Ten years is a lifetime on the web. Look where we were ten tears ago and what we have today. Anyone or anything that has survived the changes of the last ten years is certainly older, has a few more wrinkles, has acquired some bad habits, unequivocally outlasted their competition, gained invaluable experience and should know everything there is to know up till now. Such is life for Facebook, the grandfather of all social media sites, celebrating ten years and looking to the future of social media with a maturity to admit there might be a few players worth their attention in the rear view mirror. Admitting to the competition and worrying about how close they really are in that rear view mirror are two different issues and Facebook continues to dominate the landscape, defying the need to be the latest and greatest.
Yet it seems despite one in seven people on the planet being on Facebook, naysayers are predicting a fall and theorising the frayed edges are caused by competition not yet out of puberty in online genealogy. Competition from Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, Tumblr and Instagram style sites, where Twitter at just past seven years old is considered an elder, are gaining popularity but still have a long way to catch the "old fella". LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter all combined, still don't have the monthly visitation that Facebook commands, so talk of a MySpace obscurity seem greatly exaggerated. As a famous Elvis Presley album cover once quoted, "50 million fans can't be wrong", showing a love for a music icon, so too do 900 million monthly visitors show their love for an online icon.
One of the advantages Facebook lords over the competition is its ability to mimic and copy the best of the web. It already has a Twitter of sorts woven into its new mobile APP and the introduction of "Paper" will give Facebookers a new version of itself that social analysts declare as better than the original, along with acquiring anything in their path, ala Instagram. This brings with it a generalist view of bringing and being everything to all everyone and when you have over 1.2 billion members, you need to have a helicopter view and be good at a lot of things, without being the current love or a niche trend.
This generalist view and being the globe's meeting point, leads to a ubiquity that Facebook carries over into online life, dominated by others of ubiquitous standing, such as Google, Amazon, YouTube and Wikipedia. It's hard to see masses straying from the above if they continue to innovate, imitate, acquire and stay engaged with the masses. So for all of the talk about wrinkles and slowing down, the ubiquitous nature of Facebook continues to defy the logic that online is all about change and the newest and shiniest grab the attention. While Wall Street will always look to the next great thing, the pillars of the online world continue to hold sway and have become entrenched as bench marks of "blue chip" investments.
I'm sure Mark Zuckerberg never thought he'd be a pillar of Wall Street or celebrate 10 years, sitting in that student accommodation at Harvard University. Happy Birthday Mark, enjoy the attention, you do deserve it, even if some are wanting to deny you the Birthday present of ubiquity.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Sunday, February 2, 2014
30,000 mornings.
I have a mantra that many of my friends and colleagues are aware of and it concerns the last ten minutes. I have lived long enough to have worked out, I can always earn another dollar but I can't get back the last ten minutes, so I had better spend it wisely, doing something I'm passionate about and spending it with the right people. This kind of thinking comes with tingles of mortality and wanting to leave more than a wisp of smoke at the end (too morbid?), it comes from self examination and having the ability to laugh at the in-congruencies of life and wondering if you shouldn't have achieved more but in the end having achieved more than you think. So how much time do you have left to spend with the right people and make a difference? With the average life expectancy around 80 years, you'll wake up to around 30,000 mornings but only about 24,000 mornings as an adult, where you have the ability and resources to decide if today is going to be a good day and if you're going to make a difference. How many of those mornings have you used to the best advantage?
I admit, where my 20s were concerned, a lot of those mornings slipped by without note, many without ever getting to greet the morning and many without making a speck of difference to anyone around me. The 30s turned into the me decade but from there I noticed a shift in thinking that wasn't about me at all. It seemed the world turned successfully without any interaction from me, in fact the daily news and the media seemed oblivious to anything I was doing. So I worked out it wasn't necessarily about the big things, the big changes, the global challenges where I had any influence, it was about the small things I could control, the small things I could change, the small things I could help others with. I wasn't going to rescue the Antarctic on the Sea Shepherd and I certainly wasn't going to alleviate global poverty with Sir Bob.
And that's the crux of thinking for many, do the little things that matter to others, one smile at a time, one handshake at a time, one relationship at a time. In the end it's easy to make a difference, be in the moment, be aware of others, put yourself in their shoes, work out how to spend that ten minutes wisely so you don't regret the time and along the way you'll discover a trail of influence you didn't know you had. Who knows who you may help and who knows what they'll accomplish? The worst you can do is give someone the confidence to keep going with a passion, that may lead to new imaginations, discoveries and knowledge that can be used and passed onto others to multiply into greatness.
It begs the question, what's left of your 30,000 mornings and what have you done with your last ten minutes?
