Advertising is about motivating the consumer (you) to get up from your couch & do stuff...

Can divorce sell cars? Ford's bold ad will tell - from the Chicago Tribune

Fancy stuff from FC

Business at Its Best
Fast 50
http://www.fastcompany.com/partners/microsoft/designatitsbest.html

Burger King: Using Social Currency

David Aaker talks about - Relevance, Energy, Clarity, Differentiation, Leverage as principles to build a strong portfolio of brands.

This article from ANA is as close as it gets to that within the BK portfolio. - Burger King: Using Social Currency

How to Launch a Career With Your Blog

From FC - Launching your career with your very own blog!

listen to your customers, let them tell you what they want

It is not very typical one comes across two articles that feed off of each other on the same day...

ANA - Consumer Insights - What a Concept
FCNow - gui gouwu zhongxin(Ghost Mall)

Do you "Google?"

Google's take on the brand - NOUN vs. VERB?

Technorati Profile

Talk substituting for action

Very interesting post on FCNow: Leading Ideas: Don't Let Talk Parade as Action

The Top 10 Reasons New Products Fail

Robert Schulman's - Checklist on the Top 10 Reasons New Products Fail.

from the ANA blog.

Unprecedented

460^o

The coefficient of restitution

All those people who ever played golf or studied advanced physics or engineering have definitely heard the term coefficient of restitution. It is a measure of a body’s ability absorb energy… boy, am I getting technical or what? Anyway the thought crossed my mind when I came across an article on work life balance and executive health. There is more to the beating most executives take above and beyond the odd work hours. It is the constant war games, small failures and much the same way small successes.

I wonder if we should have a measure of an individual’s coefficient of restitution included in one of those employment application forms. Wouldn’t it be amazing if and when the board of directors review a candidate for the position of a CEO they ask him/her how much beating can u take?

Unlike most non living things (that are assumed rigid and isotropic) I believe we humans metamorphosize, in our ability to take a beating. Call it thickening of the skin or shamelessness, net-net we do get more resilient and our coefficient of restitution goes up.

The more I think the more I agree we need a measure to evaluate our ability to rebound from setbacks.

Frying talent

A couple years ago I came across a case study in one of the monthly issues of the Harvard Business Review that was very interesting. A super star that makes the team feel like dirt and what was worse was the individual never acknowledges it and never realizes the long term affects of the behavior demonstrated. The individual is so good that the loss could have a significant effect on the organization.

Firing anyone is not an easy task let alone firing talent. I have quoted the proverb “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush”, but what if the bird in hand is not pretty? There is so much to it… the relationship, the person being affected, the effect on rest of the organization and lastly by no means the least, the effect on company image. Firing is a necessary evil to keep things in check and maintain a balance.

Four mediocre people are worse than one talented individual but one high maintenance individual is not worth the effort. I would say… coach’em, mentor’em and if nothing works fry’em.

Talent acquisition is a continuous process!

Brand Yourself!

Another real good one from Fast Company - Brand Yourself

"first, you have to build expertise. That's the easy part. The more difficult
aspect is getting people to recognize it."

The Meekest and Mightiest Make the Worst Leaders

Interesting article from Stanford Business Knowledge.

Interesting Blogs from 20/20

The Consumerist: Shoppers Bite Back

My Bad: THE LATEST APOLOGIES: WHO'S SORRY NOW?

Lets get the moms involved...

Herfootball.com

fantasy football...

Numbers to Lose Sleep By

Alarming...

The situation is reflective of the current interest rate combined with our growth hedges.

Read on from Fast Company
Wonder how is it sustainable with the Dow index at record levels? - Beige Book

Stoke the fire, feed the fire or use it as an Incinerator

I did not believe there was a difference between the three. All you really do in either of the scenarios is put stuff in the fire place. It is either the iron or dry logs or just stuff that burns. I put anything and everything from candy wrappers to, wet twigs, dust, dirt, leaves that followed my wet shoes, etc. What’s the big deal I thought? But when I got a big fire place in my house I realized the difference. During my annual cleaning I heard about it from the chimney cleaner. All the soot had layered the chimney.

I thought this is just like people! Treat people the way they deserve they deliver! Treat them like the average person and get mediocrity. It is not rocket science! It is all about how u feed and stoke their passions.

One of the companies I worked for had a very interesting and robust people management system. Every single person started as an average (un-judged) to give the individual room to grow, when it came time to measure and evaluate the individual had plenty of time to prove him or herself. When they proved to be different and better they moved up, when they lost ground they moved off.

It was not unusual to see people who had gone up to slide and yet be rewarded for their potential (the JIT princicple, wait for my next essay) and people who slide to ride the wave again. After all ‘A bird in hand is worth two in the bush’.

Education from Google!!

Teacher's Helper
Infinite thinking

Burn those calories baby

Only from Coke & Nestle - A calorie burning beverage

Fascinating opportunity!

