Consultants: Credentials or Qualifications?

 
Recently, what caught my attention was a discussion about people graduating with MBAs who want to go into consulting. Isn’t consulting a later-in-your-career choice?  Something you do after a few decades of experience?  The way a retired General working for defence contractors after decades of military experience as opposed to a 2^nd Lieutenant graduating from West Point choosing to go into consulting as an alternative to going into the Army?

Case in point:  The GSA did not waste money hiring jugglers and clowns.  The GSA wasted money hiring consultants to teach teamwork and leadership skills by having employees build bicycles.

Why?

Well, what are the deliverables?  The target dates?  The measure of value added?  The argument could be made that we are dealing with intangibles. I will refute that later.

 
The Back Story:

A few decades ago, I participated in an exercise for a class on teamwork.  The class was broken up into groups of four or five.

The exercise?  You are stranded on an islands with a list of provisions that you are to rank in order of importance.  Then to explain your decisions.  Then to discuss all the decisions to come up with a list.  In addition:  The weather is damp. It will get colder in the night. And we are told that there are no right or wrong answers.  The purpose is to learn to work as a team.

Briefly: a knife, a rope, a gun, a cigarette lighter with no fluid, a bottle of whisky.

I listened. I waited.  I began my list”

1. Cigarette lighter with no fluid.

2. Bottle of whisky—

AHA!!!!!  Whisky does not make you warmer. It only makes you feel warmer because you are losing body heat because alcohol dilates the blood vessels….!

True. But…

1.  That was not my point.

2.  The interrupter did not wait for me to finish speaking

3. The interrupter interrupted to repudiate my point based on an assumption

4.  The interrupter did not ask me why I made the rankings.


My Choices:

I was a Boy Scout. It is difficult enough to make a fire by rubbing two sticks together or by using flint and steel with tinder under the best of conditions.  It is damp. It will get cold.  The Whisky burns.  No claim of right or wrong.  Only the failed procedure.  Or is it?

You can figure out most of the above yourself.  The “aha” moment for me was when I realised that the instructions said, “There are no right or wrong answers.”  Yes there are.

Remember, “Who’s to say what’s right or wrong?”  I won’t go there. Why not? Simple.

You make the right choices, you live.

You make the wrong choices, you die!

Simple? 

No.

Simple!

 
In Business It Is The Same.

Remember Ron Johnson?  CEO at JCP?

Johnson tried to sell, “Everyday Low Pricing.”

Consumers want to buy, “Coupons and Discounts.”

Johnson tried to convince the customers to buy what he wanted to sell instead of selling what the customers wanted to buy.

Now, Bill Ackman, successful investor, has many credentials.  In fact, he has about a billion credentials.  Still, he appears on Mad Money, with Jim Cramer, in an effort to sell Penney-Stocks. I will not belabour the point.

Credentials.

Diet books, get rich quick books, and self help books, do not work.  If they did, then, as a nation, we would all be skinny, rich, and happy.  Instead, as a nation, we are fat, poor, and polarised.

The authors all have credentials.  They all sell books. They are all successful.  Like Bill Ackma, they are successful at being successful.

How many millionaires and billionaires do you know, who became millionaires and billionaires, by reading books written by millionaires and billionaires?  Get the point?


Deliverables:

 
Case 1

“Hello, Bigelow?  Highpower here. Standwell Industries.  The reason why I am calling is because the consulting firm of Seniors and Elder LLC put you down as a reference….”

“Great Job, Highpower.  In 2011, we had 41 incidents.  In 2012, that dropped to 27. And in the first half of this year, only 8.   And production went up 10% in 2012 and 10% in the first half of 2013.”

 
Case 2

“Hello, Downhill?  Highpower here. Standwell Industries. The reason I’m calling is  because the consulting firm of Young, Turk, and Wiseacre put you down as a reference….”

 
Enough said? 

No.

Enough Said!

 
If you find anything here to be helpful in terms of marketing your consulting firm, or saving money by rethinking your choices….

Please do not hesitate to send me a really tricked out MacPro and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note.

 
Warmest regards,

Slim

slimfairview@yahoo.com

LinkedIn Profile:   http://www.linkedin.com/in/slimfairview


Copyright © 2013. Slim Fairview

All rights reserved.
 

