Archive for the ‘Leveraging Technology’ Category

United Breaks Guitar video goes viral on YouTube with 3.5 million hits.

The issue with this video is more complex than just damaged guitars; it’s that the industry is still in the Stone Age when it comes to operating everything but the planes.

First, the airline industry could easily borrow technologies from other industries to cut the handing of baggage in half by employees. The problem is very much tied to baggage handlers being unionized. There is very little incentive to replace people with equipment and yet if UPS and FedEx worked in the same manner as the airlines do, you’d get your packages a week later.

The solution is baggage that is tagged at the gate and then transferred via RFID (or some other technology) to the plane and then in some situations directly into the hull. This would require sophisticated technologies and cooperation between manufacturers and firms that manufacture robotics and conveyor systems.

The benefits would be huge. FOD (foreign object debris) would be drastically reduced for airlines. Payroll would decrease and so would Workers Comp expenses from bag-related injuries. Passengers would get their baggage to the plane without damage, as well as receive the baggage at the other end. Tracking and total weight can be accessed at any time for CG, the weighting of a plane. The list is endless.

One may argue that the airlines are not doing well, and I’d argue that the airlines are in this position due to poor investment in technology, poor contracts with unions, and poor orientation to the future. Some of this tied to, in the US, the government’s handing of the industry including air traffic control systems that should have been updated long ago.

The good news is that if innovation curves are any indication of the future, the airline industry will be forced over the course of the next 50 years, to either make significant technological changes to keep pace or find itself prey to industries that will,  such as improvements in holographic and digital meetings that eliminate the need for business travel. In other words, business travel, which provides a huge source of income for airlines, will be reduced and/or other modes of transportation will gain traction.

A bullet train from Boston to Washington DC or from San Francisco to San Diego and many other traffic lanes could reduce air passengers.

It’s a shame, because I love to fly.

Several years ago I read The End of Work by Jeremy Rifkin.  In his book, Rifkin outlined a future filled with too many people and too little work to be done. The premise was that we’d be so technologically advanced that there would be little work left for people to do, resulting in a shift in how we spend our daily lives.

In as much as we’re still very far off from this prediction, there still lies the truth that in the United States we are going to be facing a different challenge along the same line of thinking. It’s not that were going to run out of work but given the transformational change of “hands-on business functions,” there will be a type of End of Work. This will be a type of work that fulfills the needs of those who want to work with their hands and don’t have the same inclination to spend time being schooled.

An example is the farmer who no longer uses horses  to plow his fields but who uses a GPS-guided machine in which he can actually watch TV while the equipment does the work. Even the painter will work differently due to increased efficiency of painting tools and/or paints that last 5 years longer due to nanotechnology. The machinist will be replaced by a robotic system.

It’s these people, with this propensity to lean towards truly hands-on jobs that I started thinking about while working with Mike, my painter, a couple of years ago. We met somewhat by chance while I touched up the paint on my home and Mike and his son were in a car driving down our street looking for some work. We spoke for a few minutes and they ended up quoting a price to paint the entire exterior of our home.

As you might have guessed the price was right and from what I heard it appeared they had worked with some pretty reputable firms. After about 20 minutes, I agreed to the terms and they promised they would start the very next morning.

Yes, I did have the thought they might not show, and they might do a poor job since they were traveling around handing out fliers.
I was happy with my decision. Mike Sr. and Mike Jr. showed up the very next morning at 9 AM as promised ready to work.  They were professional in their demeanor and in the quality of their work.

What I witnessed were two guys who loved working with their hands. Mike Sr. had been painting most of his life and possessed a sort of pride I wished many office employees and managers would have. Mike Jr. was the apple that didn’t fall far from the tree. Often I’d see him step back from his work, look at what he’d done from two or three different angles and then proceed. Even his business card defines his philosophy. It says, “Picture Perfect,” and his interpretation is that when he’s done with a job, you’d want to take a picture of it.

The truth is, Mike and Mike love working with their hands.

I thought about the pair along with all the other craftsman, mechanics, and stone workers I know, and I realized we will have a challenge different than the one discussed in public. The challenge is one that is not about further educating our population so that people can have jobs. It’s about giving people choices so they can make a living at a reasonable pay scale and still be who they want to be. It’s not about jobs being shipped off shore given that many of those jobs are at low paying wages that most likely will be eliminated in their future as automation envelopes the economies that have chosen to be the next outsourcing country.

It’s about people.

What do we do with Mike Sr. and Mike Jr.? What does the individual who has no interest in working in an office do? What is their future?

Quite honestly, I’m not sure that manual labor or manufacturing will change not because of “evil” executives but because technology will replace manual tasks as it’s the nature of automation to remove people to drive down costs, increase efficiency, and improve products and service experiences. There’s no stopping it.