I admit, where my 20s were concerned, a lot of those mornings slipped by without note, many without ever getting to greet the morning and many without making a speck of difference to anyone around me. The 30s turned into the me decade but from there I noticed a shift in thinking that wasn't about me at all. It seemed the world turned successfully without any interaction from me, in fact the daily news and the media seemed oblivious to anything I was doing. So I worked out it wasn't necessarily about the big things, the big changes, the global challenges where I had any influence, it was about the small things I could control, the small things I could change, the small things I could help others with. I wasn't going to rescue the Antarctic on the Sea Shepherd and I certainly wasn't going to alleviate global poverty with Sir Bob.
And that's the crux of thinking for many, do the little things that matter to others, one smile at a time, one handshake at a time, one relationship at a time. In the end it's easy to make a difference, be in the moment, be aware of others, put yourself in their shoes, work out how to spend that ten minutes wisely so you don't regret the time and along the way you'll discover a trail of influence you didn't know you had. Who knows who you may help and who knows what they'll accomplish? The worst you can do is give someone the confidence to keep going with a passion, that may lead to new imaginations, discoveries and knowledge that can be used and passed onto others to multiply into greatness.
It begs the question, what's left of your 30,000 mornings and what have you done with your last ten minutes?
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Fit to burst.
I like to run, it gets rid of the day's frustrations, keeps me fit (ish) and most important of all, let's me eat pizza whenever I want. Sometimes I need extra motivation, be that new shoes or apparel to get back out there and run some more. Sometimes I need more and recently it was in the form of wearable technology. The big deal in running and health for 2014 and beyond is wearable technology telling you how much you've achieved, how many steps you've taken, how many calories (all the technology is US based) you've burned, how many flights of stairs you've ascended and how well you've slept. Most of this is collated and sold by the main players, Fitbit, Nike, Jawbone and now a host of new entrants like Sony and LG, are looking to sell you technology for something you didn't know you needed, until that belt feels a little tight and that top button becomes constrictive.
The big markets for this technology, are Boomers and corporate types needing a dig to the love handles, to motivate movement away from the computer. Yet at anywhere from $130 to $150 a pop for a rubber wristband with Bluetooth connectivity, the outlay needs serious consideration as to whether this is another ab roller or rowing machine gathering dust in the garage or collapsed under the bed. As an early adopter on all things cool in technology I had to have one and invested in a Fitbit Force ( not yet available in Australia) and wore it proudly on my wrist while cruising the halls of corporate land. I had it set for the minimum 10,000 steps per day and showed off the digital display to anyone vaguely interested in why I was wearing this piece of black rubber. At times I felt like a Fitbit spruiker but whenever there was interest, purchase validation and motivation for continued use, rose in proportion with the lycra outfit worn by the questioner.
Once set up, tethered to my iPad and attached to my non dominant hand I couldn't stop watching my daily progress and gaining understanding of how difficult it is, to achieve 10,000 steps in a normal office environment. This spurred me to get up and walk around the room, making sure my arms were swinging by my side but the office was not big enough to accumulate the distances I had set for myself. This left only one option, the outside, to move around via a run, a walk to a sandwich shop at least 4 kilometres away or a vigorous session of rolling out pizza dough, which I found out one night, accumulated 500 steps.
The whole point of the wearable technology trend will be the recording of our daily lives, bringing into focus our shortcomings, thinking we are fitter than the guy sitting next to us at work, that the lunchtime stroll to the sandwich shop is enough and that 25 metre sprint for the train is a weekly speed workout. If nothing else, the drill Sargent attached to my wrist is pushing me hard, for the time being. Yet like all before them, the fitness bands, watches that follow and eventually that electronic T shirt, have a history, of dormant fitness rowers, TV treadmills and collapsible cycles to contend with, while adding the aggravating wrinkle of pointing out we haven't come close to any real exercise by rolling out the pizzas. Will there be drawers filled with wristbands in the future?
The big markets for this technology, are Boomers and corporate types needing a dig to the love handles, to motivate movement away from the computer. Yet at anywhere from $130 to $150 a pop for a rubber wristband with Bluetooth connectivity, the outlay needs serious consideration as to whether this is another ab roller or rowing machine gathering dust in the garage or collapsed under the bed. As an early adopter on all things cool in technology I had to have one and invested in a Fitbit Force ( not yet available in Australia) and wore it proudly on my wrist while cruising the halls of corporate land. I had it set for the minimum 10,000 steps per day and showed off the digital display to anyone vaguely interested in why I was wearing this piece of black rubber. At times I felt like a Fitbit spruiker but whenever there was interest, purchase validation and motivation for continued use, rose in proportion with the lycra outfit worn by the questioner.
Once set up, tethered to my iPad and attached to my non dominant hand I couldn't stop watching my daily progress and gaining understanding of how difficult it is, to achieve 10,000 steps in a normal office environment. This spurred me to get up and walk around the room, making sure my arms were swinging by my side but the office was not big enough to accumulate the distances I had set for myself. This left only one option, the outside, to move around via a run, a walk to a sandwich shop at least 4 kilometres away or a vigorous session of rolling out pizza dough, which I found out one night, accumulated 500 steps.
