Many people working in large companies speak business-buzzwords as a second language. Business language is full of pretty meaningless words. I Don’t Understand What Anyone Is Saying Anymore article tells that the language of internet business models has made the problem even worse. There are several strains of this epidemic: We have forgotten how to use the real names of real things, acronymitis, and Meaningless Expressions (like “Our goal is to exceed the customer’s expectation”). This would all be funny if it weren’t true. Observe it, deconstruct it, and appreciate just how ridiculous most business conversation has become.
Check out this brilliant Web Economy Bullshit Generator page. It generates random bullshit text based on the often used words in business language. And most of the material it generates look something you would expect from IT executives and their speechwriters (those are randomly generated with Web Economy Bullshit Generator):
“scale viral web services”
“integrate holistic mindshare”
“transform back-end solutions”
“incentivize revolutionary portals”
“synergize out-of-the-box platforms”
“enhance world-class schemas”
“aggregate revolutionary paradigms”
“enable cross-media relationships”
How to talk like a CIO article tries to tell how do CIOs talk, and what do they talk about, and why they do it like they do it. It sometimes makes sense to analyze the speaking and comportment styles of the people who’ve already climbed the corporate ladder if you want to do the same.
The Most Annoying, Pretentious And Useless Business Jargon article tells that the stupid business talk is longer solely the province of consultants, investors and business-school types, this annoying gobbledygook has mesmerized the rank and file around the globe. The next time you feel the need to reach out, touch base, shift a paradigm, leverage a best practice or join a tiger team, by all means do it. Just don’t say you’re doing it. If you have to ask why, chances are you’ve fallen under the poisonous spell of business jargon. Jargon masks real meaning. The Most Annoying, Pretentious And Useless Business Jargon article has a cache of expressions to assiduously avoid (if you look out you will see those used way too many times in business documents and press releases).
Is Innovation the Most Abused Word In Business? article tells that most of what is called innovation today is mere distraction, according to a paper by economist Robert Gordon. Innovation is the most abused word in tech. The iPad is about as innovative as the toaster. You can still read books without an iPad, and you can still toast bread without a toaster. True innovation radically alters the way we interact with the world. But in tech, every little thing is called “innovative.” If you were to believe business grads then “innovation” includes their “ideas” along the lines of “a website like *only better*” or “that thing which everyone is already doing but which I think is my neat new idea” Whether or not the word “innovation” has become the most abused word in the business context, that remains to be seen. “Innovation” itself has already been abused by the patent trolls.
Using stories to catch ‘smart-talk’ article tells that smart-talk is information without understanding, theory without practice – ‘all mouth and no trousers’, as the old aphorism puts it. It’s all too common amongst would-be ‘experts’ – and likewise amongst ‘rising stars’ in management and elsewhere. He looks the part; he knows all the right buzzwords; he can quote chapter-and-verse from all the best-known pundits and practitioners. But is it all just empty ‘smart-talk’? Even if unintentional on their part, people who indulge in smart-talk can be genuinely dangerous. They’ll seem plausible enough at first, but in reality they’ll often know just enough to get everyone into real trouble, but not enough to get out of it again. Smart-talk is the bane of most business – and probably of most communities too. So what can we do to catch it?
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders
https://science.slashdot.org/story/18/01/18/2327204/why-people-dislike-really-smart-leaders?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
Intelligence makes for better leaders — from undergraduates to executives to presidents — according to multiple studies. It certainly makes sense that handling a market shift or legislative logjam requires cognitive oomph. But new research on leadership suggests that, at a certain point, having a higher IQ stops helping and starts hurting. The researchers looked at 379 male and female business leaders in 30 countries, across fields that included banking, retail and technology.
The ratings peaked at an IQ of around 120, which is higher than roughly 80 percent of office workers. Beyond that, the ratings declined.
Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders
Those with an IQ above 120 are perceived as less effective, regardless of actual performance
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-people-dislike-really-smart-leaders/
Intelligence makes for better leaders—from undergraduates to executives to presidents—according to multiple studies. It certainly makes sense that handling a market shift or legislative logjam requires cognitive oomph. But new research on leadership suggests that, at a certain point, having a higher IQ stops helping and starts hurting.
Although previous research has shown that groups with smarter leaders perform better by objective measures, some studies have hinted that followers might subjectively view leaders with stratospheric intellect as less effective. Decades ago Dean Simonton, a psychologist the University of California, Davis, proposed that brilliant leaders’ words may simply go over people’s heads, their solutions could be more complicated to implement and followers might find it harder to relate to them. Now Simonton and two colleagues have finally tested that idea, publishing their results in the July 2017 issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Incentives, Metrics, and Their Unintended Consequences
https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1332870
For every system, there is a workaround or dirty little trick that people figure out and exploit.
