Saqib Awan

Blog moved to armaghansaqib.wordpress.com

2010-07-27T18:42:00.001+05:00

I have moved my blog to armaghansaqib.wordpress.com. All new updates are posted there.

Please visit new url and update your email subscription.

Here are some of my latest blog posts.

Making this world a better place for you and for others

2010-07-19T16:53:00.001+05:00

There are too many injustices in the world; red tape is too long, your boss treats you badly, your friends are selfish, you don't have enough money to buy the latest clothes and shoes, your work hours are too long, your parents don't understand your problems, your spouse is not happy. (the list is really long)

Ok I got it.

There are two possible ways to channel your energy:

Complain about these injustices and keep complaining forever.
Manage yourself to take some small positive steps; learn new skills, make new connections, read books, volunteer somewhere, tell others what you can do for them etc.

Guess which approach is going to help you and make this world a better place?

I keep hearing complains all day and I am tired of these people. Please don't be one of them.

Black hat is not enough. You need to use yellow and green hats too.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Bringing discipline into our thinking

2010-07-18T19:30:00.001+05:00

Most of us have made life changing decisions in a matter of minutes or even seconds. Just scan your past and you will find many examples. This happened because we were forced to do that due to unexpected turn of events. This also means that we are capable of making good decisions in the shortest possible time.

But in our day to day life, we keep thinking over and over again about small issues. Thinking time can span days or even months. This has one huge problem: we keep postponing the real action.

The time discipline of thinking tools liberates you from this thinking rut. You are asked to practice a particular tool (PMI for example) within 1-5 minutes. With some practices, you brain adopts this discipline for your day to day thinking and helps you become a doer rather than a philosopher.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Web site developers and bloggers, your attention please

2010-07-17T17:51:00.001+05:00

Information we get daily is doubling every 18 months. To get attention we need to make dead simple and readable websites and blogs. But not all web developers and bloggers are with us. They want to show off their newly learned design skills and use all possible colors, flashing and scrolling text. External website widgets are another source of cluttered and bloated web pages.

I have been using readability tool by Arc90.com since it was released in early 2009. This tool removes all clutter from the web page you are reading. This tool is also available as a firefox addon and google chrome extension. See the screen shots of a web page below before and after applying the readability tool.

Safari browser by Apple, a company built around design and usability, now has this functionality built into it.

Hey, web developers! Do you still need proof people want simpler and readable websites?

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Protesting, peacefully

2010-07-16T22:22:00.001+05:00

Today I visited the office of a big business. This company has annoyed probably close to thousand customers due to some of its acts; none of which are out of its control. The only motive seems to maximize profits.

Are we really helpless? I thought. "Client executive" (whatever that designation means), and then his manager, tried to calm me with all sort of false statements.

I then insisted and proceeded to see the department head and recorded my protest. This respectable old man tried to look courteous but could not offer anything concrete and used his intelligent mind to confuse the matter.

I am not sure my protest will have any dent on the company practices; may be some; may be a lot. But I do think we have the right and we should protest respectfully and peacefully. It can make a difference sometime somewhere. I used to argue with faceless call center operators but that is probably close to useless. Higher the authority you protest to, the better.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

It is time to identify your passion and here is how

2010-07-15T19:59:00.001+05:00

Some people are lucky enough to know what they want to do with their life. Some need a bit of digging into their own mind. You can't hit a target unless you identify a target. You can't achieve a goal unless you know what your goal is. Right?

Old advice. Yes it is. But it still works.

I came across this small booklet, "a brief guide to world domination" (pdf, 29 pages) which might help you to identify your passion and work for it.

This booklet is based around two most important questions:

#1: What do you really want to get out of life?
#2: What can you offer the world that no one else can?

Here is a direct download link for the pdf.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

How to avoid really big blunders

2010-07-14T21:01:00.001+05:00

There are times when, despite all your intelligence and experience, you make a really big blunder and then keep regretting it for a long time. You are just bewildered how on earth you did that. But it has happened and now get over it. And you have a big company. :)

Why this happens? This is not stupidity. This is due to the way our brain works as a pattern making and pattern matching system. All new incoming information is matched to existing brain patterns. A particular sequence of events can trigger a potentially unfavorable pattern in our brain. A con artist can use his skills to make our brain's pattern matching system work to his advantage.

Edward de Bono's thinking tools can help you to cut across existing brain patterns instead of matching these. The three important tools to help you in tricky situations are APC, CAF and PMI.

APC stands for alternatives, possibilities and choices.
CAF stands for consider all factors.
PMI stands for plus, minus, interesting.