Touching PEOPLES lives and improving PEOPLES life

At this years Annual Masters of Marketing conf - Jim Stengel presented
A New Way of Thinking - People Versus Consumers

Are relationships a replacement to authority?

Organizations are getting more and more complex with crisscrossing reporting lines that look worse than the toy racing car tracks from my childhood. It is not a surprise that the complexity is being balanced by flatter organizations to avoid any communication challenges and ensuing dissemination of information, both up and down the chain of hierarchy.

One must love a certain amount of ambiguity to survive inside the matrix, it can be challenging and stressful but if managed appropriately can create a lot of opportunities and learning from cross interaction. I have always believed it is almost impossible to accomplish anything significant without clarity of role. I have written about it in many of my past essays and decided I needed to revisit the idea. Over time I have built a robust network (my Net work is my Net worth!) and realized there is a lot more to getting things done than authority.

So what is so powerful about the network that matrices lack? Actually nothing! It may just be about the mindset people approach it with. The fundamental difference is authority can be bestowed like a magic pill while relationships take time to build, additionally relationships are tenuous, easy to destroy but tough to build. If one gets the dynamics of the difference relationships could very well be a replacement to authority!

...and there's AG

P&G's Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive: AG Lafley

Bully Marketing

In Pictures - from Forbes

Full Article - Bully Marketing

OBD & Thinking Deficiency Disorder

Just noticed a couple interesting articles from FastCompany - Obsessive Branding Disorder
- Wise up

Interesting blogs I have stumbled upon

The Newsfutures' Blog
The CultureBlog
Rajib Roy's musings

Today's leadership

Listening credibility

Ever been in a meeting where some one speaks before they listen? Can be very annoying! This may not come as a surprise to those who have ever been in consulting and thrived in that environment but listening is rather difficult. It takes a special skill to listen; a typical person will create an opinion long before they have heard the entire argument and more times than not blurt out irrelevant or even logically challenging responses to a discussion.

For those familiar with MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive) I wonder if there are MECE answers to questions. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to answer questions without ever hearing them yet not going wrong? I am not talking about invoking the 5th.

We all need to play politics but I guess it takes more than that to be right.

I recommend instituting a measure of “listening credibility”?

Engagement By Engagement

Interesting blog - Engagement By Engagement

A perspective on Consumer Engagement and developments in the advertising industry's Engagement initiative.

Hiring for talent not for skills

As easy as it sounds hiring for skills is as tough as asking some one to looking into a fire and predict the future. It can be tough especially in today’s fast paced environment but also absolutely essential in order to ensure any semblance of continuity. One of the most important things I believe we need today is ADAPTABILITY/AGILITY; call it by any other name and it sounds exactly the same!

The mobility to take knowledge and apply to a different business, in a different region and in many cases a different function. Skills are tactical they are like signposts, they rarely ever move, but it would be tough to get to a destination without a signpost.

Hiring for skills is akin to digging a well when one gets thirsty!

As long as one has talent skills can be developed. Organizations hire consultants to meet a tactical need. That’s the perfect place to look for a specific skill! It is a short term need and once met another one may not arise for a while. Talent on the other side transcends functions and projects it is really AGILE!

One for one

One for all and all for one? I am not sure I believe in it and that true of leadership too! People are different, each unique with different styles. So I guess there really is no such thing as ‘One for all and all for one’ at least in the corporate world.

Years ago when I interviewed for new jobs I wanted to know as much about ‘The Role’ as possible, through friends, through my network, in some cases from the recruiter, so I knew exactly what to say that would impress the interviewer. Just how to say it in order to engage the listener, I did that for years until recently I realized I am not looking for a job or a career. I don’t mean to say I am not in the market but what I really mean is I am looking for a fit! A place that values my idiosyncrasies and I share common values.

It is impossible to survive in a box, let alone one where you cannot breathe freely?

What Ideas Are you Fighting For?

Interesting post on FastNow - What Ideas Are you Fighting For?

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The ancestor of action is thought", truly ideas are worth fighting for!

Lead, Follow or Get out of the way… needs revision

A couple years ago I came across the message “Lead, Follow or Get out of the way…” on a school t-Shirt in the Coop. I felt it was a little to arrogant but on second thought it seemed fine given it presented to the reader all the options, be a leader, be a follower, or let others be. And yet I felt it to be a little too harsh.

It is not uncommon these days to run into an exec who one cannot make a decisive choice, then there are those that make choices based on some one else’s options there are those who let others make decisions for them, lastly the ones that won’t question the options or the choices. Churchill said it best, “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it”.

No corporation can ever thrive with weak leadership. I have completed the full circle; yep I accept I am a convert. The way I see it the choice is clear “Lead or Get out of the way!”

Lets add to the confusion!

"If you can't convince them, confuse them." -- Harry Truman

Guess that's what the Marketing research community does best! I guess what we really need is an insight into the payout from knowing more than just knowing more?

Boomer Research Defines Six New Consumer Clusters - From the Marketing Daily.

Hourglass Society

I thought the article was about health consciousness but then realized it was about a transitional society from the young to the old.

