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May 31, 2007
Does Drinking Coca-Cola Make You Dumb?
You're in the business of selling high-margin liquid in bottles. You've built a pretty good business doing that, and you're guarding a formula that is supposedly as well-protected as Osama bin Laden. Money's not the issue; you've got bottomless pockets to fund the study of social, cultural and consumption trends.
You've also got legions of people working at company and at your advertising agencies -- and at the swarm of consultants that buzz around your honey pot -- who are supposed to do nothing but observe consumer behavior, study our beverage guzzling habits, and develop new products to proudly put more plastic bottles into landfills.
So if you were Coca-Cola, it doesn't seem like you would have to be a marketing genius to put two fundamental trends together: we're drinking more and more bottled water, and we're looking for quick shots of healthy living that create the illusion of righteousness (off-setting all the other horrible stuff we do to ourselves).
Posted by Adam Hanft at 11:52 AM
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Can we get SATISFACTION?
Want customer satisfaction? Get it as good as you give it say Thor Muller and Lane Becker, co-founders of Satisfaction, a company that aims to provide people-powered customer service for absolutely everything.
I recently sat down with them to talk about the imminent launch of their new Web service. Satisfaction aims to make it easier for customers to answer each other’s questions, solve problems, and share ideas for how to improve products and services – with or without a company’s involvement.
Continue reading "Can we get SATISFACTION?"Posted by Valeria Maltoni at 8:32 AM
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Dreaming of a Global Career? Think Bangalore
There was a time, not too long ago, when being sent to work in India could be considered a punishment posting; when an India stint would include a ‘hardship allowance’. Well, times surely are changing. Today, getting an India (and/or China) experience is becoming increasingly significant for American executives. And thousands of them are opting for a two to five year stint in Bangalore, hoping for a big career boost when they return. The word ‘Bangalored’ is assuming a new meaning altogether.
I noticed this when I returned to Bangalore last year. The expatriate population in Bangalore had simply exploded in the 2 years I had spent away from the city. I could see Americans and Europeans everywhere – in shopping malls, movie theaters, clubs, and on the streets. Recently, I met with the president of Bangalore Expatriates Club, Arvind Chandra, who opened my eyes to this interesting trend. Apparently, getting the Bangalore box checked on one’s CV has assumed great importance for ambitious American executives. And it’s not just the technology industry, executives in industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, media, legal and manufacturing are flocking to the outsourcing capital of the world. About 12,000 foreigners live and work in Bangalore and, according to Bangalore’s Foreigners Registration Office, this number has been on the increase each year. Bangalore is preferred, mainly because of the large expatriate community and favorable weather. Other cities of choice include Pune, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.
Continue reading "Dreaming of a Global Career? Think Bangalore"Posted by Anupam Mukerji at 5:33 AM
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May 30, 2007
Careers: Put Your Best Face Forward
It always surprises me when companies spend a ton of time and money developing slick marketing materials and a great website but then overlook the importance of putting the right people in front of potential employees. At the end of the day, it’s usually those personal interactions with human resources and line managers that determine whether a candidate accepts or rejects an offer.
In my opinion, when recruiting MBAs or other experienced hires, your “public face” must include the following:
• Seniority. Candidates often equate access to mid- to senior-level employees to the perceived level of interest the company has in them as candidates. They also want to hear about the strategic direction of the company. However, those with limited work experience sometimes place more of a premium on interactions with junior-level employees as that’s who they will most closely relate to. If you’re presenting to both populations, cover all of your bases by sending both.
• Passion. People who believe in what they’re selling, not canned sound bytes and company propaganda. They want to hear from people who are truly passionate about the company, the business, and their jobs. They’re believable, energetic, and engaging.
• Likeability. People they’d like to hang out with. People who are approachable and easy to talk to. Just because they’re a successful executive doesn’t mean that they present the best face for their organization. Candidates will often write off the entire company after having one bad experience with a member of the recruiting team.
• Preparation. A firm grasp of presentation content (if applicable) and the ability to field a wide range of questions from candidates. Hopefully it’s not the first time the presenter has seen the PowerPoint deck, but if it is it’s critical that the audience can’t tell. Many companies also include a human resources representative at company presentations to field logistical questions about the hiring process.
Companies wanting to attract the best and brightest candidates must spend as much time making sure their public face goes beyond a fancy brochure or video. They select the right people to represent their organization during the recruiting process and think strategically about the messages they want to communicate to candidates.
Shawn Graham is an Associate Director with the MBA Career Management Center at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (courtingyourcareer.wordpress.com).
Posted by Shawn Graham at 3:05 PM
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People Tend to Support What They Help to Build
It’s about engagement, enthusiasm, the idea that “I’m a part of this and I’m going to do my best to make it succeed”. How powerful would it be if you could engage the staff to that depth of and passion for what they do?
People tend to support what they help to build, so how do you translate mandate, focus, and vision for an organization into projects that engage staff as key players in the future success of each one? One of my client’s managers does that with his staff when at all possible. Every organization has its pet projects and the ones that staff have to get stuck with, however when you strike that balance like ‘John’ did the result is engagement.
The key is paying attention. When the staff is sitting around the boardroom table and a new file comes in that they have to work on, he looks around the table to see whose eyes light up because of the subject matter. Then he starts asking questions of the group as to their opinions on how to get going on the file. He then listens for engagement, interest, level of energy in the responses and how each one begins a dialogue with the group and from that, along with their work load and all the other things managers have to take into consideration, tasks to the people who were fascinated by the project and look at it with a sense of possibility. They were already engaged, looking forward to tackling it and doing it really well, not to mention already having fun with the concepts and plans to get going.
Tasking to strengths; well this is one way of looking at it but it’s more than that. It’s letting people fly after their imagination has already engaged in the project and letting them go with it. Even if they don’t have all the experience and knowledge necessary to jump in immediately, with this level of energy they will find out everything they need to know and then some, and grow in the process.
It might take a bit more time to discern staff’s interests and level of engagement but if you did this on a regular basis, could you imagine how powerful it would be for your organization to have complete engagement, loyalty and a sense of ‘being a part of it all’, not just a small piece in a huge puzzle of manpower?