The whole point of the wearable technology trend will be the recording of our daily lives, bringing into focus our shortcomings, thinking we are fitter than the guy sitting next to us at work, that the lunchtime stroll to the sandwich shop is enough and that 25 metre sprint for the train is a weekly speed workout. If nothing else, the drill Sargent attached to my wrist is pushing me hard, for the time being. Yet like all before them, the fitness bands, watches that follow and eventually that electronic T shirt, have a history, of dormant fitness rowers, TV treadmills and collapsible cycles to contend with, while adding the aggravating wrinkle of pointing out we haven't come close to any real exercise by rolling out the pizzas. Will there be drawers filled with wristbands in the future?
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Bubblegum.
Music has many landscapes, some you never admit exploring unless you are in the privacy of your own home. Bubblegum music was such a landscape because it was a guilty pleasure of catchy choruses, infectious riffs, addictive melodies and goofy lyrics. No one ever admitted liking bubblegum music because it didn't have the cache of the starving artist honing their skills in the subways of New York or the underground of London, think "Clapton is god" scrawled across the tiles at Islington station in 1967. No one talked openly about the Archies, the Monkees or The Partridge Family, let alone the 1910 Fruitgum Company and this continues today, through to Hanson and The Backstreet Boys. Yet someone had to be listening, the Beatles were outsold by the Monkees in 1967, the year of the epiphanous Sgt Pepper and again in 1969 by the Archies, after Abbey Road and Let it Be were released. By 1997 Hanson with "In an mmm bop they're gone, Mmm bop, ba duba dop" had again fooled the music cognoscente by becoming a worldwide hit that know one owned up to listening to or owning.
Those guilty pleasures of singing bubblegum in the shower have today been taken over by furtive glances at the the iPhone or the tablet waiting for your time penalty to finish so that you can attempt the next level of Candy Crush or better still hurl an Angry Bird at a bunch of farm animals. Yes bubblegum has gone online and no matter what people say about the inanity of Fruit Ninjas, Bejewelled, Doodlejump or Berserker Stickman, millions of people are playing the games. In the privacy of their homes, in lunch breaks, while waiting for the bus, whenever there is a break in meetings, in the toilets but no one admits it. Angry Birds was the most downloaded APP on the web for nearly two years, more than Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Maps, and when you take in the various iterations like Angry Birds Rio and Angry Birds Seasons, the top ten looked not unlike the pop charts whenever a bubblegum song hit number one.
When the Monkees and The Partridge Family hit the small screen and Hanson hit MTV with the boys being pushed around in shopping trolleys, it wasn't about competing with the established music scene, it was about escape, smiling at their antics and leaving your credibility at the door. For how else were you meant to sing the choruses without guilt, why else would you spend your hard earned cash, if not to eat that most delicious of chocolates without worrying about the diet. For a three minute singalong or a fifteen minute diversion, depending on you skill level on Tetris, you can leave behind everything else and where you once had to just sit and daydream to lose yourself, some developer is now working on your next escape. Daydreams and delicious treats, you know are not good for you, have always been, in the end, good for you. "Hey hey, we're the Monkees".
Those guilty pleasures of singing bubblegum in the shower have today been taken over by furtive glances at the the iPhone or the tablet waiting for your time penalty to finish so that you can attempt the next level of Candy Crush or better still hurl an Angry Bird at a bunch of farm animals. Yes bubblegum has gone online and no matter what people say about the inanity of Fruit Ninjas, Bejewelled, Doodlejump or Berserker Stickman, millions of people are playing the games. In the privacy of their homes, in lunch breaks, while waiting for the bus, whenever there is a break in meetings, in the toilets but no one admits it. Angry Birds was the most downloaded APP on the web for nearly two years, more than Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Maps, and when you take in the various iterations like Angry Birds Rio and Angry Birds Seasons, the top ten looked not unlike the pop charts whenever a bubblegum song hit number one.
When the Monkees and The Partridge Family hit the small screen and Hanson hit MTV with the boys being pushed around in shopping trolleys, it wasn't about competing with the established music scene, it was about escape, smiling at their antics and leaving your credibility at the door. For how else were you meant to sing the choruses without guilt, why else would you spend your hard earned cash, if not to eat that most delicious of chocolates without worrying about the diet. For a three minute singalong or a fifteen minute diversion, depending on you skill level on Tetris, you can leave behind everything else and where you once had to just sit and daydream to lose yourself, some developer is now working on your next escape. Daydreams and delicious treats, you know are not good for you, have always been, in the end, good for you. "Hey hey, we're the Monkees".
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Unplugged.
