A forum for Hawaii's
business community to discuss
current events and issues
BACK TO TOP |
BRYANT FUKUTOMI / BFUKUTOMI@STARBULLETIN.COM
For a successful company, it should be
Houston, we have a problem.
When that famous sentence echoed from the space ship to NASA headquarters in Houston, a well oiled, highly trained, committed group of skilled professionals focused on a singular objective.
Office politics were forgotten. Anxieties about political correctness were minimal. Any and every idea that could help was voiced, considered and chewed apart -- regardless of its hierarchical source.
Consider, by contrast, some current and persistent patterns of behavior that characterize corporate organizational dynamics by asking yourself the following questions adapted from "The Practice of Empowerment" by Dennis Kinslow. You can be fully honest since no one but you will "hear" your response.
1. If you knew that a supervisor in your organization was doing something that was hurting the organization, would you confront that person?When several thousand people, just like yourself, were asked these questions, the pattern of responses was as follows:2. Do you of some way that your organization could make a substantial gain in cutting its costs or improving the quality of its goods and services?
3. And will you do anything about it?
1. Less than 50 percent said yes.If you're the chief executive of a large corporation (or even a small one), these data should stop you dead in your tracks. Their implications are immediate and clear.2. Almost 100 percent said yes.
3. Less that 10 percent said yes.
For example, questions No. 2 and No. 3 above confirm that there is a veritable gold mine of underused creative potential just waiting to be released among your people.
That's the good news. The bad news is that traditional suggestion boxes will not release this potential.
The key factor that will do so is being certain that all of your supervisors are skilled in creating environments where employees feel encouraged, safe and appreciated for bringing forth any and all ideas. Regardless of their hierarchical source. And, specifically those ideas that might have to do with how a supervisor's own behavior might be "the something that was hurting the organization."
This point brings us face-to-face with the implications of question No. 1 above. It tells us, in no uncertain terms, that as a CEO, there is a greater than 50 percent probability that your own reports would not tell you directly if you were doing something they thought was potentially hurting the organization.
And, lest we forget, your behavior and your decisions are expected to have a huge impact on the organization. That's the bad news.
The really bad news is that the current craze of hiding behind anonymous averaged 360-degree feedback mechanisms will only serve to make the underlying problem worse
Why worse and not better? Because such feedback mechanisms not only do nothing to help people learn to communicate face-to-face, they actually reinforce not doing so. Under the guise of "People wouldn't be honest otherwise!" we continue not to help people learn how to communicate wisely, honestly and compassionately, face-to-face.
As the senior "supervisor" who sets the standard for others to follow, ask yourself a few hard questions.
What do you do to make it safe for your people to give you direct face-to-face feedback? How much do they really trust you to be open-minded and non-defensive?
How open are you to some of the "cost cutting and improving the quality of your goods and services ideas" that virtually 100 percent of them have? And, most importantly, how do you know your own responses to these hard questions are really valid?
We most certainly have a problem. Its roots and implications spread far and wide, well beyond Houston. We seem not to have learned from the oft-quoted truth voiced by the prison guard in the movie "Cool Hand Luke" when he said, "What we have here is a failure to communicate."
Rather, what we continue to have is a failure to do anything substantive about our failure to communicate.
Irwin Rubin is a Honolulu-based author president of Temenos Inc. His column appears monthly in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Reach him at temenos@lava.net or visit www.temenosinc.com
BACK TO TOP |
Buying a laptop
involves much to consider
Buying a laptop is quite a bit more involved than choosing a desktop machine.
By nature, laptop computers tend to be a great deal more idiosyncratic than desktop PCs, so choosing the right one is a great deal more subjective. In other words, you'll really want to scrutinize the feel of the keyboard, the size and weight of the machine, the screen, the battery life and even the packaging, as well as the price.
