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Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Tuesday morning...how to tell someone how they are doing
2007-06-26 10:51:00
One management task I have seen time and again poorly handled is giving feedback to team members, my wife's boss (as a poor example) uses the shot gun approach, load up, don't aim , fire at the whole team, hoping that he will get the message across to the one or two individuals that he has the problem with. I am sure many of you have seen that approach, it does not work, the targets hide behind the cannon fodder who in turn just get upset with the boss and it all back fires, and reduces his ability to be effective in his role. I have pulled together some thoughts on how to approach this task, and as your company grows, you will need to give feedback, either positive or negative, look on it as small corrections to the companies direction, or small boosts to speed, bad feedback can kill momentum for a while, so do it well , and do it with a the person in mind, not a gun fight at the OK Coral, set the scene, do it without pomp and circumstance, feedback is not praise so should not be...
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Peak Performance and getting there in business or sport (6)
2007-06-25 16:10:00
.....Continuing from the last post, I have come to the last part of the model to improve performance.....Step 5: Recognition and CelebrationGive recognition where it is due, and give it in measure to what has been achieved, and celebrate major events in the companies progress. The means of recognition should be thought about, there are better ways than handing out money.RegardsGordonThe daily challenges of an Entrepreneur living in Central Scotland
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Peak Performance and getting there in business or sport (5)
2007-06-22 15:24:00
Peak Performance and getting there in business or sport4. Individual AchievementPart 4 of the plan or route to peak performance of the team, is the use of good solid performance management designed to improve individual achievement in an organization. When a performance management system is successful, employees are able to attain virtually all their performance goals, which lead to successful business outcome. Performance management is the systematic process of monitoring the results of activities and collecting and analyzing performance information to track progress toward planning results. Performance management uses performance information to inform and program decision-making and resource allocation. The main objective is to communicate results achieved, or not attained, to advance organizational learning. The success in a persons individual performance and improvement will benefit the team and the organizationRegards GordonThe daily challenges of an Entrepreneur ...
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Peak Performance and getting there in business or sport (4)
2007-06-21 17:04:00
I will post an article I picked up from Rob Smorfitt, have a look at his blog for starting businesses in South Africa, this is to support part 4 of the plan.3. Entrepreneurial Spirit:"....Your entrepreneurial spirit makes you no more than this: A heroic soul born desperately in need of adventure.To you ... a crisis is an opportunity, a moment is an eternity, a rule is a tyranny, a process is a purgatory, a joy is an ecstasy, a daydream is a vision, a hazard is a playground, silence is suffocation, and completion is death.Add to this brutally expansive spirit the overwhelming need to risk, create, and express, so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or businesses or buildings or something of meaning, your very breath is cut off ...You must create , must pour out your entire being in creation and risk.By some strange, unknown, inward urgency you do not feel truly alive unless you are intimately involved in the risk of self-expression.Thank you for having the courage t...
More About: Business , Performance , Sport , Form , There

Peak Performance and getting there in business or sport (3)
2007-06-20 07:41:00
"He who builds a better mousetrap these days runs into material shortages, patent-infringement suits, work stoppages, collusive bidding, discount discrimination--and taxes." - HE MartzPeak Performance and getting there in business or sport part 3He who builds a better mousetrap these days runs into material shortages, patent-infringement suits, work stoppages, collusive bidding, discount discrimination--and taxes." - HE MartzPeak Performance and getting there in business or sport part 32. Process and MetricsThis is another step in building a robust performance enabling model for your business or your workout in the gym :), these two go hand in hand, your business needs processes to operate within and you need to be able to measure the effectiveness of the processes by establishing metrics.Process:Process (lat. processus - movement) is a naturally occurring or designed sequence of changes of properties/attributes of a system/object [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]. More precisely, a...
