As experts compare today's troubles to the 1930s, it's helpful to remember that back then, various safety nets didn't exist. There was no Fed. There was no FDIC. And there was no Treasury Secretary as proactive as Paulson. (Nor were there effective anti-depressants and other drugs to get us through this mess!) These are just a few reassuring points to come out of the Most Powerful Women Summit. A few other random bits of hope:

Buffett professed his faith in the government folks ion the spot: "I hope whoever is elected keeps Hank Paulson on," the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) CEO said. "I have enormous admiration for what he's doing." Buffett, the world's most successful investor, also expressed admiration for FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair. This week, she's taken flak for her role in the Citigroup vs. Wells Fargo (WFC) battle for Wachovia (WB), but Buffett said she "stands above" most any CEO and "she won't get a golden parachute when she leaves." (Click here for yesterday's Postcard post that will link you to various Buffett video segments.) 

PepsiCo (PEP) CEO Indra Nooyi showed how, amidst gyrating commodity costs, consumer-goods managers deliver healthy profit increases quarter after quarter. Nooyi, who is No. 1 on Fortune's 2008 Most Powerful Women list, also talked about tackling the obesity epidemic. As PepsiCo's volumes have gone up over the past decade, the calories that the company puts into the global marketplace have actually gone down dramatically. Credit goes to innovation with diet drinks, Baked Lays potato chips, and replacement of trans-fats. PepsiCo rates executives according to "human sustainability scorecards" and ties compensation to the scores. As Nooyi told us, if every food company did this, imagine how much healthier the world would be.

Our panel called "The Internet 10 Years Later" (a reprise of a panel at our very first MPWomen Summit) delivered positive signals for growth. Cisco (CSCO) CTO Padmasree Warrior noted that "every second on earth, four babies are born and 20 mobile devices are sold." The session -- including Morgan Stanley (MS) analyst Mary Meeker, former eBay (EBAY) chief Meg Whitman, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg -- revealed other interesting stats: China recently surpassed the U.S. in Internet usage. And though the U.S. has lagged in mobile Internet usage, Apple's (APPL) and Google's (GOOG) focus on mobile suggests that the U.S. will lead in that market.

The Summit's closing panel, "The Road to the White House" had Citi CMO LIsa Caputo (on one hour's sleep, she said) interviewing two ace political journalists -- Time's Karen Tumulty and Fortune's Nina Easton -- plus Obama national finance chair Penny Pritzker and Meg Whitman, who is co-chairing the McCain campaign. The panelists believe that voter turnout could reach 80% in November, vs. 64% in the 2004 Presidential election. That level of commitment to revive the U.S. might be the most encouraging sign of all. - Jessica Shambora

... The Montreal Canadiens.

Yeah, yeah. Jeer. Laugh. If you're a Canadiens fan like my father, go ahead and wonder just what changed since last year, when I proposed the Canadiens would finish last in the league.

But before you go ahead with that teasing, it's worth noting that I really don't think that the Canadiens are going to be a superpower this year. They may be first in the East and win the Cup, but they're not the Detroit Red Wings, and they won't be coming away unscathed from a long run to victory.

So why is it that I think the hockey gods are going to favour the Canadiens this year? How are they going to beat the odds, when even I suggest they will be up against superior opponents?

Well, first of all, I'm definitely being a romantic in this proposition. It's the 100th anniversary of the team. They haven't won a Cup in 16 years -- their longest drought ever. They've spent the last 10 years in the abyss of the middle-ground, where they either barely make the playoffs or barely miss them, but neither fly nor fall completely, never dominating and never getting a chance to draft high.

But this romantic vision isn't entirely unfounded. There have been major changes in the last few years, at the league level, in the management positions in Montreal, and, of course, at the on-ice level for the Canadiens. These changes have put in place the opportunity for the Canadiens to play their game, in a way that they haven't been able to in the recent past, and it's this ability to use the fire wagon that will bring about a Cup to remember.

Post-lockout policies are the first and most drastic changes that were made that benefit the Canadiens. The true crackdown on obstruction has been hugely beneficial for players of small stature, which the Canadiens have depended on for the last decade. Also, the emphasis on youth that has been generated through new economic policies in the league has allowed the Canadiens a chance to gather a team where youth and experience intercede.

However, perhaps more important to the changes in the team are the new men in charge of the ship. While the league's changes have benefitted the Canadiens as a whole, specific men have had a more direct impact on the course of the team. Reasonably new own George Gillett has brought to the team a philosophy of entertainment that many teams were lacking prior to the lockout. Though he wants to win, he also demands that the victory comes in a context where the hockey is worth the money for fans, creating a contrast with teams like the Devils and the Ducks, who largely depended on a purely conquest-driven philosophy. This ideology has trickled down to the other management tiers, where Bob Gainey has established himself as a youth-oriented GM and coach Guy Carbonneau has re-implemented the strategy of fire wagon hockey. The presence of these men brings to the table a perspective that hails back to the Canadiens' glory days, and contributes to the fervor that Montreal fans are feeling today.

