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About this talk

Seth Godin argues the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: tribes. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us to do so.
About Seth Godin

Seth Godin is an entrepreneur and blogger who thinks about the marketing of ideas in the digital age. His newest interest: the tribes we lead.

The Future of Microsoft, The Future of Technology

Description
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, shares his optimism for emerging innovation in the midst of economic turmoil, and the story of his own entrepreneurial path. He also speaks of his company's continued investment in Internet-ready hardware and software that seeks progress in healthcare, education, and science.
Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Lecture
2009-05-06 58min 0sec

Steve Ballmer-Biography

Steven A. Ballmer is Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation, the world's leading manufacturer of software for personal and business computing. Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 and was the first business manager hired by Bill Gates. Since then, Ballmer's leadership and passion have become hallmarks of his tenure at the company.

Ballmer was born in March 1956, and grew up near Detroit, where his father worked as a manager at Ford Motor Co. He graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics. While in college, Ballmer managed the football team, worked on the Harvard Crimson newspaper as well as the university literary magazine, and lived down the hall from fellow sophomore Bill Gates. After college, he worked for two years at Procter & Gamble Co. as an assistant product manager and, before joining Microsoft, attended Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

Globalization, 3-20 Years

A New McKinsey Survey about a 3-20 years foresights,forecasts and also expectations from Executives about How They See The Future Of Globalization.You can read the original one by clicking here or You can read this Survey here below ;

How Executives View Globalization

The breakdown of financial markets worldwide has raised the question of a slowdown in globalization’s once unstoppable advance, as governments contemplate legislation to protect their own countries’ industries and workers. In McKinsey’s fifth annual survey on global trends, ¹ we asked executives around the world for their views on the aspects of globalization that are of primary importance to most companies.

Most executives expect globalization to slow as a result of the crisis. Trade, international capital, and labor flows—which are among the most visible aspects of globalization—are expected to slow by a majority of executives.




















But looking five years ahead, a significant majority of respondents believe that the free movement of goods, services, labor, and capital will bounce back. The clear exception is the integration of financial markets, which executives say will be slowed for at least the next 20 years, likely as a result of the blame directed at those markets for spreading the economic crisis around the world.²

¹ The survey was conducted by the McKinsey Quarterly in March 2009 and includes responses from 1,088 executives around the world, representing the full range of industries, regions, functional specialties, and seniority.

² See Economic conditions snapshot, March 2009: McKinsey Global Survey Results

3 Simple Questions

I've just read about Peter Bregman's HBR blog and am very delighted by short but concantrate answers to the 3 key questions.Even these key questions seem simple but indeed have also absouletly deep answers.Bregman is talking about the solutions as well as the current situation.
"Welcome to the new economy. The conditions have shifted, and if you're doing the same things you did when it was nice and sunny, you'll crash. You need to change your approach."says Bregman.And then may be the most attractive part of the writing comes ;

Change doesn't mean doing more of the same: selling harder, working longer hours, being more aggressive. That won't help. If you're playing basketball and suddenly you find yourself on a football field, don't use more force to bounce the basketball on the grass. Drop the basketball, pick up a football, and run with it.

And notice, when you're running with the football, are you still using basketball skills and muscles and strategies? Are you thinking and acting like a basketball player on a football field? Or have you truly and fully switched games? Have you become a football player?

If you change your approach, not only can you succeed in this moment, you have forever expanded your repertoire of movement. And a wider repertoire of movement makes for a better, more effective, more resilient business. And more capable, happier people.

So often we hear the importance of being consistent. Let that go. Try to be inconsistent. Modify your action to match the changing terrain. It's always changing. So there's no simple formula that will get you through every situation you encounter.

Well, maybe there's one.

And here are the Bregmans questions that he suggests you to ask your self before you do or say anything;

1. What's the situation? (The outcome you want to achieve? The risks? The time pressures? The needs?)
2. Who else is involved? (What are their strengths? Weaknesses? Values? Vulnerabilities? Needs?)
3. How can I help? (What are your strengths? Weaknesses? Values? Vulnerabilities?)

Well , below the last and the conlusion part comes ;

Then, and only then, decide what you will do or say. Choose the response that leverages your strengths, meets people where they are, and is appropriate to the situation you're in.

Take the new economic environment. What's the situation? In an era when huge businesses are faltering, the new competitive advantages are trust, reliability, and relationships.

Who else is involved? Think about your clients, prospects, and employees. What are they looking for now? Where are they vulnerable? What support do they need?

How can you help? What can you offer that will support others at this time?

Once you've thought this through in general, apply it in real time when specific opportunities present themselves. For example, let's say a client wants to cancel part of a project he had previously committed to.

You'll have an immediate, instinctive reaction. Maybe you desperately need the money to stay profitable. Maybe you believe that contracts should never be broken. Maybe you don't trust your client; you think he's taking advantage of you.

But before you act instinctively, PAUSE. Take a breath. Ask yourself the three questions. What's the outcome you're trying to achieve? Immediate money? A long-term relationship? Respect in the industry? Something else?

Knowing that trust is the new competitive advantage, you might choose a different response. Maybe you give the client some wiggle room. Which, perhaps, is not your natural, habitual reaction. But you realize it shows understanding, which builds trust and the relationship, which, in these economic conditions, is a great investment.

