Just Said It

We Haven't Seen Anything Yet

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:04:00 +0000

I don't think we have seen anything yet when it comes to the total digital integration of our society. Ford is now releasing a new line of cars with a unique WIFI integration hotspot. And yes, you guessed it, there will be an App For That.

Please comment, where will integration invade next?

Check out this video.

Summer Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:18:00 +0000

Summer 2010 is winding down and I am watching the kids swim in the pool on a cool August day. The weather is fun too say the least. On one day you would swear that Global Warming is real and the next you would think it a silly notion with many parts of the world enduring record lows.

Who is right? Can it be so simple a fact that the earth goes through constant change in cycles that are impossible to predict with the degree of accuracy required to claim that the world has warmed one degree over hundreds of years?

Let's assume it is true. How can you reconcile the fact that it is man made with the fact that much of the country was under a glacier of ice long before man created the first campfire to cook the meat of a prehistoric Mastodon.

That is not to say that reducing pollution is a not a good thing. Strike that. It's a great thing. No doubt about it.

How about we go back to a simple goal which no one will debate and stop wasting energy debating an unprovable theory. Do we really need anything more than . . . Give a hoot, don't pollute.

Just said that

Location:Seawatch Cove,Virginia Beach,United States

If You Don't Have Anything Good to Say Then . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:43:00 +0000

I must be extra inspired by the Boy Scouts right now.   I just found myself watching several videos on YouTube that talked about Boy Scouts. There is a lot of traffic on the subject right now with everyone following up on the 2010 National Boy Scout Jamboree.

Unfortunately, there are also a lot of comments from those that have to call names and make negative judgments. I don't think that Sir Isaacc Newton would have thought that his third law of physics would apply as much to politics as it does to physics. You know the one I am talking about. "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction."   It would seem that for every person who made a positive comment about the Boy Scouts supporting their country and talking about what it means to be a scout that some other idot would find a negative in it.

Great Boy Scout Video

How can so many people look at a 12 year old boy doing something he enjoys and find a negative in it?   What in the hell is wrong with these people that they can't just listen to another point of view and shut up about it. How can someone judge that the Boy Scouts have a negative influence when they have done so much to build character and to help people?

Well, forget those people.   Don't bother reading their few comments. My mother always said, " If you don't have anything good to say then don't say anything at all."

Well . . . I just said that again today.

Until next time.

Hooray for the Boy Scouts

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 02:16:00 +0000

My 13 year old son came home from the Boy Scout National Jamboree today. This is the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts In the US so this event, held only every four years, was special and I am ecstatic he was able to be there. There were 45,000 boys there and I highly recommend you check out there website at www.bsajamboree.org for great pictures and video.

I have a lot of reasons to be proud of him. At 13 he raised about 1/3 of the $1,500 cost himself by collecting aluminum cans. He learned to deal with adversity by having to share a tent for 10 days with a boy that he only just met. He met and traded patches with boys from Puerto Rico, Malaysia, and many parts of the US. He has already reached the rank of Life scout and will likely complete his Eagle rank well before he turns 15.

By coincidence I also had a Facebook chat last night with a friend who I shared my Boy Scout experience with from age 7 until I left the Scouts at age 16 to pursue different opportunities . . . aka girls.

In our chat we both agreed that we owe a lot about who we are today to the Boy Scouts and to the men who were our leaders. The leader I owe everything to just happened to be my friend's dad. He passed away several years ago and we all miss him, but I will never forget what he taught me.

The moral of the story is . . .

The Boy Scouts teaches teamwork and leadership. If you can't get involved directly then please take a moment to support them with a donation at www.scoutingfriends.org.

From Gettysburg to Chicago?

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Seven score and seven years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a two minute speech in the farmlands of Pennsylvania which is considered to be one of the most important dedications in our country's history. In these times of civil disagreement, a corrupt political establishment, and government sponsored social change, it is much easier to see the parallels of history that led to that day.

How can you improve on these great words . . . .

The Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The Art of the Non Answer

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:18:00 +0000

Project Manager's, Sales People, and Engineers all need to be personally accountable. But what does personal accountability mean in today's team based environment where even the simple projects require multiple people with specialized skill sets? How do you separate items of personal accountability when everything is so inter dependent? For the manager today it can be a real challenge to manage the goals and objectives of each team member, but its even more difficult to attach singular accountability.

This is made even more difficult when you have to ask 10 follow up questions to get to the point of a simple answer. Many of us today seem to be adept at answering around a question? Perhaps this is a trait spurred by watching 24 hour news where politicians and media personnel seem to never be able to answer directly.