Just imagine having no computers in your accounting department, and you get a sense of what I mean. No computers? You may have 74 people to do the work of just a dozen. No computers may mean that JIT and inventory replenishment grind to a halt.

Here’s my long shot.

What’s on my mind.

Mike and Mike will continue to exist; it’s just that we need to:

1. Channel other activities that can create the same stimulation in our culture. Mike needs to swing a hammer at home.

2. Give opportunities to those that can work with their hands to do the same, utilizing tools such as virtual reality systems. I know the heavy equipment operator loves the power of the machine even though he or she is using levers and not their hands to accomplish the same task.

3. Leverage the feeling of accomplishment in other areas such as taking the creative hands-on feel and translating it to outdoor activities on a global scale where these individuals find themselves working in South America, Central America, or other parts of the world where technology and hands on co-exist for now.

4. We need to balance life work so that those that would prefer the other can do it on their own time.

Nothing brilliant in the above. I’d just like you to be thinking about the ramifications of losing our hands-on worker who’s not interested in the corporate life style to be productive. Yes, they will learn to use the current technologies to do their work. More importantly, we need to insure that they don’t get lost. This is a challenge that can be overcome if we not only address the need for continuous learning but address the issue of choice. Otherwise, our oversight is going to run over the US workforce like a steam roller.

Our problem is not our problem.

I know someone who spent a good deal of his summer lounging by a pool, vacationing with friends, and overall just kicking back and enjoying life.  Oh yeah, he was a manager, too.  How did he have time to manage his employees and amass so much leisure time, too, you may ask.  He didn’t.  He chose hanging out over working hard, but he had a good reason.

As he explained to his superior, a regional manager for the firm, the “economy” was bad in the area.  He was even generous enough with his time to take the regional manager, who was unfamiliar with the ins and outs of this particular city, on a joy ride through its worst slum…boarded up windows and gang-sign graffiti offered “proof” that the man with a tan couldn’t be blamed for his office’s poor sales.

The vast majority of the beautiful city was running quite smoothly, but the regional manager didn’t get that tour.  He was shuffled straight to the airport before he got a sniff of the truth that his local subordinate opted to darken his tan rather than increase his office’s sales.

Yes, I realize the economy has hit most of us in one way or another.  Some of us have gotten pummeled worse than others, too.  And while sales have taken a hit in many industries, I hope that you’re able to separate reality from perception.

Be careful not to discount your ability to perform on the job because the economy is suffering. There have always been and will always be those who bend with the times and create opportunity.

Also, be fair with yourself. The same assets you brought to your job are those that can help you now.  Don’t forget that you have those strengths and you might just need to change your perception of reality to begin to utilize those strengths today.

Companies like ebay and Amazon.com have to adjust to the economy and the current market conditions to continue to realize healthy profits; and adjust is what they do.  So where are you adjusting what you do to continue to thrive in today’s business environment?

It’s not just about persistence it’s about changing tactics to bring in new business.

On the program Hell’s Kitchen, the restaurant undergoing a business makeover gave away food as a way to announce the reopening of the restaurant. Their marketing tactic was successful, and the next day the restaurant was full.

If you suspect that the economy has become your crutch, toss it aside and take responsibility to walk on your own two feet again.  Adjust strategy and tactics, get creative with marketing and sales, and find ways to revive assets that have been nearly dormant since the downturn started.

Someone’s always doing well…it might as well be you.

When thinking about disaster recovery, you want to develop a plan so that in the event that everything goes haywire, your organization can be back up and running as soon as possible…that is, if there are no more disasters.

The management team of a company executed a practice run of disaster recovery plan.  But the process ran into a couple of snags. First, the assistant to the man who was supposed to execute the practice run was informed on his way to the office that his brother-in-law died. Then the two back-up personnel, leaving from two different airports, each ran into 3-hour delays.

In essence, the key people running the disaster-recovery plan ran into disasters of their own.

Consider how during the last big disasters, 9-11 and New Orleans, transportation and telecommunications shut down. Those obstacles were tough enough to work around. Now add in the human element including that some team members will not wait around to save your company’s neck. They might want to be home taking care of family or heading for the hills.

This means that you want to automate the process as much as possible and not leave the success of the program in human hands; human interaction should be reduced, even eliminated  so that what needs to be done can be done with the greatest probability of success.

It’s not nice to think of disasters occuring on such grand scale, but during the execution of most true disaster plans, the ripple effect of a flaw in the design can prove to be more challenging to deal with than those designing the backups are capable of solving.

Last year after knee surgery my orthopedic surgeon suggested I try biking as a recovery exercise.  I reluctantly tried a short ride around my home and after a few weeks I found I was hooked.  I valued the time I had alone riding out doors on some back country roads.  The entire experience was something I looked forward to doing so much, that I was riding an off-road bike, on the road, on some very very hilly roads, over 20 miles per day.

