Circle of Experts - Brain Food Blog - Personal Productivity

Leveraging the talents of the autistic/creating a new business

David Teten — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:54:25 GMT

I recently learned about an entrepreneur with a very clever business model: Thorkil Sonne, founder of Danish software testing company Specialisterne. The 55-person firm's clients include CSC, Microsoft, and Oracle.

Specialisterne claims to be the world's first company focused on leveraging the unique talents of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Sonne started the company in large part to ensure that people with ASD—including his own son—would have employment opportunities. ASD, the most common form of autism, affects close to 1% of the population, but only 10% of ASD adults obtain any form of employment.

Software testing is a repetitive role which requires high attention to detail, and is an excellent fit for the typical ASD personality. 75% of Specialisterne's testers have Asperger syndrome or a form of ASD. Sonne estimates that 1% of all the tasks executed in a given large company are suitable for autistic workers.

What I particularly like about this is that Sonne identified a community of talent almost unused by the labor market, and has built a successful firm on that insight. From the point of view of both profit and of social welfare, he has built a powerful model. He is now expanding internationally.

The Art of Email Writing

David Teten — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:11:00 GMT

A constant complaint we hear around the office is that emails we receive (and sometimes send) are poorly written or unclear. According to “How to Write a Perfect Email”, when writing an email that warrants a reply, there are four key components to get a quick and valid response:

1. Brevity- Keep it short.

2. Context- How do you know me/where did we meet (Give information that would make a person remember you) and put it in the subject line.

3. Something to Act On- Make the request clear and ask closed ended questions.

4. Set a Deadline- Set a date when you need the information, give one follow-up email and then pick up the phone.

My colleague Michelle Reicher observed that the guidelines set in this blog are a good standard to follow, but, "I disagree with the blanket advice to ask closed ended questions. Keep the request and question clear and concise, but allow the responder to give as much information as is necessary to move forward. When one sends an email with questions, the goal is to solicit a response, but it is important to have a complete, comprehensive, and useful response not just a yes/no answer. Yes/No responses answer the immediate question, but do not allow farther explanation that may answer future questions or give farther insight into the matter at hand."

In The Cranking Widgets Blog: “How to Construct the Perfect Email Subject Line”, the blogger observes that a good subject line is imperative for a successful email:

“There are 3 simple tips that, if implemented properly, will make your email subject (and, subsequently, your email) much easier to read.

1. Use Keywords [to identify the purpose of your email.] All email messages fall into one or more of 4 possible categories:

o Questions (or messages that elicit a response from the reader)

o Responses (messages that are in response to questions or other inquiring messages)

o Informational (or FYI - messages that are meant to inform but don’t require a response)

o Spam (jokes, pictures of your nephew’s baseball game, etc. - as well as actual spam)

2. Briefly describe the subject - This is best done before you start writing your message. Finding the right balance between vague and overly-specific can be tough. Personally, I think it’s like anything else - you get better at it with time.

3. For Pete’s sake, never leave the subject blank - This is something I’ve mentioned before, and it bears repeating.”

The body of the email will never be read if the context of the subject line does not act as an icebreaker or a contextual reminder. If the subject line merely says, “Hi” then it is synonymous to a cold call, but if the subject line identifies the business or how you know this person it becomes analogous to a warm call or a referral, which are generally more fruitful and productive than an unsolicited call.

Secrets of Silicon Alley's Serial Entrepreneurs, Sep. 10, NYC

David Teten — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 02:52:06 GMT

I’m looking forward to speaking at the monthly New York Software Industry Association meeting on September 10 in New York. The topic is ‘Secrets of Silicon Alley's Serial Entrepreneurs’. Carter Burden, Laurel Touby and I will be sharing our thoughts. (Personally, I think the key secret is fail fast and often.)

Jibber Jobber

David Teten — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:54:11 GMT

Jason Alba at JibberJobber added a JibberJobber profile to the Virtual Handshake social software company wiki. Barbara Safani writes,

A successful job search campaign requires exceptional organizational and follow-up skills. Jibber Jobber provides an easy to use interface that takes the drudgery out of the job search process while improving efficiencies and accelerating search activity.

What I like about Jibber Jobber is that it addresses a clear need among job-searchers: managing their job search and all of the people and companies with whom they interact during the course of their job search. The great majority of people I meet have very primitive personal CRM systems--often as primitive as a shoebox of business cards. So there's a large opportunity to provide people with more sophisticated tools. Jibber Jobber's challenge is that it is so narrowly focused on the job search, whereas every professional needs a personal CRM tool (e.g., Act, Microsoft Business Contact Manager, etc. They may find that they successfully penetrate the job-seeker market, then at some point rebrand and target the broader professional market.

Do-it-yourself iPhone

David Teten — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:38:55 GMT

If you want to avoid the lines, Techcrunch writes how to cobble together an iPhone equivalent for free.

How to Manage Virtual Employees

David Teten — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 10:35:23 GMT

In our latest FastCompany column, we summarized best practices in managing virtual employees at Evalueserve:

...Daigle observed that the virtual structure eliminates many political issues: "Not only do we not have much of the water cooler, idle time type of communication, and resulting issues -- we don't have time for it. I think there is some truth that the four of us [of the EVS management team] have got by without serious conflicts over 6 full years because we're somewhat forced (by geographic non-proximity) to stay out of one another's way, trusting each other to execute. Despite being geographically dispersed, all four senior managers are actively involved in both sales and operations, in touch via email, instant messaging, and phone daily. However, because we are distant we are forced to act independently and to focus on execution."

Free copies of The Virtual Handshake

David Teten — Fri, 04 May 2007 02:56:56 GMT

The folks at Landslide have figured out a great marketing strategy: If you view a demo of their "sales workstyle management" system, they'll give you a free copy of The Virtual Handshake--Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online.