Here is an illustrative video to make my point . . . .

Storm Clouds Over Software, USA

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:48:00 +0000

I believe we are at an Inflection Point in how we will utilize computing technology in the next few years. An inflection point is that point in which there is a significant change in direction. The speed of this change is still in question and the precise direction it will take is also somewhat unclear. But the fact that a change is looming close cannot be disputed. The change I am referring to is the emergence of Cloud Computing to take over the enterprise computing applications which drive every business and the proof of this prediction is in cloud computing's quiet ability to begin taking away market share from the dominant Microsoft office applications of Word, Excel and Outlook.

Could this be possible? In 1985, I remember the so called dumb terminals where we completed word processing on a remote mainframe computer with an orange lettered screen as the only interface. The emergence of the IBM PC and the client server revolution was the inflection point at that time which freed us from that old main frame computer.

Can it be that 25 years later we are close to giving up the desktop applications and moving back to that dumb terminal strategy? Where does this leave the Dell PC and software vendors such as Microsoft?

You may not agree, but I think this change is real. Stay tuned for more dialog on this issue and please feel free to disagree and comment below.

Is Your E-Rep Any Good?

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:26:00 +0000

It's harder and harder these days to get a face-to-face meeting with a decision maker. They're all so darned busy, busy, busy. If they won't take the time to learn, how can they possibly solve their problems and implement key initiatives?

Hold on a minute here. If someone earned the rank of decision-maker and has the wherewithal to keep that role, by definition, that person IS learning enough to solve problems and implement key initiatives. In other words, it's you that has the learning problem, not the decision-maker. You haven't learned that tactics for getting in the door have radically, dramatically and forever changed.

You need to establish your credibility before you ask for a meeting. You need to get the decision-maker to realize that he or she needs more perspective and context about some issue, has three or four questions to ask, and that you are uniquely qualified to provide the perspective, context and answers. And you need to do all that without ever having any direct contact. In fact, you really need to avoid asking for a meeting at all - to avoid pushing yourself into the decision process. You need to get the customer to pull you in.

Impossible? Only if you think cold calls, schmoozing the assistant and clever mailings are your core techniques. They may well still be necessary, but you need some additional weapons in your arsenal. You need to be where the decision makers are already hanging out. When they reach out for info, you need to already be there - directly in the path of that reach. You need to create an electronic extension of yourself!

How tough is it to create and continually enhance an electronic extension of yourself? Actually, not much tougher than what you're already doing. It's just two extra steps:

· Build an "E-Rep Infrastructure"
· Embed everything relevant you know and learn in that E-Rep

DO NOT succumb to techno-phobia!!! If the technology overwhelms you, either get over it or find a geek to help. Frankly, if you put your mind to it, you can learn all the tech you need over a single weekend. For your E-Rep Infrastructure, get a blog, some simple audio recording/editing software for your PC and a video camera. (There are loads of choices out there. I use WordPress for my blog, NCH Software for audio/video editing, iTunes, a Flip Cam and YouTube.)

DO NOT succumb to I-don't-know-what-to-write-or-talk-about syndrome. Are you kidding me? You make your living talking for crying out loud. Every time you learn something, write it down and/or record it. When you have a new flash of insight, write it down and/or record it. Think through all the potential problems, issues, concerns, projects, solutions, initiatives, etc. that your products and services can address, then write them down and/or record them. When you read something interesting, attach it to your E-Rep self.

Neither of these two new tasks presents much of a challenge. Do them, along with whatever of the traditional techniques work for you. Can you really afford not to? Don't you need an E-Rep version of yourself to be available 24 X 7? What if it's 2:00 AM on Saturday and the hottest prospect in the universe is looking for a sales rep that can help?

By Todd Youngblood
The YPS Group, Inc.

www.ypsgroup.com

Republished by Permission

You Have Got To Be Kidding

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:48:00 +0000

As an Eagle Scout I often try to follow what goes on as these young boys work hard to realize this dream. If I told you that the labor unions had found a way to persecute a boy who organized something for the good of the community could you even consider that someone would be against it.

You can't make this stuff up . . .

Union troubled by Eagle Scout project in Allentown
In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.
Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city's largest municipal union.
Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.
"We'll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails," Balzano told the council.