You will be judged and valued on the basis of your behavior in relation to
your communities and the environment.

by Karlene Lukovitz, Monday, Oct 2, 2006 5:00 AM ET (Marketing Daily)

I just hope we have not realized this in the last couple weeks and months and that this has been our beacon and guiding principle.

An article worth reading... 'Hourglass Society' Values Community, Ecology

Things I hate the most!

I acknowledge this is obviously not the best way to start a Monday but I felt the need for it.. In any case there’s got to be a balance… the good with the bad, the ying with the yang, a Monday with dark thoughts. So here is a list of the top three things I hate the most.

• Lack of Integrity
• Lethargy/Procrastination/Tardiness
• Lack of Commitment/Focus or Indecision

Our stories & our communication

what's your brand story? - from ANA

It is the triangulation between: Personal connection - Product efficacy - Wider equity alliances.

... and I though I could get away with "trust me!"

One of those interesting slide shows from Forbes - How To Get People To Trust You

Being comfortable with the uncomfortable

It is not easy to be comfortable with things that are unfamiliar and not within the realm of our experiences and background. So what do we mean when we talk about diversity? I hope we have been talking about the invisible diversity, because if not we have been fooling ourselves!

I think as leaders we need a team of people who can think different and question things from multiple different perspectives. I strongly believe as leaders we need to identify and assemble a team of deeply skeptical individuals that can some where along the way hold hand firm and tight. Its like a voyage on a yacht, you question the direction at each point but once the team agrees they all pull the ropes in the same direction with gusto and alongside every one else!

Cultural fit to me is a match in emotional energy

During each interview I have conducted I have always wondered how I knew if the candidate across from me would fit and thrive in the culture. I have asked that question to myself as a candidate, “would I fit in this culture”? My answers have been often vague, incoherent and not cohesive.

One hour is not enough to know a person let alone to bring some one into your family. All background checks apart there is a lot of a person than where they have been and what they may have done? I am sure we all agree. We would not have been a nation with a 50% divorce rate if that was not half as true. All said and done during a recent conversation I had an epiphany. It seemed apt to mention it in an essay.

Each of us has different responses to different events and episodes, of course we are unique! We are all diverse we think and we act different, it is who we are and it is our personality. That being said I believe we process things on two planes – logical and emotional. Given the binary choice one comes first and the second must follow. Also not one is right in its entirety. It is this sequencing of choices in context of the challenge we are trying to resolve that defines who we are and how we fit within a symphony.

The logical portion of the assessment always results in the same answer independent of who we are and where we come from as long as we provide the same inputs, the beauty of math (I have to add that on account of my analytical background)… the inputs we provide do vary based on whether we have emotionally processed the facts or not (remember the sequencing piece?) our emotional energy varies and is a function of all that is around us not excluding us. So by deduction, fit is emotional energy. That still does not answer the question on how to measure it. Guess I need to think further?

Word smithing and funny business

Interesting Fools post - Career Education CEO Expelled

The article talks about the stock leap of 14.4% with the CEO's sudden departure... partially attributed to the PR statement?

"Current lead director Robert Dowdell will serve as interim CEO while the company seeks a permanent replacement for Larson. But consider how the press release described the situation: "The board of directors is in the final stages of engaging a nationally recognized executive search firm to lead the search for a permanent CEO."

Parse that statement fully, and you'll see it translates roughly as "we're almost ready ... to ask someone else ... to begin looking for a replacement." That suggests to me that Larson's departure was sudden, abrupt, unplanned -- choose the adjective that suits you best, but be aware that words like "calculated," "smooth," or "unpanicked" have no place in this sentence. "

http://www.fool.com/news/mft/2006/mft06092810.htm
By Rich Smith (TMFDitty)09/28/2006

Creativity matters more, not size!

Creativity is more important than just scale and size. - Article from the Media Dailty News

Careers & culture

It is so interesting to note that we (The people of the United States) celebrate the day our founding fathers signed and published the declaration of independence; July 4th, 1776. The war of independence ended in 1782 and the British accepted defeat in 1783 but the Independence Day stands firm at July 4th. The day the nation readied itself to take the mantle of democracy, lead the world and satisfy our citizen’s primary need for freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of action. No don’t get confused I am not trying to make any significant contribution or change historical records through this essay but I am trying hard to make a point!

I was evaluating corporate principles and policies in light of the above…. people often get promoted based on what they have done not the capabilities they project. I had the opportunity to experience a culture, where people were promoted based on successfully completing tasks required by the role versus the role they were preparing for. It does sound much like our educational institutions. Just the way students move up from one grade level to the next on successful completion of tasks within their current grade level.

Alls not lost though…. when it comes to admitting new candidates even educational institutions subjectively measure capability and drive as a proxy to future success.

Corporate culture or the societal culture… your guess is as good as mine.