Was a time this meant Eric Clapton on acoustic guitar, MTV getting a second go at rock guitarists without amps and pulling the cord from the kettle. Today the unplugged movement is about quiet, it's about no interruptions and it's about non contactability. Like the slow food movement, evoking long lunches under the Tuscan pines with unlimited vino, unplugged is all about taking back what has been taken away, time. Time taken up by the myriad of tech toys and applications overwhelming many to the point of exhaustion. Digital detoxing is a movement gaining focus for many who can't shake the need to turn off, not just the Angry Birds or Candy Crush but the work and social connections, that have become ubiquitous in our lives.
Used to be holidays and travel disconnected us all, with only the lonely postcard as a tether to home. Times have changed and today it's not about the physical freedom from work but the mental freedom to not feel obligation, to not feel the need to connect that finds people looking for WiFi free destinations. Once found the "cold turkey" of disconnect leaves many in a sweat thinking what others are saying about them on Facebook. As drastic as total escape sounds, there are other ways to ease into more control and it can start as easily as leaving your charger behind on a weekend trip, this will surely focus your energy on only the most important matters to conserve that all important battery.
If you can't unplug from your email list, can't resist tweeting, poking, liking, posting, instagraming, tagging, commenting or pinning, it begs the question about how self absorbed you are and how unconnected you are from real life? Unplugging relies on alternatives, you will have to talk with people, maybe shake hands, certainly have a discussion over a meal and maybe even have time to exercise, read a book and rejoin society. Ask yourself, "what's the worst that can happen, if I unplug for a while"? Maybe start with a morning or better still an afternoon, after all, research shows us 3pm is the lowest productivity period of the work day, so what are you doing online?
Why not show total commitment and your undivided attention and stop taking the phone into meetings, take your best friend at work to lunch and talk about your social life without referring to the social APPs and consider doing your body a favour with some exercise, it's much harder to answer the phone when you are out of breath? Why not steal a pen from office stationary and start prioritising the activities list giving you the most freedom from technology and try and integrate one each day.
Unplugged brought a whole new meaning to high octane rock and roll and it can mean as much if you can only turn off the automatic synch to Assassin's Creed, Clumsy Ninja or Bloomberg News and hide those gadgets for a while. To some it may be death, for others it may just be faking death but once you broadcast your intentions, you'll be surprised how many join you in your commitment. I'm not dead, I've just stopped tweeting for a while. :-)))
Used to be holidays and travel disconnected us all, with only the lonely postcard as a tether to home. Times have changed and today it's not about the physical freedom from work but the mental freedom to not feel obligation, to not feel the need to connect that finds people looking for WiFi free destinations. Once found the "cold turkey" of disconnect leaves many in a sweat thinking what others are saying about them on Facebook. As drastic as total escape sounds, there are other ways to ease into more control and it can start as easily as leaving your charger behind on a weekend trip, this will surely focus your energy on only the most important matters to conserve that all important battery.
If you can't unplug from your email list, can't resist tweeting, poking, liking, posting, instagraming, tagging, commenting or pinning, it begs the question about how self absorbed you are and how unconnected you are from real life? Unplugging relies on alternatives, you will have to talk with people, maybe shake hands, certainly have a discussion over a meal and maybe even have time to exercise, read a book and rejoin society. Ask yourself, "what's the worst that can happen, if I unplug for a while"? Maybe start with a morning or better still an afternoon, after all, research shows us 3pm is the lowest productivity period of the work day, so what are you doing online?
Why not show total commitment and your undivided attention and stop taking the phone into meetings, take your best friend at work to lunch and talk about your social life without referring to the social APPs and consider doing your body a favour with some exercise, it's much harder to answer the phone when you are out of breath? Why not steal a pen from office stationary and start prioritising the activities list giving you the most freedom from technology and try and integrate one each day.
Unplugged brought a whole new meaning to high octane rock and roll and it can mean as much if you can only turn off the automatic synch to Assassin's Creed, Clumsy Ninja or Bloomberg News and hide those gadgets for a while. To some it may be death, for others it may just be faking death but once you broadcast your intentions, you'll be surprised how many join you in your commitment. I'm not dead, I've just stopped tweeting for a while. :-)))
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Secrets, who cares?
My parents are concerned with privacy, my Dad riles at the fact so many companies have his name on a list and he receives mail, junk or otherwise from all directions. He thinks his privacy has been impinged and is scared of what it means to his future. Why do they know so much about me, is a typical question from his generation along with some of my friends who have similar concerns. Yet overall, the majority of people I talk to, don't care at all. Especially if we're not talking about trade secrets (think eleven herbs and spices) or financial information (think credit card theft), then generations Y and beyond, have no concern about everyone knowing everything. The social media storm that has infiltrated every corner of our lives gives great scope for snooping and I wondered if people were prepared to walk the talk and be as open as they say?