GroupThink 2.0

I sat on an economic development committee for over two years. In that time, I observed a group of people, some professionals (CEO banking), economic development, etc. and community people. (Business people.)

I observed the group. There was no group think. It looked like someone trying to herd cats.

After two years of attempting to stimulate investment, attract business, deal with green fields and brown fields, we finally had the opportunity to entertain a state official of the department that hands out grant money. (It's their job to give money away.)

We put on a great presentation, tour, helicopter, luncheon, the works. We got shot down--unceremoniously. (As Mrs. Slocum used to say, "How ignimonious" sic)

Upshot. "We give money for projects, not plans."

They licked their wounds. Still, they did not accomplish much.

On another committee, (Finance committee of a government programme.) I opined on moving funds into technology related projects. Website development, improvement, etc. People listened to me. We voted, agree--unanimously--funds were moved. Subsequently, the web presence and technology use became vital. We were that much ahead of the game.

Group think is a result of consensus building which was a consequence of the absence of leadership. Too, an absence of followship.

I addressed that issue in another discussion where a budding expert was giving examples of how he/she helped groups avoid group think. In short, this individual encouraged group think.

It is somewhat disheartening to watch (as I watched the members of that economic development committee), people discussing the same issues that had been discussed, have been discussed, are being discussed and will continue to be discussed.

I've studied groups, been in groups, been in a group that studied itself, worked in groups, on committees, on a committee to form a committee to set up a programme to form committees, and I dissected the different structures used handle projects and explained why each does not work. However, as I am adamant in my opposition to articles that are descriptive and not prescriptive, I also set up an organisational chart that will work for one of my ppt. presentations.

As I read in clever book on management just the other night (While waiting for my cat to come home) Come Together: The Business Wisdom of the Beatles by Richard Courtney and George Cassidy.

"Parks are full of statues erected to honour leaders. There are no statues erected to honour committees."

"This too shall pass."

In the heat of battle, no one turns to a committee. Everyone looks to a leader. See who they are looking to. That is a leader. That is the leader.

In my much younger days, when I took a holiday job while I was working on a novel, the VP came in, furious, because the department was in a chaotic state. For the second time. He asked my supervisor,

"What do we have to do to get this straightened out?"

My supervisor looked to me. The VP looked to me. I had a second operation (holiday) up and running the following day. And I was not even an actual employee of the company. Only a holiday temp.

The VP did not say, let's form a committee to find a solution. I did not receive a smiley face key chain.

The flip-side to one aspect on group think is that people propose new ideas, however, 1. due to group think the ideas are rejected; 2. due to a lack of ability demonstrated by several members of the group, the new idea is rejected; 3 lack of ability of the "leader" the idea is rejected; there is a divisiveness among the group (for and against) we move into the mode of consensus building and the new idea is watered down to where it is palatable....

However! The biggest problem with respect to "group think" is hiding in plain sight. The word "group". In addition, if you do "win over" the other members of the group and all embrace your new idea you end up with [wait for it]

GroupThink 2.0

Now you have two conflicting ideas at play. 1. Getting rid of Group Think and 2. Consensus building. On the corporate level, you have Risk Management and Risk Assessment. There is a cost-benefit analysis that new ideas must go through.

Finally (or not) there is the needy member(s) of the group who, after having an idea rejected, refuse to accept that the idea was rejected on the basis of a lack of merit, but who feel personally demeaned, diminished, marginalised and so on.

A greater reason that people do not propose new ideas is a personal one--the lack of ability to make objective assessments.

Regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

The Paradox of Cobb's Paradox

Needless to say, I Googled Cobb's Paradox.

My first impression is that it is based on the assumption that we know why projects fail.

Assuming we do know why projects fail, do we know why this project failed?

Assuming that we know why this project failed, could we have known why this project would have failed.

Assuming that we know why this project would have failed, was there anything we could have done about it?

Assuming that we know why this project will fail, is there anything we can do about it?

Assuming we know why this project will fail, why do we go ahead with the project?

Here is the real paradox:

Knowing that we know Cobb's Paradox, and assuming it is valid, why do we continue to discuss Cobb's Paradox?

Knowing that we know Cobb's Paradox, and assuming it is invalid, why do we continue to discuss Cobb's Paradox?

Discuss.

Regards,

Slim

ps. This material will be on the final exam.

