Yesterday I flew down to Cape Town. I fly on a variety of airlines. It depends on time and price. These are my variables and I do all my own bookings online.
The delight about yesterday’s trip was the attitude and friendly manner of the team. We are all tired of the same sick jokes on some airlines and would rather they kept quiet or found some new lines.!!
The first thing that happened was the captain mentioned that the crew had heard about a birthday of one of the passengers and wished this person by name from us all.
The little girl sitting next to me was delighted and clapped. I noticed that all the children were given a great bag of goodies as they walked on board.
About 90 minues into the flight the captain asked us to guess the combined age of the crew and the winner would sit in the cockpit for the landing.
This was all great relationship building. We were also asked to fill in a survey to improve our future trips with this airline.
Well Done to the BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS on this crew. Combined age of all 6 members …. 155 .. average……25.83
Well done to 1 Time. Even though we left Johannesburg late you made up for it by building great relationships.
I met yesterday with a journalist doing a feature on talent management. Having spent over an hour talking about what TomorrowToday.biz does, I was unsatisfied with my answer to one of her questions. She asked, “How can you know if someone is talented or not?” My answer was that it would be difficult to give a definitive answer, since each job, company and industry would have a slightly different definition. I gave some suggestions though about a generic definition for talent: an inquisitive mind, a willingness to challenge, entrepreneurial flair and creativity, self motivated, self-honest (by which I mean they know their strengths and weaknesses as well as their personality traits), hard-working, technology-savvy, and so on.
So, I wondered to myself, they must be people out there who’ve tried to do this as well — come up with a generic definition of what we’re looking for when we say we looking for talented people. A quick Google found a few interesting sites:
Continue reading ‘Deciding on how to decide who is talented’
When will it stop? When will we stop inventing things that allow us to be in greater contact with more people so that we can do more, be more productive? I thought the whole purpose of inventing technology to do our work for us is that we’d have more leisure time? I guess not. Now we can check email on our phones…just another way to be connected to the world. Barrie installed some free software on his phone that allows him to be logged in to MSN Messenger all of the time so he can chat (for free) wherever he is. But is being “more” productive such a good thing? Do we allow ourselves to put down our cellphones and actually be present when having coffee with someone else? Have we lost the meaning of silence…and of disconnecting/unplugging for a while?
Continue reading ‘Death of the sms (or…an upside to the Tyranny of Blackberry)’
Everyone thinks that it was a wonderful gift to Europe that America entered World War II. And, yes, it was. It was a much needed boost at a dim time for the Allies. Of course, the US had already been supplying the Allies with arms and materials for the duration of the war, so they had an important involvement all the way through. But it wasn’t an altruistic venture at all. Big business in America (and America itself) has often profited from the wars it has been involved in.
What most people don’t know, for example, is that America’s assistance of the Allies didn’t come for free. In fact, America charged England one billion pounds (£ 50 billion in today’s money) for their involvement - and amount loaned to the UK. And interestingly enough, on the 60th anniversary of VE day, England is about to make its final repayment (of £ 40 million, I believe) to finally settle the account. This payment is due before the end of July this year. The US has never once even considered writing off any of this loan or reducing the repayments required. Sure, charge something for your services, but surely there came a time in the past 60 years when it would have been a good gesture to write off the remainder of the loan?
Continue reading ‘60 years on, and the debt is nearly paid off’
So, South Africa’s most valuable brand list has been published for 2005, and the top 5 are made up of 3 banks and 2 mobile phone network companies. (Click here for the article) Value is based on future earnings discounted back to a net present value.
Here’s the interesting thing from my perspective; that while these top 5 provide an extremely valuable service to their clients, I’ll bet that they’re not the most loved brands in their customers lives. I’ll bet their brand is not on the list of top 5 brands they’d have tattooed onto themselves. I’ll bet that they would and they do swap in and out of other companies in the 2 industries these 5 belong to( at the drop of a hat).
Interesting lessons that can be drawn, eh?
Jim Collins (author of “Good to great” - buy it online at Amazon.com and Kalahari.net) makes a case for Level 5 leadership which he states is the paradoxical combination of humility and will. Humility is a tough one. It is the kind of thing that if you say you are (humble) you aren’t! It is something I believe can only be conferred on one and never claimed by one. It is seen by others but not by oneself. What frameworks then are there for growth in humilty? Richard Rohr offers one worth consideration. Spirituality he writes is the link of ones wound with ones strength. And spirituality, writes Collins, is an essential part of Level 5 leadership. Not linking our wound and strength is to live a life in denial or disguise.
