Common Sense!

So how common is it really? What is the keyword “Common” or “Sense”? Or is the word overly abused?

It is funny to hear people talk about every thing in context of ‘Common Sense’. I wish to disagree! Common sense isn’t really as so common. The individual’s intellect, social professional circle and lastly background, culture, experiences, training combined heavily influences this ‘Not so common sense’.

Most challenges in life can be easily resolved; all it takes is structured breakdown of the problem, logical reasoning, an understanding of the compromises and trade offs and a the little Uncommon Sense.

~ E * T * H * I * C * S ~

With a so many scams and scandals in the news today one begs to know, what do ETHICS really mean?

These just some scandals from the past couple years that I remember…

* KPMG
* Martha Stuart
* Enron
* Lucent
* WorldCom
* AOL
* Quest
* Xerox
* Ahold
* Fannie Mae
* Bristol Meyer Squibb
* Tyco
* Vivendi Universal
* Global Crossing
* Quest
* Baan
* Barrings Bank
* Andersen

Obviously it is unethical when one tries to steal from some one else? What about lying? I am guessing that is unethical too, considering Martha Stewart and couple other corporate Executives have received jail term for lying.

I took some time to research corporate slogans and found a very large percentage of fortune 500 companies claimed their “improving consumer life” as their motto. Is this really true? ABSOLUTELY! But is it the complete truth? No way. The key part missing in these mottos is with commitment to our shareholders.

Many of these same corporations will abandon projects they will improve consumer lives but may be unprofitable to the shareholders. Is this ETHICAL?

It is believed tobacco companies make a harmful product. Society believes it is unethical to make a poisonous product and then get the consumer hooked on it, but how about shopping chains that cause bankruptcies? The list could go on for ever and ever.

A recent spate of B-School admission system hackings exposed our future business leaders that failed their first test in integrity. During a conversation with a close friend the discussion lead to exploring these hacking in light of competitive intelligence. If corporations spend hundreds of thousands on gathering competitive intelligence why is it unethical to tap an opportunity window to gather similar competitive intelligence in the admissions process?

If it is ethical to tap loop holes in the tax system legally why is it unethical to take bonuses and compensation that the likes of Dennis Kozlowski have been convicted for? Is the fault with the individual or a broken system? Even Adam Smith said an individual is driven by societal needs and an invisible hand.

So what is the final word on Ethics?

What is Strategy?

Some one recently asked me ‘what is strategy?’ I take pleasure in answering fundamental questions like this because they help me think clear and simple.

As I drove home that evening in the dark, with snow on the road and poor visibility the question was the last thing on my mind. The next day I ran into the same person again and he asked me ‘so what is the answer?’. We walked to the cafeteria and along the way I started to articulate my answer.

I though of my ride home and all the CHOICES I had to make:
* Which route to take?
* Whether to ride home in my car or taking public transport?
* The amount of gas in the car?
* Which roads were open and which blocked?
* News of cleaning crew and emergency arteries that had been cleaned up?
* My cars capabilities (front wheel drive)?
* The phone numbers I needed to carry in case I had to call some one for help (AAA, friends)?

The list went on… I though this would be the best answer I could formulate to help explain what is strategy? I started with “Strategy is ESTABLISHMENT of GOALS and CHOICES to meet those goals bound by capabilities and the environment around”. The next question was “so what is planning?”, interesting! I thought over the same problem again, but this time my response was immediate, “Planning it is the selection of an OPTION/ALTERNATIVE that BEST MEETS the goal and the ensuing steps to deliver the objectives in the simplest and most efficient manner”.

The answers for the most part had done their job, but then came another follow through, so is strategy all about data? A common misconception people have is to often confuse strategy and analysis to business intelligence. Strategy takes data for input, trends, market dynamics, regulatory constraints, short term objectives but the transformation of this Business Intelligence/Business data into knowledge to establish alternatives is strategy.

Brewing this data simply in a coffee pot of even a cauldron is not going to do much, it takes leaders and visionary business gurus and analysts to understand, interpret and evaluate the information to extract knowledge. This brewing together together of my options with those of others likely to be on the road, and my needs and wants and finally the alternatives available to me.