Careers & culture

It is so interesting to note that we (The people of the United States) celebrate the day our founding fathers signed and published the declaration of independence; July 4th, 1776. The war of independence ended in 1782 and the British accepted defeat in 1783 but the Independence Day stands firm at July 4th. The day the nation readied itself to take the mantle of democracy, lead the world and satisfy our citizen’s primary need for freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of action. No don’t get confused I am not trying to make any significant contribution or change historical records through this essay but I am trying hard to make a point!

I was evaluating corporate principles and policies in light of the above…. people often get promoted based on what they have done not the capabilities they project. I had the opportunity to experience a culture, where people were promoted based on successfully completing tasks required by the role versus the role they were preparing for. It does sound much like our educational institutions. Just the way students move up from one grade level to the next on successful completion of tasks within their current grade level.

Alls not lost though…. when it comes to admitting new candidates even educational institutions subjectively measure capability and drive as a proxy to future success.

Corporate culture or the societal culture… your guess is as good as mine.

Sustainability & Advertising

More than just a spin...

Advertising Ecosystem from MediaPost, interesting article.

Slippery slope

I was thinking about all those occasions when I have either driven me or depressed me? The one and only thing I thought was common between the two was “Ego”… the green monster!

Don’t chew my ear!

One my most favorite poem is William Shakespeare’s “To thine own self be true” from Hamlet. Polonius speaks to his son Laertes before his travels…

Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay'd for. There; my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!

As marketers we’ve been getting a far smaller share of the consumer’s ears these days than we ever did and that percentage continues to drop at an alarming rate.

The clutter often feels like some one chewing on my ear than a valuable message, don’t you think?

Now that's a good recipe for success

CREATIVE RISK TAKING

People Development
Understanding Risk/Taking Risk/Rewarding Behavior
Direction/Strategizing

Don’t change for the sake of change

Gone are those days when people believed “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke”, I often challenge myself and my teams to “Think different!”. That’s not just an extension of the Apple campaign either. Organizations today strive to think and more importantly act different.

Change is not easy but it’s not a choice either! If you don’t some one else will and then you will be forced to follow.

Its one thing to innovate/change and a whole different thing to add value to the consumer. With the death of product differentiation since the introduction of distant and contract manufacturing organizations have transitioned to commercial innovation, commercial differentiation in a crowded market place and on an ever crowded shelf. As we strive to differentiate in a mass market by micro segmentation. Organizations are challenged to entice I mean it! In that moment of excitement and euphoria generated in the consumers mind clearly articulate the value of the difference.

It’s all about the value, how ever small and incremental, its all about the value! Don’t change for the sake of change but change to make a difference. Its true of my brands, your brands as it is true of brand “I” and brand “You”!

Dissociative identity marketing

This is new to me too but I liked what I read, who knows you may see the value too?

Kalivo.com - Show
Fads or Smart Marketing?

Price & Value

Oscar Wilde was responsible for the original form of the quote but I am not sure where I heard the following one... nonetheless I love it.

“Economists know the price of things but not the value and Marketers know the value of things but not the price”.

I recently told someone they knew the value of things but not the value of it and they lashed out at me. I had particularly chosen not to generalize the Economists and the Marketers when I said it out loud. The quote is deep and indicative of the equity the two functions have developed as cynics and romantics.

Responding to success can be more challenging than failure

Much like gravity, nothing can stand up there for perpetuity. All that goes up or even grows up there like Newton discovered will some day come down. So is the story of life. But what about the momentary euphoria from going up there, getting to the top? That can be a tough one… We humans have a natural persistence of vision, but sometimes persistence can affect our mind and brains too.

When one fails one can commit greater rigor, more focus or sometimes even change of course to get to the top, but when u are at the top the only three place to go are either further up, stay there or go down. With the three options none can stay there for ever and obviously none can grow forever. Responding to success can thus be tricky, appearing arrogant, docile or humble all have its own issues.

I guess the response is a function of the culture, the landscape and the competition.

Administration is a job unto itself

Administration is an elegant word for the corporate sludge and politics we all have to put up with. There is more to administrator then the rut! The meetings, the decisions, agreements and negotiations.

Years ago when I was a consultant I learnt a wrong lesson, you have meetings in the day and work on the real stuff in the evenings. Things were simple and easy then, I was single, I was on the road and staying late meant hitting the restaurants and bars late at night with my colleagues and buddies. I loved it, but life is different now! Work life balance is critical, and what’s more important is not just managing my work load but ensuring my team is not overloaded.

Balancing work with the rest of the load can be a tough act. Administration can be a job unto itself. I cam eup with a model to address the situation... working backwards:

7. Prioritization
6. Delegate
5. Develop talent
4. Reward diligence & commitment
3. Manage and track development planning
2. Institute and agree on a skill matrix
1. Hire the right people

The most expensive thing in business after life itself

I was ruminating over what is the most expensive investment a business or an individual makes? My thought process got as little philosophical and so I thought it was an apt candidate for “The Blue”.

I believe the answer is F l E x I b I L i T y!

