Browsing Tag

Nugget

Yes YOU Can get involved and add value.

I try to stay non-political, just because politics are personal. This is not an endorsement, but if you know me personally, this probably has sealed my decision. I mean how cool web 2.0 of Obama. Didn’t work for Ron Paul, he tried – just not reasonable to think an online following would translate into the republican primary the first time around. Perhaps next time, it took Dean in the last round for Dems to prime the pump for Web momentum. I can’t tell you how many moveon.org emails I get and for some reason it doesn’t feel like spam, but it is.

Perhaps we can make a difference with action and diligence. Get active, do what’s right for you and stay involved, it’s the only way YOU can make a difference. It might be one of the reasons I blog.

February 13, 2008 by
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10 Tips for dealing with the fact that you will never leave your job

I must admit – not my idea, stole if from an outro on an Onion News piece, Child Bankrupts Make-a-Wish Foundation. (you will feel guilty for laughing at it) If you never check in on the Onion, I encourage you to do so, fun stuff and you can get a printed version in Denver at Sancho’s.

So I saw this the other day when I got home from New York and thought about it a while, asked some folks questions about this and got an array of great ideas. Most of them are why you might want to stay where you are – find an opportunity to grow and expand your contribution. That’s right – pollyanna optimism, with a dash of opportunist thrown in.

Another way to look at it this post might be: 10 ways to optimize your current gig…

  1. Stop the Alerts! – turn off your daily monster reminder that there is something else you could be doing. I did this a long time ago and I am better for it. Basically there is no need to find out about that analyst job at a cool web 2.0 company. Your career builder and monster reminders encourage/foster thoughts like: Maybe they give weekly massages? or It might be cool to get a haircut in my office or It might be good to just be a network admin again. Nothing good can come from a free haircut – think work life balance.
  2. Understand what YOU do: This esoteric concept is a fairly interesting way to grow professionally. Find others like YOU in your industry. Caution: This may foster Zen like clarity and a renewed passion for what you do.
  3. Understand WHY your role is important: You aren’t getting paid because you are really good at pouring coffee for the CFO when he or she randoms into the break room, in fact you probably internal and external constituents that depend on you, so find out what they expect from you. Do a little ad hoc survey of your “customers” and understand what their value drivers are.
  4. Get a life! This is the easiest way to bring joy into the workplace. Find a way to jam your off time with satisfaction – we don’t work for nothin! Plus all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Get a hobby, fall in love, join a support group – whatever.
  5. Work hard and play hard. Duplicate? Nope. You need a life, before you can have fun. So I guess get a life, has more to do with finding folks who you can hang with and once you have friends you can play. Think about it playing with yourself is a little boring — I like action action figures like the next geek, but other humans ROCK!
  6. Mentor: Find a mentor – be a mentor. If you have someone you can learn from it makes everyday an opportunity to grow, the other side of the street is that if you can find someone to mentor, YOU can improve your organization. Upside: You might actually build a relationship, which will set you on the path to finding a life. Yes this a self referencing looping structure for career improvement in a 10 tips post.
  7. Push Yourself: After being in a role or company for a long time you will ultimately get a little complacent. Well I’m here to tell you, if you don’t expect excellence from yourself or growth – no one else will and that’s a sure fire way to want to turn your monster alerts back on.
  8. Green your own Grass – This is a concept that if you have a life, expect excellence and understand what you do, you just might enjoy what you do. We all long for greener grass, especially in Atlanta, but you have to find a way to “be the ball“. If you have a reasonably good gig, you like the people you work with and are good at what you do – take advantage of it. Think about it – if you are lucky enough to have this kind of gig or you think you may have an opportunity to develop it where you are – what a cool place to be in a career!
  9. Switch it Up – Been there a while? See if you can get a different role in your company. Use your tribal knowledge, leverage your mentor and passion for excellence to learn something NEW. This is definitely greening your own grass!
  10. Engage: Remember – You work with people! Develop relationships! Execute towards shared goals, actively participate in the processes and be a collaborative team. We all got something to learn or share – no matter where we are.

As you may have realized by now, I just needed a snazzy title to frame some leadership concepts. Cheers!

