6 elementos para construir equipos

Help Your Teams Thrive With These 6 Tricks 

BY THE BUILD NETWORK STAFF

The first step for turnaround leaders? Articulate clearly defined values that provide a foundation for all important team work.



As most executives know, managing a team is never easy.

Members may not be in synch with the team's objectives; communication may be poor; there may be too much, or even too little, conflict; the composition of the team may be ill-suited to the task at hand; or the team may be missing people who could make a critical contribution.

For those reasons and others, teams often fail to maximize their potential. And even when a team functions well in one environment, it may flounder as circumstances change.

"The most common challenge in high-growth companies is that what works today doesn't work tomorrow," says Jackie Barry, COO of mobile apps technology company Scrollmotion. "Organizational structures need to change as the company grows."

The team leader, therefore, has to think about several key elements of team performance, and address any that may be impeding performance:

• How was the team formed, and does it currently have the right people?

• What should you do about specific team members who aren't performing?

• When it comes to the continual care and feeding of the team, are you doing all you should?

Here are six ways the CEOs and CFOs can help their teams flourish.

Evaluate Every Legacy

Let's start with who's on the team, and why. Often, and particularly at fast-growing companies, teams have a legacy component that can be difficult for a new leader to manage.

Consider a mid-market company that has grown large enough to require its first CFO. An experienced finance professional is hired. She inherits a small staff of accountants, clerks, and maybe a controller, many of whom trace their tenure back to the company's founding. The new CFO is reluctant to make immediate changes, preferring to assess who is capable of playing at a higher level.

But as time goes on, she finds that the expertise and experience she brought to the job leaves her doing the lion's share of the work, while other team members contribute less as their skills become outmoded. Why does this happen? Because building a team takes time and patience, two qualities often in short supply at fast-growth companies. It also takes courage: courage to give employees honest feedback about where they need to improve, and courage to take action if such improvement is not forthcoming. And it takes a willingness to acknowledge that if the team is not functioning as well as it might, the problem may lie not with the skills or proclivities of the members, but with the leader's ability to motivate and direct the team as effectively as possible.

Develop The Talent You Have

Building a first-rate team is not just a pragmatic exercise that results in more work getting done; it's also a leadership development exercise for you, the executive. Leading a team to a higher performance level is a managerial skill that, once developed, can take you almost anywhere.

To start, experts say, forget about the Big Bang approach: You aren't going to fire and hire your way to overnight success. Team-building is a continuous process that happens at both the macro and micro levels of the company, day in and day out. At the macro level, the leader's task is to create a certain culture within the team. Help specific departments like finance, IT, or HR see their unique contributions to the broader company, and set expectations about the kinds of behavior and performance that will maximize that contribution.

"Most employees want to do a good job, and they want to be part of a high-performing team because it's a lot of fun," says Kathy Ryan, CEO, CFO, and co-founder of accounting consulting firm RoseRyan. "One thing an executive can do to foster that desire is to create a vision for their team that helps the members align with the business."

Show, Don't Tell

Several years ago, RoseRyan went through the process of setting a vision and articulating the firm's values. The result was a four-word mantra: trustworthy, advocate, excel, team.

They then defined what behaviors went with those values, and what metrics they would track to see how well they were doing. For example, to be "trustworthy," an employee had to communicate openly and honestly, have courage to speak up in difficult situations, and be reliable in meeting deadlines and other commitments.

Some of the KPIs for these behaviors included submitting timely status reports and being open to feedback. But Ryan adds that defining these ideas wasn't enough. To truly embed them, each firm leader was required to offer up a specific example of how an employee had embodied one of those values once a week at a regular meeting.

"In the beginning, that was really hard, and it felt clunky," says Ryan. "Now, those examples are the best part of meeting, and the exercise is a part of us."

There are many values a firm or a team leader might prioritize at different phases in a group's development, and multiple ways to reinforce them. The important thing is to articulate clearly defined values that provide a foundation for everything that takes place. Just imagine how much easier hiring (and, for that matter, firing) could be if you had a handful of specific qualities to use as guiding lights. On the micro level, building a team means working with individuals to see how far they can go. To be sure, it starts with good hiring practices, but the bigger challenge is what you do with the employees you already have.

Get To Know Your Team Members

Without a doubt, the toughest task is determining what to do with talented people who don't possess the experience or specific skills the company needs as it grows. While their strengths are valuable, their knowledge gaps, mistakes, or misjudgments are costing you time, and in many cases, reputation.

What can you do? Start by delving into the team's inner workings. Barry of Scrollmotion says she spent the first two weeks in her new position doing nothing but talking to people, and the third week "getting eyeball deep" into specific issues, like pricing, that seemed most pressing.

