MJD Management Group

Archive for September, 2010

I discovered this podcast on NPR about countries are moving towards establishing a framework to define the types of information use on the internet as a weapon just like a nuclear bomb, tank, or chemical weapons along with control measures to hold nations accountable.

It is interesting to hear “information” discussed in this framework and the differing country opinions and implication for tools like Twitter.  It is also a very familiar discussion in how the same types of view by countries that have existed since before the cold war are now used for information.  Listen to the story.  If the player is taking too long to load, go directly to NPR web article link.

Published in December 2009, a very good (and long – 424 pages) report on the Global Mobile Internet Report by Morgan Stanley.  The central assertion is that the Mobile Internet will grow faster and be bigger than most think.  This is worth a read.

• Are you constantly checking your email looking for unread messages?
• Do you feel you have to respond to every email message?
• Is your inbox open all day so you can constantly check it?
• Do you constantly check your iPhone, blackberry, or droid every fifteen minutes?
• When your are not working do you think about checking email so you don’t fall further behind on your emails?
• Do you feel like you are a prisoner or under the spell of your inbox?
• Is your email the single source for all ingoing and outgoing information for your life?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you (like many) need to find a better way to manage your email effectively and spend less time doing it. Here is an approach worth considering for your daily email battle.  Check out this Google Tech Talks video where Merlin Mann talks about Inbox Zero.

After you watch the video, comment on Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero approach.

Recently AT&T’s General Manage for the NY and NJ market posted a letter electronically informing AT&T customers of the focus on customer satisfaction and the plans and investment (i.e. $18-$19 billion) to provide better service.  The letter closes by asking for feedback.

From the category of be careful what you wish for because in the social media world you are having a two way conversation with your customers….AT&T customers provided extremely direct feedback on the AT&T Facebook page like an “Angry Mob.” To AT&T’s credit, as a policy they do not delete Facebook comments and they are answering the questions directly.

There are volumes of work on business leadership styles and leadership that if stacked on their side in piles could completely surround your local Barnes and Noble.  A fair number of them postulate a particular perspective, a prescription, or a solution on what works best for leadership like “one size fits all” or the silver bullet approach for all leaders, situations, and people.  Whenever I hear this perspective, my first thought is well the business environment is a dynamic, evolving, and nuanced ecosystem and leadership is both multi-faceted and tied to the business cycle, the environment, company culture, organization, etc… So, all things considered, “one size fits all” really translates into “one size fits none.”

Obviously, you core values as a leader are constant and you must remain consistent and true and maintain the trust and integrity as a leader.  I do believe that several key characteristics that can yield the most for all stakeholders that are not often mentioned or emphasized in the aforementioned works are the ability to be self reflective, to have self doubt, and to be adaptive in both your approach, style, vision, and plan.

Having said all of that, what I do find perhaps more compelling to think about and discuss is the biggest mistakes a leader can make.  The Harvard Business Review has a thought provoking seven minute video where they posed the question , “What is the biggest mistake a leader can make?” to nine leaders.  The real value in this video is nine different perspectives and voices for the same question.   I recommend you watch the video at your appointed time  and share your thoughts on the video and your answer to the question.