At one point, my wife and business partner, Lorrie, suggested I pick up a “real road bike”.  After reviewing some bikes online, I ended up falling in love with one bike after another, until I ended up “making a commitment to” a hand-made bike created out of Spain called an Orbea Orca.  It has a carbon fiber frame that suits winners of the Tour de France.

My “Love” carried a hefty sticker price for a casual biker like myself.  I would need to find a handsome discount to justify the purchase.

As the season was winding to an end, I started to look online and I found retailers selling the bike on ebay, some used, some new.  Since I’m around 6’2″, I needed a bike around 57 cm, the limiting factor for me, and I searched for the bike I thought would give me a great ride.

I looked for weeks knowing that deals on previously-owned bikes would be pretty good, and thought I might even score a great deal on a new bike since a 2008 would still be a 2008 to a retailer in 2009.

Then I found the bike in the color and the shape I wanted from a racer that had fallen on a bike partially through the season and only used his new bike for about 2 months.  His asking price was less than half the price and with every single component I wanted.

Since that time, when I look for any item on ebay, my drop-down menu lists the Orbea Orca 57 cm, and I often just take a scan of the product that’s being sold.  Since I’ve purchased my bike, I’ve seen only two bikes that were starting at $3500, and all others that were being sold near list price.  I felt like I was lucky and smart to purchase when I did.

This same situation is happening for businesses in need of newer technologies.

If you’ve laid off employees this past year, you’re going to be hard pressed to rehire before you offer your current employees overtime or you look for ways to improve productivity through processes or technology.

This means you’ve got to start looking at firms that are either discounting their products or better yet, companies going out of business.  A sustainable furniture company that purchases furniture from businesses to resell just purchased the furniture once belonging to a lobbying company in Washington DC, and picked up 150 Herman Miller $1400 chairs for mostly likely pennies on the dollar.

One suggestion I have to firms is to start looking for bankruptcies or firms that need to unload some of their equipment or hardware. They may need to dump what you may need to acquire to increase productivity.  With cheap airfare and hotels rates, you can do this relatively inexpensively.

If you’re looking to wait, and it’s a balancing act, remember that at some point if the firm is still in business they’d feel that selling their items is not worth the price just as I believe as the economy eroded bikers said, “I’ll just keep my bike a few more years.” That decision ultimately halts supply.

Don’t wait too long or at least don’t stop looking, because if you could pick up $500,000 worth of tools for 10 cents on the dollar or $50,000. Then you’ll be prepared now and as business booms once again.

Don’t assume your company has super powers, too?

If you’ve ever done any weightlifting, you know that the typical progression flows like this…your endurance and strength improves as you continue to lift more and more weight week after week. Your first week’s 10-pound weights are replaced by your second week’s 15-pounders, and by week five, you’re pumping 25 pounds or more. If the progression continued, you’d eventually lift 700 pounds, but of course, that doesn’t happen. At some point, your ability to increase the pounds you lift maxes out.

If your goal is to get in shape and improve health, that’s no problem. But if you’re working out hoping to transport appliances or tow vehicles, you realize pretty darn quickly that you’re going to need some outside assistance, such as a lever, lift, crane or hydraulics, if you’re going to achieve substantial gains.

The same holds true in business and organizations.

Before you get all gung ho about  new initiatives, run a common sense assessment of your organization’s assets to see if everyone has what they need to reach those lofty goals.

Arm your staff with the tools employees need to be successful.

Groups often make the mistake of believing that just by working together (and especially if they have a successful track record of having worked together in the past), they can solve challenges, take advantage of opportunities, and achieve success. However, just as the well-intentioned and disciplined weight lifter eventually hits a ceiling, your team might need some fresh supplies to soar to new heights.

The areas I’m talking about are new knowledge. new technologies, fresh sets of eyes, new approaches to strategy and tactics, and reformulated group dynamics. Without them, you can still grow and possibly do quite well. But if you want to make significant jumps or differences, you have to consider some upgrades.

Upgrades are not just for computers. People need upgrades, too.

You’ll find some answers by asking yourself and then your staff questions along these lines:

1. What technological upgrades, such as software programs, do you think would make your job easier, would enable you to make fewer mistakes, would empower you to do your job more independently, and would assist you in providing superior customer service?
2. What common problems seem to continually appear that you think a new system, standard procedure, piece of equipment, etc. would prevent, solve, or eliminate altogether?
3. What relationships–with vendors, customers, complementary businesses/organizations–could be strengthened or developed to make our organization more competitive in the marketplace?

You can also uncover weaknesses that hinder growth and development by surveying the customers you service, the vendors you buy from, the partnerships you’ve developed, and the staff you employ from the top management team to the front line.

Your role is to maximize the potential of your organization’s assets.

