I have always thought that honest goes a long way. This approach to life may be interpreted as naive, but I do believe that becoming trustworthy will often work out for your best interests in the long run. Trustworthiness is beneficial both in your personal and work life.
Charles Green has been an advocate of trustworthiness for a long time, and stresses the importance of using trust as a competitive advantage. However, becoming easy to be trusted by others often implies taking counter intuitive actions and significant risks. In one of his books, he has an an excellent example of how an auditing firm approached a situation with an unsatisfied client that was thinking of changing supplier. New auditing companies were called to present proposals for the required services, and this auditing firm did the following:
"Instead of using their 90-minute time slot to do a conventional presentation, four of their partners acted out a skit for the four client executives. They role-played those very execs having that decisive meeting"
The company took a risk, talked about their current decline in their performance, and how they would improve it. The result: they were awarded the business again.
At the end, honesty's all we've got.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Knockoffs Decrease Sales. Really?
Authors Kal Raustiala and Chris Sprigman have a new book out, The Knockoff Economy, exploring the effects of imitation on innovation and on profitability.
Common sense would say that when imitations (knockoffs) of products appear on the market, the sales of that product will be negatively impacted. But is this really the case?
The studies the authors conducted show that as long as users can distinguish between the originals and knockoffs, the availability of knockoffs have several positive effects:
"In short, copies of branded goods—counterfeits—can have a counter intuitive effect on originals. While these copies can steal away some would-be buyers of the original, they also can help create new buyers through the advertising effect. Some counterfeit buyers “graduate” to the real thing, whereas others who never buy a counterfeit become buyers of the original because the counterfeits serve as advertising."
In conclusion, imitations of your product may actually be good for your company.
At the end, if you are continuously the best in your category, everything will work fine, no matter how many try to imitate you.
Are you the best in what you intend to do?
Common sense would say that when imitations (knockoffs) of products appear on the market, the sales of that product will be negatively impacted. But is this really the case?
The studies the authors conducted show that as long as users can distinguish between the originals and knockoffs, the availability of knockoffs have several positive effects:
- There is free advertising for the brand of the original product
- There are increased sales in the long run, when customers that use the knockoffs products are able to transition into the originals, or in other words, when they can afford them.
"In short, copies of branded goods—counterfeits—can have a counter intuitive effect on originals. While these copies can steal away some would-be buyers of the original, they also can help create new buyers through the advertising effect. Some counterfeit buyers “graduate” to the real thing, whereas others who never buy a counterfeit become buyers of the original because the counterfeits serve as advertising."
In conclusion, imitations of your product may actually be good for your company.
At the end, if you are continuously the best in your category, everything will work fine, no matter how many try to imitate you.
Are you the best in what you intend to do?
Trailers and Lean Accounting
Bill Waddell, famous lean expert and consultant, describes in a short talk the basics of Lean Accounting. It is always positive to see that leaders of various continuous improvement disciplines agree that an accounting and measurement system focused on real value and not artificial numbers is an essential component of effective management.
An example of a company that understand real value and effective metrics is ATC Trailers. You can understand their lean journey in this short video, and how they defined distinct value streams and eliminated waste to deliver products more quickly and profitably. End result: delighted customers, motivated employees and a growing company.
Are you using an adequate scorecard to manage and grow your business? Are you focusing on performing value added activities and eliminating waste?
An example of a company that understand real value and effective metrics is ATC Trailers. You can understand their lean journey in this short video, and how they defined distinct value streams and eliminated waste to deliver products more quickly and profitably. End result: delighted customers, motivated employees and a growing company.
Are you using an adequate scorecard to manage and grow your business? Are you focusing on performing value added activities and eliminating waste?
Sleep No More, Zimbardo and Milgram
Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo are two recognized psychologists that conducted a some of the most famous social experiments in history to try to better understand human behavior. What they were trying to prove in their own ways was that behavior can be significantly altered by your surroundings, and a certain environment will induce you to behave in ways that you would not expect to under normal circumstances.
