Unlocking Blue Oceans

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Sinclair Lewis wrote it, “You can kidnap a man, blind fold him, take him to any city in the country with a couple of notable exceptions. Put him in a chair in the downtown area, take-off his blindfold and he could sit there a week and not be able to tell you what town he is in.” The streets are all alike. The buildings were all alike. The businesses all looked alike 

Earl Nightingale

I cannot agree more. Not with the kidnapping of course 😅 but with the copycats. Everybody seems to have that new idea of a “restaurant” 🤷🏻‍♂️ 😅.   Oh wait, a new coffee shop 😝.  They are competing in bloody red ocean as described by the book  blue ocean strategy. It’s an analogy used to describe market competition like competing sharks on a pray, the ocean turn blood red! So, why not unlock a fresh clean blue ocean, which is a new market. 

A small innovation can go a long way, after all no business is being done as it should be ten years from now 😉. Another thing is bringing localization to known international industries or markets. an example is what’s done in t-shirts market. This can be done to other products too. In a flash of genius 😂, I got an idea about localizing bumper stickers! A hidden niche that has some potential. I guess! And doesn’t require big capital. It already have a cultural dimension! Trucks and trailers have their own words of wisdom. Just take it to next level.

Courtesy of @ibhm

I think it’s a field worth exploring as it’s a way for people to express themself. Just imagine what would they do with slogans for sport teams.

What do you think?

Introversion Vs Extroversion For Business

Recently I watched a video suggesting to spend time in solitude and to get disconnected to increase your productivity. While this can be true for some people it definitely not for all. Here is the video…

Basically, he is the anti Anthony Robins who once said “Stay in your head and you are dead”. Extreme extroversion vs. extreme introversion. I’ve talked about that in a blog. There is no one way to increase productivity. If I learned one thing in my life is abundance, there is always another way. Some produces best in a closed-office and some produces best in a war room.

In my opinion, each one of us has his own unique-best-way to reach out for maximum growth. I advise you to explore and try! Do not take what people say for granted. And every once in a while challenge yourself and GET OUT of your comfort zone. If you are mostly an introvert, go out and meet new people for the sake of challenge. On the other hand if you are an extrovert, meditate or stay in solitude just challenge yourself. Be defiant! And let others, your subordinates, teammates, and colleagues explore their own way as well.

Quiet! A Book That Made Me Understand Myself

Living in world of noise, were the loudest is rightest and the more you talk, the more you are being believed. I didn’t find myself!  As an introvert, internally I always thought there is something wrong me 🥺. I questioned my preference of staying in solitude rather than meeting new people. Until I read this book Quiet by Susan Cain.

First, thing I’m not alone 😅. Second, is not wrong to feel like that, it’s a character 🎊! For example, the extrovert knows a lot of people in shallow relationships, while the introvert knows fewer people but with deeper more meaningful relationships.  From business perspective we’ll need the extrovert to get to customers and introvert to keep them.

It is important to comprehend that people are not products to be labeled. There is no pure introvert or extrovert, each one falls between these two ends. And it is not the only way to describe people behavior. It’s just a way to pinpoint a trait so we can study it more.

I strongly advise you to read or listen to the book if you are an introvert. You are not alone bro *hug*… no! no hugs just fest-bump 👊🏻. If you are an extrovert, read it as well, so you stop trying to fix you introverted-loved ones 💔, and understand them better ❤️. Fest-bump 👊🏻 … no? ok 🙄.

Excel To The Next Level (Macros)

VBA (Visual Basic for Application) macros can take your Excel work to next level. Imagine you have a raw data with some variations on the input like, extra spaces, useless number within text and it’s provided to you in text file. You need to clean it up and do your calculation on it. EVERY … SINGLE … DAY😅! Macros can do this monkey job 🐵 for you.

But first! you need to add the developer ribbon tab. in Mac (Excel>Preferences>Ribbon and Tool Bar) in windows (File>Options>Excel Options>Customize Ribbon)

The easiest way to learn is by starting recording a macro! You click record, do the job you want to do, then stop recording.

Edit it by clicking on the macros icon.

