Thursday, April 19, 2007

CEO Refresher

We believe that people have lost sight of what it means to be accountable in organizations and have confused this concept with blame and punishment. This article is an effort to shed some light on accountability and in doing so engage the productive potential of the term.

As long as people see accountability as a threat instead of an opportunity they will find clever ways to avoid ownership of outcomes, disguise initiatives as imperatives, and confuse results with effort.

The first element that we need to address is that the foundation of any 'good faith' business transaction is the expectation of a fair deal for all concerned. In complex organizational relationships, it is all too easy to lose sight of the existence and terms of this deal. As a prime example, that particular employer/employee relationship, called a job, appears as a fair deal wherein the employer's money is traded for the employee's time and talent. The deeper reality, however, is that the employer is actually trading resources for a set of desirable results, which the employee is expected to deliver. The promise to faithfully deliver as agreed by both parties is the essence of accountability. To 'do what you say you will do without excuses' is the foundation of credibility which makes all business deals possible, including those specific deals called jobs.

We recommend that organizations document these bargains called jobs and give voice to individuals' accountabilities through a process called an Accountability Agreement. An Accountability Agreement clearly states the results that each member of an organization, from the most senior to the most junior, is expected to bring about [For specific examples of Accountability Agreements, please see our online tool at http://www.AlignOnline.com]. The following six principles form the foundation for negotiating and understanding accountability. Together they form a practical theory of accountability, the transforming effect it can have on an organization, its essential role in creating significant business results and how it helps to avoid the unproductive trap of focusing on blame and punishment.

I. Accountability is a Statement of Personal Promise

Accountability is both a promise and an obligation to deliver specific, defined results. Accountability, as we define it, does not apply in an abstract way to departments, work groups, or entire organizations. Accountability applies to individuals and their personal promise that these functions will deliver the agreed results. Accountability is first and foremost a personal commitment to the organization and to those the organization serves. It is more than just trying, doing your best, or behaving in certain ways. Accountability empowers individuals to push their circle of influence outwards in pursuit of results.

II. Accountability for Results Means Activities aren't Enough

Everyone in an organization, from the CEO to the janitor, has some piece of the business and a corresponding set of results which are theirs to achieve. Distinguishing results from activities requires a shift in traditional thinking built on an awareness of why we do what we do. For example, a typical supervisor's job description includes activities such as "training," "performance evaluations," and "timely communication". In contrast, a supervisor's accountabilities should include a result such as "the success of all direct reports." This concept addresses the common observation that everyone is busy but only some people are productive.

III. Accountability for Results Requires Room for Judgment and Decision Making

If you're not allowed to use any judgment or discretion on the job, if you're told to follow the rules no matter what, if no decision is up to you, then your boss can only hold you accountable for activities. You can be held accountable for doing what you're told, but you can't be held accountable for the outcome. Judgment and innovation can never be fully described in a job description. When employees are expected to be resourceful in the achievement of results, they are held accountable for capturing opportunities or ignoring them.

IV. Accountability is Neither Shared nor Conditional

Accountability Agreements are individual, unique, and personal strategies. No two people at the same level in an organization should have the exact same accountabilities. Separating each person's accountabilities can be challenging, but valuable clarity results from the struggle to eliminate overlaps.

Read Full Article:http://www.refresher.com/!smbksix.html

RO0-BEE(Video Cooking)

The Food Network is a great resource– even if the majority of each show is uninteresting. But The Food Network has the downfall of all television programming– too many commercials, and annoying celebrities. Rouxbe (pronounced “roo-bee”), a new online instructional cooking resource. Step by step, in a pleasantly simple fashion, Rouxbe guides you through some yummy recipes– I thought it was simple yet engaging, somewhere between cooking school and a cooking show on TV. You can pause the presentation and step back and forth between different components of the meal, and adjust the volume of both the background music (soothing and loungy) and the instructor’s voice (Dawn). There are a couple of recipes up that you can view without becoming a member, but if you really want the goods, you should sign up. This is a super fun and helpful resource for those of you looking for some new recipes or just wanting to acquire some new skills in the kitchen.
More:http://www.rouxbe.com/

Photoframe Play Music And Video

Aluratek has created a new version that doesn't just display your photos but also has 256MB of built-in memory. The photo frame can play background music or video in addition to holding all your photos. It even has a remote control. The 10.5-inch frames let you transfer files directly from your computer. The frame has 1024x768 video resolution and sells for $199.
More: http://www.aluratek.com/product_info.php?products_id=27

Motorola's New Communication Plan

Motorola this year, explore new experiences by two new ways to communicate his brand power targeting the more voracious social sectors by the coolness. Cobranding strategy and Guerrilla communication. These days made a cobranding strategy with the internationalized argentinean brand "Trosman" (Jessica Trosman) characterized by the permanent innovation of silhouettes and textile development. Her designs are directed to the market segment denominated “designer clothing”, that is made up by articles of luxury of highest added value, which they have a very specific client who looks for and values the details of quality and design, and that at the same time, arranged to pay much more since it is handled almost like a collector. Next to her it presented/displayed exclusive designs for PEBL, KRZR1, and RZR cell phones, in the BAF week 07 in March.

In a parallel objective of communication, Motorola addopted a communication campaign in Buenos Aires called Guerrilla Paper. This concept of guerrilla invites the potential clients of the brand, to be designers by the concept of urban landscape, personal places and objects personalization. The campaign consists to atracct potential clients to download the papers designed by Joshua Davis, an illustrator who works with the chaos theory in art (or random generation in controlled surroundings) and persuade to stick them where the people want to do it. These new ways of communication explored by the brand generated a plus for the brand value (in a clear objective of association to “design brand”) next to a slope of personalization and interactivity with the products that offers.
More:http://www.motorola.com/

ShopText

The New York Times recently reported on a company called ShopText that is enabling users to purchase products instantly through their mobile phone and charge it to their credit card.

The NYT writes:

To use the system, a consumer must first place a phone call to ShopText to set up an account, specifying a shipping address and card account. After that, all purchases can be made by thumb.

When ShopText receives text messages about donations or products, it charges the credit card it has on file for the buyer, then, if appropriate, sends the product from one of its warehouses around the country.

“E-commerce only represents a fraction of total retail — the thing that holds it back is it’s tethered to an Internet connection,” said Mark Kaplan, founder and chief marketing officer of ShopText. “The cellphones link products to media. When people get the impulse to buy, they have their cellphones.”

Print advertisers in particular are excited about how the new technology will increase readers interaction with magazines and loosen the death grip internet has held over non-retail impulse shopping.
For more detail:https://www.shoptext.com/main/index.action