Mail Slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

The Unforeseen in Project Management

"There are no unintended consequences--only unwanted consequences." Slim Fairview

If you have assembled a team that includes people with experience, you can minimize the unknown unknowns.

Perhaps what you mean are the unforseeables that can't be foreseen. Don't let what may happen complicate the task at hand. Too many people, (Me included) have worried about what might happen that they create problems for them selves that would not have happened it they'd been doing their jobs in the first place instead of worrying. (There is a sentence in there, somewhere, some assembly required.)

Needless to say, when the problem comes up, they declare it the result of an unknown unknown. Don't worry about it.

Assemble a team with people who have experience. (In different areas.) Keep a network of people who've had to work in crisis management situations. (It needn't have been a big crisis, the thought process is the same.)

Then get back to work. If something should crop up, (dare I say it) call a meeting.

A Small Meeting. One with a few people skilled in the particular area of contention.

Now, it should be just about tea time across the pond, enjoy a glass of chateau Fleet Street, and remember the admonition of Horace Rumpole: Never ask the witness a question unless you yourself know the answer.

Regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Time-Management Time Again, Folks.

The boss has been given the responsibility of fixing the problems caused by his lack of qualification to manage.

The boss hires a time management consultant.

The consultant give the presentation. The consultant hands out Day-timers. (Or whatever is now fashionable. Everyone engages in much upbeat chatter about how positive they all feel about what they've learned.

It doesn't work.

The Boss puts pressure on the employees.

"The company paid for that programme to help you."

"There is no I in team."

"People, we have to co-operate. We all have to work together to succeed."

"Success comes in cans not can'ts."


The real problems are never solved. Things do not get better. The boss blames the employees.

The employees try to explain what the real problems are.

The boss says, "Don't play the blame game."

The whole time-management thing is scrapped. (Some of the problems do resolve themselves.)

Then, 20 years later, I clicked onto a discussion about time-management.

Repeat as needed.

Let's get together in 20 years to discuss it again.

Sincerely,

Slim

mail slimfairview@yahoo.com


Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

Memo to Big Oil

 

Memo to Big Oil

Diversify your perspective.

Here is the metaphor:

If people think that the Moon is made of green cheese, then Galileo didn’t explain things properly. The solution is not to explain things to the people. The solution is to explain things to Galileo.

For years, Urban Legend has been saying that the Big Oil is impeding the efforts to develop high mileage automobiles and alternative energy sources. This does not mean that Big Oil did these things. However, if this is the perception there will be a big pushback.

The solution is not to explain things to the people. The solution is to explain things to Big Oil.

To begin with, do not say, “Slim, telling us what we should have done is 20/20 hindsight.”

It is. Don’t waste time saying it. Not because you are enlightening anyone, but because you are deluding yourself.

Why is this?

Because I will say, “Now that you have 20/20 hindsight, your mistakes should be a guidepost not a hitching post.”

Your strategic planning failures of the past do not excuse your strategic planning failures for the future.

Here is a four-point plan to guide your strategic planning.

1. Invest your profits in high-mileage technology.

Why?

Because as it becomes increasingly more important, you will hold the patents. Intellectual property has value.

2. Invest in active solar power technology.

Why?

Because you will become the energy suppliers of the future.

3. Invest in electric filling station technology.

Why?

Because having gas stations all over the country, you can leverage your capital investment. This is called revenue enhancement.

4. Invest in the geothermal heating industry.

Why?

Because diversity in your portfolio and revenue enhancement are vital to continued growth.

Bon chance!

Sincerest regards,

Slim

If you find any of this information helpful, please feel free to send me on of those tricked out Apple laptops—and do please include a little WAM in the envelope along with the thank-you note.

I don’t want to be paid for what I do.

I don’t want to be paid for what I know.

I don’t want to be paid for what I think.

I want to be paid for the way I think.

Regards,

Slim

Mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview

The Cleavers’ Television Set is on the Way Out

The Cleavers’ Television Set is on the Way Out

One thing that has been overlooked. Social Media would not be possible without the Advertising Business.

Advertising is what really finances the operations of social media. Why then does the advertising industry act as if social media is the threat and not the partner?

I get the impression that Mad Men are doing studies to justify selling TV ads to clients because clients want TV ads because Corporate America (the clients) is infused with people who sit around discussing whether or not social media is costing American industry productivity time.