Then you discover something else. A hidden gift in an otherwise depressing economy. Your client put you in a tough spot and you rose to the occasion, showing true character, which created a deeper relationship. When the economy improves, chances are, you've got a client for life. A devoted fan, maybe even a friend, who will refer you to many other clients, because you took a chance for him.

This is the interesting part: that opportunity would never have presented itself if the economy hadn't turned bad, if the client didn't need a favor, and if you didn't pause, understand the opportunity, and take a chance.

Value investors will tell you they make all their money when the market is depressed. That gives them the opportunity to buy low. Think of this as the relationship equivalent of buying low. This economy is an opportunity to forge relationships that will last for decades. This is the time to build your business with deep, committed, loyal employees, customers, and partners.

Pause. Breathe. Ask the three questions. Who knows, it's possible you might even find some beauty in this storm.

PS:You can read the original article by clicking here.

Cloudy And Rich

Occasionally I am writing about Cloud Computing as an ameteur. I am writing because I really and strongly believe that Cloud Computing is some kind of cure to the IT companies struggling with the recession.Today I've just read about mass layoffs and outplacements of IBM (5000 people to the end of year, estimated) and Google (nearly 200) in US and yes sad but true. And I've read about Gartner's new predictions about Cloud Computing.Gartner report predicts Cloud computing revenue will soar faster than expected and will exceed $150 billion within five years. And One from IDC; Major shift to cloud IT services inevitableIT infrastructure and services delivered over the cloud will be ubiquitous within five years, and vendors that ignore the shift from on-premises software to Internet-delivered technology will be left in the dust, IDC analyst Frank Gens predicted at the IDC Directions conference in Boston on March 17, 2009.But I did choose to note about the hope.Here are the links (1) ,(2) for the original news.

CIOs & The Business Value

Well again a new and must read Article from McKinseyQuarterly about CIOs & The Business Value .The article bases to French best practices and analysis.But the coverage also includes and summarizes the global and international situation as well.As an addition you have to sign in to mckinseyquarterly.com as a member to read the full article ,as a member you can read this article for free,please click here to become a member and read the full article and for the conclusion. So , here are the 6 key headlines ;

1- Generating value-in-use

IT generates value at two complementary levels (Exhibit 1). The core asset value includes tangible items such as hardware and software, as well as softer benefits such as the IT organization’s processes and skills. IT’s vitally important value-in-use varies with a company’s core business priorities, such as whether it aims for an organizational transformation or operational excellence. A different set of metrics is needed to measure value-in-use, to account for both its economic and strategic dimension.

2- Optimizing investment value

Take the example of a group focused on optimizing investments among its various businesses—say, a banking group with multiple business units such as retail banking, consumer finance, capital markets, asset management, and the like. The economic value expected from the IT department can be measured through the improvement in the overall cost-to-revenue ratio, while the strategic value can translate into a competitive edge in terms of investment or acquisition capacity. (Since 80 to 90 percent of all synergies from banking mergers involve reducing the cost of operations, IT is indeed a key enabling factor during an acquisition.) The indicators that are tracked will be mainly financial, such as the ratio of IT spending to revenue, and will then be compared with the operating ratio—for example, operating costs over revenue

3-Measuring operations value

Similarly, in companies for which the priority is operational excellence (understood as quality and productivity of processes), the business value from IT will be measured in terms of key performance indicators (KPIs) at the process level. For example, IT will be seen as valuable if the systems helped to reduce the delay for processing an insurance claim or to ensure a no-error delivery of supplies to the production line .

At one global logistics company in our study, IT greatly improved supply chain operations—a key factor in a radical transformation—by helping the company to optimize its parcel-loading and truck-routing activities and to develop new value-added services, such as same-day delivery and made-to-order solutions for customers. IT also provided important data for more efficient risk management and better pricing.

4-Finding levers where IT and business units intersect

Traditionally, a CIO’s main responsibility has been using standard practices and performance measures to maintain IT’s asset value. Developing value-in-use is a different ball game, however, and CIOs need to examine new levers found at points where the IT department and the business units intersect . To succeed, CIOs must take on new roles—bridging functional silos—that may take them beyond their comfort zones. For one thing, they will need to collaborate with executives in the business units to work on major transformation projects, to coordinate strategic planning, or to manage investments collaboratively (see sidebar following this article, “Next steps: Identifying the challenges”).

5-Seeking alliances

Cementing new alliances within the organization is critical . A CIO in charge of optimizing IT investments at the group level will need to assume responsibility for managing a portfolio of investments. To do so effectively, the CIO will have to join forces with the CFO, who has expertise in maximizing returns on investment. If the corporate goal is operational excellence, HR is more likely to be the CIO’s preferred ally. This is due to the critical role of change management. Take the example of deploying a new enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) system: the critical challenge is ensuring that the target processes are codified correctly in the system, and that when it is implemented, the end users are sufficiently trained to effectively leverage the potential of the new tool. This requires a joint effort from HR and IT to synchronize and coordinate their tasks from the initial design to the rollout and subsequent life of the system.

6-Building better governance

The businesses that are the best at creating value-in-use, we found, embed their IT governance within the broader governance practices. In practical terms, this requires IT representatives to participate in company forums that traditionally have been the exclusive domain of business unit leaders. At successful companies, certain core business processes, such as managing the business project portfolio or determining the allocation of resources, dovetail with IT processes. This notion of an integrated business–IT governance model can also apply the other way around: we have witnessed examples of companies where strategic planning for IT actually serves as a platform for broader strategic planning by establishing mixed business–IT forums.