"To them, I'm asking a lot of stupid questions, but it's in the spirit of 'Can you help me?,' not 'I'm in charge,'" she says. "Not many people will say no to that, and it's a great way to gain followers." It's also an excellent way to determine your team members' strengths and weaknesses.

Make Growth Priority Number One

Once you understand employees' current abilities and contributions, it's time to look to the future.

"The question you then have to ask yourself is whether you feel like they have the capability to take on more, or if they're truly tapped out," says Brian Roberts, CFO of insulin pump maker Insulet.

He encountered both situations recently, as the needs of fast-growing Insulet outpaced the skills of some early employees. In one case, it meant terminating a longtime employee, but treating the worker as fairly as possible, with warnings and ultimately a fair exit package. In another case, it meant bringing in a seasoned IT professional to help mentor the existing IT expert, who simply lacked the bigger-company experience that Insulet found itself needing.

That mentor ultimately became the IT manager, a situation the employee was very willing to accept. Over time, both have been able to expand their roles as the company has continued to grow.

Demonstrate Your Confidence In Their Skills

For high performers, it's finding appropriate challenges for them while still getting the necessary work done. "I've learned that if you ask people to stretch beyond their own expectations, 99 percent of the time they will achieve the goal, even if they don't believe they can; and when they do, it builds a greater confidence in what they can do," says Gary Vilchick, CFO of application security software developer Veracode.

Can you assign high performers to a cross-functional project that will expose them to other areas of the company? Can they shadow you, perhaps when you're talking to investors, to learn a unique aspect of your role? Can you get them some board exposure to hone their presentation skills? Consider it grooming your replacement, even if you're not planning on going anywhere quickly.

Executives often don't appreciate the degree to which team-building is a core part of the job. In their roles as bosses they may tend to focus on each direct report on a case-by-case basis.

But by pulling back and assessing how the team is performing as a single entity, and thinking hard about how they can take it to a higher level, executives will reap many rewards: improved morale, better productivity, a bigger impact on the company's mission, less stress--and the satisfaction that comes from knowing that they are truly leading the team, not just managing it.

Inc.com

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¿Cómo serán las ventas de acá a 5 años?

A Glimpse Into the Future: What Sales Will Look Like 5 Years From Now 

BY TOM SEARCY

What will the future bring for sales professionals? Sales expert Tom Searcy looks into his crystal ball to share his predictions for what trends will dominate the market in 2018.

One of the responsibilities of leaders is to help their teams not only plan for the future, but anticipate it. I spend a great deal of my time helping business leaders see that future in the larger market context beyond just their own industry. Here's a small glimpse into what I believe the next five years will look like in the world of selling:

1.    There will be fewer traditional sales people

The market forces of digitization, mobilization, and purchasing governance are going to dramatically change the ways in which buying and selling occur. This will transform the role of the traditional sales person and diminish the need for that position. That does not mean that there will be fewer jobs per se in the world of revenue generation, but those jobs will be different than that from what we now call "sales." Here's why:

-       Less prospecting--Traditional direct prospecting methods will have lower yields to the point that sales people performing direct prospecting will become cost prohibitive.

-       Fewer client meetings--Prospects and clients will have less time and interest in considering new vendors and going through the traditional face-to-face presentation cycle for considering providers.

-       More structured purchases--The procurement process, purchasing department, and online auctions will continue and expand in use to include smaller size contracts.

-       Disintermediation--Buyers will seek additional ways to go direct to providers and manufacturers, diminishing the need for and use of manufacturer reps, dealers, and distributors.

-       Leveling the playing field--Buyers will turn more items that have been considered value add into minimum requirements thereby decreasing the need for involved explanations and comparative analysis.

The net of these trends will be fewer sales people on the road calling on clients directly.

2. The focus of buyers will finally shift from price to integrated outcomes

This may sound like good news at first, but, the reasons that this will occur need consideration.

-       Competitive pricing exercises will have squeezed out what is available in margin discounting. This means that other than spot quoting, more products and services will be treated as commodities and will thus be included in structured purchase processes.

-       Commodities that have standardized COGS will be "traded" not bought and sold. This means that the activity of quoting will replace the more traditional roles of sales people who provide needs assessment, solution matching, and price justification.

 3. The roles in the revenue generation chain will become more specialized.

These roles will include, but not be limited to:

1. Traders--Although not titled as such, this will be the role of many of the people with sales titles. Their real role will be to facilitate quoting of commodities and near commodities in the roles titled "Account Management," "Inside Sales" or "Customer Service."
2. Designers--Solution architects will continue to be in high-demand for opportunities in which the prospect has been qualified for a diagnostic session. Customization and tailoring of pre-packaged and modular solutions will be the choice for companies who want to limit the risk and cost of completely built-from-scratch approaches.
3. Project Management--This function of collaborative coordination between customers and providers including all of the supply chain management, enterprise resource planning, and logistics will grow in importance for the larger contracts in the market.
4. Lead generation--This area will continue to evolve as the technologies adapt to the filters and barriers organizations put between buyers and your revenue generators. Social media, outsourced meeting makers, earned media, and other mechanisms are entering and developing in the market for the single purpose of getting higher up the food chain in the buying organization as a way to bypass the structured purchase.

