Top Time Tip #103
Could These Amazing Innovations Change The Way You Do Things? (Part 1)
3rd June 2008
Hi
Four things have impacted my thinking in the last two weeks, and I’m busting to tell you about them. I’ll cover two today and the other two in a couple of weeks. They’re not necessarily time-savers for you at the moment. However, if we don’t keep an eye on coming trends we might find ourselves like whip and buggy makers after the advent of the car – with our traditional markets literally leaving us in the dust.
Long-distance keynote speakers
The first little jolt to my quiet mind was a keynote at the New Zealand Association of Training & Development conference here in Auckland a couple of weeks ago. I sat down with anticipation in my auditorium seat, waiting to see US futurist Elliott Masie walk on stage. His keynote promised to be a provocative focus on the challenges of providing learning in a rapidly changing business environment. And then, his face flashed up on the screen. Suddenly I realised that the really provocative thing was the method of delivery. He was physically somewhere in the States – and speaking to us. The first 15 minutes he spoke via a video recorded specifically for us. The following 40 minutes were a most interesting live question and answer session between him and members of our audience – managed by two roving mikes, a telephone link and a good sound system.
I know this isn’t totally new technology – it’s being used more and more for big-name speakers. But it was my first exposure. I left there thinking: ‘I need to learn how to do videos in my own office. What extra value can I offer my clients via this method?’
The World is Flat
The second ‘cage-rattling’ event I’m delighting in is a book. I’ve been hearing about this title for some time and finally picked it up in my normal book-browsing environment – an airport bookshop somewhere! (Clearly I’m not yet being transmitted by video to my clients’ events yet!)
‘The World is Flat’ by Thomas Friedman is exciting my socks off. Not only does Friedman give a very readable overview of how and why the world is shrinking and why globalisation is now the way of the present, but his book also gives great encouragement to all small and beginning businesses. Once big was beautiful: now the playing field is being levelled. Anyone can start a business anywhere, and sell to anyone else anywhere. How often do you hear great stories of people who start business in their spare room, bedroom or garage and within quite a short time are running major export businesses - because of the interconnectivity of the internet? Perhaps it could be your story soon?
Friedman lists 10 key factors that have led to the amazing societal changes we’re seeing today. You won’t be surprised at the first two - of course they’re computers and the internet, but the way he explains their significance to society is masterful and really interesting.
Once we all got PCs the limitations on how much information any one individual ‘could amass, author, manipulate, and diffuse’ were eliminated. Then the internet came along, and in a twinkle of an eye (relatively speaking) we found ourselves connected in a way never possible before.
The third trend is getting bigger and more interesting every day, and that’s shared applications of software that make doing business across any platform really easy. An example Friedman gives is http://www.salesforce.com/. I’ve used this excellent online CRM system to manage our database for a couple of years. The key factor here is that all (or almost all) your key data and business applications can be internet based. For us this has meant that our virtual team has been able to work in multiple locations with real-time access to totally up-to-date information – with no hassles about synchronisation – as long as we had internet access. I can be at home in South Auckland or working in England or Dubai; Jill can be running the office in her home in Christchurch – and we’re always current.
Friedman also talks about six new forms of collaboration. Just one of them is ‘outsourcing’ - not just down the road but also internationally. I’ve mentioned http://www.elance.com/ in this column several times in the last couple of years, and there are other providers such as http://www.yourmaninindia.com/.
Another of Friedman’s phrases is ‘connect and collaborate’. I guess the way some readers access my books is an example of that. My titles are now available anywhere round the world via Lightning Source, a just-in-time print production house (based in both the US and UK). For instance, an Amazon.com order triggers an order to the relevant production house: within 36 hours a hard copy of the book is in the post. It could be one book; it could be 1000.
I can’t even begin to do justice to this book in this short column – just read it! I’m chomping through the pages and finding encouragement for my kind of business all through.
So – here’s my challenge for you and me:
- Are you short of hands to do the basic work? What can you outsource, either down the road or maybe in anther country? For example, a number of US accounting firms get their preliminary number crunching done in India. We get some of our graphic work done in Romania and the rest in both Auckland and Christchurch. Some of our audio editing and voice-overs are done in North Carolina and more is done locally. In both cases the completed files are delivered via www.YouSendIt.com - a file transfer protocol site that delivers via the web any files too big to go by email. And Jill runs our office really effectively from Christchurch, well over 1000 miles away from me. Location isn't important now - connectedness is the key.
- What business processes frustrate you, or in your heart-of-hearts you think could be done more efficiently or more cost-effectively? There will be an answer in this wonderfully diverse world.
Join me for Part II of this journey of adventure on Top Time Tip #104.
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