Resrtict Bandwidth To Be More Productive?

Yesterday I was reading the paper, and there was an article about Lockheed Corp in Dallas having to restrict social networking sites because they used too much bandwidth. The comment from a senior manager was almost funny. He said “unlike other countries, bandwidth in the US isn’t cheap.” That’s funny because cheap bandwidth should have nothing to do with the decision.

What if everyone is using Facebook as a group work tool to post ideas? What if they are using YouTube to post training videos? I know I do, so why can’t Lockheed employees. If the manager was being completely honest he would have said something like “We are restricting the websites because we think the employees are engaged in non-work related activities on company time.”

In a previous life I worked for Apple Computer when they had Friday keg parties, pinball machines, pool tables and ping pong tables. All of these “non work related activities” were meant to keep people at work longer and to stimulate creativity. Apple realized that the most successful people would not ever separate work and play. When you have the right people in the right jobs, work and play become one.

Are You Focused And Still Not Getting There? A Lesson From Grandma.

My grandmother was a committed lady. I don't mean committed as in institutionalized,  I mean  committed as someone that has achieved success. The reason I'm talking about this is because today is a bittersweet day.   I bring up my Grandmother, because today is my grandmother's funeral. Maybe it's really a memorial because her body won't be there. I don't really know and I don't think it is important. Whatever it is, the family is getting together to pay respects, remember and celebrate a rather long and well lived life of the family matriarch. As a kid I think about my grandmother's house growing up.  Her home was the central focus for the entire family. Whenever anything happened good or bad, we went to my grandmother's house.  She is the last of her generation in my family, and we could learn a little from that generation.

My grandmothers house wasn't a very big house,  but it was big enough for everyone to have a seat and a smile. Most holidays were spent at my grandmother's house with the entire family there. When fireworks were still legal in Los Angeles, we would have 20 people or more in a very small backyard running around with fireworks. Oddly enough no one ever got hurt. It was always safe, nobody could insult you or hurt you while you were there. If someone started picking on you, my grandmother could always fix it with chocolate milk. If a fight broke out, it could be ended with  cake. She had so many activities for every kid you never really had time to bicker or fight anyway. TV was out, my granddad only allowed golf on TV.  If you said something negative about another family member or someone outside the house she would just laugh it off and say "don't be ridiculous." She would say it with a smile that somehow let you know what you were doing or saying was wrong.

Which Widget Should You Use?

Among the top ten questions I get, something always comes up about office tools.  Everyone wants to know what I use.  They know I am picky and will return anything and everything that doesn't work.

I went ahead and put up a quick website with shortcuts to all the essential business tools we use for our business.  If you walk into my office, you will find it, or a newer version on our Amazon Affiliate Store.  Check it out at www.kuhltoys.com.  Everything is there, our speech recognition software, our desktops, all of it.  About the only things we couldn't get on there were the iPhone, iPad and Blackberry Torch.

If there is a category or something I missed, let me know please.  I am trying to make this as easy as possible.

Business and Economic Burdens

Growing up I used to hear people make fun of the "laugher curve".  I thought everyone was laughing at President Reagan and his economic policies.  Going through business school I learned that the "Laffer Curve" was some real economic theory by a real professor.

Here is a copy of the basic laffer-curve:

The big problems with the interpretation are pretty easy to spot.  Given this image it would appear that 50% tax is the ideal percentage for the Government.  That is no where near the case, The Horowitz freedom center noted that many thought the tax cuts President Reagan asked for were incorrectly thought of as only for the rich.  They were tax cuts for everyone, the popular media slanted the view.

Business and Friendship don't mix...

For most of my adult life I have owned businesses and been pretty happy with them.  Admittedly until the last few years, my businesses were based on stuff I was "pretty good at".  As long as you can figure out how things work you can always build a business, it might not be the right business, but you can still build it.

One of the things I hear over and over is "You can't do business with your friends." or "Don't mix business and Friendship".  This is a very strange concept to me.  If you trust your friends and they trust you, why can't you do business?  Most of our waking hours are at work, why not work with your friends.  Yes I have had a couple of deals go south and partnerships fall apart that started as friendships.  The real friendships survived the unraveling of the business involvement.  The people that just be-friended me for a "deal" went by the wayside and I am not that much worse off for it.

Building a killer business.

George Foreman is someone that most people think of as a "lucky" guy.  He made it as a boxer, and spent it all, then he made it again as a boxer and spent it all.  By his own admission he never liked boxing, he liked helping people.  George Foreman was also a minister, and it was during his time as a minister that he spent his boxing fortunes.

When George was approached with the Lean Mean Grilling Machine, he took that to the mat. It is an excellent lesson in rebuilding for both people and business.  If you missed the CNBC Bizography special there are some clips here worth watching if you are thinking of starting a business or own a business.

Are you a mile wide and an inch deep?

Every day you get out of bed, you have choices to make whether you realize it or not. The funny thing is how many choices we make subconsciously without even realizing we are doing it. We are always heading in some direction with every choice. As the old saw goes, “If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there.”

I had an excellent conversation a few days ago with Robert Menard. An industry expert in purchasing negotiations and systems for over a decade, Mr. Menard has a depth of experience that few posses. He has spoken to Congress about better ways to purchase. Mr. Menard and I talked at length about how he built his business to be one inch wide and a mile deep. I asked him about buying a car, and he referred me to someone else. He isn't a buying expert, he is a purchasing expert.

After the conversation I walked by a repair on our family house that I had made 10 years ago. The previous owners had a large dog and right at the front of the house was a dog door big enough for most 5 year old children to walk through. One day someone walked in and helped themselves to a bunch of my stuff, and now the dog door is gone.