Nelson Mandela: One Man

There wasn't any of the normal "surprise" when the word came through that Nelson Mandela had died. At 95 and ailing, it was just a mater of time.  But still the world stopped for a moment and reflected on what one man, who was willing to go all the way for his cause and beliefs, could do to change a country and ignite change in a set of beliefs worldwide. 

It is only fitting that we remember and honor his contribution and legacy.  In doing so, we best uphold his ideals by ensuring that we never let ourselves take the easy way out or cut a corner on our principles.

Nelson Mandela saw a wrong that needed to be righted.  When we see wrongs within our companies, no matter how big or small, are we standing in the shadow of Mandela to ensure that the wrongs are eliminated? 

Sometimes we think we don't have any "say" or we are insignificant.  Our ability to impact and contribute is only as small as we allow our self-perception and thinking to be!

Corporate Citizenship

Our political system has been spending many fruitless cycles on immigration and citizenship.  We seem to be stuck in an argument about whether or not we want more citizens.  A citizen is one who gives their allegiance to their government and in turn receives that government's protection. 

We can say that inside of our companies we have "citizens".  When someone joins our organization and becomes provides their allegiance to the vision, mission and goals of the company and management, then in turn the company protects them with a salary, benefits, opportunity to work, etc. In return, when this works correctly, we get good citizenship from our employees and that in itself is good. 

But, how often do we think of our employees as citizens, versus just hired help who just come and go? Do we get allegiance this way?  Do we think about protecting our talent?  This is where most companies miss out. 

If we stopped and thought about someone making that all important choice to come to work for us, versus someplace else, as a desire to "join" us and to become a part of us, as citizens then we might well approach the whole relationship differently, and assuredly more productively.

Opinion: Apple is Sitting on Their Own Treasure Trove of Information - Why Don't They Mine It?

We all have read of Apple's purported $200MM purchase of Topsy.  TechCrunch speculated that part of the reason for that purchase is for Apple to have a better read on App Store relevance. I read that and chuckled because Apple already is sitting on a treasure trove of relevance and for the life of me, I don't understand why they won't just go and mine it from and for us.

I have had this conversation with every Apple Executive I know and unfortunately I don't have the relationship with Tim Cook (who I admire greatly) that I did with Steve Jobs. Long ago I would have emailed or called and he would have (like he did on multiple occasions) responded with either, "That's a good idea" or something like, "Why would I do that?" (which was his way of telling me he thought it was a stupid idea).

So, since I don't have that and the Topsy acquisition happened, here we go and maybe this will make its way back to Cupertino.

Please answer these questions and '"follow" along:

Do you own an iphone, an ipad or an ipod touch?

If you answered yes: Do you have any apps on your device that you downloaded through the App Store?

Still answering yes?

I have an iphone and an ipad.

I have downloaded both free and purchased apps.  I downloaded one yesterday in fact that I paid $7.99.

Do you know what it was?

Do you know any of my apps?

Do I know any of the apps you have?

Do you want to know mine?

I want to know yours!

If you knew mine, would you be inclined, just possibly, to try or purchase one because you discovered something new that I already knew and had tried and liked?

I know I would reciprocate, but I have no idea what apps you have on your device or in the cloud. But, I know you have something there that would pique my curiosity.

See where I am going?

Apple is sitting on at least the second largest social network in the world and billions of downloads (and missed dollars) by not letting us "Follow" each other's App Downloads.

They don't need Topsy to know what is relevant.  My friends and those who I follow shape relevance, or I influence relevance for them.

Turn it on Apple!  You have it all waiting for us; for your App Developers and a community (yes, I know that sounds so 1999) that is waiting for you to go develop!

Anything I can do to help, just let me know!

Standing by...

PS: I think Apple has something bigger up their sleeves for Topsy applications than App Store relevance and I'm excited to see what that might be.

Cyber Wow!

Yesterday appears to be a day of cyber wow!  

Early reports are saying that Cyber Monday shopping topped $2B in sales, achieving a 17.5% increase over last year.  For those not used to keeping score, that is a huge year over year gain.  Without a doubt we have crossed over the online hurdles and even with sales tax being collected in most states, and no Amazon drones delivering our packages yet, we are firmly okay with search, buy, and wait.  

Traditional retailers were scratching their heads after the lackluster days on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but when they add it all up, it might just be okay. That is, unless Amazon took the biggest bite from the apple.  I know anyone reading this has already accepted that online is the future, now the question is how that future unfolds.  On this post Cyber-Monday Tuesday, I'd be thinking now about what we can do for next year to further engage and ready our consumers for next year so that we are their first choice.  

To do that, we have to go well beyond the lowest price or the the most extensive choices.  We have to create (and yes this will feel so 1999) "community" that brings them back over and over.

Thankfulness

There is a quote in the TV show, Game of Thrones, that stuck with me.  The Queen Mother says to her young son, who has just become King, that he better needs to understand the commoners. She says to him, "People not like us expect to lose important things in life."   What she was saying is that those not in royalty can find themselves living their life expecting to lose, not always holding a manifest destiny to winning.  The business world is the same.  

