Business Quests in the Information Age

People wary of advertisers' "interest"

With the increased ability to track and monitor people we are coming dangerously close to the advertisers' nirvana, which is to know everything there is to know about your behavior as a buyer. Technology is not yet able to reach and interpret the deeper recesses of your mind, but that will come too... Perhaps a good reason for people to be increasingly concerned about the "interest" shown by advertisers for them...

clipped from slashdot.org Chris Blanc tips an Ars writeup on a survey of consumer attitudes toward targeted advertising. The results of the survey, conducted for TRUSTe, confirm that advertisers are in a tough spot. "[The survey company] randomly selected 1,015 nationally representative adults... Although only 40 percent of the group was familiar with the term 'behavioral targeting,' most users were well aware of the practice. 57 percent reported that they weren't comfortable their activities [were being] tracked for advertising purposes, even if the information couldn't be tied to their names or real-life identities. Simultaneously, 72 percent of those surveyed said that they find online advertising annoying when the ads are not relevant to their needs..."

Quote of the day

"A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem." - Albert Einstein

Amazing how this amazing mind went as far as defining something that characterizes many businesses in particular where information technology is involved.What good is it to have all the bells and whistles of modern user interfaces, all the collaborative dynamics of participative media and social networks, all the daring and bravado of a new business, if one doesn't have a clear picture of what game they are playing or if they keep changing the game to avoid making hard choices?

What's key in guiding customers?

"In giving advice, seek to help, not please, your friend."
Solon

Over the past couple of months I've been working on some pretty confidential stuff that made it very difficult for me to share on this blog. However, as I seek to guide my customers towards maximal achievement of their personal and business potential, there is definitely one thing that I am faced with on a near permanent basis: telling them what they need to hear and not what they would like to hear. As an external contributor to their business, I consider integrity as my key asset because it provides the bedrock of coherence, rigorous analysis and compassionate advice. So of course, one of the things I am careful not to let customers do is use me to justify their decisions regardless whether I agree or not with their decisions. Hence the quote above.

A special day

Expecting the birth of a child is quite an experience. Since this is the first time I find myself in such a situation I guess it adds a bit of spice to the whole thing... What analogies can be drawn from the way humans come to life in order to be applied to bold quests in business? I wonder. I don't think I'll explore that just now :-)
Anyway, while I am taking part in my most fascinating "project" ever and with a key milestone just hours away, allow me to offer a quote for today, which I hope will also be good food for your thoughts and mediation:

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

More in a few days...

Quote of the day

"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen."
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519)

Quote of the day

"It is our earth, not yours or mine or his.  We are meant to live on it, helping each other, not destroying each other.     " - J. Krishnamurti

Today's quote is by one of my favorite authors and I think it is relevant to superb business quests. From those I had the opportunity to watch closely, I conclude that the forces of creation and meaningful cooperation are far more intense than those of destruction and useless competition.

Shimon Peres offers vision to bloggers at Le Web 3

Shimon Peres paid us a visit today at Le Web 3. It was great to listen as the Nobel Prize winner developed his vision of the future of mankind, declaring that "the world is not a mess. It is pregnant: a new age is coming, marking the end of the stone age". The experience of having Mr Peres here was just great and I will simply give you a few of his most striking declarations here, some of which are pretty radical:

"... we are moving from traditional memory to intellectual imagination. The world is created through what people discover and imagine today, not through the memory of past events. Bloggers and the Internet community has freed the world from the obligation to remember. Everything that needs to be known is available, recorded online, so now we can turn the energy of our minds to the future, to imagination and creation."
"I think young people will stop reading newspapers and watching television. They will use the Internet to access information when and where they want."
"States, countries, borders and governments don't mean that much anymore. They made sense when wealth was derived from the land [...] Past history is written in red ink, in blood [...] Borders do not stop knowledge from flowing, armies cannot conquer knowledge and governments cannot control economies [...]Today to be successful a young person does not need to kill and conquer."
"Wealth is not defined by accumulation of capital, but by penetration. It's not what a company owns that makes its value, but rather the potential it holds to imagine, create and bring to life future business."
"The strength of a country cannot be counted in number of square miles it controls, but rather in number of patents it files."
"Modern economy cannot be run without transparency and decency, since a company's value is its potential to create wealth, the talents of its people."
"Economy cannot be measured by bookkeepers. It needs people with sharp eyes who can identify potential."
"I met China's politburo recently. I was stunned by their current philosophy, which is harmony: harmony between humans, harmony between man and nature, harmony nation to nation [...] It felt like the time I spent in a Kibboutz when I was young!"
"Democracy is the right to be different, the right to make mistakes and the obligation to correct them."
"I am an optimist. Optimists and pessimists die the same way, but they live very differently."
"Religions are opium for the people. You can sell opium, but you can't live on it. Even the Ayatollahs need more than enriched uranium to feed their children."

Extremely inspiring thoughts that actually brought some fresh air in a conference that contains more than a fair share of gadgets, egos, masks and sometimes complete bull-shit (although the content is often very good). When asked what bloggers could do to help solve the problems of the Middle-East, Shimon Peres paused and said "that's an interesting question... Well, you should go there take initiatives, start companies, build schools, open shops and create wealth... Do it on your own, not under the flag of any government. People will welcome you with open arms!"

Quite an invitation!

Quote of the day

"In an era of hyper-competition and nonstop innovation, the most powerful ideas in business are the ones that set forth an agenda for reform and renewal—the ones that turn a company into a cause." _ Polly Labarre, co-author of Mavericks at Work

On change and difference...

"The person who takes the banal and ordinary and illuminates it in a new way can terrify. We do not want our ideas changed. We feel threatened by such demands. "I already know the important things!" we say. Then Changer comes and throws our old ideas away."
Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) - The Zensufi master

Lesson 18 - Focus

Today I opened The brand you 50 at random. I landed on page 91, lesson 18 whose title is "Focus". So I read it and it does make perfect sense for me now (synchronicity?) as I am trying to answer a few strategic questions for my little business (like for example "should I develop services that are in high demand during recessions given that my current services sell better during growth periods?"). So here's my quote of the day:

"Brand You = Distinction = Implementation = D-e-m-o-n-i-c Focus. [...]
swear to me (swear to yourself is more like it) that 75 percent of your (precious) time will be focused - somehow or other - on that o-n-e measure / dimension of your true distinction.
Consider taking a course in meditation... a yoga class... a painting class...anything that builds your concentration...that empties your mind of clutter...that helps you attain the state of grace needed to really focus all your energies on your signature project(s).
CLUTTER KILLS WOW!" - Tom Peters

You know what? The man is godam right and I can tell you first hand that clutter really kills enthusiasm, passion, love, energy, drive, motivation, commitment and flow required for stellar performance. I'm going to do some serious work on just that. Now.