More Swiss people advocate a Switzerland without military

Reading this Credit Suisse e-magazine article, I noticed that, according to a study, 27 percent of Swiss citizens currently tend to advocate a Switzerland without military - compared to an average of 24.4 percent over the last five years. Having a closer look at the results of the study, I also noticed that when asked about what the 2 biggest weaknesses of Switzerland are, the Swiss first of all mentioned "too many laws and bans".

Regarding the need for security, that many Swiss people - according to the study - have, I came across this sign while walking down from Üetliberg in Zürich some time ago. I can confirm the message on the sign: Living here in Switzerland, I have come to know the Swiss as polite people.

100 ways to be more creative on the job

Reading this good list of 100 ways to be more creative on the job mentioned in this interesting blog posting by Mitch Ditkoff, I found, for example, these 7 ideas valuable:

# 10. Exercise during your lunch break.
# 12. Invite your customers and vendors to brainstorming sessions.
# 15. Reward yourself, in specific ways, for small successes.
# 39. Trust your instincts more.
# 44. Get fast feedback from people you trust.
# 45. Ask yourself what the market wants or needs.
# 87. Invite an outside facilitator to lead a brainstorming session.

What have you tried out to me more creative on the job?

A bus shelter where the bench is a scale

Check out this innovative advertisement for the gym chain Fitness First. The bench in the bus shelter is a scale. Click on the photo to make it larger.

Solar powered plane to fly around the world

Via this Global Strategy Institute blog posting, I came across this article and this article, through which I learned about a plane that is created to fly around the world powered entirely by solar energy. The wings of the plane will be covered with 250 square meters of solar-cells. Average flying speed is 70 km/h. Take off is in 2012. The budget for the project is EURO 70 million. Investors include Deutsche Bank, Omega, and Solvay. Mr. Bertrand Piccard and Mr. Andre Borschberg unveiled the plane at Dübendorf Airfield in Zürich, Switzerland today. Get more information at www.solarimpulse.com.

A great service is where the consumer participates

Walking through the beautiful Stadtgärtnerei in Zürich, I find it a pleasure to see how creative the people, who work for the Stadtgärtnerei, are in designing gardens.


Thinking about how a Stadtgärtnerei can move to the next level of value creation, I was inspired by this 4-minute video with Tim Brown from IDEO. Mr. Brown mentions, for example, that "a great service is where the consumer participates, where they get drawn in, where they become part of it." Have you thought about to which degree the customer participates in the services, you offer?

An example of order in Switzerland

One of the things I like about Switzerland is order. For example, streets are continuously being kept clean – by citizens themselves and by street cleaning professionals. Another example of order is the way people organize paper that is being picked up in front of houses approximately every 2 weeks. I have noticed that - more or less everywhere - people put paper, they want to throw out, neatly on top of and next to each other (photo below).

What’s it like in the country you live in?

Advertisement on the bike

Here’s an advertising idea that I tried out this week on my bike:

Twitter Search

Watching this valuable 3½ minute Common Craft video, I learned, for example, the following things about how Twitter Search helps companies and individuals

- Twitter Search helps you listen to customers and make what they want.

- Twitter Search helps you find news that happen right now, sometimes from the people who experience it.

- Twitter Search helps you find more information about a particular topic - including trending topics. For example, if you want to know more about what is being written on innovation, write #innovation on http://search.twitter.com/

Ecologically friendly food and beverages in Albisrieden, Zürich

I’ve noticed that ecologically friendly food and beverages are gaining popularity. Migros in Switzerland sells a number of sustainable labels that you can read about by clicking here. And at COOP, the turnover of, for example, Naturaplan products has grown considerably since 1993 when it was first introduced. You can virtually experience Naturaplan by clicking here.


Another shop which sells ecologically friendly products is claro fair trade. For example, I bought some really good biological Max Havelaar chocolate in a claro fair trade shop in Albisrieden, Zürich. As you can see on this photo from the shop, claro fair trade also has many other fine products.

Yesterday, a new shop selling biological food and beverages from local farmers opened here in Albisrieden, Zürich. The shop is called Bachser Märt. I received a nice invitation to the shop opening. And I was not the only local citizen to show up on this opening day. A large number of other people had decided to also stop by to have something to eat and/or drink and/or buy groceries. There was a good atmosphere there. I tried some really great, sweet apple juice and also tasted the roasted pig that the people working for Bachser Märt had prepared (see photos below) on a big grill. What made the experience really good was also the music that the group La Tsiganotschka played during the opening event.

How do you manage conflicts?

What do you do when you are faced with a conflict?

