The Top 50 Business Thinkers

The top 50 Business Thinkers by Suntop Media is fascinating!

I only recognize 4 out of the top 10. Most of the people on the list are hyperlinked to bios and I keep going back and reading and rereading more bios.

No, I'm not on the list, and neither are you, or you wouldn't be reading me, would you :)
(seriously, I'm regularly amazed at the people who read The Ted Rap - many of you are much smarter, or at least better looking - especially my female readers, than me).

So, how do we differ from the average person on the list? Well, most of them are male and on the older side. At least the top 10 have all published multiple books.

Compared to me? Well, I'm certainly male but only 44. I have far more hair than the top ten for sure, and probably all of them on average. I've only written 1/2 a book (co-author, Blogging for Business) - well, maybe slightly more as I started my second book Friday night.

As some of my European friends would say, " A good read" and I concur.

Book Review: Principled Profit – Marketing that puts people first

Book Review: Principled Profit -– Marketing that puts people first, Shel Horowitz

I not only like what Shel has to write, but also how he writes as well, and can recommend this book wholeheartedly. Judging from the testimonials - including many well known people, everyone likes this book. As Shel writes, "This is an opinionated and personal book," but it's backed by Shel's over 25 years of experience and extensive 3rd party research.

Unlike Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World which I'd describe as an easy to read yet comprehensive marketing textbook (note to self: stick on nightstand for review when I get home), this is a fairly quick read. The basic premise is that you can not only succeed, but flourish, by being nice. Nice guys don't finish last, they finish well in the pack, and do so much more happily than cut throat scumbags. Of course Shel doesn't use the term scumbags -– he's probably too nice to, but I'm not!

The one thing I'd add, is that with the wide spread of blogging and other "Web 2.0" technologies, if you're a scumbag, word gets out quickly – and that won't help your bottom line.

This is more than a "be nice" or "feel good" book, although it did make me feel good about being nice. It contains practical business advice. Since I read it in a somewhat disjointed fashion while traveling internationally with children, it's on my list to look at again SOON ‚– I underlined advice I can put to use in my business soon.

The only part some people may find odd is the last chapter, as Shel notes. It's on a sustainable future, and to Shel it's the most important chapter.

Here is a quick recap of some of the principles and messages of the book:

• Ethical marketing works better
• Cooperation is an effective business strategy
• Gaining “market share” is usually a silly strategy

The kids and wife are gone and it's quiet ‚– I think I'‚’ll pick up the book again now!

You can also find Shel's related Good Business Blog here.

Shel has also started a campaign called the Business Ethics Pledge to actually change business culture to be aligned with the ethical, cooperative orientation to success. He's hoping to create a "tipping point" that would make business ethics scandals as unthinkable as slavery is today.

Old Drunkards versus Old Doctors

"There Are More Old Drunkards Than Old Doctors"
-Ben Franklin
(also attributed as an old French proverb).

A curious quote that attracted my attention, at least enough to blog on it.

Maybe drinking is healthier than caring for, and hence hanging out with, the sick? Or maybe drunkards simply age faster?

More likely just good old Ben, or some old French dudes, refuting their doctors advice to avoid or limit alcohol!

Great Security Example

Imagine building a bridge and after-the-fact trying to make it "robust and reliable?"
Obviously it needs to be engineered that way from the beginning! Duhhh :)

Security needs to be planned built into everything from the start, including software - and security simply means "robust and reliable."

The Bobster at BlogofBob gives a great example here:

Consider an office building or school as opposed to a purpose built maximum security prison. Sure we could add security features into any structure, but to make that office building as secure as a purpose built prison would be enormously expensive and error prone. And most likely would never be as secure as the prison.

Net Neutrality

Imagine if your telephone worked somehow "better" when calling people your telephone company preferred. Maybe you couldn't even call certain numbers THEY didn't like, or got crackly static-filled audio? That would be unreasonable, at least in most of the world!

Now imagine if your Internet provider did the same thing? Some sites -– the ones they preferred, perhaps owned, were fast and reliable, and others were -– well - less fast and reliable?

Net neutrality is the concept that Internet users can go to any Web site and run any Web application. This is how it's been for years -- literally forever. Apparently some broadband providers want to change that.

Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo! are trying to encode Net Neutrality into law. Sounds like a good idea, but it's a complicated issue.

For example:
Many see this as a first step towards regulating the Internet.

Does Google, for example, get a free ride. Should they be paying for the traffic they generate?

Much more in this Computer World Article.

My knee-jerk (and probably correct) opinion :)
Net Neutrality forever!