Donna Karlin • Executive and Political Shadow Coach™ • Ottawa, Canada • •www.abetterperspective.com
Posted by Donna Karlin at 1:51 PM
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Curiousity Never Killed the Manager
Curiosity. That’s the first thing Lee Iacocca mentioned when asked by Charlie Rose to describe attributes leaders need. Iacocca, former CEO of Chrysler, has a 7C formula for describing leadership with C standing for attributes such as communications, common sense, courage, and of course, curiosity. Of these, curiosity is often overlooked that it is refreshing to hear Iacocca speak about it as well as write about it in his newest book, Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
When you consider Iacocca’s background it is not surprising that he would favor curiosity. He studied engineering at Lehigh and then joined Ford Motor Company where he made his name in sales. Both disciplines require a high degree of inquisitiveness. Engineers want to know how things work and why. Sales people want to know what customers are thinking. Methods for discovering answers requires an ability to formulate good questions based on a wanting to know, that is, being curious.
In the quest for innovation, it is remarkable that so few companies seem to value curiosity. We speak of creativity. We speak of putting people in places where they can interact and where ideas can spark. We speak of how managers take those ideas and apply them to problems. But these are processes; creativity does not spring from thin air. It comes from being curious. The good thing about curiosity is that we humans are naturally curious. Watch any group of primates and you will see curiosity in play, especially when new items are introduced into their environment, be it a toy, a machine or a human. Curiosity is likely in our DNA. So it can be fostered. Here are some suggestions.
Continue reading "Curiousity Never Killed the Manager"Posted by John Baldoni at 12:00 PM
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Your Next Job Interview – Via Webcam?
Ray Sweger is a 25-year-old operations manager with a mid-market financial firm who landed the job he wanted 2,000 miles from home, not by flying out for an interview but by answering employment questions over a webcam.
Although video résumés are controversial and have not been accepted by corporate America, video interviews conducted over the Web or on videoconferencing systems have caught on quickly. Video interviews are considered a fast, cost-effective and excellent way to filter job candidates.
At first blush, it might seem like a double-standard. Why do hiring managers feel video is okay for interviews but not for résumés? In a word: control. It turns out that employers are comfortable using video for interviews when it's clear that they can both control the process and save time and money by not having to fly (or even bring) in three candidates for every one they hire. Currently employed job candidates like it because they don't have to miss work or travel just to complete a job interview.
"I love it primarily for the efficiency but one of the bonuses is there are people we wouldn't have considered otherwise," says Sweger's new boss, Devin Thorpe, CEO, Thorpe Capital, a middle market investment banking firm in Salt Lake City. "We did an interview [for an internship] last night with a woman in Paris." She had found a Web-based internship notice that Thorpe Capital placed with the nearby University of Utah's career center, contacted the company, and within hours had completed the process online.
Interestingly, Sweger's job interview with Thorpe Capital wasn't live; instead, the answers were taped so that the Thorpe could watch it on his own time, hours after Sweger hit 'submit' on the web-based application. Thorpe uses a turnkey solution supplied by HireVue, a Salt Lake City-based company that provides the software, hardware, hosting plus advice to employers. HireVue ships out webcams to job applicants who lack the technology.
"We will compress the hiring cycle by making it easy for candidates to take interviews on their own time and employers don't have to worry about time zone schedules or travel," says Mark Newman, COO of HireVue. The Q&A approach solves one of the major problems found with video-résumés - it imposes structure on the production process and forces applicants to address the employer's questions in a fixed period of time.
One catch is that job seekers are typically inexperienced at setting up or using webcams and usually don't know how to make themselves seem professional in a cyber-setting. Penelope Trunk, a career columnist and author of Brazen Careerist, suggests that job candidates approach video carefully. "Get coaching if video is required, and if video is not required, skip it all together," recommends Trunk. Her concern is that video might diminish a candidate's chances of success.
Once a candidate is deemed viable, a video-based job interview, which is typically orchestrated by a specialized provider such as HireVue or a large recruiting firm such as Korn Ferry, introduces a question-and-answer process that is controlled by management and more impervious to the whims of amateur videographers.
Continue reading "Your Next Job Interview – Via Webcam?"Posted by Rusty Weston at 3:40 AM
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May 29, 2007
What The Arts Teach Us About Business and Life
There is a lot of talk these days about education, what we should be teaching our children so they will be successful. A consensus seems to have arisen that math and science should be more rigorously taught and that the United States stands to lose its business leadership role as a result. There is never, ever any talk about the arts – music, the visual arts, drama, writing – and what their place is in the education of our youth. Maybe that's because knowledge of and prowess in the arts are not included in any of the plethora of standardized tests that schools administer.
As a result, most people have tacitly accepted that if it's not tested, it's not taught or taught very little and never at the expense of another, "academic" subject. In the schools where the arts are a component of a well-rounded education, they tend to be worth only a small fraction of the credits that accumulate toward graduation, relegated to extra-curricular activities, take second-place to other curricula or are delivered privately, paid for by parents, if they can afford it.
According to Elliott W. Eisner, Professor of Education at Stanford, this presents a problem for business:
"The problems of life are much more like the problems encountered in the arts. They are problems that seldom have a single correct solution; they are problems that are often subtle, occasionally ambiguous, and sometimes dilemma-like. One would think that schools that wanted to prepare students for life would employ tasks and problems similar to those found outside of schools. This is hardly the case. Life outside of school is seldom like school assignments--and hardly ever like a multiple-choice test."*
Continue reading "What The Arts Teach Us About Business and Life"Posted by Ruth Sherman at 7:04 PM
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Innovation: A Question of When, Not If
A flurry of news indicates more American carriers suddenly may becoming more receptive to the à la carte pricing strategy pioneered by such non-U.S. carriers as Air Canada.
According to a recent article by David Jonas in The Beat, airlines like AirTran Airways, Frontier Airlines, and US Airways are weighing a shift to what some analysts are calling "dynamic packaging," that is, abandoning the old cookie-cutter formula of "one size fits all" and restoring choice to the customer.
The question seems to be not if, but when the U.S. carriers will make the leap.
