The Dead Company Club

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Are You Sure You Understand “Global”?

January 20th, 2010 · Motivation, Series, Solutions

global business in the 21st century








 

“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

4th 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.

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What Matters Now: Be fearless

January 8th, 2010 · Coping, Finding a job, Motivation, Series, Solutions

stuntrider


“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

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What Matters Now: Advertise by giving it away

December 18th, 2009 · Finding a job, Series, Solutions

whatmattersnow1lenfantterrible


“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.

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Important Trends You Missed While You Were Employed

December 17th, 2009 · Motivation, Series

New business trends that you missed while you were employed


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.


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How to Get Your Reputation Back

October 27th, 2009 · Uncategorized

ghost


“My reputation grows with every failure.”

– George Bernard Shaw


A NEWSWEEK story begins:

“Lehman Brothers disappeared with Hank Paulson’s reputation. He wants it back.”

“Hank Paulson, former master of the universe, sits in a nondescript office in northwest Washington, D.C. He is trying to work on his memoirs, but he is struggling. He doesn’t seem like the onetime All-Ivy tackle at Dartmouth, the Harvard M.B.A. who ran Goldman Sachs, the prince of Wall Street who went on to be come secretary of the Treasury. He comes across more like an athlete who has lost a game and can’t stop talking about the dropped pass, the missed shot. He is trying to explain the weekend last September when Lehman Brothers went down—and the financial world collapsed.”

The story goes on:

“The conventional wisdom, he admits, congealed quickly: it was a mistake for the government to let Lehman die, and the blame rested squarely with Hank Paulson.” (NEWSWEEK May 25, 2009)

—————–

I have some thoughts to share with Hank.

—————–


Henry Paulson, Former Secretary of the Treasury
Nondescript office
Northwest Washington
Washington, DC
USA

Dear Mr. Paulson:

So Lehman torched your reputation, huh? I’m sorry to hear that. I’m very familiar with reputation damage, as are many others here. After my company crashed people walked away from me after they heard where I had worked. So many people were hurt, losing their life savings, their homes and their jobs that I became their enemy simply by association, as if it were all my fault.  Sound familiar?

There’s good news though.  I found a simple fix to reputation damage that has helped everyone who has tried it. It works like this:

If you want your reputation back, earn it.

Best wishes.

P.S. If you’re still struggling with your memoirs, please call me. I’m a ghostwriter, and not just during Halloween.


Thank you h.koppdelaney, for your flickr.com photo.

Laurie Phillips is a ghostwriter, but she wrote this all by herself.

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