“Will we know a fork in the road when we see it?”

I had to finish about 200 things on my to-do list before I sat down at my desk today.

Wait. That’s a lie.

I chose to spend my time slaving away at that list, which is hefty enough to make a pack donkey bray.

Someone once asked if I got any satisfaction from a day spent checking things off my list. If so, they continued, did that satisfaction last more than a day?

Sometimes rhetorical questions are the safest way to give advice.

In the eBook What Matters Now, Gina Trapani offers a productivity test. She writes:

Getting things done is not the same as making things happen.

You can…

…reply to email.
…pay the bills.
…cross off to-do’s.
…fulfill your obligation.
…repeat what you heard.
…go with the flow.
…anticipate roadblocks.
…aim for “good enough.”

Or you can…

…organize a community.
…take a risk.
…set ambitious goals.
…give more than you take.
…change perceptions.
…forge a new path.
…create possibility.
…demand excellence.

Don’t worry too much about getting things done.

Make things happen.

If you’re at a fork in the road, read the rest of the eBook, What Matters Now. It might be the smartest thing you can do to catch up on the trends affecting the working world and society.

Laurie Phillips writes for and about businesses. She specializes in technology and motorcycling.

cool and creative photo courtesy of flikr.com/drcornelius

Post from: The Dead Company Club The Dead Company Club is a hobby of the writers at Sundance Research. Sometimes they just need to write about their own stuff.

Take This Productivity Test

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“Law firm accepts carbon credits as fees”

EcoSeed reports:

“Law firm clients may now pay legal fees with carbon credits under a scheme launched by a Miami, Florida-based law firm.

The Cueto Law Group has started the first initiative of its kind in the professional services industry, allowing clients to pay up to 20 percent of their legal fees with carbon credits.

Carbon credits represent permits to emit climate-warming greenhouse gases. One carbon credit unit is commonly equal to one ton of carbon dioxide emissions.

Under the law firm’s program called “CO Too,” its clients can pay with carbon credits which the company can then trade in the international carbon markets.”

Carbon Credits for/by Dummies

After I let that short, innocuous announcement soak in, a few things became obvious.

Observation #1: I can now buy and sell permission to pollute. This seems ludicrous, but it leads me to…

Observation #2: I have the right to pollute if I have carbon credits. It’s no longer something I shouldn’t do (but do anyway).

Observation #3: It’s going to be a seller’s market. Companies that can’t reduce their pollution further and stay profitable will need a good supply of carbon credits no matter what the price.

Observation #4: Carbon credits can be exchanged for currency if you have access to a marketplace for carbon credits.  This law firm isn’t taking lower fees: they’re just receiving part of their payment through a financial market that few know exists.

Observation #5: He who holds the most carbon credits wins. Power and wealth will belong to the credit holders for as long as companies pollute. Which countries and companies have a minimal carbon footprint right now? They have an invisible asset.

Opportunity or just more hot air?

Is this a big new opportunity or just a teaser? If you’re dusting yourself off from a company collapse, you’d be silly to ignore a developing market. For that matter, the economy is certainly encouraging us to get creative about finding and making new jobs. Is there something here?

Santiago Cueto poses the question, “Are Carbon Credits the New Global Currency?” I ask: Is this an economic opportunity, an environmental disaster or the emperor’s new clothes?

Want more? Here are the abbreviated, summarized, abridged “Cliffs Notes” to global business trends as identified by Laurie Phillips, who hates pollution, whether physical or digital.

photo courtesy of flikr.com/net_efekt

Post from: The Dead Company Club The Dead Company Club is a hobby of the writers at Sundance Research. Sometimes they just need to write about their own stuff.

The New Global Currency?

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U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Alton Jefferson and Sgts. Ronald Williams and Jeremy Squires, all from Bravo Company, 173rd Special Troops Battalion, conduct final checks on a Shadow Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) on Forward Operating Base Fenty in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, March 17, 2008, prior to its launch. A UAV is used to track enemy activity. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Tyffani L. Davis) (www.army.mil)

Manufacturing experts wanted

5th in a series about What Matters Now

Looking for a job in manufacturing or design?  Hold up. Make sure you understand the stampeding herd that is threatening the industry.  But first, let’s talk about your hobbies.

Break time

Let’s say you love planes and want to resume flying lessons as soon as you have a secure paycheck. In the meantime, you kill time online with other airplane nuts and post some design questions for a remote-control plane.

The engineer types and experienced fliers give you plenty of advice on your design, send you links to inexpensive electronics and tweet a rousing brainstorm to come up with new things you can do with your plane. They also tell you where you can get a prototype made, dirt cheap.

