It was only a matter of time before predictive search became the topic
of the day. Yesterday the New York Times ran an article on what Google
Now is doing and how getting technology to think one step ahead of us is
going to be the next big thing. If technology is about solving a
problem, then I think they are right. I for one am inundated with so
many inputs from multiple sources that I can't keep up with the things I
want to do that really make a difference. When we get to the point
that we want to shut it all off to find time to think, then we should
know that we are in need of better ways to manage all of the data and
information that is flowing towards us. If predictive search works and
through anticipation and pattern recognition, technology can create
prediction streams to lessen the burdens and relieve the hiccups that
might occur, then I think we will forgo concerns of privacy and tech
companies knowing too much about us. I stand ready for whatever this
next wave will be in this area and we'd be smart to all watch the trends
here. It might seem silly to us now, but give it a few years and our
consumers and customers will be expecting us to comply and fit into
their prediction streams, not ours.
(For a further faith based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/)
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Production Values
While sports analogies can be overused and leaned on too easily, we
can also learn sometimes from the sports world and bring that learning
into our businesses. What sports does better than most is measure the
production value of players and teams very predicatively towards an
ultimate outcome, a well-defined, win or lose. Right now baseball is
buzzing about the "long-term deals". These are the 10-year contracts at
the time when a player's production values can fall because of age.
Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols
are exhibits one and two right now. As we age in the business world,
we might want to say a thank you that there are not such tangible and
easy to see measurements as baseball. We might be very surprised at how
we decline with age. But we should measure ourselves and be sure that
we are still keeping up, fitting in and staying current. If we are not
measuring and watching carefully, we need to know that others are and
will make their own decisions for us, without us. Consider what
playwright and Nobel Laureate George Bernard Shaw had to say about the
subject:
“The only man who behaves sensibly
is my tailor; he takes my measure anew each time he sees me, while all
the rest go on with their old measurements and expect them to fit me.”
(For a further faith based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/2013/07/day-1189-production-values.html)
Monday, July 29, 2013
One Thing
I watch the smartphone category with much interest and intrigue. What I
find most fascinating is that the market remains bifurcated along the
lines of work and personal interactions and no one has figured out how
to blend those two so that the working person actually isn't caught in
between. RIM (makers of the Blackberry) owned the working market. They
had, and have, the support of the security people inside of corporations
and government. The President of the U.S. carries a Blackberry, so
it's proven that they have the security advantage. Unfortunately, they
don't have an application economy and marketplace, so that means that a
business person can't access those fun apps that others can, and really,
just because we are at work doesn't mean that we can't and don't need a
little fun at the same time. They have tried to blend the two together by allowing us to have two firewalls but that still isn't enough to make them unique above all others. The one thing that Blackberry has
going for it, that all other other smartphones have abandoned is, the
raised tile qwerty keyboard. Business is about speed and accuracy. As
we all know who are sitting in front of a keyboard right now, a raised
tile keyboard is the only way to ensure both. Yet, I never see RIM
featuring this, what is now their unique feature. In each of out
businesses we have one thing that the other doesn't. Do we know what it
is? Are we bold and courageous enough to bring it forward and market,
sell and stand behind it? That one thing may be the one thing that takes you to number one!
(For a further faith based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com)/2013/07/day-1188-one-thing.html
(For a further faith based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com)/2013/07/day-1188-one-thing.html
Friday, July 26, 2013
The Three Boxes
About once every 18 months or so, I would have to ask my assistant to
come in on a Saturday with me and help me clean out my office. I was a
pack rat. I just felt like I needed to hang on to “stuff”, just in case I
needed it for the future. Most of it, I never needed ever again.
When Sarbanes-Oxley came along and record retention went from ensuring that the right records were retained, to making sure everything was gone that wasn’t absolutely necessary, I had to get even more aggressive about keeping my files clean. I took a course on how to best clean out your office. You start with three labeled boxes in the middle of your floor. The first one is labeled; "trash/shred". The second one is labeled; "file somewhere else other than in my office". The third one is labeled; "refile in my office". Every file and drawer in the office is emptied and is to be put in one of the three boxes (or piles) before anything goes back in a drawer or a file. If you are disciplined, what happens is that only the essential stays and all the rest gets trashed or moved out to be determined over time if it is needed (like clothes in our closets, if we haven’t worn them in a year…they can go) or not.