Full Story

Best thing about . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:25:00 +0000

Building The SWAN Team

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:38:00 +0000

After many years of hiring people, last year I stumbled upon a simple hiring concept that I think is worth sharing. I wish I could take credit for the simplicity of it, but I can't. The practice is used by many larger consulting firms today. The truth is that I have always followed the principal by nature without thinking of it, but the concept works and its a great guideline to get everyone of your managers hiring by the same criteria. Hiring people in the technical industries can be difficult.
At my company we need thinkers and doers, inventors and implementers, designers and troubleshooters. Sometimes one person contains all of these skills, though more often a team comes together to complement each others' skills. The whole is greater than the parts. This successful practice is known as following the SWAN Model: Hiring employees that are Smart, Work Hard, Ambitious and Nice. Though hard to gauge at an interview, these qualities almost guarantee a decent worker. When hiring a non-entry-level person, the SWAN model, coupled with what they've done in the past, is a far better indicator of success than any resume. When it's time to hire, most hiring managers will look for the standard requirements, probably including some sort of specific experience or skill set. However, the SWAN concept focuses more on an individual's personal attributes than where they obtained their degree or what their specific experience is.	Photo by: suvodeb
WHAT IS A SWAN? We have found that SWANs likely have what it takes both to help our clients and to be successful at our company. "SWAN" is an acronym for people who possess four qualities: Smart, Work hard, Ambitious, and Nice. Smart Look for people with keen minds who may have pursued a variety of academic interests and demonstrated achievement in their chosen fields. Once these people join your company, they can turn their intellects on the problems facing your clients and develop creative, effective solutions. Work hard Being smart is not enough to succeed at most companies, the employee must also be willing to apply themselves every day. Try to look for people who have demonstrated their ability and willingness to work hard through academic/professional achievement and extracurricular involvement. Ambitious Identify people who set high goals for themselves and then strive to achieve those goals. They don't have to be striving to be the CEO, but they clearly need to have goals beyond just getting a job. Nice Many companies seek to hire people who are smart, hard working, and ambitious and discount the last attribute. However, most technical consulting positions require a great deal of customer and team interaction, and they need to meet the additional requirement of being nice to be around. Teams will perform better when the team members are naturally nice to each other and work together. There is other information on the web about this subject if you do a search, but sometime in the future I will share more about how you may go about filtering out the SWANS from the Ugly Ducklings.

Visual Healthcare

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:57:00 +0000

I thought this link was worth sharing. If you are like me you get a headache around the healthcare debate going on right now. I am fiscally conservative so I don't like the idea of public healthcare, but I also recognize there is a problem we have to solve.

Check out the attached slide show if you really want another view.

Healthcare Napkins All

View more documents from Dan Roam.

Selling Services

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:03:00 +0000

I am working with the Control Systems Integrator Association (CSIA) as a member of the Sales Excellence Council. The objective of the sales council is to document best practices which define the key sales elements for the typical control systems integrator. A control system sale is typically a complex solution sale of sophisticated technology. Both the seller and the client buyer are generally well educated and well informed. At the same time the control systems market is amass with several different technologies from different vendors which can confuse the process. There are standards which can define best practices, but the number of standards make the term somewhat of an oxymoron.

p>One of the group's current priorities is to define sales practices for making technical personnel productive in the sales process. To be successful at this we are breaking the process into three steps:

Define the technical person's role in the sales process.
Define the personality profile of the individual who can be successful in a sales role.
Define how to train and manage that person to be successful.

Trying to turn a technologist into an effective sales person can be done with a percentage of technical personnel, but the percentage is small and often at odds with the individual's personal goals. None the less, the complexity of the solution sale requires the direct involvement of technical personnel to build credibility and trust with the client. The more complex the sale the more involvement required from technical person to drill into the client's needs, define the technical solution, and make the client understand how the technical approach will meet their needs.

I am excited to be a part of this program with the CSIA, but at the same time I caution my readers not to expect too much. I am personally an advocate that selling is a specialized aptitude and trying to rely on the "selling technical" person to deliver all of your sales is a formula for disaster. Of the people that will fit the profile, I predict that at least 50% will, or already have, started their own business.

This is a favorite subject of mine so look for more information to come out soon.

Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Michael) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:29:00 +0000

This is my first posting to introduce this blog. Its hard right now to say if I will be able to add valuable information to an already overflowing intenet world, but we will see.

The purpuse of this blog will be to begin addressing some fundamental business issues that I believe others will find interesting. At the same time, I will likely venture into the worlds of politics and maybe even a couple of social issues from time to time.

Stay tuned for more information soon.