I’ve always been leery of incentives. By that, I mean extra compensation or benefits for workers, executives, or even consumers. Specifically, to narrow programs that companies adopt to obtain sales or profits beyond the expected. Why? Because they cause perverse behavior.
One of the most common examples is the sales incentive. The thinking is that salespeople need extra “mojo” or “get-up-and-go” to find, engage, and close sales. This extra compensation is based on targets for product sales in their territory. Companies can’t survive and grow without these sales. The saying is that everything starts with the sale.
Most employees will see right away how to “game” the incentive program. This is natural. Much of this thinking is in line with what is intended. But other outcomes lead to unintended consequences, which only come to light down the road.
When does the salesperson get paid for this sale? On receipt of the purchase order? On payment of the order after it ships? I have found that there is great pressure from sales to get paid as early as possible. Most want commissions on signing of the purchase order. They feel that they have done their job and it is up to the rest of the company to fulfill the product shipment. Sounds logical. But the effect is to grow dissension between the salesperson and either finance or engineering/manufacturing.
No salesperson wants to wait. Again, pressure comes toward finance to pay commissions because it is not the salesperson’s fault that it is taking so long for the company to ship the products.
Unintended outcomes
If the customer rejects the product and the salesperson has already been paid, it sets up a great deal of bad feelings for all involved. Was the product oversold as to what it would do? Who takes the blame? Does the commission get returned?
Smaller companies, especially high-tech startups, are more prone to sales commission issues. They need the sales badly, agreements are many times not even spelled out clearly, and credit issues are not thrashed out. All involved want the best for all concerned, but seldom does it not run into thorny issues.
Essentially, Wells offered cash incentives for their sales and branch employees when they sold new accounts to individuals. Employees figured out how to set up new accounts and get compensated without the customer knowing that this had been done!
The upshot for Wells was not pretty. Customers left the bank, management and employees that were involved at the top and throughout the bank were fired, the company took major write-downs (losses), and the stock price is still suffering after years. All due to this poorly thought-out sales incentive program.
It’s not only sales
Tomi Engdahl says:
Newsflash! Faking it until you make it is illegal in Silicon Valley: Biz boss pleads guilty
Startup CEO admits he lied about education, wealth
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/02/06/wrkriot_isaac_choi_guilty/
It turns out bullshitting your way to fame and fortune is illegal in California’s playground of tech startups, rather than a viable business model. Who knew?
The former CEO and founder of defunct Silicon Valley upstart WrkRiot has pleaded guilty to defrauding and lying to his firm’s former employees.
According to Uncle Sam’s prosecutors, he admitted that he hadn’t attended business school, had never been employed by a financial company, and inflated his net worth.
He also admitted to having emailed several employees fake wire transfer notices in an effort to convince them they had been paid and to remain with the struggling company.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s What Happens to a Startup After a Sexual Harassment Scandal
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-12/here-s-what-happens-to-a-startup-after-a-sexual-harassment-scandal
BetterWorks, a Silicon Valley company that makes HR software, can’t seem to move past its own HR crises.
BetterWorks Systems Inc. isn’t a well-known name in Silicon Valley, but the startup achieved a moment of infamy last year that it hasn’t been able to shake. A former employee sued the company in July, claiming the chief executive officer sexually harassed and assaulted her and that management failed to take proper disciplinary action. The allegations were levied as the #MeToo movement was mushrooming, and the fallout at BetterWorks was widespread.
Kris Duggan, the 43-year-old CEO, has disputed the allegations but resigned from the company he co-founded. Fundraising efforts were derailed. A dozen customers severed business relationships with the startup, which makes human-resources software. The events also torpedoed plans by Penguin Random House to publish a book co-written by Duggan and John Doerr, a prominent venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and a director at BetterWorks.
BetterWorks has been trying to resolve the scandal and move on.
More businesses are likely to face claims of sexism and harassment as women feel empowered to speak out, said Pamela Mason, whose company provides insurance against such lawsuits for hundreds of startups and about 100 venture capital firms. “As the entire #MeToo movement has grown, my clients have this more and more on their radar screen,” she said.
Before the lawsuit last summer, BetterWorks was preparing to raise as much as $40 million from investors, nearly doubling its funding
The fundraising freeze was a real problem.