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of participating at a Kalaidos University Forum seminar about conflict management. In the seminar description, I read that Mr. Hans Peter Baud, who managed the seminar, took courses with Mr. Marshall Rosenberg. Searching for information about Mr. Rosenberg, I came across this interesting 10 minute video through which I learned, for example, these things:
1. Ask a person what he/she feels.
2. Ask a person what he/she needs.

What I found interesting participating at the seminar was not least the involvement of participants. For example, Mr. Baud asked participants during the seminar, what they need from other people. As you will notice on the photo below, some of the words that were mentioned by the people, who participated, were “trust”, “understanding”, “humor”, “appreciation”, “openness”, “time”, “warmth”, and “harmony”.


By bringing music into the seminar, Mr. Baud gave the event another dynamic twist. When you look at the photo below, notice also the note on the wall in the back: “Man hört nur mit dem Herzen gut”.


Searching for more information about conflict management, I came across this 6½ minute video with Susan Leahy. Watching the video I learned, for example, that it is a good idea to stay with a person through a conflict, i.e. not leave before the conflict is resolved. During my research, I also came across an audio recording on a related topic - a 7 minute podcast from December 2008 during which Timothy Coombs shares his thoughts on how social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs impact crisis management. I learned, for example, that there are 3 basic concepts for addressing a crisis online:
1. Be visible. Discuss the crisis.
2. Communicate where the action is.
3. Engage people. Ask people what the problem is and how you can help find a solution to the problem.

I have been working on a conflict management presentation which I uploaded to slideshare. You can have a look at the presentation by clicking here.

How do you manage conflicts?

Private equity

Writing "define:private equity" on Google, one of the first definitions on the list led me to the website of the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF). I found out that “private equity” includes organisations devoted to, for example, venture capital. On the same website, venture capital is described as "professionally managed, dedicated pools of capital that focus on equity or equity-linked investment in privately held, high-growth company." As I attended a Kalaidos University Forum seminar in Zürich, Switzerland yesterday, I learned more about private equity. Mr. Yessin Schiegg, an employee at Horizon21, gave an interesting introduction to the private equity business. During the seminar, I learned, for example, these 3 things:

1. The functions of an investment professional can be split into 2 activities: Looking for new investments and monitoring existing investments.


2. I also learned about the so-called "J-curve". Mr. Schiegg explained that the management fee and early write-downs are responsible for early negative returns of private equity partnerships.


3. What I found really interesting during the presentation was the story that Yessin Schiegg told about Google. As you will notice on the photo below, Google secured, in 1999, a round of funding that included $25 million from the two leading venture capital firms, Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. You can read more about the equity funding in this Google press release of June 7, 1999.


Studying the website of Sequoia Capital, I found it valuable that you can read about the different companies that Sequio Capital invests in. I learned, for example, that Sequio capital invests in seed stage companies ($100K - $1M), early stage companies ($1M - $10M), as well as growth stage companies ($10M - $50M).

Having a look at the website of Horizon21, for which Yessin Schiegg works and whose strategic partner is Swiss Re, I read, for example, that emerging countries like China and India are the growth engines of the global economy. This is marked, I read, by an increasing demand in commodities, energy as well as natural resources.

Searching for more information about private equity in India, I found out - by reading this report published on Scribd - that private equity investments in India increased considerably since around 2005. In another document, I read that in 2008, there were 160 venture capital firms in India – a number which has grown quite strongly during this decade. In the report, I also read that knowledge becomes the key success factor, for example knowledge about industries to invest in, about possible investees, and about investors.

Speaking of India, I read in this November 2008 McKinsey Quarterly article titled "Nurturing entrepreneurship in India villages", that much remains to be done to connect urban markets with rural ones in order to speed their development. For example, I was quite astonished to read that 89 percent of all rural households in India do not own a telephone, and 52 percent have no domestic power connection. The average village is two kilometers away from an all-weather road, and 20 percent of rural habitations must walk for miles to obtain safe drinking water, have access to it for only a few hours a day for much of the year, or have no access at all.

For a list of venture capital firms, have a look at, for example, Google Directory.

Think different

Through a Twitter update by Chuck Frey, I came across this 1 minute video embedded in a blog posting by Mitch Ditkoff. How do you communicate with people who think differently?

How do you schedule meetings?

Doodle recently published a study on scheduling. 2,500 managers and administrative professionals in the US, the UK, Germany, France, and the Nordic countries were surveyed. The study showed that professionals spend almost 5 hours each week to arrange meetings and predominantly use traditional means such as, for example, e-mail and phone to find the best time to meet. By using scheduling services such as Doodle, which is easy to use, they can significantly cut down on wasted time and find their meeting times in a much more efficient manner. Learn more about the survey by taking a look at the image below and by reading this Doodle blog posting.


