Free Ebook and Great Links

Seth Godin has done it again.
He is the face of innovation on the Internet and he offers this ebook free.
It is called What Matters Now.
Even if you haven't heard of him (unlikely!) or do not appreciate his style of writing (possible!), I would recommend that you download this ebook.
For this e-book is a compilation of 70 cutting edge thinkers and innovators.
A must read for everyone. Highly recommended.
What have you got to lose anyway? It is free!
And if you like it, spread the word around.
By the way, to me the ebook is a rich source of great links. Every author who has written an article has a link to either a blog, or a tweet, or a website or a book, or all of these. And I intend to follow up every link within the next week or so.

Will Google Last Forever?

Today we take World Wide Web and Google to be synonyms of the Internet. But what of tomorrow? Will Google still be the force they are today. Let us take a brief look back at history ...

This book, Permission Marketing, written by Seth Godin, is dated 1997 (though it was 2007, Seth desisted from rewriting the book. Good!). That is just 12 years ago. And here's what the messiah of internet marketing has to say:

AltaVista, one of the most complete and most visited search engines on the Internet, claims to have indexed 100 million pages.

AltaVista? What is that? As per wiki, "AltaVista was once one of the most popular search engines but its popularity has waned with the rise of Google."

So will we some years down the line talk of Google in the same terms? Who knows? But things change. Microsoft / Bing can take heart.

Seth Godin on Alpha Inventions

Well ... well ... well. Seth Godin's Blog is doing rounds on Alpha inventions. Can you believe it? He, whose blog is read by 1000's, if not more, is testing out Alpha Inventions.

Unless someone else has submitted it or Alpha Inventions has picked it up on its own, it definitely means Alpha Inventions has come of age and is earning respectability in blogging circles.

But this is something we regular users of Alpha Inventions always knew, didn't we?

See Two definite ways of increasing blog traffic and Are hits from Alphainventions.com for real?

One can expect a clever analysis of Alphainventions from Seth Godin soon.

Death of Newspapers

Bloggers of various reputes predict the death of newspapers (in paper form). In fact they have been doing so for some time now. This includes Seth Godin, who I admire for his views.

However, I think their viewing window is very myopic. And they talk only of US. Welcome to India. Find out the depth of digital penetration. Walk into any store (not just supermarkets); check out the number of magazines that line up the racks - they are gone by the end of the week/month. Magazines and Newspapers are not going to die out any time soon. In fact, the circulation is growing. Vernacular Newspapers, such as Dainik Bhaskar, is now pushing into the metros.

I am not so sure about US either. I talked to a regular Kindle user - from US - just the other day. He is an avid reader. So I asked him if he subscribes to newspapers on Kindle. "No", he said, "the format is not what I expected. It is no fun."

The argument against newspapers is that a) it is expensive b) the news is old by the time you read it. Inexpensive is a game even newspapers can play. As it is, in India at least, it is not expensive at all. Besides, everyone knows that newspapers do not contain breaking news. Newspapers have an advantage that digital free-for-all versions do not. And that is this: It is organized news. And it gives you all relevant news with the least effort. Try gathering all news in the newspaper on the internet and see how much time you need to spend. Not everyone needs news instantaneously. But everyone needs them organized. Therein lies the key to newspaper survival.

Personally, I cannot see myself in the toilet with a Kindle in my hand. Give me the rustle of newspaper any day.

Do you agree? Or do you see death written on the face of paper newspapers and magazines

PS: Didn't realize who Malcolm is? Seth is talking, in his blog, of Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers, The Tipping Point and Blink. Do read the review by Malcolm Gladwell (link in Seth's Blog). It is very interesting and designed to provoke varied reactions.

The Dip Reviewed

I completed this fantastic book in one sitting (almost). I enjoy Seth Godin for what he is - an iconoclast. He challenges conventional wisdom and makes you think. But with The Dip, he has surpassed himself. I wish I could write like him. I wish I could think like him.

'Nuff said. Check this out => The Dip - Book Review

Sharing the Big Moo

What happens when you marry Purple Cow and The Go-Giver? You get a Big Moo.

I am not joking ... Just sample this from the introduction of the book edited by Seth Godin, The Big Moo:

When you brought this book, you also brought the right to photocopy as many pages as you like, as many times as you like. Go ahead and make five hundred copies of your favorite story and send them out via interoffice mail. You can also find a few of the stories in digital form at our Web site. Feel free to e-mail those to as many people as you care to.

I have therefore decided that once I finish reading the book, I will send my favorite one to all my regular readers and all those who have ever commented on my blog. May you remarkabalize your life. If this is your first time to my blog and you wish to get one Big Moo story from me, please leave a note in the comment section. And if you wish to buy the book, you may buy it here => The Big Moo

Taking time out

That's two out of two.

And this has taken me completely by surprise. I have been reading since ... I don't even remember since when.

In my ideal world Authors are good people. At least the ones I read. Only sensitive people can reach out and touch my mind and body. (Note that there is a major assumption here: that I am good too ;-)).

But as we all know the real world can be very different. In order that my ideal world remains intact, and in spite of my intense desire to communicate with the authors - just to thank them for all those wonderful books that they write (no hidden agenda here), I had refrained so far from sending them snail-mails (in the pre-Internet era) or e-mails.

But that was about to change. I wrote to the best selling authors of The Go-Giver, Bob Burg and John Mann. To my surprise I got a response. This response was not just a curt response e-mail. It was a longish reply from persons who really cared. See my post Reaching Out.

Naturally I was thrilled. So, last night I send an e-mail to Seth Godin, the author of Purple Cow. He zapped me. The turn around from the time I send that e-mail to him to his response must have been around 10 minutes. Check out my lens on Purple Cow - Book Review. His response is embedded there.