The job market still stinks and you’re getting tired of spending all day at the screen, so you order the prototype and add the electronics when it arrives from China a week later. You take it out to the dusty field nearby and let it loose. With the camera and GPS onboard, your little drone flies over the countryside taking snapshots and filming the flight while you control your recon mission with your iPhone. Fun, huh? Who needs Northrop Grumman?

Back to work

OK, back to that manufacturing job. Here are a few facts you need to know:

1. You no longer need a big employer to do design and manufacturing. Collaborative design, open-source components and micro-manufacturing put control in your hands, if you want it.

2. That big company becomes more vulnerable every day as barriers to entry keep falling, and they can’t staunch the tide. Do your homework before you sign on.

More about that UAV

Chris Andersen, Editor in Chief of Wired Magazine, is a firm believer that the web is transforming manufacturing. He should know. He founded DIY Drones and has been spreading the message about DIY manufacturing. Here’s a short video about his experiment building drones and interacting with the U.S. Government – unintentionally – as a result.

The longer video of the entire presentation by Chris is fascinating. It includes the tale of his tangle with the U.S. Government at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and a gleeful story about how he busted Google. Great stuff and well worth the 20+ minutes to watch.

If you want to catch up on the trends affecting the working world and society, read the eBook, What Matters Now. It might just be the smartest thing you can do for yourself this year as a survivor of corporate destruction.

Laurie Phillips is a snow-bound freelance writer with cabin fever.

Post from: The Dead Company Club The Dead Company Club is a hobby of the writers at Sundance Research. Sometimes they just need to write about their own stuff.

Manufacturing Your New Job

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“Globalization is forcing companies to think in new ways.”                                            — Bill Gates

“No duh, but how?”                    — Apprehensive Businessperson

What Matters Now: Global Business in the 21st Century

4^th in a series

Does the phrase “global business” bring to mind using off-shore contractors? Having an office in a shiny, new, nosebleed-high building in Singapore? Scheduling conference calls at odd hours to accommodate far-away time zones? If so, you are stuck in the last century.

Americans are way behind in understanding global dynamics. Why should you care? Because these trends are changing how businesses start up, staff and compete. The nature of work is changing. The workforce is changing. Barriers to entry are collapsing. Your next job will unquestionably be affected, even if your new employer isn′t willing to admit it yet.

Why are we still so naive? It′s not just because you had a job that didn′t give you the time – or the need – to learn about all this stuff. In the eBook, “What Matters Now,” Alisa Miller says:

“Too often American commercial news is myopic and inwardly focused.

This leads to a severe lack of global news. And increasingly, a shortage of “enterprise journalism” – journalistic depth built over time through original sources – that provides the context and enables thoughtful response.” (emphasis mine)

She continues:

“It’s difficult to understand the world if you haven’t heard much about it. But we also know many Americans want to know more.”

The solution

So what should you do? Get informed. Plug into world news and follow these topics:

1. Capitalism in developing countries: Margins are going to fall and keep falling as the balance of consumers shifts from high- to low-income markets. Ignore this and you′ll be working for another dead company.

2. Micro-factories and DIY design: Today you can place an order on the web for a prototype and an industry-agnostic micro-factory in China can build it in 24 hours. Barriers to entry in manufacturing are going “poof.” One person with an idea and a computer can now do what used to require a ton of capital and lots of industrial square footage.

3. Educating the poor. Efforts such as Room to Read are teaching the world’s poor to read. There are almost three quarters of a billion of them and when the newly educated start working, they won′t know anything about the “old way” of doing things. They′re going to question everything. Ignorance is going to foster innovation.

4. Cultural prejudices: Exclusion – by race, culture or gender – is breaking down. Work force demographics are changing and employers will become more accommodating.

As Hugh MacLeod wrote, “The world is changing.” Maybe this should be on the back of everyone′s business card.

Alisa Miller and Hugh MacLeod are contributors to the new eBook, What Matters Now. Alisa is the President and CEO of Public Radio International and blogs at Global Matters Post. Hugh blogs at Gaping Void and is the author of Ignore Everybody.

This is the fourth article in a series about global trends and how they are affecting business. The source of wisdom for these posts comes from the eBook, What Matters Now. Previous posts include “Important Trends You Missed While You Were Employed“, “What Matters Now: Advertise by giving it away” and “What Matters Now: Be fearless“.

Laurie Phillips is the editor of The Dead Company Club blog. She is also the passionate founder of the No Businessperson Left Behind campaign.

Post from: The Dead Company Club The Dead Company Club is a hobby of the writers at Sundance Research. Sometimes they just need to write about their own stuff.

