Always K.I.S.S.

So I am sure that you have all heard of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) Well I would like to talk to you about the importance of that. I know the concept has been around for a while but people often do not apply it. It is especially useful when trying to cut costs in a recessing economy. Anyways, I am not going to belittle you by writing anything lengthy, I just wanted to give you a friendly reminder to always K.I.S.S!

Just in case you do want further info on the concept here are a few links:

Wikipedia Article

Definition

Somebody Skipped The Ethics Meeting

 

So obviously some people at Deutsche Telekom skipped the meeting on ethics, as the NY Times reports.  The phone giant tracked THOUSANDS of phone calls to identify the source of internal media leaks.  In a case very similar to to that of Hewlett Packard’s, “severe and far-reaching” abuse of private data between board members and the media was the issue.  Obviously, this caused great concern to privacy advocates.  One reason this is such an issue is that the German government effectively controls the company.  This basically means it was a federal investigation, without warrants.  Sound familiar?  (Guess they learned a little something from the Patriot Act…) 

Well the government is launching an investigation into the “spying” as it was a “serious breach of mistrust.”  They say that by having the prosecutor handle the case they are merely, “using the sharpest knife we have to solve the problem…”  and not trying to hide anything.  This still doesn’t satisfy many Germans though, as they have been EXTREMELY active about privacy rights since the Nazi and Communist regimes.  This really doesn’t look good on German companies as a whole considering they just went through bribery issues with Siemens and payoffs to union representatives by Volkswagen.  Maybe a company with such a large customer base to be loyal to should be a little more careful?  Anyways, this serves as yet ANOTHER great example why it always pays to be ethical.  Even something seemingly “small” can get you plastered all over the world.

When To Spin

 

So I talk about honesty and ethics but obviously as a business you can’t be brutally honest all the time so the question becomes, “When do I spin?”  Spinning the message can be a tricky thing.  Unfortunately it is most often used negatively, but can be used positively, such as in the Public Relations field.  Well in my opinion, here are cases when it is ok to spin the message.  Just remember, when in doubt, back out!

 

Spin When:

“• The benefits described by the sender of the message are real – and truly add value to the receiver of the message. For the long-term viability of the organization, business transactions need to be “win-win.”  (Think Mutually Beneficial)
• The spinning is done to help the larger good – not just promote the person doing it.  (No need to be selfish now.)
• The sender describing the benefits truly believes that the overall impact to the receiver of the message is positive. For example, great leaders effectively promote their organizations. They may highlight the positives of their companies more than the negatives, but they believe (on balance) that their organizations add value to stakeholders – whether they are employees, stockholders or customers.
• Optimism is balanced with realism. Optimism is a characteristic that is highly correlated with success in any field. Yet optimists often over-commit. In the short-term, positive projections for the future may motivate people to buy products, services or stocks. In the long-term, leaders have to consistently deliver on promises – or they will be seen as being to unreliable to justify an investment.”

 

Spain, Anyone?

 

So as business becomes more global, more training is required to keep ahead of the game.  In fact many companies in Europe are actually paying to fly English speakers over for an all inclusive trip just to speak English to their employees.  Let me explain further.

You see what happens is after being accepted for a program such as Pueblo Ingles or Vaughan Town, you then can go online and chat with other English speakers who will be there the same week as you.  Although many of the volunteers are retirees, they also have programs for ages 19 and up from what I found on their websites.  Once you arrive in Spain (usually Madrid) you meet up with your fellow travelers for a dinner, only to depart for the “Spanish” experience the next morning on a bus.  

During a typical day you eat and chat with your new Spanish acquaintances.  The rules are you speak only English and you must do 60% of the talking.  Sounds easy, right?  Well you only get approximately an hour and a half free time in the afternoons and then “social time” in the evenings, but this is a small price to pay for three course meals with red wine and four star accommodations.  Unfortunately the volunteer package doesn’t cover airfare or your hotel in Madrid before or after the trip.  But for someone looking to broaden their horizons and possibly learn a little Spanish at a discount, this could be great.  Just don’t let the organizers know you are learning Spanish, they don’t seem to like that…

Want New Talent? Think Green.

 

So there is a new generation of talent among the business populous.  Fresh talent.  Sharp talent.  GREEN talent.  No, by green I don’t mean rookie, I mean environmentally green.  As global warming and the economy become bigger and bigger issues, college graduates are demanding change.  In fact, many MBA graduates are saying that they would rather take a cut in pay and work for a “Green” employer than work for a company that isn’t socially conscious.  So what does this mean for you as an employer?  Step up your green game!

Personally, I am one of these students.  I will be a future business executive and when I am, I shall demand that my company be as green as possible.  I feel like we have tortured our planet long enough and it is time to give back.  We ask and ask of the earth, asking it to provide for our every need yet we hesitate to give back when it is clearly about to fall apart?  If our generation doesn’t demand change it will never happen, so here we are.  We aren’t just a bunch of hippies, however.  We are the future, this isn’t the 60′s again, this is now.  This is real.  So to all you big companies?  Think green because then the real talent will come to you. 