But the real gems for the Canadiens are found on the ice, rather than off of it. Here, a plethora of young players are benefitting from the philosophy of fun that the management has established. The new faces on the block are some of the best in the league. The Kostitsyn brothers (Andrei and Sergei) proved last year that they have the potential to live up to names like the Savards. Mathieu Carle is vying to be a solid addition to an already balanced Canadiens defense corps. And, of course, most important is the top young player in the NHL, the goaltender extroidinaire, Carey Price. Though a bit streaky in the playoffs, Price managed a .920 SP in the regular season, and should be able to compete for a position amongst the elite netminders already.

Combine that with the long list of solid veterans on the team -- including Koivu, Kovalev, Hamrlik, Markov, and Lang -- and it's hard to argue that the Canadiens are anything but a great combination of talent and experience. And with a full year to build on their successful 104-point campaign, the Canadiens just may be able to top their league-high 262 goals for and bring down their mid-range 222 goals against.

Though I wish I could say that their success is entirely self-inflicted, though, there's one other major reason why the Habs will have a shot at the Cup this year. The West, as I stated in my other predictions, are a force to be reckoned with. The Canadiens, however talented, are no match for Detroit, Dallas, San Jose, or the Ducks (assuming the latter can get back in form). But what they do bring to the table is something that has been crucial thus far in the post-lockout era: An easy trip to the finals. The East is lacking in talent, with the Penguins looking to be plummeting a few spots and the Flyers, Caps, and Sens still at a distance. Unless some major injuries arise, the Habs are easily the deepest team in the East, and should be able to coast to the finals with narry a hitch. Going up against the worn-down Western champs should be a reasonably easy expedition, in that light, since this year the top dogs are ready to hit each other harder than ever before.

It's been faulty logic before. One would have thought the Ducks or Wings would face more of a challenge on their way to the Cup in the past two years. But this time 'round, there are four veritable Cup contenders out West, and that should be a sign of a tough run for whoever makes it through. Much, much tougher than we've seen in recent years!

So yes, it's a romantic decision. But it's entirely feasible. And with the magic of 100 years, one would hope that the "anything goes" rule applies itself liberally!

In order to eliminate the "risks" involved when it comes to maintance & management, setting up 'Standard Operating Procedures' are a good start, as long as those that need to execute thse SOPs are properly educated.

What is a SOP ? According to Wikipedia a SOP is a set of instructions (with the force of a directive) covering features of operations that lend themselves to a definite or standardized procedure without loss of effectiveness.

So in plain English it comes to a well structured worflow that consists out of triggers, prerequisites, actors, actions, output, tools and management, that will guide those that need to execute the SOP through a management task without being 'to lawfully'. The goal is setting up SOPs that click together without be to obligatory.

A practical example of a set of SOPs that flow into a process:

A new employee has been attracted by the company, this involves a number of IT tasks that need to be executed before that employee can start working.  

So all these SOPs flow into a complete process (f.e. Setting up new employees within the IT Department), it is not only the goal to roll out high quality easy to follow SOPs but they can even be combined into (for example) a Six Sigma project that provides you with the capacity to look for (financial) improvements.

Before a SOP gets on the way, there has to be a trigger that crosses a treshold. Within a management context of a virtualized data center, this comes to planned or unplanned maintenance or a project request. What ever type of trigger occurs, it is important that these triggers are recorded in a ticketing system. In general there are three triggers:

• Planned maintenance: upgrades, fixes, rollouts, rollbacks, implementations, ... in general these planned triggers occur after the approval of a customer, a business unit or a manager. There is clearly a formal approval necessary before you can start with this planned maintenance.

• Unplanned maintenance: an event that has not been planned (for example hardware failure, ...) that requires an immediate action from the operations team. Within this case no formal approval of a customer, business unit or manager.

• Project Request: this is probably the widest of the three triggers, this ranges from setting up a new VM over creating a new vDisk, provisioning of a new server, ... In most cases the Project Requests can be planned well in advance and are based on a formal approval of the customer, business unit or manager

Now that the trigges have been defined, it is important to indicate which prerequisites need to be met before the SOP gets to work. These prerequisites are often documents or approvals from the involved party, except for the unplanned maintenance triggers. The prerequisites should also include scheduling (if possible).

Once the prerequisites have been met, it is important to indicate those that need to execute the SOP. This can be a system administrator, an IT manager, a helpdesk coordinator, IT Ops, ... make sure that you assign job roles to these actors instead of specific names.

The next step are the action steps, these steps should be prescriptive, actionable and concise, furthermore those tools that need to be used should be documented. It does not help to work out a book of actions, you should have confidence in those that take the actions as you have educated them on the actions.

• Bad example: Login to management console X, click on the server with the issue, right-click, ...
• Good example: Login to management console, put host into maintenance mode, verify no VMs running, apply patch, ...

• The goal of the SOP has been met (for example applying a patch)
• Ticket status within the ticketing system
• A formal notification
• ...

One aspect till now has not been covered: testing. Make sure you test these SOPs before you rmove them from a draft version into a final version. If testing shows errors, issues, ... change the SOP before  you move them to the final stage of implementing the SOP. When implementing these SOPs make sure that all involved parties have received the necessary training. If you have the time (you should make the time !), do a testrun with the SOP.

Also it is very smart to implement a prioritization for the SOPs, some SOPs solve bigger issues that other. For example setting up a new VM should have a lower priority than solving a security SOP on a running VM.