Straw polls from anyone under 35 and discussions with my nieces and nephews certainly give credence to the fact, no one cares about their secrets, in fact secrets seem blasé when anyone is online. With Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, loyalty programs, online shopping, tracking APPs, Google search et al, there are enough ways to find out information that used to be the domain of your family doctor, lawyer or Grandparents. It's not only Santa who knows if you've been naughty or nice, it's most everyone else. Yet there is no tidal wave of information flooding my emails on the secret lives of my friends and colleagues. There are no salacious accounts of wrong doings, no tattle tale accounts of secret journals with romantic details or life plans not eventuated, no reckonings of opportunities lost, past or foreboding and certainly no enlightenment or advantages to be had with any of this knowledge.
A discussion with a legal friend, lamented the "young" generation putting their employment livelihood under stress with Facebook posts that left nothing to the imagination. This is a short term legacy lament with no future, no future because the soon to be employers will be of the same generation, with the same Facebook posts, totally unconcerned. I realised after more discussions and random visits to online sites and communities what seems important to me is meaningless to others and vice versa. Past providing gossip, information important to me is most likely of no interest to anyone else, so why go to the trouble of keeping it so secret? My parents would argue, why go to the trouble of making it public?
As the social side of technology blurs into all aspects of business and life, we'll see an even more open environment regarding information once deemed private and personal and the attitudes that govern our thinking today will seem antiquated in the future. In fact it's too late to shut the gate but don't worry, I won't come snooping. You're stuff is private and it will stay that way because I honestly don't care, do you?
Straw polls from anyone under 35 and discussions with my nieces and nephews certainly give credence to the fact, no one cares about their secrets, in fact secrets seem blasé when anyone is online. With Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, loyalty programs, online shopping, tracking APPs, Google search et al, there are enough ways to find out information that used to be the domain of your family doctor, lawyer or Grandparents. It's not only Santa who knows if you've been naughty or nice, it's most everyone else. Yet there is no tidal wave of information flooding my emails on the secret lives of my friends and colleagues. There are no salacious accounts of wrong doings, no tattle tale accounts of secret journals with romantic details or life plans not eventuated, no reckonings of opportunities lost, past or foreboding and certainly no enlightenment or advantages to be had with any of this knowledge.
A discussion with a legal friend, lamented the "young" generation putting their employment livelihood under stress with Facebook posts that left nothing to the imagination. This is a short term legacy lament with no future, no future because the soon to be employers will be of the same generation, with the same Facebook posts, totally unconcerned. I realised after more discussions and random visits to online sites and communities what seems important to me is meaningless to others and vice versa. Past providing gossip, information important to me is most likely of no interest to anyone else, so why go to the trouble of keeping it so secret? My parents would argue, why go to the trouble of making it public?
As the social side of technology blurs into all aspects of business and life, we'll see an even more open environment regarding information once deemed private and personal and the attitudes that govern our thinking today will seem antiquated in the future. In fact it's too late to shut the gate but don't worry, I won't come snooping. You're stuff is private and it will stay that way because I honestly don't care, do you?
Saturday, December 28, 2013
What's a library?
I have a library at home, okay it's a large wall crammed with fiction, non fiction, coffee table and business books, CDs, DVDs, along with magazines I can't seem to throw out. I'm proud to have a library because it makes me look intelligent and when people come over, we occasionally discuss titles and I recommend and lend them books. I still buy books but nowhere near as many as I used to and that seems a shame to me, when I consider myself a reader. I used to think you needed to show the spoils of being a reader, a wall crammed with books, but today that wall has been replaced by infinite shelf space in the cloud and in cheap external hard drives available to all.
So now, if I tell you I'm a reader and say my books are in the cloud and you have to believe me as the library no longer becomes the evidence. You can't see the books, you can't touch the books but the lending part is certainly a lot easier. I am a reader but everything has changed in regards to my reading patterns as I rarely carry a single book to read cover to cover. I now have several open at the same time in my Kindle or iBook collection and I never lose my place but I certainly lose my train of thought regarding the linearity of reading front to back, one at a time.
My reading has become attuned to the technology available, that is, everything at once without a break. So I attack that challenge by using meta search engines such as Zite, Flipboard or Pulse, giving me sound bites of information covering everything without a break. I'm afraid my reading habits have changed, away from the library, changed to suit the large amount of information required on a daily basis when more than a single screen executive summary starts to become tedious, unless written in the most erudite style. Like Google search, I'm surprised if I scroll to the second page and if I think about that too much, it makes me sad because reading a single book at a time is not enough anymore. Certainly not, when you throw in the time constraints of today's business world and how much is expected when it comes to keeping up.
I walked past the state library recently and was dismayed to see the majority of people inside, not reading books but utilising the free WiFi. Maybe they were reading books online, but if they don't see the books inside will the libraries become a relic to the past, will they be designated buildings to house books showing how intelligent and forward thinking we used to be or is there hope print will survive. I now lament my Kris Kringle present of an iTunes card to be used for online books. Will my library end up in the cloud, no doubt but as a wise friend pointed out, does it matter as long as you keep reading?