 4.   Compensation for sales people will change significantly

As the partitioning of the sales process and subsequent specialization of roles occurs, the commission-based compensation for selling will also change. This will mean a move to less commission-only and high-commission compensation models and more of a salary and bonus model with compensation more broadly shared by all of the participants.

5.   What will not change

1. Urgency or perceived urgency will trump process. When clients have real problems in a hurry, they will eschew all formality to solve a problem now. Companies that are positioned effectively for rapid response in the marketplace will be able to capitalize on opportunities.
2. Evaluation of prospects will continue to drive fast-growth company decisions.  Smart companies do what they do best, and avoid doing things that will stretch them beyond their capabilities. An effective Target Filter will be crucial to continue to sort through the dearth of leads and glean only the high-value opportunities.
3. Guarantees and proven speed to results will still earn a higher price than similar commitments over longer time periods. Companies in the market continue to move closer to Just-in-Time mentalities around need satisfaction, and JIT has moved closer to "NOW" than ever before.
4. Communication skills at all levels will be valued as companies align their business development organization with the prospect's purchasing organization.  Effective and efficient written and verbal communication is a greater requirement when other differentiators have been commoditized.
5. Trust will still be more important than bona fides. At the end of the day, buyers have to trust the company that they are going to work with because it is the buying group's collective careers that are on the line if they get it wrong.

In the world of sales, much of the above is heresy. However, when I look at the companies who are growing in the top 10 percent of their industries, many of the changes described have been embraced and implemented. This picture of the future is incomplete, of course. It is also not absolute. There will continue to be direct prospecting efforts, just less. There will continue to be traditional sales people and approaches, just fewer.

Inc.com

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Los Nap Pods mejoran la productividad de los empleados de Google

Google utiliza vainas de siesta de alta tecnología para mantener a los empleados energizados

Los empleados de Google, sin duda obtienen una gran cantidad de ventajas interesantes. Además de ser capaces de comer alimentos gourmet de forma gratuita en su sede Googleplex, que se encuentra en Mountain View, California. Al parecer, algunos de los empleados disponen de largas horas de trabajo y se les permite dormir la siesta usando algunas pods frescas bonitas de alta tecnología para dormir para recargarse.


Estas estaciones especiales de sueño son llamados EnergyPods y fueron creados por una compañía llamada MetroNaps. El EnergyPod se dice que utilizar la ciencia de la NASA para ayudar a la gente obtiene su energía de vuelta cuando necesitan tomar un poco shuteye rápida. Para ello, en torno al ocupante en un espacio privado, cerrar el paso a cualquier estímulo externo, y ellos se recuesta en la posición de descanso óptima para proporcionar el máximo flujo sanguíneo a través de su cuerpo.



Además de esto, el EnergyPod incluye un sistema de música Bose incorporado para aquellos que les gusta la música relajante para quedarse dormido con el, y el sistema de temporizador despierta suavemente el ocupante utilizando la luz y la vibración cuando es hora de levantarse. Así que en otras palabras, no su sillón reclinable sala ordinaria cuando quiere entrar en una siesta.
Hace que me gustaría tener algunos de estos EnergyPods alrededor de mi casa , y mucho menos en la oficina.



Geek

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Qué hacer en vez de un plan de negocios

Los planes de negocios son una pérdida de tiempo. Aquí está lo que tienes que hacer en cambio
por Minda Zetlin


Lanza tu plan de negocios en la papelera de reciclaje. En su lugar, se centran en su equipo y en llegar al mercado lo más rápido que puedas.

Si usted está tomando tiempo para perfeccionar cuidadosamente un plan de negocios para ayudar a asegurar el modelo de su empresa es sólida y que va a ser un detenedor de éxitos. Esa es la palabra de William Hsu, co-fundador y socio gerente de acelerador de start-up MuckerLab.

Hsu, quien ha sido tanto un empresario exitoso y un ejecutivo de AT & T y eBay, dice que la creación de una empresa es " una carrera para la gente realmente irracionales. Con toda probabilidad, cualquiera que sea la idea es un error. Construcción de un campo de distorsión de la realidad es cómo los empresarios convencen ellos y sus empleados de que esta es una buena idea ".