About a dozen corporate customers abandoned BetterWorks software, citing claims made by Kim, people familiar with the matter said. That drove a 5 percent to 10 percent drop in annual recurring revenue, to $10 million.
Fighting these cases can be expensive. In the technology epicenter of California, a loss in court means a company pays for the aggrieved party’s attorney fees in addition to whatever damages a judge sets. Even if a company wins the case, usually it’ll still be on the hook for its own legal costs. That’s why most settle. Some say it’s as high as 90 percent.
NDAs, which almost always come as a condition of a settlement, can create a chilling effect for alleged victims, shielding bad actors who sometimes go on to repeat their behavior. Lawmakers in California, New York and Pennsylvania have introduced legislation in recent months to ban confidentiality provisions. “The way the system is set up now, it basically allows rich guys to buy their way out of bad behavior,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
How To Be Productive At Work, According To An Email From Elon Musk
http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/how-to-be-productive-at-work-according-to-an-email-from-elon-musk/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Goldman Sachs Says Curing Diseases May Not Be Economically Viable
http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/goldman-sachs-says-curing-diseases-may-not-be-economically-valid/
A leaked report has stated what many in the health industry have whispered privately; there is a lot less money in curing people than in long-term management of disease.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Money will attract millennials to jobs, but it won’t make them loyal
https://work.qz.com/1276917/money-will-attract-millennials-to-jobs-but-it-wont-make-them-loyal/
Deloitte said that so few millennial workers see themselves staying at their companies for the long term because of corporate commitments to diversity and inclusion, as well as allowing flexible working arrangements. Michele Parmelee, global talent leader at Deloitte, said the notion that money buys commitment among millennials is a misconception. This is despite the pervasive financial insecurity that afflicts the generation.
“When we examined responses from those who plan to leave within two years and those who plan to stay at least five years, we saw that pay may be the number-one item that attracts a millennial but diversity, inclusion, and flexibility are the key to keeping them,” she said. “They don’t believe business shares their values, they don’t think business is doing enough to prepare them for the future, and they don’t feel business is sufficiently committed to improving society.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Millennials aren’t entitled. It’s employers that need to change.
https://mashable.com/2018/06/01/millennials-entitled-workplace-culture/?europe=true#iTOYU4ab8OqG
Tomi Engdahl says:
Skip the Elevator Pitch, Sell With A Story Instead
https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/11/sell-with-a-story-book-review.html
If you’re having trouble connecting with customers, it might not be your Tweets or your landing page. It might be your storytelling.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Best Time Of Day To Do Everything At Work, According To Science
http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/the-best-time-of-day-to-do-everything-at-work-according-to-science/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Toxic Content, Insider Threats Lurk in Business Collaboration Tools: Report
https://www.securityweek.com/toxic-content-insider-threats-lurk-business-collaboration-tools-report
A new report quantifies what every manager instinctively knows: private messaging within collaboration tools can hide worrying content sent between employees. This can include confidential and sensitive data inappropriately shared, password sharing, and even toxic sentiment that could harm workplace productivity or highlight a nascent insider threat.
Wiretap, a firm that provides monitoring for collaboration tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Yammer, Workplace by Facebook and Skype for Business, has analyzed (PDF) more than a million enterprise collaboration messages from tens of thousands of authors. The premise of the study is that without knowledge of the risks hidden in collaboration tools, organizations could become victims of their own staff, or possibly worse, eschew the undoubted benefits of collaboration tools altogether.
The Wiretap findings are categorized in three areas: sentiment, toxicity and insider threats.
Sentiment covers employees’ moods and feelings towards the company and its leadership.
“With an understanding of employee opinion, leaders can better determine where to invest in company culture, development, and workplace conditions,”
Toxicity covers behavior including sexual harassment, racism and bullying. “Toxic employees have a way of spreading their behavior to others around them, similar to a nasty virus; crippling others’ morale, performance, and productivity,”
Insider threats come from naive users, malicious users, and even whistleblowers (whose motives may be subject to interpretation). They “are one of the most prevalent threats in an enterprise environment,” says the report, “and are difficult to mitigate.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
What millennials expect in the workforce
Organizations need to adapt and understand what millennials want in a work environment.
https://www.csemag.com/single-article/what-millennials-expect-in-the-workforce/4cf0476421d508c06de0c7599c216fe7.html?OCVALIDATE=
There’s one question that is frequently asked about millennials: Why do they move from city to city and change jobs every few years?