Are You Sure You Understand “Global”?

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“What Matters Now” is what matters

Second of a series

I want to be fearless. Apparently I’m not the only one. In the new eBook, “What Matters Now,” there are plenty of mini-essays that talk about stepping out of your comfort zone and taking a new direction. And what better time to consider it than when you’ve been involuntarily canned?

In a short article appropriately titled, “Fear,” Anne Jackson writes:

“We’re often impressed by those who appear to be fearless. The people who fly to the moon. Chase tornadoes. Enter dangerous war zones. Skydive. Speak in front of thousands of people.”

I bet you’re also impressed by people who start a business that becomes successful, ferret out an unbelievable new job with a whopping promotion or ditch their former career in favor of something they’ve always wanted to do.

Do you ever think, “I could do it too,” but your Inner Censor wakes up and kicks your dreams down the sewer?

Maybe you’re short on savings or have no household income. Or you don’t have expert qualifications. Maybe you’re highly qualified but still feel the sting of your company’s collapse and are afraid to go for it. The Censor says, “Be mature! You can’t risk spending money to go to that conference/take that class/buy that company in this economy,” or “You have too much to learn, you’ll never catch up.” It may just echo, “Oh, grow up!” The Censor always ends with, “Take the safe road.”

Stop right here. Reread Anne’s quote. Those people who fly to the moon, skydive or capture a immense following are just like you. Except they didn’t take the safe road. They were afraid. They knew they were taking a substantial risk, maybe even putting their lives on the line. They chose to walk through their fear.

Could our heros have ignored their passion and done something safer? Absolutely. Would they have been satisfied? Perhaps. But here’s what I’ve found: If you have a dream and ignore it – even for good reasons – it will haunt you. It will be that little voice that nags, “Is this what I really want to do?” with every job opportunity. That dream will demand attention, and you will spend a lot of energy suppressing it.

Anne ends her essay with this:

“Until Fear is gone, (and realize he may never completely leave) make the decision to be courageous. The world needs your story in order to be complete.”

You can swallow hard and become fearless. You can also decide to be afraid. What’s your choice today?

Laurie Phillips is a freelance writer and motorcyclist. She has done the motorcycle stunt above by accident while pursuing one of her passions. It was worth it.

Photo courtesy of flicker.com/pdbreen

Post from: The Dead Company Club The Dead Company Club is a hobby of the writers at Sundance Research. Sometimes they just need to write about their own stuff.

What Matters Now: Be fearless

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“What Matters Now” is what matters now

First of a series

Yesterday I wrote that the new eBook, “What Matters Now” is a must-read for business people, especially anyone who has recently been ejected from a long-term job.

I was wrong.  Anyone should read it who wants to be in the know about what direction the world is taking and what they should be doing about it. In a new series I’m going to highlight several points that the book rams home. Not to detract from reading it, but to share what I think are some radical shifts from traditional thinking.

Let’s take advertising and marketing. One essay is titled “Attention”. It begins:

“You can buy attention (advertising).
You can beg for attention from the media (public relations).
You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales).

Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it on line for free: a YouTube video, a blog, a research report, photos, a Twitter stream, an ebook, a Facebook page.”

Does this work? Isn’t it a threat to your hard-earned, valuable expertise? You be the judge.

Let’s say you’re looking for a job. Everyone knows what a challenge that is right now, so you decide to set up a blog that highlights your experience. You do a little reading and find out you should use lots of key words to make sure people will find your site. But you don’t know how to set up a blog and you don’t want to become a web designer. Still, you want it done fast and without spending a lot.

Take a look at Johnny Truant. Johnny will set up a blog for you for free. When you’re ready to do more, Johnny can be your “virtual assistant,” helping you enhance your blog remotely or providing extensive online training materials. He charges for these services. Would I hire him to do the expert stuff needed to make my blog a success? You bet.

Johnny makes money by selling his services, but he attracts customers by giving his services away. This is the new advertising. Set aside your old biases and provide value for free. You’ll get far more in return.

Laurie Phillips is a freelance writer and a member of The Dead Company Club.

Post from: The Dead Company Club The Dead Company Club is a hobby of the writers at Sundance Research. Sometimes they just need to write about their own stuff.

What Matters Now: Advertise by giving it away

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I did a lot of soul searching when my company closed. Did I love my work, or just love what it enabled me to do?

Many of my colleagues grabbed offers from competitors, but I chose a new path. I became an entrepreneur and a consultant to other entrepreneurs. Ultimately I started four companies and worked with many more. And boy, did I learn how ignorant I was.