From every angle I thought of it I seemed to convince myself that the answer is flexibility, it is the cost of uncertainty combined with the luxury of maintaining options. Be it launching a new product as a premium or a flanker, setting up a new consumer driven supply network, entering a new market, all these decisions have associated risks. The classical way most businesses and people mitigate risks in their personal lives is creating fall backs. Basically a full featured execution option or at least a partially developed option that may be executed in the event of a failure in achieving desired results from the choicest selection.

In conversations as to how flexibility costs us on a personal level I have realized… think of all the money people invest in buying branded merchandise. The brands comes with a promise of meeting expected needs. Implicitly committing to the fact that if the brand failed to meet the needs the manufacturer will replace it with one that does. It is the flexibility of being sure one way or the other expectations will be met!

In line with my recent post...

Be happy now from FC

In a rush…

During my recent trip to India I noticed some thing quite interesting and may be even unique in its own right. People seemed to be in a rush! I am serious! This coming from me seems rather odd, given my pace. But the quirk was that this anxiety and obsession with getting things over with was unusual. Whether it was completing a task, getting somewhere, eating, visiting someone or a tourist attraction people were in a rush!

What’s with the idea of getting things done & getting them done NOW!

Does that mean we have a little extra time to squeeze in an added activity that we love… may be a couple extra minutes of that sweet sleep in the morning? It did not seem so to me?

I am not sure I have figured what it really is but one thing for certain people seemed to focus much more on task completion and much less on enjoying it. This is not about elevating ourselves beyond the mundane to the surreal but I do believe every individual needs to make a clear distinction between satisfaction and conquest!

My India top 11 - based on a recent trip...

The India top 11

The Good	The Bad
o Open to new ideas! Open to change!	o Conflicting performance measures across disciplines resulting in overall chaos across the system
o The opportunity is NOW! I guess the size of the population to affect something	o Need for greater organization, most things operate as islands unto themselves
o Everything is a social process, strong support system. Guess the joint family extends far & beyond	o Overly complex systems, it is no surprise every western company invested in India operates as a JV
o Institutions that work! Financial, Taxation, Post, Logistical, Information & Media, etc.	o Lack of originality, resulting in a lot of “Monkey see Monkey do”
o Faith based system with a strong culture	o Negative motivation works! The system perpetuates delivery against the fear of punishment
o	o Lack of overall trust & fear of the next person... everyone for themselves resulting in competitiveness

I just added the 11^th.

Long trip to India and back now!

Couple interesting posting on FastCompany, Business Week, etc.

Putting a price on customer opinion - FC
If size really mattered... - BW
It's time for a McD, I am loving it - ChicagoBusiness


Look for my top 10 on India, I am just about done compiling.

Top CEOs. Top business leaders. ANA Members.

ANA Marketing Maestros: Top CEOs. Top business leaders.

The Who's Who list of CEOs.

How to Be a Better CMO

ANA Marketing Maestros: How to Be a Better CMO

very interesting read!

You've got baggage....

It is funny when friends write to you about the reclusive Russian who declined the Field medal. Reminds you that no matter what you do today... you still have ties with the field you left behind.

Reclusive genius spurns math prize

these are kinds they make movies on...

Project Jill

That's Wife

The brand is in the name

Google wants people to stop googling from CNET News.com

Futuristic trends

CUSTOMER-MADE!

Institute of the Future

My dearest subject... INNOVATION

Fast Company Now: Innovation Start With the Customer!

Multi-tasking or food for ADHD?

Interesting article about Gen Y ladies: Girls Just Want to Be Plugged In -- to Everything from the Los Angeles Times.

Google Games

Fancy Games - Fast Company Now
from who else but Google.

Google As Napoleon

Interesting article from - Economist.com

The alliance against Google

Wealth of Knowledge!

The latest issue of http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/ has some fantastic articles and books - must reads for the summer.

• Sustainability - Made to Break
• Design - Idealized Design
• Retirement - Principles of wealth management
• Five lessons from "Must-Win Battles" - Lessons from successful & failed journeys
• Success to failure - Three factors that can change success to failure
• The Omnivore's dilemma - Natural history of four meals

Is it privacy or the economics?

Interesting read...

Is it privacy or the economics? from Market Watch

Tasseomancy

Tasseomancy is the ancient art of reading tea leaves. The practice of drinking tea was associated with meditation in the East and the configuration of tea leaves in the cup after drinking reflected the state of the world at that particular moment. Anyway enough about the ancients, lets talk modern times. Management today is not much different from this age old art form. Reading hidden messages, understanding & interpreting body language, I can go on and on.

Nature is supreme; as such it is not strange we expect certain traits in individuals we hire for positions. A little gray hair, stern voice & a firm grip will go a long way. Although people are people, each of them speaks their very own unique lingo, they act different, they offer different responses to situations.

The task of reading and interpreting their behaviors can be daunting. Understanding when they need help, what kind of help, how to offer and approach them for help is an art. I have wondered if we couldn’t have a tasseomant in every office that read the tea leaves of every employee just to make the managers life easy. Do we call it performance review by any chance?