Do all SOPs need to be documented, as long as there is no technological solution for this, yes. Within the near future, vendors will provide the necessary tools to automate certain SOPs. For virtualization one of these tools will be Citrixs Workflow Studio. It will offer the capacity to automatically start-up new VMs when the load increases, eventhough this SOP will be automated it might be important to keep a copy of the SOP on paper.

What is the value of a SOP to a channel partner (VAR, reseller, integrator) or even an IT department with internal customers

Not only will SOPs offer, those servicing others, to increase their profitability of the system engineers executing the SOPs (locally at the customer or from remote), it also offers better 'invoicing capacity' (SOPs are ticketed, ticketing means timestamping, timestamping means invoicing). Furthermore tasks get documented, which offers the capacity for the SEs to jobrotate increase the satisfaction of the personnel.

On a commercial level it offers the possibility to increase credibility with the customer and it even opens doors when it comes to upsellin. (f.e. SOP for adding a new VM, results in the VM not being created as the hardware does not meet the prerequisites). 

Call to action

If you have any SOPs, which you wish to share with other virtualization professionals, feel free to forward the location where they can be found and we will make sure that they get the necessary visibility. We will publish a number of SOPs in the near future, in the mean time start SOPPING (not meant in literal way). 

Example set of SOPs

• Build VM
• Commission VM
• Decommission VM
• Server maintenance (multiple SOPs)
• Incident respons (multiple SOPs)
• Contact supplier / vendor for support
• Add LUN
• Remove LUN
• Patch template
• Create snapshot
• Revert snapshot
• Disk Add
• Disk Expand
• Disk Remove
• ...

I'm not sure what else to say at this point, maybe because leadership is best discerned through action rather than speech...or, so I think, a true leader would say.  A recent post from Helene Blowers, a true leader and innovator, reflects this modesty. The people who really are leaders never think they are. They can put aside their egos and get on with the business of lifting people up, making organizations work and grow. Just a theory. I'd like to hear how other library workers feel about this issue.

I have multiple callbacks to work on, a mountain of ordering tools to read through, committee minutes to type up, and several post-meeting tasks to execute, so I'll stop here for now. When next we meet, a project update.

The presence of higher than normal levels of one of several insulin growth factors known as IGF-1 may signal a moderate increase in risk for prostate cancer, according to a new analysis of 12 studies published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine. An association between IGF-1 and prostate cancer risk has been postulated before. However, an analysis conducted by Roddam and colleagues now suggests that the risk for developing prostate cancer rose by 38 percent in men with IGF-1 levels in the top 20 percent compared with those in the lowest 20 percent. The analysis was based on data from studies carried out in several countries.

The association between IGF-1 and prostate cancer risk was stronger in men who developed slow-growing cancer than among those who had a more aggressive form of the disease. However, this finding may just be due to chance.

This analysis is a retrospective assessment of previously published data, and so it should be interpreted with caution. However, it strongly suggests the potential value of a prospective analysis of risk associated with higher than average levels of IGF-1.

I think why it is a bad idea to predict the future based on statistical models of the past can be best described by this little anecdote paraphrased from the book "Black Swan":

Imagine you are a pig, you are born into a warm comfortable environment, first being kept warm under heating lamps and being able to suckle the tit of your mother when hungry.

As you grow up, your life is comfortable, and each day is like the last one: you do not need to do a lot, you have all the food you would ever want, and all the mud you could possibly roll around in.
Life is good.
Until one day, when all of a sudden you find yourself being dragged away from your comfortable environment, ending up on the chopping board at the butchers. Game Over.

I bet the pig didn't see that one coming. Based on his previous experience, he would have had no way of knowing.
And therein lies the problem with statistical and quantitative risk management: yesterdays events are a poor judge of what might come next, you only need one "unexpected" event coming out of far left field to blow everything into pieces.

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It's that time of year again. The leaves are changing and falling. The temperature is dropping and hopefully will numb the pain of the early playoff exit and we'll all turn our attention to other sporting interests. The Bears are better than expected, the Irish have more wins than they had all of last season (that was for you, Corey), the Bulls are young and can only be better with #1 pick Derrick Rose and, if you're in to the sport of Pailin, the Blackhawks have some young talent as well and they'll be playing outdoors at Wrigley.

But wait... I have a feeling that our beloved Cubbies won't allow our attention to be diverted this offseason. With the pain of the severe beating still fresh in our minds it is easy to forget that the Tribune Company, everyone's favorite ownership group, is trying to unload this team. They're separately trying to sell Wrigley Field with little success. The team is in pretty good shape talent wise, which I'm sure they're thrilled about, but Wrigley Field is a liability. Cubs fans love it, but to whoever buys this team it will be a thorn.

If the Trib is unable to pawn off Wrigley, the new ownership will face a cash-flow shortage after the purchase of the team and is unlikely to fund any necessary renovations with their own money. Then comes the naming issue. Wrigley is out. Boeing or Motorola (insert large Chicago company name here) is in. Ticket prices are up, beer is now $10, hot dogs $8, the once "cheap" bleacher seats $60. With all of their additional revenue they'll be ready to renovate. If they hire the same architects as the Bears did for Soldier field we're left with a space ship with a name we don't recognize and no troughs to piss in.

