Mastering the futz factor!

Years ago one of my articles focussed on the "futz factor," a phrase coined to describe the "time spent solving the little, mundane problems that occur day-to-day as e struggle to master our machines."

I just had a futz-experience, but it worked out brilliantly.

I've got several keynotes through the next few weeks, and some heavy travel. My Blackberry has become my office lifeline; I've actually closed keynote deals through it when someone has needed a keynote speaker in a hurry. It has become something I'm hugely reliant on, while still managing for some work/life balance.

And today, I upgraded the software on it -- and it died part way through! It seemed to be completely dead! Abusing my profile, I contacted the COO of RIM .... I know a few of the people there ..... and was within moments contacted by an Exec. Asst to a VP at the company, who was willing to line me up with a phone call with tech support.

But the good news is, I managed to bring it back to life -- it turns out RIM's software could do a cold-load of all the original software, even though it seemed to have given up the ghost -- and it's now back in action.

Boy, do I feel better!

Great product, great company, great tool. Dealing with the futz factor just doesn't get any better than this.

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Permanent link to this item ...posted at 12:39 PM...February 27, 2004

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Oil & gas, real estate, entitlement, infrastructure and risk management!

I explained to a client today that when I'm preparing for a keynote or workshop, I often end up putting 30-40 hours of research into each talk. I'm well immersed in that process for about six upcoming presentations between now and mid-March. This morning, I've been taking an in-depth look at:

• key business trends in the oil and gas sector, including concepts such as BP's "Field of the Future" effort and Shell's "Smart Fields" programs, both of which involve significicant change throughout the exploration and development process, for an upcoming session for SAP
• issues of real estate management, and the strategic role and value of the real estate function within organizations, for my upcoming keynote for the International Asset Management Conference in Tucson
• and an examination of the "culture of entitlement" that pervades society and what it means when it comes to emerging global infrastructure risk, whcih I'll be speaking about at an upcoming annual meeting for a major insurance company

Whew! And the fascinating thing is, all of these topics tie together .... and it's a good example of the different types of issues I delve into.

Back to the books....

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Permanent link to this item ...posted at 02:50 PM...February 17, 2004

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What comes next?

We live in a world of hyper-competition, constant, relentless change, rapid innovation and increasing market risk. People can choose to watch as their world passes them by, or they can choose to become futurepreneurs, able to spot the trends, analyze what it means, and determine an action plan that let’s them master their future. That's the focus of the presentation/workshop that quite a few organizations have been engaging me for -- take a look at the detaisl, "What Comes Next? (....and What Should You Do About It?)" (PDF)

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Permanent link to this item ...posted at 07:12 AM...February 16, 2004

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Leadership for the future / "trends radar

I've had two new association executive related articles published in the last few weeks:

• Establish your own trends radar"I’m often asked how I became a “futurist, trends & innovation expert.” Easy – I spend time observing and thinking about what’s going on in the world around me – and I enhance those observations with real data" (PDF)
• Leadership for the future"Seek out the rebels in your membership base - you might not like what they have to say, but often, they are probably right in what they will tell you" (PDF)

You can find the full list of all association related articles here, as well as my most recent article list here.

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Permanent link to this item ...posted at 06:59 AM...February 10, 2004

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Telecom market disruption

Every industry reaches a point where new technologies, business models, a critical mass of user readiness and customer demands suddenly brings it to the point where everything begins to change -- in a big way.

Such is the case with the telecom industry -- Voice-over-IP is a hugely disruptive technology, and it is now starting to wreak its' havoc. We're only seeing the tip of the iceberg -- jobs and careers will change, competition will increase, business models will be ripped apart, skill sets will undergo a massive evolution, innovation will dominate for the smart ones who figure out what's going on -- and the pace of change will increase to the point where it's horrifically difficult to deal with.

I'm doing a keynote next week out west that is looking at VoIP business issues, implementation realities and market trends, as well as the necessity for strategic planning in this area. This is one of several keynotes I've done in this area -- see my list of hi-tech and telecom clients for an idea of who is seeking my insight.

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Permanent link to this item ...posted at 07:42 AM...February 06, 2004

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