Continue reading "Innovation: A Question of When, Not If"Posted by Robert Buckman at 1:57 PM
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Constructing a Personal Brand
What does a down and dirty construction guy know about building a brand on the web?
More than most folks if you’re “Ask The Builder” Tim Carter. Carter, a 55-year-old Internet phenomenon makes in the mid to high five figures a month from ads on his web site. Yes, you read that right…a month. And, on top of that he earns a no slouch six figure annual income from the ebooks he writes and sells on every conceivable home building and remodeling topic. Not content to rest on his laurels, Carter is busy churning out videos for YouTube where he has his own channel. Here is he is talking about pressure washing.
It’s not just the quantity of content that differentiates Carter. A throwback to a day when the owner of the local hardware store was a friend and neighbor, not a cog in a corporate wheel, Carter is your folksy, trusted companion. He will tell you exactly how to do a job and won’t mince words if it’s tough. “I try to tell you the hard, cold facts,” he says. “A swig of juice can be bitter but it makes the job go easier.”
So how did Carter go from builder to Internet publisher? It all began in the pre-Internet days in 1993 when Carter, a Cincinnati, Ohio, builder, was selected by Remodeling magazine as one of the top 50 US remodelers. Someone else might have just hung his certificate on the wall and went back to work. But Carter, with his wife Kathy’s urging, realized he could fulfill a life-long dream to write about how the average homeowner gets taken by builders and remodelers. In October 1993, the "Ask the Builder" column was born in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Fourteen years later, the column appears in 100 newspapers nationwide, syndicated by Tribune Media Services. In 1995, Carter took the column online, becoming in effect his own publisher. Today, Askthebuilder.com attracts 30,000 unique visitors a day.
So what advice does Carter offer for people who want to create a successful web business?
Make the website personal. “I use the first person and have my photo on every page,” says Carter. “It shows that you’re not afraid to put yourself out there. It establishes immediate trust.”
Tell stories. “Don’t lecture but try to teach people through stories,” Carter says.
Solve problems. “The magic is having good high quality content about real problems people are interested in,” Carter says.
It’s a marathon. “If you want instant riches, forget about it,” cautions Carter. “It takes diligence, determination and hard work.”
Posted by Wendy Marx at 8:27 AM
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Your Guide to the Summer Blockbusters
CEO DAD’S TUESDAY TIRADE
Being a fictional character, I like to believe I have some insight into other fictional situations. And so, with Memorial Day weekend officially over, and summer officially begun, I thought I would take a moment to reveal the underlying work/life realities behind the movies that will be shaking up the box-office for the rest of the summer. Here goes:
PIRATES OF THE CARIBEEAN: AT WORLD’S END. Any movie title with a colon in it implies that the same old patterns which paralyzed the characters in previous installments will likely rear their ugly heads again. Here, a group of misfits led by Captain Jack Sparrow overcompensate for a lack of skill sets demanded by an ever-changing job market by running from the real challenges of juggling work and family life and spending countless hours on the high seas, refusing to bathe and avoiding the truth about how metrosexuality can actually be an asset in today’s diverse workplace.
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER. The surfer is an icon of ne’er-do-well non-conformity, but a silver surfer implies a level of hard work and dedication from which this slacker pastime may well benefit. It remains to be seen whether the Silver Surfer, clearly an overachiever, can learn from the Fantastic Four, a group of family members who have clearly learned to integrate work and life fairly well. Perhaps the silver guy will jeopardize this balance, forcing the FF into old patterns which previously paralyzed them emotionally. Hence, the colon in the title.
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD. Not much needs to be said here. John McLane feels like has to save the world, and that everything else in his life must take a back seat until he handles everything single-handedly. Sound familiar, spouses of workaholics?
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. I don’t even want to hazard a guess as to how ill-equipped for the modern workplace a bunch of kids who grew up defeating evil in a magic academy will be. Once they enter the workforce, they’ll be lucky if they can keep from turning you into a pile of chalk during a bad six-month review, let alone allot any time for the loved ones in their life.
So, which of your all-time favorite films might actually be good commentaries on trying to integrate the different aspects of modern life?
Posted by Tom Stern at 6:13 AM
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Summer Vacation
The Tuesday after Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning of summer. Congratulations! You made it! For the next three months you have permission to take it easy, slack off a bit, let your deadlines slide. Don't worry, everyone does it.
For many companies, summer hours are now in effect. Everyone is encouraged to leave the office around mid-day on Fridays. Go ahead, start your weekend early. That forty hour week thing, really it's only the Americans who observe it anyway.
Corporate outings are now going to take place at the ballpark, on the beach, or near a softball field. Don't worry - the client won't read that document until Monday anyway. Make sure to buy enough hot dogs for the grill before you arrive!
White shoes are now fashionably appropriate. Ok, that may not have a huge impact on business, or work/life balance, but it could if you really think about it. Wearing shorts to the office may be taking it too far, even during the summer, but just about anything else goes.
And don't forget to put your planned vacation time into the company schedule. We need to make sure and have appropriate coverage for all our projects. I don't know what appropriate coverage means, but it sounds like a good idea.
Continue reading "Summer Vacation"Posted by Brian Reich at 6:12 AM
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May 25, 2007
Leaders Pushing Limits
I have been reading with great interest, of late, the phenomenon of leaders taking physical risks and challenges to "keep the edge". It is an interesting concept.
In a recent USA Today article by Del Jones, he writes about CEOs and other high achievers testing what he calls their "freak-out point". As Jones describes, the freak-out point is the fear threshold you must push yourself past. CEOs say crossing it provides lessons useful in business and in life. There's great value in knowing what frightens you can be survived, as well as learning how to concentrate when concentration is all but impossible.
I am a pretty adventurous gal and our team at Training By Design has done some pretty edgy stuff, including skydiving and trapezing. We've done it in the spirit of teambuilding, and as I reflect, I suppose we like to test our limits. However, some of the stuff these leaders are doing seems radical: climbing Mount Everest, flying planes, bungee jumping, helicopter skiing, motorcycle racing and glacier climbing.
So what's this about?
Posted by Grace Andrews at 12:00 PM
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Some Want Ads I'd Like To See
A recent job posting in England featured the search for employees to work in a kinky dungeon as a dominatrix.
