Worldview is a very important thing. It influences how we see the world, how we see others and more importantly how we ourselves and our position in the world. I have been thinking a lot lately on what my world view is? What are the things that shaped it and how correct or incorrect those things are?

My worldview needs to change, the question is can it change? How? What do I need to change my world view? In what aspects do I need to change it? What do I hope to get from this exercise?

Join me as I embark on a journey to change my worldview.

Just got an email from Steve Ballmer (yes, I am a subscriber to Microsoft executive emails) about the new normal. The idea of the email is that things have changed so much in the economy that the new normal requires new efficiency and that this will be driven by IT innovations. According to him the nature of the shift is “After years of economic expansion fueled by unrealistic rates of consumption and unsustainable levels of private debt, the global economy has reset at a lower baseline level of activity. Today, people borrow less, save more, and spend with much greater caution.” And the slew of products that Microsoft is releasing is supposed to help with IT efficiency to produce the new normal. Maybe it will, maybe it wont. My view is that the changes are so fundamental, that the new normal is going to lead to massive increases in net economic welfare (NEW). That is the new, in the new normal.

While I agree with with Mr. Ballmer on the basic premise of the new normal and I share his optimism about the future, I do not agree that releasing new software products that are simply more of the same is the solution that will create the new normal. If you have been listening to recent IBM commercials, I think they give an inkling of what the new normal is – technology in the broad sense applied to solving big planetary problems by folks who are ready to apply the best knowledge and thinking to solving these problems.

What is the new normal? The new normal is quantum leaps in productivity where organizations will get increasing share of the consumer’s wallet by producing benefits better than what they consume today at better quality, faster and at a cheaper price. What has happened in the last few boom periods, is increase in paper wealth but not in real economic benefit or real wealth. For example, in the software industry, to increase informational worker productivity, they do not need the umpteenth version of word but software that rethinks the whole process of document creation. What they need is a piece of software that uses artificial intelligence and automation to help an IW produces better documents with clarity and ability to achieve the purpose of the document the worker wants to produce.

Lets use a scenario as an example. John is a corporate lawyer one of the best in the area of international corporate structures. He works for a Tony law firm in New York, but he lives in Sequim WA, so he can be close to some of the best fly fishing in the continent United States. Imagine he is getting on a new case, first there were emails, the phone and conference call and finally a video conference with the client where he decided to take on the case. All of this from his “intelligent” home office of course using Unified Communications. His intelligent office, based on his work style, then when on to gather all the case laws, collect all the necessary templates fill it will the clients information and noted some of the exceptions that could be related to this case. All John, then has to do is review and make specific changes based on his expertise.  What has happened  here is that technology has allowed John to focus on his most highly valued activity, it has replaced an army of back office people doing grunt work, that could get tired and make mistakes or forget. And it has enabled John to be more productive and increased his net economic welfare and that of the whole society.

Hence, the new normal  is one of productivity. Productivity in the way people work – I don’t think the large company form is the best way to maximize economic production. In how people work, do we need to move massive number of people to same location everyday. Or in what people do – when is robotics going to lead to the next phase of industrial revolution and knowledge work anyone?

Here are some ideas that I think I already going in the direction of the new normal:

1. Singularity

2. Auto code generation

3. Artificial Intelligence

4. Electric cars

5. Biomimicry

5. Human machine interface

Take any industry and there are evolutionary and revolutionary ideas. And the best ones are the one taking ideas from other disciplines.

This Mr. Ballmer is the new normal, it is a revolution not an evolution. You more than most people on the planet are in charge of the resources that can lead this revolution. However, you seem to need a larger vision.

