A Study of Contrasts

So the rumor mill has started.. Mark Hurd - New CEO of HP?? If it is the case, I can only imagine what must be going through his mind..

First of all, he has spent the past 23 years working for NCR Corporation.. you know the automated teller / cash register people... oh ya.. 'un-distruptable' technology...

NCR's 2004 revenue - 5.98 Billion.. Total employees.. 28,000

However, compare that to HP... 82 Billion, and 150,000 employees... their slogan - invent...

Talk about a contrast...

They (WSJ) say Mr. Hurd's success comes from with his keen ability to make cuts and reduce costs... yup.. just what a creative, progressive company needs... less play time, more walls, and no toys... good luck Mark...if you see him, buy him a copy of Orbiting the Giant Hairball... it should do the trick.

Have you met Craig..

Well, this is one of those cases where I am one of the last to know..

Do you know Craig? Craig Newmark? He runs a little site called craigslist.org.

This is a person to person sales site. According to Google, his page rank is equal to eBay, globeandmail.com, and wikipedia.org.

Think eBay minus the whole payment, barter, and shipping hassle. Articles ranging from clothing, to cars are sorted by city, from Anchorage to Auckland.

Talk about a Free Prize!

Yesterday, I bought something from a guy in a 2000 dollar suit, who drives a brand new Porche 911. I met him, made a friend, and got the item I wanted.

So, to elaborate on my Free Prize thought.. remove the hassle, make it personal, and give me exactly what I need.. in my own neighbourhood.

Thanks Craig...

Choice is great...

... if you're the customer.

Yesterday, as you may have heard General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner Jr. announced that GM was on a slippery slope, and that is was going to have a huge problem by the end of 2005.

From BusinessWeek :

"We have to address some long-standing fundamental problems with the company."

He does -- and fast. It's becoming painfully obvious that Wagoner's four-year-old strategy of using rebates to grab market share and generate cash has failed. Company insiders say the 52-year-old CEO is getting heat from the board, and some mid-level managers are losing faith the top brass will make the bold moves needed to execute a quick turnaround. Without a dramatic rebound in sales -- an unlikely prospect anytime soon -- GM may be forced to shrink the company to a size that more closely matches its diminished market share.

Wagoner may have to go back to the United Auto Workers to get concessions to trim his workforce and lower health-care costs. He will also have to squarely face a dilemma that has haunted GM for years: Can it really continue to support eight competing divisions? "GM is simply too big," says Sean McAlinden, chief economist at the Center for Automotive Research. "They have to shrink."

Yes, once again size is not a strategy.. and it is not the big that eat the small, it is the fast that eat the slow...


Nissan - 2 Brands
Volkswagen - 2 Brands
Honda - 2 Brands
Hyundai - 2 Brands
Toyota - 3 Brands
Daimler Chrysler - 3 Brands

Ford - 8 Brands
GM - 12 Brands

Last year, I posted regarding the demise of Oldsmobile. Which brand(s) will be next...

This morning, I'm going to pop into our corporate library.. and brush up on Fast, Focused and Flexible...

Penny for your thoughts?

More like $450 million for your thoughts?

Research in Motion reached a settlement with a patent holder yesterday to the tune of 450 million dollars. If you don't believe in the power of ideas.. take warning.

Starting now.. practically the end of Q1 make a new column on your balance sheet.. the value of your organization's human, and intellectual capital.

And.. in light of Mr. Ebbers' recent troubles.. you might want to be honest about its value...

Welcome to the idea revolution...

Country Creep

It's amazing. I read everything.. hold on, that's not amazing.. I read about amazing things. Recently, I've posted about the BRIC's (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and their influence on kicking North America in the teeth.

Yesterday, I read courtesy of the BBC that Singapore has overtaken the US as the top country for the use of information and communication technology. Yes, world superpower - Singapore.

What an amazing concept. Ain't globalization great?

While I was in highschool, a kid in my class was learning Japanese, as, at the time it was THE business language. A couple of years ago, I considered taking up Hindi... These days I can't keep up with the countries coming out of the woodwork...