Last week I had a conversation that shocked me. Cold. It was with someone in my extended family. The conversation started with the war in Iraq and ended with a debate about racism. I know, it sounds impossible to have a debate around racism because what is there to argue about? Racism is wrong and all new South Africans know that by now. Wrong! There are actually young people in South Africa who are coldblooded racists! Perhaps I was just very naive because of the circles I usually mingle with, but I awoke with the shocking realisation that there is a very thin line between being conservative and being racist…
Continue reading ‘Racist or Conservative: The thin red line…’
I was out at a meeting yesterday and one of my collegues remarked that I am SUCH a Baby Boomer due to the number of cards in my wallet.
Is this a baby boomer tendancy or not? I think my 25 year old son has more credit cards than I will ever own?
Most of the cards are related to cheaper movies, points at Clicks, Fanatics card and MySchool card .
What will the consumer carry in the future? Will a few points towards a flight that you can never book win over helping an underprivileged school gain some money in their bank account?
I believe Emotional Loyalty will be the main reason I pull out a card. This makes me feel good while I am spending.
It shows I care.
What do you think?
An Outsider’s Analysis of SAA and the Airline Industry
On a recent flight on South African Airways (SAA), I browsed through their in flight magazine (Feb 2005). The new CEO, Khaya Ngqula, wrote a short one page article on the launch of a new internal initiative to bring SAA back to profitability after years of loss making, including the past 2 years in which it has posted R15 billion losses. (Those losses are paid for by the South African tax payer, since SAA is a state-owned asset).
The article starts off with following analysis: “The airline industry is facing a period of deep uncertainty and risk, with increased fuel and production prices, uncertain medium-term economics in the key US and China markets, low barriers to entry and the emergence of new Low Cost Carriers, and unstable currency markets.â€?
Continue reading ‘Come Fly With Me’
Last night, in between watching South Africa beat the West Indies at cricket, I flipped in and out of a B-grade mini-series on life in the early 1920s. It was the time of transition between the Victorian era and the modern Industrial era. The shift from horses to cars, from provincialism to nationalism, from rural to urban living (for the rich), from hooped skirts to the sleek flappers (
The term “flapper”, which became common slang in the 1920s, referred to a “new breed” of young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered “decent” behavior. The typical flapper was unafraid to wear cosmetics or to be seen smoking or drinking alcoholic beverages in public - from Wikipedia), from top hats and cravats to suits and ties.
It was a fascinating look at the times of transition, following one man and his family from mid 1800s to the 1930s. One of the interesting things for me was the clothes people wore - epecially the men. A question sprung to mind: who was the last man to get up in the morning, go to his wardrobe and decide to put on pantaloons?
Continue reading ‘The last man to wear pantaloons’
No one said it was going to be easy. China is going to make and break many companies - internationally and internally. Following on from my entry a few days ago (Why you shouldn’t be too worried about India and China), here’s a story from BusinessWeek on how not to do China (GM and VW: How not to succeed in China).
Continue reading ‘How not to succeed in China’
Here’s one for the books…
Its always great to see Gen Xers doing well. In every country around the world, young people born in the 1970s and 80s are making their mark, most often in the IT and Telecomms industries. Countries with large populations moving towards middle class provide the most opportunity for tech-savvy, young entrepreneurs with nothing to lose:: Russia, India, China, Indonesia, Brazil, the Philippines, Nigeria, South Africa - these developing nations are breeding grounds for some of the big trends of the future, and developed nations would do well to watch them closer than they do.
Of, course, the mere mention of China’s manufacturing might makes grown men cry. And India’s surge into call centers and outsourcing of white collar jobs has been nothing short of extraordinary. So, the warnings are there.
But, on a lighter note, so too are some interesting new approaches to getting customers interested in what you have to sell.
Continue reading ‘Crazy Russian Gen X marketing’
My wife has just upgraded her cell phone. When faced with the choices, she was offered a staggering array of phones each with a plethora of functions. These phones can do everything: play videos or MP3s, take photos and videos, record voice files, keep your diary, task list, contacts and manage your emails, browse the Internet, set reminders, play chess (quite well!), allow you to create and edit documents, spreadsheets and databases, and so much more. And, they even allow you to make a phone call! All they’re missing is a corkscrew.
But these all-in-one devices are not for everyone. For starters, they’re quite expensive (even if you get it free on a contract, you have quite a hefty contract and insurance is high). In every business cycle, for every product, there is a point at which the features exceed the maximum required functionality level of the consumer. At that point, the curve begins to flatten and the drop is not long thereafter. (Just ask Microsoft - they crossed the usability/functionality threshhold a long time ago with MS Office).
