Slacking at 700 Emails a Day
March 21, 2006 | Filed Under Technology, Managing
Less is more is all the rage.
One area of focus is the workplace, which may be a bit of a misnomer given the difficulty many people have in completing their work.
Anne Fisher at Fortune has an idea: slack off. Ms. Fisher quotes Peter Capelli, a professor of management at Wharton, on the cumulative effect of this work-life fatigue:
“On the organizational level, what you get is, everyone is so focused on running flat-out to meet current goals that the whole company is unable to step back and think.”
At the end of the article, one company mentioned approvingly is Google, which adopts such attributes of a laid-back culture as lap pools, massage rooms and pool tables. Stacy Sullivan, the company’s HR director, notes that:
“We want to take as much hurry and worry out of people’s lives as we can, because a relaxed state of mind unleashes creativity,” […] “And everybody’s on flextime here, so we don’t reward face time or working super-long hours. We just measure results.”
Sounds fun. Are you hiring?
Then I spotted a link below the article that promises to talk to big-name company leaders about “How I Work.” Scroll down to see the link to Google VP Marissa Mayer (the link says “I’ll just sit down and do e-mail for ten to 14 hours straight.”). Part of her relaxed culture is dealing with 700-800 emails a day; one tactic is catching up on the weekend.
Sound fun? Well, while Ms. Mayer apparently isn’t a statutory insider, I’m sure she is well compensated. Nice crib, by the way. Or is it her office? (Ed note: my treadmill has clothes hanging on it).
If others at Google are interested, Merlin Mann has a few new email handling hints. One astute observer calls it tyranny.
The FBI may have the best solution: don’t give your G-men email. Google apparently can’t do that with its G-women.
Flu Pandemic and Disaster Planning — II
March 16, 2006 | Filed Under Technology, Managing, In the News
Spring is in the air.
And so are migratory snow geese potentially carrying H5N1 to the United States. Maybe arriving stateside by this Fall.
When I first wrote about this last October, a few colleagues thought the post was for the birds.
Today the New York Times weighs in, with an informative article about what some businesses are doing to get ready for a potential pandemic.
Consider this:
“I tell companies to use their imagination to think of all the unintended consequences,” said Mark Layton, global leader for enterprise risk services at Deloitte & Touche in New York. “Will suppliers be able to deliver goods? How about services they’ve outsourced — are they still reliable?”
Experts say that many essential functions would have to continue despite the likelihood of a depleted work force and more limited transportation. Up to 40 percent of employees could be sick at one time.
One company in Hong Kong learned from the SARS outbreak:
Among the prepared, HSBC, a global bank that started as the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank and remains the dominant bank in Hong Kong, has an especially detailed plan for avian flu, drawing on its experience with SARS. The company has been making preparations for employees to work from home, but is also preparing to divide work among multiple sites, an approach that appeared in only 37 percent of the plans in the American Chamber survey.
The article also references a Deloitte & Touche survey on business readiness, a summary of which is here.
It may be more palatable for some businesses to focus on general contingency planning. Response plans for an anthrax-type scare could also be used in an avian flu outbreak.
That the flu is arriving to the United States now appears more of a when than an if. The worldwide human death toll from contact with infected birds may be around 100. When or if mutation happens that would permit human-to-human infection? That’s anyone’s guess.
They are coming, they just may not be too welcome this year:
RIM Shot III: Taking One For the Team
March 6, 2006 | Filed Under Technology, In the News
RIM CEO Jim Balsillie is entitled to wax a bit poetic when he writes a $612.5 million check to NTP.
According to MSNBC and other press reports, Mr. Balsillie used this phrase when describing the settlement. Just one question: which team?
As to understanding the timing of the settlement, the RIM press release made the real reason clear: things were finalized the same day RIM announced preliminary 4Q results, which ended the next day. Full 4Q results for RIM will be announced on April 6, 2006. A crusade? Defending a principle?
How about it “must be the money?” (link to Nelly lyrics could attract RIAA and get me in hot water with law.com).
But lest RIM let the weekend settlement party extend into a new week, the New York Times reports this morning that there may be storm clouds on the horizon for BlackBerry.
RIM Shot II: Nothing But Net
March 3, 2006 | Filed Under Technology, In the News
Well I was off by one day…
Today RIM and NTP buried the hatchet and settled their long-running patent dispute for the sportly amount of $612.5 million. BusinessWeek has the details. The WSJ Law Blog had it first.