January 19, 2008 by
(6)

Lessons Learned: What is Value? Depends on how/when you look at it

So I spent a good deal of time thinking about value this weekend for a couple of reasons:

1. I had to spend way too much time in a vet hospital for my dog panic and cost/benefit never really entered my mind, but I did do some quick budget math out of financial diligence – couldn’t help it.

2. I need to find Guitar hero and I can’t.  But I did find out some guy paid $10,000 for one, not me though – cost/benefit entered my mind on this one.

3.  The dollar menu at McDonald’s – how are those items only worth $1?  I mean I like double cheeseburgers.

So I thought about it and realized that value is in the eye of the beholder or rather the coveter – but perhaps the marketer as well.   Not sure if value is ever the same or within banded limits at any point in time and this is the most confusing thing about value. Value is about the buyer, so as a marketer and product manager know how can you optimize the value or perceived value of your product.  Effective product placement can significantly change the value of something  – right channel, the right package, the right promotion….   Often the value of something is marketed and delivered to market based on a plan, so perhaps a double cheeseburger is only worth a $1, if [tag]share of wallet[/tag] is a key careabout.  Value is situational for both the buyer and seller.  So I’ve cut in a general overview from Wikipedia on Value for consideration:

The economic value of something is how much a desired object or condition is worth relative to other objects or conditions…

In [tag]neoclassical economics[/tag], the value of an object or service is often seen as nothing but the price it would bring in an open and competitive market. This is determined primarily by the demand for the object relative to supply. Many neoclassical economic theories equate the value of a commodity with its price, whether the market is competitive or not. As such, everything is seen as a commodity and if there is no market to set a price then there is no economic value.

In classical economics, the value of an object or condition is the amount of discomfort/labor saved through the consumption or use of an object or condition (Labor Theory of Value). Though exchange value is recognized, [tag]economic value[/tag] is not dependent on the existence of a market and price and value are not seen as equal.

In this tradition, to [tag]Steve Keen[/tag] “value” refers to “the innate worth of a commodity, which determines the normal (‘equilibrium’) ratio at which two commodities exchange.” To Keen and the tradition of David Ricardo, this corresponds to the classical concept of long-run cost-determined prices, what Adam Smith called “[tag]natural prices[/tag]” and [tag]Karl Marx[/tag] called “[tag]prices of production[/tag].” It is part of a cost-of-production theory of value and price. Ricardo, but not Keen, used a “labor theory of price” in which a commodity’s “innate worth” was the amount of labor needed to produce it.

In another classical tradition, [tag]Marx[/tag] distinguished between the “[tag]value in use[/tag]” (use-value, what a commodity provides to its buyer), “value” (the socially-necessary labour time it embodies), and “exchange value” (how much labor-time the sale of the commodity can claim, Smith’s “[tag]labor commanded[/tag]” value). By most interpretations of his labor theory of value, Marx, like Ricardo, developed a “[tag]labor theory of price[/tag]” where the point of analyzing value was to allow the calculation of relative prices. …

Value in the most basic sense can be referred to as “Real Value” or “Actual Value.” This is the measure of worth that is based purely on the utility derived from the consumption of a product or service. Utility derived value allows products or services to be measure on outcome instead of demand or supply theories that have the inherent ability to be manipulated.

Alas, value is subjective and may or may not have any relationship to production effort ([tag]cost plus[/tag]) or value in use.  The ever changing marketplace makes understanding your products value an ongoing and continuous thread of activity.

Sounds like this value thing is a continuous loop caused by an if-then-goto statement in the business plan.

December 16, 2007 by
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Top 5 Tweets

This week is just about fun, nothing more, nothing less:

  1. Phenobarb Found the nicest bar last night for a game of [tag]yahtzee[/tag] and a Manhattan with delicious little Italian cherries.
  2. mitten The[tag]snow[/tag] is going past my window horizontally. Glad I don’t have to go anywhere. Onwards to photo files cleanup! Huzzah!
  3. heidigoseek SNOW!!!!! Wheeeeeee!
  4. gapingvoid Can’t decide if I find the [tag]Facebook[/tag] “social graph” advertising model that compelling.
  5. Veronica Violet, Ariel and I just got shushed! We talk too loud.
December 16, 2007 by
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