“A true entrepreneur is the one who sends the elevator down for others, once he is successful” - Anonymous
Monthly Archive for April, 2007
I came across a new site called mginger that I liked instantly. The business model of this site is based on mobile advertising. The subscriber specifies his/her interests and accordingly a fixed number of ads are sent to the subscriber’s mobile. The mobile subscriber is paid for each ad that is delivered. The model also provides the referral option, whereby a percent of the earnings of the people you refer also get added to your account.
This seems like a workable idea in the current situation. The mobile subscribers are already being bombarded by unsolicited ad messages throughout the day. It would help to make a little money in the process. The site is currently in beta. Check it out.
Here is my referral link: mginger
Silence can say more than a thousand words.
This day shall unite us all about this unbelievable painful & shocking event and show some respect and love to those who lost their loved ones.
On April 30th 2007, the Blogosphere will hold a One-Day Blog Silence in honor towards the victims of Virginia. 33 died at the US college massacre.
The Blogosphere is in deep mourning.
All you have to do is spread the word about it and post the graphic on your blog on 30th April 2007. No words and no comments. Just respect and empathy.
The inevitable match is now on! As environmentalists continue to raise awareness about increasing global warming, the corporates, who up till now have been rubbishing such claims, have suddenly sat up and started to take notice. The time for “passing the buck” has ended, as rivals join hands to fight a common enemy - global warming. Even though the debate continue to rage about whether global warming is natural or man-made, the fact remains that the temperatures worldwide have risen by more than one degree in the recent past. The match between man and nature has started. It remains to be seen how efficiently nations can manage this crisis.
A lot has been written on the subject of global warming. A recent article in Economist (requires subscription), for example, is particularly noteworthy. The article concerns a recent study conducted by Govindasamy Bala, of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in California. The recent study suggests that removing all the trees from the planet might actually make it cooler, whereas adding more trees might well make the planet more warmer. Surprised?? … Read on …
Trees help remove atmospheric carbon dioxide through a process called photosynthesis, whereby they take in carbon dioxide through their leaves and give off oxygen. This helps to cleanse the atmosphere of harmful gases and generate more oxygen - the ether of life. Similarly, water evaporating from the leaves and stems of plants, through a process called transpiration, is responsible for local cooling. Bala’s research suggests, however, that trees are also heating the planet by other means. According to the article:
“The reason for this is that trees affect the world’s temperature by means other than the carbon they sequester. For instance forests, being generally green and bristly things, remain quite a dark shade even after a blizzard. They are certainly darker than grasslands smothered in snow, and thus they can absorb more of the sun’s heat than vegetation which might otherwise cover the same stretch of land. That warms things up.
Dr Bala’s model suggests that complete deforestation would cause an additional 1.3°C temperature rise compared with business as usual, because of the higher carbon-dioxide levels that would result. However, the additional reflectivity of the planet would cause 1.6°C of cooling. A treeless world would thus, as he reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, be 0.3°C cooler than otherwise.“
This is still being discussed from a theoretical perspective. However, the article references examples in Russia and Canada though, where chopping down trees has resulted in local cooling. The debate continues and the occurrence of terms, such as carbon trading and energy efficiency, is becoming more prevalent in the media. All the while, global warming has become a greater concern - so much so, that analysts are suddenly concerned about the future of this planet and the wars that this threat might instigate. There are a plethora of measures and ideas being suggested to counter the impact. The choices we make and the decisions we implement will finally determine the future of this planet in the years to come.
I have been following an interesting blog that gives one software program as a free giveaway daily. The site offers a licensed software for FREE daily. Go check it out and have fun. It is nice to see a freebie site after a long time. An interesting concept nonetheless.
I have been reading a couple of books on strategy and management, with the most recent one being Dynamic Competitive Strategy. I have come to understand that for every business, there are three key fundamentals. These are People, Working Environment, and Strategic Focus.
People are the most important asset for an organization. No matter what strategic plans and operational restructuring a company decides to undertake, if there are no right-minded people to execute these, the whole exercise becomes futile. At the same time, being right-minded is not the only criteria. A successful company’s key personnel are talented and open to change. Team work is the key to execution and a good leader always gives equal importance to the suggestions of his peers, subordinates and seniors. Undermining the importance of any one group of people is extremely perilous. A recent Harvard Business Review article (needs subscription) also articulates thoughts on what the leaders expect from their subordinates - stressing on the importance of ideas generation and collaboration. All in all, the whole interaction has to be highly productive and mutually beneficial.
We need to consistently challenge our future leaders by giving them greater responsibilities and more challenging work assignments. It keeps them motivated and every new challenge gives them something to learn and improve on. Failure to improvise and create such assignments inevitably would result in disillusioned and demotivated employees, resulting in attrition in worst cases.
I strongly believe in a three-pronged strategy that I personally follow in the course of my work at Netscribes. I call it the 3PLD, i.e. 3-Pronged Leadership Development. The first component of this strategy is to identify potential future leaders through regular feedback and appraisal process. This is different from the company-wide appraisals that are conducted in fixed cyclical formats. Instead of getting stuck in the myopic trend of annual appraisals, an ideal modus operandi is to conduct mini-appraisals for each project and identify the best performers. This would prove to be extremely useful in the longer run and also saves a lot of evaluation time during the annual appraisals process.
The second component of the strategy is to put the identified leaders in decision-making roles and give them newer responsibilities. The magnitude of these roles might vary depending on the complexity of the role and the risk factor associated with decisions. If you feel that a wrong decision might place the project in jeopardy, take constant feedback on their thought process and explain the rationale behind their decisions. This would give them insights on how to take situational decisions and evaluate the implications of their decisions. Needless to say, decision-making is one of the most important functions of a leader.
The final component of 3PLD is to monitor the performance of these future leaders in various situations and identify positions that can now be offered to them. The best possible scenario is where an existing project manager moves out of the project and the identified leader takes his place. The outgoing project manager can move on to a bigger role that could vary from handling a more complex project, or setting up a new project from scratch.
All this has worked for me and my teams. I hope that this works for others as well. If anyone ever follows this methodology, I would love to hear your comments about the same. I will continue with my thoughts on the other two topics, viz. Work Environment and Strategic Focus, in future posts.
I went on a short beach vacation to Ganpatipule recently. It is a small beach town famous for Ganesha temple and the lovely virgin beach that stretches for miles. A stay in the Konkani Hut at MTDC Resort and midnight beach rendezvous turned out to be an extremely enjoyable experience. This is a must visit for any nature lover, or for anyone looking for a clean and peaceful beach.
You can find the pictures here.
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