Education is the solution

Here is an interesting article about education.
Education is important for many reasons and it is also a means to an end. From that point of view it is very important that we don't only look for impressive credentials and certificates but for the capability to address real issues. This is something schools, universities and students as well as teachers need to keep in mind because as the economy becomes more and more global there will be intense competition for people who can solve real problems.

What do you think about color coded email messages based on their stress potential?

Here is an interesting audio recording (5min). At first I thought it was just funny because I get many emails every day and many of the important ones might have a higher stress level. So I could already see my inbox being red to a large extend. That would for sure increase my stress level.  But when I listened to the whole recording I learned that they have some very interesting points regarding communication automation towards the end. That is partly fascinating and scary. There are so many tasks that get automated and it is mostly good. In this case I'm not so sure it's good because someone has to write the applications to show you what to think (e.g. in this case to see a message has a high stress potential). By using the apps don't you allow the app provider to influence and guide your thinking, to think for you?  Why would you trust the app provider (which you most likely don't even know personally) to tell you what to think?

Climate change is a huge opportunity

Wow! Isn't that a very provacative statement? When I first read the headline of this article with Richard Branson I was stunned. Anyway once I got over the first surprise I thought he has a very valid point. The only way to achieve change and to have many people actively driving that change is that people can benefit from it economically.
To say "just do less of what is harmful" is not enough. In this article that would be flying. While I think it is good to say "I want to fly less" it is very unlikely that this will actually happen. Everyone has some interesting places they want to see, people they want to visit or some business travel they have to go to. Do you stay at home to save the climate?
It's easy to expect that from others but there is always a reason why we have to travel. So it's a noble but futile gesture that doesn't really drive change. Instead I like Branson's approach to say let's use our brains and come up with something new. We can't and really don't want to go back to the past, so let's take the future in our own hands and make it a good one.

Digital Gatekeepers

This article is one example that shows how big companies like Facebook and Twitter become gateways to the internet. That means certain applications are not available to you if you are not a member of these companies (as an example).  I think this is a troubling trend because the different sites exchange data, your data!
While we already have a privacy challenge with companies like Facebook this exemplifies this challenge. Do you know what companies get your data? What they do with it? If you can remove it at one point if you want to? How easy or difficult it is to remove any data?  How this data drives what you see on the internet?

I'm all for sharing, exchanging ideas and communicating with others but I think you should be very careful what data you provide to whom to make sure you don't regret your decisions at one point. 

Thought controlled Robotics

This is a fascinating article about the potential to positively impact the life of disabled people. Wouldn't it be great if technology could them to make life better? In addition to that I think it could open endless opportunities in other areas as well. I think about steering a car, open and lock a house, turn on the TV,  control all kinds of machines (e.g. your lawn mower etc.) writing a report or controlling your smartphone etc.
It is simply fascinating to see what might be possible. Now a word of caution, whenever there is a big opportunity there are big pitfalls as well. What if someone tries to monitor your thoughts? If someone wants to control what you like or don't like? Since the chip is implanted it would be possible to influence what this does, kind of like a virus on a computer. Scary and fascinating at the same time.

Young Master from the Silicon Valley in Berlin

Interesting article about a 21 year old "Wunderkind" from the Silicon Valley. He founded Kiip (an advertising platform) and was in Berlin for the Social Gaming Summit last week. I thought he is very smart and made some interesting observations/comments in this interview

• Silicon Valley doesn't really recognize that other places have interesting startup tech scenes as well. They simply consider themselves still the center of the tech world, so far it's still deserved but you have to keep working for it.
• Trying to do everything yourself: Know your strenghts and use them instead of focusing to improve your weaknesses
• "You can't judge a fish by how he climbs a tree". It's a citation from Einstein but anyway to cite that in an interview with 21. Impressive! ... and it is true
• "If the vision is strong enough, naturally driven people will devote their time, energy and their heart into something they care about as well." ... that is something that every company should care about. Do you really care about the things you do everyday ... passionately? If you do you're on the right track. If you don't ... keep searching

Germans incapable of enjoying life

Here is a study that shows what you have probably suspected all along. Germans can't enjoy life. Now comes the scary part, this is not only limited to Germans. I see many high achieving individuals from all over the world that have a challenging time to cut loose and enjoy themselves. Read it and see if you see something familiar here. If there are many similarities you should be scared.
In any case while this is so exaggerated that it's funny to read there is some truth in here.

Global Internet Success made in Germany

This is a pretty long article about the Samwer Brothers in Germany. These guys are young and very successful business people. Read the article and see if you like what you read.
They seem to be very powerful and successful but I didn't read that they live happy lifes aside from work, success and recognition by others. Is this all you need to be happy? You have to have more success, more money and more influence than 99.9% of people that you know.
It's worth reading the whole article even if it takes some time because it will make you think about your career objectives.