No system can ever replace the beautiful and so complicated human mind!

What is the most important thing in life?

Loaded question! The immediate thought that came to my mind was “The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything” in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? The answer given by Deep Thought leads the protagonists on a quest to discover the question which provides the answer. Is 42 the right answer? If so what is the right question?

In any case… what do I believe is the most important thing in life?

C O N T E X T

Why context? Try and decipher the following tell me what this is all about?
* A seven-day big bang
* Gardens and floods herald the Promised Land
* Laws, wars, and royal decrees
* Songs of praise and crystal gazing
* Jerusalem gets it
* Enter the boss’s son
* Wilderness wanderings
* Signs and wonders, and a donkey ride to the tomb
* Resurgam
What if I told you this was a religious scripture? Surely some got it right?
It’s the Bible (Thanks to DJ Taylor!).

How about the following?
Objective
* Ride out storm
* Outlive tyranny
Core Statement
* No flagging
* No failing
Achieving Objectives
* Requires much fighting
+ seas
+ air
+ beaches
+ landing grounds
+ fields
+ streets
+ hills
Conclusion
* No surrendering!

Now what if I said this was an Inspirational War Speech from 1940? Yes you are right Sir Winston Churchill’s speech to The House of Commons, June 4, 1940.

Tarzan English from LOST IN (POWERPOINT) SPACE, Dr. Kirk A. Yost (INFORMS Practitioners Conf 2005, Palm Springs, CA)

Same is true with everything in life. Be it personal relations, conversations, decisions, strategies, etc.

Did you watch “30 Days” by Morgan Spurlock on the FX network? http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/30days/main.html

The guy is a genius! Imagining a simple idea worth a Million Dollars!

He transformed the way most people think of fast food in the United States today last year. And last night he started a movement.

I took some time this morning to read through the message boards. There were posting criticizing him on his lack of knowledge of the system (Medicaid) and then there were others who spoke of the travesty in their own state.

To me it wasn’t as much about the problem as it was about the show itself.

We know we have a problem but we overlook. We are caught up in our own affairs. Mr. Spurlock has helped us open our mind. More than anything else he has acted different. In today’s world of reality how ‘fanaticism’ he has created a reality series with a cause.

A little too liberal but all for a good reason.

Do we think more (sometimes flawed) than we should?

I was at an event recently hosted by our public library, there were all kinds of books on sale. One caught my attention “Executive Etiquettes”, I started scanning through it and started to ruminate over the content.

When did handshakes transform their meaning from what they were really meant to be?
· Strong hand shake
· Second hand to express confidence
· Holding the hosts elbow during the hand shake to mean I am powerful and ready to support you
the list does not end! Newer dimensions of measurements are great! They open up an opportunity for imagination. BUT shouldn’t we also establish a scale to measure diminishing marginal utility for each measurement that is introduced? The system places the burden of proof on the individual who introduces it, do people know this?

I had the opportunity to start my career in microelectronics, this may sound uncanny but microprocessors are the simplest devices on earth. Anything that has no brain to think on its very own is a simple device/system! Any way when one part of the device communicates with another part, the receiving part sends a handshake signal back.
So the handshake is no more than an acknowledgement! It is an acceptance of your signal and a response to say ‘I hear you and accept your existence’. I will now interpret your message and act on it.

How do we train ourselves to be more imaginative?

B-SCHOOL! You think? If you read Ask Annie in Fortune or the Vault’s News Groups the common theme is… need a career “Make Over”, go to a Business School.

Then why do B-Schools admit only a select few? How about they admit a cat, dog, horse, cow and make it more imaginative to prepare for a career make over? I guess they need some one who is already imaginative and creative to hone those skills. That does not sound like the place then does it?

Are we going for an endorsed brand here? If I attended a Wharton, Harvard or Stanford would I be more imaginative than some one who went to ABC College? Certainly seems like considering BAIN, BCG, McKinsey would not hire at ABC.

Am I beginning to sound like a Business School hater? Oh no! I am not, trust me I am not! Is that guilt kicking in? Whoa… I don’t wish to ruin my chances with my current bosses or future ones. Change of topic!

