Social media explained
Lets talk about social media for a moment, it is on the mind of most running SME's. and it is the object of lots of "hype" by snake-oil salesmen. There is a huge amount of very useful verbiage, and mountains of plain crap out there, as well as the "idiots guide" type...
The competitive advantage of SME’s.
Yesterday I did a presentation to a group of owners of small businesses, people who seemingly compete against the odds from a point of weakness, as almost everybody is bigger, better resourced, has better technology, and are more connected, than them. As a basis for...
Big Bang day.
20 years ago yesterday, April 30 1993, CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear research, the developer of what has become the W.W.W. announced that they would open it up, making it free to all by posting the codes on what became the worlds first website. A...
Shouting doesn’t work
You can no longer win by shouting, there is always someone who can should louder, longer, and more effectively. You win today by being genuinely useful. Those on the receiving end will tell others, who will tell others, and so it goes. My kids call it social media...
Business half-life.
The speed at which things can happen is halving, and halving again, the wider implications of Moore's Law at work. In such an environment, where is the value in static annual planning cycles, bi-annual sales meetings, 3 and 5 year plans when we cannot forecast what...
Pitching an idea
The most powerful way to get someone to agree with your idea is to ask them the leading question, and have them tell you. Ronald Regan used this technique a lot. He did not tell the American people “your economic situation has deteriorated over the last 48 months”,...
Lest we forget
Today is ANZAC day, 2013, a day Australia stops, and remembers. We remember those who fell and amongst the detritus of hyperbole that seems to multiply every year, there are tales of courage, endurance and perseverance that should not be forgotten, along with hard...
Cognitive productivity.
At a simple level, cognitive productivity is just using the brainpower at your disposal to deliver the optimum outcome, weather that brainpower be resident between your ears, or between the collective ears of many in a group. However, it is also much deeper than that....
The “Twitter Pitch”
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) famously said "I do not have time to write you a short letter, so I have written you a long one". This statement is a pitch for twitter 100 years before it was conceived, as the sentiment of clarity through brevity is the same. Writing to...
A Private note to the chairman: or 6 reasons to quit.
It is always intriguing to get into a debate with one of my director peers about the way forward for an enterprise. Opinions vary, and the "chat" can become animated, as one did a few weeks ago. As a result, I jotted down a few points to email as a follow up,...