Meanwhile, the Media sees social media as a threat and not as a portal. (When I was a freelance website designer, I took out a full-page ad in a local paper listing all the people (businesses) in the local business community who had a web page on the portal website I set up. ("Fish where there are fish." -- Political adage.) )

Point being, The Media better wake up and smell the triple-shot cappuccino venti and start broadcasting via the internet. Television isn’t on the way out; the Cleavers' television set is on the way out.

Regards

Slim

Mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview

Netopian Reality

"People who criticize social media, are using the past to understand the present. That will never help them to understand tomorrow." Slim Fairview

Social Media is the Medium: Greater than the sum of its parts.
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/03/social-media-is-medium-greater-than-sum.html

Still explaining the importance of social media to the naysayers.
http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/03/still-explaining-importance-of-social.html

Regards,

Slim

Facebook
Twitter,
Blogspot
Linkedin
SlideShare

"I have a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a Linkedin account and a Blog. At last. Finally I feel like a virtual person. For a while, I didn't think I was going to make it." -- Slim Fairview


Copyright(c) 2011 Slim Fairview

email slimfairview@yahoo.com

Social Media is the Medium: Greater than the sum of their parts.

Social Media is the Medium: Greater than the sum of its parts.

How do you do it? Never mind. The real question is, “How will you be doing it?”

Some slow thinkers say, “Soon, tomorrow will be here.” The quick folk say, “Soon, tomorrow will be gone.”

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Blogspot, and SlideShare.

What do they all have in common besides each other? They are greater than the sum of their parts.

Write something. Save the document. Post it on your blog, on Facebook, on Slideshare. Click the links to share what you’ve written. They go to your Twitter account with a link to click that will take readers to your monograph.

If you’ve posted a document on SlideShare, the link will not only appear on the wall of your Facebook page, but there will be an option for you to choose that will allow a “thumbnail” of the document to appear. If a visitor to your Facebook page clicks the graphic, up pops the document.

Links will automatically appear on the home page of Linkedin—but wait, there’s more:

That document has provisions for links. These links will send your reader to supporting documents—and that’s still not all.

The printed word is now a global event no longer limited to the familiar and ever popular website.

The printed word is now appearing on the internet.

Publications, which include but are not limited to The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph, and others, are now on the internet.

Many of the articles invite commentary. It is there, that your brief thoughts can invite readers to view a more comprehensive expression of your opinions. Now, this is fine; however, there are business applications as well.

Websites like Linkedin offer the opportunity to create a global network of business colleagues.

Moreover, we’ve barely scratched the surface. Yesterday, I posted PowerPoint presentations on SlideShare. Yesterday, I should have been posting videos on YouTube.

These tools are the virtual offices in use. They are in use globally.

Virtual offices, virtual teams, virtual project management, presentations, lectures, speeches, meetings, all on your computer screen.

If you have a Mac, they are available to you in transit. If using a Mac is not an option, they are available to you on your iPad or your iPhone.

Meetings will not so much be detested by the members of your staff who have work to do, but more efficiently handled by logging on to a virtual meeting.

Documents, photos, contacts, and other information will be shared within seconds. No one will find it necessary (and cumbersome) to lug stuff to the conference room.

Costs will be cut significantly by having information available through links rather than through copies being handed out.

The business research formerly the domain of the business research department, is now a Google away.

Information can be reviewed, commented on, verified, questioned and affirmed, repudiated, or assigned for further review in moments.

Prep work for the meeting will take place in moments.

The tools that are available are not limited to home and office. Nor to your company, industry, or locale.

These tools will enable you to do business globally. I posted two PowerPoint presentations:

Global Management: A shift in the paradigm of corporate America

&

The Future of the G – 20 in Good Times and Bad.

Each can be viewed at http://slideshare.net/slimfairview

For additional information:

http://facebook.com

http://blogspot.com

http://linkedin.com

http://twitter.com

For more monographs on management and business administration, please visit my blog: http://slimviews.blogspot.com
 

PS.  I am not Paul Harvey.  However, I am open to becoming a paid commentator, columnist, or blogger.

If you’ve found anything I said to be helpful, please don’t hesitate to send me one of those tricked-out laptops and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note.