Enter Sleep No More, a fascinating and different type of theater play, created by an group called Punchdrunk. Instead of attendees sitting and watching the show in traditional style, they are given masks, walk through rooms, decide when to interact with actors, follow actors into rooms, and even eat and drink. Every decision the viewer makes shapes your experience, and by being anonymous participants do things that they would normally not do. Often, at the end of the show, attendees are surprised of their actions.
Read all about behavior, your surroundings and Sleep No More in the latest Freakonomics podcast, Fear Thy Nature.
Are you sure you would act as usual, if your surroundings change significantly?
Enter Sleep No More, a fascinating and different type of theater play, created by an group called Punchdrunk. Instead of attendees sitting and watching the show in traditional style, they are given masks, walk through rooms, decide when to interact with actors, follow actors into rooms, and even eat and drink. Every decision the viewer makes shapes your experience, and by being anonymous participants do things that they would normally not do. Often, at the end of the show, attendees are surprised of their actions.
Read all about behavior, your surroundings and Sleep No More in the latest Freakonomics podcast, Fear Thy Nature.
Are you sure you would act as usual, if your surroundings change significantly?
Sunday, September 9, 2012
The Flip a Coin With a Twist Method
Ever been in a dilemma, and have no idea what to do?
When implications are so big that even an conflict resolution diagram will not help you find an answer, there is always the traditional "flip a coin" advice. But is it really effective?
Although flipping a coin may feel that you are leaving your decisions to randomness, there is an alternative method with a twist, that includes your gut feelings.
Making decisions is part of life. When unable to decide, the flip a coin with a twist may help you out.
So what will it be? Heads or Tails?
When implications are so big that even an conflict resolution diagram will not help you find an answer, there is always the traditional "flip a coin" advice. But is it really effective?
Although flipping a coin may feel that you are leaving your decisions to randomness, there is an alternative method with a twist, that includes your gut feelings.
Making decisions is part of life. When unable to decide, the flip a coin with a twist may help you out.
So what will it be? Heads or Tails?
Instant America Infographic
In a world were information can be accessed immediately with the tap of a finger, the click of a mouse or a couple of keystrokes, have you asked yourself how the instantaneous world we live in has changed our behavior?
OnlineGraduatePrograms.com created an interesting infographic that shows how impatient we have all become. To illustrate through an example:
I just have to wonder what Nikola would have done with the internet.
OnlineGraduatePrograms.com created an interesting infographic that shows how impatient we have all become. To illustrate through an example:
- 1 in 4 people abandon a website that takes more than four seconds to load.
I just have to wonder what Nikola would have done with the internet.
Are You A Linchpin?
If you don't know about Seth Godin's Linchpins, maybe Hugh's illustration can help to understand the gist of it.
Bottom line: Are you indispensable? If not, what are you doing about it?
Bottom line: Are you indispensable? If not, what are you doing about it?
The Laws of Subtraction - Free Preview
Matt May, the former Toyota consultant and innovation expert, is in the process of writing his newest book, The Laws of Subtraction.
Matt has reminded us over the years that what constitutes an elegant solution is the ability to remove excess detail, and even leave some things unresolved so that users can fill in the blanks. The Laws of Subtraction guide us through three critical choices inherent in every difficult decision in business, work and life:
Matt has reminded us over the years that what constitutes an elegant solution is the ability to remove excess detail, and even leave some things unresolved so that users can fill in the blanks. The Laws of Subtraction guide us through three critical choices inherent in every difficult decision in business, work and life:
- What to pursue versus what to ignore?
- What to leave in versus what to leave out?
- What to do versus what to don’t?
- What isn’t there can often trump what is.
- The simplest rules create the most effective experience.
- Limiting information engages the imagination.
- Creativity thrives under intelligent constraints.