Alex Salkever of Inc. wrote in Turning Sales Into Science that Landslide "gives sales staffers what they need, when they need it, to close a deal." In other words, Landslide provides salespeople more infrastructure, so that they can focus more on selling and less on all of the other activities that distract them from their main job.

Link: Watch a Landslide demo, get a copy of The Virtual Handshake

Bit Literacy

David Teten — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 14:01:01 GMT

I'm a longtime fan of the design philosophy and work of CreativeGood. Every time I've written a web design spec, I've required the designers to look at that site. Mark Hurst, founder of Creative Good and Good Experience, and host of the Gel conference (Good Experience Live), has just released his new book, Bit Literacy. Although I haven't read it, based on what I've seen of his past writings, it should be very worthwhile. For a sneak preview of his writing style, see his guide to managing the email deluge.

Guidelines for Using a Cellphone Abroad

David Teten — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 04:15:16 GMT

Some useful Guidelines for Using a U.S. Cellphone When Traveling Outside of the U.S.

Kids, the Internet, and the End of Privacy

David Teten — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 19:40:47 GMT

If you're having trouble understanding why and how it's become normative for the broadband generation (12-24) to document their entire lives online, I recommend Emily Nussbaum's Say Everything in New York magazine. My favorite section is from Clay Shirky of NYU, who has an amazing gift for metaphor:

Shirky describes this generational shift in terms of pidgin versus Creole.

“Do you know that distinction? Pidgin is what gets spoken when people patch things together from different languages, so it serves well enough to communicate. But Creole is what the children speak, the children of pidgin speakers. They impose rules and structure, which makes the Creole language completely coherent and expressive, on par with any language. What we are witnessing is the Creolization of media.”

That’s a cool metaphor, I respond. “I actually don’t think it’s a metaphor,” he says. “I think there may actually be real neurological changes involved.”

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

David Teten — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 18:06:15 GMT

Michael Pollan has a lengthy, excellent article in the NY Times on "Nutritionism": how modern technology can make your food less healthy. I strongly recommend it, particularly for people sensitive to their health and their weight. The bullet points at the end are critical, and will save you a lot of money buying diet books (most of which say exactly the same thing).

Ten Ways To Take Advantage of Web 2.0

David Teten — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 03:52:33 GMT

Dion Hinchcliffe reports on "Ten Ways To Take Advantage of Web 2.0".

One of the questions I get asked fairly frequently is how people can leverage Web 2.0 techniques in their applications and infrastructure today. Now that it's getting more well known, more people seem to be actively interested in making immediate, practical use of Web 2.0 ideas.

On a related note, the new meta-search tool Zuula looks very useful. (via Shally)

Sports and entrepreneurship

David Teten — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 05:18:41 GMT

"For CEOs and CEOs-to-be, sports may be a more effective training ground than any business school, according to both psychologists and entrepreneur athletes themselves." http://trax.inc.com/k/w/mailman/inc_leading/20070117/athletes

The U.S. government wants to subsidize your phone calls

David Teten — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 08:53:42 GMT

Thanks to some regulatory arbitrage, AllFreeCallswill let you make phone calls to many foreign countries for free.

Dial 712-858-8094, and at the prompt dial 011, the country code you are calling, and the number you wish to call.

Easy. Some of the bloggers writing about this call this "free", but that's a bit misleading.

Because AllFreeCalls is taking advantage of certain government subsidies, you as a taxpayer are really paying for this call.

Nine Tools for Researching Leads

David Teten — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 09:35:49 GMT

"On the 9th Day of Xmas, Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters revealed to me: Nine Tools for Researching Leads." Whether you are looking for sales or job-hunting purposes, there are a vast number of services you can subscribe to for free that will bring information on worthwhile new companies straight to you. This is a useful list.

SeekingAlpha.com: How to increase your consulting revenue and your profile

David Teten — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 13:27:52 GMT

I had lunch recently with David Jackson, CEO of SeekingAlpha, and a former neighbor of mine.

I thought that many of our Circle of Experts would benefit from contributing to David's company.

Briefly, www.SeekingAlpha.com is the leading blog source of stock market related commentary by money managers and industry experts and a major provider of financial content to Yahoo! Finance.

Articles published on Seeking Alpha reach over a million readers per month, about 17% of whom are finance professionals.

Crucially, each article published by Seeking Alpha (including those syndicated on Yahoo Finance) contains a link to the author’s biography or URL of choice, and can therefore be used to publicize your availability for consultations via Circle of Experts.

If you are already writing any sort of analysis, there's no marginal cost or effort to you. Just send SeekingAlpha your work, and they'll do all the editing and production for you.

You can read about Seeking Alpha at http://seekingalpha.com/about, view a list of sample contributors at http://seekingalpha.com/contributors, and submit an article for publication (Seeking Alpha’s editors will contact you directly after doing so) at http://seekingalpha.com/do/content/submit.php or by emailing Mick(at)SeekingAlpha.com.

(As disclosure, Nitron Advisors does not get any sort of commission or payment from SeekingAlpha if you sign up; we just think that publishing through their channel is valuable to you.)

Why Most Small Businesses Dont Work and What to Do About It

David Teten — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 18:25:25 GMT

An interview with Michael Gerber, Author of The E-Myth Revisited:

"If they don’t fail outright, most businesses fail to fully achieve their potential. That’s because the person who owns the business doesn't truly know how to build a company that works without him or her.. which is the key." - Michael Gerber

Michael Gerber is the founder and CEO of E-Myth Worldwide, and best selling author of The E-Myth Revisited, and E-Myth Mastery. He defines E-Myth as:

1: The entrepreneurial myth: the myth that most people who start a small business are entrepreneurs,

2: the fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does technical work.