More About: Business , Sport , Form , There

Peak Performance and getting there in business or sport (2)
2007-06-19 08:24:00
Peak Performance and getting there in business or sport (2)......Continuing from yesterdays post, I thought I would take some time to talk about the five steps I pointed out in Mondays post about performance, today I will talk about step one. 1. Mission, Values, and PrideThe companies mission statement, should be short, and deliver the message in an easy to digestible package, here are some well know companies and there mission statements:3M"To solve unsolved problems innovatively"Mary Kay Cosmetics"To give unlimited opportunity to women".Merck"To preserve and improve human life".Wal-Mart"To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people".Walt Disney"To make people happy."When you started your company you had a dream, the Mission statement will give you the opportunity to state that dream and how you will deliver it, this will give a focus for the team to work to, the Mission should always be the at the fore front off what you do in the company.This is something ...
More About: Business , Sport , Form , There

Peak Performance and getting there in business or sport (1)
2007-06-18 09:42:00
Peak Performance and getting there in business or sportPeak Performance:The early days of starting up a company require you and the team to be running at peak performance, there can be no poor performance from the team there is no room, it needs to be on it's best game. This is usually the norm for an early doors start up (MBO and MBI's are different beasts), the newness and excitement drive the team forward, they have clear goals and a strong supporting vision, but as the team grows this will start to fade a little and it will need a strategy from the founders to keep the team running at peak performance. I have a tried and tested model that you may help you with this..on the other hand it may not,1. Mission, Values, and Pride2. Process and Metrics3. Entrepreneurial Spirit4. Individual Achievement5. Recognition and Celebration These are five parts of a strategy which you can interlace together to build a strong model this can help to maintain the peak performance of the team. Thi...
More About: Business , Sport , Form , There

Developing the team to excel
2007-06-15 08:37:00
Once you have passed the break even point and the monkey is off your back for a little while something you need to look at is developing the team you have around you, to build a successful company you need to develop the team, stretch them in areas of good performance and help bolster the areas of weakness, everyone can't be good at everything, and it is up to the senior leadership in the team to build up a full set of competences in the company. There needs to be succession planning, I have a good friend who worked for AMAT, Gerry Kelly, and he always said that was a strength in that organization was planning your replacement, how else will you be able to grow and develop and the organization. Have a thing if you need to grow the business by 100% this year do you have the team in place to grow into the roles that will open up, it could be the one thing that stops the growth curve.These are some notes on developing a good performance management system, with these things I would s...
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I am starting my new company and I feel nervous, so here is something to he
2007-06-14 11:39:00
I get a tingle down the spine when I move to a new start up, it's all about the unknown, and the new adventure ahead, the challenges. I was at the doctors again this morning with the auzzie leg infection, it seams to be taking an age to clear up, so more antibiotics and another week off my new delivery of Red wine.....but when I was there I was flipping through the national geographical and I saw a map of the Grand Teton's with the mountains detailed and being a climber of sorts myself in a past life it came to me that each of those peaks had a story to tell, and individuals who climbed them had there own memories good and bad, the events that had happened to produce the names, like Death Shelf, Battle mountain or Hurricane Pass, and I thought of all the peaks that I had climbed personally and professionally, Physically and figuratively, and these all have taught me lessons that can be used to help on the next adventure. I would suggest that as you step out on the next adventure a...
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Steve Jobs on starting out
2007-06-13 09:26:00
This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs , CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005. I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.The first story is about connecting the dots.I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided ...
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How to speak to a group for impact
2007-06-13 09:26:00
Speaking as a Performing ArtBy Guy KawasakiMy buddy Doug Lawrence has been a professional singer, music director, and speech coach. He is a highly respected concert artist having sung for almost forty years in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, and throughout Europe with conductors like Leonard Bernstein and Michael Tilson-Thomas.In the last forty years, in addition to singing, he?s done tons of speaking in front of groups of all sizes. Here?s the big surprise: Singing and speaking have everything in common?except for maybe really good tunes. The main goal is to engage your audience and make them listen to you, so everything a singer does, a speaker ought to do too. Here are the absolute necessities of an engaging performance or presentation that Doug compiled for me:Circulate with your audience. Before every concert, speech, and seminar, I try to mingle with the crowd, ask questions, and let them know I?m glad they came. This isn?t always possible in the real world, but ...