- Break is the important part of breakthrough.
- Doing something isn’t always better than doing nothing.
TEDs Top 20 Talks of All Time
You've probably watched many TED videos before.
If not, TED was a venture started in 1984, as an annual conference with speakers sharing new ideas about Technology and Design. Afterward, it's objective was to promote "ideas worth sharing" about different topics that impact our life, and has featured speakers such as Malcolm Gladwell, Bill Clinton, Larry Page and many other celebrities.
Regardless of your acquaintance with TED videos, it might be worth your while to look at the top 20 TED Videos of all time.
Do you have any ideas worth sharing?
If not, TED was a venture started in 1984, as an annual conference with speakers sharing new ideas about Technology and Design. Afterward, it's objective was to promote "ideas worth sharing" about different topics that impact our life, and has featured speakers such as Malcolm Gladwell, Bill Clinton, Larry Page and many other celebrities.
Regardless of your acquaintance with TED videos, it might be worth your while to look at the top 20 TED Videos of all time.
Do you have any ideas worth sharing?
Dan Pink's Inspirational Quotes
We all need some inspiration from time to time. Need some? Check out the three quotes that author Dan Pink keeps on this wall.
“Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now.”– Viktor Frankl
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”– Steve Jobs
“Being a professional is doing the things you love to do — even on the days you don’t feel like doing it.”– Julius Erving
If you haven't read Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, please do.
“Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now.”– Viktor Frankl
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”– Steve Jobs
“Being a professional is doing the things you love to do — even on the days you don’t feel like doing it.”– Julius Erving
If you haven't read Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, please do.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Steaks, Patents, Trade Secrets and Trademarks
Want to learn the difference between patents, trade secrets and trademarks, using a Vegas Steak as reference? These kind of analogies only happen at Freakonomics, but as usual offer practical ways to learn.
If you are interested in where the Coca-Cola secret recipe falls in the Intellectual Property domain, and if the the rumor that only few executives at the company actually know the recipe is true?
John Wanamaker famously said: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."
Seems the Marketing Execs at Coca-Cola do know which half is working.
If you are interested in where the Coca-Cola secret recipe falls in the Intellectual Property domain, and if the the rumor that only few executives at the company actually know the recipe is true?
John Wanamaker famously said: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."
Seems the Marketing Execs at Coca-Cola do know which half is working.
Beyond the Jipp Curve
The Jipp Curve proves that there is a relationship between telephone density (teledensity) and the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country. Back then, data showed that richer countries had higher penetration and use of telephone lines.
With the introduction of Smartphones a little more than decade ago, the Jipp Curve has been turned over its head, and Smartphone growth is spreading faster than any other previous technological innovation. Some other incredible facts, taken from Dan Pink's blog:
- In 2006, smart phones accounted for just 6% of U.S. mobile phones sold that year. Today, "smart phones represent more than two-thirds of all U.S. mobile-phone sales."
- "In 1982, there were 4.6 billion people in the world, and not a single mobile-phone subscriber. Today, there are seven billion people in the world — and six billion mobile cellular-phone subscriptions." Of those subscriptions, 73 percent are now in the developing world, even though those countries account for just 20 percent of the world's GDP."
- Right now the world has 1.4 billion PCs in use. "Mobile phones, on the other hand, are already selling more than 1.4 billion units every single year."
Even if the world's connectedness will continue to bring enormous benefits to mankind, I wonder when being online, all the time, will overwhelm us to the point of saying, enough!
It is incredible to think about how two decades ago, without internet and Smartphones, everything worked well. I guess every generation asks this question at a given point in time.
Means I'm getting old, I guess.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
The Secret of Life, According to Steve Jobs
There are many inspiring speeches out there. From no other than Steve Jobs, I recently watched an obscure interview about life and changes that he gave when he was still working at NeXT, before returning to Apple as CEO.