Con esto en mente, se aconseja:

1. Piense en las personas, no las ideas.

Un gran equipo triunfa sobre una gran idea cada vez, dice Hsu. "Ninguno de nosotros es perfecto, y los empresarios suelen ser grandes en un par de cosas, como tener visión y estar dispuesto a tomar riesgos. " Los empresarios - los empresarios, especialmente de alta tecnología - vienen en una de dos sabores : O son como Steve Jobs, los visionarios que entienden el mercado, pero no son técnicamente competentes, o son como Steve Wozniak, genios técnicos que no entienden la forma de mercado para los clientes.

En cualquier caso, teniendo grandes miembros del equipo puede llenar en cualquier área donde el empresario carece de fuerza, dice. "Buscamos tres cosas en una start-up potencial:. "Mercado, el equipo, y el concepto de equipo es, con mucho, el elemento más importante, y el segundo es el mercado de la idea en sí misma es el menos importante."

2. Piense en la velocidad, no la perfección.

"Cualquiera que sea la hipótesis que tiene sobre el mercado, es probable que sea equivocada, por definición," él dice. "Uno de cada 30 de riesgo de nueva creación tiene éxito -. Y eso es después de ser financiado Lo que esto significa es que los empresarios necesitan para llevar un producto al mercado lo más rápido que pueden, en cualquier forma, incluso si es el 10% de la visión original. tienen que probarlo para ver si se trata de un ajuste de mercado, si resuena con los clientes, y es algo que eventualmente terminarían pagando".

Entonces, dice, pivote y reconfigurar sobre la base de que la respuesta del mercado.. "Hay que repetir lo más rápido que puedo, no me importa si un bateador tiene un promedio de.100 - una tasa de éxito del 10% -. Si el bateador consigue 10 o 20 turnos al bate, más posibilidades tienes, mejor. Así que el equipo que puede ejecutar el más rápido y construir la mayoría de las relaciones con los clientes, escuchando a ellos va a ganar ".

Debido a esta necesidad de implementarlos rápidamente, Hsu aconseja la construcción de un equipo interno que tendrá todo el diseño, técnica y capacidades de los productos que usted necesita. "Usted no quiere que el empresario externalización de este tipo de funciones, ya que significa que habrá un costo en dólares a cada nueva iteración que drenará capital. Cada pivote debe llegar más cerca del éxito, en lugar de acercarse al fracaso."

3. Piense en visión, no en planes.

"Una gran cantidad de empresarios tienen una cubierta perfecta de diapositivas, un plan de negocio perfecto, y un modelo financiero perfecto. Pero eso es todo lo que tienen", dice Hsu. "Ellos piensan iniciar un negocio es tener un plan de negocios. Pero ser un empresario se trata de crear el futuro un paso a la vez."

¿Eso quiere decir que nunca se debe mirar hacia el futuro? No del todo, dice. "Cuando usted tiene dos o más co -fundadores, es importante para todos ellos para poner en un pedazo de papel o una pizarra, las cosas canónicos todos ellos están de acuerdo. Ellos deben ponerse de acuerdo cuál es la visión y lo que el camino hacia la éxito será. Pero no perder tiempo tratando de poner esto en un documento de 40 páginas. preferiría que tomar ese tiempo y hablar con 10 clientes más en su lugar."

Inc.com

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Privacidad que aumenta la productividad

Cómo los cubículos están matando la productividad de empleados 

POR ADAM VACCARO

Poner los empleados a la vista de los gestores puede ser contraproducente. Sepa por qué la transparencia puede ser el enemigo de la productividad.

La literatura de gestión moderna está llena de elogios para las políticas que hacen hincapié en la transparencia empresarial.

En muchos casos, esto es por una buena razón. Se cree que las prácticas financieras y de liderazgo transparentes para ayudar a una mejor alineación y comprometer a los empleados, y plantas diáfanas son elogiados por estimular la colaboración.

Pero hay un lado negativo de todo esto la transparencia: Puede ir en detrimento de la productividad de los empleados. Eso es lo que el profesor de la Harvard Business School Ethan S. Bernstein encontró y se detalla en su artículo, "The Transparency Paradox: A Role for Privacy in Organizational Learning and Operational Control." ["La Paradoja de la Transparencia: un papel para la privacidad en el aprendizaje organizacional y control de operaciones."]

El estudio de Bernstein, que se detalla en la página web Working Knowledge de la Universidad de Harvard, no rompe terreno en su sugerencia de que los empleados de averiguar las maneras más rápidas de hacer las cosas. Tampoco es particularmente novedoso en decir que esto se logra porque los trabajadores son capaces de identificar el tipo de atajos y soluciones que impulsan la productividad.

El documento se asomara al mostrar que cuando los gerentes miran trabajan sus trabajadores, caídas de productividad de los empleados. ¿La razón? Los empleados se sienten más obligados a poner su mejor cara y seguir todas las políticas corporativas a una T.

