Inspiration to learn about yourself

In a recent poll, I asked the following question: How important is religion to you? Here are the results: - Very important: 14 % of the votes. - Important: 21% of the votes. - Neither important nor unimportant: 50% of the votes. - Unimportant: 0% of the votes. - Totally unimportant: 14% of the votes. Reflecting on the poll question and the responses, I came to think of the following question that I would like to ask you: In many cities, churches have central locations. In fact, many churches are located in the very heart of several cities. However, many churches are used relatively little by many people. Even on Sundays, many churches are rather empty. What do you think should be done about the often relatively empty churches? Do you have 1 or 2 suggestions? If you’re thinking about something which is a bit "out of the ordinary", then please do communicate your solution proposal anyway.

On Friday, January 25th, 2008, I participated in E-learning Campus Zurich , an inspiring event about e-learning. After reflecting on what I heard, saw, and talked to people about this day, I’d like to point out these 3 aspects of what I learned: # 1: Learners will get a more important, active, and independent role in their own education Interactive and collaborative tools / web 2.0 tools / social software like, for example, blogs, wikis, chat, and video conferences will become an even more integrated part of education. A couple of advantages using these tools in education are that they enable people to work/learn anytime and anywhere, i.e. to become more independent learners. These tools generate even more advantages: For example, learners can proactively bring onto blogs real life challenges/problems/experiences from the companies, they work for – for example just as the problems occur during work. Doing this, they encourage other blog participants to help them find solutions to their...

Thinking out of the box helps to advance change. However, as mentioned in the blog post about The Law of Jante , people who think differently risk being laughed at. To those of you who are able to think out of the box, I think that the moral of this 1½ minute video commercial represents a pad on your back and an encouragement to keep working hard. In the company, you work for, how are people, who think differently / out the box, treated / looked at? In other words: To what degree does the company culture welcome people, who think creatively? I came across the video via the blog of Martin Ebner .

In this 13-minute Harvard Business Review video , Mr. Thomas A. Stewart talks with Mr. Michael E. Porter about the five competitive forces that shape strategy. Watching and listening to the interview and reading the article, I came to think about a couple of questions that I’d like to ask you: Question # 1 When you think about the company you, you work for, how would you say that the industry/industries, the company operates in, is/are changing in these months/years? For example, who are and what characterizes the new customers, competitors, substitute products, and/or suppliers? Question # 2 How can strategic thinking become an even more natural part of how you and your colleagues work, i.e. become an even more natural part of the culture of the company you work for? In other words, how do you encourage people working for the company to continuously think/act strategically?

One of the things, I find fascinating about Switzerland, is that the people are regularly involved in decision making. According to the Federal Constitution, the Swiss people are sovereign and ultimately the supreme political authority. Source . You’ll find a list of referendums to be held in Switzerland here . In this regard, I read - in "Die Weltwoche", Number 2, 2008 - a very interesting article with the title "Die Seele der Schweiz". Here’s an extract from the article: "Im Gegensatz zu fast allen Ländern der Welt entstand die Schweiz in den Dörfern und Tälern und Städten: von unten nach oben . Kein Monarch arrondierte sein Gebiet, kein Zentralstaat trieb die Untertanen zusammen. In der Eidgenossenschaft schlossen sich zuerst die Orte zusammen, und sie brauchten mehr als fünfhundert Jahre, bis sie einem Bundesstaat ein paar übergreifende Kompetenzen abtraten." What do you think about involving the people of a country in decision making as much as it is ...

On page xiii of his well written book "The New Influencers" , Mr. Paul Gillin writes this: "The new [marketing] discipline is coming to be known as conversation marketing . It means creating a dialog with customers in which useful information is exchanged so that both parties benefit from the relationship. As trust builds, customers develop loyalty that makes them long-term partners, leading to a more lasting relationship. Conversation marketing requires a completely different set of skills than those which have dominated the marketing profession for the last two generations. It means throwing out the spreadsheets and the mailing lists. It means ditching terms like “reach”, “frequency”, “impressions” and “click-through rates”. It means understanding who your customers are, who influences them and how to engage with those influencers. It means exchanging information , not delivering a message." On page 205-206, Mr. Gillin writes: "Traditional marketing and trad...

In a recent poll, I asked this question: "Does the company you work for have a dress code?" 43% answered yes to the question. Reflecting on the use of uniforms when working, I came to think of the following companies: * Companies transporting people, for example bus companies, railway companies, and/or airlines. * Postal service companies. * Dentists. * Hospitals. * Hotels and restaurants. * Churches. * The army, navy, and air force. I’d like to hear your view on to what degree a uniform brings more value to the customer? What is your experience – for example as a customer?

"Everything has to change gradually, and it is natural that this also means changes and development in Maersk Line." This comment to borsen.dk by Mr. Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, the 94 year-old shipowner, explains very well that change has become more or less a constant in the world we live in. External changes happen all the time, and they happen faster today than earlier. Therefore, wee all need to gradually change/develop/improve/get better. I’d like to ask you which of these 2 kinds of change you prefer. It would be great if you also could tell about your experiences of change at the company / companies, you work or have worked for. Situation # 1: Continuous change Have you thought about how you get through, for example, an education with good results? If not, reflect a little on the famous quote of Mr. Thomas Edison: "Genius is 1 % inspiration and 99% perspiration". In this regard, consider also how you get in good physical shape: It’s about training, training, an...