1) Define your goal

2) Set out your strategy

3) Plan out your problems

4) Build in reserves

5) Relate it to timeframe

6) Create a master plan

7) Action today

1) Drive

2) Persuasion

3) Perception

4) Strong ego need to win

5) Respond to failure with optimism

6) Confidence in your own ability

7) Know what you inability will permit you to do (know your limitation)

8) Plan strategy and measure performance continually

9) Short term view when measuring performance and Long term view when measuring success

10) Final destination is clear, measurable, specific in time quality and quantity values

11) Immediately accurate and objectively urgent in all deliberations

12) Choose people to assist them with the strength they do not have to fill in the gaps

1. What am I trading?

2. What am I forfeiting?

3. What are the uncertainties?

4. What are the guarantees or penalties?

5. What are the terms?

6. What can cause failure?

7. Can I fully perform?

8. Can they fully perform?

9. What are the buffer?

10. What  if we overestimate?

11. What if they overestimate?

12. Can cost expand?

13. Can percentages decreases?

14. Are there an exit points?

15. Are there any condition for mutual withdrawal?

16. Are there any outside influences?

17. Who exactly is in charge?

18. What are the ongoing obligation?

19. Are there any upper and lower limits?

20. Are the personalities concerned fully committed?

21 Are all points of concern, agreed, written, dated signed and noted.

I recently took on an website project as a means of putting together some of the side skills I am picking up, you know XHTML, CSS, PNG and other alphabet soup. However before you can build a professional site, it is important to start with planning. Here are the items I picked up on planning and come back for more as I go through the complete workflow.

Here are the steps in the planning phase.

Objective: Why are we building this site? Who is it for?

Competitive Analysis: Not just direct competition of the business, but also from a site design perspective who do we want to benchmark against.

User definition: Who is going to be using the site?

Sitemaps: what will people be doing when they get to the site?

--> Process Flow: What information is going to be provided?

--> User maps: How will it be accessed? How will it be displayed?

Elements common to all pages e.g. Footers, Logo and Call to Action

Wireframes

2 types of wireframes – planning wireframes (use PowerPoint or Visio); Graphic design wireframes (Photoshop PSD files)

Typography – Font, Color, Layout

Technology:

Static content – XHTML or Flash or Silverlight

Images – PNG, JPEG or GIF

Video Animation – Flash Silverlight

(Hosting for Video Animation is another issue you will have to deal with)

Downloadable files? – pdf or word

Database – MS-SQL, MySQL or XML/XLT

Scripting Language – JavaScript, ASP.Net, Java

Overall, remember the best tool is the one you know best.

OVERALL PROJECT WORKLOW (Based on what  I know now :) )

Planning –> Resource gathering –> Building –> Testing –> Repeat.

It is often said that life is a marathon not a race. And from where I am health and fitness wise, running a marathon is a rather non thrilling prospect. I can barely walk a mile not to talk of jogging it. However, that is exactly what I am thinking of doing.

A good friend of mine is training for the marathon and while he claimed not to have lost any weight he is definitely looking good.  

doable? donno

But I think I have a framework that I can use, and today the hottest day on record in Seattle is a good day to start it as any.

framework –

SMART {Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-based and Time-bound} OR

STARS {Specific, Time-bound, Achievable, Realistic, Structured}

For starters, I have started tracking what I eat at MSN’s My wellness center.

This is what website magazine claims as the top 25 reads for Web professionals.

Designing With Web Standards (Voices That Matter)

Web Analytics: An Hour a Day

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day

Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time

Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS

Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions

World Wide Rave: Creating Triggers that Get Millions of People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories

Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer

Building Findable Websites: Web Standards SEO and Beyond

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies

Do It Wrong Quickly: How the Web Changes the Old Marketing Rules (IBM Press)

Web Design for ROI: Turning Browsers into Buyers & Prospects into Leads

Killer Web Content: Make the Sale, Deliver the Service, Build the Brand

Building Findable Websites: Web Standards SEO and Beyond

Killer Web Content: Make the Sale, Deliver the Service, Build the Brand

Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy Every Time

The Findability Formula: The Easy, Non-Technical Approach to Search Engine Marketing

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

Long Tail, The, Revised and Updated Edition: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

I am particularly interested in business strategy however strategy as a whole is becoming a  recurring theme in my conversation as of late. From the fourth of July US war of independence military strategy from History.com to my team strategic choices and the impact on the business, I find myself talking about strategy a lot lately.

What is Strategy? An approach for mobilizing resources to achieve specific future-oriented objective.

The key is to anticipate a future state. In business strategy there are natural forces that one must consider when thinking about strategy this include industry status, competitors (the players), Capital (investment required and profit potential), external factors.

Strategic thinking requires hard, fact-based, logical information, that questions everyone's assumptions while minimizing the resources required to win by being indirect and unexpected rather than being predictable.