Then there are actual baseball matters. How will new ownership, or lack of, affect Jim Hendry's ability to sign free agents Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood or go get quality replacements if they prove to be too expensive? Hendry has done a great job in his tenure as GM, but it's yet to be seen if he'll get handcuffs or a blank check.

Brace yourselves Cubs fans. The potential pain of this off-season could trump being swept out of the playoffs. Oh well, I guess we wait...until next year.

News.ch berichtet vom Kongress der Internationalen Naturschutzorganisation IUCN beim World Conservation Congress, der bis am 14. Oktober in Barcelona stattfindet. "Wenn die globalen Umweltprobleme zu einem Ende kommen sollen, brauchen international agierende Unternehmen unbedingt Unternehmensleiter, die auch in Umweltfragen bewandert sind." Zu diesem Schluss kommt Valli Moosa, Präsident der Internationalen Naturschutzorganisation IUCN beim World Conservation Congress, der derzeit in Barcelona stattfindet. Der ehemalige südafrikanische Minister betonte, dass alle Unternehmen solche in Umweltfragen sachverständige Führungskräfte haben sollten. Die Konferenz beschäftigt sich mit globalen Umweltproblemen und möglichen Lösungen beschäftigen. Fast alle Regierungen sowie Umweltgruppen und Business-Vertreter werden an der Konferenz teilnehmen. Die Öffnung zu uneingeschränkten Märkten hätte wesentlich zur weltweiten Umweltproblematik beigetragen und diese auch mitverursacht, argumentiert Moosa. «Führende Unternehmer und Märkte haben mit ihrem Zutun die Weltwirtschaft angekurbelt. Während Menschen so etwas wie Moral haben, gilt das für die Märkte nicht», so Moosa. «Die Zerstörungen, die Industrien und die Wirtschaft an der Umwelt anrichten, sind real und beachtlich - und sie sind ausserdem inakzeptabel.» Jedes Unternehmen sollte aus diesem Grund in der Führungsetage zumindest einen Sachverständigen für Umweltfragen haben, der ähnlich wie ein Sachverständiger in Buchhaltungsfragen, diese Bereiche abdeckt.

Neben der Änderung der Unternehmungsstrategien falle auch den Regierungen eine Schlüsselaufgabe zu. Dazu gehören beispielsweise Fragen zur Reduzierung der Treibhausgase. Dass dies kein leichtes Unterfangen sei, machen die erst kürzlich veröffentlichten Zahlen über die gestiegenen Emissionen in der EU klar.

Inventory management is an aspect of business which needs to be given more attention than what it currently receives. It is certainly not the most glamorous aspects of running a business. Inventory management is a basic business building block like marketing, sales or finance. Simply put, inventory management deals with how efficiently an organization manages it stock cycles. Stocks in inventory, relate to aspects of business that are exposed to risk when accumulated beyond certain thresholds. In the case of a service business, it is the amount of outstanding payments. Efficient inventory management helps a business to maximize its existing assets by increasing turnover. Listed below are five steps to assist your business in managing inventory cycles better:

1. Inventory Velocity: This is an essential metric, which measures the speed at which a business can move it’s stock. The speed at which a business moves it’s inventory will impact substantially on its profitability and ROI. Inventory velocity can be calculated by simply dividing the cost of goods sold by the average inventory for the period. This is a benchmark all businesses should watch very closely. To learn more about the importance of measuring inventory velocity please click here.

2. Forecasting: Mistakes made by forecasting incorrectly will impact directly on the level of inventory at the end of a financial period. There are three important aspects to be considered when constructing forecasts. The forecasts need to be based on data acquired from the market, sales channels and the current pipeline. Based on these aspects, we can construct forecasts for multiple scenarios which enable us to put measures in place, for the best and worst case scenarios. It is important to remember that forecasts are only as good as the assumptions they are based upon. To learn more about how to forecast revenue for your business please click here.

3. Communication Channels: When there are insufficient channels of communication between the producer, distributor, retailer and customer inventory, management becomes challenging. The information gap needs to be bridged by implementing several communication channels which include, allocated representatives, conference calls, real time stock levels and feedback channels. When information is allowed to flow freely from the customer to the producer, changes can be made faster and everyone in the chain stands to benefit. To learn more about the various communication channels please click here.

4. Technology: Organizations such as Walmart and Dell have shown the power of technology to optimize inventory management. Today, entrepreneurs have access to several tools such as bar coding, inventory management  and billing management software, which can help give small businesses an edge in managing their inventories optimally. To learn more about different types of technologies available for inventory management please click here.

5. Internal Policies: Policies and controls need to be selected carefully. Their main objective should be to facilitate bottom line growth for the business. These objectives act as guiding principles, and policies are intended to facilitate reaching those goals. Proper inventory management can impact bottom line figures and results for the business substantially. Policies pertaining to ordering, review and collections need to be mapped out in detail to ensure proper management of inventories. To learn more about internal policies relating to inventory management please click here.

Operations and supply chain management are the nuts and bolts of all businesses. Without smooth operations and proper controls, we could have a great website, killer marketing strategies and still come up short. When a customer does not get the product in time, or at the right price, we lose the customer. It all comes down to execution, and ensuring that we have systems in place to manage each order optimally. Inventory management is a critical aspect of this chain, and I recommend all business owners review their inventory cycles and work out ways to optimize them.