This is a two part effort.  We as the future will invest our time coming up with ideas to save this planet.  You as our employers must be willing to listen and be like-minded.  We aren’t trying to make life difficult, only fresher.  We always hear about leaving legacies for future generations.  Well here is our legacy; we will leave a legacy of preservation.  We will save the planet so that all previous legacies continue.  We will strive for success so that future generations may even exist.  That is our legacy.  Now step up.

When do YOU cut your losses?

In the declining economy everyone is cleaning out inefficient workers.  Where do you cut your losses?  Do you wait until they lose you money for a month?  A year?  Well internet shoe giant Zappos  has implemented a revolutionary policy.  They cut the slack before they even finish training.  Ok, so what, big deal, a lot of companies do that.  But only Zappos pays you $1,000 to walk out the door.  

The way they look at it is, at the end of your first week of training, they offer you the cash bonus and pay for all that you have worked if you will just quit.  If you don’t quit, you are a career employee and a valuable asset to the company.  If you quit then they just saved themselves having to replace you in six months.  Seems pretty smart to me.  The even more surprising thing is that only about 10% of these employees take the money and run.  Sounds like the policy is working guys, they expect over $1 Billion dollars in sales revenue this year, up from $70 million.  Can’t argue with those numbers. 

So maybe we should all take a cue from Zappos and take a more preemptive plan of attack of workplace slack and make everyone happy?  The slackers get paid, the business is more efficient and loses less money, and we all can order shoes online!  Hoorah!

What To Do?

 

So we all have thought about it before; what would happen if we were injured to the point it affected daily life?  Will I just hop right back into the swing of things?  Now if you are like me you have gone through this at least once in your life but what about when it becomes harder to bounce back?  I recently received my fifth concussion in a little less than seven years and honestly, I don’t quite feel the same.  Normally I would just shake them off and be fine again in a couple of days but this time I am having lingering side affects that I notice while I am at work.  For example I have been having trouble formulating and following thoughts and writing them down, making this blog somewhat difficult.  I have also forgotten random basic things such as functions in Microsoft Excel and math formulas.  I have even noticed a rather disturbing decrease in my short term memory function, hence the trouble with the following thoughts.  So how do you bounce back from something like this?  Am I permanently slower or will I regain my edge?  How do you jump back into the aggressive and competitive world of business when you are recovering at a slower rate than work allows?  I mean I have seen ads for Nintendo’s DS which has “Brain Games” meant to increase mental skill and sharpness but do they work?  Therefore:

Do you know of any other ways to regain my edge besides time?  And if you have used these “Brain Games” do they help?  Also feel free to share any stories about how you were able to adapt back to the workplace so that others may get ideas  Thanks for your help!

Knowledge is Power

 

So I am sure you have all heard the saying knowledge is power.  Well today I came across a website that is pretty powerful.  Welcome to QuickMBA, your online database for all you need to refresh your memory on those night classes.  Can’t remember the seven habits of highly effective managers?  They have it.  Can’t figure out that pesky supply curve?  Don’t worry, think Quick!  QuickMBA.com that is  It is basically an online database of everything you learn in business school.  Think Cliff’s Notes for your entire degree.  Like I said, pretty powerful.  I’ve been perusing around there now for a little while and I can feel my brain expanding already.  They really seem to be on top of their info and honestly I plan on using the site many times in the future to help me in both school and my career.  Hope it helps you too!

Good Enough Is Gonna Win

 

So I read an interesting article on the Harvard Business website called The Wonders of Good Enough.  It talks about how Pure Digital Technologies has excelled by making a camcorder that is just “good enough.”  In my post about pricing policy I talked about the middle ground being dangerous and in order to survive you must go low.  This is exactly what they did with the Flip Video, and they have sold over one million in less than a year.  Now this is a daring step sacrificing performance for convenience, but if it works in your sector, by all means!  

Survival in business is all about innovation and the further you can get from the box, the better off you are.  In fact, if you can destroy the box such as Apple likes to do, then you too can hoard great amounts of cash  Look at what your competitors are doing and then say, “What can I do to make that better?”  I am going to quote John Madden on this one, “If he can stay ahead of his man, he won’t get brought down.”  So stay ahead of your man (competition) to avoid another painfully obvious observation by everyone’s favorite commentator.

Bottled Waste

 

Waste.  Water.  Two similar words with very different meaning, right?  Wrong.  Bottled water is one of the biggest waste factors contributing to not only global warming but the slump of our economy.  Every year Americans alone spend over $15 billion dollars on bottled water.  $15 BILLION!!!! (If you want to read more about the the large scale effects click here or here ) Imagine if we had saved that money for a rainy day.  Now some of you say, “Bottled water is necessary; our water is dirty…”  I agree with about 10% of you.  Half of that percentage is people who have medical conditions in which COMPLETELY pure water is medically necessary and the other half are people who live in areas with no running water.  Other than that, YOUR WATER IS POTABLE!!!!!  This is America, what we consider dirty water is considered liquid gold to other countries.  There are countries that would drink our bathwater and we are to good to drink tap water?  

I will be the first to admit, we as Americans are spoiled, myself included.  We live a great life and have most everything we need.  However, in these times of global need, I believe we should move bottled water from our want to need category.  At least for a month.  After that month, honestly, was it that bad?  Did you die from drinking tap water?  NO.  I will answer for you because if you are reading this you probably have perfectly drinkable water at your disposal.  So next time you reach for that case of water, think what else could I buy with this?