The ad, which sought those over 18 who were “reliable and open-minded” and who had the ability to stomp on people who “enjoy being trodden on,” went on to stress that previous trampling experience was not required. Needless to say, the ad caused some flack, but at least the prospective employers were honest and direct. Maybe so many of us wouldn’t feel tied to jobs we don’t like, and frustrated about work-life balance, if only our companies had told the truth in their job descriptions. Here are a few examples:
RETAIL WORKER WANTED FOR LARGE CHAIN DEPARTMENT STORE
Ability to show little or no interest in the needs of customers a definite plus. Must be familiar with the phrase “if it’s not on the shelf, we probably don’t have it,” along with an accompanying tendency to do anything rather than walk ten yards into a stockroom to check.
FUND RAISER NEEDED FOR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
Must be able to work long hours; proficiency at showing resentment about same will help you blend in with our staff of embittered, power-hungry people all of whom think they have the one right answer. An early awareness of the fact that non-profits are often not mellow at all, but microcosms of competitiveness and dysfunction to rival your average Hollywood studio is helpful. Experience shopping at Whole Foods essential.
SEEKING PROFESSIONAL SPORTS PLAYER
Willingness to be paid repulsive amounts of money so that people can hitch all their hopes and dreams to your skill, or lack thereof, is our only requirement.
TRASH COLLECTOR SOUGHT
Our ideal candidate will be a basically decent person who actually performs a very necessary and vital part of the city’s infrastructure. However, candidate should have a little aspect of their personality that gets a thrill out of waking people up in the pre-dawn hours with a very noisy truck.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE NEEDED
Qualifications include an inability to say what you really think; in fact, being so entrenched in the political system that you cannot even order breakfast without checking with your spin doctors is a plus. Prioritizing playing to your base over the actual day-to-day needs of your constituents is also favored. Stiff, insincere manner welcome. And it couldn’t hurt to know Excel.
What would your company’s job descriptions look like?
Posted by Tom Stern at 6:59 AM
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May 24, 2007
Social Francishing, Part I
In my last blog post, I talked briefly about the emerging "fourth sector" as referenced in an interesting NYT article on the same subject. In this same vein, I have recently become aware of the burgeoning "social franchising" movement within the fourth sector.
Quite simply, social franchising is when a non-profit organization (NPO) starts or acquires a for-profit franchise whose offerings are congruous with the NPO's mission and whose revenues can be reinvested into the NPO to decrease its dependence on outside fundraising. Fascinating and innovative idea, right? Absolutely.
However, an NPO that's considering adding to its to-do list the prospect of managing a business is like a juggler going from tossing balls to flipping running chainsaws for the first time -- and without ever stopping!
Now, if this metaphor may sound a bit hyperbolic for some, I recommend that your NPO does not start/acquire a business. If your NPO's board does not have a respectful amount of intimidation about undertaking such a move, I predict dark times for your organization's operations. But doom and gloom aside, the upside is that with the proper due diligence, strategic heft and market opportunity, some NPOs cannot only stand to benefit from this potential worthwhile juggling act, is not only worthwhile for some NPOs, it may actually be vital for many in this latter subset.
Continue reading "Social Francishing, Part I"Posted by Chris Rabb at 7:16 PM
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Innovation: Reinventing the Wheel
Are airlines reinventing the wheel?
Airlines may reinvent first-class service, according to a recent item in Forbes magazine. In fact, some airlines may elevate their first-class service to that of a five-star hotel, some industry observers say.
Continue reading "Innovation: Reinventing the Wheel"Posted by Robert Buckman at 5:52 PM
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As the Conveyor Belt Turns
As I write in The Sushi Economy, the invention of conveyor-belt sushi in the 1950s -- where it is known as kaiten-zushi -- radically changed not only the economics of sushi but its place in Japanese culture, reintroducing the Japanese to sushi as a quick snack. There were two major components to the kaiten-zushi innovation: the invention of the technology, by an Osaka tinkerer named Yoshiaki Shiraishi, who saw a conveyor belt while touring a beer-bottling plant and decided that it could be used to spin around sushi instead. (The most difficult part for Shiraishi was timing the movement of the belt, so that plates would circle efficiently, but not so quickly that a diner couldn't process and select one.) But Shiraishi's restaurant, Genroku Sushi, didn't fully take off until the 1970s, when the Japanese welcomed foreign-owned restaurants -- and McDonald's provided a model of how to finance a fast-food chain. Today there are over 2,000 of them around Japan.
Now a Seattle mini-chain, Blue C Sushi, is trying to solve one of the old problems of the kaiten-zushi bar. The traditional sushi bar is one of the few places where a diner sees his meal being prepared, as it goes from the chef's hands to the diner's without interference. The glass case is the ultimate venue for culinary transparency. But the conveyor belt obscures the diner's knowledge about when and where and how dinner was made, and the Blue C is trying to confront a reasonable fear that a piece of hamachi has been spinning around since lunch. There, James Allard and Steve Rosen are introducing RFID tags to the bottom of plates so that every piece on the conveyor belt can be tracked, reports Robert Malone over at Forbes. Once a piece has been making the rounds for 90 minutes, it can be removed.
Part of the marvel of kaiten-zushi was that it depersonalized the intimate relationship between chef and diner over the sushi bar, and eschewed the ritualism of the meal there for efficiency. If Blue C can pull off RFID tags, sushi diners will be able to have the efficiency of the conveyor belt along with the transparency of the old-fashioned bar.
Read about Sasha Issenberg's The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy at www.thesushieconomy.com. Or buy it here.
Posted by Sasha Issenberg at 1:24 PM
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Is Your Customer Service STUCK on a Runway?
Are your employees helpless when trying to mitigate the bad feelings created by poor customer support? The New York Times reported recently on a story that got me thinking about what it feels like to be stuck. While you may think that the only people trapped in the situation were those on that plane, I say that type of thinking is symptomatic of more companies that just airlines.
When communication is not two-way everybody loses. Employees feel powerless and begin to resent not only customers, but also their company. Customers begin to imagine the ways in which they can wage a war against an organization. In other words, everyone is stuck in a position. And positions are very dangerous -- ask negotiators; when people assume a rigid stance, you might as well forget any sort of progress.
