whether it's US Track and Field (remember when they denied Carl Lewis a chance for his tenth gold in the relay?) or the USTA - which is hemming and hawing over letting John McEnroe set up a Tennis Academy in New York - are always horrible to watch, and even worse to experience.
It's always gratifying to see people who never played the game at the highest level make big money off the game and mess it over at the same time.
Think Sepp Blatter's FIFA and Samaranch's IOC.
Disasters all around.
So who do we have to bribe to get John McEnroe a shot at giving back to the US tennis community?
Like McEnroe or not, you have to agree he always, always, showed up for the Davis Cup. I remember watching the great Arthur Ashe talk about McEnroe's dedication to the red, white and blue. Let's give him a chance, you guys in the USTA administration. There really isn't anything to lose at this point. Think about it. Who do you want? McEnroe or FEMA's Brownie?
George Lakoff: Empathy, Sotomayor, and Democracy
The attack on empathy is an attack on progressive thinking >>
Israel Doesn't Want Peace...
By building settlements on private Palestinian property, the Israeli government are creating conditions against their long-term interests.
Friends don't let friends drive drunk. That's precisely what President Obama is doing - showing Israel some tough love. Netanyahu knows better, and yet the drunken folly continues.
What are they thinking? What is Israel waiting for? Sanctions?
May 28, 2009
Julian Marley: Harder Days
Sometimes a song just sticks in your head...
Seth Godin had a similar experience, apparently, and it was also caused by a reggae-riddim.
May 12, 2009
Customer-Driven Innovation: Interview with Gaurav Bhalla
Here's my "Customer-Driven Innovation interview" with Gaurav Bhalla for the Emory Marketing Institute.
According to Bhalla, the key building blocks of value co-creation are:
Listening: learning about consumers' experiences; their angst, frustrations, desires, and aspirations
Sustaining value co-creation conversations: meaningful conversations that yield the raw material for co-creation
Experimenting and rapid prototyping: to manage risk, improvise, and enable speedy value co-creation
Execution: only when co-created value is delivered can the next round of value co-creation be initiated
May 3, 2009
The Heretical Views of Freeman Dyson
Global warming greatly exaggerated?
What's wrong with Freeman Dyson?
Maybe the climate models he's criticizing are off - but perhaps he hasn't seen the pine beetle destruction across North America - all the way from British Columbia to New Mexico. Perhaps he hasn't seen the dry, hot weather across California. Perhaps he hasn't seen the melting Glaciers in Glacier National Park. Perhaps he hasn't seen the mild winters in the Rockies. Perhaps he hasn't gotten out of his air-conditioned office...
This is what happens when you get too smart. I agree with his principal point - that PhDs are, for the most part, a bunch of nerds who are too busy examining parts of the elephant to see the animal itself. I even agree that we are not spending enough time working on poverty, infectious diseases, public education and public health. But to say that global warming is somehow less important misses the entire point. Of course they are all related. Of course we have to become radically more serious about sustainable development. But too say something this absurd? Really.
Here's where I do find myself agreeing with him:
I say the United States has less than a century left of its turn as top nation. Since the modern nation-state was invented, about the year 1500, a succession of countries have taken turns as top nation. First it was Spain, then France, then and Britain, than America. Each term lasted about 150 years. Ours began in 1920 so it should end about 2070.
I agree with his analysis as well:
The reason why each top nation's term comes to an end is that the top nation becomes overextended militarily, economically and politically. Greater and greater efforts are required to maintain the number one position. Finally, the overextension becomes so extreme that the whole structure collapses. Already we can see in the American posture today some clear symptoms of overextension.
But here's where he's missed the boat: the two are connected. If the United States decides to re-invent itself as a sustainable economy, it will lead for another 200 years, period. That is what Obama and Gore have figured out already, but somehow, this smart heretic has not connected the dots.
Losing the Secret Ingredient in the H-Bomb
For decades nonproliferation experts have argued that, once unleashed, the nuclear genie cannot be stuffed back in the bottle. But they probably didn't consider the possibility that a country with nuclear bomb-making know-how might forget how to manufacture a key atomic ingredient. Yet that's precisely what happened to the US recently, and national security experts say this institutional memory lapse raises serious questions about the federal government's nuclear weapons management.
Whoops! Is this what a military-industrial complex "senior" moment looks like?
April 30, 2009
Byron Katie: Challenging Your Assumptions
The Work of Byron Katie can be used as a tool to challenge business assumptions.
Here, on Byron Katie's blog we find the following business inquiry: "Having More Customers Means Having More Profits" in which a biz-dev manager starts questioning his team's belief that "more customers equals more profit."
The process is described as business inquiry.
Here are the manager's conclusions:
"Having fewer customers means having more profit."
"One, we could focus on the customers that have the strongest cash positions, the ones who are most likely to weather the recession.
"Two, we could stop wasting time on difficult customers, the ones that keep changing their orders. They're very high maintenance, but we keep them because we think we need them to meet our numbers.
"And three, we could stop serving customers that don't pay in a timely manner, the ones with poor payment history."
More at Byron Katie's blog >>
April 28, 2009
Swine Flu Updates: How Twitter Makes a Difference (UPDATED)
UPDATED: HealthMap from Google.org and the CDC >>
I have to say I'm not impressed by the swine-flu coverage in the traditional media.
What's interesting is that one company - Veratect - has done a better job of identifying, elevating, and monitoring this crisis.
Their swine-flu Twitter feed is here. Judge for yourself. >>
Other good sources include the CDC and Google News, and the Flu Wiki...
Photos here >>
Background: the politics of health >>
April 25, 2009
Will Hunger Disrupt Civilization?
The biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries to cause government collapse.
Read all about it in Scientific American >>
Hitler: Not the Right Management Guru for India
There was disturbing report at the beginning of the week which said that Mein Kampf was flying off the bookshelves in New Delhi, fueled by demand from students "who see it as a self-improvement and management strategy guide for aspiring business leaders, and who were happy to cite it as an inspiration."
I don't think so.
In my view, this is merely the latest round in the political extremism which is being fomented by groups like the BJP and thugs like Varun Gandhi.
When politicians use race, religion, and background to divide people and win votes, you know we're in a bad place. It doesn't matter if it's the Republicans or the BJP using these tactics, it's just plain evil.
We don't need another Sanjay Gandhi.
There are plenty of candidates out there vying to be India's Hitler. The question is: where is India's Obama?
Tata Nano or not, India still has a long way to go to get to Satyameva Jayate
Will a real Gandhi please stand up?
April 11, 2009
Flutter: The New Twitter
The ad-agencies will probably take this seriously.
Presenting: the world of nano-blogging >>
Too much fun!
April 10, 2009
Backlash: How Early Adopters React When the Mass Market Embraces a New Brand
David Reibstein's theory holds true online as well. Let's look at an example of how this works with online communities, knowledge - based communities in particular. Let's say we build an online community around a specific topic. When the site starts up, we attract the early adopters - some of them thought leaders in their fields. The posts, articles, and debates are generally led by a handful of these thinkers, and they attract a following. The newbies, as they engage with the community start off by learning, asking questions, sometimes just lurking. The quality of these early debates is typically high and participation intense and invigorating.
So what happens when the community suddenly experiences growth - massive numbers of the hoi-pollloi descend on the site and suddenly the quality of discussions takes on a Twitter-like feel - stupid and stupider. The old school rebels, first through silence, and second by disengaging. This takeover by the wisdom of the masses can be avoided, through ruthless editorial direction and skilled moderators. And every once in while, the new participants challenge assumptions that deserve to be challenged, and are given their space in the sun.
So how do we manage this growth and stay true to the community's intent?
Three options come to my mind:
1) Manage membership - simply keep the community at growing in a measured way - firing the "bottom" 10% each year, and bringing in a fresh crop of participants at 20%... This is the surest way to sustainable growth.
2) Create a merit-based aristocacy - with tiered membership based on the value of the participant's contributions.
3) Create a feeder community which is built for the masses and an elite community for the thought leaders and their followers. Moderate the interaction between these groups with the possibility of upward migration based on peer-based invitations.
You'll notice I am not advocating open communities where everyone has an equal voice. That's because I'm not talking about social communities, but communities of practice where respect is reserved for the competent.
April 7, 2009
Axel Springer: Thriving in a Dying Industry - Newspapers!
While newspapers and print outfits are losing their shirts all around us, the German company Axel Springer recently reported its "highest net income since the company was founded" 62 years ago.
How is this possible?
What are they doing that our friends at the NY Times aren't?
From the NYTimes:
Axel Springer generates 14 percent of its revenue online, more than most American newspapers, even though the markets in which it operates — primarily Germany and Eastern Europe — are less digitally developed than the United States.
One reason, Mr. Döpfner said, is that Axel Springer has dared to compete with itself. Instead of trying to protect existing publications, it acquired or created new ones, some of which distribute the same content to different audiences.
At one newsroom in Berlin, for example, journalists produce content for six publications: the national newspaper Die Welt, its Sunday edition and a tabloid version aimed at younger readers; a local paper called Berliner Morgenpost, and two Web sites.
Though advertising has slumped in Germany, Axel Springer has been able to offset the shortfall by raising the price of publications like Bild, which sells more than three million copies. Now Axel Springer is looking for “undervalued assets” to buy.
Mr. Döpfner said the company would even have a look in the United States “if a meaningful position arises in a significant market.”
OK. So what are newspapers in this country going to do? Stay tuned.
April 3, 2009
Obama Restoring Brand America
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
April 2, 2009
The End of Mexico?
This isn't funny at all.
And once Mexico falls, we're next.
April 1, 2009
March 30, 2009
How to Use YouTube for Market Research
Have you ever used YouTube's "Insights: Statistics and Data" feature?
It's a remarkable tool for effective market research in real time.
Let me walk you through how I use it to:
- test new product ideas
- learn what customers like right now
- deduce where events should be held
- learn exactly which portion of a video clip grabs audience attention
- see which topics get customers engaged and why
- learn the exact demographic profile for each product
The first thing to do is create a separate video for each product or idea you are interested in selling. If you're selling an information product - like a video or an audio, simply use a short excerpt. Keep it under five minutes. Three minutes is optimal. Upload your clips, make them visible to the public, and watch the fun begin.
In a few days or when you get to over a thousand views, it's time to check your YouTube Insights.
Here's what YouTube gives you:
This summary of your results:
(1) Tells you how many views your videos are getting. This will tell you if you're getting any attention at all.
(2) Shows you which video is getting the most attention. Now you know what your prospects like - and the margin between what's getting attention and what's not.
(3) Expose your real demographics. Not too fancy, but you get to see the age range your product resonates with. Every now and then I'm surprised.
(4) Identifies the regions where you are getting traction. Again, results do vary by geographic location, so you can decide if you want to spend some money to gain exposure in a particular country or state, for that matter, or if you want to focus on your natural geography - the places in which you're getting organic attention.
Now let's go further:
(1) View your traffic over time - days, months, a year.
(2) Sort video popularity by region - again, a handy guide to what the reaction is to your message... country by country.
(3) Details on which videos are winners and which are not. Based on this you can decide which product merits backing, and which ones need more work.
(1), (2) and (3) Which videos are getting the most traffic and from where...
(1), (2) and (3) Which countries (or states) are most receptive to your work!
(1) gives you the age breakdown for your products. Is it senior women or adolescent boys?
(1), (2) and (3) tell you which products get the most response from your prospects - positive or negative. Let's you know early on if you need to go back to the drawing board. A quick measure of engagement.
Probably the most powerful piece of information, this tells you the level of attention - the peaks and valleys - for your work. Use it to optimize your messaging. Now you too can be a Frank Luntz (just don't go over to the dark side).
All of this information costs nothing. And from my experience, the quality of results can't be matched easily, not even by expensive focus groups!
March 29, 2009
The Tata Nano: The Rise of Ascetic Engineering
Is Ratan Tata the re-incarnation of Henry Ford?
Suddenly, innovation takes a front seat in the automotive world. And it happens to be led by an Indian engineering sensibility: frugal enough to do the job. This is the type of value-engineering that shifts the mindset of an entire industry:
13 iPod Nanos = 1 Tata Nano. Which Nano do you want?
Congratulations, Ratan Tata and the Tata Motors team of engineers. Brilliant!
March 27, 2009
King Hussein Leadership Prize 2008: Bob Freling
Queen Noor today presented the 2008 King Hussein Leadership Prize to my friend Bob Freling, the executive director of the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), at the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Awards in Aspen, Colo.
Past winners of the award include Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and Muhammad Yunus, founder and creator of the Grameen Bank.
Bob Freling is one of those people who go about making the world a better place without any fanfare.
Under his quiet leadership, SELF has pioneered innovative applications of solar power such as for drip irrigation in Benin, telemedicine in the Amazon rainforest, vaccine refrigeration in Rwanda, online distance learning in South Africa, and microenterprise development in Nigeria. These successful pilot projects culminated in SELF's whole-village approach, or Solar Integrated Development model. Since 1990, SELF has completed projects in 18 countries, making it a leader among non-governmental organizations in realizing practical and cost-effective alternative energy solutions for rural villagers.
Congratulations, Bob!
Maybe the folks at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will pay attention to Bob now.
Videos here >>
March 26, 2009
Cloning Your Milk (Why the FDA is Out to Lunch)
I was stunned to see this ad today:
At first, I thought it was joke, but then, after seeing this site I wasn't so sure:
It seemed like a spoof - note the "Clone Zone" with the "Fun Facts on Cloning."
My hilarity turned sour when I realized they were serious.
Now I'm asking you, do you really believe the FDA when they tell you it's safe?
Not these crooks.
Obama needs to weed out the Bush appointees, quickly.