Growing up my dad who is an Engineer by trade told me math helps one to develop her/his skills to imagine. I did not take that seriously, but I believe that now. What is a number, it is truly an abstract concept. Can you see it or do we just have to count a collection? Same with shapes and objects like squares, triangles, trapeziums and so on. But not all math majors, engineers or scientists are imaginative either. So what is the elixir for imagination?

An unbiased lucid mind, with reality and market checkpoints.

Is being imaginative a permanent state of mind of a transient state?

I believe it is permanent. Some one who is imaginative is imaginative in everything they do. Although the mind needs to be trained in order to channel the thoughts in the new area they dabble. Let’s take the example of Leonardo DaVinci, he was a painter, mathematician, scientist, engineering. Some of our modern day scientists played musical instruments Albert Einstein played violin, I recently saw a performance by Elaine Chew who has studied computational music cognition, Scott Adams an engineer by training draws satirical cartoons on the office theme, Maurits Cornelis Escher connected engineering structures and physics into his paintings, Dali related physics with religion in his art work. Our very own secretary of state Condi Rice is an accomplished Cello player, she has played along side Yo Yo Ma in New York at Carnegie Hall.

Some people are just cut out to be in a perpetual state of creative flow!

What does this mean in the business world? Can one change fields, functions, companies, etc. and pack their creativity inside their cranium just to be reapplied else where? Then why are organizations and companies looking for the people with experience in their field? McKinsey hires disparate individuals only because they believe the diversity helps uniqueness of thought, but for how long? Will this unique individual eventually be transformed into the ways of the team of be reticent enough in her or his own ways to treasure and maintain the uniqueness? If she or he maintains the uniqueness will they never adjust to the culture of the firm? Is this good or bad? Lou Gerstner the ex-CEO of IBM has always been interesting to me. He changed industries and was able to apply his visions in creative new ways from Consulting to CPG to Financial Services to IT. He was able to get an “Elephant to Dance”.

Are some people more imaginative than others?

CPG companies have a strong marketing prowess. I guess the maturity of market and the business model makes it essential to throw in a curve ball "Brand Management". Through a touchy, feely, discipline of Marketing.

So are marketers more imaginative than others? One would argue YES! They ought to be! They need to understand the pulse of the marketplace. They need to strategize.

Personally I have tough time knowing where my girl friend wants to go for dinner on Friday night, that’s after have been with her for over five years. But I guess if I had about 50 girl friends at any time and took them all to an expensive Italian place for dinner with lovie, dovie message from an advertising agency through out the week about “how it would make them look thin from eating Italian food” I would be able to convince at least 25 of them to join in? And guess what if I threw in a free pair of shoes with the dinner, I guarantee to please at least 10-15 more. I might do better than Heffner with his 6-7 bunnies.

I had to have learnt this some where? Understanding my Equity, relevance of the products to my consumer base I am targeting, leveraging the appeal of one product with the other (my appeal through the shoes and dinner deal), message clarity to connect with my consumer base and lastly creating energy and excitement through timely messages so they never forget the event and plan on attending. May be a B-School?

Yeah Right! Just open your mind and read Aaker, Kotler, etc.

The Blue

.... so what do you think is holding back people, organizations, companies, countries from performing? Here is my list:

- Imagination

- Articulation

- Dedication

People lack imagination, which reflects their restrain in envisioning the next greatest thing. This limitation inhibits them for embracing the idea when some one presents it. Their silo’ed imagination limits their risk taking ability, human limitations in modeling and computing only fuels this imagination gap

Imagination needs to be articulated in the style and language of the stake holder. The articulation translates it into physical yet invisible gain to the stake holder. This invisible gain could be professional or personal like – career progression for taking action against the idea, monetary gain and gains to the company (where he may be a share holder), etc.

Dedication to pursue the imagined idea and follow through the delivery. This dedication is reflected in the effort to layout the execution plans, engaging the sponsors and negotiating to create executive advocacy, energizing the team through a carrot or a stick. Helping the ancillary and support staff prepare as they deliver the goods.

Neil

Interesting bookmarks:
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