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New beginnings, setting out on a road well travelled
2007-06-12 08:28:00
I am moving on from my present company to join a start up in the renewable energies industry, this is an area that I have had interest in for a while. I spent part of last year in New Zealand looking at one of these projects, the inventor Joe Waite was a passionate man, a 70 year old gold miner who had his eureka moment underground in a deep mine in the pitch black (Ideas are no respecters of place or time), the invention was sound, but was too far from being a business at the time and there was no way I could get a visa from the New Zealand immigration services to move and take up the role, there is a stereotype for immigration to New Zealand and I did not fit. I am going to work for a Solar cell (Photovoltaic) start up, which will be a true adventure, and will be fun. The organisation that I will be working with is http://www.narec.co.uk/, The new and renewable energies center in Blyth, and Sigma Ventures from Edinburgh, I will be starting on this project end of July, so it is a b...
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What is Strategy
2007-06-11 08:59:00
I was asked a question last week by a friend what is Stra tegy , I did my usual and replied come on you don't know what Strategy means? We launched into a discsusion on strategy and what's the best way to devlope strategy, I thought that this article would be an interesting opener on the subject for everyone. AbstractThe concept of strategy has been borrowed from the military and adapted for use in business. A review of what noted writers about business strategy have to say suggests that adopting the concept was easy because the adaptation required has been modest. In business, as in the military, strategy bridges the gap between policy and tactics. Together, strategy and tactics bridge the gap between ends and means. This paper reviews various definitions of strategy for the purpose of clarifying the concept and placing it in context. The author's aim is to make the concepts of policy, strategy, tactics, ends, and means more useful to those who concern themselves with thes...
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In the media this week
2007-06-08 08:17:00
I was at a friends on Monday night, and he had the TV on watching "The Apprentice", and Sir Alan performing, he asked me if I liked the show, I had to be honest NO, it is nothing close to the real world, I do not now how it can be, Sir Alan is a rich man, but you have got to ask yourself if his employees really like him, he has made money and is loved by his share holders, but his approach to these kids is nothing but disgraceful. The same with "Dragons' Den", there may be some entrepreneurs who get some help, but they way the panel treat some of the investors is shocking, and I have to say that some of the entrepreneurs should never have left there day job. I wish the media would stop the so called "reality shows" and get back to good solid programming that is full of quality content and stop abusing the public for the public's entertainment. The are doing no end of harm to the start up community, and limited good.The second thing that amazed me was the BP Vice president's motiv...
More About: Media , The Media , Week

How do I get new ideas creation increased in my company
2007-06-07 11:53:00
In the early stages of a company's development idea creation is not a problem, they are produced at a phenominal rate, the problem usualy is that they come from one group and thats what they are paid for, but you need to develop the skill in all areas of the company, and you need know how to nurture them and select the correct ones to benefit the company. How to Nurture New Ideas by Brian LibbyFrom Henry Ford?s assembly line to Apple?s iPod, every great innovation started with a great idea. But in the business world, it?s a lot easier to say ?no? to new ideas than it is to dedicate time, money, and resources to developing them. That?s why idea-friendly companies like Toyota, Yahoo, and IBM have structures in place to encourage and capitalize on good ideas ? be they flashy new products or time-saving strategies for improving efficiency on the factory floor. No matter what their precise approach, all idea-friendly companies have a few principles in common: They reward employe...