Who knows what they'll approve next? And the worst thing, they aren't even required to label cloned products.
Let's hope they're not cloning mad cows.
And who is Linda?
March 21, 2009
Killing Creativity at Google
Goodbye Google, says Douglas Bowman.
Apparently the engineers at Google have killed his creativity.
Is this the triumph of data-driven decision-making?
In my view, and I do like data, this is a minor symptom of Google losing its soul. When petty data kills the poet, you know its time to hit the eject button.
Head for the hills, Douglas!
Sidenote: this reminds me of a Peter Drucker story. Drucker insisted, during one of those waste/cost-cutting-witch-hunting exercises, that the consultants should not go after every last penny. Doing so, in his mind, would destroy the soul of the company. Sure there's a little waste, but you still have an engaged workforce.
Another way to say this is: "Detroititis."
The nerds at Google still have a lot to learn.
Liz Sidoti: Smear Journalism at the Associated Press
How low has the Associated Press fallen?
Or maybe the question should be: how low will they go?
I just caught site of an article by Liz Sidoti which seemed rather vicious in tone and decided to check up on who she was.
Here's what came up: AP's Sidoti smears Obama
Then I decided to do a search on Media Matters.
Hello! Here we go again. The media attack dogs are back. I wonder who is funding them? The Heritage Foundation?
But it's not just Sidoti, it's the AP, period.
And newspapers still wonder why no one reads them anymore? Keep buying that AP feed, Mr. Editor.
UPDATE: Thanks, Joseph! Apparently Liz Sidoti was a donut donor to the failed McCain campaign:
March 17, 2009
World of Ends: Another Manifesto from Doc Searls and David Weinberger
The Cluetrain posse continues their journey:
1. The Internet isn't complicated
2. The Internet isn't a thing. It's an agreement.
3. The Internet is stupid.
4. Adding value to the Internet lowers its value.
5. All the Internet's value grows on its edges.
6. Money moves to the suburbs.
7. The end of the world? Nah, the world of ends.
8. The Internet's three virtues:
a. No one owns it
b. Everyone can use it
c. Anyone can improve it
9. If the Internet is so simple, why have so many been so boneheaded about it?
10. Some mistakes we can stop making already
Details >>
March 16, 2009
Pricing in a Recession: Customer Segmentation based on Decision-Making Attributes
Now that we've learned that customer segmentation is important on your website, let's look at customer segmentation and pricing. When companies make sweeping, "across the board" cuts in pricing, they basically shoot themselves in the head. A smarter approach is to segment your customers by understanding their decision-making attributes, and then price accordingly.
Here, Oliver Wyman tells us how "market pricing" is done:
On the flip side, I wonder if companies do the same thing with employee pay - i.e. segment their employees based on performance and individualized intrinsic motivations and then give them what encourages them the most.
And of course, it's not all about money. Unless you're at AIG.
What Happened to Forrester Research?
It looks like Forrester Research has gone off the deep end. Either that, or their website designers aren't reading their own reports. Like the ones on creating personas for the audience that visits your site...
Apparently these are the types of people who are visiting the Forrester website these days. Note the sour faces, forced smiles, and abject hand wringing - a definite sign that the recession is taking hold...
P.S. Instead of spending money on inauthentic website design, Forrester should've just spent the money and hung on to Charlene Li. Too bad.
March 8, 2009
Who would Jesus Shoot? The Growth of Church Extremism
What happened to love, mercy, and forgiveness?
Everywhere you look, the churches of the world are turning their backs on Jesus, choosing social and political power over service to the poor.
The extremism of the Catholic church rears its ugly head again in Brazil, where a nine-year old girl gets excommunicated for getting an abortion to save her life.
Meanwhile in the American South we've got Christian militants ramping up, bringing their guns to church as a they build their christian security network.
The Talibanization of Christianity is not surprising when you look at the mindset of these people. They preach the gospel of fear, not love. If it was up to them, the apostles would be armed and dangerous, protecting Jesus by shooting anyone who came too close.
And when these same people start inciting violence, it's time for reason to step in.
Who would Jesus shoot?
Really, ... ask that question, and put away your guns.
March 6, 2009
Masao Nemoto: Is Your Culture Hurting Competitiveness?
A former senior managing director of Toyota Motor Corporation and renowned leader of their famous manufacturing system, Masao Nemoto is known throughout the world as a leader in quality control and process optimization. In a sense, he is one of the principal architects of the "Toyota Way."
What we learn from Nemoto is far more than quality management. His ideas on leadership have been documented, and reveal the profound knowledge Nemoto infused into the day-to-day operations at Toyota.
One particular aspect of Nemoto's thinking has been largely ignored by western companies to their own detriment: coordination between business units.
Nemoto insisted on a culture of shared responsibility. Here's what Nemoto says:
"One of the most important functions of a division manager is to improve coordination between his own division and other divisions. If you cannot handle this task, please go to work for an American company." (see his 10 leadership principles below)
Nemoto believed that critical tasks could not be left to a single business unit, but rather should be a collective responsibility.
What has this got to do with leadership?
Nemoto's point of view says that leaders must lead across the company, not just their own fiefdom. It is ironic, to say the least, that the democratization of business happened first not in the West, but in Japan, at companies like Toyota. Or in Brazil, with Semco.
Note: OK, there are a few American companies in this camp as well: Zappos and W. L. Gore & Associates...
Nemoto's thinking went all the down to the individual worker on the assembly line. Everyone speaks, insists Nemoto, not just management. A direct result of this view is the work principle: problems must be solved at the lowest possible level. All employees take responsibility for problem solving, instead of pushing the issue upwards. Every worker in a process can be stop the work flow, without waiting for a supervisor to make the decision. It is this transparency which drives out defects and makes quality job one. Now wasn't that a slogan we heard somewhere before?
Next time you bring your business unit heads around the conference table, ask yourself: "Are we competing against each other or against the competition?"
For reference, here are Nemoto's 10 leadership principles:
1. Improvement after improvement. Managers should look continually for ways to improve the work of their employees. Advance is a gradual, incremental process. They should create all atmosphere conducive to improvements by others.
2. Coordinate between divisions. Managers of individual divisions, departments, or subsidiaries must share responsibility. Nemoto offers this advice to his managers:
One of the most important functions of a division manager is to improve coordination between his own division and other divisions. If you cannot handle this task, please go to work for an American company. A corollary of this is that upper management should not assign important
tasks to only one division.
3. Everyone speaks. This rule guides supervisors of quality circles at Toyota, ensuring participation and learning by all members. It has also been generalized to all meetings and the annual planning process. By hearing everyone's view, upper management can create realistic plans that have the support of those who must implement them--an essential element in quality programs.
4. Do not scold. An alien concept to most managers. At Toyota the policy is for superiors to avoid giving criticism and threatening punitive measures when mistakes are made. This is the only way to ensure that mistakes will be reported immediately and fully so that the root causes (in policies and processes) can be identified and amended. Assigning blame to the reporter clearly discourages reporting of mistakes and makes it harder to find the underlying cause of a mistake, but it is difficult to train managers to take this approach.
5. Make sure others understand your work. An emphasis on teaching and presentation skills is important because of the need for collaboration. At Toyota, managers are expected to develop their presentation skills and to teach associates about their work so that collaborations will be fuller and more effective.
6. Send the best employees out for rotation. Toyota has a rotation policy to
train employees. There is a strong tendency for managers to keep their best employees from rotation. But the company benefits most in the long run by training its best employees.
7. A command without a deadline is not a command. This rule is used to
ensure that managers always give a deadline or schedule for work. Employees are instructed to ignore requests that are not accompanied by a deadline. The rationale is that without a deadline, tasks are far less likely to be completed.
8. Rehearsal is an ideal occasion for training. Managers and supervisors give numerous presentations and reports. In a QC program there are frequent progress reports. Mr. Nemoto encourages managers to focus on the rehearsal of reports and presentations, and to require that they be rehearsed. Rehearsal time is used to teach presentation skills and to explore problems or lack of understanding of the topic. Because it is informal, rehearsal time is better for learning.
9. Inspection is a failure unless top management takes action. The idea
behind this is that management must prescribe specific remedies whenever a problem is observed or reported. Delegating this task (i.e., by saving "shape up" or "do your best to solve this problem") is ineffective. So is failing to take any action once a problem is defined.
10. Ask subordinates, "What can I do for you?" At Toyota this is called "creating an opportunity to be heard at the top." In the first year of a quality-control program, managers hold meetings in which employees brief them about progress.
Three rules guide these informal meetings:
1. Do not postpone the meetings or subordinates will think their project is not taken seriously.
2. Listen to the process, not just the results, since QCs focus in on the process.
3. Ask the presenters whether you can do anything for them. If they ask for help, be sure to act on the request.
This philosophy can be generalized. If top management is perceived as willing to help with problems, employees are more optimistic about tackling the problems and will take management's goals more seriously.
While reading these principles of Nemoto, I couldn't help but be reminded of good old Deming.
March 5, 2009
From Drucker to Immelt: Developing Leaders for Tomorrow
Peter Drucker used to say that management development must be dynamic, that is to say it should not aim to replace today’s management, but rather must focus on the future - the “needs of tomorrow,” as he called it.
In this context, Drucker asks us to think about the following:
- What organizations will be needed to attain the objectives of tomorrow?
- What management jobs will that require?
- What qualifications will managers have to have to be equalto the demands of tomorrow?
- What additional skills will they have to acquire?
- What knowledge and ability will they have to possess?
The answer to these questions will help us define your companies future leaders – the men and women who will create your company’s future, the world’s future.
Fast forward to the June 2006 Harvard Business Review. In a revealing interview, General Electric’s Jeffrey Immelt tells Tom Stewart that GE has defined five growth traits for all of GE’s leaders. In their quest to become growth oriented (the target is to sustain an 8% rate of organic growth), Immelt tells us they had to change some of their DNA.
Here are the 5 traits of GE’s growth leaders:
1. External focus
2. Imagination and creativity
3. Clear thinking and decisiveness
4. Inclusiveness
5. Deep domain expertise
As part of the annual HR review at GE, executives are rated green, yellow, or red on each one.
Immelt tells us that everyone has to have at least one red, because the point is not to pick out winners or losers, but rather to show that everyone (Immelt included) is working on one of these areas.
Interestingly, Immelt tells us the area he’s working on is - decisiveness.
Google in the White House? Will Vivek Kundra transform the Federalist CIO Bureaucracy?
The White House announced this morning that Vivek Kundra will be the administration's Chief Information Officer.
It won't be easy, since our government IT is basically a patchwork of competing departments (fiefdoms) and vendors (mercenaries) and CIOs (the entrenched aristocracy).
Here's Kundra talking about his previous position:
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Steve Ballmer's probably having a fit over at MS right now. Here's his Howard Dean moment.
So what can we expect from Kundra? Three things to look for:
1) Transparency: of costs and just as important, procurement processes
2) Lower costs: through the use of open apps like Google Apps
3) Virtualization: everything in the cloud...
And who is Obama going to bring in as Chief Technology Officer (CTO)? I'd like to see JSB, but I'm getting this "Google in the White House" feeling, i.e. Eric Schmidt...
March 4, 2009
The Corporate Memo – Lessons Learned from P&G
In the history of business, Procter and Gamble will be remembered for many things- its products, its branding acumen, and its memos.
Memos? Those boring treatises that no one reads, you ask.
Wrong.
An account executive who worked closely with P&G had this to say about the importance of the memo at the company:
“P&G seems to have figured out that if you structure information certain ways, people will readily understand it, good ideas will emerge, and bad ideas will be exposed. I really think that is what has made them so successful. They make fewer mistakes because they find mistakes before they happen.”
In a book which is still relevant today - Winning With the P&G 99
Think about how effective this is. In most companies, the quality of communications depends on the writer. Every department, every individual speaks and writes in their own language. At P&G, the language and style is the same everywhere. What is original is the idea in the memo.
Dr. Andrew Abela tells us (on his blog) that when he joined P&G twenty years ago, the one page memo discipline was in full force. He shows us the format:
1.The Idea. What are you proposing? This is typically one sentence.
2. Background. What conditions have arisen that led you to this recommendation? Only include information that everyone agrees upon in the Background - this is the basis for discussion, so it needs to be non-debatable.
3. How it Works. The details. In addition to How, also What, Who, When, Where.
4. Key Benefits. This is the "Why?" There are usually three benefits: the recommended action is on strategy, already proven (e.g. in test market or in another business unit), and will be profitable. You can think of these three in terms of the old Total Quality mantra of "doing right things right." The first (on strategy) means you're doing the right thing. The second and third mean you're doing things the right way, because you're being effective (proven to work) and efficient (profitable).
5. Next Steps. Who has to do what and by when for this to happen?
Simple enough. So why don’t you adopt this for your company? And better still, why not use this format for all your company meetings as well.
Looking back, it’s easy to see that P&G made memo writing a critical knowledge management process, or even more importantly, a decision-making process.
The process itself has created a framework for critical thinking, for decision-making and ultimately for strategic advantage.
March 2, 2009
Globalization and Corporate Taxes
If corporations want to be treated like persons, then they will have to pay their taxes like normal people. That's just another founding principle in the ongoing war on corporatism.
If I go work overseas, I still have to pay US taxes - as long as I'm a US citizen. So why should the corporations be any different?
The tax experts may question this line of thinking, but let's remember who pays them.
The Hindu has an article on the issue which seems fair and balanced.
Of course, more and more companies are choosing to move to Dubai, where, under a dicatator, they enjoy more freedoms than here in the US. More on Halliburton and KBR here>>
Who needs democracy when you can have bigger profits instead?
It's all about the size and share of the pie...
Funny thing, Dubai is not weathering the global financial as well as might be expected. Many of these offshore companies will come back or disappear. No bails-outs for them! Good luck Dubai.