Some excerpts from the interview:
"When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That's a very limited life. Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.Some excerpts from the interview:
"The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That's maybe the most important thing. It's to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you're just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it. — Steve Jobs
I just hope more of us had his vision and courage.
Don't Break The Chain!
Turns out Seinfeld was not only brilliant at comedy, but also at suggesting a simple tool that can make your life more productive.
It has even become an iPhone app, which I recently downloaded, and started to test. Aptly titled Wonderful Day, you can take a look at the introductory video to understand how it works. I'm planing on using it for getting disciplined on daily blogging, daily reading and healthy eating.
I can imagine Seinfeld's voice reminding his audience: "don't break the chain!".
If Seinfeld's methodology doesn't work, you can always use Charles Duhigg's habit changing methodology, which is simple and effective.
How disciplined are you in the things you want to achieve? Are you breaking the chain?
It has even become an iPhone app, which I recently downloaded, and started to test. Aptly titled Wonderful Day, you can take a look at the introductory video to understand how it works. I'm planing on using it for getting disciplined on daily blogging, daily reading and healthy eating.
I can imagine Seinfeld's voice reminding his audience: "don't break the chain!".
If Seinfeld's methodology doesn't work, you can always use Charles Duhigg's habit changing methodology, which is simple and effective.
How disciplined are you in the things you want to achieve? Are you breaking the chain?
Measuring Wizards
Charke Ching, a TOC colleague recently wrote a humorous short story about wizards and quality, in an attempt to illustrate the possible consequences of applying the concept of "you can't manage what you don't measure" combined with the Law of Unintended Consequences.
Clarke's story reminds me of Eli Goldratt's famous phrase:
"Tell me how you measure me and I will tell you how I will behave", or the flipside "If you measure me in irrational ways, do not complain if I behave irrationally".
Long story short: be careful what you measure and what you reward.
A critical skill of any effective manager is the ability to bring out the best of people, by identifying what specific behaviors are productive to the organization, and then reinforcing them and rewarding them appropriately. It is the systematic application of this reinforcement process, along with a rewarding environment, that can propel your organization to superior levels of performance.
What are the key things you measure in your organization? How is that working for you?
Clarke's story reminds me of Eli Goldratt's famous phrase:
"Tell me how you measure me and I will tell you how I will behave", or the flipside "If you measure me in irrational ways, do not complain if I behave irrationally".
Long story short: be careful what you measure and what you reward.
A critical skill of any effective manager is the ability to bring out the best of people, by identifying what specific behaviors are productive to the organization, and then reinforcing them and rewarding them appropriately. It is the systematic application of this reinforcement process, along with a rewarding environment, that can propel your organization to superior levels of performance.
What are the key things you measure in your organization? How is that working for you?
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Guess Who's Back?
After some weeks of handling delicate family matters, ending some previous projects and starting some new ones, I am "back in business".
Even if this blog was created initially for my personal development, it is good when a friend asks you where have you been and when you'll be back.
Thanks to all for reading. And please give me feedback, to continuously improve!
Even if this blog was created initially for my personal development, it is good when a friend asks you where have you been and when you'll be back.
Thanks to all for reading. And please give me feedback, to continuously improve!
The Icarus Deception, a Godin Kickstarter Project
It all started with the Domino Project, an initiative for authors based on the assumption that when you have a tribe, or group of people following you, publishing your work under a different model may work, and big advances, publishers and brick and mortar bookstores may not be necessary.
Seth Godin's latest initiative expands on his previous work, and is based on the following assumptions:
Do you have a big enough tribe? Find something you are good at, and start building it slowly over time. This is one of the biggest asset you'll have in the long run.
Seth Godin's latest initiative expands on his previous work, and is based on the following assumptions:
- You have a "tribe" of people that follow you, respect you, and are eager to know and share your thoughts
- Your tribe is big enough to help you fund and launch projects, in exchange for something special in return, such as a special edition of a book, exclusive interview, or others
- Brick and mortar distribution will work in your favor, expanding on the initial efforts of your tribe
Do you have a big enough tribe? Find something you are good at, and start building it slowly over time. This is one of the biggest asset you'll have in the long run.
