Archive for America
July 16, 2008 at 10:49 am · Filed under America, Australia
Today the Australian dollar is approaching parity with the USA greenback. The Federal Government in America is taking a larger role in managing the economy with the bail-out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Global stock markets are shedding value quicker than the “Biggest Loser” drops kilos. And in California depositors line up around the block to withdraw funds from failed bank IndyMac.
When did our grandparents know they’d entered the Great Depression?
The October 1929 stock market crash was one event. It did not define the Great Depression - it was the first major indicator. Then a series of collapses and inter-linked events sent the world into depression. These included bank failures (not unlike Indy Mac or Bear Stearns), company collapses, property price drops and loss of confidence in the central bankers.
When did they know? When will we know?
July 8, 2008 at 4:34 pm · Filed under America, Australia
I serve on the Board of Directors of The American Club, a private dining and business club on the pretty end of Macquarie Street here in Sydney. The name hearkens back to post-WWII when ex-servicemen started an entertainment venue for Yanks. Today the club caters to all nationalities and commands the top three floors overlooking Sydney Harbour.
In recognition of its American ancestry, the Club has two portraits framed at the entrance. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and US President George Bush greet all newcomers.
Last week the club hosted an event and amongst the crowd were a mob of unruly Texans. (Editor’s note: I understand unruly and Texan is overkill, much like patrician New Englander.) The next morning both framed portraits were missing! Someone stole George Bush and Kevin Rudd.
Kevin didn’t go far. Must be his conservative nature. He was found in the lobby of the building no worse for wear.
George is still missing. Seems he was more attractive to our Texans than Kev ‘07. So if you see a framed portrait of George wandering the streets of Sydney, tell him a wall on Macquarie Street misses him.
June 23, 2008 at 5:37 pm · Filed under America, China, Globalisation
Once in a while you get to attend a fantastic presentation. Last Thursday I listened to John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief, The Economist. This news weekly is by far the best news magazine in the world. Amazingly they sell 180,000 copies in their home country the UK while total global sales exceed 1.3 million copies every week. The event was sponsored by Sydney Ideas at the University of Sydney.
Micklethwait makes “Big Picture” look small. He was singularly capable of encapsulating global issues and concerns in a broad perspective. Rarely do pundits back away from the headlines to achive such clarity.
There are dozens of themes and issues he explored. I’ll hone in on one - the upcoming Beijing Olympics and the USA Presidential Elections.
Make no error - China is poised to win a record number of Olympic gold medals. And they will run a flawless games with military precision (oops - did I say military?).
The United States hates coming in second in an Olympics. And if the games are truly “crisp” and run in military fashion, it will exacerbate anti-China sentiment.
Did you know the USA was in recession? Housing prices are expected to fall a further 20% by some estimates. And Iraq will still be dragging on (Congress approved funding last week).
So a matter of weeks before the USA election there’s the populace - bitter over second place, juggling home finances, worried about the nation’s future. This will all play into an election focused on nationalism, security and trade restrictions. And just as the USA economy is being kept alive by trade, there are no new free trade deals going through Congress.
According to Micklethwait, if you want to predict the outcome of the USA elections in November keep an eye on the medals tally in Beijing in August. If the USA is routed then a democrat will get in with a license to close the country down.
And if you ever get the chance in this life to hear Micklethwait speak then take it - he’s fantastic!
June 19, 2008 at 1:20 pm · Filed under America, Business Start-Up
Starting a business forces you to learn new skills and to reach out for new learning sources. I enjoyed Guy Kawasaki’s “The Art of the Start” even though the second half was better suited for a company making product. And yesterday at a friend’s recommendation I bought “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber*. Thanks to Paul Giezekamp at Property Secrets for turning me onto this gem.
The first half is rubbish and could have been edited to a chapter - but then I wouldn’t have felt right paying $34.99 for the paperback (did I mention books are expensive in Australia?). But the second half takes it up a notch and provides exceptional value.
Here’s the gist - Entrepreneurs have a “fit” and come up with a great idea. That one moment justifies their being. Taking that idea and turning it into a successful business requires different skills. Enter the Manager and the Technician. This trio of personalities will get a business running.