For individual tax dodgers, watch the weasels squirm as Swiss bank accounts become more transparent. First Switzerland, then Panama and Singapore.
What's my point in all this raving? Pretty simple really: businesses and individuals have a responsibility to all their constituents, not just shareholders. And the sooner they wake up to that reality, the sooner they will truly become "good citizens of the world." It's capitalism 2.0 versus police state 2.0 - which do you prefer?
Why No One Trusts the CEO
Midnight in the Garden of Evil
The idea that deregulation is a good thing is perhaps the most destructive legacy of Bush's Republican agenda. Here's are some of the midnight de-regulations the Republicans need to be held accountable for:
- A rule that relaxes enforcement against factory-farm runoff
- A rule that permits more waste from mountaintop mining to be dumped into waterways
- A rule seemingly designed to protect pharmaceutical companies from being held liable for marketing products they know are unsafe
- A rule that makes it more difficult for workers to take advantage of the Family and Medical Leave Act
- A rule that reduces access of Medicaid beneficiaries to services such as dental and vision care
- A rule that could limit women’s access to reproductive health services.
Read all about it in this report from the Center for American Progress (not funded by Exxon or Peabody).
Speaking of Peabody, here's more on how Peabody is forcing the Navajos off Big Mountain >>
The business lobbyists that have been of the deregulation gravy train are now going to have to deal with transparency and accountability - starting with official sites like recovery.gov, along with netroots activism. The time for crooked corporatism is over.
February 28, 2009
The Business Value of Bedtime Stories
Once upon a time, my pet lion (who lived in the attic) started practicing customer-driven innovation. But then he began to challenge his assumptions and now he won't listen to anything I say.
My 8-year old daughter told me this story last night before she fell asleep.
I've really got to start going down to the office when I take those work calls...
February 26, 2009
The Republican Response: Barney Fife Deputizes Bobby Jindal
After watching the brilliant Republican response by Bobby Jindal, here's what my wife came up with:
Some husbands admit that their wives are smarter than they are, but this proves my wife is also way funnier than me. Her sense of humor is on display at globeschooling.com >>
UPDATE
HBR: Don't "Bobby Jindal" Your Next Big Speech
WAPO: How Bad Was Jindal?
NYTimes: Governor Jindal, Rising GOP Star, Plummets After Speech
AP: Republicans, Democrats criticize Jindal's speech
February 22, 2009
GlobeSchooling.com: Education Through Travel
When I started my own consulting company back in 2004, my wife and I gradually realized that we didn't have to keep sitting in Houston for the rest of our lives. We decided that we would travel as a family, visit the places we wanted to learn about, and spend some time in each of these places - learning about the history, geography, literature, culture and, of course, the people. Instead of teaching high school and college kids, my wife would now teach us.
We became globeschoolers: homeschooling on the road. Now we're in our fifth year of travel. Our base-camp is still Texas, but we get to work, travel, and learn as we go about this country and the world.
My wife's just started her globeschooling blog, which will explain what we've been doing. Really what she's been doing to educate the kids (and us). I just tag along and learn a few things despite myself!
I've been bothering her to get blogging for a while, but apparently it took the Obamas and Earth Wind and Fire, to get her started...
Gary Hamel: Moonlight Madness or Management Moonshots?
Gary Hamel's at it again.
This time he's got 25 moonshots for management:
1. Ensure that management's work serves a higher purpose. Management, both in theory and practice, must orient itself to the achievement of noble, socially significant goals.
2. Fully embed the ideas of community and citizenship in management systems. There's a need for processes and practices that reflect the interdependence of all stakeholder groups.
3. Reconstruct management's philosophical foundations. To build organizations that are more than merely efficient, we will need to draw lessons from such fields as biology and theology, and from such concepts as democracies and markets.
4. Eliminate the pathologies of formal hierarchy. There are advantages to natural hierarchies, where power flows up from the bottom and leaders emerge instead of being appointed.
5. Reduce fear and increase trust. Mistrust and fear are toxic to innovation and engagement and must be wrung out of tomorrow's management systems.
6. Reinvent the means of control. To transcend the discipline-versus-freedom trade-off, control systems will have to encourage control from within rather than constraints from without.
7. Redefine the work of leadership. The notion of the leader as a heroic decision maker is untenable. Leaders must be recast as social-systems architects who enable innovation and collaboration.
8. Expand and exploit diversity. We must create a management system that values diversity, disagreement, and divergence as much as conformance, consensus, and cohesion.
9. Reinvent strategy-making as an emergent process. In a turbulent world, strategy making must reflect the biological principles of variety, selection, and retention.
10. De-structure and disaggregate the organization. To become more adaptable and innovative, large entities must be disaggregated into smaller, more malleable units.
11. Dramatically reduce the pull of the past. Existing management systems often mindlessly reinforce the status quo. In the future, they must facilitate innovation and change.
12. Share the work of setting direction. To engender commitment, the responsibility for goal setting must be distributed through a process where share of voice is a function of insight, not power.
13. Develop holistic performance measures. Existing performance metrics must be recast, since they give inadequate attention to the critical human capabilities that drive success in the creative economy.
14. Stretch executive time frames and perspectives. Discover alternatives to compensation and reward systems that encourage managers to sacrifice long-term goals for short-term gains.
15. Create a democracy of information. Companies need holographic information systems that equip every employee to act in the interests of the entire enterprise.
16. Empower the renegades and disarm the reactionaries. Management systems must give more power to employees whose emotional equity is invested in the future rather than in the past.
17. Expand the scope of employee autonomy. Management systems must be redesigned to facilitate grassroots initiatives and local experimentation.
18. Create internal markets for ideas, talent, and resources. Markets are better than hierarchies at allocating resources, and companies' resource allocation processes need to reflect this fact.
19. Depoliticize decision-making. Decision processes must be free of positional biases and should exploit the collective wisdom of the entire organization.
20. Better optimize trade-offs. Management systems tend to force either-or choices. What's needed are hybrid systems that subtly optimize key trade-offs.
21. Further unleash human imagination. Much is known about what engenders human creativity. This knowledge must be better applied in the design of management systems.
22. Enable communities of passion. To maximize employee engagement, management systems must facilitate the formation of self-defining communities of passion.
23. Retool management for an open world. Value-creating networks often transcend the company's boundaries and render traditional power-based management tools ineffective. New management tools are needed for building complex ecosystems.
24. Humanize the language and practice of business. Tomorrow's management systems must give as much credence to such timeless human ideals as beauty, justice and community as they do to the traditional goals of efficiency, advantage, and profit.
25. Retrain managerial minds. Managers' traditional deductive and analytical skills must be complemented by conceptual and systems-thinking skills.
Fine. I think I get it. The real question is how many of our bail-out CEOs will get this Capitalism 2.0?
Tao 2.0: Stephen Mitchell's "The Second Book of the Tao"
The Tao that can be blogged is not the eternal Tao. Or is it?
The great thing about working for myself is that I get to work with people (and companies) I like. In this case, I've been asked by Penguin Press to promote Stephen Mitchell's latest work: The Second Book of the Tao
Stephen Mitchell is a quiet soul. The last gentleman. He's definitely not the self-promoting type. So it was with some difficulty that we got him to talk about his first Tao (Tao Te Ching
The results are on YouTube!
Here Stephen talks about how The Second Book of The Tao came into being:
And here's an excerpt; Chapter 14 from The Second Book of The Tao:
Here's a little more about the book, adapted from the Penguin press release:
The Second Book of The Tao is a twenty-first-century form of ancient wisdom, bringing a sequel of the Tao Te Ching into the modern world. Alongside each translated passage, Stephen adds his own insights for contemporary readers.
"His meditations and provocative re-imagining of the original texts comprise a book that is both a companion volume and an anti-manual to the Tao Te Ching. Mitchell renders these ancient teachings at once modern, relevant, and timeless."
Agreed.
Learn to govern your mind, and the universe will govern itself.
Or, as Funkadelic might say, "Free Your Mind...And Your -ss Will Follow." (That wasn't in the Penguin press release)
To appreciate Mitchell's mind, see StephenMitchellBooks.com >>
And here are some stories about Stephen as told by his wife Byron Katie: here, here and here >>
February 17, 2009
Can Brand America Regain its Shine?
The Economist is having a fun debate over the future of the United States.
My opinion: a three word cliche: Yes We Can!
Obama is, in so many ways, more than just a symbol of our rebirth. I'd say he has brought 80% of the country together and the world as well. Heck, even Pat Robertson sees the light (for a few seconds at least).
The War on Greed
In trying times, executive behavior and more importantly, executive compensation becomes a public issue. Here's an example of what to expect in the weeks and months ahead - warongreed.org has targeted Goldman Sachs for the "reckless" bonuses they handed out to their financial staff - after receiving a $6.5 billion bailout from taxpayers.
Apparently, if Goldman Sachs had shared its bailout billions with their rank-and-file workers at Burger King, they'd have handed out $18,000 to each employee. I must say I'm getting a strong French Revolution 2.0 vibe:
February 16, 2009
Ted Sorensen on The Power of Words
Take notes, everybody:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
The Truth about Executive Pay
There's a line of reasoning being echoed in the Obama administration that if we cap CEO pay for bailed-out companies in the financial markets, the best and brightest will leave, seeking greener pastures with foreign companies which don't have similar restrictions.
This is false reasoning.
Executive pay must be tied to long-term performance if anything is going to change. Here's some thinking on the issue from Stephen F. O’Byrne and S. David Young in HBR:
The justification for maintaining pay competitiveness is that it reduces the risk of losing good managers, who could be costly to replace. Corporate boards could also argue that it minimizes the risk of seriously overpaying managers as a consequence of large, windfall gains from surging share prices. In short, the claim is that competitive pay policies not only help lower retention risk but also impose limits on shareholder cost. This is false logic. By causing companies to overpay underperforming managers and underpay star performers, a competitive pay policy will actually increase retention risk. The poor performers stay on and the good ones go. What’s more, it ignores the potential wealth-creating effects of strong financial incentives.
Despite their commitment to competitive pay policies, compensation committees sometimes do act to strengthen incentives by increasing option grant shares after a year of strong stock-price performance or decreasing them after a bad year. On the surface, this appears to be good news. But such moves have little overall impact because directors tend to reverse their actions in the following year. In other words, an option grant that rewards good performance or penalizes poor performance is followed, almost half the time, by a grant that penalizes good performance or rewards poor performance. On balance, therefore, ad hoc adjustments by boards contribute almost nothing to wealth leverage.
If companies are serious about rewarding performance and retaining star performers, they will first have to wean themselves off competitive pay. They should give managers fixed-share interests in stock appreciation and economic profit improvement, thereby increasing the impact of future pay on executive wealth. Perhaps most important, they need to review vesting and holding requirements to prevent managers from unilaterally cashing out share-based pay, which also reduces the sensitivity of their wealth to company value.
Secondly, we know the financial sector is grossly overpaid. Even the Chinese will tell you this. I blogged earlier about China's Gao Xiqing, president of the China Investment Corporation:
- "If you look at every one of these [derivative] products, they make sense. But in aggregate, they are bullshit. They are crap. They serve to cheat people.
- "I have to say it: you have to do something about pay in the financial system. People in this field have way too much money. And this is not right."
He's not mincing words, and neither is the Economist >>
I say let them go. It's time these executives we came back to Earth. If they want to risk their own money great, but why should we subsidize irresponsible management practices?
I'm with Warren Buffet when he says in this letter:
"CEO perks at one company are quickly copied elsewhere. “All the other kids have one” may seem a thought too juvenile to use as a rationale in the boardroom. But consultants employ precisely this argument, phrased more elegantly of course, when they make recommendations to comp committees.
Irrational and excessive comp practices will not be materially changed by disclosure or by “independent” comp committee members. Indeed, I think it’s likely that the reason I was rejected for service on so many comp committees was that I was regarded as too independent. Compensation reform will only occur if the largest institutional shareholders – it would only take a few – demand a fresh look at the whole system. The consultants’ present drill of deftly selecting “peer” companies to compare with their clients will only perpetuate present excesses."
No one is saying we should stop paying for performance. What we're saying is let's stop rewarding unsustainable business practices and outright fraud.
Where are we going to find low-cost, competent CEOs? That's a business GE should look into. A CEO-for-Hire profit center. Training grounds? India and China, of course.
February 13, 2009
Cut Capital Expenditures, Not People
When executives want to boost profitability, their first target is often their "most valuable asset" (ha!) - people. But a better way to find value is to bring increased discipline to the capital budgeting process for small items.
Check out Tom Copeland's 2000 article in HBR - Cutting Costs Without Drawing Blood.
Here's what he says:
... a company can almost always create far more sustainable value by sensibly reducing its capital expenditures. How? Not by postponing or eliminating big spending projects, which are usually less than 20% of the budget anyway, but by conducting a rigorous, disciplined evaluation of the small-ticket items that usually get rubber-stamped. Those “little” requests often prove to be unnecessary—in some cases they duplicate other requests—or gold plated. But few managers have the time, energy, or inclination to ask about them. They should.
and:
You get more bang for the buck—or perhaps more buck for the bang—by cutting capex dollars than by cutting payroll. According to my estimates, the increased market valuation that resulted from Kodak’s $400 million payroll cuts could have been achieved by a $280 million reduction in capital spending. The reason for the difference, of course, is that a company has to make severance payments—$600 million in Kodak’s case—to people it has laid off. (There is no severance pay for capital.) The table compares recent payroll savings at Kodak and several other corporations with my estimated value-equivalent capex cuts.