La parte cualitativa de estudio de Bernstein, que insertó a algunos de sus estudiantes de Harvard en una planta manufacturera de China, mostró que los trabajadores eran muy conscientes de la paradoja. Como los detalla el artículo de Working Knowledge:

Primero, a los internos se les mostró en silencio "mejores formas" para la realización de tareas por parte de sus compañeros - una "tonelada de pequeños trucos" que "mantenía en marcha la producción" o que permitía "producción más rápido, más fácil, y/o más segura." Luego se les dijo que "siempre que [los clientes / directivos / líderes ] se aparecieran, no debían hacer eso, porque se va a enojar."

El elemento cuantitativo, por su parte, mostró qué clase de efecto un poco de intimidad entre los empleados y gerentes podría brindar. Al examinar de 32 líneas de montaje por más de cinco meses, Bernstein encontró que a las organizaciones que mantienen una cortina entre trabajadores y directivos, la productividad aumentó en un 10 a 15 por ciento.

El artículo de Bernstein, que ganó el premio al Mejor Artículo Publicado en 2013 dos divisiones separadas de la Academy of Management, proporciona algunos salidas.

Hasta cierto punto, es preciso recordar a los líderes que a veces sólo tiene que dejar que sus trabajadores trabajar. Si usted va a insistir en la transparencia de su organización, lo cual por muchas derechos usted debe, acepte que es una calle de dos vías. Si desea una mayor productividad, aflojar sus políticas o que no te preocupes tanto si están rotos. Como un comentarista en el artículo de Working Knowledge dice, "Se llama "delegación": Es decir, vivir con el hecho de que otros pueden hacer las cosas de manera diferente de usted, sin dejar de ser productivo"

Hay otra cara de esa ecuación. Sus políticas podrían estar en su lugar por una razón. Si es así, reconocer que el pedir una mayor productividad puede requerir tomar atajos que es mejor dejar sin cortar.

Inc.com

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Poniendo datos en el diseño

Putting Data in Design 

BY RYAN UNDERWOOD

Want to develop a product that customers will love? Take a cue from Internet companies and do some testing. A lot of testing.

Designing an innovative product requires impeccable taste, sharp instincts--and, of course, good data.

Taking a page from the tech industry, product makers and retailers are employing A/B testing, a technique frequently used to refine websites. Traditionally, that involves showing users two slightly different versions of a webpage to see which one drives more sales. For example, Version A might have a button that says Buy Now, while Version B says Get More Information. For online developers and marketers, these sorts of experiments have become the industry standard. A survey from MarketingSherpa finds that, of the online marketers who measured return on their A/B testing, 81 percent reported a positive return on investment.

Now, companies that make physical stuff are using these tests to determine what customers want and how best to get them to buy. Crowdery, a Y Combinator-backed start-up based in San Francisco, is working on a widget that would let retailers collect data on which potential products customers prefer. Crowdery’s technology is still in beta testing, but the process can be as explicit as asking consumers to vote on a favorite shirt style in hopes of scoring a presale discount if the item ultimately gets made. Or Crowdery’s code can lurk silently in the background, walking users through a typical transaction before informing the customer that the item is not yet available.

Founder Maran Nelson came up with the idea after working with a company that makes and sells backpacks. At the time, the founder of that business was worried about investing time and money into manufacturing designs that might prove to be unpopular with customers. “We started seeing that there was this pain point for retailers,” says Nelson. “Ultimately, you have an industry making huge financial decisions in a very inelegant way.”

Unlike traditional focus group participants, customers in these sorts of A/B tests often believe they are about to purchase a product, which makes the feedback more valuable. For instance, Julep, a Seattle-based cosmetics start-up, tested demand for a new nail-polish wand by taking out several ads on Google. One ad presented the new IDEO-designed wand as a tool for sophisticated color mixing. The other promised results similar to those at a professional nail salon. Overwhelmingly, people clicked on the ad touting the professional-salon quality, says founder and CEO Jane Park. She expects to start shipping the gadget in May. Because of the results, she’s now considering offering the wand’s color-mixing attachment as a separate product.

In addition to ads, Julep regularly taps customers for input, including polling its Idea Lab, a group of 5,000 customers who weigh in on early prototypes. These sorts of tests help speed up the development cycle and validate demand for an item before it hits the market, says Park. Even small tweaks made with feedback from customers--whether it’s a slightly different nail-polish formula or an improved package design--can make a big difference in sales. So that input is invaluable, says Park, even if it occasionally proves her wrong. “I have a disagreement with my creative director almost every day,” she says cheerfully. “But there’s a simple way to settle any argument: We take it to the people.” 

Here are three rules for making the most of your customers' dynamic feedback: 

1. Ask the right question. Don’t waste your time testing small tweaks. The choices you’re asking customers to make in an A/B test should be different enough for your audience to notice. The bigger the difference, says Robert Moore, a statistician and the CEO of RJMetrics, the fewer people you need to poll to produce statistically meaningful results.