More About: Company , New Ideas , Creation , Ease

Some hump day fun
2007-06-06 07:56:00
Apologies to all my regular readers that are used to more ?serious? blog writing. I?m thought this would bring a smile to those who have "walked the walk, and talked the talk" I hope you enjoy this. Thanks to Dharmesh Shan for posting this article.... How Many Startup Employees Does It Take Change A Light Bulb? It depends on the type of startup employee. Here are some possible responses: Business Type: We looked at the service market for changing light bulbs as a possible go-to-market strategy. But, we determined that the necessary gross margins to sustain our business and demonstrate an attractive return for our investors did not exist in this market. We plan to revisit this opportunity at some later date. Project Manager Type: We?re still working on the alpha version of the software which doesn?t support changing light bulbs yet. This is scheduled for beta build B4, codename ?Phoenix?. Developer Type: Well, it should only take one, but our founder insisted on using P...
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Why change is so difficult
2007-06-05 08:22:00
This is an activity that everyone will have to deal with as they go through this adventure called life, change is an necessity, you go to school and you change, you go through higher education you change, you marry and have kids you change, and all through this, your working life is changing. Then you start your own business and you step up the rate of change, I would caution that you need to be careful that you don't change so much that you break the relationships around you, but that you try and bring those close to you along as well, this is a short article that I found, that goes through the basic challenges of change, I have lectured on change a lot to entrepreneurs, and taught about the "phases of change" in an organization and how to be aware and prepare for them, this is an important topic and I would like to hear from those of you who have an opinion. Why change is so difficultBy Joy S. Ruhmann, Chan g e often takes us out of our comfort zone. As a result, there are consulta...
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Something helpful for the week ahead....some practical tips on networking
2007-06-04 08:24:00
How to work a room or The art Schmoozing by Susan RoAneI picked this up from Guy Kawasakis's Blog, http://blog.guykawasaki.com/, some of the things that the Author said were very practical.I have entered a room in the past and thought OK what do I do next, I have learned that you are there to meet people and to enjoy meeting people, you are not there to land you next big contract or job, you are there to meet people and build relationships, what develops from those relationships maybe, the next big job or next contract. There are too many people who go into a room/ networking event/social gathering, with the mindset of what can you do for me, and it is evident in there approach, that switches people off, and they loose that connection, where as if they had approached with the mind set of just making friends and developing relationships, things could be very different, have a read through the article and let me know what you think. Susan RoAne wrote the book on schmoozing. Literally...
More About: Networking , Tips , Week , Something , Working

A thought for the weekend
2007-06-01 11:43:00
"What man actually needs is not a tension less state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him." Viktor FranklI would like to leave you with a thought for the weekend, did you realize the truth worth, of your time you spent this week, did the withdrawl from your time account give you a feeling of satisfaction? did you learn anything new this week ? did you do anything different this week ? At the end of a week I take time to reflect on what has transpired at work and at home , try to see if there was a better way to have done things, why did I make the decisions that I did, what was the reasoning behind them, would I make them again. I then look at the next week and plan some key activities in work and at home, and then I can head home for the weekend and rest completely, knowing that I have dealt with the majority of things that...
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Wednesday early morning before I go to the Doctors.
2007-05-31 07:48:00
This is an interesting article on an issue which all start ups have a problem with, managing the trenches while still being focused on the long term, and successfully communicating the same to the company, I was talking with the chairman yesterday and I had mentioned the lack of visibility to the whole organization of the vision of the organization and how we get there, what the individual contributors do to support to achieve the end game, we talked about it for a while and I came away with a personal challenge to try and fix it, in the time I have left with my present company. The article by Wil Schroter is the Founder and CEO of the Go BIG Network, he is an entrepreneur, with a good strategic grasp of what is what in the start up adventure.Managing the Present while Focusing on the Future:Staying focused on the big picture of your corporate vision is difficult when you're mired in the details of the day-to-day operations. Yet staying focused on the day-to-day details is what mak...