I was an expert in one subject in my former job. I didn’t need to know anything about emerging trends like Twitter, micro-manufacturing or green business. I learned – thanks to many strangers who offered valuable expertise for free – what I had missed. And there was a big gap.

If your corporate cocoon has cracked open recently, there is a new business world you should know about. A newly released eBook, “What Matters Now,” is a must-read. The book is a collaborative effort by dozens of authors, journalists and activists who preach the facts of leading edge business and corporate interaction. Each has written a “micro essay” of about 140 words. It’s easy reading but incredibly valuable in its simplicity.

Consider the opening essay by Seth Godin titled “Generosity.” It begins:

“When the economy tanks, it’s natural to think of yourself first. You have a family to feed, a mortgage to pay. Getting more appears to be the order of business.

It turns out that the connected economy doesn’t respect this natural instinct. Instead, we’re rewarded for being generous. Generous with our time and money but most important, generous with our art.

If you make a difference, people will gravitate to you. They want to engage, to interact and to get you more involved.”

The topics are delightfully diverse, and I’m glad I don’t agree with all the opinions because I really don’t know it all. If you’re pondering your future, take a few hours to absorb some important trends before you make your list of resolutions for the new year. And, as the authors suggest, if you like what you read, pass it on.

Laurie Phillips is a freelance writer and President of Sundance Research, a network for writers and editors.

Post from: The Dead Company Club The Dead Company Club is a hobby of the writers at Sundance Research. Sometimes they just need to write about their own stuff.

Important Trends You Missed While You Were Employed

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“I didn’t say it was your fault. I said I was going to blame it on you.” — Anonymous

Former Circuit City employees took a direct hit when the company closed. But the fallout is still spreading far beyond the walls of Circuit City’s echoing stores. If you think you aren’t affected, think again.  Here are some random thoughts about who has taken a hit and what might change as a result of The City’s death.

New School Bus Routes

Circuit City left 18.7 million square feet of empty retail and warehouse space. They abandoned over 575 leases.  Across the country, mall and shopping center owners – who were already sweating – are hyperventilating. One well-meaning, ivory tower-dwelling person suggested they use the big-box stores for schools. It’s not a stretch to imagine converting Circuit City’s former headquarters campus, but what municipality has the coin to rent the typical Circuit City store space?

Up Your Credit Limit

You’re going to need it. PCs and TVs are going to get more expensive with the blow that the big electronics manufacturers took. HP may never get the $120 million Circuit City owes it. Samsung is waiting for $115 million and Sony is out $60 million. These companies were already getting flogged by the economy. Another 20+ manufacturers are in the same boat, big names including Toshiba, Garmin, Panasonic, Monster, and Kodak.

No More Newspapers

I’m not very sympathetic of the media. But newspapers are run by people and, although I don’t like what they do, their fates matter. The industry is already fighting to stay afloat, and now Circuit City’s colorful Sunday inserts are gone. This could mean as much as a 10% reduction ad revenue for local papers.

Small Business Shock

Plenty of small businesses are struggling because of Circuit City. Cafe 56 in Cleveland counted on customer and employee business from a neighboring Circuit City store. Freelance photographer Scott Brown hopes to get paid some of the $30,000 he’s owed by Circuit City, but it’s not likely. It’s a shock to realize that big, established companies aren’t dependable any more.

And the Biggest Loser Is…

Shareholders! They won’t get a check worth the postage. On the last day of trading, shares closed at 10 cents. Former employees who held stock in their 401Ks are going to be retiring later, if at all. If you think you’re exempt because you didn’t own any stock, you might want to check your mutual fund holdings. Even moderate risk funds often dabble in high-risk investments, such as in the stock of a company who was looking for a last-minute buyout. It would’ve rewarded those shareholders who had nerves of steel very nicely.

I’m sure there are other businesses that have suffered too. What other stories can you add?

Post from: The Dead Company Club The Dead Company Club is a hobby of the writers at Sundance Research. Sometimes they just need to write about their own stuff.

Circuit City’s Mushroom Cloud

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“Life’s a fragile thing Harry… One minute you’re chewin on a burger, the next minute you’re dead meat.”                                                                                                                –Jim Carey in “Dumb and Dumber”

Logic That Defies Logic

There’s death and then there’s senseless death. Last year Heller Ehrman was a top-50 law firm with revenues over $500 million. Now they’re dead. I’ve been trying to ignore this story but I can’t get over one fact: Heller filed bankruptcy to avoid paying what they owed their landlord, screwing their own employees as a result. And their logic? They did it because of the “fiduciary obligations to their creditors,” which include both the landlord and their employees.

