Archive for August, 2008
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 31 Aug 2008, 3:06 PM - 4 Comments
Liz Strauss has a Labor Day Link Love story fest going on. I am more than happy to participate in this writing exercise. Thanks for this Liz and here is my entry. I have linked to several of my favorite books (and my book 
) in the story.
The Journey
I had The Chicken Soup for Entrepreneur’s Soul , but I was looking for The Art of the Start. An adventure was in order.
A couple of galaxies down and one nebula over, I entered The Leadership Challenge . I saw Tom Peters and Guy Kawasaki making a Chris Brogan list with about 50 ways to Re-Imagine .
Nearby Brad Feld was Presenting to Win and was Drawing on the Back of the Napkin and had just found the Flow .
Meanwhile, some Wild Women Entrepreneurs were wandering aimlessly and asking, “Has anyone found an Invincibelle ?”
No one seemed to notice the group in a candlelit corner. Dressed in black, in cognito, Tribes held a rendezvous with Citizen Marketers , and ProBloggers . Rumor has it they were plotting to be Predictably Irrational.
The meeting of folks from The Dream Society broke into conflict with The New Influencers over a Purple Cow. That seemed HUGE until they found The Wisdom of the Crowds and 10 Ways to Make It Great .
Liz Strauss couldn’t shut up about that The One Thing You Need to Know. As a result, two thousand people decide to Never Eat Alone, Eat, Pray, Love, and we heard Fierce Conversations for days after.
Cynthia Kersey reported that, “It’s simply Unstoppable”
My own perspective is to life a Life Beyond Code.
Have a great Labor Day all of you.
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 31 Aug 2008, 1:46 PM - 2 Comments
Received this via email from Timo and Raj at Heartwood Studios (originally via Vinay Khandpur in India). I called it “The Grass Dilemma” and it is a quick quiz on Business Ethics
The Grass Dilemma (as posed by Vinay Khandpur)
I am from India and it is considered holy to feed a cow! (I don’t know why and that is not important for us now)
Close to my office, everyday i find a lady selling grass bunches for less than 50 cents each. Interestingly she has her cow tied beside her!
Thus a buyer of grass would feed her cow by default..(It is not that easy otherwise to find a cow close to Bombay Stock Exchange).
I wonder thinking of this business model. Anyways she has to feed her cow, she has not only found someone to feed her cow free, but she is making margins on selling the grass as well!
Irony is that every buyer knows that the cow belongs to her, but they still buy grass from her to feed it !
Translating it in simple terms, the question is what she is doing good business ethics?
My take:
I am looking at what others are thinking on this. Since I do want to take a stand (not hover on the fence) here is what I think:
I think she is a smart business woman. Since the buyer knows that the cow belongs to her there is nothing really wrong with what she is doing. She is keeping everything transparent. If someone has a problem with her business model or tactics, they can avoid getting into a transaction with her.
Thanks Vinay, Timo and Raj for allowing me to post this on Life Beyond Code.
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Sat 30 Aug 2008, 9:08 AM - 3 Comments
Thanks to so many of you who sent me emails about my new manifesto on ChangeThis titled “Mini Sagas: Bite Sized Lessons for Life and Business” Here are some sightings for the manifesto in the blogosphere. Thanks to all these wonderful people who are helping to spread the message. It means a lot to me.
Note: A mini saga is a story told in exactly 50 words. Not 49 or 51 but exactly 50.
Here are the sightings (in no particular order)
Stephen (from New Zealand) at Storyboards picked up on the theme that constraints define the form
Matt Williams at Ramblings picked up on the theme that creativity loves contraints
David Zinger at Slacker Manager loved the mini sagas and started a new thread about Management Mini Sagas
TP Wire Service highlighted the story on August 7, 2008
Michelle at Juiced on Writing suggested how to use photos and mini sagas as prompts for writing.
Howard Mann recommended the manifesto on The Business Brickyard blog
Doug Johnson at The Blue Skunk Blog found this interesting and wrote a mini saga of his own.
Krishna De featured the manifesto on her Social Media Weekly Digest
Nissan Dookeran at Redditech Blog 2.0 talks about one of the mini sagas that made him think about his decision to change his job
Mike Kanazawa at Big Ideas to Big Results looks at constraints in a corporate strategy setting
Thanks to all of you!
Posted under Main Page.
By Rajesh Setty on Fri 29 Aug 2008, 4:00 AM - Leave Comment
Background:
This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series.
Quought = Question that provokes thought!
The question I asked thought leaders and my very smart friends is:
What is ONE question that you wish someone had asked you when you were young? And, Why?
I will be posting answers (which will be Quoughts) one by one.This one is from Mike Kanazawa
Michael Kanazawa, chief executive of Dissero Partners, serves as a business advisor to executives on the topics of corporate transformation, strategy, business execution and leadership.
He is also co-author of BIG Ideas to BIG Results (FT Press / Pearson Hall – 2008)
He has worked with organizations including Silicon Valley start-ups, private equity investors and global corporations, such as AT&T, Anadigics, Intel, PG&E, Schlumberger, Symantec, and Verizon
.