Squeezing the lemon

I think hiring is by far the most difficult task in ones career? In my personal experience I have found it to be more difficult than making multi million dollar and sometimes multi billion dollar choices for corporations. It is not just identifying the candidate, but asking them the right questions, evaluating their responses and finally making the critical ‘go’, ‘no go’ decisions on the right cultural fit, right skill set, the right attitude, the energy, passion and much more. Yet another element of challenge is the urge to satisfy a short term business need or developing a leader.

I remember hearing staggering statistics on investments organizations make in developing leaders that way too often result in a regretted loss to another organization worse yet to a competitor and yet that’s not the worst scenario… try inheriting a dysfunctional team and misfit individuals only to be told ‘it is what it is’, now work it out. I call it, ‘Squeezing the lemon’. Talk about tough calls!

Alls not lost though, there is hope. I have always believed, ‘until there is hope there is life’. Squeezing the lemon is tough, but with a positive attitude and a passion to succeed there is a way. Here is what I have found works.

• Partner at every level with the team/members and their bosses
• Train the team, even if they don’t see any immediate value
• Keep trying, trying, trying and trying to show them the light
• Provide specific solutions not constructs
• Communicate to build trust
• If nothing else works make a firm, decisive and clear impression by firing the trouble makers/misfits!

Tough choice for Europe - GMO or no GMO?

From the FastCompany briefing on biotech in batteries.

A virus with a charge

Harnessing the power of genetically modified viruses.

http://resourceinsights.blogspot.com/2005/06/europes-gmo-trap.html
http://www.gmofree-europe.org/
http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/Index.htm
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/ESRG.php

Career elasticity of growth & movement

As a marketer and strategist I often look at elasticities of my brands. In order to time events for the greatest impact, and improve my ROI, I juggle many balls, advertising, promotions, partnerships, equity alliances, etc.

During a recent review I noticed similarities between the elasticity of demand curve and careers. As marketers we never price brands on the inelastic part of the curve, because it would be stupid to leave money on the table. We are taught to be sensitive to thresholds where consumers question the benefit and price of the brand (the value). Lastly we learn to pay special attention to the gap between our price and that of our closest competitors.

I decided to apply the same principles to my career and mapped the career elasticity of growth!

 

The gift of risk

Only from FastCompany

Leading Ideas: The gift of risk

Interesting article.

what goes around comes around

Interesting article on the wisdom of crowds.

Workers, place your bets from Business Week.

If you remember my posting "Some of my interesting bookmarks" from June 2006

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you – What about CANDOR?

I have always tried hard & practiced treating others the way I wish to be treated by them. Only recently I noticed something strange when a project with little merit received unanimous support, then again every project received kudos. I stopped to think what was really going on? It really struck a cord when I realized it was a case of you scratch my back and I scratch yours. BUT WHAT ABOUT OPEN HONEST TALK?

Most people are smart and intelligent but sometimes too intelligent for their own good. That’s when things back fire, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”; if you say good things about my project I will say great things about yours! Is this a cultural thing? Can our corporate cultures fix what our religious, societal cultures have indoctrinated us with? I certainly think so! The legendary Jack Welch of GE said it once reward people and behaviors that align with objectives and values and punish the ones that don’t. This applies as much to the top performers as the bottom dwellers in every organization.

In Search of Courage

Who else by John McCain - Some of these reprinted FastCompany articles are amazing! In Search of Courage: "John McCain"

WSJ-New-Media Power List

Fast Company Now: "New-Media Power List"

Organization & controls

I have always believed sound organizations need - internal discipline; resulting in strong brands, great people and social responsibility & and external control for strategy and objectivity; board of directors, PR people and investors. Together they go a long way! I consider myself an organization (of one) an institution (with brands ME, principles, values & purpose), so why not emulate? In my effort to get started I made the following list.

Internal control:

BRANDING (equity, quality & packaging) – First & Second moment of truth!
o What is my equity? How would someone describe me? & Competition
o How do people perceive me? What is my image like? & Competition
o How do I project myself? & Competition
o My messages, how I speak, the people I associate with, how I look, what I wear? & Competition

SKILL, TALENT & GENIUS
o How I lead & develop my team? & Competition
o How are my results I deliver & my communication? & Competition
o Capabilities I possess? & Competition
o Capacity I have? & Competition
o Time I manage, work I prioritize? & Competition

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
o How I lead & develop my team? & Competition
o My commitment to my people, my community, my fraternity? & Competition

External control:

OBJECTIVITY
o Mentors as my board of directors
o Strong partners, coaches as my investors & bankers

Let’s get cracking!

Built to Flip

Jim Collins is great! -
Built to Flip: "author of 'Built to Last: Success"

bad PR... you think?

This month's ANA had a full page ad and I could not resist but blog it.

A little extreme but effective career/personal espionage.