In their press conference after the initial failure to pass the bill, the Democrats repeatedly referred to the need to work in a bi-partisan manner for the good of the American People, but couldn’t quite resist criticising the Republicans for their inability to do so - thereby making political capital out of the situation ahead of the forthcoming presidential elections. It seems that all parties are so entrenched in their tribal values these days that hardly anyone is capable of just thinking about the good of the country.

This set me thinking about how this relates to working life – it seems to me to be pretty important that people with strong beliefs and values (often the very characteristics that drive leaders to success and prominence) have the ability and desire to switch these off when it comes to the crunch for the organisation. Like the example of the US economy, sometimes the message is clear- “it doesn’t matter what you think or what you believe or where this decision leaves you personally – this is the only decision available to us right now that is for the common good.” You could probably have heard discussions along these lines in the Boardrooms at HBOS, Bradford and Bingley and Lehmann Brothers recently!

I don’t think that being able to embrace these tough decisions is a skill or ability as such – it’s more an outlook, a certain level of emotional maturity or morality. It leaves us all hoping that our own organisational (and national) leaders were selected for such qualities and that they would make the right decision if the time came. But this is not to underestimate the challenge - it’s easy to group those who opposed the US financial package together with the greedy few who played such a big role in creating this crisis, but I think we have to admit this would be an difficult dilemma for us all.

Most of us are unlikely to ever find ourselves in this situation, but imagine an equivalent. What if you believed passionately in the workers’ rights to a happy healthy working life, but you were told that delivering this over the next 6 months would drain resources and probably cause the downfall of your organisation – what would you do? Yes, you could go elsewhere, but if you want to stay because you care about your employer’s fortunes you may be forced to re-consider the importance of values that you hold dear for the greater good.

In some ways, I see parallels here with the debate and recent law change regarding smoking in public – many people who were committed to the principle of freedom and the right of people to choose how they want to live their lives changed their minds when it became clear that this was actually damaging people’s lives and, in turn, the very health of the nation! This would be a good example to present to the Republicans and Democrats alike in a country which was amongst the first to adopt anti-smoking laws – it may remind them that sometimes it’s necessary to take a hit on freedom for the good of the many!!

I stayed on a day in Brussels to catch up with what was going on in the different portfolios of the Commission and talk over some upcoming issues. I also took the time to catch up with my friends from the Potocnik Cabinet, which was of course as delightful as ever. I do miss them all alot, though not sure I miss the work that much!

On the Wednesday evening I went to Paris and then caught the night train to Tarbes, as my furniture was being delivered to the house in France. My parents and I worked really hard over the next few days, first cleaning the house, then dealing with the delivery and then getting things sorted. I don't have a bed yet (the packers in Brussels broke the one I took down there) but otherwise the place is looking pretty good. We had Sunday lunch in the little hostellerie across the river from the house - mine host comes into the dining room every 15-20 minutes and regales the diners with jokes and stories. Great meal though, in a French country restaurant kind of way (which is totally fine by me).  I feel so happy about the decision to get a place down there. It's lovely to keep that French link, which I have been missing since I left Brussels (even spoke to the Francophone guy in Thorntons this mornin in French!) and the place is just so wonderful - life moves at such a relaxed pace you can't help slowing down yourself. Twice driving to the house we got caught in a traffic jam caused by herds of cows walking along the road!

Last night I went to see Tricky at the Barbican. Amazing. Words used in reviews I've seen were "feral" and "unique" and that's pretty much on the money. It was a one-off experience, totally strange, but mesmerising. He didn't even sing on all the tracks, but you can kind of see why because it was so involving and hypnotic when he did, it almost would have been too much to have that for over an hour. Really glad I went.

So it was back to work this morning: the Northern Line had packed up so the train was mobbed, just to remind me that I wasn't in Kansas now, Toto. Most of the day has been spent in just trying to catch up after more than a week out of the office and handling the backlog of e-mails. Of course, I missed all the Mandelson fun while I was out, and the pile of press cuttings about that is its own backlog. Today was mercifully a lot quieter on the news front, but there's still quite a bit to do for the Brussels trip of the Double Club, the Mock Council and of course, quite a few admin tasks, now that I'm in a management position! In fact, we did a recruitment interview - seems longer ago than this morning!

Off to the theatre tonight with Irina from the Eisenhower Fellowship. Will be lovely to see her again.

Incet, dar sigur asimilez din ce in ce mai mult pe aceasta tema, nu doar pentru ca e exotica (bine, pentru unii ar putea trezi conotatii "securiste", dar e alegerea lor), ci pentru ca practic, se pliaza impecabil pe doua cerinte de dezvoltare in afaceri: difernetiere si knowledge management (am mai vorbit de knowledge, asa ca nu insist).

Este interesant cum, discutand si explicand oamenilor despre aceasta idee, devin instantaneu captivati. Asa am fost si eu. Practic, orientarea catre un profil tip intelligence iti da ghes sa gandesti in scenarii si, above all, sa te simti confortabil cu acest mod de gandire. Interesant este ca ajungi sa gandesti in aceeasi termeni si cand vine vorba de viata particulara. Ceea ce nu e, nu-i asa, intotdeuna tocmai ok. De la modul in care iti imparti timpul, pana la modul in care discuti, interactionezi, actionezi si rationezi.