Since its publication in 1995, this business classic has sold over one million copies, and is published in 16 languages. Michael observes that most small businesses are started by "technicians", that is, people who are skilled at something and who enjoy doing that thing.

When these technicians strike out on their own, they tend to continue doing the work they are skilled at, and ignore the overarching aspects of business.

Without clear goals and quantification benchmarks, they soon find themselves overworked, understaffed, and eventually broke. They come to hate the work they do. Rather than owning a business, Gerber writes, "they own a job." Click here for the interview.

RetailMeNot: Retail coupons for online stores

David Teten — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 05:08:32 GMT

The creator of BugMeNot.com has launched http://www.retailmenot.com/, which provides coupon codes for retail stores, without the privacy-infringing registration requirements. A very useful tool.

Many online stores allow for a "coupon" or "promotion" code when you order to automatically assign discounts, deals and freebies (kinda like money for nothing). RetailMeNot.com is a place for finding and sharing these coupon codes. So... when you buy online, check here for discounts first (unless you're frikkin crazy).

Via GoodExperience

10 Job-hunt tactics you might not know

David Teten — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:52:48 GMT

From the "brazen careerist", 10 Job-hunt tactics you might not know:

2. Use proactive recommendations. Instead of waiting for a hiring manager to ask for references, have your reference call immediately. This works well if you have a heavy-weight reference, like a well-known CEO or someone who knows the hiring manager. But it also works well if you have little professional experience.

Online Social Networks in Financial Times

David Teten — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 05:07:59 GMT

From Scott Allen:

There's a great write-up of danah boyd in Financial Times, which labels her the high priestess of internet friendship. I thought they did a great job, with the exception of not respecting her preference of not capitalizing her name. In addition to profiling danah, the article also chronicles the development of Friendster and MySpace, and others, as well as some of danah's insights on social networking sites. For one thing, danah found that while these sites have created a few celebrities of their own,

...apart from a few intense self-promoters, most people, Boyd found, were using the sites to present themselves to a small group of friends and get their recognition and feedback. The sites are an opportunity to define in public who they are. By providing an audience, and the tools to interact with that audience, the social networks are satisfying that need. Boyd calls this behaviour “identity production? and, employing a favourite phrase of hers, says that young people are trying to “write themselves into being?.

The article goes on to talk about social content sharing, business-oriented social software, and sexual predators. The latter has been covered a lot in the news lately, but I agree with danah:

“The fears are so painfully overblown,? said Boyd. “Is there porn on MySpace? Of course. And bullying, sexual teasing and harassment are rampant among teenagers. It is how you learn to make meaning, cultural roles, norms. These kids need to explore their life among strangers. Teach them how to negotiate this new world. They need these public spaces now that other public spaces are closed to them. They need a place that is theirs. We should not always be chasing them and stopping them from growing up.?

There's more on the tension of commercialization, as well as answers to the questions, "What are social networks?" and "Do the sites make money?" Even though it's ostensibly just a profile of danah, all in all this is probably the best article I've seen on the topic of social networking in a mainstream publication.

ReputationDefender Protects Your Online Reputation

David Teten — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:30:35 GMT

One of the major themes of The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online (see Chapter 16) is the need to preserve ones corporate and personal virtual reputation. I've long thought that there was a need for a business that would be a personal PR agent, which would monitor what's being said about you and destroy any negative information.

That business has been launched: ReputationDefender. What I like about the model is that I think it addresses a real concern that people have (or should have). 10% of Internet searches are for proper names; you are being evaluated every day online. ReputationDefender's main competition will be the same competition that PR firms have: people providing the service in-house instead of using an outside provider. >

An interesting question they'll have to address as they scale is verifying the identity of the person using the service. If I say that I want to monitor the activity of my child, who verifies that that person is my child? And this is a great tool for stalking and identity theft (as are ZoomInfo and many other online network services): perhaps I fill out a form indicating that I want to monitor the online activities of a certain individual, who may not be me personally. Verifying that a given credit card ties to the name of the person being investigated is an obvious way to verify identity, but of course large numbers of credit card numbers are stolen every year. >

I agree with Pete Cashmorethat it would be preferable to offer a very basic automated tracking service for free to get people into the system - "entering your credit card details is a massive barrier for the casual visitor". After all, people can easily use any search engine/blog reader to view discussion of their name across the net.>

More here and here.>

Overall, I'm positive on the company's prospects.>

Calorie-Restriction Diets

David Teten — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 03:26:33 GMT

America is ready for a new diet fad every year or so. Now that Atkins is done, the Calorie-Restriction Diet could well be next, particularly as the baby-boomers age. For a view of life with that diet, see New York magazine's article.

Unwitting Exposure: Does Posting Personal Information Online Mean Giving up Privacy?

David Teten — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 16:01:28 GMT

"People who access the Internet for what have become routine functions -- sending emails, writing blogs, and posting photos and information about themselves on social networking sites -- do not realize how much of their personal privacy they put at risk, according to Wharton faculty and legal experts. Nor, they add, have the courts fully addressed the ways in which the Internet can be harnessed for questionable purposes that encroach on privacy. "

Kevin Werbach observes:

...[L]ots of situations that used to be private are now public. It's not a question of privacy but of social norms. Perhaps the answer is just, 'That's too bad.' If someone had snapped a photo of [the Korean girl who didn't clean up after her dog on the subway] robbing a bank and she said, 'You can't take a photo of me,' most of us would say, 'Too bad, you were robbing a bank.' In a perverse way, we're going back to the small town where everyone knows what everyone else is doing by virtue of the global information superhighway. My point is, right or wrong, this is going to happen. Google is not going to go away."

I agree that we may be moving to more of a "small town" environment, where your actions are known to many people, instead of you benefiting from the traditional anonymity of the big city. However, unfortunately so far there's very little evidence that this is resulting in an increase in standards of behavior, which would be my preferred outcome. Unfortunately, for broader societal reasons, we seem to be steadily defining deviancy down. More at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1567.cfm

Work.com Opens New Business Community

David Teten — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 15:48:28 GMT

From Scott Allen:

This week, Work.com relaunched in the form of a Web 2.0-ish business community. The site consists of how-to guides for running your small business, written by a combination of in-house editors, certified topical experts, and members. While this has admittedly been done before, Work.com has done a great job on the execution: - great domain name - a clean, well-organized design - a highly consistent guide format that includes links to online resources to help you get it done - a team of professional editors, community leaders and experts to make sure content stays current and appropriate and to help members get engaged in the community I'm the community leader for the Sales & Marketing Channel, and there's already a tremendous collection of how-to guides available on the site, including one I wrote on online business networks. Here are some of my other favorites related to online networks, social software, and Web 2.0:

Small Business Blogs

Start Podcasting for Your Small Business

RSS for Small Business

Marketing Your Small Business with a Blog

Managing Small Business E-mail

Managing E-mail Overload

I've committed to several more guides in the next few weeks -- I'll post here as they go up. Also, if you have a particular area of expertise and don't already see it covered (or at least not as well as you think you could), then you can also create a new guide yourself. If you do, be sure to stop by my profile and send me a message so I can have a read and come post comments. Hope to see you at Work.com!

Dilbert deserves the economics Nobel

David Teten — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 15:46:17 GMT

Quietly hidden in [Scott] Adams' groundbreaking work is a financial formula so simple it rivals Einstein's E=mc2. In its original form Adams' formula was apparently so heretical and so explosive that no major house would touch it when he proposed publishing it as a one-page book. After initial rejections, he announced sadly that "if God materialized on earth and wrote the secret of the universe on one page, he wouldn't be able to find a publisher" either. ... Fortunately for America's 95 million investors, Adams' secret nine-point formula was finally revealed in "Dilbert and the Way of the Weasels." Notice its simple brilliance in the exact reproduction of his formula:

1. Make a will

2. Pay off your credit cards

3. Get term life insurance if you have a family to support

4. Fund your 401k to the maximum

5. Fund your IRA to the maximum

6. Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it

7. Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account

8. Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement

9. If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio

MarketWatch via TheBigPicture

The many benefits of your star employees leaving the firm (?)

David Teten — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 05:11:49 GMT

Via Wharton's newsletter:

It's always been assumed that when employees leave their companies to join other ones that all their knowledge and experience leave with them.

But new research suggests that, at least in the high-tech field, firms can wind up gaining access to the knowledge being generated at their former colleague's new place.

The results of this research are presented in a paper titled, "Learning from Those Who Left: The Reverse Transfer of Knowledge through Mobility Ties," by Wharton management professor Lori Rosenkopf and Wharton doctoral student Rafael A. Corredoira. ... "Contrary to the view that companies lose something when a worker leaves, the study found that they stood to gain.

Specifically, firms that lost an employee to another firm were 8% more likely to cite that firm than other equivalent firms, Rosenkopf says. The reverse flow of knowledge was particularly pronounced when the employee moved to another region. Then the old firm was 22% more likely to cite the new firm."

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1565.cfm

Track your competition online

David Teten — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 12:31:21 GMT

Given we're in a reasonably competitive industry, I'm very interested in tools like http://competitio.us/. The basic idea is that it’s a tool for companies (or investors) to keep track of their competitors' actions and features. I'm not sure it's got enough differentiation to be a sustainable business, but as a customer, I like it. Via Techcrunch

Web 2.0 Has Corporate America Spinning

David Teten — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 15:10:15 GMT

As a followup on my Vistage presentations, here's "What every CEO needs to know about the array of new tools that foster online collaboration -- and could revolutionize business": Web 2.0 Has Corporate America Spinning

Secure your checked bags: fly with a gun

David Teten — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 04:14:51 GMT

For people who are really sick of losing bags, try flying with a gun. It works for this photographer:

A "weapons" is defined as a rifle, shotgun, pistol, airgun, and STARTER PISTOL. Yes, starter pistols - those little guns that fire blanks at track and swim meets - are considered weapons...and do NOT have to be registered in any state in the United States. I have a starter pistol for all my cases. All I have to do upon check-in is tell the airline ticket agent that I have a weapon to declare...I'm given a little card to sign, the card is put in the case, the case is given to a TSA official who takes my key and locks the case, and gives my key back to me. That's the procedure. The case is extra-tracked...TSA does not want to lose a weapons case. This reduces the chance of the case being lost to virtually zero. It's a great way to travel with camera gear...I've been doing this since Dec 2001 and have had no problems whatsoever.

Via Schneier via BoingBoing

Slides from Vistage CEO Conference last week

David Teten — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 17:00:17 GMT

I enjoyed speaking at lunch at two Vistage conferences this past week, in New York and Chicago. (As background, Vistage is the world's largest CEO membership organization based on revenue.) You can download my two presentations here: + Chicago Conference: How to Accelerate Your Company with Web 2.0 Technologies New York Conference: Seven Free, Easy Steps to Accelerate Your Business with Web 2.0 Technologies. I have also attached the New York handout below in HTML format. Feedback welcome!

Seven Free, Easy Steps to Accelerate Your Business with Web 2.0 Technologies

Ch = Character

Co = Your firm’s Competence

R = Relevance of the other company

S = Strength

I = Information

N = Number of companies

D = Diversity

Value of Your Corporate Network = D * ∑^N_n₌₁ (Ch_n * Co_n * R_n * S_n * I_n)

Attribute	Next Step	Cost
1) Character	Review your senior executives' profiles on ZoomInfo.com.	$0
2) Your firm’s Competence	Experiment with BasecampHQ.com for project management.	$0 for one project
3) Relevance of the other firm	Encourage employees to join LinkedIn.com, Xing.com, and other relevant online networks.	$0
4) Strength	Standardize internal phone calls on Skype.com. Encourage employees to use Instant Messaging services. (They're already doing it, most likely.)	$0
5) Information	Sign up on Bloglines.com, Technorati.com, or Topix.net for alerts about you and your competitors' appearances in blogs and news sites. Join CircleofExperts.com to be eligible for paid consulting opportunities.	$0
6) Number of people	Create standard corporate e-mail signature with strong brand reinforcement.	$0
7) Diversity	Use Jigsaw or Spoke.com to identify contact information on prospects.	Jigsaw: $0 w/uploaded contacts. Spoke: $50/mo.

And one more resource:

8) Learn more about Web 2.0

> >

Download The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online at www.TheVirtualHandshake.com

United 93 and Kitty Genovese: Courage in the Workplace

David Teten — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 07:27:36 GMT

The courageous actions of passengers on the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 on 9/11 flew in the face of a long-standing contention in social science circles that people won't put themselves in danger to right a wrong, e.g., the famous Kitty Genovese case.

This fact prompted Monica Worline, a professor of organizational behavior at Emory University's Goizueta Business School, and a colleague to find out what was different about this incident.

The result of their lengthy research is a new paper entitled "Capabilities for Organizing Courage: The Story of United Airlines Flight 93."

It is the first academic study to examine the group behavior dynamics aboard the plane on that fateful morning. The chief finding?

"People do things in conversations with others that create psychological resources that allow them to act in difficult situations."

http://knowledge.emory.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&ID=996

Online Match-Making with Virtual Dates

David Teten — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:16:36 GMT

Users of online dating sites often struggle to find love because the sites themselves make it more difficult than it needs to be. To the rescue: Virtual Dates, an online ice-breaker from Jeana Frost of Boston University, Michael Norton of HBS, and Dan Ariely of MIT. More: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5478.htmlTheir advice about online dating (which also applies to winning business online):

"Remove yourself as much as possible and don't invest your ego in one particular date," Frost offers. "Remember that it's very easy to get carried away and imbue a profile with overly favorable qualities.

My advice is to try to stay calm and resist being invested in one person until you've actually gotten to know them. Avoid long e-mail correspondences because they tend to heighten expectations.

" "It also takes resilience to go on a lot of dates and spend time actually arranging to meet rather than spending hours a week just searching. The people who go on a lot of dates are the people who find someone. In some sense it's a numbers game."

New users especially should keep in mind that online dating is not in the end so fundamentally different from regular dating, adds Norton. You try to find people, you try to meet them.

"It's the people who think it will be quite different from their regular experiences who end up being the most disappointed …. In online dating, the same sorts of people who are online are also out there offline. It can help you sort, but ultimately it takes work, effort, and a little luck."

Event Sep. 21, Stamford, CT: for CFOs of mid-size/larger companies

David Teten — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 03:21:01 GMT

The event below is targeted at CFOs of mid-size and larger companies (over $50M in revenues). I hope that you can join us.

CFO Leadership Team First Alumni Gathering September 21, Stamford, CT Guest Speaker: David Teten The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online Join fellow CFOs of mid-size and larger companies, and learn how to accelerate your sales, recruit star employees, enhance your marketing, or just find your next job by using online networks.

David Teten will discuss blogs, social network sites, virtual communities, relationship capital management software, biography analysis software, and other new tools.

When: September 21, 6:30 to 8:30 PM Cost: $30 including hors'deurves, cash bar

Where: Stamford, CT (location disclosed to confirmed attendees) RSVP: by September 14 to Kevin McEnery, KJMcEnery(at)aol.com, 1-203-348-4435

Who: This event is open only to members of the CFO Leadership Group. Members must have experience as CFO or Divisional CFO in an organization with at least $50M in revenues.

A few select recruiters specializing in CFO searches will also attend. Our members have experience with companies that include Acclaim Entertainment, Altria, Arc, Associated Press, Atari, Barnes & Noble, Calvin Klein, Dover, Gartner, Georgia Pacific, Gerber Scientific, Groupe Danone, Kodak, Labatt, McCann Relationship Marketing, Nestle, Newsweek, Pepsi, Revlon, Rogers, Scholastic, Sesame Workshop, The Reader’s Digest Association, Time Warner Cable, and World Wrestling Entertainment. Nominations welcome for members.

Why: To see old and new friends

MORE ON OUR SPEAKER When you finish David Teten’s program, you’ll know how to:

* create a powerful professional presence online

* attract business in online networks

* meet more relevant clients and potential clients

* start and promote your own blog

* master the email deluge

* analyze and value your community of business partners

* manage your contact database

* ensure privacy and safety online

"We hosted one of David Teten’s presentations at the Euromoney 2004 Annual Hedge Fund Start-Up & Business Development Forum. Out of 40 speakers, David tied for first place for the highest speaker rating." - Diane Higgins, Financial Markets, EuroMoney PLC

BIOGRAPHY David Teten is CEO of Nitron Advisors ( www.NitronAdvisors.com), which provides independent industry experts with consulting opportunities to hedge funds and other institutional investors.

To participate in paid interviews with Nitron Advisors’ institutional investor clients, at no cost to you, join the Nitron Advisors Circle of Experts ( www.CircleofExperts.com ).

David is the co-author of The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online ( www.TheVirtualHandshake.com ).

David was formerly CEO of an investment bank specializing in Internet domain names. He has worked with the Bear Stearns Technology investment banking group and Mars & Co strategy consulting.