I am delighted that my ideal world is still intact.

Reading every e-mail and responding to each one of them is a discipline that we all need to inculcate. You can never be busy enough.

Are You Being Fooled By Random Purple Cows?

I don't know how well Seth Godin takes to criticism. He is a marketing guru, but I think he has fallen into the same trap in Purple Cow as many other management authors: the desire to explain random outcomes as non-random. This is a classic case of survivorship bias (learning from the winners without taking into account the losers who might have done similar stuffs but failed.)

The need to do something remarkable to capture market is a given. In order to dislodge an existing market leader an upstart has to come with something that grabs attention. But what works may not be just a remarkable product or service well marketed. Sometimes success is achieved by being at the right place at the right time. And how does one do that: by trying and trying and trying and hoping for the best.

To be fair to Godin, I am sure he understands this very well. Sample this from his book:

So is there a foolproof way to create a Purple Cow every time? ... Of course not. There is no plan. Looking into our rear-view mirror, we can always say, "Of course that worked." ... When we take off the rear-view mirror, though, creating a Purple Cow suddenly gets a lot more difficult.

Unfortunately, I find the approach too uni-dimensional.

What could have been done to make The Purple Cow more rounded? I wish there were as many case studies of failures as there are of success. An analysis of what did not work - in spite of putting out a fantastic product - may be as important, if not more so, as analysing what went right.

This is my first book by Seth Godin. I am right now following him his blog by e-mail. I will perhaps understand his point of view better. Meanwhile, I will continue analysing The Purple Cow and all other management books I read through the lens of Fooled By Randomness.

Photo courtesy: Natalija Stanivuk

***
Update as on 01-Apr-2009

Purple Cow continued to haunt me. So I re-read the complete book again (one of the advantages of buying books). I think I will retain my initial impression in this post. It still stands.
Would I recommend this book to others?
I think I will.
It has many positive points that will grab you and force you to think differently.
For a review of the book click on the icon below


Does this change of heart has anything to do with Seth Godin responding positively to my book review? Not really.
Remember I wrote the review before Godin responded! In the process I discovered that he is a good man. See my post here.

The Sad Case of Satyam Employees and Warning Bells For Indian IT Companies

Satyam employees must be feeling kicked in the guts. Many of them have put in years of service, worked diligently, and were hoping for a great career ahead in Satyam. So what happened? Is it fair that they be penalized for a bunch of A******S led by running the company?

What I am going to quote below may seem heartless but believe me nothing could be further from truth. No schandenfreude here.

This is from The Purple Cow by Seth Godin.

Why do birds fly in formation? Because the birds that follow the leader have an easier flight. The leader breaks the wind resistance, and the following birds can fly far more efficiently. ...

If you watch the flock closely, though, you'll notice that the flock doesn't really fly in formation. Every few minutes one of the birds from the back of the flock will break away, fly to the front and take over, giving the previous leader a chance to move to the back and take a break.

The problem with people who would avoid a remarkable career is that they never end up as a leader. They decide to work for a big company, intentionally functioning as an anonymous drone, staying way back to avoid risk and criticism. If they make a mistake and choose a wrong bird to follow, they lose.

So the employees of Satyam make a mistake and chose a wrong leader. But what of the rest of the company. Seth Godin further continues ...

A lot of risk-averse businesspeople believe that they can follow a similar strategy. They think they can wait until a leader demonstrates a breakthrough idea, and then rush to copy it, enjoying the break in wind resistance from the leader ... In the long run of course they will fail.

Now why am I quoting this? Collect the annual reports of the following companies, Infosys, Wipro, HCL, Satyam, ... Ask your friend to look away and read out aloud the annual report. Ask him/her to guess the company. I bet you will get a confused answer. Every single biggie has the same genetic configuration. The first big wave that turns the apple cart will serve as a death knell for all of these companies.

You still don't agree? Answer this question?

Which Indian company has a product to its name? Hmmm.... you don't remember.

Alright I will make it easier.

Name me a software product comparable to Windows, SAP, Oracle, or any of the hundreds of software / freeware that are in your machine right now, that is developed by an Indian company.

With the sole exception of Tally, put it down to my ignorance, I am not aware of any India developed software product that is burning up the market. Feel free to enlighten me.

I predict that this will come from one of the smaller companies. Entrepreneurs who are hungry to become the leader of tomorrow. There is a tremendous talent available in India, coming out of our IITs and Regional Engineering colleges. Could be a bright spark from there. I hope that company (could be the one I work in!!) does it soon, before India is hit by gale forces of change.

Watch this space!

  
 

Picture courtesy: Asif Akbar

Squidooing The Weekends

I discovered Squidoo a few days ago. Entirely by accident.
I purchased a Seth Godin book, The Purple Cow (Yeah! I still buy books!) and was intrigued enough to check out his blog.
There I noticed the strange set combination of characters S-Q-U-I-D-O-O.
So, I explored further and today I am a lens master.

I took me some time to understand how to get a hang of this Squidoo animal. Every time I thought of an idea for a lens on Squidoo, I found it more suitable for my blog here.

Since I do not give up on a possible future without giving it a shot, I have now decided to dedicate one day, either a Saturday or a Sunday, to making a lens. My repertoire of lens is slowly building up. I realize that the lens serves as a repository of my blog. And it works like this ...

I scan my blog for a common thread between different blogs and when I find one, I convert that into a lens.

Though the blurb says create a lens in 60 seconds (or something similar), I take at least 2-3 hours coming up with a suitable idea and executing it.

Have a look at the lens I created today: Photographs of intricately carved sculptures of Hoysala Temples

Let me know what you think of it.

And should you want to become a lens master yourself, click on my referral link here (You can become a lens master directly too; it is just that this would be your way to thank me ;-))