How do I convert a Publisher File to a Word Document?

Steps:

1. Save the Publisher File as an image, like PNG (be sure to choose the proper picture quality).
2. Open Word.
3. Click the “Page Layout” tab.
4. Click the “Watermark” tab  and then  “Custom Watermark”
5. Click “Picture Watermark”
6. Click “Select Picture,” and find your Image File
7. Click “apply;” do not click “OK”
8. Determine whether you want the image “washed-out” (faded like a normal watermark) or not (shows up with no transparency).
9. Now, determine the approximate size of the image by selecting from the dropdown menu and clicking “apply” (not OK).
10. When satisfied, click “OK.”
11. The image is located in the header-footer region of the page, and so you need to double-click at the top of the page to bring the header into focus if you want to move the image.
12. Then, select the image and drag it to the proper location.
13. Complete any additional resizing of the image.
14. Close the header-footer
15. Save the file with a name and “TEMPLATE” at the end.
16. Every time you open the file, be sure to “Save As” with a different name to keep the Template file unchanged.

To Inspire Your People

1.       Show passion
2.       Hire passion
3.       Train passion
4.       Empower passion

But realize something:

 

We eventually discover that some people are not passionate and are unlikely to become passionate about organizational development. Their concerns in life are different, and that creates a difficult situation for those who are passionate about the organization, creative growth, and developed excellence. Good is good enough for them. That forces us to think, is that wrong? Perhaps that is the height of their competence and energy given the rest going on in their lives. Perhaps it’s all they’re able to give to the organization given life circumstances outside of the office walls. The organization’s mission can seem a bit unimportant when you’re dealing with newborns, rebelling teens, failing students, medical illness, impending divorce, impending marriage, impending retirement, moving, fertility and virility concerns, etc.,.  Showing passion, therefore, can become irritating if it’s all about the organization or all about the customers. Usually, wise/mature staff can humble themselves for the sake of clients even when their lives are experiencing chaos, but most will have the lingering what about me, my life is just as bad/crazy syndrome. Hiring passion, therefore, can appear the easy solution, except that current unimpassioned employees can be water to the new-hires’ fire. Sometimes, however, the opposite occurs, but that is a rare situation unless the new-hire has a higher status in the organization. A new-hire igniting senior employees is as likely as running on water upstream. Thus, the “passion training” that can be effective must always be led by leaders of those who need it, and must not have other obstacles keeping them from receiving the message (i.e. the employees must respect that leader).  Finally, the empowering of passion is akin to the phrase “don’t quench the spirit.” Fanning flames requires effort and addition – which includes the making the commitment to relationship, giving the freedom to engage but also the oversight to help channel the passion for greater effect, and protecting them from higher level employees who cannot be removed and find the new-hire’s passion threatening.

Too much connectivity

http://business.time.com/2012/02/16/should-companies-force-employees-to-unplug/3/

The modern world has fundamentally changed the expectations of communication.  Where we used to have no way of contacting a friend or family member if they weren’t home or available at the office, we will now get frustrated if they do not pick up their phone or send a text immediately from anywhere – even the car, plane, or beach vacation.  With the growth of the cell-phone and texting user-base, I don’t see this trend changing.  And, because people are more me-oriented from the start and as a result of having this kind of contact reach (I can contact you anywhere, anytime as long as you have your cellphone – which I expect you to have), there will probably be a greater number of cases of depression, burnout, and suicide.  Man wasn’t made to work 24/7.  And, six days from sunrise to sunset in the fields can be fine, but that’s only during the toughest season (not for all of them) for a man who, it is supposed, already has the Lord as his hope and includes seasonal celebrations that are weeks long.

This is another reason why our society is removing itself from society-improving activities (volunteer community improvement, nonprofits without big names, church).  It’s hard to serve your neighbor for free while constantly thinking about clients and bosses who can cost you income and job security.  That anxiety brings the whole issue of trust into the picture.  Do employers trust you to be working hard/smart enough from 8-5?  Will you get a raise if you don’t go overboard?  What are your expectations, and is there an unwritten level of commitment related to work time beyond 40 hours every week? Moreover, consider those who work on the east coast with clients on the west coast, overseas, or vice versa – 8:00am and 5:00pm aren’t fixed.  This is spiraling out of control, and without a connection to a transcendent purpose for rest – a biblical understanding and appreciation – it will continue, taking many men to their grave (consider increasing heart attacks), leaving many distraught families in its wake (from the death or from the absentee fathers).

