Too many MBAs are sent into the world with bravado and enthusiasm and confidence.
The problem is that they also lack guts.
14
Mar 12
TechCrunch – Go Ask Grandma: How To Design For “Normals”
Editor’s Note: This guest post is written by Nir Eyal (@nireyal) and Katy Fike, PhD (@innovate50). Katy is a gerontologist and partner at Innovate50 while Nir is a founder of two startups and blogs about technology and behavior design at nirandfar.com.
As web watchers, entrepreneurs, and investors search for the next big thing, they’d be wise to focus on innovations that can be easily adopted by technology novices. A recent string of companies, including Groupon and Pinterest, have found success outside the early-adopter digerati by building products simple enough to be used by just about anyone.
Designing with tech novices in mind can mean the difference between staying niche and going mainstream. Here are three principles for designing software for people Silicon Valley too often disparagingly calls “normals.”
1. What’s it for?
Don’t tell them “how it works” or “what it is” and certainly don’t tell them how wonderful your company is. Just tell them in big, uncluttered, blatantly obvious terms what your service is for. Novice users need to know when your service would be useful in their lives.
Take a look at Twitter’s homepage for new users. It says simply, “Welcome to Twitter. Find out what’s happening, right now, with the people and organizations you care about.” Same story at Facebook. “Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.” Brilliant! Now the tech novice knows, in no uncertain terms, when and why these sites would be useful. Twitter is for knowing what’s happening and Facebook is for connecting and sharing.
More of the TechCrunch post from Nir Eyal and Katy Fike
14
Mar 12
TechRepublic – The importance of network effects for cloud computing
Takeaway: Thoran Rodrigues explains “network effects,” which is the effect that users have on the popularity and reach of a service or product. Will cloud computing break some of these traditional networks?
Network effects are some of the strongest forces in the world of technology today. They are partly responsible for the success of both traditional software, such as the Windows OS, and of services such as Google and Facebook. But what exactly are these network effects? As Wikipedia tells us, a network effect is the effect that the user of a service (or product) has on the value of the service (or product) to other users. Social networks such as Facebook are the quintessential example: the more users are in a network, the more valuable that network becomes, both for participating users and for potential new ones. After a while, people join the network simply because everyone they know is there.
Companies are always keen on exploiting network effects since they create a subtle form of lock-in. Users won’t change networks unless a significant percentage of people change first, so it is much harder for new players to enter the market. This was recently demonstrated by Google+. In spite of Google’s brand and marketing power, only a small percentage of users effectively adopted this new social network. The user’s viewpoint is this: “All my friends are on Facebook, so I’ll only go to Google+ if they go too.” But their friends will only go if all their friends’ friends go, and so on.’
More of the TechRepublic post from Thoran Rodrigues
13
Mar 12
Inc.com – My Secret for Turning Fear Into Opportunity
Feeling like a failure in business? If you’re frustrated and overwhelmed, use this method to go from an F to an A++.
Being in business for yourself is anything but predictable. For some entrepreneurs, the ups and downs lead to many sleepless nights which are spent digging for the answer; the one magic button that will produce miracles.
Sometimes racking your brain for the answer can generate results, but typically it creates nothing more than a headache. What I’m about to suggest for those of you in this predicament may seem counter-intuitive, but if I could go so far as offer a money-back guarantee on this I would! Here it is: accept your circumstances, appreciate what you have, and adjust the way you think.
That’s right, it’s that simple. It’s what I call the A++ Method: Accept, Appreciate, and Adjust. The simple A++ reminders can make your life so much easier, and get rid of those nighttime headaches. Recently I had the opportunity to see these three steps put into action in a way I’ve never before witnessed.
More of the Inc.com post from Marla Tabaka
13
Mar 12
Three weeks of children
Jimmy and Emily were home on school breaks. It was fun to have them around the house again, along with Emilie Robbins, Jimmy’s girlfriend. Our house can be pretty quiet with just Teresa, me and Cricket the dog. I’m proud of both Jimmy and Emily for pursuing their dreams and making them happen.
