A great article in the Harvard Business Review this morning. Reminded me of the importance of sticking to my personal code:

• Data. Get the data. Make the recommendation based on data. Make the decision based on data.
• Get things done. Focus on the inputs. Deliver the results. The rest is minutia.
• No Politics or Bureaucracy. Don’t stand for it. Eliminate any hint of internal politics the moment you see it.

What’s your personal code?

• Nothing moves in neutral: You can’t always get from A to B in one minute. The trick is to start somewhere and keep moving.

• Nobody learns to drive from the manual: It’s easier for the team to learn something new via doing, vs. telling or instructing.

• Let others drive: It’s critical to know when to take the wheel and when it’s safe to let others drive for a while.

• They may be better than you at driving! It’s possible your staff are better drivers then you are, though you’ll never know unless you give them the keys.

• When stuck in traffic, turn the music up: It’s not the situation that makes a great leader, it’s how you react.

Well, perhaps this year is the year….GroupOn is a massive success in the US and group buying is a hot space in Australia. Check out this post from Kevin lo to see what’s next:

GroupOn now is live

I recently posted on Switched on Media the below post:

became aware there is a Facebook app that enables Skype users to speak with friends right from the Facebook newsfeed. It’s now clear to me why there are (well founded) rumours that Facebook will buy Skype or form a joint venture of some description.

Having recently worked closely with some corporate advisors, it’s also now equally clear to me why there are alternate rumours that Google is also interested in acquiring Skype. No points for guessing this is the result of corporate advisors for Skype creating competitive tension in order to maximise deal value for the company.

When I worked for eBay, which acquired Skype in 2005, the deal was a lemon. Full stop. An acquisition of Skype by Facebook in my opinion will also under deliver on market expectations for the following reasons:

• People want to socialise when they want to

Facebook and other forms of social media allows us to keep up to date with friends at our own convenience, not necessarily at the same time our “friends” are online.

• People want to choose their level of interaction

The Facebook and Twitter phenomenon is evidence that there are times we prefer to keep up to date on several relationships in a shallow way, instead of few relationships in a deep way.  Ever interested to know what someone is doing without actually speaking to them? Yeah, me too.

• You can’t ‘Like’ on Skype

Why talk to one person on Skype when you can interact with scores online over the same timeframe? To take a Facebook conversation on to Skype actually prohibits broader group social interaction – no one else in your network can “like” or “comment” on a private Skype discussion. Like and comment attainment is the gratification of the Facebook status update. Note that Facebook chat is currently underutilised for this reason – it doesn’t make one feel popular.

• Why not build their own?

Why would Facebook acquire Skype when it could build it at a fraction of the acquisition cost? Acquirers always express interest to test seller reaction, then tailor back the offer. The change in Facebook’s official stance from “yes we will buy”, to “perhaps we will partner”, is evidence that the synergy of such a deal appears diminished after some initial due diligence.

Oh, and if none of the above points resonate, there is always the fact that Facebook is often used by people when they are at work and should be working. They can’t exactly start talking into their computer to a mate without somebody noticing, can they?

This is what my professional  linkedin connections look like. The Red stuff on the right appears to be eBay related. The on the left is Switched on Media related.

Visualise your own linkedin map here. It’s interesting to see who the most influential people in your network are…

• You can learn more in one day than you think.
• What you were doing yesterday is old news, it’s all about what you are learning now, or next. Never stop learning.
• All people are friendly and everyone responds well to a smile
• Play. Dance. Laugh. Sing.
• You can’t do everything at once. There are lots of distractions in life, so be present in the moment,  you’ll get to the distractions eventually.
• Life is short. We all grow up fast. Live now.

are not to be underestimated. We are all connected. When things get tough in business, relationships matter.

The benefits of getting things done:

http://phill.co/

this guys a gun. And i’m lucky enough to sit next to him at work!

Phil Ohren

Direct from facebook HQ “Facebook Places is a new product that allows users to share where they are, find out where their friends are, and discover interesting places nearby. Facebook Places also allows businesses to establish Places (physical store locations) on Facebook and then encourage patrons to share where they are by “checking in” to their Place. Check-in stories can generate powerful, organic impressions in friends’ News Feeds, extending your brand’s reach to many potential new customers”. Sound familiar, well that’s because it is. It’s a complete copy of foursquare.  There was a time in business when people tried to differentiate themselves, though it seems creativity was dead the day they thought of this at facebook