Technological Lifecycle

[PMCD]
Every technology goes through 4 different stages in its lifecycle as they move from the invention stage, onto the niche stage and ultimately to become a ubiquitous, breakthrough technology.

As Chris Anderson shares in the history of innovation shows, the arc of nearly all important technologies is defined by four milestones. Call them collisions.

Critical Price
The first is when a technology collides with a critical price. That price is often a psychological
threshold - a drop below $1,000 enables a product to make the move from office to home,
say, or below $400 to move from early adopters to the mainstream.

For instance,
sales of VCRs reached 10 million a year when their average price fell below $400. Fifteen years
later the DVD player, which did not offer as radical an improvement in consumer benefit, had to
fall further - to $200 - to sell as many units.

Critical Mass
Almost all technologies exhibit price elasticity - as the price falls, sales rise.
So Collision 1 tends to lead to Collision 2, breaking out of the technophile core to the mainstream.
Critical mass is that moment when you go from reading about a tech to knowing people who use it, when word of mouth gets going.
This moment varies from market to market. For many consumer products, it’s at about 20% of
homes; for business tech, it’s at 10% of offices, which are often more conservative.

Displacement / Disruption
When a technology on the way up hits one on the way down (as LCD’s are doing to CRT monitors, and broadband to dial-up).
These are cases where a markedly better system has arrived to serve the same market.

Commoditization.
Many products become commodities as they mature and their price approaches zero.
Think of the cost of a megabit of storage or a Wi-Fi chipset.

The former leads to what would once have been considered frivolous: carrying 10,000 songs in
your pocket. The latter leads to ubiquity, in the form of Wi-Fi built into every laptop and soon
everything from phones to stereos, the building blocks of a wireless future.

In both cases, the super-abundance of silicon chips and megabits created new products, features, and markets previously unimaginable.

How do I debate effectively?

[Calm Pea Floors]
#1 Framing Terms - Need to frame the argument with the centre having you right and them wrong. We need to always return to this centre.

I don't have to be right, they just have to be wrong!

There are always 2 sides in a debate. I am on the side that is right, you are on the side that is wrong.

Pushing them over to the wrong side by removing their credibility.

Mention all the things they said that were ANTI-CONSENSUS+APPEAL TO EMOTIONS so it will be difficult to see them being right:

"John, you said the fundemantals of the economy were strong + We are currently in the worst recession of the planets history.."
"John, you supported the war on Iraq + each week 32 young men are maimed, blinded, ripped to shreds, have their heads blown off .."
"John, you voted against the tax relief bill+ you would like to see young women pay more on tax than they do on food for their new born babies"
"My opponent believes in pro-life + That ripping young infants to shreds as a form of contraception is right .."

#2 Argument by Linking - Use analogies to discredit.

"I suppose you folks also believe that Elvis is coming back .."

"You remind of those Big Foot believers .."

"Your belief is unwavering, like those enthusiasts that believe in UFOs .."

#3 Argument by Authority - Highlight Asymmetric Knowledge to give credibility.

"Having worked for Microsoft for the past 2 years,..."

"As a doctor, I would say .. "

"My uncle is a police officer so he knows all about .."

"Elizabeth has never told a lie in her entire life, and she says she saw him take the bag..."

#4 Argument to the Character

"How many times have you succeeded at this? Zero. So then what gives you the authority to .."

"Are you a doctor? Then you are not exactly a credible source are you?"

"You claim that this man is innocent, but you cannot be trusted since you are a criminal as well.."

"John said it was a bad call, but how can that be true, when John wasn't even watching the game."

"Well, she would say that, wouldn't she? She is .."

#5 Argument to the Character by Linking

"You say the gap between the rich and poor is unacceptable, but communists also say this..."

"You say that 9/11 was staged, conspiracists also say that the moon landing was staged....."

"You don't believe all men are equal, the Nazis had a similar belief"

#6 Argument by Reference

Quoting a well-known personage:

"As Abraham Lincoln once said, ..." "As Obama says .." "As Darwin said .."