So now, if I tell you I'm a reader and say my books are in the cloud and you have to believe me as the library no longer becomes the evidence. You can't see the books, you can't touch the books but the lending part is certainly a lot easier. I am a reader but everything has changed in regards to my reading patterns as I rarely carry a single book to read cover to cover. I now have several open at the same time in my Kindle or iBook collection and I never lose my place but I certainly lose my train of thought regarding the linearity of reading front to back, one at a time.
My reading has become attuned to the technology available, that is, everything at once without a break. So I attack that challenge by using meta search engines such as Zite, Flipboard or Pulse, giving me sound bites of information covering everything without a break. I'm afraid my reading habits have changed, away from the library, changed to suit the large amount of information required on a daily basis when more than a single screen executive summary starts to become tedious, unless written in the most erudite style. Like Google search, I'm surprised if I scroll to the second page and if I think about that too much, it makes me sad because reading a single book at a time is not enough anymore. Certainly not, when you throw in the time constraints of today's business world and how much is expected when it comes to keeping up.
I walked past the state library recently and was dismayed to see the majority of people inside, not reading books but utilising the free WiFi. Maybe they were reading books online, but if they don't see the books inside will the libraries become a relic to the past, will they be designated buildings to house books showing how intelligent and forward thinking we used to be or is there hope print will survive. I now lament my Kris Kringle present of an iTunes card to be used for online books. Will my library end up in the cloud, no doubt but as a wise friend pointed out, does it matter as long as you keep reading?
Sunday, December 8, 2013
The Great American Dream.
Recently, New York City issued extra taxi licences to alleviate the lack of yellow cabs, for it seemed waiting more than 30 seconds for a taxi, was starting to irritate many New Yorkers. So for the first time in 5 years, the city decided to give the best entry level job available, help by offering to increase the number of cabbies allowed on the streets. A New York cab was always seen as the "great American dream", where opportunities blossomed on the streets of Broadway and Madison Avenue via the people transported, the conversations had, the connections made and the eventual outcome of self employment and future fame. From Larry David, David Mamet, Danny Glover, Jimmy Smits and Paul Stanley from KISS, who drove cabs for a living, the yellow beasts have always been the entry level for immigrants and lower socio economic groups, hell bent on making it, because if they can make it here, they can make it anywhere.
The entrepreneurial spirit burns bright in the "Big Apple", as long as opportunities like driving a cab stay accessible. So it came as a surprise to many when the 200 licences were auctioned off for over $200,000,000, making them totally unattainable, for all but a few wealthy business people. For many social commentators and economic pundits, this heralded the end of the "great American dream", a dream based on the ability to start at the very bottom, with nothing, and rise to the top. For the cab drivers that meant, eventually owning the licence and becoming their own boss. Today it's about an exclusive club at the top and no ability to advance from the bottom.
Ten years ago, licences attracted all comers at $300,000, whereas this year some licences went for over $2,000,000 and the pool of investors did not include anyone invited to the United States as an immigrant, refugee or even locals pooling their dollars and looking to make something of themselves. So is this the end, is this where opportunities go to die, with greed preventing the entry level labour market from getting a foot in the door? Has big business finally won, have they crushed the desire to achieve, have they battered into submission the spirit of can do by eliminating another job for the common man?
Not if you ask the "man on the street" in any city in the US, the answer is most often No, with an exclamation mark. For if there is anything indomitable in the spirit of the citizens of the United States, it's the belief that no matter where you start from, no matter where you come from and no matter what obstacles lie in your way, the belief that anyone can rise to the top remains a core fundamental of their psyche.
We may dismiss the jingoistic patriotism and dogged enthusiasm living in the "lucky country" but as a general observation we haven't had the same desire to reach the top no matter what, for a long time. No wonder, with Credit Suisse reporting Australia as the second richest nation per capita wealth, our unemployment close to zero ( remembering 5% as zero according to economic theory), the dollar still in good shape, twenty two years of consecutive economic growth, miners now in production mode, meaning they'll get paid, the long weekend and "sickies" remaining as expectations and all accountability for any mishaps the responsibility of the government or someone other than ourselves. The above is a "Boomer" legacy and the following generations, especially "Ys" will encounter greater challenges so maybe the spirit of the great explorers, the man on the land getting by with bailing wire and know how, along with punching above our weight in bringing great innovation to the world will come to the fore again. I read with interest that taxi licenses in Victoria may soon cost as little as $35,000, now that's entry level for anyone wanting to make something of themselves.
The entrepreneurial spirit burns bright in the "Big Apple", as long as opportunities like driving a cab stay accessible. So it came as a surprise to many when the 200 licences were auctioned off for over $200,000,000, making them totally unattainable, for all but a few wealthy business people. For many social commentators and economic pundits, this heralded the end of the "great American dream", a dream based on the ability to start at the very bottom, with nothing, and rise to the top. For the cab drivers that meant, eventually owning the licence and becoming their own boss. Today it's about an exclusive club at the top and no ability to advance from the bottom.