Mike’s Quought
Why wait?
Mike’s reason for choosing that Quought
We spend so much time building ourselves up with education and titles to bring our ideas into the world, when all along much of our power to influence the world was already there. This holds true at all stages of life.
More from Mike:
1. http://www.gobignetwork.com/wil/
2. http://blog.guykawasaki.com/
3. www.bigideastobigresults.com
Posted under Quought for the Day.
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 28 Aug 2008, 4:00 AM - 3 Comments
Background:
This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series.
Quought = Question that provokes thought!
The question I asked thought leaders and my very smart friends is:
What is ONE question that you wish someone had asked you when you were young? And, Why?
I will be posting answers (which will be Quoughts) one by one.This one is from Liz Strauss
Liz Strauss has worked over 20 years in print, software, and online publishing, and strategized with publishers in Europe, Australia, the UK, and Ireland. Her blog, Liz Strauss at Successful-Blog has been called both a destination and an event. She has worked with entrepreneurs, small businesses, companies in crisis, and corporate giants to uncover the high-touch connections that make business relationships long-lasting and unforgettably positive. Liz led the vision behind last year’s SOBCon07 — THE Relationship Bloggers’ Conference that gained the attention of BusinessWeek, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Innovation Initiative of the Kellogg School of Business.
Liz’ Quought
“When you look back on your life on that very last day, what sentence do you hope people will use to describe it?”
Liz’ reason for choosing that Quought
I wish someone would have asked me that question, so that I would have learned to ask it of myself sooner. It’s a question that puts us fully in charge of our own path. In that small group of words, what my parents did, what the kids in school said, what my teachers might have written or my colleagues might have conjured about who I am or who I was falls into context. I am left with living up to my own truth, to what only I might know.
The question is filled with potential, responsibilitiy and choice. It bringsd home the fact that, though we cannot control what happens to us, we always have a choice in how we respond.
More about Liz:
1. Change the World: One World-Sized Idea
Posted under Quought for the Day.
By Rajesh Setty on Wed 27 Aug 2008, 4:00 AM - Leave Comment
Background:
This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series.
Quought = Question that provokes thought!
The question I asked thought leaders and my very smart friends is:
What is ONE question that you wish someone had asked you when you were young? And, Why?
I will be posting answers (which will be Quoughts) one by one.This one is from Dave Taylor
Dave Taylor has been involved with the Internet since 1980, has written twenty business and technical books, launched four startups, and is widely considered a leader in the social marketing and blogging universe.
He has a Masters in Education and an MBA and current acts as a strategic marketing consultant to companies large and small.
Dave’s Quought
Are you keeping the big picture in mind?
Dave’s reason for choosing that Quought
As you travel through life, the day-to-day vicissitudes have a way of taking your attention off the long term goal, your “mission”, if you will. We all have to deal with our daily lives, but what I constantly wrestle with is the bigger picture, the ability to see beyond the trivial and mundane and understand how what I’m doing will impact myself, my family, my community and the world at large. Being able to remain conscious of these larger issues is a wonderful way to stay aware and maximize your joy and sense of accomplishment.
More about Dave:
1. http://www.intuitive.com/blog/ <– The Business Blog @ Intuitive.com
2. http://www.askdavetaylor.com/ <– Tech Support at Ask Dave Taylor
3. http://www.APparenting.com/ <– The Attachment Parenting Blog
4. http://twitter.com/FilmBuzz <– (sneak peek) FilmBuzz: Movie News for a
Mobile World
Posted under Quought for the Day.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 26 Aug 2008, 4:00 AM - Leave Comment
Background:
This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series.
Quought = Question that provokes thought!
The question I asked thought leaders and my very smart friends is:
What is ONE question that you wish someone had asked you when you were young? And, Why?
I will be posting answers (which will be Quoughts) one by one.This one is from Stephen Shapiro
During his 15-year tenure with the international consulting firm Accenture, Stephen developed and delivered innovation training to over 20,000 consultants. In 2001 he left the management consulting world to write his first book, “24/7 Innovation: A Blueprint for Surviving and Thriving in an Age of Change” (McGraw-Hill). Drawing on his corporate expertise, Shapiro expanded on his innovative concepts to counsel on how individuals can realize their full potential with less effort and more personal satisfaction. Thus, his second book, “Goal Free Living: How to Have the Life You Want NOW!” (Wiley) was conceived, quickly becoming the #1 Amazon.com “Business Motivation” best seller and the subject of a cover story in “O, The Oprah Magazine.” His latest concept is the fun and educational “Innovation Personality Poker.” He has been featured in Newsweek, Investor’s Business Daily, The New York Times, and The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.
Steve’s Quought
What matters most?
Steve’s reason for choosing that Quought
There are two reasons for choosing this Quought:
1) Einstein once said, “If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it.” From my personal experience, most people (and organizations) spend 60 minutes finding solutions to problems that don’t matter. So relevance is one aspect of “what matters most.”