Everyone has their theory. Some people blame it on youth, the lack of attention spans due to social media, unrealistic expectations and dissatisfaction with not advancing in an organization fast enough, or to gain new experiences. There’s no question these are influential factors, but inherently, there’s one underlying reason.
So how do millennials respond to organizations they join that try to assimilate them into the status quo?
Millennials will move and change to avoid groupthink.
Millennials have lived in an environment with quick access to information and feedback and will remove themselves from organizations that function at a slower pace.
Millennials are used to constant change and will leave organizations resistant to change.
Millennials have high expectations in regard to communication and will seek organizations that allow them to voice opinions and actively respond to implement and test new ideas.
So, are these expectations really out of line? Is it a bad idea to bring in new ideas and perspectives into an organization and help it flourish? Fostering a culture of change? Or has your organization become culturally complacent because business is profitable? These are things to consider, as the next transformative business idea just might come out of the mouths of babes
Tomi Engdahl says:
Emotional intelligence test: Do your empathy skills need work?
https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2018/5/emotional-intelligence-test-do-your-empathy-skills-need-work?sc_cid=7016000000127ECAAY
Can you read the emotions of others and identify what they are feeling? Strong leaders display empathy with their teams
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/tyoelama/huippuprofessori-vaittaa-40-ihmisista-tekevan-paskaduunia-vasaavat-kissameemeja-ja-pelaavat-tietokonepeleja-6731880
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/blog/interview-questions/2018/10-unexpected-interview-questions-to-get-unrehearsed-answers
Tomi Engdahl says:
How To Be Productive At Work, According To An Email From Elon Musk
https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/how-to-be-productive-at-work-according-to-an-email-from-elon-musk/
“When Elon says something, you have to pause and not blurt out ‘Well, that’s impossible,’” she said. “You zip it, you think about it, and you find ways to get it done.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Blind loyalty
https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/11/blind-loyalty/
How a social network is redefining the future of corporate culture
Tomi Engdahl says:
Want agility? Forget those function points!
https://www.nitor.com/fi/uutiset-ja-blogi/want-agility-forget-those-function-points
Function points were invented to quantify the amount of logic in code as a better means to measure productivity. It was never the perfect solution but in the world of long waterfall projects better alternatives didn’t exist. Nitor’s Lean-Agile Coach Kati Laine explains why we should – finally – stop using function points as a measure of coding efficiency.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hiring And Firing
https://semiengineering.com/hiring-and-firing/
When does it improve a project to take someone off of it?
I doubt if there is a manager, in any company, who likes to fire people. In addition, most companies are very cautious about getting rid of people. Human resources departments often put in place lengthy and complex procedures to provide a clear and well-documented path to someone’s termination.
During a recent Oski executive dinner, participants were quite heated in their discussion about this issue. Many people talk about the human economics of projects. Adding staff does not always mean that the project gets done quicker and there are reasons for that. But what does a manager do when they know that having a certain person on the team is not a positive? One participant asked, “What if you have the alternative of just taking someone off the project, off the payroll. Will that accelerate the project?”
Several agreed that if they could take the money saved from that person and use it in other ways, it probably would be an easier decision.
NZO – non zero output
As long as a team member is producing more than zero work output, they are worth keeping around. Not everyone agreed with this philosophy, however, because it is hard to be certain of where zero is. They talked about many of the small intangibles, such as having to spread your team across a greater distance, which causes a decline in communications, or the negative impact they may be having on other members of the team. “It is when they drag down everyone else because they are producing terrible work while still getting paid. At the same time, everyone else is working their butts off fixing all of the problems they created, or managers are having to deal with them,” one person argued.
The are several problems associated with keeping underperforming engineers. Some of the managers had experienced the problem where you put your top performers on the most difficult problems and those on the lower portion of the bell curve on the less important parts. That came to bite them when many of the problems were found in the simplest parts of the design. Even when policies and procedures were put in place to attempt to stop this, the risk remained. As one person put it, “You cannot stop fools because they are so clever.”
There is another side to this problem. What happens when you have to fire someone who you don’t want to lose? That happens in companies that have a bottom percentage policy. Here, a manager is forced to fire the bottom performing 5% of their staff. While that person or persons may not have been contributing as much as the top performing members of the team, they still may have had a positive contribution.
Interestingly, one person said they have met very few people who have been fired for incompetence. Of course, nobody will ever admit to that. Another thought that there were many counter examples – people you know who are doing a bad job and simply managed to stay in the position they are in.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Computing Ethics Gets an Update
https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1333605
In response to significant changes in computing in the last 25 years, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has updated its Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.
