Spring is for Growth
Tomorrow is the first day of spring. For some it is also the first day of a new calendar year.
Here in Canada, where the winter is long, spring is a time of renewal and the beginning of a period of growth.
There is a tradition of New Year’s resolutions as we move into the beginning of January. However, with the longer days and renewed energy of spring, perhaps more people should be seeing this time of the year as one of personal commitment and growth.
This year in particular has been a colder than normal winter, both in terms of weather and in terms of […]
Evolution of Self
We start off life focused on self. We have basic needs and as long as they are met we are relatively happy.
As we get a little older, we become aware of others. Not just as things we interact with, but as individuals with their own sense of self. We develop some sense of sharing and a sense of competition.
The high-end of athletics is a prime example self and competition taken to its extreme conclusion. The goal is to prove you are the best, or are at least on the best team, and have the world acknowledge your worth.
As some people […]
The Biggest Sale Ever
What if you had something really big to sell? What if you only have one of them and could never sell it again? What if you had worked on making this thing for a good portion of your life? You only have one chance to maximize the selling price.
How would you sell it?
Would you create a detailed brochure and mail it to 10-20 prospective clients?
Would you put an advertisement in a classified listing (online or traditional) and sell it like a house?
Probably not.
The Biggest Sale Ever Is…
Your business. Yet most privately held businesses do not treat the sale of the […]
Blogging Update
Now heading over 90 posts across a diverse number of subjects… I am realizing that some categories need further refinement to make it easier for the reader to find articles of interest in the archives.
Business will be split into:
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Sales and Marketing – Posts focused on sales and marketing related discussions.
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Business Strategy – Working on your business… posts focused on business planning and strategy, the stuff of entrepreneurs.
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Business Management – Working in your business… posts focused on the day to day aspects of running a business.
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Business – General – Prior posts and new posts not fitting one of the above.
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Employment – Self-explanatory.
I […]
Coke – Mercury Edition
First there was Coke, then New Coke and then Coke Classic. Well according to the news program I was watching this morning, Coke now contains mercury (in many instances).
Apparently, the sweetener of choice for Coke is corn syrup (or fructose-glucose in Canadian labels). They switched a number of years back from table sugar to reduce costs. In the process of extracting the sugars from corn they use a chemical with Mercury in it. Sometimes, they don't get all the mercury out… mercury in your body is bad. And by the way, this is a problem for all foods with corn […]
Vision and Leadership Required
Is it my imagination or did Alberta squander another boom?
During the Klein years, the focus was on slaying provincial debt and creating the Alberta Advantage, which near as I can tell was really about creating an environment for business investment (a good thing normally) in the province (low taxes, etc.), and not necessarily for having better quality of life, hospitals or educational systems. This led to a runaway provincial economy where costs were skyrocketing (too much of a good thing).
If you weren't in the Oil business, it was actually getting hard to compete outside of Alberta because of excessive rent […]
Bench or Busy?
The other day I read something about how having a lot of technical staff or developers on the bench was a strength for a vendor (this predates the current economy).
I suppose they are thinking, "Hey we can respond to your needs more quickly".
I guess you can put a positive marketing spin on anything.
Having been on both sides of the equation (vendor and customer), I don't see it as a positive thing at all.
Why are all those people on the bench?
Personally, I want the vendor and people that everyone else wants. If they are busy it should mean that […]
Value and Price Trade-offs (Lessons from Session)
Observations in real life can be useful if you take the time to look.
A Celtic music session I go to here in Calgary recently saw the pub we were holding it in close its doors permanently. Some new options have come up all the way from the far southeast quadrant to a more central southern location (or two).
People from the session live all over Calgary. As we have been exploring new locations, there has been considerable debate around both value (the quality and features of the session) and price (essentially location since there is no admission fee).
There is a […]
What Makes a Good Developer?
I think that "good" is partly a matter of perspective.
For a development team member, a good developer may have some or all of the following skills and attributes:
- Team player,
- Strong object oriented design and development skills,
- Strong in the technical stack the team is using,
- Agile experience,
- Willingness and ability to learn and embrace new things,
- TDD/DDD abilities,
- Working knowledge of testing frameworks/concepts,
- Etc.
From a management or business perspective you could also add some of the following:
- Ability to estimate and then meet commitments,
- Likely to stick around,
- Marketable skills,
- Focused on working client solutions and not just the latest technology,
- Able to work with and communicate well with clients,
- Able to generate […]
Feed a Need – Serving the Community
A few years ago, one of my business partners (Al Dhalla) and a long-time friend of his (Al Mohammed) started helping recent immigrants to Calgary by finding people wishing to give away furniture and matching them with people needing furniture.
Thus “Feed a Need” was born.
Since then, the program has grown to include people of all faiths with a genuine need earning them a nomination for a YMCA Peace Award and attention from the media.
Many of the recipients of the program have volunteered their time to help […]