At that stage in an industry, its time to shift attention away from adding more features, and towards connecting in with customer values, and making sure you add real value. What’s the next trick for cellphones? It certainly won’t be in simply adding extra functionality.
The UK has just completed another general election. Not all of the results are in, but the initial estimate of how many people actually voted looks much the same as in every democracy around the world where voting is not compulsory. It’s not unusual to see figures of less than 50% of eligible voters actually turning up at the polls. This is of course, the scourge of democracy. Governments around the world need to become more creative about getting people to actually vote.
Here’s one suggestion.
Continue reading ‘How to get 100% turnout in a general election’
The New Scientist of 18 December 2004 details the kula exchange of the Trobriand Islands, first documented in 1922 by Bronislaw Malinowski, a pioneer in social anthropology (read the whole story here).
This exchange involves a series of islands passing a gift on in a chain. One island starts the process and gives a gift to one of the island - who in turn gives a gift to the next island, and so on until the first island receives a gift from the last island in the chain. Because the chain of giftgiving passes from island to island in a circle, no community receives a present from the one it gives to. And this seems to have huge bonding effects.
Social anthropologists are now trying to bring this type of understanding of ritual and tradition to technologically advanced environments. For example, Vodafone has launched a Postcard service. You send a message to Vodafone and they print it out and send it as a postcard to the person of your choice. The idea is that the recipient will then want to send a postcard of their own, perhaps to a third party, and so draw more subscribers into the network. Microsoft are also employing social anthropologists to help them come up with a replacement for the very annoying paper clip Office Assistant. Social anthropologists have been working on this type of stuff for years. In the 1980s it was a social anthropologist who suggested Xerox that they make the copy button on a photocopier big and green, to help people overcome some of the complexities of the machine.
More and more companies will need to take this type of information seriously in order to link the products to the human beings who are the users and purchasers of their products.
Intelligence magazine (South Africa), April 2005, published extract from a report by the Gartner Group (2005) which highlighted forces which will enhance or hamper workforce performance, productivity and leadership. Here follows a brief extract (not available online, subscriptions available here):
Disruptive Effect: Excessive E-Contact
Continue reading ‘Gartner Research: Disruptive Effects - Part 2′
Intelligence magazine (South Africa), April 2005, published extract from a report by the Gartner Group (2005) which highlighted forces which will enhance or hamper workforce performance, productivity and leadership. Here follows a brief extract (not available online, subscriptions available here):
Disruptive Effect: The Devaluation of Judgment
Continue reading ‘Gartner Research: Disruptive Effects - Part 1′
Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) later this year is taking a connection-based approach to its attendees. Instead of top-down “here’s our new technology” presentations, WWDC is sporting a wide variety of innovations, like in-depth hands-on sessions and one-on-one labs with Apple’s own engineers.
“The keyword is community,” writes O’Reilly Media’s Derrick Story. “Not only will Apple connect you to its engineers and its leader, but a whole environment is being created to immerse you in the Mac development community.â€?
Apple has realised that information is not enough - people want to connect (yes, even programmers!), to meet those behind the technology (which gives it a human face) and to learn through that relationship. Apple has entered the connection economy - have you?
In BusinessWeek on 28 March, 2005, they profiled the Digital Hospital. This is a real, working existing hospital that has just made excellent use of existing technologies. You can see a slide show, which gives you a brief overview of what they have done. It ranges from wireless keyboard Internet surfing in patient’s beds, to remote surgery, from wireless laptops for every nurse to enter patient info at the bedside (and doctor’s to check remotely immediately) to a robot (Mr Rounder) used to do rounds and providing video conference links to actual doctors, from scanned in X-rays available for instant download anywhere to PDAs for all the doctors.
To be honest, it isn’t rocket science, nor is it impressive to your average 20 year old techie. What is impressive is that a large organisation has actually gone and done it. More will follow soon. Aren’t you tired of knowing what CAN be done by technology, and yet not seeing it at banks, schools, hospitals, grocery stores, gas stations, … - actually not really seeing it anywhere?
Read the full story here.
On Marketing Web this week, there was an article (click here for article)posted about companies paying people to be brand-ambassadors, wondering the aisles and petrol stations, cleverly convincing us in a ‘not-the-usual-suspects’ way to consider changing brands, or trying something new. A very interesting read.