That Girl Emily

Manager Tools

Fastinating blog and an equally interesting podcast! Manager Tools

Conversations… conversations… conversations…

I learn more from talking to people then from anything else. Last weekend I met some one; he asked me what I did for a living. I blurted “Management”, I thought for a second… that’s my first. I typically respond with more specific about what I do or who I work for, etc. Interesting response must have been subconscious… This individual asked me what I meant by “Management”? Now I needed to respond with something that fit with my previous answer. I responded "I am in the business of leadership and people". That was the most apt answer I could think of at the time. Certainly very true! My role is all about my people, leading them, setting direction & managing change.

The World's Top Brands

The power is in name - from Business week
The World's Top Brands

Leadership is generational

There is a lot of hoopla about change management and leadership, NO denying ANY organization would not exist let alone succeed in absence of strong leadership and an effective change management program that weathers changing strategies, organizational structures, market conditions, etc. What’s worrisome thought is the perspective a lot of business graduates and business managers have about change and leadership. As life gets faster business graduates and managers expect an equally fast turn on change and leadership. It is not as fast and easy as downloading a good book on change and leadership on to your iPod listening or reading through the pages of the HBR and knowing all that there is to know about change and leadership. The Titanic does not change course in an instant! I am particularly skeptical of the turnaround experts, not to say short term goals don’t matter but they come at a cost and that cost will be adequately compensated with some depression in the long run.

We see leaders, read about them, hear about them, talk about them, even study their decisions and try to emulate them. What one takes away may or may not be the same the next person takes away. Not too long ago I had a good friend who visited a conference where the legendary Jack Welch presented. I adore Jack’s leadership and business acumen; have been a huge fan forever! When this friend mentioned he wanted to get a business degree only because he heard Jack mention ‘today’s managers need to develop people skill’, I thought what on earth! Coming from Jack sounded a little strange, the same person who had such a public divorce, which only got messier in the media... & people skills.

I believe the truth is we need all the knowledge there is, our own vision combined with a STRONG heart to be patient and persist at the mission/vision, make the TOUGH decisions. A little steering every so often, engagement and energy & the organization will see the light on the horizon. Changing people’s philosophies, ideology and thoughts takes generations. Leadership is a philosophical, Leadership is generational!

Modularity - Life’s little resets!

Yesterday was a hectic day... I woke up on time but with all the little things I had to complete I was late for my train, lucky me I still made it. By the time I reached my transfer point I was back on track. Things went smooth only until I got to office and I had to put out a fire that seemed to derail my entire day’s schedule, once again lucky me half way down the day one of my meeting was cancelled and I got an hour of my ever so important life back. I was cruising just fine. On my way back home I reflected on my day all the mini crises I had to deal with, the fires I had to put out, plans I had to make and objectives I had met.

My reflection led me to the thought of resets! How modular is life, the decoupling helps and hurts. Clearly the modularity allows for those quick and easy resets in life that enable us to reload and fire. How great is that! A perfect opportunity to reset and start all over again. Not all disruptions result in the same level of resilience from life. The classic was 9-11, life was crippled for days, travelers within the US and a number of cases globally were stranded, but things eventually bounce back.

Is our modular lifestyle offering options for resets or is life just getting more resilient from all the shocks and experience?

In an age of creativity-design-innovaiton

Posted on The Donald Trump blog - My Candidates to Replace the MBA

I am not a fan of Mr. Trump's blog but this is an interesting article by Tom Peters.

Effect of Mood on Work Performance

Knowledge@Wharton -
Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Desk: The Effect of Mood on Work Performance

Promises, Lies and Apologies: Is It Possible to Restore Trust?

Interesting reseasrch from: Knowledge@Wharton -
Promises, Lies and Apologies: Is It Possible to Restore Trust?

"Trust is critical for organizations, effective management and efficient negotiations, yet trust violations are common"

"It's okay to screw me over, but don't deceive me as well," says Bradlow. "If you screw me over and lie about it, it's going to take even longer to recover from it."

The authors say

The business of influence

The podcasts at the University of Chicago are fascinating. Here is from Steven Levitt.

Steven Levitt, Alvin H. Baum Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago and author of the New York Times bestseller Freakonomics, regaled the students with cases from his research. One example illustrated why Chicago emphasizes the importance of hard data for all kinds of decision-making.

MP3 File

Badge of shame

Ever had one of those days when you thought you worked on a presentation for a role model and intended to impress only to be pointed juvenile mistakes in the presentation? Juvenile is probably an understatement. Everything came crashing from mistakes in charts to assumptions that did not address the issue in question, the most devastating was when 'common sense checks' in the presentation fell apart!

Rough, Rough, Rough... You bounce back! Life goes on!

In any case the best thing one can do is seek feedback, take the feedback personally and apply. I decided I would go back to my role model and acknowledge my mistakes, take responsibilities to redeem myself. Work to build my equity all over again. It was rough!

No One Knows What They're Doing

No One Knows What They're Doing - interesting read

Fast Company suggests trying:

1. Practice admitting when you're stuck or don't know what you're doing (perhaps in safer environments at first).
2. Open up to others to help you begin to find answers to your challenges.
3. Begin to notice the sense of freedom that can come from not having to "know" all the time.