Quoting an Authoratative group:

"Most doctor's endorse .." "Almost all bankers .." "The majority of successful employees.."

Quoting Studies or Research: [I'm not sure if you are aware but..]

"Research has proven that it works 100% of the time 40% of the time.."

"They have performed studies and .."

#7 Syllogisms - build on major premise

Major Premise: No healthy food is fattening.

Minor Premise: All cakes are fattening.

Conclusion: No cakes are healthy.

Can be derailed:

You said that All cakes are fattening.
But it also holds true that: All wines are fattening.
However: Wine is also good for you which contradicts the logic you just used.

You said that All Dogs are mammals.
But it also holds true that: All cats are mammals.
However: Cats are therefore not a form of dog which is the logic you just used.

#8 Discredit Major premise with conflicting minor

Give an example of where their major premise does not hold true. This derails their argument.

Their premise: All unemployed people are lazy.

Retort: Mother Theresa was unemployed and she did more work than most.

#9 Personalise the response - Appeal to emotions.

Let me ask you this, How would you feel if...?

"Let me ask you this, How Would you feel if your daughter, mother and child were one day innocently murdered without a chance for you to say good bye. Would you accept this?"

"Let me ask you this, How Would you feel if you could not feed your starving child because all your money was spent on bills and taxes"

#9 Adjacent Agreement

Get them to agree on something adjacent to your argument.

You do agree ... don't you?

You do agree that the killing of young, innocent children is wrong .. DON'T YOU?

Then why is it ok to murder innocent Palestinians children?

(If answer no - end of argument)
(if answer yes - use it to bring in adjacent argument)

#10 Question the Extreme of their argument

Your proposal will damage thousands of trees in forests accross the globe. Is that what you want?

So you don't believe collaboration is a good thing??

Let me know if you do not believe we are worth the £5 per week cost of additional training??

How do I negotiate effectively?