HBR Article

The article “Positive Intelligence” (Jan/Feb 2012) reaffirms the scientific position that positive people are more productive.  It also pointed out that there is a stronger correlation between happiness and social support than between smoking and cancer.  And, giving support was even more important than receiving it.  Disciplining one’s self with easy, healthy habits, it noted, dramatically improved individuals’ positive attitudes and had the force to even rewire the adult brain’s networking.  These were the habits conducted for three consecutive weeks with accountants at KPMG in December 2008:

·         Jot down three things they were grateful for.
·         Write a positive message to someone in their social support network.
·         Meditate at their desk for two minutes.
·         Exercise for 10 minutes.
·         Take two minutes to describe in a journal the most meaningful experience of the past 24 hours.

Other points of note:

Ochsner Health System…uses an approach it calls the “10/5 Way” to increase social support among employees and patients. We educated 11,000 employees, leaders, and physicians about the impact of social support on the patient experience, and asked them to modify their behavior. When employees walk within 10 feet of another person in the hospital, they must make eye contact and smile. When they walk within 5 feet, they must say hello. Since the introduction of 10/5, Ochsner has experienced an increase in unique patient visits, a 5% increase in patients’ likelihood to recommend the organization, and a significant improvement in medical-practice provider scores.

….

Employees who score low in “life satisfaction,” a rigorously tested and widely accepted metric, stay home an average of 1.25 more days a month, a 2008 study by Gallup Healthways shows. That translates into a decrease in productivity of 15 days a year.

….

Researchers at Gallup found that retail stores that scored higher on employee life satisfaction generated $21 more in earnings per square foot of space than the other stores, adding $32 million in additional profits for the whole chain.

Loving mothers cultivate larger-brained children

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240992.php

[C]hildren whose mothers showed them love and affection from the very beginning have brains with a larger hippocampus, which is a key part of the brain involved with memory, stress response, and learning.

….

These scans showed that the kids who did not show symptoms of depression and had been nurtured earlier in life possessed a hippocampus close to 10% bigger than the ones whose mothers did not act as nurturing.

….

Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.” (Proverbs 4:1-9)

Power and Responsibility

http://www.economist.com/node/21542716

The XM25, as the new gun is known, weighs about 6kg (13lb) and fires a 25mm round…[I]nstead of having to be aimed directly at the target, this round need only be aimed at a place in proximity to it. Once there, it explodes…the fragments kill the enemy. It knows when to explode because of a timed fuse. In Shrapnel’s shells this fuse was made of gunpowder. In the XM25 it is a small computer inside the bullet that monitors details of the projectile’s flight.

….

When the round is fired, the internal computer counts the number of rotations it makes, to calculate the distance flown. The rifle’s muzzle velocity is 210 metres a second, which is the starting point for the calculation. When the computer calculates that the round has flown the requisite distance, it issues the instruction to detonate. The explosion creates a burst of shrapnel that is lethal within a radius of several metres (exact details are classified). And the whole process takes less than five seconds.

….

The bullets, which have to be made by hand at the moment, clock in at several hundred dollars each.

This is a game-changing weapon – smart, miniature grenade-like bullets.  Immediately, imitations are arising.  I wondered why.  Then I thought, perhaps in the “engagement” of enemies forces, this weapon would allow for greater destruction with less accountability/responsibility to be able to see and target combatants.  If you drop a bomb on a bad guy and kill civilians, you’re liable.  But, if you shoot at a single combatant and injure civilians, you may be free from responsibility…

Transformed environment

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-01/apple-invades-3-8t-workplace-market-with-ipad.html

“We haven’t seen a single pharma deploy on anything but the iPad,” said Matt Wallach, co-founder of Veeva Systems Inc., a Pleasanton, California-based maker of sales software for drug companies.

“I’ve seen a lot of devices come and go over the years. Nothing touches the speed of adoption of the iPad.”

Information control

http://www.economist.com/node/21543555?fsrc=rss%7Cbus

Boeing’s assembly plants are the final stage in a long and hugely complex global supply chain. It has about 1,200 “tier-one” suppliers, which provide parts directly to the planemaker from 5,400 factories in 40 countries. These in turn are fed by thousands more “tier-two” suppliers, which themselves receive parts from countless others. Beverly Wyse, who oversees production of the 737, admits that it has sometimes been a job to persuade all these suppliers to invest enough to meet future demand. To do so, Boeing has had to learn to be more open with them about its production plans, and a bit less paranoid about whether such information might reach the ears of its competitors.

