Archive for the ‘business’ Category
Back In School
Aug.25.2010
I was back in school yesterday. Presenting to an MBA class at Queen’s University in Kingston. The presentation itself was timed for about an hour and then I left it open for questions.
Lots of questions.
I was on my feet for another 90 minutes or so responding to a battery of questions from the class.
The whole experience brought back memories of the years I spent teaching. I so enjoyed the dynamics of an actively engaged class. It has been over 25 years since I left the classroom. I’ve had a number of opportunities to act as a guest lecturer over the past 25 years and I always thoroughly enjoy the experience. That said, I do not recall a class quite so attentive and focused as this one. Very active in the Q&A session. And some great questions.
PowerPoint Chops
Aug.06.2010
I generally tend to look for inspiration when I create new PowerPoint presentations. I go to slideshare.net and scan the most popular ones. I found another great source for inspiration at Note & Point. Some great examples of using Keynote and PowerPoint to communicate.
I’m not a death by PowerPoint presenter and I tend to approach slide decks from a minimalist perspective. But there is always more to learn and you never know when a different way of thinking about presentations might come along.
Like this one.
Not A Cold Call
Aug.04.2010
If it comes in from LinkedIn, it cannot be a cold call.
Someone you do not know has indicated you are a Friend:
Richard,
Rather than a cold-call, I feel this is a great way to introduce our firm to you & for you to learn whether or not we can be of assistance sooner.
The Weary Executive
Jul.06.2010
In Buddenbrooks, Thomas Mann writes of a weary executive: “Harassed by a thousand details, all of them unimportant, he was too weak-willed to arrive at a reasonable and fruitful arrangement of his time.”
Thomas Buddenbrooks, in the 1870s, didn’t have an iPad. Or an iPhone. Or a MacBook Pro. Or the Internet. Or email. Or voice mail.
Time management under a bit of pressure right now and that makes it even more urgent to stay focused on the important details.
Random Clippings
Jul.05.2010
A couple of random clips from today’s Globe and Mail.
On stocks:
Buy-and-hold stock investors will be devastated in a crash much worse than the declines of 2008 and early 2009 or the worst years of the Great Depression or the Panic of 1873.
On cars:
Sales of Mercedes-Benz cars were up 13.2 per cent in the year to June as strong demand for the premium brand in China and the United States helped drive growth, parent company Daimler AG said Monday.
Mercedes-Benz sold 113,300 cars worldwide last month, making it the best June performance in its history, Daimler said.
Full disclosure: I’m a buy-and-hold stock investor and I have a Mercedes.
I’m in trouble.
Blame the Oil Spill on IT
Jun.03.2010
The headline from ComputerWorld UK:
BP Oil Spill ‘Slows’ but Serious IT Failures Come to Surface
From the article:
An internal investigation at BP has revealed serious IT failures played a part in the devastating Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico…
BP has said the accident “was brought about by the failure of a number of processes, systems and equipment”. It added: “There were multiple control mechanisms– procedures and equipment–in place that should have prevented this accident or reduced the impact of the spill.” These did not succeed.
In the investigation, BP raised “several concerns” about the blowout preventer, which sits on top of the well head 5,000 feet below the water surface, and controls oil flow, according to the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. The findings are preliminary.
The “failure” of a key emergency disconnect system was noted in a committee memo summarising the early investigation. That system, if effective, would have kicked in to stop the oil from flowing, but signals may not have reached the blowout preventer because of the explosion.
There were also problems with a further automatic closure system, or deadman switch, that should have closed off the preventer if those connections were lost. This also failed. The testing and maintenance of the blowout preventer technology is also in question.
BP additionally experienced “failure” with interventions from its remote operated vehicles, which struggled to operate the shear rams to cut and seal the pipe. The reason for this, too, has not been established.
One person who commented on the article had this to say:
I find the headline of this article if awfully misleading and sensationalist. I didn’t interpret any of the issues stated as “a serious IT failure”, or even an “IT failure”. All the problems encountered seem like engineering and people problems. If their instruments and monitoring systems were working up until the explosion and the workers chose to ignore them, IT has done it’s job, and it was human error that led to the catastrophe.
It’s also quite a stretch to lay blame on IT for troubles with a remote controlled sub 5000ft below the water. The best in the world would have trouble with the same task.
Sounds like the author is the type that is all too quick to deflect blame to the IT dept because they are an easy scapegoat.
Leadership Insight
Jun.02.2010
Steve Jobs made some interesting observations at an industry interview last night.
On his return to Apple in the 1990s:
“Apple was about 90 days from going bankrupt. It was much worse than I thought back then. I expected all the good people had left, but I found many of them still there, and I asked them, “Why are you still here?” They said it was because they believed in Apple.”
On the platform wars between Microsoft, Google and Apple:
“I don’t see it. We never saw ourselves in a platform war with Microsoft, and maybe that’s why we lost. We think about the competition, but we’re focused on building a better product.”
On passing Microsoft’s market capitalization:
“It doesn’t matter very much. It’s not what’s important. It’s not what makes you come to work in the morning. It is a little surreal.”
On Google:
“They decided to compete with us. We didn’t go into the search business! We want to create better products than them. If people like our products, we get to come to work for tomorrow. Just because we’re competing doesn’t mean we have to be rude.”
On journalists and, er, bloggers:
“The foundation of a free society is free press, and some of the newspapers are in real trouble. I don’t want to see us descend into a nation of bloggers. I’m all for anything that can help newspapers with new ways of expressing themselves and getting paid. We need editorial oversight now more than ever.”
On the future of PCs. They become farm trucks:
“When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks because that’s what you needed on the farms. But cars eventually became more prevalent is people moved to cities. PCs will be like trucks…they are still going to be around, but there is a transformation coming, and it will make some people uneasy. Is it the iPad? Who knows? Will it be next year or five years from now?”
On his work:
“I have one of the best jobs in the world. I get to come in and work with some of the most brilliant people in the world. We play in the best sandbox. We’re structured like a start-up. We’re the biggest start-up on the planet. And we all meet once a week to discuss our business…and there’s tremendous teamwork at the top and that filters down to the other employees.”
On his Stanford address:
“Probably I would just turn up the volume on it. The last few years have reminded me that life is fragile.”
The Windows Era Is Over
May.26.2010
Apple achieved a significant milestone today. They became the most valuable U.S. technology company with a market cap of $228.56 billion. They are now the second-largest U.S. company by market capitalization.
Apple’s market cap was $88.68 billion on Oct. 2, 2008 and Microsoft’s was $228.35 billion on Sept. 29, 2008. Microsoft’s market cap is virtually unchanged. Different story for Apple.
When I Choose
Apr.09.2010
I received an unsolicited newsletter from these folks. It carried with it a powerful idea:
When we work out of a sense of freedom and choice we draw on a very different energy from when we work from a sense of compulsion. When we choose, it is a recognition of our responsibility for creating our experience; it carries with it passion and power. Compulsion comes when we lose touch with who we are, lose touch with our strength and our freedom.
I have collected pictures of some of the most stunning recording studios in the world and you can travel through the set by clicking 