Rule #1 of business strategy – follow the money: understand the fundamental economics of the industry before creating the strategy.

Interesting video on what Ballmer has to say on time management and meetings.

You can find more on his leadership style overall at:

http://online.wsj.com/public/page/lessons-in-leadership.html

For me a picture is truly worth a thousand words. In trying to learn any tough concept, I have realize I need a mental model that aligns with something already in my toolbox of mental models.

And the key components of my mental models are:"

1. Visualization

2. Reductionism

Like a lot of people I keep a to-do list. And sometimes, some items just languish on the to-do list until it is better to just get rid of them than anything else.

From a work perspective, I use a to-do list to keep track of what I am supposed to be doing and sometimes, it mentally acts as a justification for I have more to do than I have time to do it. While this may be true, it is essentially not taking responsibility for my own work/performance. For instance, the to-do list is not useful if it doesn’t list items in the order of importance. Also it could be improved it I track how long it takes me to do various tasks on the list. By 1) spend some time estimating how long 2) calculate how long it actually took. This will help me get better at estimating the amount of time required and also figure out ways to spend less time getting things done.

Thinking more about this, I realize what I need is a ‘what am I going to do today list” – based on my calendar, new tasks that pop up and other disruptions, I need to clearly see what it is I plan on achieving on a daily basis and see how far along I am at the end of the work day.

What this system doesn’t fix that I need to think about is, 1) how will I measure the promises that I made (especially in meetings and stuff) to make sure I deliver on them and 2) the promises others make to me, to ensure they deliver as well.

Happy 231st Anniversary America.

Watching the history channel today on the history of the revolution, one see that there are certain values that a foundational to America.

Individualism, freedom  in many ways, of speech, thought and political association.

Do you know that Rhode Island to meet their quota of soldiers sent slaves? back people have been involved in every “American” war since the very beginning.

This is a great country on many levels and I am proud to be an American!

Playing [or is it working] on my computer tonight, I noticed that while working on any set of tasks I am constantly distracted by other things I could be doing. It is like I have these set of parallel processors in my head and in a random manner a parallel thread becomes the main logic chain.

For example, I wanted to clean up the clutter on my desktop and while doing this I found a folder (although it is always there right on my desktop) that contains interesting articles that I wanted to read. Typically, I would have ended up with a partially cleaned desktop and half the articles read.

Is this attention deficit disorder? Or is this simply a lack of discipline to follow through, to do something to its logical conclusion? I think it is the latter, although it may be caused by the former.

When I write, the use of brackets to express an adjunct thought or commentary is an expression of how my brain is constantly working in parallel.  Reflecting a little bit, this is a common pattern and one that I need to pay more attention to and hopefully solve.

The immediate solve for tonight, I put the things I wanted to do down on paper and force myself to finish the tasks off is some chronological order.

A good friend, Jessie Bolin is going to work in South Africa for five weeks as a member of the IBM’s Corporate Services Corp. A program she describes as being like the peace corps. She and a team of 12 IBM’ers from different parts of the world (US, UK, India, Australia, Germany, Japan, Finland and New Zealand) and different disciplines ( Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Finance and Communications) will be working with local non profits to address specific business issues.

Six other teams like this from the IBM Corporate Services Corp, will be working on similar projects in  China, Philippines, Romania, Ghana, Vietnam and Brazil. The question is what are the gives and gets and the motivations in this awesome adventure.

From IBM’s perspective, the goal is to develop leadership skills while helping to address the world’s socio-economic issues. From the participants viewpoint, I would guess similar goals, while having fun, travelling and living in a foreign country and developing a global perspective of your company with other folks in the company.

For the countries and the non profit – the goal is getting world class talents to work on some of the really important challenges they are facing with probably severely limited resources.

This is a truly interesting adventure for Jessie, and I hope to follow her experience, you can too through her blog at: http://www.jessieinsouthafrica.blogspot.com/

The pundits are now saying the recovery is for real this time, so I suspect one more time the market if going to go down. However, I think it is time for me to start to think about the economy and recovery for myself, rather than believing what other folks think.

From what I know about economics, there is the time to look at the economic indicators, for oneself and see what they are actually doing rather than trusting the pundits.