Continue reading "Is Your Customer Service STUCK on a Runway?"Posted by Valeria Maltoni at 8:46 AM
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Social Purposes of Social Networking Sites
Who would have thought that the police would use social networking sites to solve murder cases? Well, that’s exactly what happened in Mumbai, India recently. Mumbai Police used Orkut profiles to nab the alleged killer of a young lady found murdered in a suburban Mumbai hotel. The victim’s Orkut conversations led the cops to the profile of an Indian Navy officer, who is now believed to be guilty of the crime.
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/40709/cops-use-orkut-to-track-murderer.html
Well, social networking sites are beginning to serve a huge social purpose in India. Not always in such serious matters, but sites like Orkut, by far the most popular social networking site in India, are being used for several life-changing decisions.
Continue reading "Social Purposes of Social Networking Sites"Posted by Anupam Mukerji at 3:06 AM
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May 23, 2007
We Know What We Know…Doesn’t Everybody Know It?
Have you ever found yourself taking for granted that everyone else knew exactly what you knew and didn’t begin to think that might not be the case? What would it mean if we assumed others didn’t know what we knew? If we started off with that premise, how much easier would it be to have generative dialogue and create something that not only stuck but just might be sustainable?
I was recently reading a summary for the book “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” and as I had recently read “The Tipping Point” where they talk about stickiness as well, the topic of this book intrigued me. I was fascinated by this not to promote a product, but to help me in my work laser coaching my clients through chaotic days. This concept helped me articulate a snapshot of a moment in time in such a way they’d not only see it but ‘get it’.
Something in the summary really hit home which is when Chip Heath and Dan Heath state “To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must relentlessly prioritize. Saying something short isn’t the mission — sound bites aren’t the ideal. Proverbs are the ideal. We must create ideas that are both simple and profound. A one-sentence statement so profound that an individual could spend a lifetime learning it…. Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it’s like not to know it. Our knowledge has “cursed” us.”
Then it occurred to me that many people are cursed by their knowledge as they can’t fathom why others don’t see things as they do because it’s obvious, right? ‘Knowing’ becomes a filter through which ideas are shared and instructions given but if the other party has no idea of what you’d talking about, there is an immediate disconnect.
Have you ever found yourself taking for granted that everyone else knew exactly what you knew and didn’t begin to think that might not be the case? Then you find yourself explaining everything to the ‘nth’ degree only to find yourself starting back at square one? There’s nothing more frustrating.
As much as I dislike assumptions and how they get people into trouble, what would it mean if we assumed others didn’t know what we knew? If we started off with that premise, how much easier would it be to have generative dialogue and create something that not only stuck but just might be sustainable?
Donna Karlin • Executive and Political Shadow Coach™ • Ottawa, Canada • •www.abetterperspective.com
Posted by Donna Karlin at 9:12 PM
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Leadership 24-style (Take Two)
The Vice President eased back into his chair and shook his head wistfully. “Unless you’ve sat in this chair, you have no idea what it is like.” Vice President Noah Daniels was referring to the President’s seat which he had assumed when the President had been seriously injured in a bomb blast. In the twelve hours or so he had been President, he had tried to launch a pre-emptive strike against a Middle Eastern state, had gone toe-to-toe with the Russians than nearly provoked another war, and acknowledged an affair he had been having with an aide (albeit unwittingly) who had been feeding state secrets to the Russians. Worse, he had dared to contradict the judgment of ace agent, Jack Bauer, CTC’s sometimes rogue, but always honest, super agent. Thank goodness this is only TV, courtesy of Fox’s 24.
The Vice President’s rare moment of reflection illustrates a key point that is not fiction – the need to take stock and to evaluate you openly and honestly. And so for those of us in management who lead real lives, here’s what the Vice President taught us.
Ease up on gut instinct. The Vice President assumed his leadership role in the wake of the President’s injury with absolute certainty. He wanted to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike and he was bound and determined to outfox the Russians. Both moves proved to be reckless, not to mention perilous, and backfired. Daniel’s gut was not match for the realities of presidential decision-making. Trusting the gut too much may allow you to make decisions influenced by passion rather than reality. Gut instincts are good, yes, but too much guts can roil clearheaded thinking.
Posted by John Baldoni at 12:00 PM
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No Job for Video Résumés Yet
Video résumés may seem like the next big thing to hit the job world but many hiring decision makers such as HR chiefs, recruiters and executives would rather hit the eject button than view another one.
Until video presented itself, the pre-interview screening process of comparing one résumé versus another was comfortably black & white and decidedly lacking in color. Consider the fairness of an automated résumé screening process where candidates with the right keywords rise to the top.
Still, it's tempting to call video résumés a classic example of a disruptive technology that rubs old-school managers the wrong way. But it's really not a technology issue - it's more a matter of process. The video résumé potentially biases an otherwise imageless talent judgment by recruiters and hiring managers.
Aside from ethical considerations, video résumés lack standards for production, quality or content. Hiring managers complain that they tend to be funky, funny or offensive. The bottom line is that they often don't reflect well upon the job candidate.
These variables mean that managers who review a video résumé don't know whether they are about to view something promising or a waste of time. Best case, it takes substantially longer to view a video résumé than it does to read one or two pages of job history, education and accomplishments.
On the other hand, video isn't the only possible visual bias that comes into play. Many job seekers have video links or photos up on their social media sites. "With a video résumé, a candidate's face is there for everyone to see," says Steve Guine, NY-based HR consultant and recruiter in the financial services field. "This makes it easy to reject a candidate out of hand."
Boston Globe columnist Penelope Trunk, author of the new book, Brazen Careerist, makes the case against video résumés:
- "Don't do it unless your biggest selling point is your charisma because it can only hurt you."
- "Hiring managers spend ten seconds on each résumé. It takes ten seconds just to start up a video résumé. So the hiring manager has to invest more time in checking you out if you submit a résumé via video."
- Don't be too authentic! "Corporate hiring managers are used to [viewing] coached video, so authentic video will strike them as sloppy and unprofessional."
