The reality show “Bar Rescue” is in its fourth season on Spike TV. Each episode offers an opportunity for veteran food and beverage industry consultant Jon Taffer to swoop in and revive a failing bar. Usually this entails having to identify the staff’s weakest link.
The path to success is not a straight line
Supplier Report: 11/22/2014
IBM
- There is alot of news about IBM’s “BlueMix” Platform as a Service (PaaS) this week.
Another Bluemix addition that goes hand-in-hand with Dedicated is what IBM called a Private API catalog, a collection of APIs that allow developers to connect their existing on-premise systems with IBM’s Bluemix. An organization can in effect republish its data through Bluemix and make it available as a service, either to other internal developers or external third parties. A company that can’t or doesn’t want to move its data into the cloud at all, even to an isolated instance like Bluemix Dedicated, could use this as a halfway-house solution.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2851129/paas/ibm-spins-up-a-new-bare-metal-private-paas.html
- IBM is going after email with a freemium model.
They are talking about merging email with social tools, instant messaging, file sharing, and calendars in one tool. Sounds similar to what Microsoft tried to do with the Outlook relaunch last year.
http://www.techzone360.com/topics/techzone/articles/2014/11/20/394009-ibm-launch-innovative-new-email-service.htm
Oracle
- Oracle layoffs in Europe have global team concerned
Managers of this unit wanted to hire more people in Romania, where the costs, particularly salaries, are far lower than they are in Western Europe.
http://www.sooeveningnews.com/article/20141117/BUSINESS/311179979/-1/sports
- Oracle vs. Oregon continues…
“Resolution of the claims in the two actions ultimately will require answers to the same central questions regarding formation, interpretation and performance of the contracts between Oracle, on the one hand, and the state and Cover Oregon, on the other,” according to Oracle’s motion to consolidate.
- How Oracle is fitting in with the rest of the industry right now:
Oracle continues to acquire more and more companies with cloud technology for the growth of its cloud business. During the Oracle Open World in late September, the whole theme centered around Cloud and to some degree mobility.
HP
- HP is starting to move executives around for the split:
“Bill (Veghte) is absolutely the right guy for the job given the potential for noise and disruption,” said Jed Ayres, Chief Marketing Officer, MCPc, the $262 million Cleveland-based national solution provider. “Bill just mitigates all of the risk that comes with the split. What (HP CEO) Meg (Whitman) has done is take one of the company’s best and brightest to make sure the split doesn’t impact customers, partners or employees.”
http://www.crn.in/crn/news/298790/hp-executive-shuffle-veghte-oversee-hp-enterprise-split
- HP VP offers more information on their split (and some supply chain 3D printer disruptions)
http://www.computerdealernews.com/news/top-hp-vp-sheds-new-light-on-company-split/37858
Other
- Facebook going after LinkedIn with private work network
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2014/11/17/why-facebook-wants-to-friend-your-boss/
Productivity Bulletin: 11/21/2014
- Leave your desk at lunch:
The same point I just made in #1 is doubly true for creativity. Have you ever experienced the phenomenon of having some of your greatest ideas while in the shower? Do you think you are alone in that? You’re not. When you “free yourself up” as you do in the shower or while taking a break from your work, your brain is suddenly “free” to consider new, fresh ideas that can potentially solve the problems that were plaguing you while you were so vigorously pondering the issue. Letting your mind wander a bit over lunch can lead to new ideas and new inspiration.
- Time Assets vs. Time Debts
Good post on managing your time and identifying things that drag us down from being productive.
http://jamesclear.com/time-assets - 6 questions to ask to learn about a company’s culture:
Maybe your interviewer will mention off-site brainstorming meetings, clubs meant to help develop employees’ skills or even the company softball team. “But if they skirt this question, that tells you a lot about their culture… or lack thereof,” Cochran says.
http://lifehacker.com/six-questions-you-should-ask-to-learn-about-a-companys-1658633604
- Don’t just invent something, fix a problem:
http://99u.com/workbook/34987/dont-just-invent-something-fix-something - As we try to develop better relationships with our customers, I like this pamphlet approach for the upper levels:
http://www.seanogle.com/entrepreneurship/pamphlet-principle - Allow people choices when creating change:
Allow People Decisions. Change cannot happen to people. It needs to happen with people. Change must be co-created. Everyone should have some say in how the change is implemented. It is their job and their life. Let them have an element of control. If you keep lines of communication open for suggestions, you will hear lots of good ideas from the people who need to make the change happen. Use those ideas because it will build more engagement in the process. Create the change together.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141030174822-11290604-3-ways-to-motivate-change
PS: On in the case with my son, provide the perception of choice… - Warren Buffet on Goals: (If it isn’t the most important, avoid at all costs)
But the story nevertheless resonates because it promotes a truth that I think is vital to remember in our current networked age: spending time on lower priority goals, even though they’re helpful and generate value, can leave you worse off than if you had avoided them all together.