Sincerest regards,

Slim

slimfairview@yahoo.com

PPS. I forgot to mention the email option: slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview

Sarah Palin and Mad Men

Sarah Palin, draws a crowd, sells books, makes appearances, (Uh, attracts customers?) some people would say she does not have campaign advisers she has a well-oiled marketing team. Look past the politics, the platform, the ideology and study marketing technique. Without the snide remarks. As the old marketing adage advises: "Find a need and fill it."

If I were half as good, people would be booking me for advice, speeches, and book tours.

Still, I was not spellbound by Sarah Palin. I was more fascinated by the public response (pros and cons). Hillary Clinton was an easy out for those who did not want to embrace a female governor who hunts and fishes and does all the guy stuff and does it better than most guys. (Anyone hear the "oops!" when she became the running mate?) Trick question. I'm not talking about the male voters.

Hillary Clinton is tough and smart. I don't hear people raising the cliché comments about women being tough and smart. Another myth debunked? (!)

None-the-less, in a business site, on a business topic, Sarah Palin should be a marketing study. So, too, should Hillary Clinton. However, this is best left for the B-school kids and the MBA candidates. (Although I'd be surprised if Mad Men aren't already in the midst of the study. Albeit one with ponderous academic overtones to deflect the critics. Waffles go best with maple syrup.

Regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview

Does Facebook use reduce worker productivity?

Does Facebook use reduce worker productivity?

Does training reduce worker productivity. Wouldn't it be better if we put new employees straight to work?

Why bother learning how to drive a car. You should get back to work making buggy-whips.

The complainers about social media have their heads buried in a block of concrete. True, if your job is to mow the lawn and you are twittering away your time on your iphone, you will be less productive. (Now that I've tossed the dog a bone.)

Facebook, twitter, blogs, the internet, virtual classrooms, virtual offices, virtual management, cloud computing, this is not the future. In fact, this is no longer the present. Tomorrow is yesterday. Get moving.

Regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

The Latest Trend in Management

Hiring a Hiring Manager. Or not. The Latest Trend in Management

"If you have no skills as a hiring manager, the solution is simple. Hire the best people available whether you like it or not." Slim Fairview

The boss should not be the super-person. The boss should be the super-worker.

Not the ubermenschen but rather the “uber-arbeitskraft“

Back in the day when I was going to write the great American novel, I took a holiday job in the packing and shipping department of an upscale company.

First the department got back up and my supervisor’s boss came in to put things right. We were soon backed up again. This time the VP came in to find out, “What do we have to do to get things caught up?” My boss looked at me. The VP looked at me. The next day I had a packing and shipping operation up and running.

What made my operation run so efficiently? I took advantage of my position as a supervisor to move up and down the line to bring the different stages of the operation into sync with the process. I could prepare product for packaging, I could box the product, and I could set up boxes for packing, and so on. Wherever my team needed help keeping up, I joined that stage of the process.

This is missing from the many admonitions to managers, young and old.

A good analogy for management would be to compare the experience of a substitute teacher to that of trying to herd cats. The fallacy of wisdom is that if you show up with a bag full of tuna sandwiches, the cats will embrace a common goal: tuna for lunch. Then reality strikes. One cat goes off in search of a jar of gherkins, another for a bag of chips, and another for a napkin. A smart boss knows that tuna fish sandwiches are not going to solve all the problems; and neither will a common goal. We may all agree on the destination, but we won’t all agree on the best route to get there.

Here is the conundrum: There may not be one right way or one best way. However, we do have to travel together—or not. These are the challenges. Different managers may have different views. Different team members may have different views; and, in addition, just as there may be no one right or wrong way to get to our destination, so there may not be one right or wrong way to manage. We cannot always have consensus either.

The biggest problem is the one size fits all philosophy of management instruction. Another, is the fact that employees come to the table with the notion that one style of management may be better than or worse than another style. (After all, how many employees attended the all-day seminar? How many employees have the three-fold brochure? They cannot be tricked or bullied into accepting a style of management that is not suitable. Suitable to whom? That is another question.

Today, management is being bullied into accepting one form of management as being superiour to another. Employees, team members, are convinced that one method of management is superiour to another. Imagine everyone’s surprise when the tables are turned.

Management has become a victim to trends in management. The latest trend will work if everyone on the team believes that he or she is benefiting from the latest, the newest, and the best that the consulting industry has to offer.

Dr. Henry Kissinger once said of fame, “You still bore people, but they think it’s their fault.”