Facebook IPO from an european point of view

What are your thoughts on the upcoming Facebook IPO? Here is a short article from Deutsche Welle on that topic. This is what stands out for me

1. Users access Facebook more on their mobile devices than on PC's/laptops
2. Facebook has no access to Chinese Market
3. Mark Zuckerberg will hold a 57% share

Is this really a recipe for success? With regards to the sky high evaluation it would be good to know that Facebook can keep growing into the Chinese Market. How about  having more influence on the top level of Facebook?
I keep thinking of Yahoo! They were highly valued by Wall Street at one point ... and look where they are today. This might be different but I would be careful anyway.

Do other people really steal your jobs?

This is an interesting article about too many Germans in Switzerland. While I think there is some truth in this there is also a big misperception in here. Let's start with the facts. Switzerland is a small and very rich country that is a neighbor of Germany and it has, compared to Germany, very attractive tax regulations. Therefore it's pretty normal that it attracts many Germans in upper level jobs (e.g. doctors, scientists). In addition to that it has great outdoors (e.g. mountains, lakes, skiing, boating etc.) and hence a large tourism industy. In that regards its like many other places e.g. Monaco, USA, Canada, Australia.

If you have many high income earners this will move up prices, no question. This is not good for many low to middle income earners because they can't afford or hardly afford houses etc. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that this causes some conflict. This needs to be addressed but is the lockout of others the right answer?
Today most people need to adjust to a mindset where they compete with many other people around the world. The Internet made it possible. You can't lock yourself into a place and just don't let anyone in. You have to make sure that you are ready to compete successfully. To do that you have to be prepared and learn as much as you can from others.
Be open to learn from others and then make sure that everyone (incl. low to middle income earners) can have a decent living. To use yesterdays methods to fight todays problems won't work.

Only the innovative survive in engineering

I agree with this article and the question behind this is: "What does your company do to stay innovative?" It's easier said than done to stay ahead of the competition. Most companies need to do more with less and this will not change. You have to life with it and hopefully life well with it.

Does your company generate enough idea's for improvements? Do you really follow up on your idea's?
If you want to have a company or a job tomorrow you better start thinking what you can do to stay ahead of the competition.

Americans like Germany

Here is an entertaining but not very informative article that shows that Americans like Germany. It's interesting to see what that is based upon

• Germany's role in international politics
• Germany's role in Afghanistan
• Germany promotes peace and democracy in the world
• Germany's taking responsiblity for the Holocaust and WWII
• Good knowledge about Germany

While this seems like a nice result for Germany I would say these are all non or hard to quantify values and hence it's not possible to draw any conclusions out of this. The most interesting information in this article is actually hidden in some comments. Nevertheless it's a good example of how to write about something without saying too much.

Recent Interview with Hasso Plattner (SAP Co-Founder)

This is an interesting article that provides some inside into the SAP Co-Founders thinking about Germany, the USA, SAP, Hana, Steve Jobs and a couple of other topics.

I found the following two comments especially interesting

1.  " People would often rather put together a 50-page PowerPoint presentation than simply say: We want this and this!". Very interesting indeed. I think he is absolutely right that some people prefer to write down everything in some fancy language and on impressive slides instead of going straight to the point. The objective is to get the work done quickly and time to market is becoming more important every day.
2. "We take too little pleasure in success". I'm taking this a little out of context here but I think who works hard should also be able to enjoy what he did. If you just run from one goal to the next where is the fun? Where is the reward? Stop from time to time and enjoy what you did.

A land of milk and honey - Schwaebisch Hall (really?)

I guess the lesson from this article is that you have to be aware of your influence. In this case I suspect that the author of the article didn't expect that her article would have such a big impact. This reminded me very much of the influence of senior managers in big companies. When they make any comments (maybe exaggerated like in this article) that tends to become the law of the land for the people who report to them. So they have to be careful what they say otherwise they may experience unintented consequences like in the article above.
On the other hand it would make sense for the readers of the article as well as the employee's of senior manager in big companies to evaluate these statements. Don't hear only what you want to hear or what you think you are expected to hear. Listen, take some time to think and then act. If it sounds too good to be true then in most cases it will be.

A different kind of coffee

Are you looking for more purpose in your job? If yes, this might be an inspiring article. I don't think you have to necessarily change your job to achieve that. It depends on how you approach tasks in general. In this case it is interesting to see how you can start something that was done before and still be successful at it. OK, successful is probably a little early for this but nevertheless this is not a fantastic new idea that nobody had before. It is actually some pretty mundane idea but since they really wanted it they made it work (so far).  For most people the question will be "Are you willing to pay the price for it?"
What you do depends on you and nobody else, as long as you are willing to pay the price for it.

Survival Tips for Meetings

Here is an interesting article regarding meetings. Don't be scared it is just the first two or three sentences that are in german. It can hopefully provide a little help to make your meetings easier to go through.

Meetings in general can be good if they are structured correctly and if the person who is facilitating them knows what they want to get out of it and if you don't have too many of them. For some jobs it will be inevitable that you have many meetings (e.g. Sales Reps, Executives etc.) and in this case this article is missing the point. This is for people who regularly go to meetings which they don't necessarily enjoy.