Ten years ago, licences attracted all comers at $300,000, whereas this year some licences went for over $2,000,000 and the pool of investors did not include anyone invited to the United States as an immigrant, refugee or even locals pooling their dollars and looking to make something of themselves. So is this the end, is this where opportunities go to die, with greed preventing the entry level labour market from getting a foot in the door? Has big business finally won, have they crushed the desire to achieve, have they battered into submission the spirit of can do by eliminating another job for the common man?
Not if you ask the "man on the street" in any city in the US, the answer is most often No, with an exclamation mark. For if there is anything indomitable in the spirit of the citizens of the United States, it's the belief that no matter where you start from, no matter where you come from and no matter what obstacles lie in your way, the belief that anyone can rise to the top remains a core fundamental of their psyche.
We may dismiss the jingoistic patriotism and dogged enthusiasm living in the "lucky country" but as a general observation we haven't had the same desire to reach the top no matter what, for a long time. No wonder, with Credit Suisse reporting Australia as the second richest nation per capita wealth, our unemployment close to zero ( remembering 5% as zero according to economic theory), the dollar still in good shape, twenty two years of consecutive economic growth, miners now in production mode, meaning they'll get paid, the long weekend and "sickies" remaining as expectations and all accountability for any mishaps the responsibility of the government or someone other than ourselves. The above is a "Boomer" legacy and the following generations, especially "Ys" will encounter greater challenges so maybe the spirit of the great explorers, the man on the land getting by with bailing wire and know how, along with punching above our weight in bringing great innovation to the world will come to the fore again. I read with interest that taxi licenses in Victoria may soon cost as little as $35,000, now that's entry level for anyone wanting to make something of themselves.
Monday, October 14, 2013
It's mathematics.
Credibility is fragile, it takes a long time to achieve and it can vanish quickly if passed on to someone who doesn't abide by the trustworthiness and expertise associated with the originator. How often have you seen people put forward for positions and introductions made, where they don't appreciate the credibility associated with the person introducing them and in turn scrape off a layer of credentials the person doing the introductions, has worked so long to accomplish. So what is the relationship of the introduction and who should you trust with your credibility?
As our friends at Wikipedia are quick to point out, "credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise, which both have objective and subjective components. Trustworthiness is based more on subjective factors, but can include objective measurements such as established reliability. Expertise can be similarly subjectively perceived, but also includes relatively objective characteristics of the source or message."
So you need to make a pitch, convey an idea, get a job, build a network or find the right information but you need to get to the right people to fulfil this objective, how do you do it by yourself? Certainly Google comes into the equation for the next generations as online plays such a large part of their ecosystem, but nothing surpasses the credibility attached to someone introducing you in their behalf, with all the extras that entails. To be introduced by someone of standing, who has a history of plausibility and believability based on their experiences and how they have conducted themselves in business and in life goes a long way to establishing you as someone with similar affinities.
In the maths world this is called transitive property and can be explained via Xs and Ys but simply put, A has credibility with B and B has credibility with C then A has credibility with C, showing the power an introduction by B has on the future relationship. The stronger the credibility between A and B, and the stronger the credibility between B and C, the stronger the credibility between A and C. The closer the relationship you have with the person providing the introduction, the closer the relationship you have with the person you are being introduced to. Many sociologists call this "borrowed credibility" and as the word borrowed would suggest, you should consider the ramifications of this gift is not being revered and finding ways to reciprocate, for you have only appropriated trustworthiness for a short time. So the dilemma is constant, your acknowledgement, your character and your reputation brittle in the hands of others.
The dichotomy in all of this, are the people who never ever concern themselves with the prospect of having their credibility at risk, who are always at the ready to give of their veracity and who make time for others to help build relationships that count. If you are lucky enough to know someone like this, then you have the world at your feet, you have a resource that can't be bought and you have boundless opportunities to find the best possible people for your future, but you already knew that.
As our friends at Wikipedia are quick to point out, "credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise, which both have objective and subjective components. Trustworthiness is based more on subjective factors, but can include objective measurements such as established reliability. Expertise can be similarly subjectively perceived, but also includes relatively objective characteristics of the source or message."
So you need to make a pitch, convey an idea, get a job, build a network or find the right information but you need to get to the right people to fulfil this objective, how do you do it by yourself? Certainly Google comes into the equation for the next generations as online plays such a large part of their ecosystem, but nothing surpasses the credibility attached to someone introducing you in their behalf, with all the extras that entails. To be introduced by someone of standing, who has a history of plausibility and believability based on their experiences and how they have conducted themselves in business and in life goes a long way to establishing you as someone with similar affinities.