Something to think about very, very carefully.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter on Simplicity
Rosabeth Moss Kanter is one of my favorite business gurus, the "female Peter Drucker," as I tell people when I recommend they read her book Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End
In her latest blog post at HBR, she tells us that the next big trend is simple: to simplify.
Among her observations:
"Companies sow the seeds of their own decline in adding too many things -- product variations, business units, independent subsidiaries -- without integrating them. They create complexity, which makes costs increase faster than the potential gains from the new parts.
"Just why did General Motors need 47 brands of cars? Was that responsible for its top-heavy load of managers? Or for cannibalization within the company?"
and this brilliant line:
"When everyone else suffers from over-complexity, there is a market for products and services that simplify life."
More here >>
Business Models for Short Attention Spans
I wrote once on another blog, that no one has time to read Harvard Business Review, or listen to an entire music CD, or watch the whole movie.
Our attention span is somewhere between 3 to 5 minutes. And that’s the size your idea-bite has to be if you’re going get heard at all. See Twitter, YouTube, CNN, et. al. We're getting dumber second by second by second.
How do you build a business model for short attention spans? I think this is the key challenge for online publications - from newspapers, to blogs, to forums. Perhaps the key is enticing readers to return over and over - let's say twenty times a day! So online journals must be updated very often (compare HuffPost with the NYTimes) with corresponding micro-blogging on the same topics.
And the revenue will come not for selling ads, but selling products and services. And sometimes, you may just sell them the longer version of your story.
Is Roy-Bennett in Marondera?
It's over, Robert Mugabe. Finished. It's time to step down.
Now Mugabe has gone after Roy Bennett.
You can't get away with this or this or this.
Obama is doing his part as well.
Keep track of this story here >>
Starting a Business in a Recession
As someone who has started a business in a down economy, I have to say it is not as easy as these articles (see below) make it out to be.
For starters, this is not the time to write a business plan, as some of them would have you do. Instead, focus on finding and keeping customers.
Two, get ready to answer these questions from your customers, er, prospects:
- Who are you?
- What can you do for me?
- Why should I believe you?
- How soon can you make a difference to my bottom line?
- Starting a Business in a Downturn - BusinessWeek
- Strategies: It’s a good time to start a business - USA Today
- How to Start a Business During a Recession - eHow
- Starting Up in a Down Economy - Inc.
- Five reasons why a recession is a good time to start a company - The Industry Standard
What's a good business to start now? Something you're good at, crazy about. Something people call you about to get free advice on. Something you want to do for the rest of your life.
Can't think of anything yet? Here are some fun new business ideas, 999 of them to be precise...
If you already have an ongoing business, here are some things to do now >>
Is the US repeating Japan's mistakes?
Looks like the Japanese know something we need to pay attention to in this country.
Nicholas Kristoff has an opinion: see "Escaping the bust bowl" >>
Heart Disease and Indian Politics
India Today gives us a cardio-pulmonary view of the political pulse of India.
I suppose it is pretty stressful being a politician in India and all...
The article also mentions the inevitability of "Rahul Gandhi happening."
Good luck, Rahul. I hope you're ready to "happen!"
What's up with Dubai?
Not much apparently.
When foreigners are abandoning their cars at the airport so they can avoid debtors prison, you know the economy has taken a turn for the worse.
Read all about it >>
Indian Innovation: Distributed R&D
The points raised by Anil Gupta and Haiyan Wang in their book - Getting China and India Right: Strategies for Leveraging the World's Fastest Growing Economies for Global Advantage are echoed in this BusinessWeek article by Gunjan Bagla and Atul Goel.
So are things slowing down with the global recession? Here's what they say:
We believe there may be a temporary hiccup in R&D globalization, caused primarily by companies freezing in their tracks as they reassess the new financial realities. But as soon as they rebuild their product road maps, nimble companies will actually accelerate their globalization efforts, pushed harder by tight budgets and the realization that the old ways can be disastrous.
Next up: What's up with Dubai?
February 11, 2009
Brand Promises: What to Do Now
The one thing we all know as branding professionals is the axiomatic statement: "your brand is your promise." When you start breaking that promise, you lose brand equity.
That's been the story for so many brands, from Sears to the Republicans.
So what can you do in these turbulent times?
Step one: don't lie. To yourself, your employees, and most of all to your customers.
Step two: think 80/20: focus on the 20% percent of actions which give you 80% of your returns. In other words, work on your effectiveness. Don't try to do too many things at once. But focus on your best customers and more importantly, your best employees. Fire the deadwood - beginning with deadwood customers - the ones that cost a lot to service and are just not worth it.
Step three: observe your customers' pains. How can you help them? Can you show them something they might not have known? Can you help them bring in additional revenues? Pitch in and they'll never forget you.
Step four: invest in the future. Sure, things look bleak. But now there are more opportunities in your market and if you look closely at your adjacent markets, you should be able to see the opportunities.
Step five: service counts. The better your employees do in face-to-face encounters, the better you'll weather the storm. Where can your service delivery be redesigned to make it even better.
Step six: be true to your brand. Don't just start accepting anything you need to do to survive. Focus on customer value, not price competition.
Step seven: customer driven innovation. It's now or never time. Get an innovator's mindset.
Step eight: use the Internet like your life depends on it. Because it does. I don't care what industry you're in, the Internet will help you reduce your costs - marketing costs, operational costs, employee costs, and, most importantly, it can help you grow.
Step nine: test your ideas. Now is the time for smart business experiments.
The sky is not falling, despite what the papers say. Yes, you might lose your job, but you can find another one. This isn't Europe. So get busy!
How Not to Twitter
Thank goodness the Republicans have not yet mastered the art of tweeting. It's hard to use open communications when you don't believe in openness.
Irving Rothman: The Barber In Modern Jewish Culture
Dr. Rothman's book The Barber In Modern Jewish Culture: A Genre of People, Places, and Things, With Illustrations
Here's Rothman on YouTube:
Back in 1988 I did a little bit of research on "barbers in literature" for Dr. Rothman. I really enjoyed his classes - his Eighteenth Century Lit starring Samuel Johnson
Back in the 80s it wasn't uncommon to see Donald Barthelme
February 9, 2009
Newsweek: Shrinking to Survive?
Will Newsweek be able to compete against the Economist?
That's what they're betting on, apparently.
The goal is to turn Newsweek into an opinion-based "thought leader" with branded journalists like Fareed Zakaria, Christopher Hitchens, and that fossil of a conservative, George Will. So we'll see lots more trash-talking and provocation.
While this is a step in the right direction, I think they'll really have to worry about low-cost, online disruptors like HuffPost, DailyKos, and The Week, as well as established institutions like The Atlantic and The New Yorker.
The makeover is supposed to gain them mindshare and, ahem, walletshare. Where have we heard that before?
What they're missing is a daily view of their ecosystem. I'll get into that in a separate entry on ecosystemwatch.com. And as I tell my clients, thought-leaders do dominate in ecosystem competition, so the Newsweek strategy does make sense.
What I don't see any mention of is value-co-creation with its readers. And their revenue model is still based on advertising. Even the Economist knows that to make money you've got to sell those country reports, the surveys, books, and conferences.
Finally, I hope they've thought about video - online video - as another key ingredient which makes online news attention-worthy.
February 8, 2009
Blues Dance Raid: Steel Pulse versus Morgan Heritage
The original, Steel Pulse in 1985:
The remake, Morgan Heritage in 2008:
The lyrics:
Blues Dance Raid
by Steel Pulse
Muzik a bubble not looking for trouble
Some shekels fe I shenks
Just a burn up de lambs bread
Session rocking ysh!
So dem come so dem drop
From time to time dem been watching
Dem a spy with dem bad eye
(Come a raid I blues dance)
Tipped off by informers
Dem a watch who come out and come in yeh
(Come a raid I blues dance)
Yes they knew when the time would be right
Run come gate crash I party
(Come a raid I blues dance)
Raid blues dance raid I blues
(Come a raid I blues dance)
Kick off door woe I name dem call
I back against de wall a rub a daughter
(Come a raid I blues dance)
Dem a run come kill I vibe interfere with I
The pigs come to destroy Rasta cry blood
Dreadlocks cry blood
Raid blues dance
Out of darkness out of night
People screaming batons wheeling
A lot of bleeding bruised feelings
Search warrant for their outvitation
Walkie talkies reinforcements
From dem pocket dem draw handcuff
Dis yah session it rough
Every step of the way got to retaliate yeh
Fight dem back mash dem down
Vex to death dem a threat
Mek arrest kiss me neck
Raid blues dance raid I blues
A run come a run come who
Run come kill I vibe interfere with I
Pigs come to destroy Rasta cry blood
Dreadlocks cry blood
Come a come a come a come a raid
Come a kick I speaker
Come a mash up I tweeter
Come a grab up I shenks
Come a lick out I window
Come a move out I soft drink
Come a rough up the people
Come a turn off me System
Have fe give you some bitch lick
Come a smash I turntables
Come a scratch up I music
Come a drive up you meat van
Come a come a come a raid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For me, there's no contest.
Steel Pulse, all the way. But Morgan Heritage is fun as well :-)
Ripples in the Indian Blogosphere: L.K. Advani versus Amitabh Bachhan
In India, we see L.K. Advani from the opposition fundamentalist BJP party try his hand at blogging. While I wonder, if at his age he's ever used a computer, the posts are somewhat entertaining. For example he talks about why democracy has taken root in India, but not in Pakistan - and uses the words of the late Benazir Bhutto to make his point.
According to Bhutto: “I attribute your country’s success to two factors: firstly, your Army is apolitical; and secondly, your Election Commission is constitutionally independent of the Executive.”
No kidding.
Too bad the BJP doesn't care too much about apolitical anything; they're the ones that have sought to divide India by religion, and I believe that, by definition, is a great disservice to India's cultural heritage. Sort of like the Taliban destroying Buddhist statues in Afghanisthan, but not on the same scale of intolerance.
In terms of influence, however, I'd say Bollywood (or should we call that Mollywood?) icon Amitabh Bachchan's blog, corny as it is, has more of an impact across the Indian world - from Mumbai to San Francisco. I just wish he'd focus on bigger issues and less on his daily ablutions. For example, when speaking about his recent trip to Davos, he could have talked about the issues in greater depth.
If and when he does so, he will become India's answer to Bono.
Here's a comment he makes which shows how he can, in fact, influence the growth of a secular India:
To me Cinema has always been, apart from its entertainment value, a medium of great integration. When we enter the darkened hall of a theatre we never ask whether the person sitting next to me is a Hindu or a Muslim, or Sikh or Christian. We are never concerned with the colour of his or her skin. Of being black or white or brown. We watch before us the unfolding of a story, where we laugh together at the jokes, sing their songs together, cry together at the same emotions. There are sadly very few institutions left in this world that can propagate the values of such an event. In a world filling rapidly with hate and violence, perhaps this is one medium that prides itself in bringing together, in integrating people rather than dividing them. The popularity of Indian Cinema within our shores and now increasingly outside, is not just the stars and their physical attraction, is not just the song and dance, is not just the escapist nature of our stories, but the fact that it brings us poetic justice within 3 hours. Poetic justice for most of us, does not come within a lifetime, sometimes several lifetimes. What better example of global understanding can there be, in these strained and uncertain times.
Now let's work on real justice, and leave the entertainment to the politicians... where is India's Barack Obama?
The Rise of Transparency
"Sunlight is the best disinfectant; electric light the most efficient policeman"
- Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis
We need more light like this...
Thank you Lord, for the Internet. I can't wait to see what develops at recovery.org.
Testosterone and the Market
Now the financial traders can blame their testosterone levels for their risky behavior >>
Weren't these people supposed to be competing on analytics
Hunger and Republican Values
To get a better idea of what it's like to live on a food stamp budget, CNN's Sean Callebs decided to eat for a month on $176 and blog about it >>
What is depressing is the rising number of people going hungry in this, the "land of plenty."
I'm just sick at the Republicans - first they get us in this mess, then they go obstruct everything. Their idea of a stimulus is more tax cuts for their friends who live in the top 2% - otherwise, nix!
The Republican party stands for one thing: lies and more lies. And the corporate media is just as guilty.
More here about what life is like for an increasing number of people on Main Street>>
February 5, 2009
The Politics of Evolution
From the Economist:
The US - last - except for Turkey... this is what happens when science education is guided by the politics of faith.
I wonder how many of these same people believe in faith-based open-heart surgery?
February 3, 2009
A Design Guide for Recessionary Times
I think we've finally hit the wall in terms of design.
Whether you're designing a product, a service, or a website, the designer has to make their work relevant to the buyer in ways they may not have considered before this recession. Here's what I mean. Your offering is no longer competing for attention or even price. It is competing on usefulness and time to value.
The question you have to answer is this: Why will this product/service help me now, and how fast can I see results?
And, two - "How can I justify spending any money on this at all?"
Three: "What's the risk for me (and my money)?"
Got it?
Pretty simple, but your survival as a company may just depend on answering those three questions properly.
So Hyundai designs a car which says, buy it, use it, and we'll take it back - if you can't pay because you lost your job. The policy allows people to return vehicles in the first 12 months if they can't make payments due to job loss and Hyundai covers depreciation. In essence, Hyundai is eliminating your risk.
Consider a small business in today's economy. Why would they spend money on anything but the essentials? So who needs MS Office when you can use Google Docs? Who needs a Mac when a netbook will help you get by? Who needs office space when you can work from home? Who needs to fly when you can Skype it in? Who needs to buy when you can rent? It's not about how much the website costs, rather, it's about how fast will I make money from the website? Why do press releases when you can blog?
It's value time, period. Show me, don't tell me.
One last thing, why should I trust you? Are you trustworthy? Is your product/service trustworthy? Maybe trust goes beyond the product/service. It lies in the concrete actions you take to actually help your customer. Have you ever thought of helping someone out who is not your customer?