Hairline Cracks Could Cost EADS 100 Million Euros

Little errors can have a big impact. This article about small cracks in the Airbus 380 is a good example for that. As a customer I expect quality. So don't come back to me with excuses why something doesn't work or even worse try to hide it.
Be open with what went wrong otherwise I will lose trust. This happens especially quickly with things that are potentially life threating (e.g. medical devices, airplanes etc) . Come back with a short, understandable plan on how you plan to fix it. Once it is fixed then make sure that I understand what you did do that I (as the customer) have a chance to appreciate it.

Doesn't that very much sound like good Project Management Practices?

The Adult brain can change

I guess it isn't exactly News that adults can still learn new things but it's still interesting to see this confirmed in a study. Check this out.

In quite some places I get the feeling that the will to learn something new is not very strong. Maybe it's because people feel more in control when they do the things they already know BUT then you don't learn anything new. I want to learn new things, do something new because I don't want to spend life on "repeat" mode.
How much do you challenge yourself? I think we can only grow when we do something new on a regular basis. And new things tend to be intimidating in the beginning. We  don't know them and hence we don't control them and don't know how to deal with them. But we can learn new things. So don't be afraid of making mistakes, that is part of the learning process.

Are Mergers the only way to grow?

Here is a link to an article about the failed merger of the NYSE and Euronext. What do you think? Are mergers the only way to grow? At least for these giant companies to grow substantially and to get any measurable stock gains.

Smart Paint can monitor buildings

The future use of technology will probably go beyond what you may think. Check this article about smart paint. Sure, some of these technologies still need considerable development but still at one point they will be available. Are you prepared for these changes? Personally and professionally? Do you know enough about these emerging technologies so that you have a chance to benefit from them financially? If you are interested in this topic I recommend a good book about these "future oriented" technologies from Daniel Burrus "Flash Foresight". Check it out it and be amazed by what might be coming our way.

Interesting Interview with Andrew Mason, Groupon CEO

Check this link to read the Spiegel Magazine Interview with Andrew Mason, Groupon CEO. I guess one of the things we can learn from most of these young, successful Internet Entrepeneurs is to focus our time and energy on things that really interest us on a personal level. They are not just doing it for the money, they also seem to deeply believe in being able to change something.

Now you might think that is all nice and well but you are not in a situation where you can just focus on your personal interests. You need to provide money for your family and other responsibilities. Maybe it also seems to be too late to change anything and start focusing on the things that really interest you or maybe you don't have anything that interests you that much.
In any case it is your decision. You can change something in your live if you want to. Don't just envy others but do something different yourself. Do you want to do it? If yes, what is holding you back? How can you remove that obstacle and move forward?

Workplace Facebook from Berlin

Does the world really need another Workplace Facebook? Obviously yes, because otherwise this company wouldn't get the necessary funding, right? Getting funding and being an efficient tool are two entirely different things.
Even the best tools won't make up for talent that knows how to use these tools efficiently. When a tool like that is introduced in a company it will be a major effort because the potential users need to be trained on how to use it. In addition to that they need to be convinced that it is a good idea to participate because these tools are only valuable if users are willing ot invest time and maintain them. How do you do that? Without a critical mass of users and active management support there is a good chance that this won't take off as expected.
All this doesn't mean that it won't be a good idea to use a tool like that BUT it means that you need to put some serious effort into thinking if your company is really ready to use a tool like that effectively.

Other questions worth pondering are

• How many social communication tools are users willing to maintain?
• How many of your employees are already on Facebook or similar sites?
• What information can users exchange (and how fast) with this tool that they can't with the current tools?
• How are your current tools e.g. SharePoint working for your teams?
• Do you need a mobile version of this tool so that all users (e.g. Sales Reps) can use this effectively?

A two speed Europe

I'm sure this year will keep us busy with news from Europe and the Euro crisis. Here is an article that highlights some interesting differences regarding unemployment within Europe.

Germany: Foreigners setup a third of all businesses

Here is an interesting article about foreigners that start businesses in germany. Since I'm an immigrant to the USA myself I have some personal idea's why so many foreigners in germany start their own businesses.

1. Immigrants want to show that they can do it abroad to themselves, their families and they want to be as independent as possible. After all what's the point of leaving your home country if you don't do better abroad? It can be a significant confidence booster when it works out.
2. The lack of a reliable support system. You move but your family (e.g. brother, sister, uncle, aunts) doesn't and therefore many things can become more challenging. You also need to earn more money to go back and visit them on a regular basis. In addition to that there can be other reasons like for example the US health care system or social security system who are not nearly as good as Germany's therefore you're forced to be more successful in order to have the same social safety.
3. You want to achieve more career wise and personally. For most people that's the main reason to move to another country. It might be a career opportunity you couldn't get at home or you have a chance to live in your "dream place". When you start in that new country you usually have no or not many connections and so you can throw yourself head over into work and build something.

There are obviously many more reasons why people migrate to other countries and build their own companies, but for me these were the main ones. What do you think why do people setup companies in their adopted homeland?