business

  • The ability to create rich, detailed models of natural and artificial phenomena and to process large volumes of experimental data created by a new generation of scientific instruments that are themselves powered by computing makes computing a universal intellectual amplifier, advancing all of science and engineering and powering the knowledge economy.

    Cloud computing is the latest technological evolution of computational science, allowing groups to host, process, and analyze large volumes of multidisciplinary data. Consolidating computing and storage in very large datacenters creates economies of scale in facility design and construction, equipment acquisition, and operations and maintenance that are not possible when these elements are distributed.

    — The Fourth Paradigm: Data-Intensive Scientific Discovery by Tony Hey, Stewart Tansley, et al.

  • Even though sales is everywhere, most people underrate its importance. Silicon Valley underrates it more than most.

    The geek classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy even explains the founding of our planet as a reaction against salesmen. When an imminent catastrophe requires the evacuation of humanity’s original home, the population escapes on three giant ships. The thinkers, leaders, and achievers take the A Ship; the salespeople and consultants get the B Ship; and the workers and artisans take the C Ship. The B Ship leaves first, and all its passengers rejoice vainly. But the salespeople don’t realize they are caught in a ruse: the A Ship and C Ship people had always thought that the B Ship people were useless, so they conspired to get rid of them. And it was the B Ship that landed on Earth.

    Distribution may not matter in fictional worlds, but it matters in ours. We underestimate the importance of distribution — a catchall term for everything it takes to sell a product — because we share the same bias the A Ship and C Ship people had: salespeople and other “middlemen” supposedly get in the way, and distribution should flow magically from the creation of a good product. The Field of Dreams conceit is especially popular in Silicon Valley, where engineers are biased toward building cool stuff rather than selling it.

    But customers will not come just because you build it. You have to make that happen, and it’s harder than it looks.

    — Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel, Blake Masters

  • The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas. The role of a leader is to create an environment in which great ideas can happen. It is the people inside the company, those on the front lines, who are best qualified to find new ways of doing things.

    — Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek

  • ‘Story’ is defined as ‘a narrative, either true or fictitious, in prose or verse, designed to interest, amuse, or instruct the hearer or reader’. This limiting definition sells ‘story’ short.

    Traditionally, in business and career development, we’ve primarily used our stories as communication tactics — ways to get people to see us — while overlooking the opportunity to leverage them to help us see ourselves more clearly.

    Far from just being a way to differentiate us, our stories can help us to decide, plan, lead, sell, inspire, influence, persuade, rally, create value, build trust, foster connection and succeed by building better, more purposeful organisations and lives. Our stories can shape who we are.

    — Story Driven: You don’t need to compete when you know who you are by Bernadette Jiwa

  • Advertising is not a sledgehammer. It’s more like a light fog, a very light fog that envelops your prospects. In the communication jungle out there, the only hope to score big is to be selective, to concentrate on narrow targets, to practice segmentation. In a word, “positioning.” The mind, as a defense against the volume of today’s communications, screens and rejects much of the information offered it.

    In general, the mind accepts only that which matches prior knowledge or experience. Millions of dollars have been wasted trying to change minds with advertising. Once a mind is made up, it’s almost impossible to change it. Certainly not with a weak force like advertising. “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind’s made up.” That’s a way of life for most people.

    The average person will sit still when being told something which he or she knows nothing about. (Which is why “news” is an effective advertising approach.) But the average person cannot tolerate being told he or she is wrong. Mind-changing is the road to advertising disaster.

    — Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries, Jack Trout

No more stories or excerpts.