2. Simulate real life. There’s a big difference between paying people to participate in a focus group and having them actually think they’re about to spend money on something. You’ll get a more accurate reflection of customer demand when people believe they are being asked to open their wallets.

3. Don’t become a slave to the numbers. In the same way that politicians shouldn’t govern by opinion polls alone, leaders should avoid making decisions on data alone, says Jane Park of Julep. Just because something does well in an A/B test does not guarantee it will be a hit in the marketplace.

Inc.com

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¿Cómo sobrepasar sentimientos negativos en el trabajo?

Feeling Negative? How to Overcome It 

BY GEOFFREY JAMES

Your negative emotions are powerful guides to what needs to change in your life.

Because you're a human being, you're going to feel emotions while you're at work. It's hoped that the bulk of your emotions will be positive, such as excitement, wonder, gratitude, and joy.

However, it's inevitable that you'll also feel some negative emotions. But here's the thing: The way you handle your negative emotions will largely determine how successful you'll eventually become.

After all, it's easy to manage a business or do a job when everything's all sweetness and light. What's difficult is making things happen when times are rough and things don't work out the way you'd prefer.

With that in mind, here are the six most common negative emotions that people feel at work, along with a plan to transform those emotions into something to help you become more, rather than less, successful.

1. If you're feeling fear...

Step back for a second and try to see the situation objectively. Ask yourself: "Is my business or career truly at risk?" If not, then you may just be feeling nervous and excited rather than fearful, just like when you get on a roller coaster. So enjoy the ride.

If you decide that the situation is truly serious, then do something physical, like taking a walk, to clear your mind. When you return, create an action plan for how you're going to handle the situation right now.

Think of all the times that you've successfully handled similar situations or other situations that were personally challenging. Have faith that you'll be able to do the same this time. Then take the first step in your action plan.

2. If you're feeling rejected...

Decide whether you actually respect the opinion of the person who "rejected" you. If the rejection came from an idiot, a blowhard, or a mooncalf, a "rejection" is actually a backhanded compliment.

If you DO respect the other person's opinion, recognize that you may be interpreting the situation incorrectly. The only way to find out is to ask. Say something like: "The other day, you said ____ and I felt hurt. Can you clarify what happened?"

Finally, realize that, in a very real sense, "rejection" is an illusion. It almost always stems from a difference in the "rules" by which people interpret events. Probably you got "rejected" because the other person had different rules. So where's the sting?

3. If you're feeling angry...

Your first task is get some distance from the situation. If you can, get up and go for a walk, or do something that will distract you for a moment. If you can't take any of those actions, use Mom's old standby and slowly count from one to 10.

Now that you've calmed yourself down, pinpoint the reason that you're angry. You will find that in EVERY case, it's because somebody has violated a rule or standard that is deeply important to you.

Rather then "blowing up" or "letting off steam," figure out how to communicate to the other person the importance of that rule or standard so that the same situation doesn't recur in the future.

4. If you're feeling frustrated...

At work, this emotion emerges when you feel that your results aren't what you expected, given the amount of work and effort that you've expended. You know your goal is achievable, but it continues to seem out of reach.

Your first step here is to reassess your plan and your behavior. Is this really the best way to achieve this goal? If not, your frustration is telling you that you need to change the plan and the execution of the plan.

If your plan is solid and your behavior appropriate, it's time to exercise patience. Stop worrying about the goal. Let go of your results and concentrate on the behavior and have faith that "God's delays are not God's denials."

5. If you're feeling inadequate...

Welcome to the club! Whether people admit it or not, even those who seem the most self-confident secretly worry that they're not going to measure up or that they're ill prepared for the challenges ahead.

The wonderful thing about this emotion is that it's the easiest to handle. Your sense of inadequacy, like everyone else's, stems from a lack of skills, experience, and strategies in an area where you'd like to be successful.

Your plan is therefore simple: Decide that you're going to work on your skills in this area until you master them. Find a role model or a mentor. Read books or take seminars. Worst case, you'll learn in the "school of hard knocks." It's just part of life!

6. If you're feeling stressed...

There's no question that today's business world puts extraordinary demands on people's time and energy. Whether you're an entrepreneur, an executive, a line manager, or a worker, you're constantly being asked to do more with less.

Even so, you (like everybody else) are constrained by the limits of time and space. Regardless of how you feel about it, you've got a limited amount of time to get things done and to keep yourself healthy and happy at the same time.

Therefore, the best way to use stress is as a signal that it's time to prioritize. Do what's important rather than what's urgent. Remember: Twenty percent of your work generally produces 80 percent of your results! So focus on the 20 percent!

Inc.com

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La innovación de Odón

La Historia Innovación del Año
Por Leigh Buchanan

La historia irresistiblemente inspiradora de Jorge Odon, que literalmente se forjó un dispositivo que va a salvar la vida de bebés.


