But I have to wonder —–

Do we really care? Really?

Here was my response/comment to the post:

Are we sure? I wonder if there is any research to show that customers really care. And do customers on the west coast care more than others?

And how are the challenges to global warming data changing this game?

On my side I find a lot of people who love the “green” stuff – but I also see people turned off by companies who think they are saving the world.

While I am not commenting so much about is global warming true or not (although as a recovering scientist I do have an opinion about the science) — I am just wondering … are we all jumping up and down thinking our customers care without knowing for sure?

For me, green used to mean you had an upset stomach – something I might relate to a rough ride while deep sea fishing. Back in the ’70’s Kermit claimed it is “not easy being green.”  How we moved from being hard to be green to it is “good to be green” and now it is “a must to be green” I really am puzzled.

But what I notice is all best intentions in the world – people end up buying value. The idea of being green presupposes customers place a high value on a company spending its money on being green.

I am bettering this is not true. What do you think?

Dale Callahan is a contributing writer for the IEM Blog. Dr. Callahan is the IEM Program Director for the Information Engineering and Management Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His thoughts here represent the types of topics covered in the Entrepreneurial courses he teaches the clients of the IEM Program at UAB. Thanks to DaleCallahan.com for this article.

One of the things I try to do in my classes is help my clients develop certain “patterns of thought.” When faced with various professional and personal challenges, I want them to automatically think of the relevant trade-offs, the best practices, and the words of wisdom that may guide them to success.

One aspect of this is that we tend to spend more time on “why” questions and less time on “how” questions. Naturally, we do some of both – but I believe that a major part of teaching professionals is to develop their insights and self-confidence. When the time for leadership arises, I want to help prepare them to step up and say “here is what we’re going to do and here is why.”

Don Appleby has served since 2004 as an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he teaches in the Information Engineering and Management Program.  He has over three decades of professional experience in the information technology industry.  Prof. Appleby is retired from IBM.

Thanks to ProfAppleby.com for this article.

Have you ever earned a dollar that was not part of your salary? I have added this question to the list of many others I ask of those who approach me wanting help to break out of cubicle insanity and become entrepreneurs. Often the answer is no.

The $2500 goal

Here is another good question.

How long will it take you to make $2500 in revenue from your new business?

When I ask this question I can tell a lot about a person. Many people just look very uncertain – almost nervous. This question is serious – a real measurement – a real goal. While $2500 to most of us is not going to be life changing – it strikes fear into many aspiring entrepreneurs.

I can see the answers and the internal argument going on within them? Here is what I read on their faces – their internal conversation.

I have no idea, $2500 is a ton of money for what I do? Yet $2500 is really nothing. If I cannot get $2500, then how can I get $25,000 – or better the $100,000 I am after. This is overwhelming! I can’t do this!

Have you ever had these thoughts? Do you now? Seriously – this is common! If you have comment on where you stand!

Grow into business

Here is the thing – if you want to become an entrepreneur and have not had any significant part time business – you are approaching becoming a fool if you plan to quit the day job and go for it. You have too much to learn – and too far to go. And one of you biggest challenges is YOU.

So start today and begin. Get some money coming in – this creates HUGE momentum. If you can make $100, you can make $1000!

If you can make $1000, you can make $2500 – just keep doing the same thing!

If you can make $2500, you can make $100,000.

Momentum is the key!

Instead of going into business – which seems like a huge leap to so many – just grow into business. Start selling something – products, services, whatever on a small scale. Grow into business!

What are you doing?

If you have done this and met a $2500 mark – leave a comment and tell us how you did it.

If you have the fears I have listed above  – comment on that also!

Dale Callahan is a contributing writer for the IEM Blog. Dr. Callahan is the IEM Program Director for the Information Engineering and Management Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His thoughts here represent the types of topics covered in the Entrepreneurial courses he teaches the clients of the IEM Program at UAB. Thanks to DaleCallahan.com for this article.

The Reverse Interview is one of the most powerful methods I have found to find a new job. The basic idea of the reverse interview is that you will contact someone who is where you want to be in a few years, ask them to talk so that you may learn what it takes to get where they have gotten. Nothing fancy.

The Six Steps
1) Decide where you want to be in a few years. This sounds simple and obvious, but I find most people lie to themselves on this one. But more on that in a later post.
2) Find people who are where you want to be – from step 1. Who is already doing what you want to be doing. Contact them and ask them for 15-30 minutes of their time. Tell them you simply are trying to learn what it takes to get to where they are today. Do not ask if they are hiring – in fact – you do not care if they are hiring.
3) When you meet with them, remember you are interviewing them, and not them interviewing you. DO NOT TAKE A RESUME. DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOURSELF AT ALL except to explain why you are there. For instance, you might say “I have been working in the telecommunications industry for the last 10 years, but I have gotten interested in doing something different, and I think I would like to be where you are in a few years. I would like to learn how you got to where you are and what you love and hate about your current work.”
4) Listen, ask questions, and finish on time.
5) In the end ask them who else they would suggest you talk to.
6) Follow up with a thank you note or email. This is very important! While it may sound cheesy, I really take note when I get them myself – and I normally would not care about such things as thank you notes. So, if it works on me, it must REALLY work. (Not that I am insensitive or anything.)  But at very least it helps keep fresh the new networking contact you have made. And just in case you have missed it so far – DO NOT SEND A RESUME.