Such an action is probably less difficult for a company like Boeing that doesn’t have competitors.  They have a single competitor:  Airbus.  And, as the article points out, both have queues of orders four years (Boeing) and eight years (Airbus) out.  That might seem great for Airbus, but those deals are on models that will be outdated by the time Boeing has secured additional orders (and the global oil situation may change, calling for even greater fuel-efficiency over against other qualities).

When negotiating, one needs to balance this wisdom of sharing for partnership and withholding for protection (based on the relationship).  “Bad, bad,” says the buyer, but when he goes away, then he boasts” (Proverbs 20:14).  He boasts because he got what he wanted for the value he thought it was worth.  This is one great aspect of free enterprise.  Excepting government regulatory demands, you don’t have to buy something you don’t value more than the money is costs you to buy it.  Thus, the buyer boasts because he didn’t feel cheated.  He felt he was shrewd.  The seller sold.  He may have felt cheated, but we don’t know from the proverb.  We do know that, in general, sellers don’t sell if they can afford not to when it isn’t in their interest.  And, buyers have traditionally had greater leverage in business.  The U.S. business culture is one of the most egalitarian when it comes to profit-sharing between buyers and sellers.  Most countries’ business cultures favor buyer bargaining power.

Also, regarding the flow of information, when evaluating how much to share, business leaders need to consider this question:  Are you cooperating or collaborating?  Cooperating is working together toward a common end today.  Collaborating is choosing to work together toward a common end tomorrow.  The future focus of collaboration allows for more fearless information-sharing.  Cooperating today is evidence that what is being done today is still in the other party’s interest.  But, that must not be confused (as we saw with Oracle and HP), that I should expect the same relationship tomorrow.

Knight no more

The former head of The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is being stripped of his knighthood because of his failed leadership – complicit in running the bank into the ground. I gave a hearty “bravo!” to that before finding out that he holds many titles.  I wonder whether this act of public dishonor will impact his future employment opportunities or leadership decision making.

Here’s a little background (from Wikipedia article) on his rise to prominence and the results of his aggressive leadership style:

• December 2002 - Forbes (global edition) "Businessman of the Year", which described him as an original thinker with a fast-forward frame of mind who had transformed RBS from a nonentity into a global name.
• 2003 - 2006 - No.1 in Scotland on Sunday's Power 100
• December 2003 - "European Banker of the Year" in 2003
• June 2004 - Knighted in the Queen's 2004 Birthday Honours list, for services to banking (annulled in 2012 for playing a major role in the banking crisis)
• June 2004 - awarded an honorary doctor of Laws by the University of St Andrews
• July 2008 - awarded an honorary fellowship by the London Business School

….

From the time that Goodwin took over as chief executive until 2007, RBS's assets quadrupled, its cost-to-income ratio improved markedly, and its profits soared. In 2006 pre-tax profits climbed 16% to £9.2 billion with significant growth coming from its investment banking business. By 2008 RBS was the fifth-largest bank in the world by market capitalization. One of the factors in its rise was its enthusiasm for supporting leveraged buyouts. In 2008 it lent $9.3bn, more than double its nearest rival.

….

In August 2011, Goodwin moved out of the family home in Colinton after being asked to leave by his wife. The move followed media reports of an extra-marital affair with a colleague at the Royal Bank of Scotland.”

It just so happens that:  “once a year he would go on shooting trips to Spain with Santander chairman Emilio Botín.” 

In everything the prudent acts with knowledge, but a fool flaunts his folly. (Proverbs 13:16)

Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honored. (Proverbs 13:18)

One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless. (Proverbs 14:16)

The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. (Proverbs 17:24)

Who can you trust?

The big battle will continue to rage between these industry giants.  This article explains how the settlement related to former CEO of HP’s leaving and joining Oracle as President included a clause (in one form of the draft) that required continued support by Oracle for HP’s server technology (of which HP was the only provider in the industry).  Well, Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems and wants to look to its own.  Thus, it tried to break that [shaky] contract.  Both sides are spinning the information to make them look positive in the public eye (Oracle – ripping the veil off HP’s scheme to make money with a dying technology that IBM wanted killed 20 years ago but didn’t because of a half-billion dollar payment by HP; HP – revealing the ulterior motives of Oracle to break agreement and steal its customer base and sabotage its customers running the HP technology by limiting support). 