For RIM, a few days ago they said they were on a “crusade” to fight the parasitic NTP.
I think it went down something like this:
Judge Spencer might have put the word out that he was going to rule soon. The message to both sides–are you feeling lucky, Pilgrim?
Or perhaps “Deal or No Deal?”
RIM and NTP almost settled last year at $450 million. NTP supposedly wanted $1 billion at the end of 2005. So NTP offers to split the difference, and call it a day at $725 million. RIM says no, we have to have some movement our way. Half the way between $450 and $750 million gets you $587.5 million. NTP says we have to pay our lawyers, so it’s topped up $25 million to *bingo* $612.5 million.
When you are motivated, you can settle a nearly ten figure dispute in less time than it takes to do better than bust-out-retail at your local Chevy dealer.
While I initially thought the case would have been settled a few months ago, there’s nothing like the prospect of an adverse order to get people focused on the task at hand.
What’s next for NTP? I presume one hell of an office party.
What’s next for RIM and BlackBerry? I’d take 10% of the difference between the $1 billion and the settlement–$387.5 million–and start to carpet-bomb all forms of media. You say something clever like:
BlackBerry: why settle when you can have the real thing?
Then RIM should take straight aim on the fundamental weakness BlackBerry wanna-bees like the Treo 700w and the Motorola Q have in the corporate market: they both sport cameras that could violate the acceptable use guidelines of many enterprise users of cellphone/PDA devices.
Somewhere the GCs of RIM and NTP may be breathing a small sigh of relief.
And the outside counsel of both are gently weeping.
RIM Shot
March 2, 2006 | Filed Under Tactics, Technology, In the News
The raging dispute between RIM and NTP over BlackBerry has been prominent in the news for weeks.
Some of the reports use the recent federal court hearing in Richmond, VA as a pretext for railing against the alleged failings of the patent system. The Wall Street Journal did this yesterday in an op-ed ($) piece. Matt Buchanan cogently rebuts some of the “let’s blame the lawyers” tone of that editorial; as do the Patent Baristas.
I think what’s really going on is that NTP has a good case, and RIM knows it. RIM could have settled the case for cents on the dollar years ago (reportedly +/- $20 million). RIM tried to settle for $450 million last year, which fell apart. NTP’s price had allegedly increased to $1 billion late last year.
In trial vernacular, when RIM can’t argue the facts (jury verdict), and can’t argue the law (attempted nine-figure settlement), they bang on the podium.
Two other signs that this case isn’t just about legal principles come from a W$J article last week (sorry, no link available). The first takes a bead on the mind of RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie:
Inside RIM’s headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario, Mr. Balsillie’s battle strategy is being driven by indignation at the U.S. patent system and a determination to defend a principle. Mr. Balsillie, like many high-technology executives, says U.S. patent laws let parasitic little firms hold up innovative companies for ransom. “Is it appropriate to play Russian roulette with the system every day in the courts, where one claim can shut down the whole industry?” he asks.
The other is from an industry observer (Ken Dulaney) doing what they do best, observing:
The belief among RIM staff that the company has been wronged “borders on religion,” Mr. Dulaney says. “They’re going to lead the crusade.”
In my GC experience, when a company starts framing commercial disputes with terms like “principle” or “crusade,” inside counsel brace for one wild ride and outside counsel buy waterfront properties.
At last Friday’s hearing, U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer expressed frustration that the case hadn’t settled. In the meantime, Treo is gaining on BlackBerry. Have you noticed that Verizon’s ads for the Treo 700w are everywhere, including on primetime shows like “Lost?” (Thus implying that one would help you get “Found?”).
RIM is probably banking on the high cost of switching as a built-in protection against competitors like Treo. Press reports this morning indicate that the cost per user to switch could exceed $800.
But if Judge Spencer really wants a settlement, he has a rather large club at his disposal: enter an order granting NTP’s motion for an injunction against the infringing use by RIM of BlackBerry, and make it effective in 31 days.
Then it’s go time. RIM implements the workaround, or pays NTP the going rate for settlement.
What’s more likely is that RIM appeals the order and the case drags on. I am amazed, however, that RIM continues to ensure that their media branding revolves around words like “shutdown” and “workaround.” All part of a crusade, I guess.
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