The veteran activist shareholder Carl Icahn has finally started to write on his own personal weblog.  An early February launch was followed by several months of silence, which perplexed many (including yours truly).  However, the wait is over, with The Icahn Report posting several previously prepared invectives on boards, CEOs and poison pills, to mention a few.  It’s all classic Icahn, and worth reading, even if it is very USA-centric. Enjoy.

I’ve just watched the documentary Startup.Com (borrowed from my local library, but available from Amazon), which tracks the birth, rise and fall of Govworks.com in 2000 and 2001. Govwork’s story is still relevant today. You see the enthusiasm of the founders, the frustration and excitement of the money-raising, the early plaudits and adulation, and then the fall into nothingness as the realisation strikes home that the business isn’t working.

The technology and the product were incidental to the story. The central theme is the relationship between the founders. One is kicked out early because he won’t risk his day job. One of the two principal founders is fired as things start to go wrong, because although he isn’t co-CEO, he acts as if he is, countermanding the actual CEO, his best friend from high school. Their friendship goes through massive strain, and although renewed, you wonder if it will ever be the same again. (However, they did patch things up as they went on to other ventures together including JumpTV.com)

Every budding young entrepreneur should watch this documentary - if only to realize that it will get tough (it always does), friendships may get hammered, and success isn’t guaranteed.

I’ve had the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Logic of Life by economist and journalist Tim Harford, aka The Undercover Economist. Harford is no dry ‘dismal scientist‘. His earlier book was an international success, explaining the micro-economics of coffee, the cost of pollution and the dynamics of auctions. Highly informative and educational, it was an entertaining read, and a hard act to follow. Can he repeat his success with this new book?

Harford draws on academic research from around the world to explain why so much of what makes up modern (and ancient) society is based on rational behaviour. It’s no dull read, as he repeats his ability to both educate and entertain. I should warn you, however, that he begins by exploring the rise of oral sex among teenagers, and that’s just for starters. Idealogues of gender, morality or class may find some of Harford’s subjects and arguments hard to take, rational though they may be to those of more classic liberal persuasion. The Logic of Life is full of rich pickings for an idea-magpie like me - too many to list here, but including why cities exist, and why your boss is paid more (it’s to encourage you!)

One example I’ve already used to show off at the lunch table was how prejudices can arise. A simple laboratory experiment divides the participants into ‘employers’ and ‘workers’, and the workers into ‘Greens’ and ‘Purples’. Workers can opt to spend ‘money’ on ‘education’, which will improve their ‘test results’ (determined by dice throw with weighted odds favouring the educated). Employers only know the person’s test results and colour code (which has no significance). Employers are rewarded when they hire someone who has been educated, and penalised when they hire someone who has not.

By statistical fluke, slightly more Greens gambled on education in the first round. Employers picked this up through the test results, and started to see Green as a positive indicator, albeit slight, The workers also started to notice this: Purples started to not invest in education, while Greens tended to invest. Through 20 repetitions, what had been a slight statistical fluke turned into a self-perpetuating prejudice that affected the behaviours of nearly all participants. By the end, Purples were uneducated and had no faith in education, and employers were rationally shunning them. Powerful stuff.

I’d recommend The Logic of Life to anyone, including business people, with an interest in why things are the way they are. However, the people who absolutely should read this book are our elected representatives and the policy analysts who serve them.

As well as being an entertaining and informative author, Tim Harford is an award-winning speaker, he writes a regular column for the Financial Times FT magazine, he presented the BBC TV series Trust Me, I’m an Economist, and he now presents the BBC radio series More or Less. He won the 2006 Bastiat Prize for economic journalism and he also writes an entertaining blog. Tim Harford is on an international speaking tour and will be in Wellington in late February.

