Speed Kills

Most technology is connected to “speed.” The need to make things go faster, to download faster, to transmit faster, to just simply do whatever is required - faster.

Mike Bloomberg became the richest man in New York by selling financial traders just fifteen seconds head start on the data they needed. Fifteen seconds can cost thousands of dollars a month per financial analyst.

In sports, speed is everything. A faster fastball, a faster race car, or a speedy wide receiver is worth millions. Speed is everywhere in the business of sports. Is anyone going to watch the Daytona 500 tonight?

The reason why “speed” is a commodity in such demand is that from having more “speed” you then have more time to go slow. The reward of being so speedy is you now get to go slow!

Look at the Bloomberg business model.  If all stock brokers in the world had the exact same computers with all computers and networks operating at the exact same processing speed, then speed no longer matters. Speed is a non-issue.  But if just one (or a few) traders are faster by even just a few seconds, then the entire game changes. It is no longer a fair fight.

Evelyn Wood is synonymous with quality, dependability and speed reading. When I was in High School, there were classes in speed reading. The concept was easy to grasp; if you could read at two or three times the speed as everyone else, then you would have a strategic advantage in class, and in life.

I have not heard the name Evelyn Wood in years. The need for speed in “reading” has been replaced by the need for speed in “Googling.” The need for speed was not to help you to simply turn the pages faster. The need for speed was to get the content - to increase the reading comprehension - faster.

A major change in education is well underway. You can get an excellent college education from home, at a time and place of your choosing - faster - by taking courses online. And once you have your degree you can then go nice and slow, enjoying years in the career of your choice.

You can go very fast via distance learning technology, to then enjoy the rest of your life going very slow, following your passion in a wonderful and rewarding career that you chose because you find this field of study interesting and fascinating.

If you are going faster and faster to then enjoy going slow - savoring your life as you work in a field that is rewarding and nurturing, congratulations my friend, you have cracked the code! You have mastered technology for a grand and wonderful purpose.

If, however, you are going faster and faster - to then go even FASTER for sake of going faster, you have missed the point. Technology should be a tool to serve you, the master. Not the other way around. Going faster now to then go slow and savoring the rest of your life - good.

Going faster to then simply go faster and faster and even faster still - not so much.

I guess that is where the saying “Speed Kills” comes from, yes?

Danica Sue Patrick (born March 25, 1982) is an American auto racing driver, model and advertising spokeswoman. If she wins the Daytona 500 tonight, she will have gone very fast indeed, in a race car powered by the best technology money can buy. If she wins the race tonight, then for the rest of her life, she can go very slow indeed. Drive very fast tonight for 500 miles, and then you get to drive very slow for a lifetime. That would be using technology as a tool to go very fast indeed, to then "get" to go very slow while enjoying the ride.

Ah yes, Sunday, the day of rest.  Who is working today?  Are you working on “going faster” for the week ahead, or are you working, working, working today so that you can then go nice and slow one day soon?

Hurry up so that you can slow down. That is the way to play the game.

I skipped going to church today. While I was in the backyard playing with Bella, she began to speak. She said that I could do penance by writing about the ten commandments of running a technology company. The conversation went like this:

“Thou must establish relationships with other breeds,” she said.  I asked a clarifying question - not the best thing to do to a talking dog.  “With whom?” The answer was simple. “With everyone - public sector, private sector, industries, nonprofits, and anyone else who can help to build your company.”  "Sounds pretty inclusive” I said.  “It is,” she replied.

“Thou shall not construct false idols.”  Dummy me, I asked, “Like what?”  She said, “Don’t think that there are any magic doggie tricks or solutions. Think outside the box and be creative. Lassie and Rin Tin Tin were actors, not real dogs.”

“Thou shall not growl about not having enough kibble.” She said, “For what has been given to you might be taken away in an instant.” Make it work with what you have, I thought.

  

“Thou shall take some time off - all work and no play leaves no time for walks in the park.” A little self-serving for Bella, I thought. But a good point nevertheless.

“Thou shall honor the dog catcher so that they shall be well with thee.” Smart dog, I thought. “I am talking about the IRS, you know,” she said.