February 2, 2009
Hyper-Disruption: India's $10 Laptop
Here comes the next wave of hyper-disruption: the $10 laptop.
Are your ready Dell, HP, Apple? Are you ready Microsoft?
As we saw in Getting India and China Right, by Anil Gupta and Haiyan Wang, China and India are not going to be content simply filling out orders for low-cost products. They are also going to be springboards for innovation and disruptive products and services.
When I was growing up in India, there was a rule of thumb we followed which said that anything made in India should sell for 10 times the amount in the West and vice-versa. Looks like that rule still applies!
I'm still somewhat skeptical, but hey, it's coming. If not tomorrow, then soon.
The point is this: every assumption we have about price limits and barriers needs to be challenged. If we don't challenge them, Chindia will.
Book Review: "Getting India and China Right" by Anil Gupta and Haiyan Wang
The edge has become the core.
That's the central idea presented by Anil Gupta and Haiyan Wang in their new book - Getting China and India Right: Strategies for Leveraging the World's Fastest Growing Economies for Global Advantage
It's not enough to merely be present in India and China, argue the authors.
Their thesis: "...any Fortune 1000 company that is not busy figuring out how to leverage the rise of China and India to transform the entire company runs a serious risk of not being around as an independent entity within ten to fifteen years..."
China and India are different from all other countries in that they present four "stories" or opportunities rolled into one:
1) Mega Markets: they provide growth opportunities for every product and service
2) Cost Efficiency Platforms: with low wage rates, they can help reduce your global cost structure
3) Innovation Platforms: the talent pool of engineers and scientists can boost your firm's technical and innovation capabilities
4) Launching Pads for New Global Competitors: your next global competitors are likely to emerge from here
So what are you supposed to do?
The book guides you, chapter by chapter, to explore the following imperatives:
1) Compete in India and China simultaneously. Why? Four reasons: i) the growth trajectory for both countries places them as the world's top 4 and 5 markets for every product and service imaginable; ii) India and China offer (for the time being) complementary strengths in services and manufacturing respectively; iii) there are also remarkable similarities which help your company transfer learning from China to India and vice-versa, accelerating your success in both countries; and finally, iv) an integrated China and India strategy helps you reduce your political, economic, and intellectual property risks inherent in operating in just India or China.
2) Compete for mega market dominance through micro-customers. The authors show you how to compete at the top, middle and bottom of the pyramid in India and China. What I found especially interesting was the authors' insistence that innovation opportunities abound at the bottom of the pyramid and that companies should use this segment as a "learning laboratory" for the discovery of new business models!
3) Leverage China and India for global dominance. There are three opportunities: cost arbitrage, intellectual arbitrage, and business model innovation - each of which can help you build a global platform for competitive advantage.
4) Compete with the locals - the dragons and tigers. The authors show you how to defend yourself and compete against the emerging titans in India and China using three key strategic initiatives: i) attack these emerging titans on their own turf; ii) neutralize their supply-chain advantages by tapping into the cost effective and innovation opportunities available in both countries; and iii) pursue an integrated India plus China strategy which, oddly enough, is more difficult for the emerging players in both countries.
5) Compete for local talent. You must project a positive and visible presence in the local media and local academic institutions. You can offer better global career opportunities for employees outside of India and China. Finally, by being sensitive to cultural and social mores, your company can build strong emotional ties to employee families - spouses, and yes, parents! The authors also suggest you hire in second and third tier cities to achieve lower salary scales and reduced turnover rates. (Wuxi is calling!)
6) Rethink what it means to be a global enterprise. The authors give us four areas to rethink - global strategy, innovation, organization, and lastly, our very mindsets. They warn us to stay slightly ahead of the changes in each of these areas, lest we get left behind on the road to global competition.
This is not a light read, but it is an essential one for every manager or leader with global vision. What I haven't mentioned in this blog post is the detailed case studies and business examples the authors present to make their case.
Ignore the timely warnings and insightful lessons in this book
For more info, see Wang's blog here and this article in the Wall Street Journal>>
January 30, 2009
Coffee, Dementia, and Other Ramblings
Here's some news you can use:
"...scientists found that the subjects who had reported drinking three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely to have developed dementia, compared with those who drank two cups or less."
That "scientific report" prompted me to tell my wife that I needed to drink 5 cups of cold coffee a day to avoid dementia.
My wife's quick answer: "Too bad it's not retroactive."
January 29, 2009
Obama calls out Wall Street Irresponsibility
Finally, a President who puts the robber-barons on the defensive:
Susan Solomon: "Global Warming is Irreversible"
Now what?
Our carbon drain is clogged, and we're going to drown in our own bathtub.
Here's the bad news:
"People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide that the climate would go back to normal in 100 years or 200 years. What we're showing here is that's not right. It's essentially an irreversible change that will last for more than a thousand years," says Susan Solomon on NPR
Are you ready for long droughts and rising seas? While some environmentalists are worried about the extinction of polar bears and emperor penguins, or the dying oceans, I'm thinking about human extinction. As usual, the poor will be hit the hardest.
Poor Al Gore keeps trying to wake us up:
This is a national security issue which makes Al-Qaeda look like the Peanuts.
Meanwhile, the Republicans, led by Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are still on their "global warming is a hoax" bandwagon.
The Nazi Pope Shows his True Colors
This is just disgusting. More from Jesusland...
Can the Catholic church be saved from itself? Not likely. YouTube or no YouTube, we're not going to see Catholicism 2.0 anytime soon. As I've said before, if Jesus was around he's kick these bozos out of the Temple...
BTW, isn't it funny there are NO comments on any of the Vatican's YouTube videos? That's what they call an ecumenical dialog!
Here Comes the Tech Greenwave: Asus' Bamboo PC
The Asus Bamboo PC
Asus is advertising it, even linking to Amazon, where it seems like they're not quite ready for it.
My cynical side sees this is the latest in the greenwashing movement in the high-tech industry. If they're serious, however, I applaud them.
Here's how ASUS puts it:
ASUS has created a strategy dubbed the "4 Green Home Runs" to deliver greener products for the consumer. The “Green Home Runs” are Green Design, Green Manufacturing, Green Procurement and Green Service and Marketing.
OK, let's do it - a green value-chain! I just hope we don't learn later that they're clearing Giant Panda habitat to make PC covers.
Geek info: ASUS U6V-V1-Bamboo 12.1-Inch Laptop (2.53 GHz Intel T9400 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, Nvidia 9300M GS Graphics, Vista Business)
BTW, Bamboo is pretty nifty and is definitely one of those "sustainable products for our future."
January 27, 2009
Video: Semco's Ricardo Semler
Brilliant as usual! More on Ricardo Semler here >>
Farewell, John Updike
Not the greatest of interviews, but it offers a few glimpses into his thought process:
R.I.P.
BBC Documentary: What Now Mr. President? (Wake Up, Everybody!)
Here's a documentary from the BBC's Panorama.
Here's how they pitch it:
"Barack Obama takes over as US President with a promise to dramatically change America and make it a fairer place. He is inheriting the worst economic crisis in almost a century, and a country so unequal that 23,000 people die every year because they cannot afford basic healthcare. To close the gap between rich and poor Obama will have to take on the might of the corporate world, which wields enormous influence in Washington. Can he change the world's most powerful country, and should he?"
Question: ever wonder why this kind of a documentary never makes it to US television?
Wake Up, Everybody! Check out Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes:
January 26, 2009
The Two Sides of Google
Even as Jeff Jarvis' What Would Google Do?
Michael Arrington has posted a thread from former-Google employees talking about why they left. Sure, disgruntled employees are not always fair and balanced, but it's interesting to learn that Google does have issues with management, bureaucracy, low pay, poor mentoring, and all the other foibles of corporate stupidity.
So what will Google do about it? Let's watch.
January 25, 2009
War as a Catalyst for Innovation
One of the spin-offs from war is technology which leads to new products in the private sector. This is not a new phenomenon, simply the way it is.
For example, "a scientific method that has been used to track the source of illegal drugs, explosives, counterfeit bills and biological warfare agents may have some new uses: detecting rapidly growing cancers and studying obesity and eating disorders." See story >>
But this story stopped me in my tracks.
The future of war is R2RC - Robot to Robot Combat.
Are you ready for this?
The result? War becomes even more abstracted, more marketable, and more tempting.
Video: Bill Gates on the Future of Aid
UPDATE: You can download the annual letter (PDF) here or read it online here >>
The Economist video interview with BG:
The interviewer has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, but Gates does a convincing job of focusing on the issues. I really think Gates has finally found his true calling.
Sign up for his annual letter >>
Friedman: "It’s five to midnight..."
Tom Friedman's latest:
"It’s five to midnight and before the clock strikes 12 all we need to do is rebuild Fatah, merge it with Hamas, elect an Israeli government that can freeze settlements, court Syria and engage Iran — while preventing it from going nuclear — just so we can get the parties to start talking."
There's no point blaming Dubya for the mess other than taking note of his administration's deliberate incompetence. Obama's appointment of former senator George Mitchell to head the peace initiative shows he's serious.
In my opinion, the tragedy is that Israel is not ready for peace. Israel's leaders are just as delusional as Dubya.
And no matter who wins the February election, we're not going to see the end of settlements.
Friedman paints the picture of what Israel's fate looks like: "...without a stable two-state solution, what you will have is an Israel hiding behind a high wall, defending itself from a Hamas-run failed state in Gaza, a Hezbollah-run failed state in south Lebanon and a Fatah-run failed state in Ramallah. Have a nice day."
So where is Israel's Obama? Will no one stand up for reality?
January 24, 2009
Shuo chang - Chinese Hip-Hop: The Birth of the Individual?
The NYTimes has an interesting story on the underground world of hip-hop in China >>
"Wong Li, a 24-year-old from Dongbei, says in one of his freestyle raps:
If you don’t have a nice car or cash
You won’t get no honeys
Don’t you know China is only a heaven for rich old men
You know this world is full of corruption
Babies die from drinking milk.
He often performs in a downtown Beijing nightclub and uses Chinese proverbs in his lyrics to create social commentary.
Mr. Wong, who became interested in hip-hop when he heard Public Enemy in the mid-’90s, said rapping helps him deal with bitterness that comes with realizing he is one of the millions left out of China’s economic boom.
“All people care about is money,” he said. “If you don’t have money, you’re treated like garbage. And if you’re not local to the city you live in, people discriminate against you; they give you the worst jobs to do.”
It takes a revolution... to make a solution.
January 22, 2009
Mission Accomplished!
January 20, 2009
World Reaction to President Obama
FRANCE
President Nicolas Sarkozy
We are eager for him to get to work so that with him we can change the world.
GERMANY
Chancellor Angela Merkel
I want to say that I believe today is a very special day not only for the United States of America but also a special day for billions of people all over the world.
The fact that a colored president is being inaugurated and the fact the we a looking at an intensive transatlantic co-operation is something that not only moves the heads and thoughts but also the hearts. And I want to wish the new American President Barack Obama all the best, much strength and health and God's blessing .And I want to say that Germany is prepared to liaise with him very intensely and very openly.
UNITED KINGDOM
Prime Minister Gordon Brown
The whole world is watching the inauguration of President Obama, witnessing a new chapter in both American history and the world's history.He's not only the first black American president but he sets out with the determination to solve the world's problems.
RUSSIA
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
We are ready for this. Our president confirmed this in a telephone conversation with Barack Obama straight after he was elected. I think there will be additional telephone - and not only telephone - contacts between our leaders.
SPAIN
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
Obama gives us hope and his words put us on a better path for a smooth and fruitful relationship with the Spanish government. The arrival of Obama gives us an opportunity we won't pass up.
JAPAN
Prime Minister Taro Aso
Japan and the United States are allies who share universal values and strategic interests. I am convinced that Japan and the United States, both in a position to lead the world, can build a better future by working together to share knowledge, willingness, passion and strategy. With this belief, I wish to join hands with President Obama in further strengthening the Japan-US alliance and striving for peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world.
ITALY
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
Many hopes and expectations have been piled on him, not just by the American people but also the rest of the world. The thing to do is to send him the most affectionate and cordial wishes so that he can fulfil these expectations.
VATICAN
Pope Benedict XVI
I pray that you will be confirmed in your resolve to promote understanding, co-operation and peace among the nations, so that all may share in the banquet of life which God wills to set for the whole human family.I offer cordial good wishes, together with the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you unfailing wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high responsibilities.
IRAN
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki
We prefer to wait and see what the practical policies of the American government will be.
PALESTINE
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
We wish him well and we look forward to active engagement on the part of his administration, in co-operation with important members of the international community.
GAZA
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum
He came with a change and he needs to change the foreign policy of the United States towards honouring the freedom rights and democratic rights of nations, he must support the freedom of our Palestinian people and their rights and conventions.
ISRAEL
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Obama has mobilised the greatest amount of good will and support in all walks of life. This mobilisation of good will is becoming his strength in its own right. And I think all of us expect to translate this occasion into a real opportunity to pacify, to meet, to have a dialogue and bring a solution of peace to all parties concerned.
VENEZUELA
President Hugo Chavez
Hopefully the arrival of a new president will mark a real change in relations between the United States and the countries of the Third World, one of respect for sovereignty and the freedom of the people. But nobody here should be under any illusions. This is the North American Empire we are talking about.
THAILAND
King Bhumibol Adulyadej
On the occasion of your assumption of the Office of the President of the United States of America, I am pleased to extend to your Excellency my sincere congratulations and best wishes for your success and happiness as well as for the greater progress and prosperity of the United States of America and her people.
AUSTRALIA
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
I look forward very much to working with President Obama, the next president of the United States. Because we have a huge challenge ahead and it begins by working together on the global financial crisis.
