Blurring Boundaries

Nike has blurred the boundary between consumer and designer by unveiling its new line of shoes that have actually been designed online by consumers. NikeiD online business has more than tripled since 2004 with more than 3 million unique visitors every month!

Tracking Consumers

Because spending habits have changed rapidly in recent months, many companies have turned to analytics software to track consumer behavior. Analytics software is able to track online behavior with more accuracy than antiquated databases. Sales of analytics software have skyrocketed as retailers try to make the best use of each dollar spent.

Mapping World Events

Have you ever wondered how your interest, business or favorite hobby fits into the galaxy of the Internet? Go to universe.daylife.com to enter your curiosity. This tool uses the Internet as a metaphor for the night sky and the Greek stories of the constellations.

Part 2 (of 3)

In this three-part series, we are getting back to the basics, and perhaps looking at them in a new way. Helping adults learn is a unique skill that you or the trainers you work with have, no doubt, refined over time. The first article addressed the importance of environment and tone in the training environment.

In this installment, we will walk through a smorgasbord of techniques for establishing, building and maintaining engagement and interest.

Let's take a look at a simple and direct process for getting things done and organizing your life. It is a combination of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Successful People and Leo Babauta's ideas on living simply (www.zenhabits.net). By taking some key ideas from each method, I have come up with a simple, focused way of moving through your personal and professional life with a sense of direction and accomplishment.

Book Report

Downsizing with Confidence
Richard S. Deems, Ph.D. and Terri A. Deems, Ph. D.

The process of Downsizing can be both complex and, at the same time, necessary. Downsizing with Confidence, by Deems and Deems, gives the reader a straightforward, no-nonsense way to navigate through this process.

It talks about identifying necessary (and unnecessary) resources, planning and carrying out downsizing plans, necessary documentation, post-downsizing organizational issues, and re-hiring considerations as the situation changes.

 

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Your company is thriving, even in the difficult economy. You have opened several new locations in order to keep your production in line with demand. The level of technical skill you require of your workers is high, as the product you manufacture is specialized. While you were in your initial growth stages it was always easy to spot and recruit the right talent. However now that you are in a state of quick growth it seems as though the once-easily spotted talent is getting harder to find.

After searching for union apprentices to no avail, and contacting skilled laborers from competing firms became harder as the workforce expanded, you were left with two choices. The first was to work directly with the technical schools and programs that teach the technical skills, or you can attempt to advertise in a newspaper for laborers in peripheral fields.

By working with the schools and programs you would be getting younger, less experienced workers – which in your field is frightening as the learning curve can be steep. However you may also be getting employees who are less expensive and who may have been learning next generation technical skills.

By advertising for employees outside of your narrow scope you will be getting laborers who are familiar and deeply experienced with the industry and some of the machinery, but who also may be more expensive and set their ways – which can cause conflict and expensive re-work.

Given the needs of your business, what would you do, and why?

Send in your solutions!

Author Q & A

Margaret Seidler

Our expert author this week is Margaret Seidler, author of Power Surge: A Conduit for Enlightened Leadership. Margaret is a long-time consultant whose life took a drastic turn when she learned about Polarity Management® from Dr. Barry Johnson, in 2001. She promptly changed the way she approached her consulting and personal life.

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