“Thou shall not make enemies of other doggies.” She went on to point out that “Friends come and go, but enemies you keep forever. Remember, you can’t make people or companies (or doggies) cooperate with you.”

“Thou shall keep your promises to the pack and promise less and deliver more.” This commandment immediately struck home. I was always trying to do more than what my staff and resources would allow.  

“Thou shall steal all the good ideas and doggie tricks that you can.”  This one seemed negative to me, based on my memories of the original Ten Commandments, so I suggested that maybe this was wrong. “Nay,” she said, “you are to use all good ideas, no matter where they come from. Someone else has dug up that bone for you.”

“Thou shall not talk bad about other breeds.” Since this has become a national sport on Facebook, Twittter and such, I thought this might be a tough one to follow. With a loud bark, she pointed out how this commandment and No. 6 (make no enemies) are related.

“Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s kibble.” I think about all of the money given to dumb companies by dumb VC firms for dumb ideas, and how much we could do with a fraction of that funding. Don’t waste time thinking about what others have; go make your own kibble.

With that being said, the voice stopped talking and Bella went back to barking, as she saw a squirrel. And then I realized that Dog is God spelled backwards. 

Was this trip really necessary?

As of the writing of this blog, there are 40” of snow on the ground at www.quinnipiac.edu  Most of Connecticut and New England got slammed with the storm. Some people in Long Island slept in their cars. Many are trying to figure out how they are going to get to work tomorrow morning. It is hard to take a train when there is several feet of snow covering the tracks.

Here in New Jersey we were lucky with less than 10” of snow in our town.  And according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg everyone in New York City “dodged a bullet” as far as the storm is concerned.

Because we did not lose power, the storm had zero effect on me and my business. As long as I have the Internet, I am a happy camper. But when the Internet goes down, well, let’s just say you don’t want me in your Internet-less lifeboat.

So, people will not be able to get to class tomorrow at Quinnipiac and UCONN as will be the case with many of the major colleges and universities in the region. People will not be able to take the train to work in New York City, and most of of the major highways in the area have yet to be properly cleared.  

Why not work from home?  Why not take classes from home?

Both of my sons went to college in Connecticut (who just got dumped on with snow). Tommy is now taking Graduate classes at Quinnipiac University (online). My youngest son Robert has one more semester to go (brick and mortar) at UCONN.

The COA (Cost of Attendance) for college is made up of direct charges such as tuition, fees, room and board. Indirect costs are things like books, transportation and personal expenses. 

For a Freshman Resident at Quinnipiac here are the numbers:

Tuition & Fees: $36,130  
Room & Board: $13,430  
Books: $800  
Personal: $900  
Transportation: $500  
Total: $51,760

I can tell you this: the above numbers are just an estimate - a low estimate. Factor in trips to visit campus, special events, special sporting events and dining out. Also iPads, iPhones, various types of tablets and smartphones. Throw a few thousand dollars per year on top and you might be close to the real numbers. Then multiply by four years (and how many kids do you have again?)

The Internet has changed the world forever. It has changed the way that we work, live and play. It certainly has changed the way that we learn. The costs of higher education have spiraled out of control, and it not clear if the value of a four-year education is worth the expense.

Tomorrow, all classes on campuses in Connecticut will be canceled. Many people will not be able to make it to work in NYC. Airports will be trying to recover from thousands of canceled flights from the weekend. For me, the “Blizzard of 2013” has reminded me of the true costs of traditional business and classic higher education. If you were one of the unfortunate people who had to sleep in their cars on the Long Island Expressway, you will be thinking about this storm for quite some time, I am sure.

I believe that the future of education is distance learning. I think that the future of work is telework, and I believe that technology will continue to change the way that we live, work and play.

The “Blizzard of 2013” is making people think about distance learning because of the snow on the roads and the canceled trains. But when you look at the spiraling costs of higher education, it looks like it has been "snowing" on college and university campuses for many, many years. 

We are just now starting to take notice of how deep the cost of a four-year college education has become. When buried by snow - eventually it melts. 

Sadly, it does not work the same way with college debt.

What Time is the Game On? VI?