When the code was last changed in 1992, it was still possible for a lone developer to produce a significant piece of software–but even then, software development was changing. Numerous free and open source projects were benefiting from collaboration among developers worldwide, and effective collaborative software development processes were being created and shared.
With the advent of Agile development processes, the circle of collaboration expanded to include the client. The quality of software continued to improve, and software itself aligned more with the client’s expectations.
As the profession welcomed psychologists as collaborators, user interfaces improved. Users became less likely to make mistakes that would lead to harm or even death. Best practices began to mature.
Many computing professionals–even those with strong liberal arts backgrounds–do not have the depth of knowledge and experience in psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, ethics, design and communication theory necessary to fully analyze the impact of complex software systems, especially as they are being built. Experts from those fields who have experience in computing need to be drawn into collaborations as an integral part of the practice of computing in order to advance computing excellence.
The updated ACM Code of Ethics expresses the conscience of the computing profession and is a call to think differently about the nature of computing. It guides professionals in taking a more expansive approach to computing.
A widespread, collaborative, and open practice of applying the updated code when designing and implementing systems will improve the computing profession as happened with the collaborative software development methodologies of the 1990s. The profession has benefited from broadened collaboration in the past. Much is to be gained by expanding the circle again.
ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
https://www.acm.org/code-of-ethics
Tomi Engdahl says:
Speak like a leader | Simon Lancaster | TEDxVerona
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGBamfWasNQ
Did you know there is a secret language of leadership that determines who reaches the top in politics and business?
In this fast-paced and frequently funny TEDx talk, top speechwriter, Simon Lancaster, sets out the techniques that you can use to speak like a leader. The talk culminates in Simon Lancaster instantly improvising a powerful leadership speech based on an idea suggested by the audience.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to sound smart in your TEDx Talk | Will Stephen | TEDxNewYork
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S0FDjFBj8o
In a hilarious talk capping off a day of new ideas at TEDxNewYork, professional funny person Will Stephen shows foolproof presentation skills to make you sound brilliant — even if you are literally saying nothing. (Full disclosure: This talk is brought to you by two TED staffers, who have watched a LOT of TED Talks.)
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Secrets of Hostage Negotiators | Scott Tillema | TEDxNaperville
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CNRmhleJmk
Can you have a productive conversation with someone when you both disagree?
Learn the secrets to negotiation and conversation from a police hostage negotiator.
Through his interest in policing, psychology, and negotiations, he has developed The SECRETS Model of Negotiation, and actively teaches crisis communication to police officers throughout the Chicago region.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The magical science of storytelling | David JP Phillips | TEDxStockholm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj-hdQMa3uA
Why is Storytelling so powerful? And how do we use it to our advantage? Presentations expert David JP Phillips shares key neurological findings on storytelling and with the help of his own stories, induces in us the release of four neurotransmitters of his choice. Learn more in this 2nd TEDxStockholm talk of David’s.
David JP Phillips is an international speaker, author and coach in Modern Presentation Skills.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to avoid death By PowerPoint | David JP Phillips | TEDxStockholmSalon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwpi1Lm6dFo
With a seldom seen depth of knowledge and passion for his subject, David Phillips has become the leading Swedish figurehead in the art of making presentations. He is the founder and owner of Sweden’s largest resource on the subject: Presentationsteknik.com. He is also author of the ground-breaking book “How To Avoid Death By PowerPoint” published in more than 30 countries.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Great leadership comes down to only two rules | Peter Anderton | TEDxDerby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDsMlmfLjd4
Peter takes us on a whistle stop tour of leadership in the last 16 centuries and tells us why everything you ever need to know about leadership comes down to only two rules.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Some Workers in Japan Who Want To Leave Their Jobs Are Paying a Startup To Tell Their Bosses That They Won’t Be Back
https://slashdot.org/story/18/08/30/2032243/some-workers-in-japan-who-want-to-leave-their-jobs-are-paying-a-startup-to-tell-their-bosses-that-they-wont-be-back?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
Stressed out, overworked, or just over it: Workers in Japan who want to leave their jobs — but don’t want to face the stress of quitting in person — are paying a startup called Exit to tell their bosses that they won’t be back.
