Thang Nguyen 555
Cultures on Collision Course
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Author: Thang Nguyen 555
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Even the machine is toast. http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2091333,00.html I remember tuning in to CNBC last year to watch Steve Jobs live. The event: the I-Pad. Steve sat leisurely on stage, showing us on-screen all the touching touchy features. The Apple II inventor inadvertently declared the death of PC (not right away, but it’s the beginning of the…
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It started with interchangeable parts in a gun factory, then “re-engineering” in the auto-assembly plant to full automation (former Secretary of Labor Reich said that if workers lose their sense of optimism, then there is no replacement). In NY, the manufacturing sector employs 40% a century ago, now it stands at mere 4% (conversely, a…
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You would find that I am surprised by the number of employees Google and Apple employed only 75,000 combined (compared that with HP, GM or US Government‘s). You would find that I still remember “the jumpers” on 9/11, and that we lost good men and women on United Flight 93, as well as Peter Jennings of ABC…
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At the last World Cup, the team from Netherlands, who lost, cried. Ten years ago, at the World Trade Center, women and men cried (white dust on black suits). And last night, I cried, while watching The Best of Youth, an Italian saga of a family coming of age since the 60’s. So much idealism,…
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Image of an old guy spread out on his Harley w/ a cigar in his mouth stuck with me. To him, that was it. The end game. Reaping the windfall. In Seven Habits of Effective People, Steven Covey urges his readers to “begin with the end in mind”. I guess, in this case, I better…
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You know you got it right when others tried to copy your every move. An Apple-like store in China, a Sony or Microsoft retail store in the same mall (Galleria, Houston). Steven Jobs, the enchanter, is quitting as Apple has reached its apex, once surpassing Exxon (Google also had this Everest experience). Maybe some Chinese CEOs like…
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Time heals, slowly. It makes for better wine. But it also shuts the window of opportunity. The moment we leap (even before we look), we defy fate. No regrets. In “Blink”, the author presents a clear case for intuition and conclusion. It’s the opposite of SWOT with no action = slow-burn effect that kills the frog (paralysis…
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The first advice was from Jobs, a college drop-out, in his commencement speech. The second, recently, was the gist of a NYT op-ed by Brooks. Those are mantels of would-be entrepreneurs. Where else can you find people who are willing to sleep (if at all) in sleeping bags and code for days on end, with no prospect of a pay…
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A laid-off Coca Cola delivery man gave a bank teller a note, demanding one dollar so he could go to jail and get healthcare. A Florida retiree robbed a bank to pay his mortgage. New York sex workers told investigative reporters they went on-call to pay back college tuition. Something is not right with our…
Thang Nguyen 555 