Roman numerals, the numeric system in ancient Rome, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as follows: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X.

The Roman numeral system is a cousin of Etruscan numerals. Use of Roman numerals continued after the decline of the Roman Empire. From the 14th century on, Roman numerals began to be replaced in most contexts by more convenient Arabic numerals; however this process was gradual, and the use of Roman numerals in some minor applications continues to this day.

Numbers are formed by combining symbols together and adding the values. For example, MMVI is 1000 + 1000 + 5 + 1 = 2006. Generally, symbols are placed in order of value, starting with the largest values. When smaller values precede larger values, the smaller values are subtracted from the larger values and the result is added to the total. 

For example MCMXLIV = 1000 + (1000 − 100) + (50 − 10) + (5 − 1) = 1944.

But why? Why do we still see Roman numerals with things like the Super Bowl? Why do we see Roman numerals on clocks, after names (John Jeffrey Jones III) and certain things, but not other things?

What time is the big game?  You know, the XLVII Super Bowl? Are you having a Super Bowl Party? How many people are coming over? X? L??? Wow, C?!!!

There is a marketing lesson here buried in letters and numbers. 

There is a reason why our brains accept Roman numerals for certain things, and yet we completely reject Roman numerals for others. It was explained to me by my friend Seth Godin. This "brain trick" goes to the core of the advertising world including social media and mass media. 

Want a hint why the use of Roman numerals makes perfect sense on some things and not others? Think Twitter, Tweets and TXT MSGS. RU LOL? WTH?  

See my blog next week for the answer....... TTYL!

Quick: What Number Super Bowl is this?

The Boston Post Road

The Boston Post Road was a system of mail delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts that evolved into the first major highways in the United States. The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road (now U.S. Route 1 along the shore via Providence, Rhode Island), the Upper Post Road (now US 5 and US 20 from New Haven, Connecticut by way of Springfield, Massachusetts), and the Middle Post Road (which diverged from the Upper Road in Hartford, Connecticut and ran northeastward to Boston via Pomfret, Connecticut).

Tomorrow, my two sons and I embark on our first official “road trip” for business. We have 20+ years of family vacations under our belt, but this is not personal. This is “business”. We have meetings all day long on the way to Boston. Rye, New York, Stamford Connecticut, and then a few meetings at www.Quinnipiac.edu. Then, we're off to Boston for a week with MTP vendors and clients. I think we have a few NHL games on the docket as well (Go Devils!). We have our Verizon Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot, so we are “in” the office even when on the road (the legal speed limit, right Tommy?) and zipping up the highway. We have our laptops, iPads, iPhones and Bluetooth headsets. If we wanted to, we could host a full-blown webinar from the back of the Navigator, but that would just be showing off.

In some towns, the area near the Boston Post Road has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places since it was often the first road in the area, and some buildings of historical significance were built along it. The Boston Post Road Historic District, including part of the road in Rye, New York, has been designated a National Historic Landmark. The Post Road is also famous for milestones that date back to the 18th century (many of which survive to this day).

At last count, we have 390+ people working at www.MTP-BPO.com and they are located in every corner of the globe. Our current big thing is “distance learning” via www.NYDLA.org and it is my contention that in today's world EVERYTHING is distance learning.  While in Boston, I’ll be hosting a webinar with thousands of people invited to attend (a few hundred should show up). So, I will be virtually attending a virtual meeting (virtually) since I am on the road, and not back in the home office, but how would they know where I was unless they read this blog?

When they were building the Boston Post Road, it was a technological marvel. It changed the country, and it was the model for what can be done. The information superhighway or "infobahn" were popular terms used through the 1990s to refer to digital communication systems and the Internet. 

The Boston Post Road. The Information Superhighway. What’s next?

I’ll be sure to blog next Sunday on the results of the trip - unless we post it on YouTube first. Let's hope we are all still speaking to each other come this time next week. This will be my first time riding in the back seat instead of doing the driving. 

“Jeeves, bring around the long car, we are going to Boston. And don’t disturb me while I am working.”  