“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” (Proverbs 18:17)

Which organization do businesses support with their investment as the partners turn competitive:  the company that keeps critical information from you about the capital intensive investments that it wants you to buy from it or the company that doesn’t want to honor its word because its bottom-line can fare better without your involvement?  Both seem untrustworthy from where I’m standing.  And, their arguments are equally strong/weak.  Hopefully forthcoming evidence elevates at least one side’s integrity.

Hiring Hints

A couple weeks back I discovered a short and helpful article by George Anders, the author of The Rare Find: Spotting Exceptional Talent Before Everyone Else while looking into an HR offering that Monster.com provides.

The key takeaways for those who hire are to:

• Reduce their “must-have” lists to a few crucial criteria (i.e. “Compromise on experience; don’t compromise on character”).
• Be “willing to embrace unconventional views of what job skills are truly needed in each specific field”
• Not be neutral in assessment:  “The best insights into candidates’ potential come from leaders whose own life experiences speak to the traits they are seeking.”
• “The process of getting to know candidates is defined far more by questions involving ‘why’ and ‘how’ -- and less about ‘what’ or ‘when.’”

The search for significance

David Weidner who covers Wall Street for MarketWatch posted this article about the recent Davos gathering, and it reveals an important truth about men, purpose, and frailty.  Weidner laments the fact that 70 of the richest people in the world gathered for a lauded purpose, but what they accomplish remains fairly invisible.  He points out that business deals are made and the networking environment is phenomenal, but the marketed purpose for the gathering is pretty much abandoned.  Sure, lots of talking takes place, but that leads only to poverty (of thought) when untethered to action.  So why do these men keep returning and participating in similar gathering?  Or, what is the true value business leaders find in such gatherings?  Weidner writes,

“There are very few truly exclusive clubs that make you feel special. Davos remains one of those clubs.” 

The answer is in self-worth and personal significance.  When men will not glorify God they must glorify something else (including their selves).  We are creatures created to praise, and we will praise Him or something in His place.  Some men are surely finding temporary pleasure in this self-worship, enjoying the event like an enthronement festival celebrating their financial godhood. 

And, Weidner explains why the intense media bias results in any news about the gathering being relatively worthless.  He comments:

All of the financial media love Davos. We’re underpaid and insecure. A junket to Switzerland, even with the grueling work of regurgitating financial baloney, most of us would take the assignment. And why not? We may not be important, but we feel important for a few days. Davos looks beautiful. Sometimes Bono shows up. It beats working. 

So, though Weidner has never heard anyone report back in private that the gathering was worth its salt, he has always heard glowing public reviews.  With finality, he writes a sarcastic response to this rhetorical question of why these egos meet:  

But if attendees really cared about any of that, they’d have done something about it.

No, Davos is a place to be seen, to feel special, to cut a deal. It’s the global system’s way of telling the citizens of the globe that everything’s working.

Obviously, the servant leader has a much different approach to life, leadership, networking, deal-making, etc.  While he needs encouragement, it cannot ultimately come from those things that are insufficient in themselves.  Because God alone is self-sufficient and inexhaustible in the overflow of his attributes that amaze/humble, sustain, and grow us, He alone is the One who can offer us the purpose we need to motivate and charge us for selfless living and effective, servant-work.  Practically speaking, such gatherings often cause the unbelieving leader more anxiety and stress, because he’s comparing his godhood to that of another.  He’s thinking about his net worth, his influence, his looks, his future, his legacy, his experience, his accolades, his education, etc.  These things direct a man’s attention to things that he feels make his worthy of praise.  The believing leader is subject to the same temptations, but he can use these for his sanctification, self-identifying with the frailty of his barns, the brevity of his days, the extent of his kingdom and the judgment for how he stewards his influence, the imminent death of his aging and failing body, his inexperience and arrogance, etc.  The godly leader can turn to the Rock “higher than I.”   He is where mental, spiritual, and emotional stability come from.  Thus, the believing leader should find his purpose in God, not stuff or people or activities, and so he can do things without that pretense of serving (when in fact the temptation is to appear with the flowing robe and benevolent blessing but inwardly rejoice in others’ perception of your apparent greatness).  He can truly serve – God and the people made in His image.

Alternatively, there is also the caution the godly leader needs:  to not disdain the position of authority he’s been given, as if it didn’t have significant purpose in God’s plans.  It does, and to pretend that the position he holds is not important can be just as dangerous as self-worship because of the position.