Internet Fraud vs. other Fraud

Internet fraud, just like real world fraud, is a big problem. It distinguishes itself from non-Internet fraud in 4 main ways:

1) Economies of scale

Even a fraud almost no one will fall for is economically viable. For example, Nigerian Scam letters, which presumably almost no one would ever believe, can be send to massive numbers of potential victims via spam. Even if only .0001% of those targeted become victims, it's enough to make the scam successful.

2) Innovative fraud

There are a lot of new opportunities for fraud, for example some of the more advanced phishing schemes. There are some pretty intelligent and innovative Internet fraudsters out there.

3) More potential Fraudsters

People who would never consider trying to perpetrate real world fraud sometimes do attempt (and succeed) at online fraud. This is analogous to hackers who cause massive damage and financial loses to business, who would never consider breaking all the windows in their school or other brick and mortar vandalism.

4) Jurisdiction issues

For example, its almost impossible to catch or prosecute a hacker in China or even France (two countries that traditionally have not cooperated on Internet crimes).

Its also interesting that the two main areas of growth in computer crime (ref: FBI computer crimes division) are extortion and attacks via work from home employees machines.

Also, there is allegedly more money in Internet crime than drugs these days!

Anastasia Demopoulos

Well, I've written about being in Siberia, how it was 48 below zero when I landed, and other miscellaneous amusing details, but I never quite mentioned why I went. I especially never mentioned why I brought along 2 children, a wife, and even a mother inlaw!

Well, here she is - the reason. Anastasia Demopoulos, about 22 months old. Recently adopted and imported into the USA.

Hobbies include eating incessantly, pooping, and lots of smiling. She's big on screaming too as it gets her attention these days. Not sure how effective it was in the orphanage. Her odds of being dead or in jail before age 20 were not good if she had stayed there. Being an orphan anywhere doesn't help one's odds of success. Perfectly healthy although some slight malnutrition.

People keep asking if we've recovered from Siberia yet - the jetlag et. al. I'll have recovered when she's out of grad school!

We now return you to your scheduled program . . .

Blogging Teleconference audio online

About a month ago I did a Blogging teleseminar for Rick Frishman of Planned TV Arts, and got great feedback from those who attended. Unfortunately many folks who were interested were unable to attend

The audio is now online and available here - it's a zipped .wav file. If anyone has difficulty downloading and playing send me an email or call. I'm listening right now - hey, I usually think I sound stupid but I sound OK :)

Phishing by Phone

From my friend Raoul:

It's not bad enough that daily I get email that promises me compensation
for helping the relative of some South African official smuggle a bunch of
cash out of the country or that I've won a lottery or that my eBay account
has been compromised. Now, I'm getting phishing phone calls.

The first call came through at about 8:30 from a guy with a heavy (east) Indian
accent. About the only thing I picked up was lottery and $500. I told the guy to
take a hike and hung up - as expected no caller ID.

An hour later I get another call. This time it's a woman with an Asian accent.
She asks for "Raoul" and when I say this is he, she proceeds to tell me that
my bank account has been locked and that I won't be able to get any money.
I ask her who she is and she says that she is with my bank. What bank? She
names off a bank but not mine. I tell her that its not my bank and that she needs
to work on getting the scam right. As I'm hanging up I hear her saying "I know
how to do..." On this one I get a caller ID but I suspect that it is stolen cell phone.

I'm going to start recording my calls.

IT Complexity Boom

We've been through the Dot Com Boom/Bust - now we're in the Complexity Boom. Technology is just too hard to use today and it keeps getting harder.

Applications and operating systems keep getting larger and more complicated, adding seemingly endless features and functionality that only a small percentage of people ever figure out, use, or need. This complexity leads to large complicated software that is harder to use.

There is no reason why technology can’t be easy to use, while still having plenty of functionality! The emphasis in software has been in adding these “gee-whiz” features instead of improving usability. There is a lot of work to be done in integrating technology into our lives and making it easier to use, if not entirely transparent, in the next couple of decades and perhaps well beyond.

For those of you who are non-technical, these damn computer things are not only going to get easier to use, they’re going to become transparent. Why should most people care if a computer is involved when they are performing some task? The emphasis should be on the results, not on the underlying technical details. Who thinks about how internal combustion engines work when driving from point A to point B? How many people think about how their TV works?

For technical workers, for example IT staff and software engineers, the focus will be more on ease of use and integration of technology, than on the current "invent cool things." Most technology jobs themselves will be integrated into other fields and disciplines, although there will be plenty of purely technology based work available.

Sinatra replaces Scoble in Central Siberia!

Last year when playing around in Central Siberia, I had two different people ask me if I knew Microsoft Uber-Blogger Robert Scoble. I just mentioned I worked with computers when asked in order to prompt the question. He seemed to be a big hit here and was highly regarded. I was quoted about it in Wharton's Knowledge.