21
Feb 12
My recent visit to the Florida Keys
Teresa and I celebrated our birthdays last week in the Florida Keys. Although my Mother is from Florida, I had never visited anything south of Miami. I love the ecosystems and the individual beauty that each island displays.
We had dinner with one of Teresa’s cousins and her husband. Her husband is a veterinarian and they have lived on Marathon Key for many years. We talked about the transient nature of the residents. Most folks stay about three years and either run out of money or miss their friends and move back home.
I know that I missed my friends and family. The beauty of the area was wonderful to visit, but living in the area did not appeal to me.
What is it that makes us wish to live in places that we vacation?
10
Feb 12
More goals are better
Today I made the transition from 51 years to 52. I tend to get reflective on my birthday, and today I am thinking about how badly I need goals in my life to be happy and to get better.
Whether it’s a sales goal or an Indianapolis adventure race that I’m training for, it helps me focus. It makes the day-to-day discipline required seem less like drudgery and more like meaningful work.
How badly do you need goals? Do you need to lengthen your goals list?
31
Jan 12
Sales and Sales Mgmt Blog: In 2012 the New Normal in Sales Is . . .
As with the beginning of almost every year we have a number of commentators and pundits proclaiming what the “new normal” is.
We’re told that the old normal was the government strove to keep unemployment below 5% and that the “new normal” is going to be to try to keep unemployment below 7%.
We’re told that the old normal in the auto industry was to try to increase the miles per gallon on a manufacturer’s fleet by selling enough high mileage units to raise the fleet average, and the “new normal” is no longer trying to sell large numbers of high mileage internal combustion engines but to sell hybrids and alternative energy vehicles.
In sales we’re told that the old normal was cold calling, face-to-face meetings with prospects and clients, and using salespeople to find, connect with, and sell prospects, and the “new normal” is that salespeople are an outdated and costly luxury and are, at best, nothing more than an archaic relic of the past that companies just haven’t come to the realization are no longer needed.
Many, including myself, find it amusing to read the “new normal” predictions knowing that for the most part they are nothing more than someone’s attempt to be relevant and gain some attention.
More of the Sales and Sales Management Blog post from Paul McCord
27
Jan 12
Personal Branding Blog – People Buy “Why”, Not “What”
Simon Sinek is the author of “Start With Why”, a book that explains the theory behind finding your passion and how that passion helps us become effective leaders that can inspire change.
Sinek delivered a compelling TED Talk, using the success of the Wright Brothers as an example of the power of passion. You see, we often believe that success comes from perfect market conditions, a gifted team and plenty of capital. Sometimes we can get caught in the “they were at the right place at the right time” mindset to explain others’ success.
But, Sinek explains, there is grounded research to prove otherwise. Take, for example, the Wright Brothers. They didn’t have any money. They didn’t have a specialized team. And they certainly weren’t in the right place at the right time–not only did they not have the means to make that happen, but they were also too busy concentrating on their passion, which was the pursuit of powered man flight.
They weren’t chasing success for the sake of success, which was, according to Sinek, the case for Samuel Pierpont Langley. Langley was on a quest to succeed at powered man flight–he wanted to be first, famous and rich. He had plenty of capital and a large, influential and educated team. He was always in the right place at the right time because The New York Times followed him wherever he went, hoping to capture a historic moment.
More of the Personal Branding Blog post from Wendy Brache
26
Jan 12
WSJ: New Insight Into Aging Brains
Nearly a quarter of the changes often seen in a person’s intelligence level over the course of a lifetime may be due to genes, a proportion never before estimated, new research shows.
The study suggests that genes may partly explain why some people’s brains age better than others, even though environmental factors likely play a greater role over a lifetime.
Understanding the factors behind healthy mental aging has become an increasingly vital one for societies with large elderly populations. However, it isn’t an easy task.
Traditional methods of estimating the influence of genes and the environment on intelligence have largely been limited to comparisons between people who are related, such as identical or fraternal twins. The shortcoming of such studies is they didn’t clearly apportion the effects of each factor on intelligence.
More of the WSJ article from Gautam Naik