Must read analysis by Charles Murray of the American culture shift

This lengthy article in the Wall Street Journal by Charles Murray of AEI provides a great analysis of what’s been happening since the 1960s.  Here’s one point he identifies that flies in the face of an often taught and held social belief.

Religiosity: Whatever your personal religious views, you need to realize that about half of American philanthropy, volunteering and associational memberships is directly church-related, and that religious Americans also account for much more nonreligious social capital than their secular neighbors. In that context, it is worrisome for the culture that the U.S. as a whole has become markedly more secular since 1960, and especially worrisome that Fishtown [the generalized working class he uses to represent the statistics he’s analyzed] has become much more secular than Belmont [the representative upper class]. It runs against the prevailing narrative of secular elites versus a working class still clinging to religion, but the evidence from the General Social Survey, the most widely used database on American attitudes and values, does not leave much room for argument.

For example, suppose we define "de facto secular" as someone who either professes no religion at all or who attends a worship service no more than once a year. For the early GSS surveys conducted from 1972 to 1976, 29% of Belmont and 38% of Fishtown fell into that category. Over the next three decades, secularization did indeed grow in Belmont, from 29% in the 1970s to 40% in the GSS surveys taken from 2006 to 2010. But it grew even more in Fishtown, from 38% to 59%.

Wow, that’s an 11% increase in secularization compared to a 21% increase in secularization.  And, the working class is identified as a group 50% larger than the upper class or a group having a one-third larger share of the population than the upper class identified in the study. 

Knowing when to relinquish control

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23/heins-brings-decades-of-hardware-skills-to-rim-s-battle-with-apple-google.html

Balsillie and Lazaridis, who guided RIM together for two decades only to see an 88 percent drop in the stock price since 2008, said the decision to step down and appoint Heins was theirs…“He’s really excelled in every department he’s been responsible for,” Lazaridis said.

There usually comes a day when the hero becomes a king and the king becomes a counselor for the sake of the kingdom.  Succession planning and implementation is the key here.  If Heins was and had been the sure choice, then it’s unfortunate that it took the whole 88% drop over the past few years to convince Basillie and Lazaridis that the time for Heins’s succession had come.

Facing THE Amazon

How the retailing business model has changed:  “Losing,” more than ever, is winning more than ever. 

Target sent a letter to suppliers asking for their help in combating the intense competition barcode scanning search help smartphones have given consumers for price comparison shopping – to the effect that stores like Target are becoming showrooms for e-tailers like Amazon.com

More important, the growing competition from Amazon is based on a different business model entirely: Amazon can sell products so cheaply because it uses its other profitable units—such as cloud data storage and fees it charges others to sell on its website — to subsidize the rest of its business.

"The traditional retailers are still doing business the old way while Amazon has reinvented the model," says Sucharita Mulpuru, retail analyst at Forrester Research. "Wal-Mart and Target are willing to sell a few things at a loss. Amazon's whole business is a loss leader."

What’s one lesson here?

Striving to protect your business against an onslaught of legal and ethical innovations that initiate market-changing trends has the potential to put your business to death.  Defense can only be a good offense if it plays as an offense.  You can be sure that cutting yourself off from the market by limiting consumers’ ability to interact with your products on their terms is a failing concept.  What’s important is giving consumers the freedom they want and using that freedom to elevate your products/services’ standing in their eyes.  Thus, if they want to do price comparisons while in your store, make it easier for them to do it. At the very least, don’t make them do it secretly.  Perhaps, you might put up signage that encourages them to do it and let them know if they find something cheaper (having figured in shipping and tax costs – if any) that you will match it.  I know that a brick and mortar store that had that kind of service available would definitely receive my business when making big-ticket purchases (assuming they have the products I want) because of beating out 1-day shipping costs – that would be HUGE.  And, it’s no marketing secret that price comparison and advertising are not true ways of competing.  They are ways of keeping prices higher.  They let your competitors know your price so that they don’t depress the market by pricing much lower, or so that you can keep your price high on one product and depress price on another product so that you and your competitor share profits rather than minimize them (when either of your inventories run out during the course of the advertised price, the consumers have to shop elsewhere – where the prices are higher along with the profit margins – and so multiple competitors are better off than having had competed on multiple products).  What Target is doing with unique brands is a great example of harnessing the trend to its benefit.  It cannot beat Amazon on standard products’ pricing, but they can with private-label branded products that have no comparison because they are made exclusively for Target.