A while ago, I recommended Tim Harford’s best-selling book The Undercover Economist. Now it’s your chance to meet the man himself. Tim’s on an international speaking tour, coinciding with the launch of his new book The Logic of Life. He’s the guest speaker at a lunch in Wellington (his sole public appearance in NZ) hosted by the Chamber of Commerce

Tim’s no dry ‘dismal scientist‘. As well as being an entertaining and informative author, he is an award-winning speaker, he writes a regular column for the Financial Times FT magazine, he presented the BBC TV series Trust Me, I’m an Economist, and he now presents the BBC radio series More or Less. Tim won the 2006 Bastiat Prize for economic journalism and he also writes an entertaining blog.

I’ve already booked my seat. See you there if you’re in town.

Date: Friday 29 February 2008
Time: 12.15pm - 2.00pm
Venue: WRCC, Level 28, The Majestic Centre, 100 Willis Street, Wellington
Invest: $65.00 Members; $90.00 Non-members
Table of seven: Members $455.00; Non-members $630.00 incl. GST
RSVP: register and pay at www.wellingtonchamber.co.nz

In what seems to be a very low-key anniversary, today (Sunday) Silicon Valley marks the 50th anniversary of its putative founding. The San Francisco Chronicle has a historical piece on what most people take as the start of Silicon Valley - the founding of of Fairchild Semiconductor. The Chronicle also has some comments from several of today’s leading CEOs. Silicon Valley’s local newspaper, the Mercury News, runs a similar historical article.

There is an alternative view of history. The eight founders of Fairchild Semiconductors had previously worked for Shockley Labs, which claims its founding 18 months earlier was the start of Silicon Valley.

What’s behind the different opinions on when Silicon Valley started? The Fairchild startup was seen as the one which also brought in many of the classic start-up elements - venture capital, flat management, staff equity deals, casual dress, egalitarian organisational ethos, etc, etc. Shockley was old-school. So enthusiasts say it was Fairchild Semiconductor that really epitomises the start of the new order.

Today Fronde hosted a very different type of open-invitation conference at our Wellington office - a BarCamp on eGovernment. BarCamp is very social, very participative, and free.

There’s a great deal of interest and ideas around how government can enhance its interactions with and between its citizens, its institutions and its community. I was impressed with the quality of the many attendees, where they came from, their ideas and their participation. There were 4 conference rooms going all day, with presentations and discussions self-organised by the participants.

I couldn’t do justice to the sessions I sat in on, but I learnt heaps, including, for example, a whole new way of thinking about places, and how rich the information possibilities are when you move away from simplistic approaches to location.

For obvious reasons, I also sat in on a session which looked at why public sector CEOs blog, or rather, why they don’t. This led into a much wider discussion on audiences, branding and positioning, and the constraints on government employees.

I must have got very enthusiastic at one stage in a session on Agile methods. Apparently, I’ve volunteered to talk to the top levels of the government service about achieving smarter outcomes via Agile management, design and development methods, both in IT and in wider strategy/policy initiatives. That needs a major shift in executive thinking and procurement processes, not just within operational departments, but also within those arms of government and the legislature responsible for funding, audit and oversight.

A great day. Congratulations to the organisers, and thanks to our fantastic Fronde reception team, who ran an awesome coffee production line.

Here are other people’s views on the day and any presentations posted on the web (to be updated as and when I find them): BarCamp eGov 2007 website, Eduard, Sandy, Thomas, Mike (great organising, mate).

I just found out that professional services guru David Maister is in Wellington on Thursday and Auckland on Friday to give a one day seminar. The focus is on strategy, management and client relations and draws on his forthcoming book “Strategy And The Fat Smoker .” What a title! This guy is good - I frequently refer to his classic book “Managing the Professional Service Firm“. I know it’s late notice , but break your schedule and attend if you can.

Further to my earlier piece on “How does Google work?“, here’s a fascinating report from The Economist looking at Google’s strengths and also its issues. Reminds me a bit of the internal and external changes we saw as Microsoft went from cheeky newcomer to industry behemoth.