Better yet - treat your new business like a franchise. How can you capture the processes and eliminate the variability? Plan business #1 like it’s a model for office #5,000 and suddenly you have a successful model.
At Ford Motor Company I became a Six Sigma Green Belt - basically an apprentice who knows the tools and has completed a project. What Gerber recommends is a “DMAIC” approach to any small business - Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control. Treat this as a never ending cycle and you have a model you can replicate.
“It is literally impossible to produce consistent result in a business that depends on extraordinary people,” writes Gerber.
This for me was an “Aha” moment (or is that “Eureka”?). What I disliked about my time in major agencies was the lack of process or systems. In my 25 year career I’ve worked for Hill & Knowlton, Edelman Worldwide, Gavin Anderson & Company and Burson-Marsteller. Each had some level of process most usually confined to administration, reporting and finance. There was no well understood process for taking a client brief - or developing a communications solution. There were some courses meant for the junior levels but little consistency across offices - or even practises in the same office.
The challenge is to stop criticising and start developing processes that can be repeated, defined, measured and improved.
Suddenly this new business is looking a lot more interesting!
*Footnote: “The World’s #1 Small Business Guru” the cover proclaims - and here I thought that noodle shoppe guy in Kyoto held the title. Why do Americans crave to be World’s #1 all the time? Baseball’s “World Series” only has teams from the USA - oh, does the token Canadian team really portray the globe? Segue to Freddy Mercury…(click below)…
May 25, 2008 at 11:23 pm · Filed under America
Democracy is great except if you’re a Democrat. Will the US primary ever end? It’s disconcerting to think the fight for nomination may alienate the very voters that are required to get a Democrat into the White House. Times have never been better for the Democrats. (Or ‘glass half empty’ they’ve never been worse for Republicans.)
Yet the inability of Hillary to cede her position makes this long, drawn out affair seem very…well…long and drawn out.
Three days ago Hillary opened her mouth and shoved her foot in - sensible shoe and all. She reminded us that in 1992 it took until June for her husband to cinch the nomination. And in June 1968 RFK was assassinated during the primaries. Blogs, televisions and newspapers are aflame with the insensitivity of the remark and the way it was delivered in a flat, calculating manner.
In these troubled times there’s come solace I can offer from Australia. Last year we went to the polls and our incumbent conservative Prime Minister was likely to be unseated. Yet the hopes of long time liberals were carefully guarded as re-elections of conservatives had happened before. But the night of the election the results confirmed what I’d only previously wished - there was a national swing against conservativism and a new leader was elected.
After eight years of President George W. Bush the USA is likely to change parties in November. Hillary knows that and won’t give up her dream. Yet the American populace have given up on her.
Note to Hillary - the story has ended.
May 7, 2008 at 1:21 am · Filed under America
Hallmark.com encourages you to build your own greeting cards using personal photos. It seemed a perfect way to send a card to my Mother in the USA. Thirty minutes later a very personalised card is built - and I’m registered to use the site as a “Non US Resident.”
But then the sting - they only accept US-based credit cards for payment. No PayPal, no bank transfer, no international cards.
So one moment I am loving the site and developing a perfect card. And now its locked up in their US-centric site with no reprieve possible.
Maybe that’s what should be expected from a Kansas City-based company. But Hallmark lift your game. If you’re going to do business on-line then wake up to the global community.
Until then save your time and effort. Hallmark.com is an awful experience!
May 6, 2008 at 12:58 am · Filed under America
Every once in awhile you read something that makes you laugh out loud. And usually it’s one of those embarrassing snorts because the humour catches you so unaware. Hence my embarrassment flying on Qantas guffawing to an essay in The Economist:
All countries are exceptional. But America likes to think of itself as exceptionally exceptional, different from other advanced industrial countries not just in its social arrangements but also in its underlying values. America has a smaller state than other comparable countries and a more unequal distribution of wealth. It is also more strongly committed to what Margaret Thatcher once called “Victorian values”—individualism, voluntarism, patriotism.