Let’s not fall prey to the latest trend in management style and technique.

“Style never goes out of fashion, but fashion always goes out of style.”

Regards,

Slim

For additional material, read Ceo the Executive, or The Executive’s New Clothes.

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/ceo-executive-or-executives-new-clothes.html

Mail. slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview

Coming of Age by Slim Fairview

My latest SlideShare upload : An allegorical novel of Canadian history: Coming of Age http://slidesha.re/hPthGH

Edison Invented the Light Bulb by Candlelight

Edison didn't invent a better candle. Still, Edison invented the light bulb by candlelight. All the new technology lacks one thing. It cannot convey a message to those who cannot see the new technology.

Egypt, A new world order--a world without borders.

We are moving rapidly from the land of Laptopistan written about in a Times article to Netopia.

What happens when movies on demand becomes TV on demand? What happens when television goes beyond the laptop through Google TV to a direct subscription system.

Time Warner may want to go beyond the old movies of TCM and began broadcasting, what? Leave it to Beaver? The Early episodes of The Simpsons? Gunsmoke? Two and a half men?

The Wolves at Tottenham that I cannot watch on ESPN will be available over the internet. Remember a few scant years ago when the music industry was in an uproar about Napster? Remember that free phone service of ten years ago and VOIP? That debate became moot with Skype.

The best idea broadcast television has come up with to attract viewers is to start airing programmes targeted at people who don't watch television. Thus, driving away viewers who do watch television. Then there is the newer technology.

Sit down to dinner, push a button, and your dining room wall becomes a massive flat-screen television screen allowing you to have dinner with your sister and her family in Bismarck, North Dakota. (Home to the Raccoon National Cemetery.)

The social interaction will move people quickly into Netopia. Your son studying in Sweden, your daughter the doctor on a humanitarian aid mission to Japan for the recent floods, a BritCom years before it hits Channel 13. (American idiom for The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which used to be National Education Television before the marketing people realised that people don't watch television to get an education only to appear to have gotten an education. (There is a sentence in there somewhere: some assembly required.)

What a shame those in the broadcast industry can’t see what is going to happen. Then, too, they don’t seem to be able to see what is actually happening. If only we could figure out whether it’s because they’re watching too much television or not enough.

Regards,

Slim

Mail: Slimfairview@yahoo.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/slimfairview

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

Slim Fairview

My profile link on Linkedin

http://www.linkedin.com/in/slimfairview

Sincerest regards,

Slim

mail slimfairview@yahoo.com



Copyright (c) 2010 Slim Fairview

Book Agent

I am looking for an agent to represent my two non-fiction efforts:

The Quotations of Slim Fairview

and the book I am assembling on management.

Anyone with an interest, please contact me.

mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com

Regards,

Slim

The Virtual Classroom Class Reunion Highlights

The Virtual Classroom

E learning in the classroom has been around a while. They started a programme in Pennsylvania a few years ago. In Pennsylvania, it is called Cyber-school. Enrollment is up. Students have graduated, gone on to college, and have done well. This, of course, is anecdotal. For a deeper knowledge of the topic, you might want to do research [wait for it] on line.

There is a great need for social interaction; however, that need for the classroom experience may recede as more youngsters live in Netopia.

One of the vital areas that a virtual experience would be powerful is on a topic that would make it virtually impossible (no pun intended) for every classroom to have access to the expert on that topic.

Instead of youngsters passing notes to their friends in study hall, they can have a chat set up. This may sound satirical at best, however, it does enable students to work in group while in a virtual classroom with a virtual teacher helping the students with their group activities. The virtual connection also allows students to research as they progress through the lesson.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go clap erasers.

Sincerest regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

India 2.0 The Future is Today

That India is a technological leader, not marching but rather moving smoothly and swiftly into the future, is seldom a matter for dispute. In fact, it is not really discussed but simply assumed as the conversation progresses.

Still, as with any country or economy, there are adjustments to be made in the economics of a country's economy.

The issue of food is uppermost on the minds of the people of India. In a previous monograph, I referred to increased supply. A literal understanding would be counter productive. The issue is not resolved by saying, "Grow more food." However, if we were to discuss the issue from that statement, we would have to ask, "Do the same number of farmers increase their output, or do we need an increase in the number of farmers?" A subtext would involve farmers joining to take advantage of economies to scale, and form large farms. (Remember, the absence of primogeniture caused the collapse of pre Soviet Russia. The absence of private ownership led to the collapse of post-Czarist Russia. Conclusion: many small farms don't satisfy the need; collective farming won't solve the problem.