“Quitting jobs can be a soul-crushing hassle. We’re here to provide a sense of relief by taking on that burden,”
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/08/28/business/startup-takes-stress-fed-workers-exit-plans/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alana Semuels / The Atlantic:
Fiverr and other freelancing sites have broadened employment opportunities for workers, but endless competition has led to lower wages and little stability — When the whole world is fighting for the same jobs, what happens to workers? — You can buy almost any thing you want online …
The Online Gig Economy’s ‘Race to the Bottom’
When the whole world is fighting for the same jobs, what happens to workers?
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/08/fiverr-online-gig-economy/569083/
You can buy almost any thing you want online—toothpaste, books, plastic devices that allow you to lick your cat. On digital work platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer.com, you can also buy nearly any service—often from someone halfway around the world, sometimes for just a few bucks. On Fiverr, one of the most popular of these platforms, you’ll find offers for someone who will write an e-book “on any topic”; a person who will perform “a Voiceover as Bernie Sanders”; someone who will write your Tinder profile for you, and someone who will design a logo for your real-estate company. The people selling this labor live in Nigeria, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Bangladesh, respectively. Each of them charge $5 for these tasks.
For buyers, the appeal of these sites is obvious: They’re a great place to find skilled and semi-skilled sellers willing to work for cheap. They track when work has been completed, allow sellers to rate workers, and provide staff who can help resolve disputes. The people selling their skills win, too: Workers—especially those living overseas—can make a decent amount of money being paid in U.S. dollars. The proliferation of online freelance-job sites have allowed some people to leave poorly paying jobs in their home countries; it also allows students and those with little experience to sell their work, get good reviews, and start cultivating clients.
More than 48 million people have registered globally on websites allowing them to sell their labor. Optimistic about the potential of the digital economy to lift people from poverty, countries like Malaysia and Nigeria have embarked on campaigns to train residents in how to use online labor platforms; Malaysia aims to have 340,000 workers, mostly from the bottom 40 percent of income earners, make a living from online freelancing by 2020.
The global digital-labor force will only continue to grow: Nearly a quarter of a billion people came online for the first time last year, and about 4 billion people, more than half of the world’s population, now have internet access. In 2016, the World Bank estimated that the global market for online freelancing was $4.4 billion.
But while freelance websites may have raised wages and broadened the number of potential employers for some people, they’ve forced every new worker who signs up into entering a global marketplace with endless competition, low wages, and little stability. Decades ago, the only companies that outsourced work overseas were multinational corporations with the resources to set up manufacturing shops elsewhere. Now, independent businesses and individuals are using the power of the internet to find the cheapest services in the world too, and it’s not just manufacturing workers who are seeing the downsides to globalization. All over the country, people like graphic designers and voice-over artists and writers and marketers have to keep lowering their rates to compete.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The #1 Office Perk? Natural Light
https://hbr.org/2018/09/the-1-office-perk-natural-light
The news headlines about what perks or elements of office design make for a great employee experience seem to be dominated by fads — think treadmill desks, nap pods, and “bring your dog to work day” for starters.
However, a new survey by my HR advisory firm Future Workplace called “The Employee Experience” reveals the reality is that employees crave something far more fundamental and essential to human needs. In a research poll of 1,614 North American employees, we found that access to natural light and views of the outdoors are the number one attribute of the workplace environment, outranking stalwarts like onsite cafeterias, fitness centers, and premium perks including on-site childcare (only 4-8% of FORTUNE 100 companies offer on-site child care).
The study also found that the absence of natural light and outdoor views hurts the employee experience. Over a third of employees feel that they don’t get enough natural light in their workspace. 47% of employees admit they feel tired or very tired from the absence of natural light or a window at their office, and 43% report feeling gloomy because of the lack of light.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Achieve sustainable work pace with the Mind Platter
https://www.nitor.com/fi/uutiset-ja-blogi/achieve-sustainable-work-pace-mind-platter
Tomi Engdahl says:
TIEDOLLA JOHTAMINEN KÄYTÄNNÖSSÄ: 3 ESIMERKKIÄ ERI TOIMIALOILTA
https://blog.planbrothers.io/fi/tiedolla-johtaminen-kaytannossa?utm_campaign=Tiedolla+johtaminen&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&hs_fb_account_id=10151128986544812&hs_fb_campaign_id=6073387637530&hs_fb_adset_id=6073387638530&hs_fb_ad_id=6074619444730&hs_parent_creative_id=6074619454330&source=fb&dfbaid=6074619444730
Tomi Engdahl says:
Distributed teams are rewriting the rules of office(less) politics
https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/18/distributed-teams-are-rewriting-the-rules-of-officeless-politics/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
When we think about designing our dream home, we don’t think of having a thousand roommates in the same room with no doors or walls. Yet in today’s workplace where we spend most of our day, the purveyors of corporate office design insist that tearing down walls and bringing more people closer together in the same physical space will help foster better collaboration while dissolving the friction of traditional hierarchy and office politics.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is the era of management over?