Vanishing enemy

Every time I listen to the news these I am amazed at the similarity between guerrilla wars (particularly the from the fundamentalist organizations) and the private label consumer product labels war games. A few years ago I had the opportunity to dig through some old data before and around the second big war. The issues of brand wars were similar then as they are now. The lions always have to keep up with the nimble young gazelles; of course the modern gazelles have sharp teeth and paws of the lion, and a large number competing for the same opportunities. What makes it particularly difficult is the modern day relationship the lions have with the gazelles, acting as customers and competitors at the same time.

There are obviously three obvious courses most organizations take to deal with the challenges, driven by their equity, their relationships and lastly their strengths. Going after the gazelles versus other lions; Ignoring the gazelles and concentrating on other lions that feast on their opportunities; or Going after other lions while keeping an eye on the gazelles in case there arises an opportunity to pounce and feast on them. All of this does not seem much different from global politicking.

Obviously the gazelle does not make for much of a feast when you are a large lion unless you can round up an entire herd, but that would be pretty tough given their agility and deceptive roles. It certainly makes best sense to drive other lions to enable proliferation of the other opportunities in the view, as long as the lions have enough cubs to go after the gazelles and limit their activity to specific regions. The cubs can keep the Gazelles busy from sharpening and penetrating their teeth into any of the lions. Much like what Queen Maria Theresa did during her reign as the queen mother of Austria.

Trust is a corporate speak for consistency

Had the opportunity to read Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a team. Pat starts with the first dysfunction, “Absence of Trust”, I felt good… that means it fits with my model of building credibility. I was interested in knowing what Pat mean by TRUST? He says trust is not about letting yourself fall on your team member and expecting them to hold you, instead it means being able to predict people’s behavior in various situations consistently, the trust that they will make predictably right choices.

I processes what I had read the thought lead me think of the only document one carries along through out ones careers from the point in time one is hired until they retire. Our RESUME! We the schools one attended to organizations and roles. Our alma maters are associated with the effort it takes to be accepted and the commitment it requires to get through. The organizations one worked for and the progression through out the career is the next major element. Once again projecting to the reviewer ones commitment, passion and consistency in delivering results. Within every role one has held individuals talk about their success, the challenges, adjustments they make as a reflection of the performance they will likely deliver in the role they transition into.

Does this mean we have just created a corporate buzz for consistency? May be what we mean by trust is really consistency?

Built to last companies & the Ecosystem

By the time I had read Jim Collins’ Built to last, I had worked for one. The experience and the philosophies he shared seemed to hit at home. I was living and breathing all the little things and also the big things he mentioned. It was so interesting, then few years after he wrote his next book that and called it Good to great. Jim referenced a conversation with a McKinsey partner that influenced him to think about Good to great and rest is history. When I finished his second book I felt liberated! I felt all those things I had learned, absorbed and embodied from reading Built to last I practiced and made me sort of like one of the companies he talked about that changed from a Good company to a Great company. I was transformed! I had started to think laterally, be proactive, change one thing at a time, little by little until the flywheel begins to spin.

My lateral thinking lead me to compare myself to an Ecosystem; Adjusting, learning, improving, and at cause. The fundamentals were quite simple to be honest. Learn from every action, adjust a little, act on things, don’t let things happen to you and make them happen for you, acknowledge the challenges, rid yourself of the bad, embrace the good and opportunities will follow. At the end of the day it is all about balance, 'The Ying & the Yang'... if you don’t create it some one else will.

Liberty & Freedom of thought

When our founding fathers wrote our constitution they were influenced by their perspectives and experiences they had in Europe. They strived to establish a state of peace and prosperity by protecting its citizens providing and extending freedoms. Don’t corporate CREDO; Principles, Values and Purpose statements strive for the same? I think they do! When why do they need to be unique, why do they need to be different? That is not to say the constitution of every country in the world needs be the same but they all proclaim to offer their citizens the same rights, privileges in context of their social settings.

The part that strikes me as insightful is the fact that every nation in its own ways promises well being and yet violates some human rights or the other… be it mistreatment of its citizens, limiting fundamental rights , etc. Not much different from the corporate world. We have address most of visible issues diversity, equal opportunity, but it still seems like we need to go a long way with “Liberty & Freedom of thought”. I have made it is my personal mission every day to open my mind and consider and logically synthesize a fundamentally contradicting idea.

I can’t think of an easier way, but that’s what marketers are supposed to do not just think different but act different, challenge the norm, the status quo!

Indecency Law Tripped Up By Bush Slip-Up

Funny when it comes from the big guy...

Indecency Law Tripped Up By Bush Slip-Up

This is much like business continuity

This is much like business continuity The Fools call it portfolio management.

Bird Flu Planning Isn't for the Birds

Below the belt!

From Fast Company: What happens when the CEO of a fortune 50 company bounces a check?

CEO's public persona
Bouncing a $2000 check
Challenging question