The first issue to address is that India has a culture of co-operation. This will serve India well as time marches on. However, on the question of supply, we are not simply suggesting more food for today; but a stable supply of food for a foreseeable future.

Two problems indicated in recent reports from the media are that

1. India cannot get food to the market. It rots before it can be sold or eaten; and 2. That the fluctuation in food prices in a largely agricultural nation has a greater impact in that nation than they would in a heavily industrialised nation.

Some options to consider.

If there is difficulty getting food to the market,

the food can be preserved at the source. Canned and frozen foods, processed at the source, can be stored as a hedge against future food supply failures. In addition, they can be sold on the national and international market. (The marketing of Indian cuisine can become a larger industry. I had curry for the first time when I was about 9 years old. Only recently have Indian food products made their appearance in supermarkets. That is a gap of almost half a century.)

The food supply prices can be leveled slightly through the investment in commodity options. This would allow investment consortia to

a. Have food available at a more affordable price if food prices rise considerably
b. Provide a return on the investment if national supplies are sufficient to meet demand
c. Provide the necessary supply of food to process for market and hedge against a future crop failure
d. Attract investors to partner with the agriculture, manufacturing, and finance industries to bring in money for capital investment.

The government can assume the responsibility of developing roads; negotiating trade deals (read: taxes, tariffs, concessions, etc.), and provide for a stable food supply and food pricing system to stabilise the government.

The economic growth, political stability, national unity, can be promoted.

Now, many people are skilled in the various areas mentioned above. The only thing necessary is what is too often referred to as a shared vision. This monograph is a demonstration of one of the few times that the term, shared vision, may perhaps have been used appropriately.

Sincerest regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com


Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

Non-verbal Cues in the Virtual World

Non-verbal cues are often subjective.

www.businessdictionary.com

"Perceptual information communicated...by signs accompanying the words used in speech. "


Perceived is the perception of the receiver, not the transmitter. This is subjective. Thus, open to interpretation.

If everything is done (for the purpose of this discussion) on a computer, there would be no non-verbal cues to take into account. Thus, the only inferences one could make would be on the manner in which information is presented.

Now, case in point. Assumptions:

"For example, someone who asks a lot of questions may be [may be] extremely skilled and decisive. In fact they could be [could be] someone who is highly analytical and needs to see the whole picture before moving on."

This person, by way of metaphor, sent you a non-verbal clue by asking a lot of questions. That non-verbal clue you've taken into account is that "the person is highly analytical and needs to see the whole picture before moving on" [quotes mine for distinction] Again, for the purposes of this discussion, the non-verbal clue I perceived is that this person lacks confidence, based on his real or imaginary lack of subject matter knowledge.

To distinguish this, we may have to rely on other members of the group. If you and I are on the same team, you tell the leader that "Bill is analytical and needs to see the whole picture before moving on." I tell the team leader that Bill is an impediment. He prevents the group from moving on.

The leader now must assess whether Bill is qualified or not. Bill sent each of us non-verbal clues. Each of us came to a different conclusion. The team leader now must look for non-verbal clues. Is Cathy a sensitive and supportive team member who likes Bill's quest for answers? Is Cathy insecure and relies on Bill to provide a subterfuge? Also: Is Slim a goal oriented individual who finds Bill an impediment to productivity? Is Slim a rash and impulsive individual who may have a negative impact on the other members of the group by being brusque?

Well, Susan ( another member of the team) sees Slim as too theory X and feels intimidated. While Lorraine is fed up with Bill and is glad that Slim finally spoke up and put Bill in his place.

This is what really goes on in a group. And it doesn't matter whether we are co-located or virtual.

From the Quotations of Slim Fairview: "Did you ever notice, when people say, "you don't understand," what they really mean is, "you don't agree with me."

Sincerest regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

Oppressed People Can't Revolt

"Oppressed people can't revolt: They are oppressed. Only freed people can revolt. That freedom came with the Internet: Facebook, Twitter, et. al" Slim Fairview


Regards,

Slim

Mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com



Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview