20% pay increases every year for the past 10 years in China. At first glance, this looks like a great thing. It would seem that china is trying to raise the standard of living for their people. The real problem is that China, similar to the US, has not figured out how to pay for value. It seems it's just too hard for companies and countries to figure that out. Just too easy to set wages, roll the dice and hope something good happens. China seems to be loosing their competitiveness by … [Read more...]
Pay People, Especially Poor People, More
April 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Reading an article today by Ralph Nader, America's Miserly Wage Needs an Upgrade, got me thinking. I look at the the companies I have worked for over the years I am saddened by the wages for which people will trade their time. Unfortunately, I have worked for low wages myself out of desperation. Like it explains in the article, there are a few people making millions of dollars a year. Why do some make so much, when others make so little. However, Mr Nader doesn't really address the … [Read more...]
The World is Falling Apart
April 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It’s astounding; we are taught as children not to believe the chicken littles running around, but when the Wall Street Journal prints an article that says the “sky is falling” it becomes the most popular story for the day. I think people are pessimistic and love to find things that prove the worst is happening. Today there is a story by Ian Sherr and Shira Ovide titled Computer Sales in Free Fall. It discusses the PC sales drop of 14% in the last quarter. The article theorizes that people … [Read more...]
I was looking for some inspiration, I found Creativity
April 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I was looking for some inspiration on something to write about and I found this article in the Wall Street Journal Tactics to Spark Creativity. I think it is critical that we all find ways to get to that place where we can be creative. We need to look for ways, to be creative. For instance, if you don't like something that is happening at work, are you looking for ways to make the problem better? When you go shopping, are you looking for ways to make it faster? More enjoy able? For … [Read more...]
Fire the Managers
March 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
This is something that I believe and had heard a similar line of thinking from Daniel Pink. I found this article on linked-in today. by Ilya Pozin Fire the Managers. Give it a read and see what you think? … [Read more...]
Taking risks
March 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I just read a great article on the WSJ by Leslie Kwoh http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323639604578370383939044780.html?mod=e2gp# It's too bad that our society, and I believe it starts in the public school system, that failure is bad. I think we all need to realize failure is where we learn the most. Failure is were we learn the fastest. … [Read more...]
Missed 2012
January 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I just realized I missed posting 2012. Part of the excuse is that I have been working on my MBA for the past 15 months. The other part is that I haven't been motivated to write any thing. I wonder how long that will last? I should be finished with my MBA in March of this year. Maybe, I'll be inspired to post some more then. My brother is reading Entrepreneur and that seems to keep motivated to try new things. We'll see where my next bit of motivation will come from. … [Read more...]
Balanced Scorecard – Where have I been?
December 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment
I can't believe I haven't run across this before. I feel like an idiot having been unaware of this for so long. Art Schneiderman coined the term and developed the concept in 1987 However it was popularized by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in a Harvard Business Review article in 1992, see the wikipedia article here. Now that I know about it I have already noticed one person talking about it. I guess this MBA program I am in right now is already starting to pay off. I'll add to this post … [Read more...]
A Million Dollars a Year
April 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Congratulations for finding my story today! I am hoping it will change your life? ACS, was on the brink of losing their biggest customers, because they couldn't complete work on time. This account was bringing in over $10 million dollars a year. Needless to say, losing this customer would devastate the company. I was assigned to help fix the late problem. Unbeknownst to me over 15 people had unsuccessfully worked on the problem for several months with out a breakthrough. I was … [Read more...]
Two is never enough
April 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Over 10 years ago, a guy told me that two was the only way to go. I was intrigued with the idea. I had a little extra cash so I got me two. I couldn't believe how much better life was with two. I was lots more productive. Luckily I have had the resources to have two or more more ever since. One time one of my friends came to visit and saw how I was hooked up and made fun of me saying "You can get by just fine with one" and proceeded to give me advice and show me how he could use one really … [Read more...]