Microsoft Office online---without Microsoft

David Teten — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 06:41:58 GMT

Do you want to break free of Microsoft's grip? Use exclusively web-based apps, most of them free? If you do, try reviewing Ismael Ghalimi's list of 'best-of-breed' web apps, which together provide a reasonable approximation of the Microsoft Office Suite. http://itredux.com/blog/office-20/my-office-20-setup/

Google SMS

David Teten — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 07:33:30 GMT

A useful service I've been playing with is Google SMS:

Google SMS is a new service that enables you to search for certain kinds of information with Google from a mobile phone or handheld device (such as a Blackberry), and returns your search results as text messages. Get phone book listings, movie showtimes, weather, facts, dictionary definitions, product prices from Froogle, and more.

For example (via Speakernet news): send "Pizza 91320" to the phone number 46645 (GOOGL spelled with the numeric phone keys) and you will receive a text message back with all the pizza joints in that ZIP code. Google SMS

Advancing in your career without experience

David Teten — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 10:40:02 GMT

From Harvard Business School Working Knowledge:

The researchers identified four successful tactics for obtaining stretchwork that were common to both groups:

* Differentiate competence. Anyone hoping to advance must distinguish his or her performance on the job. This is particularly true, however, for contract workers—because they are paid for each short-term job, their employers are likely to subject their work to close, frequent evaluation. >
* Acquire referrals. Because high-tech contractors tend to work with a number of clients, brokers, and fellow contractors, they enjoy a broader social network from which to draw referrals than most permanent employees. In the film industry—where most hiring is done based on a production manager's previous experience with an individual—referrals are a vital aspect of getting any job, particularly if it stretches a worker in a new direction. >
* Framing and bluffing. "This is one of the most creative attributes for obtaining stretchwork," O'Mahony notes. "People who are good at presenting their prior experience in a way that allows for an easy translation to the desired job can narrow the gap between their past experience and future capabilities." Adopting a hybrid job title to identify oneself—"director-screenwriter," for example—can also help establish authority in more than one area. >
* Discounting. Accepting pay below the market rate is a temporary disadvantage some contract workers are willing to accept, if it means gaining the experience and exposure that will lead to a new position. One technical writer put it this way: "I turned down solid offers from three companies, all paying over $100K a year…I would take a job at $55K if they're using a totally new technology so I learn something…It's like playing pool…You hit the green ball with the white ball, and the point is to place the white ball to get the next shot. So I take that job in order to learn skills for my next project."

> More...

Roundup of Sleep Hacks (Sleeping more efficiently)

David Teten — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 16:22:15 GMT

* Get to sleep faster * Tackle problems in your sleep * Take efficient power naps * Take a caffeine nap * Get baby to sleep through the night * Sleep on an airplane * Get up when you really want to * Hold that thought till morning * Relax with Pzizz more...

Smart Pills Are on The Rise. But Is Taking Them Wise?

David Teten — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 03:42:09 GMT

There's a product liability lawsuit waiting to happen here:

Studying with diligent friends is fine, says Heidi Lessing, a University of Delaware sophomore. But after a couple of hours, it's time for a break, a little gossip: "I want to talk about somebody walking by in the library." One of those friends, however, is working too hard for dish -- way too hard. Instead of joining in the gossip, "She says, 'Be quiet,' " Lessing says, astonishment still registering in her voice. Her friend's attention is laserlike, totally focused on her texts, even after an evening of study. "We were so bored," Lessing says. But the friend was still "really into it. It's annoying." The reason for the difference: Her pal is fueled with "smart pills" that increase her concentration, focus, wakefulness and short-term memory.

more at A Dose of Genius

Why to read contracts closely

David Teten — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:32:39 GMT

A grammatical blunder may force Rogers Communications Inc. to pay an extra $2.13-million to use utility poles in the Maritimes after the placement of a comma in a contract permitted the deal's cancellation. ... Language buffs take note — Page 7 of the contract states:

The agreement "shall continue in force for a period of five years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party."

Rogers' intent in 2002 was to lock into a long-term deal of at least five years. But when regulators with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) parsed the wording, they reached another conclusion.

The validity of the contract and the millions of dollars at stake all came down to one point — the second comma in the sentence.

Had it not been there, the right to cancel wouldn't have applied to the first five years of the contract and Rogers would be protected from the higher rates it now faces.

“Based on the rules of punctuation," the comma in question “allows for the termination of the [contract] at any time, without cause, upon one-year's written notice," the regulator said.

more Via metafilter

Introduction to Probability textbook---no charge

David Teten — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 04:44:43 GMT

Thanks to the American Mathematical Society, Dartmouth is giving away the much-praised textbook, Introduction to Probability by Charles M. Grinstead and J. Laurie Snell, as free etext. The website also includes computer programs to go along with the book. Link Via http://www.boingboing.net/2006/07/03/introduction_to_prob.html

Springwise Features New Business Ideas from Around the World

David Teten — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 04:40:24 GMT

Via Scott Allen:

One of the few e-mail newsletters I read from top to bottom every month is Springwise, which features hot new business ideas from around the world. These may be local/regional businesses that can be duplicated in your area, or just an early player in a new market segment that is still wide open to new entrants.
The current issue features stories on:
Car Prices by Text Message
Car shoppers can check retail and blue book prices via cell phone. >
Boutique Wines Online
Advice, discounts and access to boutique wineries not generally available at your local liquor store.

Dinner in the Sky
This one's kind of wacky - you'll just have to see it.

Luxury Convenience Store
In England, it's Harrod's. Imagine a Neiman-Marcus Corner Store in your neighborhood.

Repackaging Barcodes
Graphic designers are turning plain old barcodes into an integral part of the packaging.

