Nicholas Bate

Monday Madness

Despite:
-the gloom of others ('Monday', 'recession', 'end of the quarter') you remain up-beat and resourceful;
-the e-mail over-load you take a long walk in the Spring sunshine at lunch-time;
-the hellish traffic on the way home you manage a bed-time story to your son before 'lights-out';
-everything, Life is good.

On being different

Paul Schwend does it by offering clients his home phone number. Michael Wade does it by quantity (posts/day) times quality(value of post) times frequency (regularity of posting). Innocent Juices do it by 'just' appearing to be nice guys. Apple does it by astonishing elegance and design.

Is it the only 'special' thing these people do? No. Is it enough to make them absolutely unique? Clearly not. So why are they doing so well? Because their real 'be different' factor is: they try harder.

Thanks!

To the amazing global team who assembled in Santa Monica, California this week. Work those action plans and you guys will be unstoppable. And, Alexis: get well soon!

How to Think Like: the Down-Turn Busting Entrepreneur

1. Better
2. Faster
3. Leaner
4. Meaner
5. Even better value
6. Even easier to deal with.
7. Than ever. And really enjoying the challenge.

What your political leaders never tell you...

1. I'm not just new to this job, I am new to this way of thinking.
2. I thought my advisers would know-they don't either.
3. The responsibility that goes with this job is frankly scary.

What are you reading?

Just finished The Pirate's Dilemma. If you want some good background reading on how youth culture is affecting business, this is a good place to start. I actually disliked the book for its sweeping generalisations but it's stiil one of the best in its genre.

Be Different

Be faster OR maybe
Be slower
Be bigger OR maybe
Be smaller
Be cheaper OR maybe
Be more expensive
Be local OR maybe
Be global

But absolutely definitely no-doubt-about-it: be different.

One of the many nice things about Santa Monica..

..is that you can walk on the beach, watch the sun-rise, get a short latte at Starbucks (opens 0500) and write a chapter of your thriller (the one where he finally discovers she's been deceiving him all along) and look up and find its only 0900. Cool.

A presentation tip

Remove that which might distract from your message e.g.:
Stuff left on whiteboards and flip-charts which seems intriguing. Get rid of it.
Too obvious clocks, especially ones on the wall just behind you. Remove it during your presentation.
Left-over lunch. Wheel it into the corridor.
Blackberries. Just say NO.
Questions: decide what you want to do (as you go along/at end?) and stick to it.
Overly voluminous notes. Reduce and tidy.
Late arrivals. Try and ensure they enter from the back of the room, not front nor side.
That tie. Get rid of it.

How to Think Like: an Architect

1. Light.
2. Space.
3. Elemental.
4. Sense of community.
5. Environmentally sound yet abundant.
6. An inspiration and legacy to those who visit the building.
7. Plenty of electric sockets? Sure-we can do that.