Negotiation Phrases * Professionally Speaking * ATi02

www.beam.cop.fi/ejohnson/neg-phr.htm

Note created May 12, 2007 • Last edited May 12, 2007 by karolussher@gmail.com

5/12/07

Phrases to be used in negotiations

TYPE OF PHRASE - Classified according to speech acts	EXAMPLES OF PHRASES FOR EACH TYPE - You may look out for and more	USING THE PHRASES IN THE VARIOUS STAGES OF GRAHAM'S MODEL
ADDING A POINT OR TWO (Use these phrases when you wish to drive your arguments through.)	* Right. And I'd like to add that I haven't seen any such cases lately. * There are other things/issues/considerations; for example the price... * If we look at this from another angle (another perspective)... * There are other points to bear in mind. Firstly, we have... * Let me elaborate this further... (More formal)	* Persuasion * Concessions and Agreement
ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION OR FURTHER INFORMATION (Useful phrase for all, but very valuable for the chairperson.)	* Sorry I don't follow you completely; would you mind explaining this... * Could you be (a bit) more precise? * Could you expand on that? * Sounds quite interesting to me - could you clarify this? * Okay, so what did you mean exactly? * Could you clarify the first point please? I don't understand it completely.	(All stages)
ASKING FOR CONFIRMATION	* Basically, what you are saying is that...., right? * Could you please check this: you want to spend half the amount on... * Am I correct in assuming that the terms of delivery are... (Formal) * Could you send us confirmation by email, by Wednesday?	* Concessions and Agreement * Persuasion
AVOIDING ANSWERING	* I'm afraid I don't have the exact numbers here. * Sorry I can't discuss that at the moment. * In our case, that's confidential information. I'm sorry * I'm not quite sure. I'll see if I can get the data for you next week * Come on, Mary. You should know we can't give you that information	* Persuasion
ASKING FOR REPETITION	* I didn't quite catch that. What did you say? * Could you repeat that last point, please? Sorry, what was the figure? * Could you go over that again, please? Sorry, could you repeat that?	(All stages)
CORRECTING MISUNDERSTANDING	* Sorry, you got me wrong. It's the third door on the left * That isn't quite what I said; you see all the items we sent are... * I'm afraid there seems to be a slight misunderstanding... * We seem to be talking at cross purposes * With all due respect (name), the information is wrong (Formal)	(All stages)
EXPRESSING NEUTRAL DISAGREEMENT	* Do you really think so? * I can't say I share your view on this... * I feel I must disagree... * Well, take you point, yet I can't help feeling that... * I wouldn't say that, really. * I respect your opinion, of course, but on the other hand.. (More formal) * I wouldn't say that.	* Persuasion * Concessions and Agreement
EXPRESSING PARTIAL AGREEMENT	* Well, I agree with you on the whole, but then again it... * I agree in principle that all of us .... ; however, ... * I find it difficult to agree with you... * Well, to a certain extent I agree with you, but... * You definitely have a point there, but.. * I take you point. However, it looks to me that..	* Persuasion * Concessions and Agreement
MAKING PROPOSALS Use these phrases in FORMAL negotiations only. Avoid 'suggestion' in that case.	* I propose that... (Used in more formal situations.) * I'd like to propose that... * I hope you all agree that... * Well, don't you think we should...? * How about if we do this by changing...? * I strongly recommend that...	* Persuasion * Concessions and Agreement
PLAYING DOWN A POINT	* Yes, I take your point, but let's think of this... * OK, but that's a just minor issue. * Perhaps, but this is, after all, not a disadvantage if you..	* Persuasion * Concessions and Agreement
PLAYING FOR TIME	* That's a very interesting question, I must say... * I'm glad you asked that question, too * I'm afraid I'm in no position to comment on that... (Formal) * You have certainly raised an important point there... (More formal)	* Persuasion * Concessions and Agreement
REPHRASING A POINT	* Perhaps I haven't made myself clear * Seems I need to recap this for you (name)... * Let me just put it in another way... * To be more specific, I think the data... (More formal) * Allow me to rephrase that....(Formal)	(All stages)
REASSURING THE COMMUNICATION PARTNER	* You needn't worry about his, really. We are going to fix all the details later * Please rest assured there's no danger at all... (Formal) * You will certainly find this perspective more rewarding * We do understand your concern, it's not always easy to....	* Persuasion * Concessions and Agreement
SUGGESTING Please compare 'PROPOSALS' above!'	* So why don't we look at ways of increasing your net sales? * How about cutting the volume? * Your could always sell the the software licenses, couldn't you? * What about if we re-design the project? * Here's another way to go: Perhaps we could look at other suppliers? * What if we changed on to the payment terms? Are you willing to consider....?	* Persuasion * Concessions and Agreement

How wrong!

"I Think there is a market for maybe 5 computers in the world" Thomas watson, Chairman IBM, 1943

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." Western Union Internal memo, 1876

"There is no reason why anyone would want a computer in their home" Ken Olsen, Founder, Digital Equipment Corp. 1977

Innovation - The Utility Buyer Map

In 1998 Motorola rolled out the 'Iridium', this new mobile phone, as the company declared, was to revolutionise providing un-interrupted wireless communication anywhere in the world regardless of terrain or country.

However, Motorola had got it wrong. It was a complete flop. In its rush to emrace a new technology, they had over looked its many drawbacks: heavy, needed an array of attachments, couldn't be used in a car or indoors - exactly where jet-setting executives needed it.

At $3,000 a pop, users couldn't see the compelling reason to switch from their current $150 handsets.

As the tale illustrates, it hapens to the best of us. Sometimes a new technology is rushed to market too soon or in the wrong place or at the wrong price.

As we saw from the Motorola example: A new product has to offer customers exceptional utility at an attractive price, and the comany must be able to deliver it at a tidy profit.

But how do managers identify the commercial readiness and potential of a new idea?

Three tools aim to help managers answer these questions:
1. The Buyer Utility Map - aims to indicate the liklihood that a customer will be attracted to the idea.
2. The Price Corridor of the Mass - aims to identify what price will unlock the greatest number of customers.
3. The Business Model guide - offers a framework to ascertain whether and how a company can profitably deliver the new idea at the targeted price.

Furthermore, many innovations have to overcome other Adoption Hurdles:
-strong resistance from stakeholders
-directors fear of moving out of comfortzone
-...

The Utility Buyer Map
The managers at Motorola fell into the common trap: they reveled in the bells and whistles of their new technology.
Succesful innovators rely on the the product's utility.
How a product is developed becomes
more a function of its utility to customers
and
less a function of its technical possibilities.




The Six Stages of the buyer experience cycle (x-axis)
A customer experience from purchase to disposal. Each stage encompasses a variety of specific experiences. E.g. Purchasing includes the experiences of browsing amazon.com as well as the experience of pushing a physical shopping cart through Tescos.
In order to guage the quality of the buyer's experience at each stage:
A customer's product experience passes through six stages. To help companies assess the quality of a buyer's total experience, their are key questions for each stage. Together they uncover the full picture of the experience cycle.




The Six Utility Lever (y-axis)
The ways in which companies unlock utility for their customers. The most common lever used is customer productivity - helping customers do things faster, better or in easier ways. E.g. , the financial company Bloomberg makes traders more efficent by offering online analytics that quickly analyses and compare the raw information it delivers.

By placing a new product on one of the 36 spaces of the Buyer Utility map, one can quickly see if/how the new idea creates a different utility proposition from existing products.

New utility lever at the same stage:
Starbucks - revolutionised the office-workers' coffee break traditionally coffee in delis or fast-food places , competitors offered fast + cheap coffee - in terms of the map those competitors focused on delivering productivity in the purchasing experience.
Starbucks however moved into a new space entirely, by est. chic coffee bars with an exotic mix of brews, the company injected fun and cachet into the coffee purchasing experience. They inovvated in the fun & image/purchase space.

Same utility lever at a new stage:
Innovation through extending a familiarity utility to differnt parts of the customers' experience.
Michael Dell did just this in the computer business. Manufacturers used to compete by offering faster computers with more features and software. In terms of the map this was productivity in the use of their machines. Dell extended the same utility to the delivery experience. By bypassing dealers, Dell delivers PCs tailored to customers' needs faster than any other manufacturer. Aswell as the costs saved by removing this link in the value chain.

New utility at a a new stage:
Something completely new, e.g. Alto, a disposable fluorescent bulb manufacturered by Phillips. Most bulb manufacturers competed to offer customers more productivity in use, they did not pay attention to the fact that the bulbs had to be carried off to a special dump because of their harmful mercury content. By creating a bulb that could be disposed of environmentally friendally they moved into a whole new space. Env. friendliness in disposal. In its first year alone it poached 25% of the US market while enjoying supperior margins.

Beyond highlighting the difference between ideas that are genuine innovations and those that are essentially revisions of existing offerings, the buyer utility map reminds one just how many unexplored innovation possibilities there are.

Example of an innovative company that created exceptional utility:
Charles Schwab was a discount broker.Schwab's first innovation was to make customers feel safe trading over the phone and later online. At the time when most brokers were competing on price, Schwab recognised that customers were actually more concerned about the safe executions of their trades. By providing instantaneous computer confirmation the perceived risk is eliminated.
Schwab then went on to make purchasing more convenient. Most discount brokers were only open during normal office hours when most of their customers weren't free. Schwab offered 24hr 7 day a week service and a Schwab one cash management a/c avoiding the inconvenient bank hours.
The next innovation came in the simplicity and maintenance space. It saw how difficult it was for customers to track and manage their mutual fund investments. Customers would typically receive statements from each of the fund companies they dealt with. They would be burdened by sticking it all together to get a better picture of performance. Schwab launched OneSource a consolodated statement of all mutual investments purchased through Schwab.

Whether or not Schwab continus to lead will be dependent in great part on their ability to sniff out new utility spaces before competitors do.

On what spaces does your company lie? Where could they move to?

Earning Trust [R.I.S.C]

Earning Trust [R.I.S.C]
Trust is important in all stages of career. - Earning responsibility for challenging tasks - Convincing colleagues to collaborate and trust you - convincing subordinates to work for you as manager - Convincing customers to buy from you.

4 main componenets in Earning Trust

Credibility - Word oriented - I can trust what he says. [Control what we say in relation to what we do.]
Reliability - Action oriented - I can trust him to do x. [Control what we do.Do what we say.]
Intimacy - Emotion oriented - I feel comfortable around him. [View colleagues as people not roles]

Self Orientation - Motive oriented - I can trust he has my best interests in mind. [Control focus on the other person]
Avoid: fear of ignorance/being rejected, desire to succeed alone vs. helping others, preoccupation with own development.

Build confidence and reliability:
-by being generous with ideas and help.
-by adding more than is contracted - free bonuses, concessions
-by adding the personal touch
-by actually caring versus appearing to
-by showing my interests as client are as important as your interests
-by showing you are in it for the longhaul

Winning trust is multi-dimensional. Need to win over on all four components.

How to earn and deserve client trust (Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up):

How to earn and deserve client trust (Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up):
The way most clients choose professionals is identical to how most people choose their friends.

Clients go with providers that:

- Make them feel at ease

- Make them feel comfortable sharing their fears and concerns

- Can be trusted to look after them as well as their transaction

- Are dependably on their side

- Make them feel good about them.

Don’t have to be the clients best friend but open to developing long-term professional relationships. Is rewarding and beneficial for you.

Work-hard to find the area of mutual interest.

Need Questions and Conversational Guile – Put person at ease and encourage them to engage in talking about themselves. Think about follow-up questions all the time to encourage them to keep talking and try exhibit a genuine interest. Having felt comfortable talking they will enjoy the time spent with you and look forward to the next.

E.g. Ques: What do you like to do in your spare time? Ans: Mountain Climbing. Follow-up Qs:

Where do you go? Do you go alone? What got you started?

It’s not by trying to impress but by asking questions and being genuinely interested and asking follow-up questions. Can make this into a fun challenge!!

Common fallacy: Do not show weaknesses in that you don’t know something. Wrong. Letting people help you or asking people to explain why and how they do things is how to build relationships. They feel good about the fact they can help and feel more of an equal. "Can you tell me about? Can you explain to me? Maybe you can help me with?"

Make people want to be with you and trust you by – Not making them feel good about being with you but rather making them feel good about themselves when they are with you.

The Follow-Up – is also good not only as follow-up questions but also after an event, after someone did something for you as a thank you, after a discussion as an article link to back up what they said…

Exercise this genuine interest in what others say and follow-up to their actions and wanting to share time with them and making them feel good about them as often as possible and consistently so it appears genuine.

How to ask the right questions on any topic?

Starbursting Understanding new ideas by brainstorming questions When a colleague suggests a new product or idea, and you’re trying to understand it and how it works, a typical response is to bombard the other person with questions. What features would it have? How much would it cost? Where would we market it? Who would be responsible for it? Who would buy it? Why would they buy it? And so on. To get the most out of this approach, it’s important that the questions asked are systematic and comprehensive. After all, there would be no point identifying every feature and the intended customers of a new product, and starting to manufacture it if you haven’t asked how you would bring it to that market.

So it’s worth going through a comprehensive, systematic questioning exercise every time you explore a new idea. The Starbursting technique is useful way of going about this.

How to Use the Tool:

Starbursting is a form of brainstorming that focuses on generating questions rather than answers.
For example, a colleague suggests a new design of ice skating boot. One question you ask might be “Who is the customer?” Answer: skaters. But you need to go further than this to ensure that you target your promotions accurately: “What kind of skaters?” Answer: those who do a lot of jumping, who need extra support, and so on. This would help focus the marketing, for example to competition ice dancers and figure skaters, rather than ice rinks that buy boots to hire out to the general public.

Key points:

Starbursting is a form of brainstorming that focuses on generating questions about an idea or challenge in a systemmatic, comprehensive way. It’s a useful tool to support your problem solving or decision making processes by helping you to understand all aspects and options more fully.

Interpersonal Communication - When Delivering a Report

When delivering effective reports for clients its important to keep them as concise and clear as possible. Here are some tips for writing in my experience:

- Write for the reader
Put yourself in the readers shoes as you write. If you were him, what information and angle is important to you.

- Use the CASED methodology
Critically examine the alternative to your suggestion
Analogy or Example to help in understanding
Support your suggestion with emperical evidence, charts and graphs. Don't overkill though.
Executive summarys should be provided at the beginning.
Diagnos based on proven frameworks and practices.

How do I plan a project?

Project management:
The 5 fundamentals: TRUMP
- A Unified Theme
- No. of Tasks that contribute to the theme.
- Match the Resources to each of the tasks.
- Risk assesment. Brainstorm where each aspect can go wrong and Mitigate against risks.
- Plan - roles, time, resources.

How do I improve my arithmetic skills?

1. Round Off to a Quick Approximation

First determine a level of accuracy you are happy with, then round the numbers appropriately before making the calculation. This is also useful to determine a quick ballpark figure before doing the actual calculation.

2. Break Up Into Parts

Say you have to multiply 613 by three. Try multiplying first 600 by 3, then 10 by 3 then 3 by 3 and adding the results.

3. Omit Words

When calculating in your head, think of the results rather than saying out the words. For example to compute 30/2, just think 15 instead of thirty divided by two equals fifiteen.

4. Quickly Find Three Common Percentages

20% -> Divide the number by 5
33.3% -> Divide the number by 3
50% -> Divide the number by 2

5. Finding Percentages by Using 100’s

The percentage of a hundred is the percentage number itself. For example, 15% of 100 is 15. Use this, combined with the Break Up Into Parts method.

Another tip that I use sometimes…

When multiplying (or dividing) 2 numbers together that may seem difficult…

32 x 62 = ?

This equation is the same as 16 x 124, which is the same as 8 x 248, which is the same as 4 x 496, or 2 x 992… and anything multiplied by 2 is easy… so
32 x 62 = 1984

How can I improve my memory?

Memory is improved by following adhering to the 3 golden rules. ( I say 3 rules because 3 items are the easiest to recall):

Structure. Location. Imagination.

Structure - When our brain takes information in. It trys to get it to stick by clustering it with existing related information. In a way it wants to file the new information into the most relevant bucket.
For example, if I am reading about US presidents. It will throw the new information I get into the bucket in my brain labeled US presidents. Here I keep all my information on US presidents. If I try to put this information into my bucket on US cars it justs won't stick.

Using this insight. When learning new information we should first cluster it by relevant themes and structure it with headings and examples.

This offloads the work thet the brain has too do to make it stick for longer.

GIVE EVERYTHING YOU WRITE A SUMMARY TITLE LIKE I HAVE IN THIS BLOG. REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF TEXT PER SUMMARY TITLE FOR EFFECTIVENESS.

This structure also applies to rhythm of sound. We memorizes slogans, statements, poems and songs that have a structured rhythm.

For example. Beans means Heinz. Yes we can. Wee willie winkie my son John, went to bed with his trousers on ..

Location - We have an innate ability to recall location. This links back to our ability to retain structure. For example, if you try to visualize your route to work, your primary school or the layout of your office you can very easily do it.

Similarly, You can readily memorize the layout of your favourite internet pages even if you cannot remember their content.

Many speakers utilize this memory capability by applying the different milestones they need to remember to different points along a well known route.

When you are learning new content, visualize it and apply it to a physical location. This will help you recall it.


Imagination - Our imagination is a powerful memory tool. If we visualize it, it makes it easier to retain. This links into the visualization piece from above.

Analogies are great ways to stimulate the imagination.
As are colours.

When we visualize information and apply an image to it, it becomes stickier. As you will notice above, the more absurd the better.

For example. Ideas being thrown into buckets. Memory as being stick glue.

There is so much coming in, you need to make it stick out in order for it to stick.

How do I Handle “It Costs Too Much”?

Rule 1: Pre-empt the inevitable.
- Admitting the negatives of your offering, as well as the positives, enhances your credibility and positions you in the role of an advisor rather than a salesperson.
- If you know your product will be misaligned relative to customers pre-eempt the objection , early in your initial conversation:

- Some people say that our product is more expensive. That is true. But this is justified value for money.
- Our additional price allow us to invest more in innovation - we have the greatest number of PhD search researchers and search engineers (400 +) on the planet.
- This means we can bring to you the competitive advantage of always having the most cutting edge technology.

Rule 2: Add a monetary value to differentiators.
It is true that from we are more expensive than our competitors. That is, in the short term, looking simply at price tags.
But when you start apply sterling figures to our value-add differentiators you see that we are in fact the cheaper alternative.
- Forefront of innovation - competitive advantage
- Self governance - Minimal services costs
- SBC - maximizing search usage
- Linguistic capabilities - shorter time to answers
- Scalability - Lower TCO

I guess the question you need to ask yourself is. Can you afford to make a short term saving for a long term loss? Fall for a false economy?

Rule 3: Empathize and get empathy

I fully understand that you need to economize in today's climate. And, let's face it we can almost always get something cheaper.
I’ve found that when smart people invest their money they look for 3 things:

- The best quality.
- The best service.
- The lowest price.

Unfortunately they are mutually exclusive.
Which two of the three is most important to you in the long term?


How do I Close Without Discounting?

In negotiations, Never give the customer a take it or leave it ultimatum.

Give them a menu of three options with different permutations of each of the variables.

The question moves from - Will I take it or not. To. Which will I take.

How can I make my speeches more inspirational?

Neil deGrasse Tyson - Humorous and knowledgeable and excited and passionate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBIVlM435Zg



Seth Godin - Humorous and knowledgeable and tongue in cheek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaW4Ol3_M1o

How do I ensure effective meetings?

"I understand this may seem over the top, but we need to do this, so that I ensure that I do not waste your time. This will keep us moving and on track."

1. Set expectations and ground rules at the start - What do they expect from me as manager? and what do I expect from them as participants?

2. Agenda - Even if brief, it keeps meeting on track and creates accountability. Send out meeting and reading materials before hand so that participants can prepare.

3. Request Input - demand that each participant bring something relevant to progression of the meeting. Settle on a common topic for all participants to address.
It may be a question or an idea. Make sure it requires no more than 5 minutes preperation. Go around the room and have everyone contribute their input.
This helps participants mentally prepare and stay active.

4. No Chairs - By sitting down participants enter passive mode. Having them stand up keeps them active, engaged and gets the blood flowing.

5. Encourage Participation - Call upon all to contribute. Use open ended questions. Have sweets available to give everyone a sugar rush and something to look forward to.

"John, you shook your head. What do you disagree with?"
"I would like to hear from Bill on this."
"What may we be overlooking?"
"What don't we know that we need to?"
"Is there anyone who has not weighed in on this issue?"
"What is your view on ..?"
"How could we?"

6. Summarize Effectively - Choose one person randomly to summarize the meeting. This will keep everyone on their toes and force them to actively listen.

MEDDIC - Sales Qualification

[MEDDIC]
Metrics - What KPIs / drivers will we be contributing to? Revenue, productivity, time to market?

Economic Buyer - Who will sign the contract and/or who owns the budget?

Decision Criteria - Technical and commercial criteria; their priority and our position versus competition?

Decision Process - What is The Sequence of Events?

Identified Goal - Compelling Event. What is the individual or group objective? Are their serious consequences if not achieved?

Champion - Who is the Individual who has a personal win associated with the success of FAST? She provides easy access to MEDDI.

Flags & Bridges - Communication

Flag Messages-
A Flag is a verbal cue that you are about to say something significant si the audience better listen. It's waving a flag to grab their attention.

"The most important thing to remember here is .."
"The key differentiator you will see here is .."
"You will see here that .."
"What you will see here is .."
"If you are to leave the presentation with just one message, this should be it .."
"Let me clear something up .."
"The reason I believe this is important is that .."

Flags often end up being the key take home points for listeners.

Bridge Content -
Bridges are used to move from one topic to another, typically one you are more comfortable with.

You should prepare bridges to feel good statements before hand.

1. Answering tough questions:
“I don’t know whether the budget will allow us to fund a new basketball program. What I do know is we are committed to providing students great opportunities to keep fit. "

“I agree with you that it is an important matter for many people, but to me the most important thing is…”

2. Connecting content:
"We often get the question..."
"With our customers we tend to see that..."
"This leads me to, .."
"In saying that, .."
"Further to that, .."

How do I ensure the best response to questions?

The Trigger Method:
You can "trigger" your brain, by beginning a sentence with the end of a question.

1. Triggers brain to go gather all information it has on a topic.
2. Gives your brain time to kick into gear.
3. Prevent you from making a false start, saying uh or stammering.

What did you think of X - I thought that X ..

What is the best thing about X - The best thing about X is ..

What is the difference between - The difference between ..

How can I answer those tough questions?

Feel-Good Responses:

Have a prepared list of feel good responses. Those statements you say that make everyone feel good about your company.

"At Microsoft we contribute a whopping $16 million to local enterprises each year."

"Our company is the leader in green computing."

"At our company, we feel that all employees deserve equal benefits."

"We currently give employment to over 50,000 Americans so they can support their families"

Build Bridges:
1. Think about the question and analyze its significance.

"Was your decision to make redundant 5,000 employees just before Christmas purely down to profit?"

2. Repeat the question with a smile (to rubbish it) before responding.

"Was my decision to make redundant 500 employees just before Christmas purely down to profit."

3. build a bridge to your pre-developed feel-good responses by using such phrases as:

"Let me put that into perspective We currently give employment to over 50,000 Americans so they can support their families. The current lay off accounts for a mere 1% of our total employees.. ".

"Let me put that into a different context".

"Let me give you an example".

"Let me ensure I fully understand you".

"Let me clarify for you".

"Let me help you understand"

"What I can tell is that "

When a question is irrelevant or difficult, you can even:

BLOCK AND BRIDGE - don’t answer the question and build a bridge to a point you want to make instead.

Example: “I agree with you that it is an important matter for many people, but to me the most important thing is (+ feel good statement)”

"I see you point but more importantly (+ feel good statement)"

Here are some types of difficult questions.

The false alternative - Identify the root.

Example: "Was your decision based on wrong practice or did you just not know?"

Solution: Ignore the alternatives and focus on - the root of the question and your message. Lead the interviewer rather than allowing him or her to lead you.

"The root of your question is evaluation..."

The hypothetical - Rubbish speculation, focus facts.

Example: "If x happens, what will you do?"

Solution: Avoid speculation. Turn the conversation to a positive point.

"I can't see the future, but looking at the facts… "

The loaded preface - Ignore insult, bridge to feel good statement.

Example: "Your organization has been called arrogant by the local associations. So what are you doing in terms of partnerships?"

Solution: Try to correct the perception and then move on to the positive.

"On the contrary, we..."

The absent party - Deny insult, bridge to feel good statement.

Example: "So-and-so has stated that your organization is behind the times..."

Solution: Don't argue with someone who is not present. Instead of commenting on that specific statement, turn to something else.

"I’m not familiar with that remark, but we… "

The inconsistency - Focus on differing conditions.

Example: "In 1997, you said x; now you're doing x . Why the change?"

Solution: Take an historical perspective.

"The environment was different in 1997 and we… "

The irrelevancy - Highlight irrelevancy, bridge to feel good statement.

Example: "As project manager and always on the road, what are you doing about road safety...?"

Solution: Give a bit of information about transport issues and then bridge to your major issues.

Putting words in your mouth - do not dignify.

Example: Did you mismanage money?

Answer: I have never mismanaged money.

Headline: NGO representative says he never mismanaged money.

Solution: Do not repeat inflammatory words that a reporter might feed to you. Rather, answer in neutral terms.

"That is a question that I will not dignify with an answer.”