To apply each tool, you list as many points as possible within 1 - 3 minutes without bringing your judgment into the thinking process. Spend some time on practicing these tools with a paper and a pencil. Simplicity of these tools and few days of practice will make it possible for you to use these in real life situations without much effort.

Let us avoid the next big blunder.

(Photo credit: lolsnaps.com)

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Every one can be a blogger and can write daily

2010-07-13T21:46:00.001+05:00

I have been writing my blog for past 4 years but doing it daily for the past few weeks. A number of people have praised this practice. Thanks. My friends think that this is something not so easy. But I think every one can be a blogger and every one can write daily. How?

You learn something daily. Don't you? And you also have a big repertoire of experience as well. On a personal blog what you do is you just share something, anything, out of your huge repertoire. You don't necessarily need to write large, well researched post every day.

Then why it looks so difficult to write? I think because we under estimate our learnings and experiences and think that these will not be useful for the rest of the world. This is not true. You are unique and you are capable and you can help the world.

Another thing perhaps is that you want to look perfect to the outside world who is having a look at your blog. You are not perfect and don't try to be. Make mistakes and thanks anyone who points out yours. It will just make you more confident.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

The best advice you can have: DO LESS

2010-07-12T14:38:00.001+05:00

Download now or preview on posterous

doless.pdf (320 KB)

I often see the web pages of companies and individuals full of all
possible things they can do and just wonder what they really do and
what they really have experience with. Perhaps this strategy (we can
do everything) only dilutes their message.

The best lesson I have learned so far in my life (after doing the
exact opposite) is do less. And it has changed my life, for better.

With do less philosophy, you do not try to do every thing you can do;
you try to do the best thing you can do. And the best part is you are
going to be happy with your life and there is a good chance you will
make more money too.

This is what Seth Godin tries to convince us in the attached 7 page pdf.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Running windows software on ubuntu linux

2010-07-11T21:11:00.001+05:00

In a recent blog post I told you how to install and run Ubuntu Linux on your PC. You can also run Ubuntu Linux directly from CD without disturbing you PC. A number of people have installed and started using Ubuntu Linux as their desktop operating system on my suggestion.

One of the often asked questions is what to do if there is no alternative available in Linux to a particular Windows software. In such cases you can always run Windows and your favorite Windows software in virtual environment on your Linux desktop.

Sun/Oracle's VirtualBox for Ubuntu is a software which allows you to run Windows and its software in virtual enviornment. You install it on your Linux desktop, install Windows within virtual box environment and then run any Windows software.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

A great source of motivational and self-help pdfs by best seller authors

2010-07-10T21:29:00.001+05:00

changethis.com is a great source of free self-help and motivational booklets in pdf format. These nice booklets are called 'manifestos'. These pdfs are nicely formatted and optimized for pleasant reading on your computer screen.

Many of these manifestos have been written by best seller authors. There are great manifestos on topics which include marketing, motivation, personal grooming, time management, creativity, writing etc.

changethis.com was founded by Seth Godin. I discovered this website many years ago when some one pointed me to a free pdf book by Seth Godin titled "The Bootstrapper's Bible".

Highly recommended.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Triumph of simplicity

2010-07-09T21:43:00.001+05:00

I love simplicity but I try to avoid mentioning it too often. After all I do not want you to get bored, angry or offended. :-)

Many years ago I was helping a business design a new system. The best brains in the organization gathered to make it the best possible one for the organization. I was with them but with a subtle difference. They wanted to add as many features as possible. I wanted to make it simple. They wanted to add an elaborate system of calculating the cost of items. I was against it. They wanted to manage inventory by incorporating all past practices, best practices and new ideas. I advised to design for simplicity. They insisted. I warned, protested, cried and then complied.

It took two painful years to realize that elaborate costing system was, yes, costing more than expected. And it took four more years to dawn that the inventory system which allowed all sort of 'real life scenarios' was nothing but pain to maintain. So it was decided to, yes, simplify it.

And it was decided today.

Simplicity; you are going to adopt it sooner or later. So better do it today.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Learn to self-learn this summer

2010-07-08T16:55:00.001+05:00

You went to a great school, a really great college and passed out with flying colors. Well done. You are also keeping yourself updated with all the latest tools and methodologies by going to all those workshops and conferences by gurus. Great.

But there is another possibility which you may never have tried to explore; you can learn something yourself without going somewhere. Its simpler than you think. How?

Buy and read a book.
Download a pdf or subscribe a blog.
Use Google to find (possibly free) on-line courses.
Wikipedia
Experiment with what you have learned. Try again and again.
Ask questions on Internet discussion groups/forums and mailing lists related to your subject.
Send email directly to gurus. They will help you provided you have done your homework.