It’s another form of ‘network marketing’. However this is an industry that already struglles to get the 20’s and 30’s set to buy into their business model. How will ad agencies be any different? It’s not that the model isn’t a good one, it seemingly clashed with the value system that this group has, namely that they struggle to ‘exploit relationships for money.’
Point is that if ad agencies are ignoring this, their clients will feel the brunt. People wont sit back and watch brands ‘trick’ them. We’re way too smart for that.
On June 28, 2004, Fortune magazine reported on a school in the USA where fourth graders were being trained in media awareness - basically being “ad proofed”. (Read the story here - you need a subscription to Fortune).
These children were given class assignments to investigate the advertising and nutritional value of their favourite foods. It was about learning how to filter advertising messages and learning a great real-life skill — something many of their parents haven’t learnt yet. Most of the children were shocked to discover that the companies in their surveys did not have their best interests at heart. After realising that many of their favourite foods were particularly unhealthy, and connecting this was the child directed advertising of these companies, the teacher encouraged the children to write to the companies and express their concern.
From an educational perspective, this was pure genius. Not only had the teacher engaged the children’s full attention, she had also been able to teach them concept from a range of subjects including media studies, life skills, biology and English. Altogether, the kids sent 35 letters to a dozen companies. The letters included questions, complaints and suggestions. The responses they got included to personalised letters, two identical form responses from McDonald’s and two similar form responses from Pizza Hut, one which contained a $ 10 voucher and the other, mysteriously, only a $5 voucher (the class believes it’s because the recipient was a girl).
What an amazing real-life lesson these kids learntas they analysed the responses. On the whole, it is not done much to repair the image of the advertisers in th kids’ eyes. These kids have been taught to snuff out hypocrisy, to take action and to be savvy consumers. They are learning how to be better decision makers and look with a critical eye on the world they inhabit. All of these are absolutely essential life skills in the 21st century. Three cheers for the teacher!
Linux - the Penguin that marches - is a free operating system designed and developed by an army of volunteers. Available free of charge, and now nearly useable by your (slightly above) average home user. 
This operating system has long been a lurking threat to Microsoft’s (MS) dominance of this segment of the PC (and total computer) market. MS should not just be worried about the functionality of the software - actually, the bigger threat is the desire by most tech-savvy computer users to “rid themselves of Microsoft completely” (as one techie put it to me recently). This is the biggest threat. MS may have sold a zillion copies of Windows - but how many loyal customers has it created in the process? Not many, I’d guess. Most of us are grudge purchasers of their product. For their long-term survival, they need to urgently redress that.
Of course, this is all made more difficult for MS, since they have recently realised that they are a mature company, in a reasonably mature industry, with a tired product set that far exceeds the vast majority of their user’s needs and expectations. Read BusinessWeek’s comments about a 4,900 word email sent to the entire MS 57,000 staff by Steve Ballmer, the CEO, last year in June.
Now, a new entrant is making a name, and it threatens to steal the lucrative Internet browsing market from Internet Explorer (IE). Its Mozilla. In fact, Mozilla is the company name - the product is Firefox. Its my personal browser of choice, and it demonstrates the greatness of the collaborative world of open source. Thousands of developers around the world create millions of tiny little add ons for the programme. These are seamlessly loaded up on your command, and update themselves constantly. Wonderful stuff. Get it here.
Continue reading ‘Microsoft is in a war for survival’
The New Scientist magazine recently had a Special Report on Teenagers. This involved a number of articles, looking at everything from drug use and sex education to evolutionary evidence for adolescence in other species. A real mixed bag, but some excellent research and reporting. It is all available online (most of it free to access) - click here. This sub site also links you to all articles at the magazine ever written on teenagers.
This book, by By Alan G. Robinson and Sam Stern, is highly recommended as a business text. Buy it at Amazon.com.
It was reviewed by Stephen Baker, in BusinessWeek in 1997. Here is an edited version of his review (available online here).
Continue reading ‘Corporate Creativity: How Innovation and Improvement Actually Happen’
CNN did an excellent summary of the millennium during 1999. They gave each century a single entry summary, and then drilled down in huge detail. Check it out here.
Their summary is as follows:
- 11 th century: sword
- 12th: axe
- 13th: stirrup
- 14th: scythe
- 15th: sail
- 16th: compass
- 17th: telescope
- 18th: furnace
- 19th: machine
- 20th: globe
They followed with this with some visions for the future, categorised under a number of headings, including: disease, education, faith, food, sports, money, artificial intelligence, national parks, space, fashion and music. Check it out here.
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