The Dip, Revisited
For all of you that like Seth Godin and his thoughts, The Dip is one of his bestselling books, talking basically about when it's time to quit something you are doing...or stick with it until you make it.
Some excerpts (paraphrased) from his book:
If you want a short audio introduction of the Dip, listen here.
Jim Collins has some thoughts along these lines too, with his New Year's Resolution Stop Doing List, where he advice readers to stop doing stop that make you lose focus on what you really want, as time for all of us is the scarcest resource and limited.
So, how good are you at quitting? Are you focusing on the right things?
Some excerpts (paraphrased) from his book:
- The famous phrase, "winners don't quit", is jut wrong.
- Winners quit, the right things, at the right time, all the time.
- Quit the wrong stuff, stick to the right stuff. Have the guts to do just this.
If you want a short audio introduction of the Dip, listen here.
Jim Collins has some thoughts along these lines too, with his New Year's Resolution Stop Doing List, where he advice readers to stop doing stop that make you lose focus on what you really want, as time for all of us is the scarcest resource and limited.
So, how good are you at quitting? Are you focusing on the right things?
You're Not Special
We have all heard famous high school and graduation commencement addresses, and some become internet phenomenons such as Steve Jobs' "Stay Hungry Stay Foolish". It's difficult to find a really inspiring graduation speech, isn't it?
David McCullough, an English teacher at Wellesley High School recently gave an inspiring speech to the summer high school graduates. In his speech, titled "you are not special", David suggests that with so many people in the world with your same qualifications, we are all basically a commodity, regardless of the Lake Wobegon effect. It all boils down to how much you care, and if that inspirations follows you for a long enough time, to get over the the Dip.
Are you still a commodity? How many people are knocking on your door, begging you to work for them?
David McCullough, an English teacher at Wellesley High School recently gave an inspiring speech to the summer high school graduates. In his speech, titled "you are not special", David suggests that with so many people in the world with your same qualifications, we are all basically a commodity, regardless of the Lake Wobegon effect. It all boils down to how much you care, and if that inspirations follows you for a long enough time, to get over the the Dip.
Are you still a commodity? How many people are knocking on your door, begging you to work for them?
The Executive and The Consultant
For all of us who have been both independent consultants and employees, the Deming impersonator Mike Micklewright explains the difference between both roles very clearly.
For some of us, the ever lasting conflict between security (having a stable job) and satisfaction (attempting to solve problems in a wide variety of industries) is not easy to break. Some find other income generating activities, others work as internal consultants for companies, others find jobs as consultants. Having a job also does not guarantee stability, and can sometimes make your mind "dormant", as you become used to a job's procedures and processes.
The key is to never lose the "consultant mindset", regardless of what you do for a living. Look at things from a higher perspective. Always think and make decisions as if you were the owner of the company. Constantly read about new things, share, learn. Experiment, Learn, Experiment again. Tap into the wisdom of crowds. Ask why constantly. Give yourself time to reflect and think.
We all have a consultant mindset. How often do you use it?
For some of us, the ever lasting conflict between security (having a stable job) and satisfaction (attempting to solve problems in a wide variety of industries) is not easy to break. Some find other income generating activities, others work as internal consultants for companies, others find jobs as consultants. Having a job also does not guarantee stability, and can sometimes make your mind "dormant", as you become used to a job's procedures and processes.
The key is to never lose the "consultant mindset", regardless of what you do for a living. Look at things from a higher perspective. Always think and make decisions as if you were the owner of the company. Constantly read about new things, share, learn. Experiment, Learn, Experiment again. Tap into the wisdom of crowds. Ask why constantly. Give yourself time to reflect and think.
We all have a consultant mindset. How often do you use it?
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