I first saw this ages ago, but every time I see it again, I’m impressed. To quote the website for the TED conference at which it was given:

You’ve never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called “developing world” using extraordinary animation software developed by his Gapminder Foundation. The Trendalyzer software (recently acquired by Google) turns complex global trends into lively animations, making decades of data pop. Asian countries, as colorful bubbles, float across the grid — toward better national health and wealth. Animated bell curves representing national income distribution squish and flatten. In Rosling’s hands, global trends — life expectancy, child mortality, poverty rates — become clear, intuitive and even playful.

Click on the blurry box on the bottom right of the image below to start the presentation in full screen mode. Enjoy, and be inspired for your next presentation.

There’s a great deal of interest and ideas around how government can enhance its interactions with and between its citizens, its institutions and its community. Fronde is hosting BarCamp WellingtonNZ egov on Saturday 15th September at our Queen’s Wharf office. BarCamp is a very different kind of forum, very social, and very participative. It’s also free. Read ‘BarCamp’ background and what to expect.

8 things you can do now:

1. Read about BarCamp Wellington NZegov
2. Book it in your diary (Sat 15th Sept)
   
3. Tell others you’re coming along (edit this page and enter your name)
4. Add your name to the mailing list:
   Subscribe by sending a blank email to barcampwellingtonnzegov-subscribe(at)googlegroups.com
5. Get a T-shirt
6. Copy this posting and add to your own blog or website (different sized images available)
7. Put your hand up for a ’subject’
8. Participate, communicate and be active

There are good consultants and there are bad consultants. If you’ve come across charlatan consultants, you’ll enjoy this:

The 14th New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards will be held in Wellington on 3rd November 2007. As a past winner, I can vouch for the increased attractiveness - for capital, people or customers - that being an award winner brings. So, wherever you fit on the scale, be it a growing or emerging company, a fantastic deal maker or superb marketer, an innovator or an entrepreneur, enter and join the ranks of New Zealand’s growing list of success stories.

This is the hi-tech industry’s big night out, and an opportunity for out-of-towners to make a weekend of it, experiencing the delights of Wellington. The Awards Gala Dinner has the theme ‘Kiwis can fly’, appropriate when you think of the massive number of air-miles we all clock up. Cartoonist, playwright and raconteur Tom Scott will MC the evening, so a fun time can be expected.

Award entries must be submitted by 21st September. The award categories include:

• PricewaterhouseCoopers Supreme Award
• Avnet Corporate Award
• Enatel Innovation Award
• Endace Young Achiever
• IRL Emerging Company Award
• NZX Entrepreneur Award
• Rakon Deal Award
• Company Leader Award
• Hi Growth Award
• PR/Marketing Campaign Award
• Professional Advisor Award
• and the Fronde Journalist Award.

PS. There are still a few sponsorship opportunities for the awards, so contact the organising committee if you’re interested: info@hitech.org.nz.

PPS. I’m one of the judges again this year, although which category I’m yet to be told.

I can relate to this. (Courtesy of Richard Syers).

You may recall my Best Business Book Title competition which invited you to submit ideas for the daftest book titles. The winner was ‘Corporate Uniformity: Brand Enforcement’ by the Mongrel Mob (submitted by En Avant reader Bwooce).

Well, just to show that life is stranger than fiction, The Times reports the launch, by four Italian management consultants of a new business handbook called ‘Cinema for Managers’ :

The [50] chosen films had been “interpreted for what they can teach rising executives about management techniques such as problem solving and teamwork, as well as issues such as globalisation and diversity”, said Professor Bogliari. Classic Westerns starring John Wayne are not just frontier tales of cowboys and Indians but lessons in “leadership, mission and loneliness at the top”.

In The Terminal, Tom Hanks plays an East European refugee who becomes stateless when trapped in the limbo of an airport, but who “devises a ground-breaking strategy for survival” and turns himself into a “creative entrepreneur”.