Si mai interesant este ca judecatile de valoare ajungi sa le faci cu mai multa moderatie si bazat pe mai multa introspectie (by the way, gandirea "scenaristica" are si valente insomniace :) ). Nu este ca la sah, in sensul ca nu te astepti neaparat la reactii de tipul: "care e miscarea urmatoare a partenerului de joc", ci mai mult in termeni de Ishikawa. Sau cel putin in starea asta m-a prins pe mine: pur si simplu dau drumu' la ganduri, de-a valma, fara sa cataloghezi, clasific, aliniez... Apoi rafinez. Si are rezultate.

p.s. rspkt Vasile si Marcel!

About four years ago, I got a shopping itch that I needed to scratch.  I wanted a new toy and it just so happened that my close friend, Junior had the gadget I thought I needed.  He was about to buy a brand new PDA and wanted to get rid of his old Palm pilot.  So I bought it with a single intention - to say that I had a Palm Pilot.  (Keep in mind that I did not know the difference between a Palm Pilot and a PDA).  But when I started using it, I found out that it would sync to my computer but I could not integrate the software into my current planning system.  At the time I was using Microsoft Outlook to help organize my goals and information.  So after hopping on the internet to research whether my Palm could accomplish my planning goal, I was left with a long face (lip poked out).  It seems as though the Palm I had just paid $300 for could not be used with Microsoft Outlook.  So I had to make a choice:

1. I could continue to use Microsoft Outlook in addition to Franklin Covey's paper planning system (yes, I was that determined to learn how to manage projects), letting my new gadget go to waste.  No fun in that, is there?
2. I could have used my palm in addition to Microsoft Outlook and my paper planning method.  That would mean I would now use 3 planning methods for one schedule.  The problem was there was no way to streamline the process. 
   Sidebar: This seems like a no brainer, but it happens in large corporations all the time.  For instance, 12 departments would use twelve different types of bookkeeping software that cannot be synchronized.  Many companies have saved millions by simply streamlining the type of software they use and amount of personnel on staff.
3. Or I could sell the Palm Pilot on eBay and lose my new tech toy forever

(continue reading...)

I knew what choice made the most sense, but I wrestled with the decision for 6 months.  And in this time, the Palm collected dust...literally.  The reason I know that is because I had to clean it thoroughly after I sold it on eBay.  Mind you - it only sold for about 2/3 of the original price.  Originally, I convinced myself to buy this Palm Pilot because it was a "good investment". 

Isn't it funny that when you set out to learn something, you never know which lessons you will encounter?  My goal was to learn how to plan and manage my information.  And I did learn it - the hard way.  As it turns out, I didn't have enough information about the information manager - my Palm Pilot.   Not to mention the fact that given my schedule at the time, the information I managed did not require a Palm pilot.  Not only did I learn a lesson in planning, but I also found out that not every investment turns out to be an asset. 

Turning my investment into an asset would have required me to have a working knowledge of setting goals and project management.  At the time, I had no such knowledge.  But remember Tony, my colleague at the meeting.  The iPhone is perfect for him.  He is a project manager who knows how to effectively organize information.  I've seen him in action - he is a task master.  So the iPhone literally makes his job easier.  Some people buy iPhones and PDAs because they look great.  Others because it's the latest gadget.  And many think PDAs will organize their lives.  But here is the truth and it may be a tough pill to swallow - it's up to you to organize your information and resources to support you life goals. 

Technology can help you to plan your life a lot faster and easier.  But it can only do this if you first have a plan.  Using the easiest method for you, start setting your goals now.  You can use a planner, your cell phone's schedule application or even a napkin (just make sure its paper and not cloth).  Once you can organize your information on your own, then purchase something that will accelerate the process.  If not, you may find your self looking good and going nowhere.  iPhones and Blackberries are great...if...you know how to use them.  Otherwise, they will cost you a pretty penny each month just to look nice or to sit in cases like mine, collecting dust.

I urge you to take the responsibility of managing your information, with or without an iPhone.  If you become really great at setting and reaching your goals, one day you'll wake up and you will need a way to automate your planning process.  At that point it will make sense to get a PDA.  When I sold my Palm Pilot, I thought it was lost forever.  But earlier this year, my father-in-law gave me his PDA.  Why?  Because he saw that I actually needed it.  Because I changed my focus, it has accelerated my life and business.

Be careful of the illusion that technology can create.  Easy access to your information can make you think that you are organized.  But improper preparation for the task at hand can easily render the simplest task null and void.

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Definitions for PDA and Palm Pilot provided by Wikipedia.com

Ich bin ein erklärter Fan von Winfried Berner, der unter www.Umsetzungsberatung.de die meines Erachtens beste und umfangreichste Wissensdatenbank zum Thema Change Management betreibt. Im Newsletter, den ich heute von ihm bekommen habe, ist auch ein Link zu einem aktuellen Beitrag "Das Geheimnis gut funktionierender Teams" - das dürfte Sie als Projektmanager/innen interessieren!

Check it out!

De acordo com a pesquisa, foram dois os motivos para essa acomodação: a alta base de comparação, porque os meses de junho e julho tiveram grande crescimento; e o efeito calendário, uma vez que agosto teve dois dias úteis a menos tanto na comparação com julho quanto com agosto do ano passado.