With the three boxes, a feeling of fresh and new can come into your office.
What better way to mark the middle of the year?
(For a further faith-based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/2013/07/day-1187-three-boxes.html)
When Sarbanes-Oxley came along and record retention went from ensuring that the right records were retained, to making sure everything was gone that wasn’t absolutely necessary, I had to get even more aggressive about keeping my files clean. I took a course on how to best clean out your office. You start with three labeled boxes in the middle of your floor. The first one is labeled; "trash/shred". The second one is labeled; "file somewhere else other than in my office". The third one is labeled; "refile in my office". Every file and drawer in the office is emptied and is to be put in one of the three boxes (or piles) before anything goes back in a drawer or a file. If you are disciplined, what happens is that only the essential stays and all the rest gets trashed or moved out to be determined over time if it is needed (like clothes in our closets, if we haven’t worn them in a year…they can go) or not.
With the three boxes, a feeling of fresh and new can come into your office.
What better way to mark the middle of the year?
(For a further faith-based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/2013/07/day-1187-three-boxes.html)
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Immigration to the Future
There is lots of talk about U.S. immigration and whether or not we will
figure this thing out and rewrite the laws to make sense for where
America is today. I didn't grow up with first generation immigrants,
but Patti did and she saw firsthand what it was like to have the courage
and drive to immigrate from one country to another, to make a better
life for oneself and family. Living in Texas in the 90's and
California today, we have met many immigrants and they are no less
ambitious, hardworking and courageous than those who came through Ellis
Island.
Which brings me to a point to consider.
We are all immigrants when it comes to moving from the past to the future. We come from a place of yesterday (as the Facebook posts like to remind us that we in my generation grew up without cell phones, Twitter, without flat screens, ipods, etc.) and walk into the future as unprepared and bare of belongings as the immigrant who goes to another country with nothing but the clothes on their back. And yes, this takes no less courage to not get stuck where we are, but instead to move forward into the future with optimism, hope and an open mind.
The same is true with our businesses and our careers. If we are not willing to immigrate to the future with all that comes with it, then we are, and will literally be, stuck in the past.
(for a further faith-based application of this post, you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/2013/07/day-1186-immigration-to-future.html )
Which brings me to a point to consider.
We are all immigrants when it comes to moving from the past to the future. We come from a place of yesterday (as the Facebook posts like to remind us that we in my generation grew up without cell phones, Twitter, without flat screens, ipods, etc.) and walk into the future as unprepared and bare of belongings as the immigrant who goes to another country with nothing but the clothes on their back. And yes, this takes no less courage to not get stuck where we are, but instead to move forward into the future with optimism, hope and an open mind.
The same is true with our businesses and our careers. If we are not willing to immigrate to the future with all that comes with it, then we are, and will literally be, stuck in the past.
(for a further faith-based application of this post, you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/2013/07/day-1186-immigration-to-future.html )
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Bye Bye Anonymity, Part 2 - The Amplifiers!
I just finished Marina Gorbis' book; "The Nature of
the Future". It is a great read and lays out a very plausible path to
the future and how our social structures, influenced by technology will
make the future a very exciting place to be. She brings forward the
idea of "Socialstructing",
which means that we need to consider that the transparency and openness
of data and who we are by both passive and active deposits into the
large data scheme collection of the internet, changes everything going forward.
Gorbis unpacks the power of access of information about others (friends, influencers, and aggregated unknowns) into buying transactions, reputation interactions, recommendation engines, advice, and even lending and investment practices.
She says, "We are moving away from the dominance of the depersonalized world of institutional production and creating a new economy around social connections and social rewards."
To her, this is "socialstructing". She goes on to say that this shift leads us away from anonymous participants to active "amplified individuals" who will make the difference.
Do we know who the amplifiers are of our business? They are armed with technology, their social network, and an audience of curious minds who with a nudge of momentum jump onto the bandwagon.
Now is the time to take heed and understand the buttons of our business amplifiers.
(For a further faith based exploration of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/)
Gorbis unpacks the power of access of information about others (friends, influencers, and aggregated unknowns) into buying transactions, reputation interactions, recommendation engines, advice, and even lending and investment practices.
She says, "We are moving away from the dominance of the depersonalized world of institutional production and creating a new economy around social connections and social rewards."