UNITED NATIONS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
I sincerely hope that President Obama will make as a matter of priority these Middle Eastern policies. As a member of the Quartet, as the leader of the world, the United States has full responsibility to lead this peace process so that this two-state solution, Israel, Palestinians can live in peace and security side by side.
EU
President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso
We are living through challenging times. And the challenges we face have no respect for national frontiers. What we need is new global governance and a new basis for prosperity. I sincerely believe that Europe and the United States must work together and with our partners around the world to devise and implement this new agenda for globalization.
January 18, 2009
Videos: We Are One - A Celebration for the World at the Lincoln Memorial (with bonus reggae footage not seen anywhere else)
Who says we can't free the people with music?
Welcome back, America! But before we begin, here's a word from our hero:
Now, let's celebrate!
U2:
Stevie Wonder, Shakira, Usher:
Will.I.Am, Herbie Hancock, Sheryl Crow:
Josh Groban, Heather Headley (introduced by Queen Latifah):
Bettye Lavette, Jon Bon Jovi:
Mary J. Blige:
Bruce Springsteen:
John Mellencamp:
Beyonce:
And now for a reggae surprise... These musicians didn't make it to the party, but they have the right message.
Steel Pulse:
and
Mighty Sparrow:
Ziggy Marley:
Papa Michigan:
Cocoa Tea:
Mykal Rose:
Hope returns to the world...
Krugman: Advice for Obama
Good advice from a Nobel Prize winner.
Let's go Obama! The nation is behind you >>
January 15, 2009
What's Ginx?
Pierre "eBay" Omidyar's new startup.
"Ginx is a Twitter client that aims to provide Twitter users with a rich experience for sharing and discussing links. Ginx was created to enable people to become more actively engaged in the news and topics they care about."
Read Omidyar's press release >>
Get well soon, Jobs
It's a sad day, really. He's human.
Don't give Apple another thought, Steve Jobs!
I hope and pray he recovers.
He is, as the BBC says, a national treasure.
January 14, 2009
Jimmy Carter: War was Unecessary
Says the former-President:
"...the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided."
Say what?
January 13, 2009
Google's Larry Page Reveals his Success Secrets
This just came in on my N2N (nerd-to-nerd) network. I thought I'd share it w/ everyone. It's titled: "Secrets of success from Google co-founder Larry Page."
Here you go - take it as propaganda, if you want, but it is interesting all the same:
# If you have a product that's really gaining a lot of usage, then it's probably a good idea.
# When you grow, you continually have to invent new processes. We've done a pretty good job keeping up, but it's an ongoing challenge.
# We built a business on the opposite message. We want you to come to Google and quickly find what you want. Then we're happy to send you to the other sites. In fact, that's the point. The portal strategy tries to own all of the information.
# Pretty early on, I saw a newspaper story about Googling dates. People were checking out who they were dating by Googling them. I think it's a tremendous responsibility. If you think everybody is relying on us for information, you understand the responsibility. That's mostly what I feel. You have to take that very seriously.
# Part of our brand is that we're pretty understated in what we do. If you look at other technology companies, they might pre-announce things, and it will be a couple years before they really happen, and they don't happen in the way they said they would.
# Through innovation and iteration, Google takes something that works well and improves upon it in unexpected ways.
# If you can run the company a bit more collaboratively, you get a better result, because you have more bandwidth and checking and balancing going on.
# The 'be good' concept also comes up when we design our products. We want them to have positive social effects. For example, we just released Gmail, a free e-mail service. We said, 'We will not hold your e-mail hostage. ' We will make it possible for you to get your e-mail out of Gmail if you ever want to.
# The dotcom period was difficult for us. We were dismayed in that climate... We knew a lot of things people were doing weren't sustainable, and that made it hard for us to operate. We couldn't get good people for reasonable prices. We couldn't get office space. It was a hypercompetitive time. We had the opportunity to invest in 100 or more companies and didn't invest in any of them. I guess we lost a lot of money in the short term -- but not in the long
term.
# Talented people are attracted to Google because we empower them to change the world. Google has large computational resources and distribution that enables individuals to make a difference.
# We don't have as many managers as we should, but we would rather have too few than too many.
# We think we're an important company, and we're dedicated to doing this over the long term. We like being independent.
# Serving our end users is at the heart of what we do and remains our number one priority.
# It definitely helps to be really focused on what you are doing.
# My experience is that when people are trying to do ambitious things, they're all worried about failing when they start. But all sorts of interesting things spin out that are of huge economic value. Also, in these kinds of projects, you get to work with the best people and have a very interesting time. They're not really taking a risk, but they feel like they are.
# From its inception, Google has focused on providing the best user experience possible. While many companies claim to put their customers first, few are able to resist the temptation to make small sacrifices to increase shareholder value. Google has steadfastly refused to
make any change that does not offer a benefit to the users who come to the site.
# You (the Google user) want answers and you want them right now. Who are we to argue?
# Many leaders of big organizations don't believe that change is possible. But if you look at history, things do change, and if your business is static, you're likely to have issues.
# If we are not trusted, we have no business. We have such a lot to lose; we are forced to act in everyone's interest."
# I would rather have people think we're confused than let our competitors know what we're going to do.
# We chose it (the name Google) because we deal with huge amounts of data. Besides, it sounds really cool.
# The ultimate search engine... would understand exactly what you mean and give back exactly what you want.
# Our company relies on having the trust of our users and using that information for their benefit. That's a very strong motivation for us. We're committed to that. If you start to mandate how products are designed, I think that's a really bad path to follow. I think instead we should have laws that protect the privacy of data, for example, from government requests and other kinds of requests.
# Many companies are under pressure to keep their earnings in line with analysts' forecasts. Therefore, they often accept smaller, predictable earnings rather than larger and less predictable returns. Sergey and I feel this is harmful, and we intend to steer in the opposite direction.
# We think a lot about how to maintain our culture and the fun elements. I don't know if other companies care as much about those things as we do. We spent a lot of time getting our offices right. We think it's important to have a high density of people. People are packed together everywhere. We all share offices. We like this set of buildings because it's more like a densely packed university campus than a typical suburban office park.
# We're trying to use the web's self-organizing properties to decide which things to present. We don't want to be in the position of having to decide these things. We take the responsibility seriously. People depend on us.
# Google is organized around the ability to attract and leverage the talent of exceptional technologists and business people. We have been lucky to recruit many creative, principled and hard working stars. We hope to recruit many more in the future. We will reward
and treat them well.
# By always placing the interests of the user first, Google has built the most loyal audience on the web. And that growth has come not through TV ad campaigns, but through word of mouth from one satisfied user to another.
# You don't want to be Tesla. He was one of the greatest inventors, but it's a sad, sad story. He couldn't commercialize anything, he could barely fund his own research. You'd want to be more like Edison. If you invent something, that doesn't necessarily help anybody. You've got to actually get it into the world; you've got to produce, make money doing it so you can fund it.
# Invariably we try 10 things that don't quite work out in order to do one thing that's successful. And we learn a lot in doing the 10 things that didn't quite work.
# We have a mantra: don't be evil, which is to do the best things we know how for our users, for our customers, for everyone. So I think if we were known for that, it would be a wonderful thing.
# It is an advantage being young. You don't have as many other responsibilities.
# If you have a great product that meets people's needs, they start telling their friends, especially when it's a search engine, which is something that everybody has to use. So we've actually been growing 20 per cent per month, compounded, for our whole history,
and without spending any significant money on advertising. It's an incredible phenomenon.
# We were, I guess, lucky enough to be trying to be profitable long before it was fashionable, and that was a really good decision. I think it's more luck than real insight on our parts, but Sergey and I really felt a lot better about having a business that could actually make money. So we figured that once we were at that stage then not much could hurt the company.
# We are focused on providing an environment where talented, hard working people are rewarded for their contributions to Google and for making the world a better place
# The amazing thing is that we're part of people's daily lives, like brushing their teeth. It's just something they do throughout the day while working, buying things, deciding what to do after
work and much more. Google has been accepted as part of people's lives. It's quite remarkable. Most people spend most of their time getting information, so maybe it's not a complete surprise that Google is successful.
# Our goal is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. That's our mission. When we started, we had about 30 million Web pages, which was quite large for the time -- that was two years ago. Now, we have well over a billion Web pages. So that gives you some idea of how we've grown in content. So we try to make more and more stuff available to people. We try to, when you come to Google, fulfill that need that you have as quickly as possible.
# Because of our employee talent, Google is doing exciting work in nearly every area of computer science. Our main benefit is a workplace with important projects, where employees can contribute and grow.
# We've actually been very deliberate about making all of our decisions in a way that minimizes the risk that we will go out of business basically. We have pretty conservative financial planning. That turned out to be really smart, and we've had tremendous viral
growth anyway, so we haven't really had any marketing expenses or things like that and we have huge volumes.
# The increasing volume of information is just more opportunity to build better answers to questions. The more information you have, the better.
# You can try to control people, or you can try to have a system that represents reality. I find that knowing what's really happening is more important than trying to control people.
# In the same way Google puts users first when it comes to our online service, Google Inc. puts employees first when it comes to daily life in our Googleplex headquarters.
# Technology knowledge is going to drive wealth: people's ability to deal with technology and to build interesting things.
# Always deliver more than expected.
# It is a tremendous responsibility for us to have all eyes focused on what we do and to give people exactly what they need when they ask for it.
# We believe it is easy to be penny wise and pound foolish with respect to benefits that can save employees considerable time and improve their health and productivity.
# Our opportunity and responsibility has continued to expand. It doesn't feel all that different to me than it did a few years ago.
# The thing that matters is experience. We have lots of executives from failed companies; they learned a lot from these things. They say, 'We can't do that -- we tried that and it didn't work.' So failure is useful.
# When you have basic technology you find interesting things to do with them, and if you're lucky they'll turn into something big.
War Crimes: Has Israel lost its way?
Some would argue that this is Israel's way. So will it, and its leaders, have to face a war crimes tribunal?
Here are three specific reasons why the "war crimes" charge cannot be taken lightly:
• Collective punishment: The entire 1.5 million people who live in the crowded Gaza Strip are being punished for the actions of a few militants.
• Targeting civilians: The airstrikes were aimed at civilian areas in one of the most crowded stretches of land in the world, certainly the most densely populated area of the Middle East.
• Disproportionate military response: The airstrikes have not only destroyed every police and security office of Gaza's elected government, but have killed and injured hundreds of civilians; at least one strike reportedly hit groups of students attempting to find transportation home from the university.
Gideon Levy writes in Haaretz:
"Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni will stand at the forefront of the guilty. Two of them are candidates for prime minister, the third is a candidate for criminal indictment. It is inconceivable that they not be held to account for the bloodshed."
Even Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal had an op-ed piece titled: Israel Is Committing War Crimes.
The Bush administration is to blame as well. Their non-engagement policy - to leave the Arabs and Israelis to work out issues on their own - has been a failure of leadership at the highest level. And Gaza is paying for it in blood.
January 7, 2009
Better Decision-Making: Tom Davenport and Peter Drucker
Here's a brilliant post from "decision-making" guru Tom Davenport. He asks us to "make 2009 the Year of Better Decisions."
Here's what Davenport recommends:
1) Make a list of key decisions: not all decisions are equal, so you have to ask yourself what the key decisions are.
2) Classify decisions by type: For example, is the decision financial, personal, strategic, or tactical? By deciding how to treat different types of decisions differently, companies (and individuals) can become more effective.
3) Track decisions and their outcomes: without this, you can't improve your decision-making abilities. And if things did go wrong, why did it happen?
4) Establish a decision-making coaching group: to improve decision-making across the company!
5) Create a decision-making process for the company: how do we make this decision? Davenport gives us an example from Air-Products (the company which, I believe, initially decided that not using an ERP system would be a competitive advantage.)
Good stuff.
I'd to bring Peter Drucker into the picture at this point. For Drucker, a decision has not been made until people know:
- the name of the person accountable for carrying it out;
- the deadline;
- the names of the people who will be affected by the decision and therefore have to know about, understand, and approve it—or at least not be strongly opposed to it—and
- the names of the people who have to be informed of the decision, even if they are not directly affected by it.
And one more crucial point from Drucker:
Most discussions of decision making assume that only senior executives make decisions or that only senior executives' decisions matter. This is a dangerous mistake. Decisions are made at every level of the organization, beginning with individual professional contributors and frontline supervisors. These apparently low-level decisions are extremely important in a knowledge-based organization. Knowledge workers are supposed to know more about their areas of specialization—for example, tax accounting—than anybody else, so their decisions are likely to have an impact throughout the company. Making good decisions is a crucial skill at every level. It needs to be taught explicitly to everyone in organizations that are based on knowledge.
R.I.P. Peter!
I'm counting on Obama being a far-better decision-maker than Dick Cheney.
Effectiveness and Efficiency: Making Government Accountable - The Role of the Chief Performance Officer
We all know that the role of government is different from the role of business. To pretend, like the Republicans do, that government should be run like a business is to a mistake of gargantuan proportions. Business and government have different functions. One to maximize and sustain profits, the other to "insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, etc. etc."
So how do we go about measuring performance in government? And how can we manage government strategically?
Let's start by looking at the functions of government ( from the Preamble):
1. To form a more perfect Union
2. To establish justice
3. To insure domestic tranquility
4. To provide for the common defense
5. To promote the general welfare
6. To secure the blessings of liberty
Now let's adapt these functions for each government agency. For fun, let's start with the IRS Without a fair tax system, we aren't going to have 1 through 6. So how do we look at what the IRS needs to do to become more effective and efficient? For starters, the tax code has to become more equitable. This means our corporate friends need to start paying their fair share. Loop holes for the super-rich must be closed. We need to stop rewarding companies that ship jobs overseas. And hey, let's add a carbon tax so we know we're going to be building sustainable industries.