Heller and Escher or Escher and Heller?

Escher drawings are endlessly complex and confusing, rarely what they seem to be at first glance. Heller’s end was pretty much the same. The landlord twitched, the court agreed, the banks balked, clients pounced and partners bolted, all scrambling for their own best interests. Heller hasn’t missed the chance to point fingers. “It’s unfortunate that the landlord filed…the partners hurt us when they defected…the bank didn’t have to blah blah blah.” Those actions were all contractually legal. And Heller’s response screwed their employees.

Would Management Please Show Some Backbone

Let’s be blunt. Firm management botched their jobs. Blaming anyone else is an academic argument for a lunch reunion of unemployed lawyers. The dominos fell like this: inept management, partner defections, decreased revenue, unpaid bills, malpractice awards, collection lawsuits, credit defaults, bankruptcy.

Big Legal Fees Result from Not Enough Money

Other firms’ litigation businesses have bloomed from the bankruptcy, filing suit against Heller on behalf of ex-employees. Clients are suing for breach of contract and ignoring their unpaid invoices from the firm. Heller has sued their banks. Former partners are being sued to return their capital they took when they left the firm. The Dissolution Committee has to collect enough money to pay the creditors. Meanwhile, the lawsuits pad other attorneys’ pockets.

What about the Employees?

Hey! Wait a minute – look over here! There are 1,000+ people who lost their jobs and are struggling to recover. Ex-employees haven’t gotten wages due or accrued vacation pay and don’t have COBRA benefits. Because the firm didn’t give WARN’s 60 day notice employees are also due penalty payments. But that’s no consolation when litigation and bankruptcy court stands between you and your money. How do you pay living expenses or hold off mortgage collectors today? Good luck getting a job: the legal industry isn’t hiring. There are hundreds still looking for jobs eight months after D-day. It sucks to be ex-Heller.

Checkmate

Eventually Heller will be just another failed law firm, a footnote in legal history. Other than those who went through the trauma, few will think about them again. Still it’s hard to ignore the irony: Heller got checkmated by their own legal contracts.

Heller employees have set up an informative support network at Heller Highwater.

How long did you wait to get paid what you were owed after your company filed bankruptcy?

Post from: The Dead Company Club The Dead Company Club is a hobby of the writers at Sundance Research. Sometimes they just need to write about their own stuff.

Hell or Heller Ehrman?

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“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”                                       — Warren Buffett

From heyday to…

Would you like to take home $1.3 million? That’s the average profits-per-partner in the top 100 law firms as of 2008.  Law firms have laughed all the way to the bank for years, enjoying 160% growth in the last 10 years and obese paydays. Even fresh-faced graduates couldn’t stop grinning with their $175,000 starting salaries.

…no payday at Big Law

But the last year has been a disaster for law firms. Heller Ehrman was in the top 50 just a year ago. Now it’s dissolved. 75% of the top 50 firms have had layoffs. The rest of them have cut salaries or delayed start dates for new attorneys, sort of a pre-employment layoff. Some firms are even paying new hires to not work. Does anyone follow that logic?

Rotting from within

Pop culture has compared law firms to rodent dens, like dumpsters but better organized. Given that lawyers will bare their fangs and litigate almost anything — suing McDonald’s because their hot coffee is … hot? — how can their businesses possibly be dying? Most of the dead were well established firms, appearing to be successful. Like other private businesses, you can’t see the rot within until it topples.

It’s Not the Economy

The economy is only partly to blame. There are three main reasons behind recent failures:

• Leadership doesn’t lead
• Someone in a position of authority goes over to the dark side
• Mergers – intended to build strength in numbers – fail

The crappy economy only highlights shortcomings, it doesn’t cause them. And because of that, the problems aren’t going to go away when the economy turns around.

So Sue Me

A few law firms have closed quietly. But others have had ugly implosions where former employees find themselves in the unsecured creditors’ line, hoping to get at least part of a paycheck. Laid-off attorneys and staff are suing their former employers.  There’s a dangerous mix of well-tuned argumentative aggression and animosity brewing.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of very smart, well-trained professionals who are looking for jobs in a troubled, shrinking industry. The tide is going out. Let’s see who’s still wearing a suit.

Are you one of the frustrated laid-off attorneys or support staff? What have your last few months been like?

After consulting to law firms for 15 years, Laurie Phillips took a break for a few years and then all hell broke loose. Read more about her work at Sundance Research.

Post from: The Dead Company Club The Dead Company Club is a hobby of the writers at Sundance Research. Sometimes they just need to write about their own stuff.

What’s With the Law Firms?

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