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Understanding the mind of the venture capitalists
2007-05-30 08:27:00
I have been asked a few times by different folk about raising cash for there new company, I have advised them to start simple with other avenues of liquidity and progress to the VC funding only when you are in need of the big money(500k+), when you engage with the VC to raise funding you are entering someone else's domain, and area of expertise. You also need to remember that the VC company is run the same as any other company, it is run by human beings, the same as you and me, and some choices they make are based on gut instinct with a sprinkle of due diligence, others are made only on the numbers. The thing to keep in mind is that your deal although it is all important to you, is only one of many that the VC is working on and all these deals have to mesh together at that time for the VC company to function and make money as well, so though your idea may be great and they received it well you may still get a no, so be prepared and keep pitching until the "fat lady sings" and you s...
More About: Venture , Mind , The V , Capital , Understand

Some reading material for the beach this summer
2007-05-29 08:19:00
I was given a book by John Terceman to read, he had reviewed my blog and commented that I should read a book by Stuart Skorman, "Confessions of Serial Entrepreneur", this is a great read and will keeping you smiling all the way through it, well those of us who have been there and done that it will. Stuart is a die hard Entrepreneur, does not take no for an answer and follows his passion and vision, there are some great lessons to be taken from this book and I will share a few over the next few weeks, but I would suggest that you get the book, and have a read, tell me what you think. I have included a short review of his book below and an article on Stuart by Lisa Margonelli, I do not push books much here or in class but would suggest you take a look at the book or at least Google "Stuart".The book can be found here on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Confessions-Seria l-Entrepreneur-Cant-Starting/dp/078798732 8/ref=sr_1_1/026-3440564-6330828?ie=UTF8& amp;s=books&qid=1180420535&sr=8-1...
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Some comments from Scotsman's Business start up Breakfast.
2007-05-28 10:58:00
These are some of the comments made to a group of 100 Entrepreneurs by some of the panel at a breakfast meeting run by the Scotsman newspaper, on growth and the SME. I have met most of these guys and would say that they all have something to valid to say.....GEOFFREY THOMSONGEOFFREY Thomson is chief executive and co-founder of Braveheart Investment Group. Thomson is well known as a dealmaker and business angel and has written investment columns for the media.Always give a clear message about your needs Make sure you deliver your promises Know where you want to go and how Show tenacity in dealing with investorsKnow your strengths and weaknesses PAUL RENZPAUL Renz is head of Scott-Moncrieff's tax group, which provides corporate tax, personal tax, employer tax, VAT and indirect taxation advice and services to businesses, public sector bodies, charitable organisations and high net worth individuals.Identify your big idea and value propositionSurround yourself with motivated and energet...
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Some thoughts on PR from an article by Guy K
2007-05-28 08:32:00
This is not an issue for the early doors start up, but as a company gets close to an IPO or other liquidity event, PR can make the difference in the end valuation. I have seen companies who have had PR gurus as CEO'S and I saw the difference that this makes, Bookham, Kymata, to name a couple, all had PR gurus in charge and that made the difference between success and failure for them, compared to other companies in that sector. Guy brings out some truths....but I would say that free PR is good....if there is such a thing...but always be in control off the message.The Top Ten Reasons Why PR Doesn't Work (From a post in Guy Kawasaki's blog)Margie Zable Fisher runs theprsite.com. Every day someone tells her that he or she has been ?burned? by a PR firm, and Margie?s goal is to help small business find the right PR firm. I asked her to provide the top ten reasons why PR doesn?t work:The client doesn?t understand the publicity process. PR folks need to better educate people about how...
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Friday post....after my vacation..
2007-05-25 08:28:00
Returned from the other side of the world... Well it's been a while since my last post, I was on holiday, down under for three weeks and just returned yesterday, amazing holiday and a some good thinking time....I will not be posting much today, just to say I am back and that I will start again on Monday.....so a question for the weekend? what is your purpose in life and is it aligned with the your career ? should it be ?, are you happy in what you do, really happy, or are you waiting to retire to enjoy your life ? it may never come... have great weekend... Slainte GordonThe daily challenges of an Entrepreneur living in Central Scotland
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An interesting article on marketing
2007-04-30 08:23:00
It was just by chance if you believe in things just happening by chance, that I saw this post in Guy Kawasaki's Blog, it was after I had talked with John and Sarah at length about bootstrap marketing and I think Guy says it better than I could ever, he is the expert, so have a read and see what you think. The title may seem strange but duct tape is an American name for our gaffer tape, the multi purpose tape of choice from builders to airframe mechanics. I will not be around after today for a while, I will be down under on vacation, see you all when I get back.The Essence of Duct Tape Marketing Guy KawasakiDuct tape (the tape) is simple, effective, and affordable?it?s not always the prettiest solution, but it does always work. The central theme of Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide by John Jantsch is that effective small business marketing is a system?not an event?composed of simple, effective, and affordable techniques.When you combine ...