Those on top, expect more.  Those who are struggling, smaller, and trying to keep their head above water, appreciate and look at their business differently. The front page of the New York Times business section today, reminds us of a time in Silicon Valley, 1999, when all was great and nothing could get in our way to success. We knew no risk.  We expected only the best.  And, when it went away, and we were humbled, we appreciated and became more thankful of what he had, what we had learned and what we could expect going forward. 

The lesson?  

We need to keep ourselves in check and recognize that losing will bring greater appreciation and thankfulness, so how can we cultivate that spirit of humility and gratitude, even in the best of times?

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones.

Business Tagging

"Kilroy was here."  That was a popular "tag", or graffiti back in the day.  Apparently Kilroy started in World War II and lasted for decades.  Now, we tag everyday.  We "check in" on Facebook or Foursquare.  We post or tweet a picture to prove we were someplace and in our own little way we are putting our"mark" on a place or an event. Business is one of the few places in life that we mostly just "pass through", without much emotional or historical connection.  

I remember watching a consultant pull out of the audience someone who was high ranking in his company.  He was the Chief Accounting Officer of a very large and prestigious company.  He brought him on the stage and interviewed him about his job, his impact, and the legacy he was trying to build within the organization.  The Officer felt pretty good about the what he was doing and that his legacy would stand in the company.  The consultant humored him and then asked, "What was the name of the person who had your job before you?"  The executive answered quickly.  The consultant then asked who was in the job before him? The executive stood their baffled as he had no clue.  The consultant made his point about legacy building within companies. 

If you work in a big company, ask the same about your own job.  Do you know two to three generations before you who was in the job and what they accomplished and left behind?  

If we run businesses, this is the time to stop and think about what "tag" that is indelible that someone can feel they will have always left behind.  Figure this out and you will have unlocked something special and certainly long lasting.

Condemning

I was sitting in a meeting the other day and I listened to one person condemn another (of course the person being condemned was not in the room) and without hesitation another person jumped on the the bandwagon to be shortly followed by another person. It was a bit of a bloodbath.

With one small push back that maybe this wasn't a fully fair assessment that was taking place, everyone backed down and adjusted their stance.

This interaction reminded me of how easy it is to tear someone down and how hard it is to get people to instead build others up. We are quick to condemn and we are fast to pass the blame and tag others for maybe what we should be stepping up and owning ourselves.

I've found that those who fluidly condemn others are not the same people who take accountability and accept their lumps when they should. These are also the same people who others either fear or even avoid because they worry that whatever is being said about others is also said about them when they leave the room.

Layering

No one gets to be good at what they do without layering one skill and experience on top of another until they come to a place where they are really good, or even a master of what they have been working towards.

As much as it would be great to get good by just showing up, we have to layer and layer until we finally have built up enough to draw upon so we really know what we are doing.

There are many people who are not willing to spend the time and energy to build the layers. Either they don't believe that they should have to put in the time and efforts, or they are just too lazy to put in the hard work. Layering takes time. Layering takes patience. Layering takes an attitude of not believing that we don't need any more experience, any more practice, any more coaching, or any more discipline.

 Those that do layer and understand the importance of this are the ones who are able to have a few layers peeled back or punctured and still have much to work with going forward.

We must learn to layer and learn to do so with each and every opportunity given to us.

Matching

There may not be a harder technology challenge than finding the perfect match.  Industries have been built from this need; biotech, digital tech, agriculture, just to name a few.  In digital technology we are always hunting for the perfect match, whether that be through dating sites, through job sites, and broadly between retailers/manufacturers and customers. 

The perfect match is one where two parties decide they want the same thing. T

his is hard work and with today's technology algorithms we get closer and closer to the perfect match.  Some will call them "recommendation" or "discovery" engines, but these are also all about matching what I like to what I might not yet know I will like. 

Matching is so important to all that we do that we should ensure that the understanding of the science of matching is resident within our companies. 

If we aren't almost obsessed with the pursuit of the perfect match then we are probably missing out on business.

Simple Syrup

Remember the movie Mary Poppins? Some will say, I don't remember the movie, but I saw the play on Broadway a few years back?  Regardless, Mary sings a verse, "A spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down so nice..." 

We should all remember that as we deliver messages to employees, customers and partners.  The best "sugar" is usually that which is made of a "simple syrup" and this holds up true as well when we are communicating.  Breaking down messages to the most basic and simple is hard work and too many times we are too busy to think ahead so we go into a meeting or presentation and before we know it we are getting that blank stare of "I'm not following" and then then first question can be summed up as, "What did you just say?". 

These are high stakes moments that we can't take for granted.  We only get so many times to make something clear and simple before we lose credibility that can't be regained. 

If we are not spending twice as much time in preparation as it takes to deliver the message, then I can assure you that what you communicate will not be simple enough to be understood.