Change parameters here and there. Improve your script gradually by searching the web. I would recommend sites for you like stackoverflow but why limit yourself! Google it! Whatever job you have in mind, chances are someone already has done it before 😁.

One more thing, When saving the file, you are going to receive a warning 😅😣

You got to save the file in macro-enabled format, which is (.xlsm) .

Fiddle with it and enjoy.

Universal Office Tip That Will Increase Your Productivity

This one is simple and quick. You just need to know it once and it is about how to find any functionality in Microsoft office application? In two steps

• First, look at the ribbon tab titles and guess under which title does the function you are looking for fall?
• Second, look at the subtitles at the bottom of that tab. Viola that’s it.

Lets take and example, in Excel where do you find Define Range Name? 1) My guess it’s either under data tab or formula. 2) In data tab I have subtitles (Get External Data, Connection, Data Types, Sort and Filter, Data Tools, Forecast, Outline), I find it doesn’t fall under any of those subtitles, then I go to formula tab and I found Define Names as subtitle right infront of my face 😅.

A Book That Changed How I Look at Efficiency

The Goal became one of my favorite books. It discusses the concept of efficiency, productivity and introduces the concept of throughput in manufacturing environment through the introduction to the theory of constraints. And it demonstrates it in intriguing way, as it is written as a novel. I came to read this book as it is recommended by the author of my other favourite book the Phoenix Project.

It is an eye-opening as it encourages you to look at your company as a whole. What happens most of the time is that departments compete against each other, each trying to achieve their own efficiency, loosing sight of overall “throughput” of the company. To increase throughput you need to find out your bottlenecks (constraints) and eliminate them. Sounds nonsense right! Well! It took the auther a novel to explain, go read it 😅.

To tell the truth these business novels are starting to grow on me. What is your favor book?

Powerpoint Top Tip

If you ask me about one advise about powerpoint I’ll say one word “master slide”. It will make your life easier. Basically it is like the template where any effect reflects on the rest of the presentation. you can add logo, change color, and font. You can access it from View > Slide Master.

And to exit from New tab of Slide Master > Close

An important note though, to have a consistent result use the specified boxes for text; write the titles in titles box not just in any drop text box. This way if you make any changes in master slide it’ll be reflected on the while presentation.

So, what is it you are struggling with? Let me know if I can help.

Excel New Dynamic Array

Ok guess that huge! This going to change Excel as we know it. It’s called Excel Dynamic array, which is a new way Excel processes formula. So what is it?

Simply now you can get an output as multiple cells that would “spill” out from one cell. Like of you have 1000 record of cities and want to know unique values. Just in one single shot. Here you go:

= UNIQUE(B2:B44)

Viola that’s it.

Moreover there is a function called SORT, so you can sort this output.

= SORT(UNIQUE(B2:B44))

However, you need to be carefull that below cells are empty because the array will “SPILL” into it.

If not you’ll get a #SPILL! error

Now, Are you thinking what I am thinking? Yes Dynamic lists 😍. But this for another day 🙄

You Got Your PMP, What Did You Learn?!

Once a program manger in a reputable company asked me; “After getting your PMP, what was the practice you did wrong? And what is the thing that you used to do right according to PMI?”.

It was a moment of reflection…

The top wrong practice or more accurately what I used not to do properly is stakeholder identification and involvement. Yep! I don’t mean the obvious ones! I meant having all the stakeholders affected by the project, categorized and communicated with accordingly. As project progresses the change becomes harder.

From Book, Read And Pass Notes For PMP Exams (Based On PMBOK Guide 6th Edition): The Right Way To Clear PMP Exams, by Maneesh Vijaya

As for the practice I used to do right is proper planning. In a Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie ; the general told the lieutenant “remember this is war, nothing goes according to plan” . Of course in war their planning was meticulous to the minute, yet in reality, well… reality happens. The reason I mention planning is it takes time and I had colleagues coming to me complaining about planning and documenting everything , just start doing it and we’ll deal with it along the way! I believe the first step for proper execution is proper planning. That does not contradict being flexible and adopt to changes.

So what is your top practices emphasized and highlighted from PMP experience?