Another example related to quality business practices:

I’ve been in contact with a clothier’s salesman and master fitter for nearly two months now.  It’s been a trying experience.  Everything has been solved on the product end at this point, but, unfortunately, per his style of salesmanship, he repeatedly spoke negatively about other men’s clothiers over the few times we met.  I would much rather have had him promote the quality of his own product.  I left thinking, “I’m glad I have this suit and am done with this place.” I felt beat down through the experience rather than encouraged.  I will probably not return for future purchases, fitting, or tailoring.  I won on price/quality of the product and ancillary service, but I lost of customer service per relationship [maybe the most significant component to clothing sales].  Thus, they won on price/quality of the product and ancillary services; but, because they lost on customer service, they’ve lost a future customer.

Leadership and finishing well

Here’s an insightful 3-page article by Dr. Robert J. Clinton.  He’s one of the better leadership theorists/researchers, focused on the biblical implications of leadership, mentoring, networking, and related matters.

Better yet, here are all three related articles in one pdf.  It’s hosted for free on his website.

The first article is about 6 characteristics of leaders who finish well.

The second is about the 6 obstacles to finishing well:  Use and Abuse of Finances, Abuse of Power, Pride, Sexual misconduct, Family Issues, Plateauing.

The third article is about 5 enhancements that support leaders in pursuing a strong finish:  Perspective, Renewal, Discipline, Learning Posture, Mentoring.

Conducive rivals

The Economist had a good article last week about these rivals, but, in my opinion, here are two of the more important pieces of information.

ARM…has 270-odd licensees with 830 licences. Between them they shifted perhaps 8 billion ARM-based semiconductors in 2011, half of them in mobile phones and mobile computers, the other half embedded in consumer items and elsewhere. According to IDC, a research firm, the market for PC-powering chips that use Intel’s x86 processor architecture, which Intel dominates, was about 400m last year.

Arm’s market is twenty times larger than Intel’s.  That’s a lot of room for profit.  But, realizing it may be years away, as, for Pre-tax profits from Jan-Sept, IBM generated nearly 77 times what ARM generated in 2011.

Also,

Today more than 95% of the world’s mobile phones contain an ARM-based chip.

Of the information available, what matters?

Here’s a quotation that sums up the unimportance of most information that tries to win our time and attention, suggesting that we necessarily must know it to be informed, important persons.

“The pursuit of relevance thus becomes a prime source of superficiality, anxiety, and burn-out. (‘Hell,’ it has been said, ‘will be full of newspapers with a fresh edition every thirty seconds, so that no one will ever feel caught up.’)”

- Os Guinness, Dining with the Devil: The Megachurch Movement Flirts with Modernity, p. 63, 1993

If we lived like this information is true, what would be the result?  To be sure, we’d write fewer books, but the ones we’d write would be much more profound, beautifully written, and eternally relevant.  And, we would read old books, learn to think well and deeply, and shift our valuation paradigm to promoting what lasts beyond the grave.  The thirst for information is no longer properly bounded by a framework of wisdom, which was a steady diet of old literature where people made moral decisions and the authors intended for the readers to think and learn about life through the work and the righteous and unrighteous actions of characters – to do likewise or to avoid.  It was as Philip Sidney described it in his Defense of Poesy, “teaching by delighting” with story.  It’s the parable approach.  Instead, new information says everything is relevant to every moment.  And, if you aren’t caught up, you’re left behind.  But, that’s just a deception to keep us from ever hearing the truth of what really matters and keeping our gazes fixed upon it. 

A good work ethic and strategic planning are matters of godliness - not puritanical tradition

Success/provision is found, in most situations in life where a hard/diligent work ethic is employed.  Resting on laurels does no good (remember Kodak).  Those grain stores will dry up.  That’s why Egypt practically became an all-out slave state when formerly the citizens were free, private-property owners.  Joseph told them by prophetic interpretation of a God-given dream that 7 good years of harvest were coming, but he was the only one who feared God, saving that nation and most of the surrounding nations.  But, the people were eating the just fruit of their wickedness, suffering the consequences of not having heeded the wisdom to prepare for the 7 years of famine.  They were told, just like Noah told the people in his day.  Just like the shrewd manager in Jesus' parable, you need to prepare for what's coming.

Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,

but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

(Proverbs 14:4 ESV)

In all toil there is profit,

but mere talk tends only to poverty.