2) Recently, I have been asking myself, “Is what I do significant?” I know my work changes organizations. And I like to believe that it also changes lives. But is the change significant? Lately I have been restless. I think the reason is that I want greater significance in my life.
More about Steve:
1) Blog/Website: www.24-7innovation.com
2) Latest Book: The Little Book of BIG Innovation Ideas
3) Product: Innovation Personality Poker
Posted under Quought for the Day.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 25 Aug 2008, 9:47 PM - Leave Comment
When you are at the beginning of your career, you really work hard and for all that effort the “real value” that you add may not be that significant.
This may not be a problem as people know that you are just “starting.”
As you learn and become better at your job, it takes less effort to “do” your job and you can start creating more value with less effort. In other words you start becoming “efficient.”
Yes, when you start getting comfortable with your job you may get bored and get another job. That’s a possibility. However, in the new job, you are “new” so again it takes a bit of effort to create value demanded by the job.
In an ideal scenario, as your career progresses, the effort required to deliver value should keep dropping or the value delivered for the same effort should keep going up.
However, there is a small catch.
With your experience, the expectation of the value that you will create is also going up. Unless you build enough “power”, you will very soon notice that you have to work “extra hard” to match the expectations of the job. Nobody will be happy if you created the value that is created by a novice when you have are a veteran. It won’t even be called an accomplishment.
The more knowledge you acquire, the more you realize that you need to acquire more knowledge. However, without leverage (higher output for lower input) there is no time for you to acquire the knowledge. So for the benefit of your organization and for your own benefit, you need to watch the effort-value curve.
So the big questions are:
1. Where are you today on this curve?
2. What can you do to move to a better place on this curve?
==========
Note 1: For links to the other 192 entries in the “Distinguish yourself” series, please visit my Squidoo lens on the same topic:
Squidoo Lens: Distinguish yourself
Note 2: The first 25 entries in the series have been packaged in a ChangeThis manifesto that was published on September 07, 2005. You can download that manifesto here:
ChangeThis Manifesto: 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself (PDF, Free)
Note 3: My latest manifesto on ChangeThis was published on August 6, 2008. This is a photographic manifesto featuring 15 of my mini sagas (stories in exactly 50 words). Here is the link:
ChangeThis Manifesto: Mini Sagas – Bite Sized Lessons for Life and Business (PDF, Free)
Posted under Distinguish yourself.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 25 Aug 2008, 4:00 AM - Leave Comment
Background:
This is part of the Quought for the Day – 2008 Series.
Quought = Question that provokes thought!
The question I asked thought leaders and my very smart friends is:
What is ONE question that you wish someone had asked you when you were young? And, Why?
I will be posting answers (which will be Quoughts) one by one.This one is from Jack Hayhow
Jack Hayhow is founder and “Chief Executive Servant” of Opus, a company dedicated to creating “training people like to take”. Since 1990, Opus has broken the mold of typical corporate training with productions that are as entertaining as they are effective. Today, Opus training programs are used in tens of thousands of businesses and approximately 25% of all public schools.
Jack has been described as a “chronic learner” and is compelled by his passion for helping people and companies improve performance where it matters most. He is the author of dozens of training programs including: The Foundation of Management, Reward and Recognition, Time Management for Managers, Coaching for Performance, and To Be a Leader.
Jack’s Quought
Do you know what makes you happy?
Rock’s reason for choosing that Quought
The question is a challenge to growth – it is profound and deceptively difficult. It requires an understanding of what happiness is (in my experience a combination of contentment, fulfillment, satisfaction and pleasure) AND a self-knowledge that requires real introspection and effort. Finally, it’s my number one question because happiness is not frivolous or self-indulgent as is often believed – it is one of the most important aspects of life.
More about Jack:
1. Jack Hayhow’s website
2. Jack’s Blog
3. Jack’s Company – Opus Training
Posted under Quought for the Day.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 24 Aug 2008, 11:01 PM - 6 Comments
It is interesting to note that long ago Netflix ignited the change in the way DVD rental market worked.
Netflix model was simple and the core still continues to be the same. For a flat monthly fee, you can rent as many DVDs as possible and you can keep them for as long as you want. Depending on your plan, you could have as little as 1 DVD or as much as 5 DVDs with you.
It seemed like there is no stopping for Netflix.
Today, I think the playing field is changing again. While Netflix continues to enjoy the advantage of their innovation, it is now being attacked by a number of players. Here is the list of companies that are not allies but each one of them are trying to take a piece of the market.
1. Blockbuster: Has an offline and online strategy. You can rent online and return offline. Netflix cannot do it unless it has an offline presence. Plus, Blockbuster dropped the rental fee for old movies to $1 for five days
2. RedBox: Redbox has installed kiosks in several supermarkets and MacDonalds stores. The focus of Redbox is to rent only the latest 100 movies or so for $1/day.
3. Hulu and Other Online Venues: Watch movies totally free
Add to this the Cable Networks and Digital Video Recorders (like TiVo) and there is a battle zone in the making.
I am sure there are more innovations coming up. This is a case where whoever innovates first and fast will ultimately win. Will wait and watch
Posted under Business Models, Innovation.
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