- "But let's say everyone hands in a video résumé. There are so many nonverbal issues that will matter way more than what is said, that the person who will look best on the video is the one who had the most coaching."
Posted by Rusty Weston at 5:25 AM
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May 22, 2007
Personal Branding With Service
What does it take for a brand to get it?
I’ve written before about how brands shoot themselves in the foot by neglecting customer service. The fact is that many companies are all too willing to step on the little guy. I’m learning, however, that we have weapons at our disposal.
I’ve written before about how Apple’s customer service reps and even mid-level managers ignored my iTunes problem. Fed up, I decided to take it to the top. I emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs and shared with him my blog rant about the company. Now, I don’t flatter myself that Jobs personally read my post. But someone in the company did, and in a seeming nano second, that person was in touch with me and solved my problem. Nice.
American Online is my backup Internet provider; if all else fails I will use its dial up service. Yesterday, there was an outage in my area and I called AOL to increase my service level just for the day. I was told that my $6.95 service plan that I’ve had for several years no longer exists (a philosopher could have fun with the fact that I have what no longer exists) and I would have to be permanently upgraded to a $9.95 plan. Out came my customer service weapons. I told them nicely that I would be blogging about them and would write a letter to the chairman. Next thing I know my rep is checking with someone else and tells me I can have my $6.95 plan back, and because I’m such a good, loyal customer I’m getting a $15 credit. Nice.
At least these companies finally got it. But it’s a shame that it takes almost a personal act of war for them to respond the way they should have the first time around.
I know if I behaved the way they did with my customers I’d be out of business. Of course I don’t exactly have the same volume of customers they do.
What can we as personal branders learn from behemoth brands and customer service?
• Be flexible. If a customer or coworker has a problem, don’t be afraid to go the extra mile to help.
• Make service part of your brand. Be known as someone who gets it right or fixes it if it isn’t. Delivering quality service is becoming a rarity. Use it to brand yourself.
Posted by Wendy Marx at 8:21 AM
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A Few Juicy Rumors To Keep Things Interesting
CEO DAD’S TUESDAY TIRADE
While waiting for Tom Stern to come up with a new storyline for the me, the cartoon character CEO DAD, I have plenty of time to overhear what’s going on out there, and sneak my opinions into this blog posting with some regularity. So, when I overheard Tom talking about one of this week’s top stories involving a blog, naturally my ears pricked up. (And if you’ve ever seen what cartoon pricked-up ears look like, you know how important this was). You’ve probably all heard that a mere rumor started on one of the more popular tech blogs, Engadget (that two of Apple’s big products, one of which is the IPhone, would be severely delayed getting to market), led to a dip in Apple’s stock. Before now, I had no idea of the influence of the blogosphere, and so, without wasting any more time on my new-found power, here are a few untrue rumors to spice up the rest of the week:
--Now that the Saudis have bought GE’s plastics division, all future DVD copies of “The Graduate” will contain an enhanced scene in which the head of a representative of the Saudi Government is digitally inserted onto the body of veteran character actor Murray Hamilton and delivers the classic movie line “plastics” to Dustin Hoffman in Arabic.
--Sumner Redstone and Paris Hilton will heat things up on “Dancing with the Stars” when they both do a scantily-clad pole dance to the accompaniment of Duke Ellington’s little-known early version of “Who Let The Dogs Out.”
--After Intel’s “60 Minutes” announcement that they hope to supply children in developing countries with low-cost laptop computers, rival newsman Bill O’Reilly will break a story about how he hopes to supply children in developing countries with a lifetime supply of bile, vitriol and sketchy facts.
--New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who just officially announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination, has a Flowbee* in his garage.
There’s as many opportunities for erroneous Internet information as there are stars in the sky. Got any you’d like to get started?
*Flowbee: a device for cutting one’s own hair, popularized in the 70’s and 80’s, but still available today.
Posted by Tom Stern at 6:11 AM
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May 21, 2007
What's Your Shy Q?
I'm in the process of researching a book on shyness. In particular, shyness in the workplace. This is a fascinating topic to me because I consider myself to be shy. According to studies, so does about 48% of the population. With so many shy people out there, we all can be sure that we are working with and around the shy, many of whom you would not suspect as such because they have managed to be successful despite it. These are the people one researcher labels "successfully shy."
Interestingly, despite the fact that our business culture values extroversion and places a low value on shyness, you won't only find shy colleagues in the back offices of America. The successfully shy inhabit every level of the organization including the executive suite. And the news from there is sobering. A CEO who identifies himself as shy has told me that the boasting culture of U.S. business has a significant downside: It reduces potential for global expansion:
"When you deal with other cultures, and you don't understand them and you are not open to how others work, you go in with a one-size-fits-all approach. You are dealing with other people who Americans don't fully know how to approach. I have seen this in our business repeatedly; our competitors have lost deals because they went in with guns blazing. They were not respectful and the people with whom they were hoping to do business just shut them down. They didn't want to do business with these Americans because they did not respect the protocols."
Continue reading "What's Your Shy Q?"Posted by Ruth Sherman at 7:35 PM
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Let's be Clear…..
I am very fond of the book The One Thing You Need to Know by Marcus Buckingham. There are a number of useful concepts in this book, but the one that I liked best was Buckingham's focus on clarity.
As leaders, we spend a lot of our time developing the skill of communication in our organizations. We speak to our teams and employees about how vital effective communication is and how we must practice this with everyone we engage in conversations. We insist that our managers master this skill and develop it in all of their people. When we think our managers are not listening to us about how importance effective communication, we holler at them to "wake up and smell the coffee" and see that the communication within their teams needs some attention and improvement. What I'm wondering is……are we clear in the messages we are sending?
In reading Mr. Buckingham's book, the one thing that resonated most with me is the absolute necessity that managers and leaders speak with clarity. Clarity – what does that mean exactly? And how do we establish it in everything we do?