The rest of the article provides a ruthless, insightful commentary on the American psyche. But what is truly noteworthy is the conclusion, stating that the sense of “exceptionalism” is not at risk - but the American sense of triumphalism is under threat. Terrorism, recession, political in-fighting are all leaving the psyche damaged after “winning” the Cold War:
The main challenge facing the next president will not be to blunt American exceptionalism, but to make sure that American triumphalism is not replaced by a grumpy and irresponsible isolationism.
I agree with The Economist. If America picks up its toys and goes home, the world will be a lonelier and more dangerous place.
April 20, 2008 at 8:15 pm · Filed under America, Issues Management, Media Industry
Television and radio require “good talent” to offer commentary and insights into the day’s issues. When there’s a lack of third party experts journalists resort to interviewing each other - Christina Amanpour on CNN is a favourite for commentary when an unaligned expert isn’t available.
In the Iraq propaganda war, the Bush Administration has used the same approach, according to today’s The New York Times (”Behind Analysts, the Pentagon’s Hidden Hand”). Military analysts were flown to Iraq and given behind the scenes tours to help them understand military strategy. Later these same people were recommended to television and radio stations as qualified, independent experts able to comment on the progress of the war.
It’s a great public relations practice but it was poorly executed.
Seems the insights provided were biased. One side was shown. Today those same unaligned experts are up in arms over their treatment. Kenneth Allard, who participated in the program, said:
“Night and day I felt we’d been hosed.”
If you want to get your point across then develop strong messages and get your spokespeople trained. They can site the company line on all media channels. Yet if you choose to engage third parties to support your case make sure they have access to all the information.
The White House’s strategy has backfired. By providing some of the people with some of the information, they ensured that sooner or later all of the people would see through the ruse - and demand more and more and more of the information originally blocked.
Do not engage third parties if you don’t want them to speak freely.
April 7, 2008 at 2:00 am · Filed under America, Issues Management, Public Relations
Mark Penn stopped riding two horses today - he was forced to step down as Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist. He continues as CEO of Burson-Marsteller. Seems he stopped in on a client meeting with the Government of Colombia - who hired B-M to promote the country (and a Free Trade Agreement that Hillary opposed).
So it wasn’t appropriate for Clinton’s strategist to attend THAT meeting. But no one’s raised the issue of Penn acting as CEO of a global PR firm while dedicating himself to the Clinton campaign. How much was Camp Hillary reimbursing B-M for those services?
The departure comes at an awful time for Hillary. She’s falling in the polls. She didn’t dodge sniper fire in Bosnia. She’d also called for healthcare reform referencing the case of a woman who died in childbirth in Ohio because she didn’t have healthcare coverage. Ooops - girl is fine, baby is fine and both had private healthcare cover.
Penn definitely brought immense depth to the Hillary campaign. He’s a top strategist who authored “Micro Trends”.
But running a global PR firm and leading a presidential campaign was bound to end in conflict of interest. That said it makes it easier for companies aligned with the Republican Party. They’re free to chose anyone but B-M - no conflict!
March 4, 2008 at 6:44 pm · Filed under America
Obama is on the back foot after a leaked memo had one of his trade advisors telling Canada not to worry about NAFTA. While the Illinois senator decried the free trade agreement - that’s led to a loss of jobs in rust belt states like Ohio - the memo says in discussions with Canadian officials Obama’s stance has been nothing more than political posturing.
The message was “wink wink - don’t worry.” Media are calling for answers and the issue was raised on floor of Canada’s Parliament. Canada’s PM said it was ludicrous that the country could be actively involved in selecting the next US president.
The bigger issue is the lack of understanding about the preferred candidate for president. Hillary is old news. McCain is older yet. We’ve seen them in action and have little more to learn about them.
But Barrack? He’s squeaky clean. And that’s good. He’s also largely unknown. And that’s not so good. America is making a dramatic swing to the new. But it’s also a dramatic swing to the unknown.
By rejecting Bush and all he’s done to the country, Americans are opting for a fresh start. But there’s still a lot unknown about this candidate. Who would he choose for his Cabinet? How would he handle an insurgent Iran? Can he soothe the economy?
Is Barrack Obama a visionary like FDR or a naive outsider like Carter? (Or a boob like Bush?) When pulling the lever in November, Americans will be voting for change and a fresh start. They may also be voting in an unknown.
For the sake of the country I hope he is all he’s proclaimed to be.
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