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/12/is-management-era-over
“The key to management is to get rid of the managers,” advised Ricardo Semler, whose TED Talk went viral, introducing terms such as “industrial democracy” and “corporate re-engineering”. It’s important to point out that Mr. Semler isn’t an academic or an expert in management theory, he is the CEO of a successful industrial company. His views are unlikely to represent mainstream thinking on organizational design. But perhaps it is time we redefine the term “manager”, and question whether the idea of “management” as it was inherited from the industrial era, has outlived its usefulness.
The World Bank estimates the size of the global workforce at about 3.5 billion people
In a world of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), it is the tech unicorns that will be the early adopters of a post-hierarchical model. In fact, some have already embraced it. Today’s competitive landscape is defined by one word: disruption.
Tomi Engdahl says:
LUOTTAMUS MITATAAN KRIISIN HETKELLÄ
https://viestijat.fi/luottamus-mitataan-kriisin-hetkella/
Tomi Engdahl says:
9 Non-Threatening Leadership Strategies for Women
https://thecooperreview.com/non-threatening-leadership-strategies-for-women/amp/
In this fast-paced business world, female leaders need to make sure they’re not perceived as pushy, aggressive or competent. One way to do that is to alter your leadership style to account for the (sometimes) fragile male ego.
Should men accept powerful women and not feel threatened by them? Yes. Is that asking too much? IS IT?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Love, Evolution and Optimism at Nordic Business Forum
https://agencyleroy.com/thoughts/nbf2018#
three takeaways from the conference.
One: Love
Two: The speed of evolution
Three, and the most important of all: Optimism
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is your IT career stalled? 7 tips to get back on track
https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2018/8/signs-your-it-career-stalled-and-7-tips-get-back-track?sc_cid=7016000000127ECAAY
Listen to the cold, hard truth from CIOs and career experts about that stalled progress of yours and how to fix it
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://duunitori-fi.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/duunitori.fi/tyoelama/hissipuhe-tyonhaussa/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQCCAE%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=Julkaisija%3A%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fduunitori.fi%2Ftyoelama%2Fhissipuhe-tyonhaussa%2F
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://duunitori.fi/tyoelama/erotu-tyonhaussa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
6 personality traits driving your organization
https://opensource.com/open-organization/18/9/the-h-factor-2?sc_cid=7016000000127ECAAY
What motivates the people in your community to contribute—and who could potentially have a destructive impact?
The authors present a six-trait model for understanding personality, called HEXACO:
Honesty-Humility
Emotionality
eXtraversion
Agreeableness (versus Anger)
Conscientiousness
Openness to Experience.
The authors mention that these summaries are reference points for wider personality traits.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists determine four personality types based on new data
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180917111612.htm
Comprehensive data analysis dispels established paradigms in psychology
After developing new algorithms, four clusters emerged:
Average Average people are high in neuroticism and extraversion, while low in openness. “I would expect that the typical person would be in this cluster,” said Martin Gerlach, a postdoctoral fellow in Amaral’s lab and the paper’s first author. Females are more likely than males to fall into the Average type.
Reserved The Reserved type is emotionally stable, but not open or neurotic. They are not particularly extraverted but are somewhat agreeable and conscientious.
Role Models Role Models score low in neuroticism and high in all the other traits. The likelihood that someone is a role model increases dramatically with age. “These are people who are dependable and open to new ideas,” Amaral said. “These are good people to be in charge of things. In fact, life is easier if you have more dealings with role models.” More women than men are likely to be role models.
Self-Centered Self-Centered people score very high in extraversion and below average in openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. “These are people you don’t want to hang out with,” Revelle said. There is a very dramatic decrease in the number of self-centered types as people age, both with women and men.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang tells employees not to ‘live for KPIs’ in speech after being named Jack Ma’s successor
https://m.scmp.com/tech/enterprises/article/2166503/alibabas-daniel-zhang-tells-employees-not-live-kpis-first-internal
While Ma is known to be a visionary and a charismatic orator, Zhang is more reserved and is seen by many to be a steady and reliable choice to lead Alibaba in the future
Tomi Engdahl says:
Beyond engagement: What leaders need to know about empowering others
https://opensource.com/open-organization/18/10/understanding-engagement-empowerment?sc_cid=7016000000127ECAAY
Empowering employees doesn’t mean you won’t need to manage them. But it does mean leaders need to think differently about their roles.
