Reflecting on my post and the ensuing in-depth discussion
Fostering involvement and buy-in – what the cat taught me

The very act of us discussing the very topic of transparency is transparency at work! Isn’t it ironic.

If I were a more conventional business, I would not be engaging in this discussion. And certainly not in public and with someone who could become a potential customer (ie someone I have …

I blogged about being annoyed by Freedom Escapes’ telemarketing calls a while ago.

I recently had a look at the comments. Talk about a mountain growing out of an ant hill (we don’t have moles in Australia). They are obviously still cold calling people. And those who are annoyed enough to go online to vent have subsequently found my site via Google. I also occasionally get personal emails …

I was away in Perth a few weeks ago due to the sudden and tragic death of a close friend. During those 10 distressing days, I had no less than three unsolicited telemarketing calls from two different companies; on my mobile!

1. Whilst I was in a meeting with a member of the clergy regarding the eulogy, an Australian index trading company rang. This was the same shysters …

(I am taking two weeks off blogging in memory of my good friend Jeff Cahill who left us suddenly on Friday.)

Dear Jeff,

Thank you for all the cut-the-crap insights, the silly stories, the unmentionable pranks, the great (home-cooked, take-out and 5-star gourmet) meals, the late night drives and coffees, the unconditional support, the illuminating wisdom, the great conversations, the reality …

The difference between a truly professional outcome (one that is produced by a craftsperson) and an amateur outcome lies in the craftperson’s ability to see and work with the big picture as well as the details.

As the saying goes, God may well be in the details; but the truly sublime can only be experienced as a whole. The big picture is where all the individual pieces come …

This interactive LED coffee table looks fun! And it got me thinking about computer hardware.

There seems to be a recent increase in interesting computing-related hardware: tablet PCs, multitouch screens on phones, and Microsoft’s concept tabletop “Surface” PC.

We human creatures like to interact with our surroundings. We want to affect change, to make our …

(My friend Stilgherrian and I had a discussion about this during the week. This post contains my synthesised thoughts.)

Clients in perpetual crisis

If you work in IT-related services, you will be familiar with this type of client:

They are always chaotic and in a rush. They only have time to listen to the bare minimum. They run out of time to respond to questions or think. They are …

The demand for innovation (the myriads of definitions thereof) is certainly out there more so than ever before, judging by the magazines and media. I am talking about business innovation here – that is new ways to design, run and “be” a business.

I predict that increasingly many colleges and universities will start offering degree programmes and qualifications in “Innovation”. It will be interesting to see the different approaches.

Notable …

These are my highlights from Dacher Keltner’s article The Power Paradox which takes a more humane and positive look at the idea of power, contrary to the Machiavellian views of Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power.

[The belief] that attaining power requires force, deception, manipulation, and coercion … [is] dead wrong.

Instead, a new science of power has revealed that power is wielded most effectively when it’s …

Everyone would have heard of the MacBook Air by now right? It is a stunning piece of product design. There’ve been loads of “oohs” and “aahs” over how thin it is.

The designers have used a proven technique to make the unit look thinner than what is actually possible with engineering alone.

In everyday circumstances, we almost never perceive a product from an orthogonal viewpoint – ie perfectly …