What I find valuable about Doodle is, for example, the integration with Google Calendar. Two students at the ETH Zürich developed an application that integrates Doodle’s scheduling system with Google Calendar. The mashup between Doodle and Google Calendar is called Doodlendar. Doodle also has an application on Facebook. You can try it out by clicking here. You can also learn more about the Doodle Facebook application by having a look at this presentation published on Scribd.

Here are a few facts about Doodle:
- Doodle is free to use and requires neither registration nor software installation.
- More than 3 millions users per month.
- Since 2008 incorporated with offices in Zürich, Switzerland.

Here's the Doodle Team:


Photo source

During a Kalaidos University Forum seminar in Zürich, Switzerland this evening, I listened to a very interesting presentation by Mr. Michael Näf, Co-Founder of Doodle. Besides being impressed about the large number of users that Doodle has globally, I was also impressed to learn about the relatively strong growth in the number of users. Doing some research on Doodle, I learned that the growth in the number of Doodle users is around 10% - per month. Source: "Doodle hat über drei Millionen Benutzer". Associated Press Worldstream – German, April 2nd, 2009.

The photo below is from Mr. Näf’s presentation this evening in Zürich:

Green initiatives in Zürich

Searching for green initiatives in Zürich, I found a couple of interesting ones. The first initiative I’d like to mention is the use of solar panels on rooftops. This photo is from Albisrieden in Zürich, where I saw a few buildings with solar panels on the roofs.


As I was driving and walking around in Zürich looking for buildings with solar panels on the roofs, I was somewhat surprised not to see any school buildings with solar panels on the roofs. If you happen to know of schools here in Zürich that have put up solar panels on the roofs, please do let me know.

The second great initiative, that I’d like to emphasize is the huge flowerpots that are placed all around the city of Zürich. The 2 photos below will give you an impression of this extraordinary initiative. Reading this article, I learned that it will be possible to enjoy the 300 large flowerpots, that are making the city more beautiful this Summer, until September 20th 2009.

Giles Andrews on building Zopa

Watching this 18 minute speech by Giles Andrews, I learned that Zopa, which developed a way for people to lend and borrow money directly with each other online, stands for Zone Of Possible Agreement. I also learned that the people behind Zopa put a lot of effort into designing the way they communicate with people. Giles Andrews describes the language used as a conversational, friendly, transparent, non-jargon way of speaking.

I came across the video through this P2P-Banking.com blog posting.

Giles Andrews from Zopa from The IPA on Vimeo.

Are you challenging assumptions?

Through a Twitter update by Paul Sloane, I came across this article through which I learned about examples of companies challenging assumptions:

The Body Shop
Challenged the assumption that cosmetics had to be in expensive bottles.

IKEA
Challenged assumptions by allowing customers to collect their furniture from the warehouse.

Apple
Challenged the assumption that a personal computer was functional and not aesthetic.

easyJet
Challenged the assumption that it was necessary to issue tickets, allocate seats and sell through travel agents.

Regarding the last example, here are some more examples of companies challenging the way to get from A to B.

How do companies you work for challenge assumptions?

Innovation is pretty much immune to crisis

Reading this Credit Suisse e-magazine article and watching the interesting 14 minute video recorded expert debate about effects of the credit crisis, I noticed, for example, that Heinrich Rohrer, Nobel Laureate for Physics 1986 and expert on nanotechnology, reminded the participants that innovation is pretty much immune to crisis and that technology can develop even in the deepest recessions. Lars Kalbreier recalled that "in the 1930s, household refrigerators had double digit growth and that was in a depression environment, [and] in the 1970s, fax machines had double digit growth during a period of recession."

I also noted that Dr. Ernesto Zedillo, Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and former President of Mexico, warned against the rising number of trade restricting measures that have been taken over the past couple of months and the potentially devastating effect of increased protectionism, if key political leaders do not take a strong stance against these measures. If protectionism is not seriously countered, Zedillo cautioned, "then global demand will be negatively affected and at the end of the day, everybody will end up losing and the path to recovery will be moved further away."

A healthy drink

As I was at Le Pain Quotidien at Römerhofplatz in Zürich the other day, I had a Bionade Ginger Orange. That’s the one on the right on this photo:


The combination of enjoying a refreshing drink produced by a purely organic process in a nice, convivial setting was a great experience. Try it out. On the website of Le Pain Quotidien, I read this:

"The philosophy of Le Pain Quotidien is to provide good value, high quality organic produce in a convivial rustic setting. We believe in a return to simplicity, sustainability and community, and try and push these values through everything we do."