Continue reading "Let's be Clear….."Posted by Grace Andrews at 11:33 AM
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Careers: Identifying Rock Star Job Candidates
I was doing some work around the house over the weekend when my neighbor came over to tell me he recently co-founded a diversified business in the services industry. After we talked for a few minutes about his new business, I asked him for a card. About an hour later he came back, card in hand. Multi-job Company: specializing in lawn maintenance, pet sitting, auto detailing, and beverages/snacks. Oh, I forgot to tell you the first draft of his card was in pencil, and my neighbor is 9. I was amazed. I don’t remember what I was doing at his age, but I know I wasn’t launching a business. And here he is, with a budding business complete with his very own cards. Someone call Donny Deutsch, because this guy is going to have “The Big Idea.” Since our first encounter, I’ve had daily conversations with him and I leave every conversation more impressed than I was the day before. And that led me to think about what makes this kid rock.
He has “it.” Simple enough. Defining what “it” is can be trickier. In this case, for those of you looking to attract quality job candidates, I’ve boiled it down into the following buckets:
• Commanding stage presence. When he speaks to you, there’s something about his energy that commands your attention. He’s got a cool confidence; a swagger that doesn’t come across as cocky. To be a future leader of a company, one has to be able to gain willing followers. Look for stage presence.
• Artistic vision. The other day, I asked him if he was going to sell chips with the lemonade and he said “Of course. The more chips people drink, the more they’ll want to buy lemonade.” Most adults wouldn’t think about that and here he is waxing philosophical about the physiology and psychology of consumer behavior. But he didn’t stop there. I told him I was going to cut down some trees in my front yard and he suggested I chop them up and sell the wood. Always looking for a new business opportunity. Don’t overlook the capacity for vision and innovation.
• Style. Meatloaf, Janis Joplin, and Van Halen. All rock stars. All completely different with a unique style. That’s part of what helped them stand out. They looked the part. My neighbor looks the part. Nicely dressed. If someone shows up to a job interview in a short-sleeve dress shirt and Looney Tunes tie, that person is probably not a rock star.
• Drive. I gave him a few suggestions on his business card design. 15 minutes later he was back at my doorstep with a revised card. He could have ignored my suggestions or come back a few days later, but he didn’t. Those who have “it” don’t wait until the last minute to get things done. They strive for continuous improvement and they keep you in the loop on their progress.
• Self-promotion. Every great band needs a little promotion. Something that will let people know who they are without coming across as “in your face” or too salesy. My neighbor doesn’t have an agent (yet) but he’s always looking for opportunities to promote his business. Look for candidates who can articulate their contributions to previous employers.
A band isn’t a band if all you have is lead singers. When I refer to rock stars, I’m talking about each member of the band: lead singer, bass player, guitar player, drummer, etc. All have different roles, all have different skills. And when they are the right players, they make awesome music. My neighbor is a budding rock star. If you want him to join your company, you better get in line now.
Shawn Graham is an Associate Director with the MBA Career Management Center at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (courtingyourcareer.wordpress.com).
Posted by Shawn Graham at 9:33 AM
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Is 22 the new 40?
Ad Age has a fascinating piece about Sapporo's efforts to reposition its beer out of the sushi bar and into a nightclub luxury brand. Cristal and Courvoisier have made this shift before, from niche beverage to hip-hop status symbol, but sushi is doing a lot of the work for Sapporo: thanks to club-restaurant hybrids (like New York's Matsuri), fish and rice are already becoming a preferred finger food of the nightlife set.
Sapporo has yet a great advantage over Asahi or Kirin: its 22-ounce silver cans, which have the heft of a fuselage. The undulating argentine form, evokes Gehry more than Fresca, deserves a place in design museums and the size -- more than a pint, but not too big that the bottom of your beer gets warm before you get there -- is just about ideal. If the banal Jamaican lager Red Stripe could gain cachet based on the way its stubby glass bottles stood out in the refrigerator case, Sapporo has a silhouette primed for trendiness.
All Sapporo needs to do now is build its brand awareness in the hip-hop world, and the best thing to do might be to get a rapper to start dropping the term "22" in rhyme. Perhaps the Japanocentric Wu-Tang Clan?
Read about Sasha Issenberg's The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy at www.thesushieconomy.com.
Posted by Sasha Issenberg at 7:09 AM
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Birth of a Notion
What with all the interesting news right here in our own country (is it Britney or Lindsay who’s in rehab these days?), it can take a while for news from elsewhere in the world to reach us. So it is with this recent item I stumbled upon, about a shopping mall in China that projected an actual baby’s birth on its giant video screen. The idea was to commemorate last week’s Mother’s Day celebration in a big way, but some folks were bemused at best to see the blessed event in so large a venue. It’s one thing to see a 20 foot-by-20 foot fashion model on the wall, but another, I suppose, to see a C-Section.
But I think the Chinese are on the right work-life balance track, and that this could be only the beginning. They interjected into the fast-moving world of consumerism an image that cannot help but humble us, and take our minds for even a moment off the rollercoaster of commerce. Let’s keep up this innovative priority-shifting technique. Here are a few suggestions:
SPORTING EVENTS – Instead of showing the right fielder’s stats or some idiot with a cheddar cheese hat on the Jumbotron, flash subliminal images of work-life balance. A family having a picnic, for example, or mom and dad beaming as their little one plays a tree in the school play. By the time the game is over, you won’t care which side won. In fact, you won’t care about striving or competition at all. You’ll just want to get to Chuck E. Cheese and let the good times roll.
AT THE SUPERMARKET – Now that all the checkout lines have video screens, replace the boring show business updates and cooking lessons with DVD’s of Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson. While you wait, you’ll get a quick lesson in what is really important in life. Although you will probably be stared at by the checker when they catch you gazing meaningfully at your purchases, searching for deeper meaning in a box of bowtie pasta.
AT AIRPORTS – TV screens are ubiquitous in departure lounges now, too. So, while we’re rushing from one place to another, why be bombarded with CNN? I say let’s show reruns of “Seventh Heaven” and “The Gilmore Girls.” These family-oriented shows tackle tough work-life issues by placing attractive people in heightened moral dilemma situations. That offers us a lot more to chew on than sound bites of Dick Cheney. Once we’re on the plane, we’ll be engaged in a lively debate about teen pregnancy instead of obsessing about the sweaty person whose now-exposed gut is in your face as they reach up to try and shove their bulging carry-on item into the overhead bin.
I’m sure there are more ways to enlighten the world through mind-control in public places. Any ideas?