I'm only half kidding.
Each agency will have to create a scorecard of what "performance" means. And it will have to be measured against delivered results. WaPo has a cute article about this.
The real task is to manage government strategically. Here's a fun chart from Nancy Killefer herself:
Read: How can American government meet its productivity challenge?
In the end, you can't manage what you can't measure (including intangibles). So here's to the future of transparent, accountable government. Bring it, Obama!
January 4, 2009
The Story of India
Michael Wood is the BBC's answer to Ken Burns, and he does a brilliant job with this six-part documentary. The series starts tomorrow night on PBS. The accompanying website is beautifully done as well.
The show is brought to you by Patak's, which happens to be the one way you can cook your own "Indian food" in the US, in Germany, France, and of course, the UK. Meena Patak - can you do us all a huge favor and bottle the taste of Moti Mahal's butter chicken, please?
January 2, 2009
The Green Bible: What would Jesus Do to Save the Planet?
"When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet?”
- Ezekiel 34:18
Better late than never: The Green Bible
Dis ya version a no King James version.
I wonder if the Pope will read it? And weep?
More info >>
The Limits of Green: Environmental Branding gets Messy
Prediction: 2009 will get "greenwashing" companies into hot water.
The danger in cause-related marketing is that it causes more harm to a company than good, especially when companies get involved in less than good faith.
This can happen, for example, when a company like P&G gets overzealous in its PR and engineers its own green awards.
And the slope gets slippery when the Sierra Club gets involved with Clorox.
Or when SC Johnson creates its own Greenlist(TM) process - and logo! Does anyone really believe that Windex is a green product?
Or when Dell claims it's carbon neutral.
The simple question for business is can we trust you?
The answer, so far, is no.
After eight years of laissez-faire, we are finally entering into a new phase of corporate accountability. And it's not just about greenwashing.
December 28, 2008
Spielberg and Tintin?
Israel: Enough!
It's a sad day when the newspapers in Israel are more critical of its government than the media in this country.
What stupidity.
Israel is alienating its own supporters.
And next in line is Netanyahu... what a disaster that will be.
December 26, 2008
10 Questions (not Predictions) for 2009
1. Will Obama fix the mess?
2. Who will replace Steve Jobs?
3. Will someone fix Yahoo?
4. Will anyone find/catch bin-Laden?
5. How many Bush regulations will be repealed?
6. Will Richard Branson start a Virgin Auto Company?
7. Will Google buy Twitter? Squidoo?
8. Netbooks! The $100 netbook is coming to disrupt the PC market... will it be from Google? or a Nokia?
9. How soon will we see a commercial mortgage collapse?
10. Will real unemployment hit 25%? 30%?
Update: Journalists-in-Jail Index
Interesting facts:
- there are more online journalists in jail than print journalists.
- China leads the world in putting journalists behind bars
- Suspected perpetrators in journalist murder cases:
* Political groups: 31.2%
* Government officials: 18.5%
* Criminal group: 11.1%
* Paramilitaries: 7.2%
* Military: 5.8%
* Local residents: 2.1%
* Mob: 1.2%
* Unknown: 22%
I consider the "Journalists-in-Jail Index" a true measurement of democracy...
And now, a music video from Alpha Blondy:
Rebooting America
A similar tune from both Friedman and Krugman at the NYTimes...
Here's Friedman:
My fellow Americans, we can’t continue in this mode of “Dumb as we wanna be.” We’ve indulged ourselves for too long with tax cuts that we can’t afford, bailouts of auto companies that have become giant wealth-destruction machines, energy prices that do not encourage investment in 21st-century renewable power systems or efficient cars, public schools with no national standards to prevent illiterates from graduating and immigration policies that have our colleges educating the world’s best scientists and engineers and then, when these foreigners graduate, instead of stapling green cards to their diplomas, we order them to go home and start companies to compete against ours.
To top it off, we’ve fallen into a trend of diverting and rewarding the best of our collective I.Q. to people doing financial engineering rather than real engineering. These rocket scientists and engineers were designing complex financial instruments to make money out of money — rather than designing cars, phones, computers, teaching tools, Internet programs and medical equipment that could improve the lives and productivity of millions.
For all these reasons, our present crisis is not just a financial meltdown crying out for a cash injection. We are in much deeper trouble. In fact, we as a country have become General Motors — as a result of our national drift. Look in the mirror: G.M. is us.
and Krugman:
So what are the lessons for the Obama team?
First, the administration of the economic recovery plan has to be squeaky clean. Purely economic considerations might suggest cutting a few corners in the interest of getting stimulus moving quickly, but the politics of the situation dictates great care in how money is spent. And enforcement is crucial: inspectors general have to be strong and independent, and whistle-blowers have to be rewarded, not punished as they were in the Bush years.
Second, the plan has to be really, truly pork-free. Vice President-elect Joseph Biden recently promised that the plan “will not become a Christmas tree”; the new administration needs to deliver on that promise.
Finally, the Obama administration and Democrats in general need to do everything they can to build an F.D.R.-like bond with the public. Never mind Mr. Obama’s current high standing in the polls based on public hopes that he’ll succeed. He needs a solid base of support that will remain even when things aren’t going well.
Go Barack, Barack!
Neuro-Selling: Mind Control in the Grocery Store?
The science of shopping?
The article should've been called mind control in your local supermarket.
I agree with this: "despite all the new technology, simply talking to consumers remains one of the most effective ways to improve the 'customer experience'."
Too bad we can't spend the same kind of money on research figuring out the best way to teach Johnny how to read, write and do arithmetic...
Here's "Mind Control" from Stephen Marley:
Farewell Harold Pinter
December 24, 2008
Is there a God?
Today's a good day to ask the question >>
I always find atheists are quite spiritual. Walker Percy used to say they were "haunted by God."
Christmas Music: O Holy Night - Pick Your Favorite Version
Here are a few versions of one of my favorite Christmas songs. I've been compiling this list for a while:
Aretha Franklin & Billy Preston
Charlotte Church & Placido Domingo
Placido Domingo, José Carreras and Diana Ross
Brain McKnight and Jessica Simpson
My favorite? Andy Williams, until we get a version from Steel Pulse!
Wuxi Calling
China's advertising in Silicon Valley, trying to lure Asian-Americans to move to the "Most Aspiring City of Prosperity and Civilization in the Southeast of China."
Just another act in the global war for talent...
The Meaning of Christmas
Linus does a better job than the Pope:
]
December 23, 2008
Torturing Journalists
The television reporter who threw his shoes at President Bush was burned by a cigarette in the hours after his arrest on Dec. 14 and was beaten so badly by Iraqi security personnel that one of his teeth was knocked out, the reporter’s brother said Sunday after a visit to the jail.
Nice democracy we've installed in Iraq... I guess they get their "best practices" from Cheney.
Learn more >>
December 21, 2008
The Financial Crisis: Perspectives from China and India
James Fallows' interview with China's Gao Xiqing, president of the China Investment Corporation is an eye-opener:
- "People, especially Americans, started believing that they can live on other people’s money. And more and more so. First other people’s money in your own country. And then the savings rate comes down, and you start living on other people’s money from outside. At first it was the Japanese. Now the Chinese and the Middle Easterners.
- "If you look at every one of these [derivative] products, they make sense. But in aggregate, they are bullshit. They are crap. They serve to cheat people.
- "I have to say it: you have to do something about pay in the financial system. People in this field have way too much money. And this is not right.
- "Today when we look at all the markets, the U.S. still is probably the most viable, the most predictable. I was trained as a lawyer, and predictability is always very important for me.
- "Americans are not sensitive in that regard. I mean, as a whole. The simple truth today is that your economy is built on the global economy. And it’s built on the support, the gratuitous support, of a lot of countries. So why don’t you come over and … I won’t say kowtow [with a laugh], but at least, be nice to the countries that lend you money.
- "Talk to the Chinese! Talk to the Middle Easterners! And pull your troops back! Take the troops back, demobilize many of the troops, so that you can save some money rather than spending $2 billion every day on them. And then tell your people that you need to save, and come out with a long-term, sustainable financial policy."
and then there's the Indian perspective:
- “In India, we never had anything close to the subprime loan,” said Chandra Kochhar, the chief financial officer of India’s largest private bank, Icici. (A few days after I spoke to her, Ms. Kochhar was named the bank’s new chief executive, in a move that had long been anticipated.) “All lending to individuals is based on their income. That is a big difference between your banking system and ours.” She continued: “Indian banks are not levered like American banks. Capital ratios are 12 and 13 percent, instead of 7 or 8 percent. All those exotic structures like C.D.O. and securitizations are a very tiny part of our banking system. So a lot of the temptations didn’t exist.”
- " “We recognize it as a problem of plenty. It was perpetuated by greedy bankers, whether investment bankers or commercial bankers. The greed to make money is the impression it has made here. Anytime they wanted a loan, people just dipped into their home A.T.M. It was like money was on call.”
Serious business this.
Slavery in Our Time
It's time to end slavery.
Here's one way to help >>
December 20, 2008
John Seely Brown: "I am what I create"
I just posted this on YouTube for JSB:
December 19, 2008
Why Music?
What appetite drives the proliferation of music to the point where the average American teenager spends 1½-2½ hours a day—an eighth of his waking life—listening to it?
My answer - Steel Pulse's Chant a Psalm:
December 18, 2008
The End of Chinamerica
Interesting commentary from Harvard's Niall Ferguson:
With China decoupled from America—relying less on exports to the U.S. market, caring less about its currency’s peg to the dollar—the end of Chimerica would have arrived, and with it the balance of global power would be bound to shift. No longer so committed to the Sino-American friendship established back in 1972, China would be free to explore other spheres of global influence, from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, of which Russia is also a member, to its own informal nascent empire in commodity-rich Africa.
Yet commentators should hesitate before prophesying the decline and fall of the United States. It has come through disastrous financial crises before—not just the Great Depression, but also the Great Stagflation of the 1970s—and emerged with its geopolitical position enhanced. That happened in the 1940s and again in the 1980s.
Part of the reason it happened is that the United States has long offered the world’s most benign environment for technological innovation and entrepreneurship.
December 17, 2008
A.G. Lafley on Innovation
The Meaning of Coaching
Pete Carroll shows the way by example:
December 16, 2008
Gaurav Bhalla on Customer-Driven Innovation
I recently convinced Gaurav Bhalla, the global innovation director at Kantar-TNS, one of the world's largest market information and research companies, to start blogging.
His blog - GauravBhalla.com: The Practice of Customer-Driven Innovation - promises to be insightful and interesting all at once. See, for example, the post titled A.G. Lafley: The CEO as Commercial Anthropologist >>
Stay tuned...
December 14, 2008
Iraqi Farewell: Reporter Pelts Bush with Shoes
Is this what they used to call objective journalism?
December 13, 2008
Mark Anderson: 10 Technology Predictions for 2009
1.) It will be a big year for applications that can play on big screens.
2.) The big news in the mobile world will be smart phone applications.
3.) The blush is off the China rose.
4.) Flash-based computing will really take off.
5.) Wall computing gets traction.
6.) Carry-along computers will be hot.
7.) LTE (Long Term Evolution) will be the preferred technology for 4G.
8.) The less developed world will finally see widespread availability of broadband.
9.) Voice recognition will finally work right.
10.) The Internet Assistant will be born.
Don't ask me, I'm simply reporting what Mark Anderson's saying.
The one I'm certain about is the "carry-along" computer. I want real laptop computing in the size of a Penguin paperback. Are you listening, Apple?
December 5, 2008
Warren Buffet to Auto CEOs: Put Your Own Money in the Game
I wonder if Obama will get the fat-cats to put their own hides on the line...
December 1, 2008
Beyond HR: Where Does Talent have the Biggest Impact?
Very interesting:
The book: Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital
Maybe we need to think about good old Pareto: What 20% of talent delivers 80% of the profits?
In my experience, the real problem with most companies is that HR is not viewed as a strategic function. And their most valuable assets are anything but...
Girl Scouts: Sell This!
One of my pet peeves with the Girl Scouts of America is their exploitation of children:
"...they have to sell 40 boxes of cookies at $3.00 apiece just to make $20.00. The other $2.50 goes to the Girl Scout Organization."
What a rip-off.
Instead of selling cookies, the Girl Scouts troops should be selling these. And keeping the PCs.
Why can't www.laptop.org donate or sell PCs to poor schools in the US as well as the rest of the world? C'mon St. Nicholas (Negroponte)!
Online Advertising in a Recession
"online advertising will continue to expand in the recession—just not as quickly as previously expected..."
Online advertising is 100% accountable, period. And what's more, campaigns can be optimized in real-time.
That said, there are ways to escape the tyranny of search. All it takes is ecosystem intelligence.
The Death of Venice?
Last year, at about this time, we were visiting Venice, admiring its art and artifacts, as well as the fiestiness of its people... what a difference the flooding makes.
Venice is just one of 21 coastal cities that will have to contend with the impacts of rising sea levels. Learn more >>
November 30, 2008
The Church of Hypocrisy
The planet's dying, we're killing thousands in Iraq, the poor are struggling everywhere, and these idiots drown in their stupidity.
The facts are that abortion rates fell under pro-choice Clinton...
No one is for abortion. And the Catholic church needs to fix itself before it starts preaching about anything at all.
What would Jesus do? Jesus would've fired the Pope, along with all the other money lenders in the temple.
Advice to the Church: help the poor and suffering and judge not.
How to Think Inside the Box
November 29, 2008
Strategic Cost Reduction: How to Trim the Federal Budget using the Pareto Principle
JH3 is a big fan of the 80/20 principle:
The 80/20 rule provides the foundation for a relatively simple exercise for executives. It involves answering the following questions:
* Which 20% of the products or services generate 80% of the profitability?