Jorge Odon

Entonces, ¿quién hará e papel de Jorge Odon en la película?

Hasta esta mañana yo nunca había oído hablar de Odon. Luego leí este artículo en el New York Times acerca de un mecánico de automóviles argentino de 59 años de edad, quien inventó un mecanismo para extraer de manera segura bebés atrapados en el canal de parto. El dispositivo consiste en una bolsa de plástico, que se infla alrededor de la cabeza del bebé y luego se puede utilizar para sacar al bebé, que puede causar menos daño que el fórceps o ventosas. La Organización Mundial de la Salud ha aprobado el dispositivo. Becton Dickenson obtuvo la licencia para la producción.

La idea surgió de Odon en un sueño después de haber visto un video de Youtube acerca de cómo extraer un corcho de una botella de vino.

¿Benicio del Toro? ¿Javier Bardem? ¿Quizás Lucy Liu como jefe de la Organización Mundial de la Salud?

Las empresas hablan de ideas y procesos stage-gate e inversiones en I + D; entonces se apresuran a replicar el tipo de conocimiento que surgió de la nada traído por un tipo en un garaje. El garaje de Odon ni siquiera era un improvisado laboratorio: se trataba de un verdadero, garaje de trabajo donde le hizo a los cigüeñales sea lo que sea que la gente hace para cigüeñales. Me resulta emocionante y un poco romántico que se recuerde que la innovación - innovación importante - puede surgir al azar de inspiración al azar a trabajar en insumos materiales aleatorios. La creación desde un estado de sueño: no es un laboratorio con lo último en tecnología.

Empresas como Quirky y Edison Nation celebran juntos y sacar provecho de la idea de que la invención es un acto democrático. Pero la mayoría de los inventores de los ciudadanos en el tráfico de querer a llegar ser ricos, no es necesariamente que lleguen a ser ricos, no de dispositivos que pueden llegar a salvar vidas. De vez en cuando se oye historias acerca de laicos que se elevan al desafío de la enfermedad de un ser querido, como Robert Goldman, el empresario de medios digitales que diseñó un catéter de infusión para ayudar a su hermana, que sufre de cáncer. Y algunos inventores independientes no ponen sus mejores productos contra los problemas más difíciles del mundo. El británico Alexander Bushell, por ejemplo, creó un sistema de germinación de energía solar para luchar contra el hambre.

Goldman y Bushell, por supuesto, estaban tratando. Odon no trató. Él ni siquiera hizo un salto imaginativo. Fue un salto, si eso tiene sentido. Su inconsciente le dio un regalo, que - dependiendo de su punto de vista - es bien milagrosa o un poco injusto.

Pero mira lo que hizo con su idea.

De acuerdo con la historia del Times, la mañana después de que el sueño Odon le acercó la idea un amigo a un obstetra. Él experimentó con materiales y prototipos construidos. Él uso su red para obtener una audiencia con el jefe de obstetricia en un gran hospital, que tenía el producto a prueba en un laboratorio de universidad de los EE.UU.. Él continuó refinando el dispositivo, patentando en el camino. Odon ejecutó astutamente el pedacito de transpiración del 99 por ciento. Sin ella, su 1 por ciento nunca habría sido noticia - o una diferencia.

La historia de Jorge Odon y su dispositivo de extracción está destinado a convertirse en un clásico en el género de la innovación. Mi predicción es que en la primavera de varios nuevos libros de negocios se citan como un ejemplo del poder de la casualidad o de prototipado rápido o la creación de redes empresariales o cualquier otra cosa que podría representar concebible. Antes del establecimiento de gestión - pensador coopta este cuento irresistiblemente inspiradora, tome un momento para saborearlo. Un hombre con un mono sucio observaba Youtube, fue a la cama, y ahora menos bebés pueden morir. No se puede construir un proceso de alrededor de eso. Sólo espera usted vive en un mundo donde sucede.

Inc

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La penetración móvil en África llega al 80%

African mobile penetration hits 80% (and is growing faster than anywhere else)

John Koetsier

We tend to have certain paradigms about the “developing world” and the “developing world,” including Africa. Including, of course, media-fed images of Africa as a place of almost irredeemable poverty, deprivation, and pain.

Many of our paradigms are, of course, illusions.

A new report on the African telecommunications market highlights that mobile penetration in Africa hit 80 percent in the first quarter of this year, and is still growing at 4.2 percent annually. That’s faster than anywhere else in the world, the report says, and the 54 countries of Africa are, after Asia, the world’s second-largest market.

Which means that today, more than eight in ten Africans have a mobile phone.