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Answering the "how does your Idea address a need"
2007-04-27 08:19:00
How does your idea address a need? This is one of the most important answers you can give to your prospective investors, you need to be able to enthuse them with answer, and if you Idea doesn't stir them then pack up and move on to the next targets. How does your idea address a need? This is where you get to explore the true potential of your new idea. There are two basic types of demand in the marketplace?a ?want? and a ?need.? A business that addresses a need is always more promising than one that addresses a want. In the case of a market need, there?s pre-existing ?pent-up? demand, and creating awareness is all that?s required to catalyze the sales of your offering. A market need creates ?pull? in the marketplace, and the end user literally pulls your product or service through the system to satisfy his or her need. In the case of a market want, you?ll be required to ?push? your product onto consumers, and this usually requires expensive advertising and marketing campaigns i...
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Some Ideas on extending you cash flow
2007-04-25 08:23:00
Extending the runwayThere is real stress when you first start up, when you start to think about cash and cashflow, these things are never for from a founders daily tasks, how is my cash postion, what can I do save cash, how am I going to pay the bills, what does that leave me to eat this week, I was talking to Bill Payne, who is a seasoned entreprenure and this was the output of that chat.Bootstrapping enables entrepreneurs to operate their startup companies with minimal infusions of cash from others, postpone raising capital from outsides sources, and maintain 100 percent ownership of their companies.After capital has been raised from friends, family, angels, or VCs, bootstrapping is the technique entrepreneurs use to "extend the runway." That is, to postpone raising additional capital until key milestones can be met. Meeting milestones demonstrates the viability of the company, increases the valuation of the company when raising money, and allows the entrepreneur to maximize perso...
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How to rev up the Innovation and Ideas bank
2007-04-24 08:13:00
Other People's Shoes By Jeffrey Baumgartner We have a saying in English: put yourself in the other person's shoes. It means to try and understand the situation from another person's perspective.ABILITY to put yourself in someone else's shoes is one of the greatest creative thinking skills you can have. TRYING to put yourself in another person's shoes is a terrific creativity exercise and an effective ideation method for brainstorming. If you run a business, the people whose shoes you should be trying to put on are your customers. Sure, market research and customer surveys can provide you with lots of information, such as the average age, income, education and more, about your customers. You can even run surveys of your customers to find out how they will react to new products. But, market surveys cannot really tell you what your customers think and feel.In order to do that, you need to be able to put yourself in your customers' shoes. You need to be able to look at your produc...
More About: Ideas , Innovation , Bank , Nova , Inno

The way you mean to start out ? Faith, Morals and company culture
2007-04-23 08:16:00
Morals,Faith and Company culture I was talking to a CEO of an emerging start up company in the Telecom sector, it was a few weeks ago, and we were talking about faith, religion and how they fit into the modern business culture. He told me a story, it was about one of his relations who was running a large company, he told my friend that he would never ask anyone to do anything he would not do himself, and he went on to talk about his secretary, he would never ask her to tell a "white" lie, because if she did, he would never know when she would tell him one or a customer. This got me to thinking about the weeks before you start your first new employee, what culture are they going to meet with when they first join, another way to ask the question how do you want them to represent you in there dealings with customers, suppliers and workmates. I am not going say here what is the correct way to set the culture, because we are all individuals and have our own thoughts and believes, but wh...
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