* Which 20% of the customers generate 80% of the profitability?
* Which 20% of the geographies generate 80% of the profitability?
* Which 20% of the assets generate 80% of the profitability?
These are powerful and revealing questions, yet few companies today are able to answer these questions given the way their accounting and information systems are set up.
I wonder if the same approach could be applied to the Federal Budget. Obama, are you listening?
The pareto questions might look something like this:
- Which 20% of our costs take up 80% of the budget?
- Which 20% of our services impact 80% of the tax-paying public?
- Which 20% of our geographies require 80% of our aid?
- Which 20% of our public generate 80% of our tax revenues?
Betcha these could be eye-openers!
Mumbai: Is Secular India Dead?
The spirit of Mumbai can't be killed. That's what Suketu Mehta says in his op-ed piece in the NYTimes:
Mumbai is all about dhandha, or transaction. From the street food vendor squatting on a sidewalk, fiercely guarding his little business, to the tycoons and their dreams of acquiring Hollywood, this city understands money and has no guilt about the getting and spending of it. I once asked a Muslim man living in a shack without indoor plumbing what kept him in the city. “Mumbai is a golden songbird,” he said. It flies quick and sly, and you’ll have to work hard to catch it, but if you do, a fabulous fortune will open up for you. The executives who congregated in the Taj Mahal hotel were chasing this golden songbird. The terrorists want to kill the songbird.
Mehta's book Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found
is possibly the most important book today for anyone trying to understand what is happening in Mumbai today.
Here's an interesting interview with Mehta in the Washington Post.
My worry is that the fallout from the Mumbai carnage will be the rise of more fanaticism and stupidity on both sides. India can't afford more "divide and rule."
Accenture: How To Create A Culture Of High Performance
Accenture is advertising How To Create A Culture Of High Performance.
I agree with them that "the central attribute of a successful leader is the ability to change the way people think."
But I completely disagree when they say that "Successful leaders get everyone to share the same mindsets."
I think the opposite is true: successful leaders bring together diverse points of view to challenge each other and present different alternatives, thus helping the leader make informed, effective decisions.
What Accenture is calling "mindsets" is really groupthink. Groupthink is a recipe for disaster, not high performance.
In the course of a two-year investigation, Accenture determined five "mindsets" which matter most in improving business performance:
Mindset 1: Maintain the Right Balance Between Market-Making and Disciplined Execution by Avoiding False Trade-offs and Committing to a Dual Focus on Present and Future.
Mindset 2: Identify and Multiply Talent by Investing a Disproportionate Amount of Time in Recruiting and Developing People.
Mindset 3: Use A Selective Scorecard to Measure Business Performance By Relying on a Simple, Memorable Way of Measuring Success and Using Every Occasion to Share Success Stories Throughout the Organization.
Mindset 4: Recognize Technology as a Strategic Asset by Investing in Technologies that Demonstrably Lead to Better Business Performance.
Mindset 5: Emphasize Continuous Renewal by Ensuring the Organization Understands What to Preserve and What to Jettison.
November 28, 2008
Mumbai Burning: India's 9/11
I have the same sick feeling I had when I watched the Twin Towers collapse that dreadful day.
Why would these people deliberately do such a thing? Yes, I understand the Kashmir problem. But does that mean you have to go around killing innocents? It looks like Al-Qaeda has taught smaller terrorist organizations to think big.
And the saddest part of it all is that politicians in India are now using this to attract attention to themselves...
The Return of Ross Perot
Take a look at PerotCharts.com
Thanksgiving 2008: The Return of Competency
I'm thankful for an intelligent President-elect!
November 24, 2008
Seth Godin teaches the New York Times How to Compete
In my line work (consulting) I run into all kinds of executive mindsets. In the publishing world, however, these mindsets tend to be rather stodgy at best, reptilian at worst.
Publishers don't understand the web. And Seth Godin takes the New York Times to task, pointing out so many obvious misses and near-misses, that you have to ask why. Why don't publishers get it? Why do they insist on playing it safe, even as their ship sinks below them?
Godin's answer is right on target: "organizations are run by people who want to protect the old business, not develop the new one."
This is what VG talks about as well.
In just about any large company, the people running the show are great at yesterday's business, not tomorrow's.
Please read Godin's post >>
November 16, 2008
More Obama Lessons for Business
Bill George (yes, Medtronic's Bill George) gives us a few more lessons learned from the Obama victory:
• Obama created a grassroots movement by building an ever-expanding organization of empowered leaders, who in turn engaged people from their social networks like Facebook.
• The entire organization was aligned around a single goal—electing Obama as President—and operated with common values ("Offer messages of hope, don't denigrate our opponents, refuse to make deals").
• Campaign leaders subordinated their egos and personal ambitions to the greater goal. Those who deviated quickly exited.
• Obama set a clear, consistent tone from the top ("No Drama Obama"), and never wavered, even when things weren't going well.
• Obama's greater mission transcended internal goals, such as fund-raising, endorsements, and campaign events, but each of these areas had goals tied to the greater mission.
• The campaign team used the most modern Internet tools to communicate, motivate, and inspire people and to guide their actions. Each day, 5 million people received personal messages from campaign headquarters or even Obama himself. This organization collaborated across a wide range of geographies and campaign functions, all tightly integrated nationally and executed locally.
Finally, just in case you missed the other business lessons, here you go >>
November 15, 2008
Shoshana Zuboff: Obama's Victory is Capitalism 2.0
Writes Zuboff in BusinessWeek:
"This column is dedicated to the top managers of American business whose policies and practices helped ensure Barack Obama's victory. The mandate for change that sounded across this country is not limited to our new President and Congress. That bell also tolls for you. Obama's triumph was ignited in part by your failure to understand and respect your own consumers, customers, employees, and end users. The despair that fueled America's yearning for change and hope grew to maturity in your garden."
Years ago I remember reading Zuboff's In the Age of the Smart Machine and thinking that no one in corporate management really wants real transparency... and that the information value-chain she described was doomed to failure.
Luckily, I was wrong. Now Obama will bring process transparency to government and business.
Asks Zuboff:
"...can we invent a business model in which advocacy, support, authenticity, trust, relationship, and profit are linked?"
"Yes, we must," she concludes.
Read the article >>
And read her book: The Support Economy: Why Corporations Are Failing Individuals and the Next Episode of Capitalism
>>
November 12, 2008
The Bailout that Wasn't
I don't know enough to even comment on this, but something is rotten in the state of Denmark (er, United States)...
Tom Friedman: "Steve Jobs - want to run G.M. for a year?"
Tom Friedman made me laugh today:
"...somebody ought to call Steve Jobs, who doesn’t need to be bribed to do innovation, and ask him if he’d like to do national service and run a car company for a year. I’d bet it wouldn’t take him much longer than that to come up with the G.M. iCar."
The rest of his column is a bit more serious. But it's dead on!
November 10, 2008
Business Lessons Learned from President-Elect Barack Obama
What should the new President's priorities be? Here are some views from a few CEOs interviewed by BusinessWeek:
It's a cliche, but big business fears Democratic leaders. Turns out that Democratic presidents are better for the economy than Republicans! Details, details...
Jack Welch has his own take on why Obama succeeded: a clear vision, clean execution, and friends in high places.
A far more insightful piece comes from HBR blogger Umair Haque: Obama's Seven Lessons for Radical Innovators. I don't agree with all of his points (Obama did not "minimize strategy," he minimized tactics!) but I do commend Haque for his insights (see this post, for example, on why Obama is the Google of Politics.)
Bill Taylor has a fun post titled: How Obama Became CEO of the USA -- and What It Means for CEOs Everywhere
in which he argues that "being different makes all the difference."
John Quelch says it's all about better marketing.
Barbara Kellerman argues that Obama is a superior manager.
Gill Corkindale calls Obama The World's First 21st Century Leader
For Stew Friedman, it's authenticity.
My own view is that Obama is a true leader. And what we witnessed was the birth of Politics 2.0.
And in the end, it's still about results, and to that end, Obama has already taken the first step.
Obama's Innovation Strategy
So what will Obama's innovation strategy look like? Here's a clue or two:
Farewell Mama Afrika: Miriam Makeba Passes On
The Soweto Blues = The Worldwide Blues...
R.I.P. Mama Afrika. She died in Castel Volturno, near Caserta, Italy, of a heart attack, shortly after taking part in a concert organized to support writer Roberto Saviano in his stand against the Camorra, a mafia-like organisation
See also this stirring rendition of N'Kosi Sikeleli Africa:
November 7, 2008
The Return of American Idealism: Political Reaction to Obama's Win
Reaction to Obama's win from politicians across the world:
UKRAINE: "Your victory is an inspiration for us. That which appeared impossible has become possible." - Youlia Tymoshenko, Prime Minister
MALI: "The United States has given a lesson, a lesson in maturity and a lesson in democracy." - Amadou Toure, President
ITALY: "Europe which is celebrating (the victory of) Obama must know that Europe be will be called on to be a producer of security and no longer merely a consumer. I think Obama will rightly call on us to take our responsibilities more seriously." - Franco Frattini, Foreign Minister
BRAZIL: "In this case hope has won over prejudice -- this is good for the United States and the world as a whole." - Celso Amorin, Foreign Minister
RUSSIA: "The news we are receiving on the results of the American presidential election shows that everyone has the right to hope for a freshening of U.S. approaches to all the most complex issues, including foreign policy and therefore relations with the Russian Federation as well." - Grigory Karasin, Deputy Foreign Minister
IRAQ: "I think you will hear a lot of discussion and goals and slogans during the election campaigns. When there is a reality check I think any U.S. president has to look very hard at the facts on the ground." - Hoshiyar Zebari, Foreign Minister
ISRAEL: "Israel expects the close strategic cooperation with the new administration, president and Congress will continue along with the continued strengthening of the special and unshakeable special relationship between the two countries." - Tzipi Livni, Foreign Minister
VATICAN: "Believers are praying that God will enlighten him and help him in his great responsibility, which is enormous because of the global importance of the United States...We hope Obama can fulfil the expectations and hopes that many have in him." - Rev. Federico Lombardi, spokesman for Pope Benedict
PAKISTAN: "Your election marks a new chapter in the remarkable history of the United States. For long, the ideas of democracy, liberty and freedom espoused by the United States has been a source of inspiration...I hope that under your dynamic leadership, the United States will continue to be a source of global peace and new ideas for humanity." - Yousaf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister
INDIA: "Your extraordinary journey to the White House will inspire people not only in your country but also around the world." - Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister
HOLLAND: "The necessity for cooperation between Europe and the United States is bigger than ever. Only by close transatlantic cooperation can we face the world's challenges." - Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister
FRANCE: "With the world in turmoil and doubt, the American people, faithful to the values that have always defined America's identity, have expressed with force their faith in progress and the future. At a time when we must face huge challenges together, your election has raised enormous hope in France, in Europe and beyond." - Nicolas Sarkozy, President
AFGHANISTAN: "I applaud the American people for their great decision and I hope that this new administration in the United States of America, and the fact of the massive show of concern for human beings and lack of interest in race and color while electing the president, will go a long way in bringing the same values to the rest of world sooner or later." - Hamid Karzai, President
GREAT BRITAIN: "Barack Obama ran an inspirational campaign, energizing politics with his progressive values and his vision for the future. I know Barack Obama and we share many values. We both have determination to show that government can act to help people fairly through these difficult times facing the global economy." - Gordon Brown, Prime Minister
KENYA: "We the Kenyan people are immensely proud of your Kenyan roots. Your victory is not only an inspiration to millions of people all over the world, but it has special resonance with us here in Kenya." - Mwai Kibaki, President
CHINA: "The Chinese Government and I myself have always attached great importance to China-U.S. relations. In the new historic era, I look forward to working together with you to continuously strengthen dialogue and exchanges between our two countries." - Hu Jintao, President
GERMANY: "I offer you my heartfelt congratulations on your historic victory in the presidential election... The world faces significant challenges at the start of your term. I am convinced that Europe and the United States will work closely and in a spirit of mutual trust together to confront new dangers and risks and will seize the opportunities presented by our global world." - Angela Merkel, Chancellor
JAPAN: "The Japan-U.S. alliance is key to Japanese diplomacy and it is the foundation for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. With President-elect Obama, I will strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance further and work toward resolving global issues such as the world economy, terror and the environment." - Taro Aso, Prime Minister
SOUTH AFRICA: "Africa, which today stands proud of your achievements, can only but look forward to a fruitful working relationship with you both at a bilateral and multilateral levels in our endeavor to create a better world for all who live in it." - Kgalema Motlanthe, President
CANADA: "I look forward to meeting with the President-elect so that we can continue to strengthen the special bond that exists between Canada and the United States." - Stephen Harper, Prime Minister
AUSTRALIA: "Senator Obama's message of hope is not just for America's future, it is also a message of hope for the world as well. A world which is now in many respects fearful for its future." - Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister
NEW ZEALAND: "Senator Obama will be taking office at a critical juncture. There are many pressing challenges facing the international community, including the global financial crisis and global warming. We look forward to working closely with President-elect Obama and his team to address these challenges." - Helen Clark, Prime Minister
INDONESIA: Indonesia especially hopes that the U.S., under new leadership, will stand in the front and take real action to overcome the global financial crisis, especially since the crisis was triggered by the financial conditions in the U.S." Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President
PHILLIPINES: "We welcome his triumph in the same vein that we place the integrity of the US electoral process and the choices made by the American people in high regard. We likewise note the making of history with the election of Senator Obama as the first African-American president of the United States." - Gloria Macapagal Arr