In part, that’s driven by a massive reduction in the costs of owning a mobile phone: The average revenue per user for telecom companies has dropped 80 percent between 2001 and 2011. Economies of scale have taken hold now as the basic infrastructure has been built out, and more competition by independent (not state-owned) telecoms has driven down prices.

That’s good for Africans, of course, and good for the market in the long term as well. And there’s still a lot of room to grow, of course.

Most mobile connections — 62.7 percent, or almost two thirds — are basic 2G voice and SMS services, the report says. Of the remaining third, about 27 percent have access to 2.5G for low-speed data, and just 11 percent have 3G access — never mind LTE.

As more and more infrastructure is built, however, data services and connection speeds are increasing. Data revenue for telecoms has grown 67 percent in the key African countries of South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria in the past few years. And while smartphones are cost-prohibitive for some, current penetration is at 20 percent and are project to grow fast — almost 600 percent in Nigeria alone by 2017.

Venture Beat

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Ajustando para vivir emprendedoramente

3 Reglas de ajuste para vivir razonablemente

Por Austin Allison

Haga efectivo el cheque del VC, pero gástelo sabiamente y actúe como el emprendimiento en marcha en el que se encuentre.

Las startups exitosas son a menudo las empresas más innovadoras, eficientes y precarias de los alrededores. Ellos tienen que serlo. Lo que hace que lleva un emprendimiento tan especial es que usted está haciendo que la magia suceda, lo más probable desde lo más barato. Y cuando no tienes dinero, no tienes más remedio que tomar las decisiones más inteligentes con los limitados recursos a su disposición.

Todo eso puede cambiar cuando se cobra su primer cheque de capital de riesgo y se encuentra madura con capital. Es tentador dejar de comportarse como un inicio magra y llegar a los bolsillos demasiado pronto y con demasiada frecuencia.

Aquí es cómo evitar esa tentación.

Piense magra, no es barato

La baratura no es una táctica inteligente, ni es sabio conseguir descuidado y perder su ventaja con una gran cantidad de dinero flotando por ahí. Esa ventaja es lo que hace un inicio, así, una startup. No pellizcar peniques innecesariamente, pero no asignar el capital como si fueras una gran compañía con un bankroll sin fin, tampoco.

El dinero le permite experimentar y sobrevivir a algunos errores, pero también puede hacer que usted satisfecho o imprudente. La asignación de capital como una gran empresa o en los lugares equivocados le meterán en problemas rápidamente. Manténgase rudimentario, invertir de forma inteligente, y no pierdas el borde de inicio.

Personal elegantemente

Como inicio, el objetivo es generar el mayor retorno de la inversión, ya que no tiene mucho que invertir desde el primer momento. Pero una vez que están respaldados por VC, es fácil perder el enfoque. La solución a casi todos los problemas se parecen a añadir más personas, ya sean ingenieros para construir el producto, vendedores de venderlo, o vendedores para comercializarlo. Es importante hacer que sus clientes tengan éxito, pero la inversión en el servicio no siempre significa aumentar la plantilla.

A menudo se puede generar un mayor retorno de la inversión sin tener que gastar dinero en el aumento de la dotación de personal mediante la creación de experiencias de usuario intuitivas y comunidades que permiten a los usuarios para apoyarse mutuamente. He aprendido de primera mano el poder de las comunidades desde la fundación de dotloop hace cuatro años.

Como he escrito anteriormente, se necesita una aldea para competir en la economía la gente moderna, y hemos construido y alimentado de una comunidad de usuarios que siempre están dispuestos a responder preguntas y para intercambiar notas con nuevos y potenciales clientes, ya sea en el teléfono o en los medios de comunicación social. Nuestra comunidad es una de las razones de nuestro éxito, especialmente en épocas de alto crecimiento, cuando no podíamos contratar ( o tren ) de manos en el personal de servicio al cliente con la suficiente rapidez.

Mantente fiel a sus raíces

Esté preparado para superar la resistencia al permanecer fiel a sus raíces. Un ejemplo es la historia de la plaza frente a VeriFone. Ambas compañías ofrecen servicios de pagos móviles. VeriFone esencialmente pertenece al espacio de pagos móviles por varios años hasta la plaza llegó y se interrumpió. Square era innovadora, eficiente y rudimentario en el principio - y lo sigue siendo. Pero con una interrupción viene resistencia.

VeriFone respondió a la interrupción de la plaza levantando el espectro de las vulnerabilidades de seguridad de Square, escribiendo cartas abiertas a la industria y, finalmente, aún sin éxito, tratando de imitar el concepto de su inicio rudimentario. Square se mantuvo fiel a sus raíces y prevaleció, la atracción de inversiones de gigantes como Visa y Starbucks.

Las nuevas empresas de mayor éxito no pierden su filo. Eso significa que son eficientes, enfocados, y gastan cada centavo como si fuera el último - no importa el saldo de la cuenta bancaria.

Inc.com

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