To her, this is "socialstructing". She goes on to say that this shift leads us away from anonymous participants to active "amplified individuals" who will make the difference.
Do we know who the amplifiers are of our business? They are armed with technology, their social network, and an audience of curious minds who with a nudge of momentum jump onto the bandwagon.
Now is the time to take heed and understand the buttons of our business amplifiers.
(For a further faith based exploration of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/)
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Bye Bye Anonymity, Part 1
It wasn't that long ago that we didn't have a clue who bought and used
our products and services. Think about it for a second; in walks a
person to a convenience store. She buys a single serve diet Pepsi and a
bag of Lay's Baked potato chips. And then she is gone. PepsiCo has no
idea who she is and neither did the 7-11, where she bought both of
them. She had come and gone and both PepsiCo and 7-11 counted her as a
positive sale. All good, right?
Well, maybe not so good because while driving away from the store she opened the diet Pepsi only to find that it was flat and date expired. She had already opened the chips and started to eat them, which were fine, but she was so upset with the Pepsi being flat that recognizing that Frito-Lay and Pepsi are the same company, she started finding problems with the chips to support her anger. They were too salty, broken and the bag was not filled, or so she had made up in her mind.
A few minutes later when she gets to her house, she takes a picture of both the bottle and the bag (in an unflattering pose) and posts the pictures with some not so kind of words about both of them as well as 7-11 as the retailer. This young woman happens to be a good and creative writer so her Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts blow up and within the next 12 hours over a hundred thousand people are piling on with their complaints with the three companies. And to think, Pepsi, Frito-Lay, 7-11 never even knew her.
This is not a farfetched scenario. It happens every day, all day long.
If the first time we are going to get to know a customer is through a complaint, the shoe is already on the wrong foot. Consider that we can get ahead of this type of introduction by finding ways to engage and lose the anonymity be inviting our customers into a relationship earlier and then keeping it alive with positive dialogue.
More tomorrow on this...
(For a further faith based exploration of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/2013/07/day-1184-bye-bye-anonimity-part-1.html )
Well, maybe not so good because while driving away from the store she opened the diet Pepsi only to find that it was flat and date expired. She had already opened the chips and started to eat them, which were fine, but she was so upset with the Pepsi being flat that recognizing that Frito-Lay and Pepsi are the same company, she started finding problems with the chips to support her anger. They were too salty, broken and the bag was not filled, or so she had made up in her mind.
A few minutes later when she gets to her house, she takes a picture of both the bottle and the bag (in an unflattering pose) and posts the pictures with some not so kind of words about both of them as well as 7-11 as the retailer. This young woman happens to be a good and creative writer so her Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts blow up and within the next 12 hours over a hundred thousand people are piling on with their complaints with the three companies. And to think, Pepsi, Frito-Lay, 7-11 never even knew her.
This is not a farfetched scenario. It happens every day, all day long.
If the first time we are going to get to know a customer is through a complaint, the shoe is already on the wrong foot. Consider that we can get ahead of this type of introduction by finding ways to engage and lose the anonymity be inviting our customers into a relationship earlier and then keeping it alive with positive dialogue.
More tomorrow on this...
(For a further faith based exploration of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/2013/07/day-1184-bye-bye-anonimity-part-1.html )
Friday, July 19, 2013
Delegate!
There are lots of reasons to delegate and many times we will use the
argument of growing and developing others as an incentive to get someone
to take things off of their plate and to give to others. It is a great
reason and maybe the most important one, but there is even a more
baseline reason. This is; if we try to do it all ourselves we are
setting ourselves up for burnout, overload and ultimately failure.
No one can take it all on their own shoulders and succeed. The underlying reason we don't delegate is our own insecurities around the work not getting done and reflecting poorly on us or the fear that if we have others do the work then we won't be valued as much. In this day and age that translates into a fear for job security. This is a real fear, but if we are prioritizing correctly then we can offload the little stuff, or the less strategic and then get back on track in getting the bigger work and projects completed.
Believe me, if we show that we can multiply ourselves we will have more work than we know what to do with.