As amateur economist, we must first identify the list of leading economic indicators and lagging economic indicators. And then choose the one we think we can believe in based on previous performance and availability of data.  Finally, we should track this indicators.

List of Economic Indicators:

1. http://www.investopedia.com/university/releases/

Tracking the direction of the indicators:

http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/marketsummary/calendars/economic.asp

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/ecalendar/index.html

Having worked in technology and at Microsoft for a while, I know there lots of Nigerians in technology. However more and more are showing up in marketing content.

Two new folks are Makinde Adeagbo (new facebook page) and Dolapo Falola (google reader) more grease to your elbows.

Whoa it has been a while since I blogged, been meaning to get to it but haven’t. Have some really cool ideas that I will like to write about – maybe in a series and then just cross post it here.

Recently started using Google reader and the best thing about it for me is how quickly I can plough through a lot of blog postings.

Less important, is discoverability – I can usually just search for most well known blogs. Finally, there is sharing. I want to share, but not literarily to everyone, which means for example I can’t share with Google. However, the alternative is to use my contacts in Gmail, however I have very few contacts on Gmail.

http://www.moneycompare.com.au/blog/house-prices-compared-what-usd-500000-buy-worldwide.php

The international housing market has practically stalled over the past year and in some countries prices have fallen through the floor. With a considerable drop in prices, now is the ideal time to buy that new home or holiday house. Lets imagine you are upwardly mobile and have around US$500,000 (AU$770,000) to invest. It may not stretch as far as it used to, but you can still get some stunning properties in exotic locations.

Take a look at these gorgeous properties in across the globe and see just what you can get for your money.

Turkey: Kalkan, Mediterranean Sea

Local Price: €393,000
USD Price: $505,000
Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 4
These newly built villas are located at Kiziltas over looking the stunning Kalkan bay. The pool-side sea views are incredible. While the villa is situated on the hill its only 5 minutes drive to the town centre below. Everything in the house is designed to be able to soak up the views. The master bedroom, open plan kitchen/dining and lounge layouts lead out to the pool-side terrace.

Thailand: Bang Saray, South Jomtien

Local Price: 17,000,000 THB
USD Price: $485 640
Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 3
This luxury villa captures old world charm with its authentic design. It offers all the modern amenities Europeans would wish for in a holiday home, including a swimming pool. Situated in the picturesque fishing village of Bang Saray, it has access to the unspoiled beach on the eastern seaboard of Thailand. The main town of Pattaya is also very close by, just a mere 15 kilometers away.

Indonesia: Canggu, Bali

Local Price: IDR 6,000,000,000
USD Price: $495,000
Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2
Only 175 m from the beach, this beautiful Balinese villa on 5.5 acres of land, surrounded by the rice fields of Canggu. From the villa there is spectacular sunset and ocean views with Bali’s mountain range in the distance.

USA: West Rice Street, Chicago

Price: $499,000
Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2
Giving trendy a new meaning, the lumiere are forward thinking from the outside in, unlike anything on the market in Chicago, Caesar stone kitchens w built in sushi/breakfast bar, frosted glass & ebony sabbiata horizontal grain cabs, viking appliances, built in speakers and ent ctr. Baths imported porcelain w steam shower, rain, and body sprays. 8 ft solid birch doors, 4 in birch floors. Elevator building, 1 gar space & roof deck.

Costa Rica: Playa Tamarindo

USD Price: US$499,000
Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 3
Costa Rica is famed for its sun, surf, climate microsystems, beautiful valleys, volcanoes, jungles, excellent security, good infrastructure, low costs and choice of climate. Property wise, Costa Rica is Latin America’s answer to Switzerland! Buying property here isn’t cheap anymore but $500,000 will buy you a luxury villa like this one. It was built only in 2007 and is set 10 minutes from Playa Tamarindo. There room to sleep seven people, a gorgeous swimming pool and an outdoor living area with room for all with a new big webber gas grill to cook your favorite foods.

New Zealand: Albany, Auckland

Local Price: NZU$939,000
USD Price: $480,000
Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 3
On average, real house prices declined 35%, with the decline stretching over six years meaning that now mightn’t be a bad to purchase in New Zealand. This gorgeous two level cosy 276sqm home exudes warmth and character no matter the day, time or season. The home is well appointed for sun and stunning views every day of: luscious bush , changing weather moods and magnificent sunsets! The two levels offer their own indoor to outdoor flow to decks. The lower level takes you down to a charming pool complex and spacious garden. The block of land is 6028sqm. Offers: 4 double bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 living areas, rumpus/office/games room, a studio/ hobbies room above the garage, ample off street parking, several deck areas.