Social Money
New tools help people who share bills or who lend and borrow money among friends to keep track of it. The latest issue of Business 2.0 predicts this is a $100 billion industry.

Subscriptions to Springwise are free. If you like it, be sure to check out their sister publication, Trendwatching, which covers new consumer trends.>

Why not to trust news photos

David Teten — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 04:28:21 GMT

I normally don’t discuss political topics on this blog, but this particularly struck me as an example of one of my favorite themes: the importance of 'peeling the onion'.

At first glance, it's just a picture of smoke from damaged buildings from the conflict in the Mideast. At second glance, it's a fine example of how not to embellish news photos.

Photo at http://imagesocket.com/view/reuters_fakee3e.png (original photo was pulled.) If you can’t figure out what’s wrong, see http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/53640 Via Metafilter Update: Reuters fired the photographer involved.

How to be an expert

David Teten — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 15:48:19 GMT

The August issue of Scientific American takes a deep look at how experts--chess grandmasters, musicians, physicians--develop their abilities.

Ericsson argues that what matters is not experience per se but "effortful study," which entails continually tackling challenges that lie just beyond one's competence.

That is why it is possible for enthusiasts to spend tens of thousands of hours playing chess or golf or a musical instrument without ever advancing beyond the amateur level and why a properly trained student can overtake them in a relatively short time.

It is interesting to note that time spent playing chess, even in tournaments, appears to contribute less than such study to a player's progress; the main training value of such games is to point up weaknesses for future study.

Even the novice engages in effortful study at first, which is why beginners so often improve rapidly in playing golf, say, or in driving a car.

But having reached an acceptable performance--for instance, keeping up with one's golf buddies or passing a driver's exam--most people relax.

Their performance then becomes automatic and therefore impervious to further improvement.

In contrast, experts-in-training keep the lid of their mind's box open all the time, so that they can inspect, criticize and augment its contents and thereby approach the standard set by leaders in their fields.

More... via Boingboing

Seeking power outlets in airports

David Teten — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 03:49:18 GMT

The AirPower Wiki chronicles the location of power-outlets in the world's airports. "Those of us who've had three hours to catch up on email and recharge before making another eight-hour flight know what it is to be a voltotropic voyager." via http://www.boingboing.net/2006/07/26/power_outlets_in_air.html via MetaFilter.

Prescription for Gaining Greatness in Work and Life

David Teten — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 08:11:51 GMT

Dennis Kimbro's Prescription for Gaining Greatness in Work and Life

What makes the great, great? It's a question author Dennis Kimbro took 20 years to research, interviewing leaders from diverse backgrounds from Earl Graves of Black Enterprise magazine to Bishop T. D. Jakes. His findings were eventually culled into a book of the same name and recently shared with aspiring corporate and entrepreneurial leaders of the future at the inaugural Black MBA Diverse Leadership conference at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. Among the offerings, Kimbro advised students to be "driven by your vision. Get a big dream and believe in yourself when no one else will."

http://knowledge.emory.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&ID=979 >

How to cancel a service

David Teten — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 05:28:49 GMT

After reading posts about people who have had to beg to be disconnected from AOL, J2, and Sky TV, I saw the following advice:

I've worked for a telecommunications company that I would prefer to go unnamed, and I'd like to offer some tips to anyone trying to disconnect a service they no longer want.>
The biggest tip is to call well outside of normal business hours -- in my company, customer service was open 24/7, but the retention department closed in the evening. >
If you call, say, before bed, or during the middle of the night, you'll just be talking to a regular CS rep who has no incentive whatsoever to keep you as a customer.>
It can turn a twenty minute phone call into a two minute phone call.>

Second, if you get a rude rep, hang up and call right back. Some reps, especially in commission driven departments like sales and retention, are especially pushy, where as if you call back you might get someone who is right at the end of his shift and just wants to get you off of his phone.

Third, there is one reason for disconnection that will work for almost every service--moving. Tell them you're moving out of the service area, or moving in with someone who already has the same service, and they should be required to cancel everything for you.

Also, it would be helpful to remember that the representatives in retention are paid to retain you as customers--threatening to record the call, asking for their name or ID, or asking for a supervisor will not do anything. All calls are recorded and the representatives have responses they are required to give for every customer question or complaint. The rep who actually gets in trouble will be the one who disconnects you immediately without trying to retain you, not the one who spends twenty minutes using every tactic in the book the company wrote for him.
>

via BoingBoing

Are You Googling Your Privacy Away?

David Teten — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 13:34:26 GMT

Eric Shahinian wrote some detailed notes on last night's panel on "Are You Googling Your Privacy Away?" for the New York County Lawyers’ Association / Cyberspace Law Committee.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Mark Grossman, Partner, Dewitt Grossman, P.L. (To stay current with tech law issues, ask Mark Grossman to add you to his mailing newsletter.

His email is mgrossman (at) dewittgrossman.com. )

To discuss recent news, let’s look at the new Sprint Family Locator.

Who is concerned? Doubtful.

Many of you probably feel that it’s a sign of relief, that now I will know where my spouse or kid is in an instant.

But it’s more serious.

Think divorce litigation.

You claimed to be at work, but your phone says you were at the Holiday Inn.

Curious. I wonder what you could’ve been doing.

Many issues come up as to: is my provider allowed to disclose information if I don’t want them to? Is there any way to stop them? This is only the beginning.

To add on to the discussion of the actual cost to store this information, we are talking a tremendous amount of space.

This information therefore must be worth it, and it is.

It is worth an incredible amount.

The EU operates differently than the U.S.

In Spain, this isn’t an issue.

We are in a different culture, people easily spread their information.

Myspace.com is a great example.

75 million users and growing, all of which have given out readily accessible information, that can deduce other information that can say so very much.