Similarly Penélope Cruz, as Raimunda in Volver (2006), “fulfils her dreams” by acquiring a restaurant against the odds and using her femininity “to handle working relationships and motivate her team” as well as to attract customers (though keeping a body — that of her abusive husband, murdered by her daughter whom he tried to assault — in a freezer is not good business practice).

I remember long ago watching management training videos starring John Cleese, Ronnie Corbett, Ronnie Barker et al. Before you scoff, I should tell you that they were hilarious, but also very educational. But no, this ‘Cinema for Managers’ is just too silly.

I’ve written before about the importance of defining your core principles, the need for them to be consistent externally and internally with your strategy, and living them through actions, not words. Don’t get me wrong - sainthood is not realistic for most of us - but on the whole, most of us aspire to live up to our principles, even if occasionally we forget ourselves.

Rules, however, are a wholly different concept. Principles are how we live; rules are technical constructs to be obeyed (or disobeyed). Too often, people try to enshrine principles as rules (update: or is that the other way round?), or worse, suborn principles through ill-conceived, contradictory or just plain dishonest rules.

David Maister, renowned author of ‘Managing the Professional Service Firm‘, picked out this titbit from ‘How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything…in Business (and in Life)‘ by Dov Seidman:

The Problem With Rules (as opposed to Values or Principles)

1. Rules are external: made by others
2. We are ambivalent about rules (we like breaking them)
3. Rules are reactive to past events
4. Rules are both over- and under-inclusive (they are proxies, not precise)
5. Proliferation of rules is a tax on the system
6. Rules are typically prohibitions
7. Rules require enforcement
8. Rules speak to boundaries and floors, but create ceilings
9. The only way to honor rules is to obey them exactly
10. Too many rules breeds over-reliance

The BBC has an article by Bradley Horowitz of Yahoo, in which he describes his concept of ‘the internet of things’:

Imagine this scenario: I am in a supermarket and I pick up a can of tomatoes and I place it in the shopping trolley. Immediately my mobile phone flashes green to indicate to me that it is a good buy. I go down the aisle and choose a bottle of wine but this time my phone flashes red to suggest I reconsider.

Personally, I can’t think why you’d bother (except maybe the wine!) - supermarkets wouldn’t stock anything that flashed red. But he goes on to discuss a more interesting idea - that everything (and he means literally every thing) would have the dimensions of who/what/where/when associated with it in real time, so that you and the wine can be linked. And he raises that perennial challenge - the universal ID - without addressing the privacy issues (he suggests every thing should have an internet name). So this article comes across as a geeky ‘wouldn’t it be cool if...’ and is guaranteed to get the civil libertarians out in force.

Or is it? There’s something happening in the world regarding identity. ID power and control is shifting towards the individual and away from the organisation, but interestingly, it’s the individual who’s increasingly calling for greater security and universality. Why? Protection (from ID and asset theft) and convenience (the sheer volume of IDs, nicknames and passwords one needs is growing exponentially and it’s getting too hard to manage).

So Horowitz’s idea of a ‘universal resolver’ has merit, even if the pitch is wrong. The problem though will be one of trust. Microsoft tried to do this through MS Passport, but it failed because people didn’t trust MS in that role (and it was probably too early).

I might be building a story here, with my recent posts on trust, brands, and values. More to come.

Neer Korn, an Australian market researcher, propounds that businesses shouldn’t hire Gen-Y because they are untrustworthy, disloyal, cynical, blah, blah, blah. Is he serious? Since he seems to run a serious business, more likely it’s just a headline-grabbing stunt, but according to an AAP report in the Herald:

In case any of the executives listening thought he was joking, Korn reiterated his warning: They’d get a better return on investment by hiring older people.