Australia: Surrey Hills, Sydney

Local Price: AU$ 740,000
USD Price: $487,438
Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 2
The ultimate in luxury city living, this two bedroom apartment is modern in design and offers top quality finishes throughout. The layout is spacious and airy; a must have for minimalist living. This is a great lock-up and go property for enthusiastic travelers, although be warned you’ll be reluctant to go anywhere after seeing the spectacular views from the balcony.

Brazil: Bombinhas, Santa Catarina

USD Price: $481,000
Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 4
Located in the hilltop overlooking the breathtaking views of the mountains, the ocean and Bombas Beach; this designer home is ideal for those wanting to live in the lap of luxury. This split-level home has three bedrooms, each with its own en-suite and it has more than enough living space with 2 living areas and an outdoor patio with a swimming pool. Part of a gated community, it is secure and you can get full access to all the communal facilities including: tennis courts; two clubhouses; volleyball courts and even a jogging trail.

Caribbean Islands: Bon Accord Estate, Tobago

USD Price: $465,000
Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2
A spacious Caribbean island retreat can be yours for less than $500,000 and it comes fully furnished. Located on a quiet estate, this air-conditioned 3 bedroom is pleasantly decorated and has ample indoor and outdoor living space. It even has its own lovely swimming pool set in a manicured garden. Best of all the beach, bars and shops are all within walking distance.

France: Mazemat, South Tarn

Local Price: €395,000
USD Price: $505,442
Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 2
This beautiful 19th century manor house is in magnificent condition and simply oozes charm. Set near a quaint village, it offers the peace and tranquility of a rural property and is still only 5 minutes away from the local shops. This spacious home has 5 bedrooms; a study; large reception room and huge family kitchen.

Malaysia: Damamsara, Kuala Lumpur

Local Price: RM1,800,000
USD Price: $501,000
Bedrooms: 3 +1 Bathrooms: 4
This modern, semi-detached condominium provides a sanctuary away from the busy city centre of Kuala Lumpur while still being only moments from the commercial centre. High ceilings and clean lines makes this home feel spacious and cool. The complex offers all the amenities a busy family could require including a gym; playground; swimming pool and of course 24 hour security.

South Africa: Camps Bay, Cape Town

Local Price: R4,395,000
USD Price: $450,300
Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 & a Swimming Pool
Own a slice of paradise, in this sought after area of Cape Town. This gorgeous 3 bedroom house is perfect for entertainers. The entertainment area flows directly from the living rooms, through to a beautiful swimming overlooked by the mountain. Secure and spacious, it even has an additional storage room.

Spain: Sierrezuela, Andalucia

Local Price: €395,000
USD Price: $505,442
Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 Swimming Pool
Spend some time in the sun in your very own traditional Spanish villa. This charming three bedroom property is set within a mature garden, complete with its very own swimming pool. Make the most of the mild climate by dinning alfresco on the shaded porch. Quiet and rustic, this is a great getaway for busy people.

UK: Canary Wharf, London

Local Price: £340,000
USD Price: $502,600
Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 2
Get spectacular river views with this modern apartment in the heart of the Docklands. This stunning property offers a large reception area; 2 good sized bedrooms and a stylish semi-circular balcony. It even comes with a concierge service.

USA: Manhattan, New York City

Price: US$499,000
Bedrooms: 1 Bathrooms: 1
Manhattan properties are notoriously expensive; however it is still possible to find little gems like this one bedroom apartment. Completely renovated it has all the complimentary services that buyers would expect in a Manhattan property. It has a 24 hour doorman; laundries on every floor; a parking garage and even a garden.

USA: Lower Pacific Heights, San Francisco

Price: $450,000
Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 2
This gorgeous Victorian Condo is in perfectly located for easy access to Japantown, as well as the shops and bars on Fillmore Street. Much of the period features have been retained, however this cosy 2 bedroom property has all the modern amenities required for todayís lifestyle.