Apesar do arrefecimento visto no mês, na comparação anual o desempenho da indústria manteve o ritmo. O faturamento real do setor cresce a 8,2% no período de janeiro a agosto na comparação com igual período do ano passado. As horas trabalhadas crescem 5,7% na mesma base comparativa, o emprego cresce 4,4% e a massa salarial real, 5,1%.

Em relação a agosto do ano passado, todas as variáveis apresentaram crescimento. O faturamento real subiu 0,8%, as horas trabalhadas ficaram 3% acima, o emprego aumentou 4% e a massa salarial, 3,6%.

Na comparação com julho, no indicador já dessazonalizado, o faturamento real recuou 2,3% em agosto, enquanto as horas trabalhadas e o emprego mostraram estabilidade, com crescimento de 0,1%.

Capacidade instalada

A utilização da capacidade instalada se manteve no mesmo nível de julho, no indicador dessazonalizado. Passou de 83,4% para 83,5%. Houve um crescimento de um ponto percentual em relação ao mesmo mês do ano passado, quando o indicador fora de 82,5%. Esse indicador apresenta estabilidade nos últimos três meses.

No mesmo período, as horas trabalhadas na produção cresceram 1,6%. "Esse comportamento só é possível pela maturação de investimentos já em curso, que ampliam a capacidade produtiva da indústria", diz o texto da pesquisa.

A íntegra da pesquisa pode se acessada no site da CNI, clique aqui. 

Fonte: CNI - Confederação Nacional da Indústria

Bom dia e bom trabalho.

Incoming High Fuckwit has been kind enough to share with us his thoughts on “Continuing Our Momentum”. Unsurprisingly, his definition of “momentum” seems to be something along the lines of “onwards, upwards, forwards”, whereas the folks that hack the cack (i.e. us) would define it as “downwards, backwards, Hellwards”.

His first mistake is to think that we talk his language. We talk Tecchie. He talks Bollocks. BabelFish cannot help either of us – no matter how clearly we try to tell them, the bosses still think that our plain-speaking “it’s all fucking fucked, for fuck’s sake, you fucking idiots” means “sure, by all means take away our overtime payments during the week and only pay us for weekends – the only time we get to see our families (you know, those people who really don’t matter at all) – and expect us to work 18-hour days to get your fucking bonuses sorted – we don’t mind, honest”. They think, for example, that we give a shit about how the company is perceived in the marketplace.

New High Fuckwit e-exhorts us to ensure that our department becomes the company “growth engine”. Apparently our task is to deliver “superior products and solutions that are laser-focused on the challenges and opportunities our customers face today and will face in the future”.

Laser-focus. Has anyone actually said this (and kept a straight face) since the 80s?

Also apparently we have “programs in place to foster innovation”.

That’d be the policy of giving a big Fuck-All% payrise to half the staff, then.

Moreover, “these programs ensure we’re attracting creative forward-thinkers to join our team, creating an environment that inspires and nurtures new ideas, seeking to connect our customers with the innovations of “seed” startup companies. With innovation baked into the way we do business, we have a powerful differentiator against competitors.”

Interesting. I thought we had a headcount freeze on. People continue to leave in droves, yet they’re not replaced. Possibly this means that those who are left are the “creative forward-thinkers”, but given that I’m one of them (those that are left - for the time being - not a creative forward-thinker) I’d dare to suggest that maybe those that are left are the stagnant dregs who can’t be arsed to polish their CVs and do all that bullshitting-in-interviews thing again.

And all this talk of “baking” is a bit optimistic, come to think of it. Perhaps if he’d said “half-baked” he’d be slightly closer to the truth. Our department does its level best to reduce “creative forward-thinkers” to company yes-bods. It inspires arse-licking and nurtures nepotism and cronyism beyond all else, and regards customers as annoying bastards who raise bug reports at the most inopportune moments. Our “powerful differentiator against our competitors” is that anyone in their right mind would rather work for them than us. In this they are correct - I would rather work for XYZSoft too, but they’re too far down the Thames Valley to make the commute viable.

Finally, “Economic considerations also affect how we use our own financial, human and time resources. Efficiency and effectiveness is a Company Value, and critical to our success. From travel to shipping, process design to meeting planning, we must challenge ourselves to consider the effectiveness of even our most routine tasks and budget items.”

In other words – no payrise next year, either, and if you want a new pen you’ll have to wander down to WH Smiths and cough up for it yourself.

There’s a bit more e-bollocks to promise that “I will be visiting all sites and I look forward to meeting with you in townhalls and round-tables, addressing your concerns and receiving your input”.

For fuck's sake.

He should realise by now that nobody ever gives any meaningful “input” at these “townhalls” and “round-tables”. They're all too scared of being bell-curved.

He would be much better off staying at Corporate HQ and having a video conference. But then he’d miss out on his corporate-sponsored sight-seeing. And of course he’d have to face up to the fact that our corporate video conferencing “facility” doesn’t actually work.

• Compared with men who had a body mass index (BMI) < 25, overweight men (BMI 25- 30) had a prostate cancer mortality hazard ratio of 1.47, and obesity (BMI > 30) increased the hazard ratio to 2.66
• Men with the highest 25 percent of C-peptide concentrations had a more than twofold greater risk of prostate mortality compared with men in the lowest 25 percent
• Men who were overweight or obese and had high C-peptide concentrations were more than four times more likely to die of prostate cancer compared to normal-weight men with low C-peptide concentrations

This study, based on an analysis of data from > 2,500 prostate  cancer cases, included 989 men who were overweight and 87 who were obese. It seems we are likely to hear a great deal more about the relationships between metabolic syndrome and prostate cancer risk in the future.