Feeling Fluish

If you are thinking about getting the flu shot this year, check this out: www.flu.gov

If you do a Google Search for “Flu” or “Flu Shot” you will find many articles and posts, many more than you would ever need.  But the flu is serious business, especially for young kids or the elderly.

www.Flu.gov is a federal government website managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. - Washington, D.C. 20201

Which means that you and I jointly own the www.flu.gov website - we paid for it. So, since you and I paid for it, you might as well check it out.

I was due for my annual physical and I planned on getting my flu shot this week. Guess what - they are all out. My local physician is all out of flu vaccines and they don’t know when they will be getting in a new supply.  

www.Flu.gov can help. It shows who has the vaccine in stock, driving directions, hours of operation for dozens of locations. It is a wealth of information. And all of this information is free, it is easily accessible, and it can save a life (maybe the lives of your children or your grandparents).

If my local physician was not out of flu vaccine, I would have never Googled “Flu Shot”. I would have never known about this great website that you and I paid for with our tax dollars.

I wonder how many other cool websites are out there that you and I own, that we never knew about?

In The Pink

Meaning: In perfect condition, especially of health.

Origin

The general usage of this phrase has altered somewhat since it first entered the language. We now usually see it with the specific meaning of 'the pink of condition', i.e. in the best possible health. It is to assume an association between 'the pink of condition' as the best that one can hope for.

Full disclosure: I think that I have a man crush on www.DanPink.com  All of his books are great. His Ted.com talk rocks. I have been chasing him to give a keynote for our team and his last email to me on the topic said “One day, Tom.... one day”. Dan has figured out a way to masterfully bridge the virtual and “real” worlds via technology. 

I was going to buy his new book anyway. But if I pre-ordered his book, the promises from the website were too good to ignore:

Anybody who ordered the new book To Sell is Human — hardcover or e-book, from any bookseller — before December 30, 2012, received the following:

1. A free 20-page PDF workbook, based on To Sell is Human, giving you a two-week plan to get better at selling and a head start on those who won’t have the book until January.
2. A free New Year’s Day webinar – with an exclusive look at the ideas, people, and publications that Dan will be watching in 2013 along with a chance to ask Dan questions live.
3. A free customized Field Notes memo book – Dan's favorite notebook of all time, printed in a (very) limited edition batch commemorating publication of the book.
4. A free signed To Sell is Human bookplate.
5. A free audio download of a one-hour special edition of Office Hours (which won’t be available anywhere else) featuring exclusive interviews with Robert Cialdini, author of the classic book, Influence, and Adam Grant, the Wharton professor’s not-yet-published study is one of the biggest pieces of news in To Sell is Human.

All five freebies were cool - but #2 above was amazing. Do you remember your New Year’s day? (...it was only a few days ago).  What were you doing at 1pm EST on 1/1/13? I spent my New Year’s day with Dan Pink. From his home office, he hosted a live webinar. He fielded questions from a worldwide audience of first movers. This was an invite-only event for those people who bought his book before 12/30/12. Me in my home office in New Jersey, Dan in his home office in Washington DC, on a national holiday. It was very cool indeed. It felt like I was attending a virtual book signing.

Dan’s website is well done on many levels.  It is clean, well thought out and easy to navigate. He is an author, and he makes it easy to buy his books. He is a speaker, and he makes it easy to contact him for speaking engagements. His website has an elegant use of video, audio, and social media. His website is a tool - it is a portal to the world of Dan Pink.

OFFICE HOURS  http://www.danpink.com/office-hours

About once a month, Dan opens the phone lines for an hour -- and special guests and Dan take your questions about work, business, life and everything else. Think of it as "Car Talk" . . . for the human engine.  Do this - sign up for Dan’s newsletter. Listen to some of the archived “Office Hours” and tell me what you think. I don’t know of many people that have so successfully bridged the virtual to the real world.

A great number of the people who read my blog have a website (or a blog) of their own. Most have dabbled with Twitter, Facebook and maintain a LinkedIn account. Some folks that are reading this will launch their own eBook this year.

If you are looking for a shining example of what works (including a glimpse into the future of global distance learning), the multi-disciplined world of www.DanPink.com is a good place to start.  

Class dismissed.