(Proverbs 14:23)

Also, 

You know you’re in business to help others if you keep innovating to make other people’s lives better when you are able.  If you are able and only seek to squeeze profits, then you may be tending toward an ethic that is not in service of others.  You could be serving your board and employees by profiting for their salaries and stock price/investment at the moment, that’s the give and take of operating a business; but, if it’s the predominant way of business to provide poor quality, overpriced, antiquated services, then you need to change your ways so that your business can affect lives for good, quit, or accept the fact that you will be fired or failing as soon as someone exercises the wisdom you do not.

More on Kodak

From the same article linked in the earlier post.

Kodak, which invented the Brownie camera that popularized the field of photography for the masses, ironically missed one of the biggest shifts in consumer behavior: amateur photography with camera phones, and now smartphones.  An example of how Kodak has lagged in recent years was seen at the Consumer Electronics Show last week. The company introduced a new feature on its Easyshare digital cameras with built-in WiFi. Consumers can now upload higher-res photos directly to social networks like Facebook, a feature already available in smartphones for over a year.

Whereas Kodak, based on its current actions agrees with Anthony Sabino, a professor at St. John’s University’s Peter J. Tobin College of Business, that 

They have technology and IP of tremendous value.

One insight highlighted by most analysts in this matter has been: goods people want now, not patents for goods people might or might not get later when they might or might not want them, keep companies afloat.

Perspective makes all the difference

http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2012/01/the-no-complaining-rule/

“That is why one of the most important things we can do in business and life is to stay positive with strategies that turn negative energy into positive solutions. Thus the goal is not to eliminate all complaining; just mindless, chronic complaining. And the bigger goal is to turn justified complaints into positive solutions… And we can use The No Complaining Rule to develop a positive culture at work.”

Kill the man to heal the cough...

With EPA investigations and regulatory action looming, I wonder if more harm will be done to the environment in order to accomplish more ahead of schedule.  Wouldn’t that be ironic (the undesired unintended consequences of government involvement to protect against environmental corruption actually causing its aggressive progression)?

“Oil production in the Bakken shale formation is making unemployment virtually nonexistent in North Dakota.  With 200 rigs pumping 440,000 barrels of oil per day, the state's unemployment rate is holding at 3.5 percent.  Many of the jobs pay exceptionally well, with high school graduates making more than $100,000 per year, says the Heartland Institute.”

….

“We have 18,000 jobs looking for people,” North Dakota Rep. Rich Berg (R) told the Hill, noting, ‘if our country’s GDP grew at 7 percent, as it does in [my] state, most of our problems would be over in two years.’”

Abbreviated Article:  http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=21507

Full Article:  http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2011/12/20/oil-production-keeps-recession-bay-north-dakota

 

How do you beat out the best (available)?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-18/china-unicom-adds-record-3g-subscribers-undercutting-iphone-by-80-tech.html

“China Unicom started winning customers from market leader China Mobile Ltd. (941) after it switched focus from high-end users of the iPhone to those who can’t afford the device.”

……

“It also accelerated the shift to high-speed networks in China.”

……

“If a vendor offers a phone that can do most of the things a high-end device can do, there’s no reason people won’t bite.”

A winning formula:

1.       Much lower price
2.       Tendency to improve
3.       Good quality (though not best)
4.       Massive market potential

Wisdom for the suppliers: change your ways

This article describes 10 bad habits vendors may have.

1.       Lying about the product
2.       Not knowing the product
3.       Not listening
4.       Failing to empathize
5.       Passing the buck
6.       Providing poor documentation [seems too similar to #2]
7.       Using an intolerable phone support system
8.       Failing to set expectations
9.       Overpromising
10.   Not keeping in touch

Notice, some entail doing the wrong thing (active), and others entail not doing the right thing (passive).  Numbers 1, 5/6, 7, and 9 demonstrate the former, and 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 10.  Additionally, most of these are failures in communication (deciphering/discovering truth), and all of them reflect a failure to put the customer/client’s needs first and, like Nike, work backwards.

Giving to give, not to receive

We reap the fruit of our decisions, agreed?  Let's look at this interesting development in the world's food supply.

America is now a net importer of fruits and vegetables.

What's that mean, besides the fact that if all imports were stopped (they won't) the U.S. would find fruit and veggie prices skyrocket (won't happen either)?