When leading your team, be on the lookout for weaknesses and keep filling the gaps in order to maximize potential and enable your people to make significant gains.

Wow…I love technology that pushes us to think bigger. If this…then what’s next….!!!! Blood flow to the brain…who would have thought!

Here’s a great pictorial definition of Social Networking.

I post this because in it’s simplest form. This scenario works when everyone is somehow connected to someone. For example, a decision maker from a company called me asking that I present to 800 people.  After some discussion, the two of us found that we had a connection to each other. The speaker who she hired last year is someone that I was working on a book with. What a coincidence.

On the flip side I have a problem with some of these social networking sites. They require work. I remember, not too long ago when I just had to keep track of my Facebook site. Now I have linkedin, ecademy, and more….it tires me to even write them all.

Each networking site offers the next best way to do business. Each one tries to make me open up my database to show connectivity. I have over 11,000 names in the database, and I bet, just like you, I don’t want to intrude on my friends and colleagues.

Besides, how many social networking sites are worth their time. Facebook connects me with a specific group of people and some social sites I’ve developed, such as a ning site for my NYU students (200+ members at this point).

Given that social networking is only a few years old, what will happen when we’ve accepted to be a part of twenty such networks? How can one manage all this and a have a life, too?

I personally believe that the entire model must change and will change for two reasons. One, there’s going to be an overkill point where too many social networks end up diluting the effectiveness of the entire group to a point where the time is not worth the effort. Second, people will start to be resentful of the endless solicitations: asking for input, to purchase services, to be connected. (I’ve not been able to turn off my FastPitchNetworking.com solicitations even though I don’t want to remove my name from the site….eventually I may have to.)

In the end, I like social networking in that the process links like-minded people with like-minded people. If you like doing needlepoint with one hand tied behind your back and only on Thursdays, great. There are others like you. Just remember, there’s only so much, in today’s technology, where being social is digital. Don’t forget to unplug and socialize with your friends down the street in person. Or, hop on a plane to visit one of your friends. Social networking is just a part of the “social” side that humans need.

Watch the video….

In the post-internet boom, the world witnessed a transformation of working arrangements.  Foreign employees of firms such as IBM were laid off only to find themselves returning back to their home counties to live once again.  When business volume increased, employees who were still working knew that they had a friend who used to be in the business who now lived overseas.  Given the cost of living difference, the past employee said, I’ll do the work in my home country and charge you a different rate.  Due to the connective digital lines under the ocean, the work could be easily completed.

We’re now seeing a similar condition, only the employees who are either being asked to work from home or are being laid off live down the street.  Just picture a similar scenario happening all over again, however slightly differently.  Firms such as Nissan Motors are asking employees to work from home because their physical building is too costly to operate.  With advancements in video, audio and virtual private networks, the same individual no longer will have a tangible office to return to.  They are now part of the virtual workforce.

Those laid off will face a similar scenario to the post-internet boom. “Carol has been laid off and already knows our business.  No need to re-hire her.  Let’s see if she will do this job as a part-time, outsourced employee?”  With the rise in unemployment rates and the likelihood that many people will be out of work for a long stretch of time, employees like Carol might jump at the chance to earn income once again, even as a part-timer home-based employee, forever changing working relationships and conditions.

The outsourced and virtual company is no more than a decade away.  Add some holographic meeting space, and we’re going to see this type of dispersed work structure as more common, because of the recession…depression.

As the global recession spreads, so, too, will more decision makers  move employees from physical offices into virtual work-at-home offices.  The trend will mimic that of the post-internet boom in the early 2000′s.

My wife, Lorrie, just shared with me a story that I think is not only humorous but valuable.

When our sons shower, they leave the bathroom as if a hurricane’s ocean waves had hit the floor.  Today, Lorrie asked both boys, “What happens in here when you guys take a shower that causes the floor to get so wet?”

“Well…I have to walk across the floor to get my towel, ” one replied.
She then pointed to a towel hook right next to the curtain and said, “That’s what this hook is for: to hang your towel when you’re showering.”

The other brother asks, “Why didn’t anyone tell us?”

Just imagine Lorrie’s thoughts as she hears this statement.  There are TWO towel hooks near the shower, one on the left side and one on the right.  Both are so close to the shower that you ASSUME one can’t miss them.

Although the function of the hooks were seemingly obvious to us, since we came up with the ideas and installed the hooks, they were “invisible” to our sons.

And there’s no difference in business.  Just because you gave someone Microsoft Access, a CRM program or WORD, does it mean they know how to use the tool or even notice that the tool is available to them.  If you conjecture that software programs are by nature more complicated, then think of the little things you’ve done to make the world easier, and they, too, are not used– such as the salt near the door, the form for recording a process.  Just because you’ve built it does not mean they even know it exists.

So next time you see “water on the floor,” take the time to find out what’s happening before you pass judgment.