No one is asking after Scoble on this trip - eveyone is asking about Frank Sinatra. Everyday or two I hear "AHHH, America, Frank Sinatra!" Frank Sinatra plays in the hotel 24/7 - as in right now. The Restaurant at The End of The Universe upstairs keeps playing both old Sinatra videos and modern impersonators. Frank Sinatra mania sweeps Central Siberia!

Funny thing is I AM looking for bloggers or at least blog readers to interview. Trying to get a Central Asian perspective, but no luck so far.

"Blogging for Business" featured in 800ceoread's InBubbleWrap

Great to see Blogging for Business featured on InBubbleWrap, the 800ceoread blog.

I've run across 800ceoread many times in my surfing, and always like what they have to say. I'm passionate about books, have been since I learned to read. I devour as many business books as I can, as well as others occasionally, and can say the 800ceoread folks and I share the book passion.

You can order the book from 800ceoread here at 20% off, and a brief except of their comments follow:

We already partied like it was 1999, because in fact, it was 1999. But now we're finally into the 21st century, so it's high time that the business world start using tools developed on this side of the avoided Y2K disaster. I'm talking about blogs. But it's not enough just to have a blog, you have to know how to properly integrate it into your business. That's where Shel Holtz and Ted Demopoulos come in with their new book Blogging for Business. The reasons you should read Blogging for Business are the same reasons companies continue buying books from 800-CEO-READ. You all know what a blog is. Most of you have one and know how to use it, but there are always ways to make your blog better and more effective. It's the same as XYZ Corp. hiring Seth Godin to make them better at marketing.

Khanty-Mansiysk, Central Siberia

Khanty-Mansiysk or maybe Khanty-Mansisyk, or Hanty-Manswhatever. I've seen several spellings.

A little town of 40 thousand in an oil rich area. Near absolutely nothing. Absurdly cold - it hit minus 52 Fahrenheit while I was here - and I'm still here.

Cell phones are a required fashion accessory -- everyone has one, and in general they are more advanced than the standard USA model. That should be NO surprise to anyone who follows these things.

Internet everywhere, and most people seem to have a laptop. Since living space is small compared to North America and Western Europe, laptops make sense.

The cold would be bad enough alone, but essentially no one dresses for it. Dressing warm is unfashionable, and fashion is the most important thing here. Imagine if everyone in EBF (pick your favorite small town in the middle of nowhere) dressed more fashionably than the average New York City resident. The woman almost all wear stiletto heels and clothes and coats chosen for fashion, not warmth. There are warm hats and shoes, but they seem only to be worn by the lower classes, and there aren't too many of them. People die of the cold, many of them. I wonder how many would live if they dressed for the weather?

It's a University town as well. They have over 40 Philosophy Professors alone I'm told, although perhaps something was lost in the translation? This is one of only three supercomputing centers in all of Russia. I've been asked to be a guest lecturer, but don't know how serious the possibility is!

Almost no English is spoken. My faithful driver and liaison to the immediate world, Farid, speaks English fluently, all 50 words he knows. He's great and is teaching me Russian rapidly. We can even converse efficiently over the phone now.

They speak some English in the hotel I'm staying in. Some people speak some, some people speak none, and many seem to be deaf mutes, although even the deaf mutes sometimes smile at my somewhat out of control tribe of children. There is one other American staying in the hotel. He claims to works in the oil industry for some generic Houston based company, but I'd rather think he is CIA. He probably is . . .

The locals, the original locals, the Khantys, the Mansisyks, and other forgotten tribes, live in TeePees and hunt Caribou. They are indistinguishable from Native Americans to me. Their crafts and supposedly their language are extremely similar.

A nice little place to live, but perhaps I'm visiting for a bit too long and in the wrong season :)
I've also tired of "The Restaurant at The End of The World" -- the hotel Restaurant -- and may blog on it later.

Offshoring Bubble

The offshoring trend has developed into a huge bubble.

Companies are outsourcing/offshoring because everyone else is, often defying logic and common sense.

Don't get me wrong; I'm NOT anti-outsourcing, whether offshore or not, when it makes sense. In particular I believe there are many opportunities for cost cutting through offshoring if done intelligently and effectively. Unfortunately offshoring is often not well thought out.

Offshore typically involves another layer of management - the "offshore" management to manage the offshore workers. That costs money, and often more importantly this additional layer of bureaucracy reduces flexibility and creativity. That's simply a side effect of more bureaucracy.

Cost saving? Sometimes - but often there are not believable (if any) metrics to justify offshoring as a cost cutting measure.

Offshoring because everyone else is doing it is simply moronic, although often the primary reason!!