In the meantime ... Get some of that weight off guys! It just ain't good for you!

This will be pretty hard, alredy I am completely immersed in trying to know everything about everything that is going on at the moment and that is proving quite hard, not that i believed the contrary...

These three days of meetings, deals and gigs will hopefully on my part signal a music industry that is distancing itself from the defensive tactics that it has upheld so far, prosecuting the end used, attempting deals with ISPs and other not so nice strategies that alienated it from the consumers. Sure, there will still be attempts at this but the main focus now has to be on how to sell and how to provide the added value that DVDs and game seem to pull off pretty well but music is struggling to realize.

The new mobile deals - and this is probably a comment subject to a great deal of criticism - are not going to work out anywhere near as well as the music industry hopes. I think that the only platform where a subsription service like comes with music would work would be Itunes.

1) It is already a well known piece of software by - well - everyone

2) It does not FEEL restricted although it'd DRM'd to death - because of the integrration with the hardware

3) Apple would never allow there to be so many clauses and restrictions in a deal of this kind - if it's not straighforward it does not happen

I think that the end user, having to use a special software, DRM'd tracks that are bound to behave erratically as all DRM has done up to now, having to stick to a usage policy that seems to vary from article to article and be very complicated (how many tracks can I download? do i have to pay? when? why? what happens when my subscription ends?) these are all legitimate questions that are not answered clearly in the articles I've read.

Again, i think Sony's choice to give 200 of the most played tracks to the user at the end of the contract for free is a very good one and would make you feel less ripped off for having a phone that comes with music but a music that does not come with you after the phone's life span has expired (and we know that is not very long at all generally).

Not to stick solely to digital music I want to see how the distributors and the labels have taken on the experiments made by Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead in terms of self-pricing of music and putting the focus on premium content.

Added value product are at the forefront of Universal's Line up for the winter, will it prove a lasting success?

HA NOI — Policy makers are wrestling with the issue of whether State-owned companies’ debts should be subject to the law on public debt management, in addition to who should manage public debt.

Under the draft law, public debt would include Government loans, loans guaranteed by the Government and loans given to local government authorities. However, it would exclude debts incurred by State-owned enterprises.

The World Bank said public debt should include State-owned company debts, said deputy chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee Vu Viet Ngoan.

Chairman of the NA Committee for Finance and Budget Phung Quoc Hien said international financial institutions wanted loans to be guaranteed by the Government so as to mainly ensure their benefits.

However, Hien said such a regulation would make debt management more complex and make the State liable for State-owned company debt.

State-owned companies must take responsibility for their debt. In the situation where the firms were unable to pay off their debts, they would be declared bankrupt in line with the law on bankruptcy, Hien said.

National Assembly Deputy Chairman Uong Chu Luu suggested that State debt should be divided into two kinds. If the firm was investing in a key project in the country the Government should guarantee the debt, Luu said.

"Therefore, it is not necessary to exclude State-owned companies’ loans borrowed from foreign countries from being guaranteed by the State," Luu said.

Who manages debt

Under current regulations, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), and the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) are permitted to function as debt managers.

However, the draft law states that the MoF will be the only manager, while the MPI and SBV are the MoF’s co-operator. Localities are not allowed to negotiate and borrow money from abroad. The Ministry of Finance will come forward and sign borrowing contracts, then lend to localities.

The SBV deputy governor Nguyen Van Binh agreed that the MoF would act on behalf of localities to borrow money, but that the SBV would take responsibility for acquiring the loans from foreign institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Asia Development Bank then hand them over to the MoF to manage.

Head of the Finance and Monetary Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) Le Quoc Ly said that the MoF was assigned the task of managing public debt, which does not mean that the ministry would do everything related to public loan management.

The MPI will continue to be in charge of working out a long-term loan strategy, which is submitted to the Government for approval, in addition to building a system of standards to control public loans and the Government’s borrowing plans each year.

"Currently, the MPI is tasked with calculating and adjusting loans such as Government and State-owned debts based on macro-economic norms like gross domestic product (GDP) and international balance of payments," said Ly.

"The Planning and Investment Ministry advises the Government on how much it can borrow, in what form and from which country."

However, the law must clearly set out the functions and responsibilities of the three authorities to avoid overlap and improve efficiency, he added.

"Government loans are used to boost investment and increase income and welfare, but younger generations are those who take responsibility for paying the debt," said Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh.

The public debt management law would improve the ability of citizens to supervise the Government’s activities, he said.

Up to December 31, 2007, public debt including Government and local government agency loans accounted for 40.7 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. This rate was within the safe limit set in Viet Nam’s orientation of finance development up to 2010 approved by the Prime Minister, Ninh said.

Taking out loans with foreign countries currently comes under Decree No 134/2005/ND-CP on management of borrowing and paying foreign loans, and Decree No 131/2006/ND-CP on management and usage of official development aid.

The draft law consists of eight chapters and 53 articles, and will take effect on January 1, 2010. —