It means American dollars are being spent internationally on things valued more than fruits and vegetables.  That's hard to imagine, right?  All the unhealthy childhoods...

Additionally, what do we learn from this?  Should we be investing in "food?"  To make gobs of money, no.  To make a significant impact, not unless you have millions.  To be a good steward of the money God's given you, perhaps if you can follow the money and ensure accountable use.  Ultimately, we learn that there was a time for the U.S. and still remains a time for many 2/3rds world countries where food is a family rarity.  People need more of it, and they won't get it without other people giving more than their "fair-share."  Christians should understand this principle as it relates to tithing, offering, and giving:

So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
(2 Corinthians 8:11-15 ESV; emphasis mine)

Availability, Quality, Price - Not in that order

I referenced this article in my last post.

With regard to this decision:  Nike gets it. 

Nike is aiming to merge the physical world of sport with digital services, said President and Chief Executive Mark Parker, adding that the company has never seen so much opportunity for innovation.

"Data that was once available only to top athletes is now available to athletes of all levels," said Parker. [emphases mine]

Do you see what they've done?  Nike is doing what Kodak did not.  It's looking for the next big thing, and it's working to realize that product for the people who want that technology but haven't been able to access it.  They have the eyes to see that opportunity abounds, and, by taking advantage of those opportunities, using them to serve their customers' interest, they intend to help their company maintain its elite niche in consumer athletic goods.

How it all works - and doesn't

Did you see this article the other day?

Hilary Kramer offers seven companies to watch and reasons why.  These companies appear to "drive" the market. 

That's an interesting concept.  Companies that are driven by consumers drive the market.  Those that get driven by the consumers most post big earnings or earning that match expectations (because all that's relevant to the market is already included in the share price - efficient market hypothesis).  But, is that supposed to be revolutionary?  People like stuff.  They buy the stuff they like.  Those things they don't like don't get bought (unless regulations are imposed forcing you to buy those undesirables).  The companies that sell more often reinvest more.  Those that reinvest more grow larger and can reach more consumers who might also like that company's stuff.

Yes, that's a characterization of the process.  Nevertheless, the companies that are big and sell stuff that the world wants and needs most are going to post bigger earnings than those that don't (if their pricing isn't at a loss, lawsuits don't destroy, IP isn't infringed upon, etc.).


Don't try to sell people things they don't want.  If they should want it, learn to make a good argument for why they should.  Until you sell them that, you won't sell them the product.  And, that thing they should want should be made and marketed excellently.  Don't expect people to buy an excellent idea.  Everyone can think up excellent ideas and brainstorm creative solutions.  The winners manifest those ideas and make them available.

See Nike

Increased audience, decreasing value

Have you ever wondered if the newspaper will last?  Well, this article seems to address that point with a resounding "NO, UNLESS."

The author drives the point that free news is killing newspapers.  That is to say:  the newspapers that are giving themselves away should expect to disappear unless the profit model changes - and soon.  Interviewed because his paper is standing strong in the UK with near-zero online presence (some teasers), Hislop recounts the 90s when he made the decision to stand fast against the migration to the Net:

At the time, the industry thought [I] was mad. The paper would vanish into irrelevance, people said. It would start by losing all its new readers, and would be stuck with old fogeys. “Every consultant was saying, ‘No young person is going to read you, they want everything for free.’”

Is that true?  Do you desire and value the things you get free?  Do you value your online news sources?  Or, if one disappeared, would you quickly find another to keep you informed?  I think you probably value what you pay for.  And, you usually pay for what you value.

To maintain a strong online presence with free news, you cannot offer the greatest quality (style, analysis, length).  To maintain a strong offline presence, you have to offer the best quality. 

Basic logic tells you one holds or increases value while the other has to decrease in value.

The Kodak Moment

Kodak files Chapter 11

What's this mean?  When you shun innovation, when you rest on your laurels and put your trust in past success, when you display pride and not humility, your organization will eventually suffer the consequences of those who do the opposite.  Seeking to effectively serve others' needs and wants is what makes business go 'round.  Failing to do so is one obvious way businesses are brought down.

Here's an analysis by Therese Poletti posted on Marketwatch.com

"One simple answer is that Kodak  got fat and complacent relying too heavily on its highly profitable cash cow, the film business. That made it fearful and skeptical of what are now called disruptive new technologies, such as the digital camera, which one of its own engineers invented in 1975."

"Kodak’s management responded, 'That’s cute but don’t tell anyone about it.'"