Naturally, you'll want to look at Web sites such as PC Magazine (www.pcmag.com) or CNET (www.cnet.com) and the like to see their evaluations. Use these as guides, then do your own hands test and see how you feel about a particular machine. Here are some things to consider:
>> Keyboards have their own characteristics, and everyone has their preference as to what feels right. You'll want to check out the keyboard and play with the touchpad, pointer, etc. I have never found a built-in pointing device that I could use as well as a traditional mouse, and most of my colleagues concur. So you'll have to settle on what you can manipulate the best. If you're not comfortable with the feel, find one that you like.The upshot is to choose a quality manufacturer that looks and feels right to you. Ask questions about service, too. Chances are you'll have to send your machine to the mainland for servicing, so find out what the various policies are.>> Size and weight can be a big issue. If you travel a lot, you'll want an ultraportable. If you're choosing a replacement for a desktop, weight is not such a big factor. Some machines weigh up to 7 pounds, but you can find good ones in the 3- to 5-pound category.
>> Screen size and type is just as important as the feel of the keyboard. The easiest thing to do is run down to a computer store and see if the screen is easy on your eyes. The best screens utilize TFT, or Thin Film Transistor, technology, a.k.a. "Active Matrix," and that's what I'd suggest purchasing. Keep in mind, however, that screen size is directly related to weight. The bigger the screen, the heavier the machine. I learned this lesson the hard way.
>> Battery life varies quite a bit. If you travel on airplanes often, you'll probably want a machine that will run three hours or more.
>> Prices vary. You can spend $3,000 or more for a fully loaded box, but for me the sweet spot is between $1,000 and $2,000.
One last tip: For those who travel a great deal, pay special attention to the carrying case you buy for your laptop. Get one that enables you to easily remove your computer. Every airport I've been to in the past year and a half requires you to take the laptop out of the bag and run it through the scanner separately, so you may as well make it easy on yourself and the people behind you in the security line.
BACK TO TOP |
Sleek Compaq 610c edges
I started by looking at the reviews and narrowed down my decisions to two manufacturers that have consistently produced world class technology -- IBM and Compaq. I then looked at two reasonably priced, no frills models that would work for a home business or even a student.
far less costly ThinkPad R40After several weeks test driving them, here are the results.
The IBM ThinkPad R40 weighs about 6 pounds, starts at $849 with a mobile Celeron processor, 128MB of RAM, a 13.3-inch screen, and a 20GB hard drive. Naturally you can load up on more expensive options, such as a faster processor and a 15-inch display. Though inexpensive, it had classic IBM features -- great keyboard, excellent screen, CD-ROM and ergonomically placed mouse pad and pointer. In no time at all I was comfortable with the feel (except of course, for the pointer). One thing I really like was its great battery life (more than 3 hours). This is an asset you normally find on higher priced machines.
What didn't I like? I would have also preferred a larger screen to the 13.3 inch model that IBM sent me. In summation, it's not a racehorse compared to the higher end models that IBM produces but it got the job done -- Internet access, word processing and some light database work.
For a small business or a student I'd recommend it.
The Compaq 610c was love at first sight. This is a sleek, no-nonsense laptop with an excellent screen, great ergonomics and a built-in 802.11b wireless receiver. I liked the keyboard in particular, it had a light, crisp touch. Priced at $1,825 it came with a 40-gig drive and 2 gigahertz Pentium 4 mobile microprocessor. Battery life was excellent and there was a great "meter" on the desktop that advises you exactly how much time you have before the battery runs out. I got about three hours of continuous use, which is excellent.
The Compaq was powerful enough to let me utilize the machine as a desktop replacement and light enough -- at about 6 pounds -- to allow for carrying the machine home every night without breaking my back. I also liked the fact that this machine comes only with the OS installed. Since I already have most of the programs I'm going to use, I didn't have to buy software. This is one machine I'd buy for my own use and highly recommend.
--John Agsalud
To participate in the Think Inc. discussion, e-mail your comments to business@starbulletin.com; fax them to 529-4750; or mail them to Think Inc., Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813. Anonymous submissions will be discarded.
