MicroPP.0512.2005

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” —Mary Oliver

To do something well is so worthwhile that to die trying to do it better cannot be foolhardy. It would be a waste of life to do nothing with one’s ability, for I feel that life is measured in achievement not in years alone. Bruce McLaren (Good As Gold: Being a New Zealander)

“I used to think that the mark of a good businessman was to not make mistakes. But then I met a lot of successful businessmen and realized that the key to their success was they were willing to try a lot of things. That also means being willing to make mistakes.” —Gordon Segal, CEO, Crate & Barrel

Pursuing Value Added Through Creativity. “Where Having Fun Is Now O. K Pursuing Value Added Through Creativity! “Where Having Fun Is Now O.K.” —headline NYT/04.24.05/an article about Singapore “It’s still illegal to chew gum in Singapore, but having fun in the formerly staid city-state is now officially sanctioned.”

2007* *The year Chinese will pass English to become the #1 language on the I’net Source: UN, Newsweek

“Hospital Services Performed Overseas” —headline, Washington Post/04 “Hospital Services Performed Overseas” —headline, Washington Post/04.24.05 “When patients needed urgent CT scans, MRIs and ultrasounds late at night at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury CT, emergency room workers used to rouse a bleary-eyed staff radiologist from his bed to read the images. Not anymore. The work now goes to Arjun Kalyanpur—8,000 miles away in Bangalore …”

“Analysts said we don’t care about revenue, just give us the bottom line. They preferred cost cutting, as long as they could see 2 or 3 years of EPS growth. I preached revenue and the analysts’ eyes would glaze over. Now revenue is ‘in’ because so many got caught, and earnings went to hell. They said, ‘Oh my gosh, you need revenues to grow earnings over time.’ Well, Duh!” —Dick Kovacevich, Wells Fargo (in ABA Banking Journal)

Question #1 … “HOW WILL THIS PROJECT ENHANCE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IN A WAY THAT WILL IMPLEMENT ‘DRAMATIC DIFFERENCES’ FROM OUR COMPETITORS SO THAT WE CAN CAPTURE NEW CUSTOMERS, RETAIN OLD CUSTOMERS & GROW THEIR BUSINESS, BUILD OUR BRAND INTO A LOVEMARK … AND KICK-START THE ‘TOP LINE’ ?”

“Under his former boss, Jack Welch, the skills GE prized above all others were cost-cutting, efficiency and deal-making. What mattered was the continual improvement of operations, and that mindset helped the $152 billion industrial and finance behemoth a marvel of earnings consistency. Immelt hasn’t turned his back on the old ways. But in his GE, the new imperatives are risk-taking, sophisticated marketing and, above all, innovation.” —BW/032805

“Never mind computers and tech services “Never mind computers and tech services. IBM’s radical new focus is on revamping customers’ operations —and even running them.” —Headline/ BW/ 04.18.05

“Attacking Iraq from a Nevada Computer: Unmanned Predators Are Piloted in US” —Headline/Boston Globe/04.03.05

Resilience Simplicity Authenticity Ed Sims/Air New Zealand (“Airline to Middle Earth”)/ on his company’s success