Discussing the concept of “empowerment” with organizational leaders often exposes an interesting dichotomy: While leaders often support empowering teams, they’re occasionally wary of empowering individuals. Empowered teams, the thinking goes, are innovative and agile—but empowered individuals are obstinate and rebellious. So asking senior leaders to invest in efforts to empower individual contributors could potentially sound like a request to equip everyone with a blowtorch and a machete.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to scale an organisation and not lose your job trying
https://medium.com/conductal/how-to-scale-an-organisation-and-not-lose-your-job-trying-1d70458317c3
Most founders fail to scale their companies — and that is not because of competition (only 19% of cases) or cash (29%). Rather, they fail to realize that growth is not linear and companies must change between stages. This roadmap can help you understand the evolution of your organisation from its Conception as well as giving you an idea of what it takes to lead through the transitions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
7 Easy Ways To Use Game Theory To Make Your Life Better
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-game-theory-to-your-benefit-2012-4?r=US&IR=T
Princeton’s John Nash earned the Nobel prize in economics for his work in game theory, a method of strategic thinking. Nash was portrayed by Russell Crowe in the 2001 movie A Beautiful Mind.
Fortunately, you don’t need a Ph.D in economics to apply basic game theory in everyday life.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearing A Tie Could Be Bad For Your Health, Warns Study
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/wearing-a-tie-could-be-bad-for-your-health-warns-study/
Sorry gents, it may be time to ditch the tie. The latest research, published in the journal Neuroradiology, has found that this particular garment restricts blood flow to the brain, putting some wearers at risk of headaches, dizziness, and nausea.
When the results came in, the team could see that the tie-wearers experienced an average dip in blood flow to the brain of 7.5 percent
Tomi Engdahl says:
DevOps: What’s in it for managers?
https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2018/10/devops-what-s-it-managers?sc_cid=7016000000127eyAAA
DevOps and a classic command-and-control management structure do not mix. So how do you get managers on board? One key: New measures of success
DevOps, we hear, is all about empowering teams: Cross-functional teams of engineers, testers, operations, security people. They get to be augmented, more capable, and more successful. They can manage their time, work out what needs to happen, and agree on project goals.
So, what’s in it for managers? The answer is simple. If your organization works on a model where managers are incentivized to build large teams, set specific short-term targets, micro-manage their resources, and just keep accruing larger and larger budgets, then the adoption of DevOps will be an overwhelmingly negative experience for them. They will fight against it,
Tomi Engdahl says:
Brad Katsuyama – The Stock Market had become an Illusion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eqqCwhPlyU
Latency Arbitrage and Electronic “front-running” part of the problem.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Think global: How to overcome cultural communication challenges
https://opensource.com/article/18/10/think-global-communication-challenges?sc_cid=7016000000127ECAAY
Use these tips to ensure that every member of your global development team feels involved and understood.
In today’s workplace, our colleagues may not be located in the same office, city, or even country. A growing number of tech companies have a global workforce comprised of employees with varied experiences and perspectives. This diversity allows companies to compete in the rapidly evolving technological environment.
But geographically dispersed teams can face challenges. Managing and maintaining high-performing development teams is difficult even when the members are co-located; when team members come from different backgrounds and locations, that makes it even harder. Communication can deteriorate, misunderstandings can happen, and teams may stop trusting each other—all of which can affect the success of the company.
What does it mean to be a high- or low-context culture? In the United States, children learn to communicate explicitly
Japanese children learn to
read between the lines and pick up on social cues when communicating.
Most Asian cultures follow the high-context style of communication.
The first step toward effective cross-cultural communication is to recognize that there are differences.
Tomi Engdahl says:
10 kylmää totuutta myynnistä, osa 8. Suosittelu on tehokkain markkinointiviesti
https://info.kokemuksia.fi/blogi/10-kylmaa-totuutta-myynnista-osa-8-suosittelu-on-tehokkain-markkinointiviesti/
14% yritysten asiakkaista luottaa perinteiseen markkinointiviestintään. Loput 86% ajattelee, että se on jollain tavalla liioittelua tai puppua.
Yli 90% ihmisistä etsii ostopäätöksen tueksi lisätietoa, yleensä netistä.
77% on valmis kokeilemaan ennestään tuntematonta tuotetta tai palvelua, jos samastuttava henkilö suosittelee sitä hänelle.
Näistä luvuista me puhumme paljon.