The God vs CEO analogy of Jim Collins

Analogy is an important tool when it comes to problem-solving issues, it is a fact. However, can some of our greatest thinkers fail to derive accurate conclusions from their own analogies?

I am reading Jim Collins' Good to Great book, an interesting research on what differentiates good companies from great ones. One of the key findings reverted the researchers to the leader. In Jim Collins' own words, he kept insisting " ignore the executives" until the data won over.

He reasoned: ' "Leadership is the answer to everything" perspective is the modern equivalent of "God is the answer to everything" '. To him, this perspective held back scientists from making great findings in the dark ages, he did not want to fall into the same trap. Thus, he kept holding back, until the facts were overwhelming.

That said, the research's most important finding was a certain common point in the leaders of the great companies (read more about this topic here: level 5 leaders). Consequently his initial stance against "Leadership is the answer to everything" was abandoned.

and since he wrote: "Leadership is the answer to everything" perspective is the modern equivalent of "God is the answer to everything" - I wonder whether this made of him a believer in the latter statement; as his initial approach of discrediting the CEOs correlates with the atheists who keep ignoring the option of God, despite the evidence, and keep looking elsewhere... Just a thought.

Retail Magic

I am ecstatic lately. For once, I am at the receiving end of the marketing effect. With a great concept and minimal advertising, I stand to witness the remuneration in terms of sales and customer visits. I now am convinced that marketing is deadly.
We just inaugurated a small shop for gifts for men, Captain & Captain. The new shop is based on a new concept, for the first time in the country, shopping by personality. We offer a solution for men gifts hunting, with great ideas rarely found in the same place.
That said, advertising was limited to an advertising page and 1 press release in one single magazine, a few leaflets distributed in the neighborhood, and a third of a billboard double sided, shared with neighboring stores. In addition a PR opening event with around 500 visitors. Finally, a facebook campaign with small ads, a facebook group and an application allowing its users to discover there personality type and inciting them to get a matching gift.
A small survey was set along with the invoicing of all customers coming into the store, allowing us to find out the magnitude of the effect of our endeavors.
We soon realized that advertising in itself had a visible effect, but what's more is that word of mouth was spreading like wilde fire; and it's all about efficient marketing.
The reason? the campaign as well as the shop opening were set in the beginning of December, right before Christmas, thus answering a latent customer need to find suitable gifts. Moreover, the maverick concept came with another rare finding in the market, a shop completely dedicated to men. It was not hard to figure out that our main customers will actually be females buying gifts to their male friends/ lovers/ family members as most shopping is actually done by women. However, what we did not expect was males offering themselves presents and indulging in our offerings.
Add to these factors, a detailed attention to the packaging and presentation, as well as, salespeople acting mainly as a guide to help support and explain the products benefits to the customers.
A promising entrepreneurship initiative.

Why I Loath Media

Allow me to break down a sentence that drove me crazy today "Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, have signed an agreement to co-operate in the peaceful use of nuclear technology."
Let me repeat " peaceful use of nuclear technology" - peaceful and nuclear - are those two words even capable to coexist?
what the hell happened to the critical thinking of the journalists?
It is such a shameful world we live in. There is too much brainwashing taking place. Readers need to be careful.

The Konami Code Frenzy

Never a game code has gained such a popularity. A hype is being created on the digital scene as developers are adding a secret code to some sites, the konami code.

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B and you're in for a surprise!

While this trick is spreading like wilde fire on facebook statuses, more famously recognized as the red circle trick, very few people are aware that it is not only restricted to facebook. While composing this code + enter creates interactive red circles coupled with lens flare effects, it has different results on different sites. While on netlog you get a meaningless fat dragon on your screen, on goolge reader, you get a slight change in the design of the left bar, and so on. the Konami Code site has a beautiful collection of websites where this magic code applies, and ironically, requires the code to be composed to view the list.

I think this movement ought to create a new rave in digital marketing soon, as it is attracting credible sites and an astounishing amount of visitors. Stay tuned!

Is Climate-Change a Fraud?

Lately, rumors have been going around about leaked documets from one of the world's most credited sources when it comes to global warming, the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (Eastern England).

Hacked emails, are currently posted online http://junkscience.com/FOIA/mail/ for everyone to witness the falsification of the data presented in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report. This report has been the source of many arguments for the pro-climate change initiatives, as it was perceived as one of the most trusted sources.

The current buzz around the climate change fraud concludes global warming to be another political scam, a hasty conclusion, yet worth examining.

With the emails available for the public, science has lost its credentials. Left to witness its effects come to life in the COP15- Copenhagen Climate Change Conference which will be held from December 7 until December 18. Looking forward.

How Audi Bank's Newsletter got it right

A fanatic of business news revolving on the Lebanese market in particular, I have my google news set to showcase articles with the key terms Lebanon and Beirut. As I spend a few minutes daily on this search, I have realized that the juicy articles are most often listed in the Audi Bank's newsletter!

This is a newsletter that's main focus lies in the economic and financial environment. Yet, they have a thorough understanding of their clientele. Their articles are tailor made to appeal to the Lebanese public.

Tapping unto the Lebanese pride of belonging, the messages are chosen and maybe sometimes rephrased to suit the Lebanese ego. Far from being dull information, for instance, instead of stating that Lebanon ranked 80th in the world based on a recent UN report, up three places from the previous year, the title proudly boasts "record improvements"...

Beyond their own understanding, I would assume, the Audi Bank's newsletter is a remarkably marketing oriented tool...