In the maths world this is called transitive property and can be explained via Xs and Ys but simply put, A has credibility with B and B has credibility with C then A has credibility with C, showing the power an introduction by B has on the future relationship. The stronger the credibility between A and B, and the stronger the credibility between B and C, the stronger the credibility between A and C. The closer the relationship you have with the person providing the introduction, the closer the relationship you have with the person you are being introduced to. Many sociologists call this "borrowed credibility" and as the word borrowed would suggest, you should consider the ramifications of this gift is not being revered and finding ways to reciprocate, for you have only appropriated trustworthiness for a short time. So the dilemma is constant, your acknowledgement, your character and your reputation brittle in the hands of others.
The dichotomy in all of this, are the people who never ever concern themselves with the prospect of having their credibility at risk, who are always at the ready to give of their veracity and who make time for others to help build relationships that count. If you are lucky enough to know someone like this, then you have the world at your feet, you have a resource that can't be bought and you have boundless opportunities to find the best possible people for your future, but you already knew that.
Monday, October 7, 2013
The Actors Studio.
Watching James Lipton discuss in depth, the best interviews of the past 250 episodes of the "Actors Studio", got me thinking about the acting and special effects that go on in the business world. Lipton talked about the best episodes being where actors showed their real selves, took off their day job masks and revealed who they really were and what they stood for. They were episodes where true emotion got the better of the actors and people were able to see their authentic inner persona. Our expectation is for actors, to wear a mask, stay in character, be a personality, not show their inner self, work with the facades put up by the special effects people and be someone selling a product based on make believe, for them it's a job.
In the business world it should be the opposite, people should show their true personality at every opportunity, never wear a mask, never hide behind the facade of a product and be authentic in their relationships. I don't have to think too hard, to come up with many examples where this is not the case and business is done from behind masks and using special effects, so as not to show the truth behind the curtain.
The digital business world is often closer to Hollywood than it is to the corporate work life, giving people the ability to be actors in their own movie, selling and hawking their wares behind facades created to influence decisions, decisions not based on reality.
It's rare to see behind the curtain in the digital world and rarer still to find the person behind the website, the forum or the blog. The anonymity provided by the web, gives people the ability to play many characters, most of them make believe and this has contributed to the search for truth and integrity online. Something that's missing if you've ever been scammed, hoodwinked or defrauded in any way.
The corporate boardroom is no different and sees Shakespeare acted out each day as kings and CEOs are tumbled, company cultures become the stuff of theatre and egos grow to engulf the unwary player. How often have you heard the term "player" referring to those aspiring and climbing the corporate ladder, how often have you seen the real face of people once they have accomplished their deeds and how often have you felt yourself caught up in a Greek tragedy at work. From the costumes worn, Hugo Boss or Armani, to the cars driven, Porshe or BMW, the watches worn, Breitling or TAG, and the many accoutrements required to play the role effectively, today's business is often seen hiding behind the stuff of theatre.
When you find business people who have divested themselves of the greasepaint and costumes, you are often surprised by the honesty of products and services that previously you doubted and had reservations about. Like the slow food revolution, realism in business is becoming a force and people are searching out the "real" in people so they don't have to read the end credits to find out who they were dealing with. Maybe the analogy is to stay in documentary mode when doing business, at least that way no one is in Oscar mode hiding behind a script.
In the business world it should be the opposite, people should show their true personality at every opportunity, never wear a mask, never hide behind the facade of a product and be authentic in their relationships. I don't have to think too hard, to come up with many examples where this is not the case and business is done from behind masks and using special effects, so as not to show the truth behind the curtain.
The digital business world is often closer to Hollywood than it is to the corporate work life, giving people the ability to be actors in their own movie, selling and hawking their wares behind facades created to influence decisions, decisions not based on reality.
It's rare to see behind the curtain in the digital world and rarer still to find the person behind the website, the forum or the blog. The anonymity provided by the web, gives people the ability to play many characters, most of them make believe and this has contributed to the search for truth and integrity online. Something that's missing if you've ever been scammed, hoodwinked or defrauded in any way.
The corporate boardroom is no different and sees Shakespeare acted out each day as kings and CEOs are tumbled, company cultures become the stuff of theatre and egos grow to engulf the unwary player. How often have you heard the term "player" referring to those aspiring and climbing the corporate ladder, how often have you seen the real face of people once they have accomplished their deeds and how often have you felt yourself caught up in a Greek tragedy at work. From the costumes worn, Hugo Boss or Armani, to the cars driven, Porshe or BMW, the watches worn, Breitling or TAG, and the many accoutrements required to play the role effectively, today's business is often seen hiding behind the stuff of theatre.
When you find business people who have divested themselves of the greasepaint and costumes, you are often surprised by the honesty of products and services that previously you doubted and had reservations about. Like the slow food revolution, realism in business is becoming a force and people are searching out the "real" in people so they don't have to read the end credits to find out who they were dealing with. Maybe the analogy is to stay in documentary mode when doing business, at least that way no one is in Oscar mode hiding behind a script.
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