How are you modifying your offerings to this new world? I bought a new TV, right from China, it was cheaper than Amazon.

是时间。

Будет временем.

Es tiempo.

Catch us if you can....

The world is moving faster and faster.. everyone is connected.. don't believe me?? Yesterday, SONY announced Howard Stringer as their new CEO. This morning, I received news alert emails from BusinessWeek, Fast Company, and the Globe and Mail each with full articles on the story...

Sure, sure.. yes the news happens every day.. whoopie...

My point is the fact that the blog circuit was loaded with rich third level conversations surrounding the story, discussing things like the fact that Mr. Stringer doesn't speak Japanese...

So, step back for a second.. imagine how fast news of your latest product will travel. What if the news isn't so flattering.. what then...

Here's the kicker.. your customers don't trust you.. they trust us.. their friends. There are hundreds of 'friends' out there, and only one of you. Yikes...2 years of R&D can be wiped out in 2 seconds...

If you take nothing from this but one thing let it be this. To prove connectivity a unique project is wrapping up. The project is called 100 Bloggers.. The premise is simple, Jon Strande of Business Evolutionist fame compiled a list of 25 of his favourite bloggers, and asked them to write a chapter of a book. Each chapter is then passed on to a blogger of the original blogger's choice, and then again 2 more times, for a total of 100 bloggers. Fascinating eh?

We're connected, we're moving fast... keep up....

Roll over Rumplestiltskin

I'm a fairly graphic guy.. yes, in other words, I like pretty pictures. I think it helps.. sure, there are talented writers that can paint a picture in your mind using words alone however there are only a few writers of that caliber out there, and on the other hand most of us don't have the time anyway...

So, while checking out Incite by Design, I came across a fantastic new blog 'Fouroboros'...

Anyway, in line with my fascination with organizations that create intelligent pictorial representations of their thoughts, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoy their take on the periodic table...



To see a copy of this in LARGE format, click here.

If you see anything as cool as this, be sure to let me know.

You Can't Go Back...

This past Saturday night, I rented a DVD. It was the first time in months that I have. Usually, my wife has the opportunity to drop the disks off when we rent them, so it has been much longer since I've had the pleasure to accompany her on the trip. We will never get those 30 minutes back. Not to mention the slush, the frustration, the difficulty realizing that the parking lot was behind the building, however the return slot was on the front of the building. Oh and did I mention that this was yesterday... 3 days later.. so I had to worry that I was incurring late fees...?

Flash back to Saturday morning. While having brunch at friends' house, I was told of their overwhelmingly positive experience with zip.ca a DVD by mail service which provides the DVD's you want in your mailbox, complete with postage paid return envelopes.. no late fees, so slush... just drop it in the mailbox at the office when we're through with it, and they send us the next film on our list.. brilliant.

My point, it's amazing to experience the future and the past within hours of each other. If you're smart, you'll move your business to the future before your competitors...Talk about a Blue Ocean Strategy.

Can you dig it?

"I've got this recording of Charlie Parker, you've got to hear it, I mean seriously once you hear this, you will feel this man..."

"Ok, but wait until tomorrow, I have this bootleg of Stan Getz that will make you cry it is so good.."

"I can hardly wait, I love how that man's sound it so full, so rich.."

This was the discussion I overheard on the subway last night. This was a discussion between two 15 year old guys that currently attend my former high school. These are students in the Claude Watson School for the Arts.

What an amazing coincidence that yesterday I was beefing up our corporate library and bought an article from Harvard Business School Press entitled Managers and Leaders: Are they Different. The reason I bought it was the tag line:

Business Leaders have much more in common

with artists than they do with managers.

So go back and analyze the conversation and you find key words that should be mandatory in every business: "feel" "cry it is so good" and "love"...

What are you doing at Schulich or Rotman when you should be at OCAD or Julliard.

Organizations of today need passion, emotion, and energy. They need creativity, artistry, and zeal. Too many organizations are fat with 'managers' ... hire a starving artist.

Tom Peters is right: MFA is the new MBA.

Ya dig?