I think Korn really means ‘don’t hire very young people’, because he thinks they’re OK by their late 20s. Ian McKinnon, legendary former headmaster of Scots College and current Pro-chancellor of Victoria University, has often made the observation, based on a lifetime of teaching, that (and I paraphrase) - yes, society changes, but in every year of every generation:

• 4th formers (Year 10) are often stroppy,
• university freshers often get drunk (and do other things they might regret later),
• many new entrants to the workforce are unsure of what they want and struggle with adjusting to becoming working adults,
• and most people evolve over time into something remarkably similar to their parents at the same age (adjusted for societal changes, education, life experiences and personality differences).

When I graduated in 1975, it was normal for young people in IT to move jobs every 3 years or so (as now). What’s new? I’ve never had a problem hiring young people (or older ones for that matter). It’s all about hiring people with the desired mix of skills, experience, potential, passion and principles, and providing them with good leadership, learning, development and job satisfaction.

As business leaders, we each need to keep renewing our industry talent pool, not only for the work young people can do today, but also to ensure that we’ll have experts and leaders in the future. To not do so is to freeload on the rest of industry.

So no, Ben Kepes, Korn’s idea gives me no comfort - I think it’s utter rubbish!

Disclosure: I have two sons in their early 20s, and they are both smart, personable, and decent blokes too. But I would say that, wouldn’t I?

Leon Gettler blogs in Management Line - from The Age newspaper in Australia - about a report from Deutsche Bank on ‘The Happy Variety of Capitalism‘. Seriously.

According to the report, the top 10 characteristics of a happy economy are:

1. High degree of trust in fellow citizens.
2. Low amount of corruption.
3. Low unemployment.
4. High level of education.
5. High income.
6. High employment rate of older people.
7. Small shadow economy.
8. Extensive economic freedom.
9. Low employment protection.
10. High birth rate. (relatively - all countries studied were below replacement rates)

So who came where? In no particular order:

• The Happy Capitalists: Australia, Switzerland, Canada, Britain, Ireland, USA, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, and to a lesser extent, Finland and New Zealand.
• The Less Happy Capitalists: Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, and Austria.
• The Unhappy Capitalists: Portugal, Italy, and Greece
• The Far Eastern Capitalists: Japan and Korea (they are just different).

I find it hard to take this too seriously. It all looks a bit shallow to me. No real analysis about cause and effect, but suggestions that the Nordics, Spain and Ireland have become happier through adopting new policies. And by implication, that Germany should as well?

I subscribe to Techcrunch, a weblog on what’s new in tech businesses and products. On a whim, I followed the links to IMEEM, a free (and now legal) music site. Very cool - tapped into some modern classic blues, courtesy of a site search on ‘blues’ which led me to a playlist by someone called Pitviper. Which I’m listening to right now, as I type this. And which I can share with my friends.

What’s this got to do with business? Prompted by a post from Mike Riversdale (just one of the many seriously smart folk at Fronde), it struck me too that most of this potentially very appealing entertainment/social stuff on the internet is hidden behind a snarky, tech-cool, in-crowd mystique.

Here’s a hint for the budding Web 2.0 entrepreneur. To quote ex-uberbanker Jonathan Sibley (now a university lecturer in Oz), the boomers are the richest generation the world has ever seen and they outnumber everyone else big-time. Now I reckon that most of them haven’t got beyond email and search. Find a way for them to access all this great Web 2.0 stuff, make them feel welcomed, and don’t scare them off before you start. You’ll also reach that younger mass market that won’t admit that it’s not really tech-confident. Do all that, and you’ll make a bundle of dough.

Many young businesses have blogs on their websites, but official blogging by established, larger companies is still rare. Here’s one example: Beehive from insurance company Scottish Life. Named last week in the Times Top 50 Business Blogs, it’s written in an informal style by Steve Bee, head of pensions. From its content, I assume his target audience is insurance industry participants (staff, agents, analysts, regulators and commentators) rather than customers. It looks like a smart way to keep that audience up to date with industry developments, positions Bee and Scottish Life in leadership roles, and has provided an effective channel for Scottish Life to get its views out on the issues of the day.

I won’t be subscribing - it’s outside my zone of interest. But still, well worth a look.