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?
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 How many Bush regulations will be repealed?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%?
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!
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."
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!
Linus does a better job than the Pope:
]
I just posted this on YouTube for JSB:
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:
Pete Carroll shows the way by example:
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...
Is this what they used to call objective journalism?
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?
I wonder if Obama will get the fat-cats to put their own hides on the line...
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...
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.
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!
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."
Take a look at PerotCharts.com
I'm thankful for an intelligent President-elect!
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 >>
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 >>
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
>>
I don't know enough to even comment on this, but something is rotten in the state of Denmark (er, United States)...
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!
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.
So what will Obama's innovation strategy look like? Here's a clue or two:
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:
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 Arroyo, President
IRAN: "The president-elect has promised changes in policies. There is a capacity for the improvement of ties between America and Iran if Obama pursues his campaign promises, including not confronting other countries as Bush did in Iraq and Afghanistan, and also concentrating on America's state matters and removing the American people's concerns." - Ali Aghamohammadi, aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: "We hope the president-elect in the United States will stay the course and would continue the U.S. engagement in the peace process without delay. We hope the two-state vision would be transferred from a vision to a realistic track immediately." Saeb Erekat, aide to President Mahmoud Abbas
And for a less pompous tone, here are a few statements from ordinary people:
LEBANON: In a Beirut restaurant, Miriam, 28, said her two brothers, both members of the militant Islamic group Hezbollah, saw Mr. Obama as a leader who was willing to take diplomatic risks to avoid military confrontations. "They think Obama will not damage the Middle East the way Bush did, and they were afraid if [John] McCain made it, the whole region would be in danger."
BRAZIL: In Rio de Janeiro, documentary filmmaker Ryan Steers said Mr. Obama could improve the U.S. image abroad. "Obama is someone the world can trust. That is the most important thing for America right now: regaining its trust in the world community."
KENYA: People danced in the streets in Mr. Obama's ancestral village of Kogelo, and President Mwai Kibaki declared Thursday a national holiday. In Nairobi's Kibera shantytown, carpenter Joseph Ochieng said, "If it were possible for me to get to the United States on my bicycle, I would."
JAPAN: "Americans overcame the racial divide and elected Obama," said Terumi Hino, a photographer and painter in Tokyo. "I think this means the United States can go back to being admired as the country of dreams.
Thanks Obama!
and
The American Renaissance has begun. Goodbye, Dark Ages...
I finally got some sleep. The world has changed.
What a beautiful thing it is:
Steel Pulse teaches us the meaning of product versioning. See previous version here >>
"The stark truth is that the U.S. has no long-term economic strategy—no coherent set of policies to ensure competitiveness over the long haul. Strategy embodies clear priorities, based on understanding the strengths we need to preserve and the weaknesses that threaten our prosperity the most. Strategy addresses what to do, but also what not to do. In dealing with a crisis, experience teaches us that steps to address the immediate problem must support a long-term strategy. Yet it is far from clear that we are taking the steps most important to America's long-term economic prosperity."
That's the Portermeister in BusinessWeek.
What he's saying is Vote Obama :-)
Good thing Obama has Warren Buffet on his team...
We need a leader, a leader
To march on to Liberty
Get it Together
Vote Barack, Barack Obama...
MP3 here >>
Invest a little, learn a lot.
I've always enjoyed his work >>
See also: "How Productivity Killed American Enterprise"
Corporate interests need to get out of government, period.
Tell that to the lobbyists...
In this month's Harvard Business Review, authors John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison provide a road map for the daunting task of shaping strategy as technology-driven infrastructures constantly change.
The article is called: “Shaping Strategy in a World of Constant Disruption” and you can download it here (thanks Deloitte Consulting!) >>
In my view this is a very timely piece of thinking from my heroes JH3 and JSB (and Lang Davison). I'll dig into it later this month on ecosystemwatch.com...
Wait, there's more. Check out the podcast >>
For those of you emailing me about why I'm harping on about Peter Drucker, please read this: What Makes an Effective Executive>>
“In the next economic downturn there will be an outbreak of bitterness and contempt for the super-corporate chieftains who pay themselves millions.” Peter Drucker in 1997