There are tons of things to improve in the industry, but we need to focus on one thing in particular, and politics has a great deal to do with it.

I am a moderate Democrat, and my views reflect that position.

This is truly a debate on choice.

Yes, some people prefer to have their information known in order for companies not to waste their time by trying to sell a consumer things that person does not want.

That is fine. As I will say again, the question is, if you didn’t want your information shared, could you stop it? No.

If the information was lost or stolen, would you want to know? Yes.

Could you? Probably not.

I recommend Webwasher and Scroogle.org as useful tools to combat the concerns.

I would love it if the bookstore owner knew what I wanted and would pick out books for me.

It is the same thing now. But it isn’t one piece of data, they are compiling vast amounts of information.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Harry Valetk, Director, Privacy Online, Entertainment Software Rating Board Everything can be tracked.

This isn’t just web pages here.

This concerns call records, email records, search queries.

It is all saved, it is never really deleted.

Google doesn’t delete a thing.

They have compiled detailed profiles of every imaginable characteristic.

What has emerged as the controversy over internet cache is truly, how can they sell this to someone? This is private information. But now think back 20 years.

Often times a business’ greatest asset was their mailing list.

Especially for a marketer. It is the crux of their modern marketing business.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Raj Goel, CTO, Brainlink International, Inc. What I find most fascinating, something that most people don’t catch on to, is who would want this information from people, aside from marketers and thief’s? Easy to answer: the government. Surprising how most people never realize they provide the demand for most of this information.

A good analogy of this industry and discussion is to the automotive industry.

We are at the equivalent right now of having just got a new Cadillac (picture this 40 years ago), driving 90 mph, and this was years and years before seatbelts and airbags.

What a dangerous situation indeed.

What is most frightening about Google is not their basic search, it is Gmail. Does anyone have Google? Who got an invitation? It is invitation only.

But wait, look at this, if you provide your cell phone number, they will send you an invitation? Ever realize they could easily just give you an invitation on the website? They want your number.

Google doesn’t want to be a search engine.

It wants to be the largest database in the world.

They already know more about you than you may know.

Under legislation email must be kept private, under legal documentation, Gmail isn’t an email account, it is a database.

Notice how the top link in Gmail happens to work very nicely with your tastes.

Something in your email revealed that. Check the fine print.

So what’s worse than Gmail? Google Desktop.

Yeah it’s great, and efficient. But it gives Google "the keys to your life".

You make yourself so vulnerable to issues.

Ever realize how you can view deleted emails from a long time ago, or find web pages you may have view briefly? All which has been "deleted" truly was not.

It is saved for many, many years.

Remember the litigation facing Google, in which they refused to give over user data? Don’t feel safe, it is because it is too valuable to them, not you.

But what is not discussed is the National Security Letter they likely received, forcing them to give over the information, and forcing them not to discuss the situation.

To hit home, I know most people have medical information they don’t want disclosed.

I did work for a healthcare provider, and trust me, your information, minus any psych evaluation, is in at least 5 countries.

Was Earning That Harvard M.B.A. Worth It?

David Teten — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 04:57:54 GMT

ABOUT a year before Adam Richman was to graduate from the Harvard Business School in 1996, he took on an extracurricular project. It was long before the Internet bubble inflated and burst, and well before one of the school's graduates landed in the White House. Mr. Richman wondered: What was the real-world value of a master's in business administration, especially one from the iviest of Ivies? Was it, as widely perceived, an ace in the hole, a get-out-of-jail-free card, a ticket to the good life? more from the NY Times...

Senior Media Entrepreneurs/ Executives Manhattan Lunch, 6/27

David Teten — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 04:56:17 GMT

Senior Media Entrepreneurs/ Executives Manhattan Lunch

Tuesday, June 27, 2006>

If you are investigating new businesses to grow; have sold your business and are looking for your next move; or perhaps have just exited a senior level executive position; please join us at our lunch for Media Entrepreneurs and Senior Executives Seeking New Business Growth. Participants typically had C-level responsibility for at least a $50M budget in the media industry (broadly defined).

Due to the overwhelming interest in our topic and limited space, we can only accommodate individuals whom the event is addressing directly. We welcome referrals.

Location:
1345 Avenue of the Americas, 49th Floor>
(Between 54th and 55th Streets)>
Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2006, Noon sharp until 2pm>
Cost: complimentary>

Your Hosts:
+ David Teten, CEO, Nitron Advisors>
+ John Adelman, CIMA and Paul Lewis, CFM, Wittenstein Adelman Group>
+ Allan Grafman, President, All Media Ventures; Operating Partner, Mercury Capital (formerly President, Archie Comics Entertainment; CFO, Hallmark Entertainment; Tribune; Cap Cities/ABC)>
+ Claire Delong, Accolo>

Please RSVP with your one-page text biography to Avi Mally, AMally(at)Nitronadvisors.com , 1-212-682-5874 . Pre-registration is required; we will distribute your one-page biography to all the attendees. Please make sure to include your contact information on your biography, and ideally, your photo. Also, please indicate any dietary preferences (vegetarian, kosher, halal, etc.)

(Our thanks to Jeff Meshel of Mercury Capital for inspiring this event.)

AthleticMindedTraveler.com

David Teten — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 03:50:58 GMT

This is a resource site I plan to use. The Athletic-Minded Traveler helps you...

* Find hotels that match your accommodation preferences, personal budget, AND athletic needs * Locate and tour nearby health clubs, lap pools, YMCAs and other athletic-minded facilities * Identify local dining options in all price categories that satisfy both light and hearty eaters * Discover local running/walking routes with marked mileage and printable maps * Find athletic-minded local retailers (e.g., running stores, bike shops, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Wild Oats, farmers' markets, etc.)

Via Keith Ferrazzi