Archive for January, 2010

Some Initial thoughts on the iPad

By brendan at 28 January, 2010, 10:08 am

Once again Apple will export California chic to the rest of the world. Certainly Apple is likely to carve out a “new” niche with style and an interface that just works with its new iPad.
The success of netbook has proven that most users don’t need much more that email, web and multimedia display. The iPad [...]

Time & Materials V’s Fixed Price billing

By brendan at 27 January, 2010, 12:11 pm

Just before Xmas I had one of my coffee/mentoring sessions with a vibrant young Victorian entrepreneur and an interesting question came up around how she should invoice her services. Although not an expert in the area of pricing models (I generally recommend Jon Manning of Sans Prix for some hard core consulting), I [...]

What would a Sales 101 course look like?

By brendan at 18 January, 2010, 6:14 pm

Something that drives me mad is that in my humble opinion, our Universities are undermining the success of Australian business. I say this because from my observation the number one skill required for success in business, regardless of profession, is the ability to sell. To sell your product, yourself as the right candidate [...]

Keeping Smart Productive People

By brendan at 18 January, 2010, 3:44 pm

So after last weeks post on looking after smart but lazy people, I got some interesting feedback from a friend who’s a Human Resources Manager in a national organisation with a couple of thousand employees in what seems like hundreds of locations. She agreed with me, but extended my idea either further with a [...]

Cherish Smart but Lazy People

By brendan at 11 January, 2010, 4:16 pm

So last time I posted, I discussed dealing with lawyers – lessons learned from my long lunches with a Barrister/Army friend.
Another interesting discussion we had was around the need for stupid or lazy people. Ian’s point of view was that in any organisation, you have people who are smart and people who are stupid. [...]