What to expect
1) Information. You will get a wealth of information. You are asking them to talk about themselves, which everyone loves to do. In talking about them, they let their guard down. You are asking how they feel about the work. So you might discover the company is a terrible place to work. You might discover what you thought would be a neat job really is not a fit for you. You might discover a lot of things – and that is the point.
2) They will like you. Yes, I said they will like you. How do I know? You have asked them to talk about themselves. In case you have not read Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends & Influence People let me summarize – if you want people to like you, get them to talk about themselves.
3) You are likely to meet many people on that day. I have seen these interviews take 30 minutes with one person, only to get introduced to another then another. I had an undergraduate engineering student who did this with a company and spent four hours in their offices, walking away with business cards from multiple vice presidents and multiple offers.
4) You might get offered a job! Yes – I said you might get offered a job. First time I did this the company was not hiring and I made no mention of getting a job. But when I was walking out the guy told me ”Dale, we haven’t hired new people in this firm in 10 years – but would you be interested in working for us.” I was floored – not because I got offered a job, but because I HAD CREATED A JOB.

What if they offer you a job?
Do not take it! Certainly do not start jumping up and down screaming like a schoolgirl! Act like you expect it, thank them, and remind them you are searching right now and not ready to take this step. The key here is to mean it. This “searching” is exactly what you are doing. You have moved from the person who is looking for anything to the person who is intentionally looking for the right thing. Just as you might shop for the right clothes or the right shoes, your job (or company) needs to be right for you also.

Fact is: if you decide their job offer is what you want to do, they will be there later. You will have their phone number and email address. You can later contact them and tell them that you loved what you heard from them and want to go after an opportunity in that field. Ask them if they know of anything you should approach. Notice – you still do not have to ask for a job. Remember, they like you!

What next?
- Before you take a job, do this a number of times. I suggest at least ten times.
- When you get a job, keep doing this to learn new things. When you need to learn something new for the job, start with the experts.
- Never hate work again!

Dale Callahan is a contributing writer for the IEM Blog. Dr. Callahan is the IEM Program Director for the Information Engineering and Management Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His thoughts here represent the types of topics covered in the Entrepreneurial courses he teaches the clients of the IEM Program at UAB. Thanks to DaleCallahan.com for this article.

When you think about getting ready for a job interview you want to be sure you have covered all your bases…but what about your professional presentation? Well, a good blog will go a long way towards giving you the professionalism you need, but be careful, because a bad blog can wreck it for you.According to Allen Johnson of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, “No one has to have a blog…It can be purposeful if it’s professional, well thought out and intelligent,” he said. “But it’s a different thing if you just ramble without a strategic plan. You’re opening yourself up to disaster.”

READ MORE HERE

“A hard look at the soft practice of managing and management development.

Henry Mintzberg believes that both management and management education are deeply troubled, but that neither can be changed without changing the other.

Mintzberg asserts that conventional MBA classrooms overemphasize the science of management while ignoring its art and denigrating its craft, leaving a distorted impression of its practice. We need to get back to a more engaging style of management, to build stronger organizations, not bloated share prices. This calls for another approach to management education, whereby practicing mangers learn from their own experience. We need to build the art and the craft back into management education, and into management itself.

Mintzberg examines what is wrong with our current system. Conventional MBA programs are mostly for young people with little or no experience. These are the wrong people. Programs to train them emphasize analysis and technique. These are the wrong ways. They leave graduates with the false impression that they have been trained as managers, which has had a corrupting effect on the practice of management as well as on our organizations and societies. These are the wrong consequences.

Mintzberg describes a very different approach to management education, which encourages practicing mangers to learn from their own experience. No one can create a manager in a classroom. But existing managers can significantly improve their practice in a thoughtful classroom that makes use of that experience.”

This blurb comes to you from http://www.henrymintzberg.com/mangnotmba.htm

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In his article “Viewpoint: Explore Mars with robots”, John Merchant talks about a new concept called “telepresence” that will allow people to travel to Mars, and other distance planets, through an electronic medium. Merchant describes “Telepresence [as] an emerging technology that could enable humans to function in, and experience, a distant space environment such as Mars as effectively, for all practical purposes, as actually going there – but without going there!”  I assume astronauts will be the “humans” that do this exploration by telepresence, but his article doesn’t seem to specify who exactly will be “tele-present”

Who knows? Twenty years from now it could be IT professionals that go to the moon. Can’t you see that in a 3rd grade classroom: “And what do you want to be when you grow up Billy?” “I want to be an IT Professional so I can send a computer to Mars”.

The theory is that this new technology will open doors to NASA and allow space exploration to reach new heights. But the situation begs the question: If we’ve gone to new heights virtually, have we actually reached them or just taken fancy pictures?

Anyway, read the article, it is quite interesting. My only problem with it is, well, am I the only person that saw “Surrogates”? Travel by telepresence? What’s next, mechanical body doubles? Maybe. Read here and find out more.

In an economy where jobs are few, you’d think anyone with a job would be happy to have one. But according to a poll by the Conference Board research group only 45% of employed Americans are happy with their jobs. No, really, apparently you’re not alone.

This article from the Associated Press tells all about it. Read here.

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