(For an expanded faith based application of this post, you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/2013/07/day-1182-delegate.html)
No one can take it all on their own shoulders and succeed. The underlying reason we don't delegate is our own insecurities around the work not getting done and reflecting poorly on us or the fear that if we have others do the work then we won't be valued as much. In this day and age that translates into a fear for job security. This is a real fear, but if we are prioritizing correctly then we can offload the little stuff, or the less strategic and then get back on track in getting the bigger work and projects completed.
Believe me, if we show that we can multiply ourselves we will have more work than we know what to do with.
(For an expanded faith based application of this post, you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/2013/07/day-1182-delegate.html)
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Story Layering
It was once unheard of that someone could/would be able to take a piece
of fiction and be able to manipulate the story or add their own layers.
It would be considered somehow disrespectful to add on or have an idea
that is different than what the creator intended. And the, copyright
laws would be the enforcer of this sacred ground. But, the world has
changed.
Not only has the internet opened up the possibilities, but even creators and artists realized that having other collaborators, including fans, get engaged had a positive multiplying effect. My best friend from college went to work for Disney in the early 90's. He was given a Disney character bible that detailed what characters could do and not do and as you can imagine, it was strict. No one messed with Mickey Mouse. By the early 2000's Disney had licensed their characters to the makers of the Final Fantasy video game for a successful video game called Kingdom Hearts. This week Disney promoted their Story Theater apps where kids can now manipulate the characters and story lines to create their own stories for others to experience. The same is happening in the book industry as Amazon Singles now give a place for these types of layered stories to live. This all points back to the desire and advantage of engaged consumers and fans.
I can also make the argument that Mark Twain understood this better than anyone when he created the character Tom Sawyer who knew that getting others to paint the fence for him was the best way to go.
(For a further faith based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/ )
Not only has the internet opened up the possibilities, but even creators and artists realized that having other collaborators, including fans, get engaged had a positive multiplying effect. My best friend from college went to work for Disney in the early 90's. He was given a Disney character bible that detailed what characters could do and not do and as you can imagine, it was strict. No one messed with Mickey Mouse. By the early 2000's Disney had licensed their characters to the makers of the Final Fantasy video game for a successful video game called Kingdom Hearts. This week Disney promoted their Story Theater apps where kids can now manipulate the characters and story lines to create their own stories for others to experience. The same is happening in the book industry as Amazon Singles now give a place for these types of layered stories to live. This all points back to the desire and advantage of engaged consumers and fans.
I can also make the argument that Mark Twain understood this better than anyone when he created the character Tom Sawyer who knew that getting others to paint the fence for him was the best way to go.
(For a further faith based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/ )
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Personality Power
In April, a random book hit the bookshelves in the U.S. titled, "The
Cuckoo's Calling". Since its' publishing date and through this last
week it had sold a whopping 500 copies. The author Robert Galbraith had
received some good reviews but the sales were like most first novels,
weak and uninspiring. With only 500 copies or so sold, there wasn't
much opportunity for social buzz to get it going. So, like most other
books, the author wouldn't recoup his advance and the book would be out
of print before it got started and Mr. Galbraith would be able to call
himself a published author and get on with his next novel, or back to
his day job. That is until this past weekend when the world found out
that Robert Galbraith was actually someone named J.K. Rowling.
Since that discovery, "The Cuckoo's Calling" has run through it's print run, the publisher is scrambling to meet demand, and I predict in a few weeks time Robert Galbraith will be a New York Times best-selling author, if not a #1 spot holder. Lest we think that there isn't power in personality?
This is a great reminder that we need to use all we have when launching new products or services. We so want to idealistically think that the great idea we have will take off on its' own, but in truth to make it through the clutter, it does not hurt to have personality behind it to give it the power to get off the launch pad. This is why considering partnerships, strategic alliances, or even letting others take the spotlight in the promotion or branding may be the better way to success.
(For a further faith based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/)
Since that discovery, "The Cuckoo's Calling" has run through it's print run, the publisher is scrambling to meet demand, and I predict in a few weeks time Robert Galbraith will be a New York Times best-selling author, if not a #1 spot holder. Lest we think that there isn't power in personality?
This is a great reminder that we need to use all we have when launching new products or services. We so want to idealistically think that the great idea we have will take off on its' own, but in truth to make it through the clutter, it does not hurt to have personality behind it to give it the power to get off the launch pad. This is why considering partnerships, strategic alliances, or even letting others take the spotlight in the promotion or branding may be the better way to success.
(For a further faith based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