Posted by Tom Stern at 6:54 AM
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May 18, 2007
The Beauty of One Page Designs
Back in the early 90s when companies were beginning to jump on the web and create websites for themselves, many times people scoffed at the idea of having just a brochure site. These were the sites that were one page of information and nothing else. People believed you needed to have multiple pages on the site to easily breakdown all of the information that you want to present. However, over the past year one page designs have been making a comeback and for a good reason.
With so much competition on the web it can be difficult to even get people to come to your site and when they do often times they might not get the message you are trying to tell them because it is locked behind 3 pages of links. You are usually only given one chance to make an impression and sale so why bother with creating an elaborate site just to sell one product? Of course the idea of cramming a ton of information on one page will drive any designer crazy, but isn't that what upper-management try to do already?
The sites that 37signals have created for their online applications are not one page, but the homepages for each essentially server as one page designs. They give you the information that is needed and make sure to get their message across without you having to dig for it. Because of just one page you have the information needed to make decision whether to dig deeper or leave. Usually you have to figure out where the link is to the page that will answer the question that you have that will help you make that decision.
Another great example of the one page design paradigm can be seen on any Apple product page. For example, the Macbook page does a great job of showcasing the product and filling you in with tidbits of information. You leave the page feeling like you have a better idea of what the product is and what its capabilities are.
The key to this type of design is being able to throw out most of the information that you would usually try to include on a site and simply get right to the point. This is not easy when management feels they need to include the 100 page company manual on the site, but people value their time and they could be spending it better on another site if you wish to overwhelm them.
If your company currently has a site have a look at it and see if a one page design for certain products and services would be more fitting than a muli-page design. Keep in mind that users prefer to scroll rather than click on links and wait for pages to load. Also know that one page designs aren't meant for everything, but if you can pull it off you will notice the rewards immediately.
Posted by Paul Scrivens at 4:18 PM
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Wacked-Life Balance
Okay, so you’ve been doing all right. You remembered your anniversary, you stopped at the supermarket and called home on the cell phone to see if they were out of milk, you even sprang for the Dora The Explorer bounce house at the last party. It really feels like you’ve got this work-life balance thing down. But you’ve been cocky. Because for some reason, people still seem ticked off at you. Maybe you are missing out on the warning signs. You’ve been lulled into a false sense of security, and you’re not catching those behaviors that tell the world you still have a long way to go to get balanced. See if any of these ring a bell:
1. Unconscious multi-tasking. For example, you attempt to cover the fact that you are trying to brush your teeth and make love to your spouse at the same time by saying you always foam at the mouth when you’re aroused.
2. After a fight with your spouse, you decide it would be healthier to give each other some space. So you go to Spain.
3. An hour into attending anger management, you are voted class president.
4. You have replaced your power-point presentations with a DVD of “Predator.”
5. At the drive-thru, you are unaware that you just ordered a Double Stressed Out Hell Burger, Living a Lie Fries, and a medium Sprite.
6. You take up meditation, but keep chanting the mantra “losers will bend to my will.”
7. When asked to recall the happiest day of your life, you blow past the birth of your first child and go directly to the invention of the Blackberry.
8. The dog starts sniffing your butt to find out if you are friend or foe.
9. Your children bring you to show and tell as an example of a dinosaur.
10. Workaholics Anonymous adds a 13th step just for you.
These are just a few of the warning signs that you have not gotten quite as far as you might like. A wise man once said that change happens gradually. So hurry up and figure that out, will you?
Posted by Tom Stern at 6:06 AM
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May 17, 2007
Have you had a CUSTOMER Conversation Today?
Have we as customers become more realistic? Or have we just given up? Maybe, after years of talking about excellence in service, brands have finally met our expectations. And some smart companies have found good ways to secure our loyalty. Or maybe we just lowered our standards based on experience. If it wasn’t completely ruinous, we are content.
Consumers expect a lot out of brands and companies – we want more than what many are able to give us. For years, the promises kept piling up: we deliver; we’re the fastest; we’re the best; we do it all; we have something to prove; you name it. And with each escalation the bar was being raised.
At the same time as agencies and creative departments were crafting these wonderful statements, less funds and attention were dedicated to the development of durable products and flawless services. Or, the products and services provided by companies have become so similar in quality that place, promotion and price are all we care about.
Continue reading "Have you had a CUSTOMER Conversation Today?"Posted by Valeria Maltoni at 9:02 AM
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May 16, 2007
Faithful Follower, but No Leader
Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, is a nice man. Even his sharpest critics compliment him on his friendly demeanor. He is also a man of accomplishment; he rose from humble beginnings to graduate from Harvard Law School and become a judge in Texas. He is a faithful advocate; he has served George W. Bush as a loyal legal counselor.
But one thing he is not; and that’s a good manager. Gonzales’ testimony to a Senate committee was pitiful not only for its lack of candor but more importantly for its lack of substance. “I cannot recall” became a mantra for his inability to grab and hold the managerial reins, even to save his own career. Worse that repetition (upwards of 70 times) surely must erode any confidence people in the Department of Justice, which he heads, may have in his leadership. His appearance two weeks later in front of a House judiciary committee did not seem to change many minds.
While Gonzales may be pilloried in public, plenty of other corporate managers are performing as ineptly. These inept managers, as in the case of Gonzales, hitched their stars to a patron who looked out for them. Many times, they performed admirably as assistants; they were trustworthy, reliable and accountable. But they lacked independence and so when they were put into positions of authority, they were ill-prepared to shoulder the responsibility of administering systems and leading people.
Posted by John Baldoni at 1:00 PM
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Reading Books... Here to Stay?
A few weeks ago when in California for the Conversation Among Masters Conference we spoke about publishing books, how many books are indeed published every year, and what the future of print books looks like, especially in the day of the Internet, blogs and audio.
I am a book junkie, there’s no question about it and can never get enough to read, for my profession, life, or to feed and nourish my imagination but truthfully how many are still reading and how often? By virtue of you reading this blog, you're reading, yet how many books have you read this year?
My clients’ lives are so busy, that by the time they get home, spend time with the family, do whatever needs to be done at home etc, they have no energy left other than