The sharing of text, photos, audio sequences, and videos on the Internet has become a central part of the way that many people work today. Not least due to various interactive and collaborative technologies, that are constantly improving, we’re getting better at sharing information across different borders. In this interesting video, Lee LeFever of Common Craft explains about online photo sharing. How has photo sharing on the Internet helped you collaborate better with other people? Please feel free to share examples of good experiences you have had.

"Just as different nations have developed languages, foods and local customs, they also have adapted their own forms of corporate governance and board structures. Now, as business continues to globalize, new pressure from international capital pools and government regulators may diminish the local and national flavor of corporate boards, according to Wharton faculty and other experts in corporate governance." This and much more information about the future of Corporate Governance, you can read in this interesting Knowledge@Wharton article . I came to think of a couple of questions that would be great to hear your view on: Question # 1 What is characteristic for corporate governance in the culture, you are a part of? Question # 2 In what ways are board members - in the culture you are a part of - changing the way they do their jobs? For example, it would be great to hear your view of how board members will be using, for example, blogs and/or other interactive and collaborative...

In the last 2 blog posts, I’ve been writing about companies who do things in new ways – and are successful doing it. Doing things differently is, however, not just a walk in the park . As a matter of fact, it can certainly be uphill. One of the reasons why it’s a real challenge to do things differently is not least, I believe, because many people resist change. "You know what you have. You don’t know what you get." If you’re interested in knowing some more about why people resist change, have a look at this blog post . When doing things differently, the Law of Jante often comes onto the scene – at least in some cultures. The Law of Jante, or "Janteloven" as it is called in Danish, consists of the following 10 "rules": 1. You shall not think that you are special. 2. You shall not think that you are of the same standing as us. 3. You shall not think that you are wiser than us. 4. Don't fancy yourself as being better than us. 5. You shall not think that ...

In this blog post , Paul Sloane writes about how Ryanair changes the culture of how people fly from one destination to another destination. When you travel by air, what is important for you?

On page 78 of their book Blue Ocean Strategy , Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim write: " Cisco Systems created new market space by thinking across time trends. It started with a decisive and irreversible trend that had a clear trajectory: the growing demand for high-speed data exchange. Cisco looked at the world as it was and concluded that the world was hampered by slow data rates and incompatible computer networks. Demand was exploding as, among other factors, the number of Internet users doubled roughly every one hundred days. So Cisco could clearly see that the problem would inevitably worsen. Cisco’s routers, switches, and other networking devices were designed to create breakthrough value for customers, offering fast data exchanges in a seamless networking environment. Thus Cisco’s insight is as much about value innovation as it is about technology. Today more than 80 percent of all traffic on the Internet goes through Cisco’s products, and its gross margins in this new m...

In the book "Wertschöpfung braucht Werte" , Mr. Jörg Menno Harms contributed by writing a chapter with the title "Werte sind wie Leuchttürme – aber es kommt auf deren Umsetzung an!" I noticed not least the following paragraph of Mr. Harms' interesting contribution: "Es hat sich inzwischen herumgesprochen, dass die räumlich und zeitlich festgelegte Vollzeitarbeit einer flexiblen und projektbezogenen Arbeit weicht, einer Arbeitsform, die hohe Ansprüche an die Bereitschaft und Mobilität der Mitarbeiter stellt. Unser Arbeitsrecht aber wirkt weiterhin als kräftige Bremse. Es sichert die Arbeitsplatzbesitzer wie gewünscht, festigt aber deren Abhängigkeit und Unselbständigkeit, heute oft zum Nachteil der Betroffenen. Diejenigen, die diese 60er-Jahre-Gesetze verteidigen, fürchten wohl eine Arbeitsvision, wie sie ein Politikberater so beschreibt (vgl. Opaschowski 2000): Flexibilität und Risikoübernahme würden die Beschäftigten zu bindungslosen Jobhoppern entwickel...

Considering, for example, that global trade increases, and that people across the world use the Internet more and more, it seems like a natural thought to think that we are becoming more alike. Not least the Internet seems to integrate people across the world, for example because we can - more easily than before - get to various products, that people in other countries also can easily get to, and because we can - more easily than before - communicate/interact/collaborate with each other. How do you look upon it? Do you find that people become more alike across the world? For example, do you experience that people living, for example, in Europe increasingly identify themselves as European citizens or even global citizens? Or do you experience that people hold on to their national identities, want to keep on doing things the way they, their parents, and grand parents have been doing for years? In other words: Do people increasingly work/communicate/manage/solve problems/develop busine...

On page 203 of the book "Paradoxes of Culture and Globalization" I read this: One of the critical paradoxes in the area of globalization is that it is associated simultaneously with both rising prosperity and inequality. Nearly half of the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day and 16% get by on less than $1 per day. Despite these conditions, the nations actively involved in global economic activities have consistently increased their wealth per capita. The dramatic reduction of poverty in Asia from 76% in the 1970s to 15% in 1998 is significantly related to this continent’s participation in the global economy. This positive picture is counterbalanced by the rising inequalities that nations participating in globalization are uniformly experiencing. Perhaps the most dramatic manifestation of this phenomenon is the widened gap between the average total compensation (salary plus fringe benefits) enjoyed by CEOs and that of the average worker in a corporation. Various es...

Having moved into a new year, I’d like to ask you if you have thought about one or more things you will do differently in 2008? Let me just mention a couple of spontaneous thoughts: Will you change the way you communicate with customers and have meetings with other people - for example by using information and communication technology more/better? Will you develop products differently? Will you do something differently when you go to work in other markets than the one(s) you know well? Will you buy things you need in different ways than you did last year? Will you change the way you keep yourself physically and/or mentally fit? If you intend to work/do things differently in 2008, it would be great if you tell about what you want to change - and why?