Don't be shy to experiment, ask or take failure as part of your learning process.

Yes, self-learning may be slow for the first time but not after that. The confidence you will gain from your self learning is going to last forever, not to mention the time and money you may save.

Should I tell you a little secret about successful people? They self learn.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Sales tip: get the most out of your ignorant customer

2010-07-07T17:49:00.001+05:00

Seth Godin writes daily on his blog and never fails to inspire. I often refer to his blog posts. In fact I want to do it daily but I am sure it does not look good. So if you have anything, even remotely connected, to do with sales and marketing, read his blog at sethgodin.typepad.com. An easier way to never miss his daily sermon is to subscribe with your email.

Sometimes he is so spot-on that I feel compelled to share his thoughts. Yesterday's post was one such.

I am not sure title of this post is going to make you happy or angry. But this is what happens when you buy something once in a while; you can be screwed by the seller, the marketer.

It is easier to buy an expensive laptop, a photocopier with features you are never going to use, a chemical with an obscure name, an aluminum kitchen, that expensive database software etc. just to name a few things. Ordinary buyers are no match to the power wielded by marketers and sales people who have spent their entire lives to master their art.

Here is what Seth Godin writes about the marketers who love dumb and/or ignorant customers:

Ask them to show you a recipe for how to make what they make on your own, and "it's a trade secret."

And this one is really a gem:

Their perfect customer is someone in a hurry, with plenty of money and not a lot of knowledge about their options.

And here is what happens when the competition does just the opposite and tries to make you, the customer, smarter and more informed:

if just one player enters the field and works to make people smarter, the competition has a hard time responding with a dumbness offensive. They can obfuscate and run confusing ads, but sooner or later, the inevitability of information spreading works in favor of those that bet on it.

That's the beauty of today's world powered by social media. Every one has a voice.

Thanks Seth Godin.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

It is 100% un-natural

2010-07-06T17:58:00.001+05:00

We get a sense of confidence when we read "100% natural", "natural contents only" or something similar on product labels. We feel rest assured this is not going to harm us, we are going to get the best of what nature has produced, it has not been tempered by humans, it is 100% natural etc. etc.

Yes, this line sells products. Just look at all those soaps, shampoos, cold creams, food products which contain "pure" extracts of a natural thing, probably a herb or a fruit or a vegetable.

It is debatable whether these 100% "natural products" or "pure extracts" are of any value if at all. But this is a topic for some other time. What I want to discuss is just the opposite of these claims.

What if the manufacturer writes; "100% man made", "No natural contents", "Synthetic chemicals only", "No fresh juice inside". Will this make you uncomfortable? Will you still buy that product?

It makes sense to assume that if there is no first type of statements (100% natural), the opposite is true. But the manufacturer is of course shy to tell this to you explicitly. The 100% un-natural statement can make you uncomfortable. You may not buy that product.

Next time when you visit your superstore, have a closer look at all those items which are not 100% natural; juices, drinks, food items, cosmetics and others. Will you still buy these? Especially the edible items?

(CC photo credits.)

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Thinking about thinking

2010-07-05T19:18:00.001+05:00

As I said earlier, positive thinking is not the only thinking you need to do. Thinking about thinking is also an important one. You may need to sit down alone, preferably with a paper and a pencil, and start asking questions.

Warning: Your own answers can be scary.

Why I am doing what I am doing? Can I do something better? When will I do that?
What is the worst thing that can happen if I stop doing this today? Can things get better? Perhaps I shall get rid of my ever scolding boss and start living with dignity.
What other possibilities (perhaps better ones) are there for me? Have I ever tried to explore?
Should I re-evaluate my priorities? Reading, teaching, kids, spending, eating, pleasure, exercise, money, volunteering etc.
What I am going to do in next 10,20,30 years?
What is my past performance for the last 2, 5, 10, 15 years? Do I need to change my tactics radically?
Is it time to develop new habits or get rid of old ones?
Am I thinking too little?
Am I thinking too much? (with too little action)

Not every question is tied to money.

Thinking about thinking comes under green and blue hats.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

A pdf reader which allows you to highlight text and add notes

2010-07-05T19:10:00.001+05:00

Foxit is a free pdf reader for windows (similar to adobe reader) but it allows you to highlight and underline text as well as add notes.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Incorrectly placed priorities

2010-07-04T17:51:00.001+05:00

I am tired of it; the wrong sort of priorities and optimizations.

Friends ask me to get their website on the first page of Google search.
Clients ask me to optimize the data entry screen to get the maximum possible juice out of a data entry operator.
Accountants ask me to provide as many analysis reports as possible.

This blog post (the non-optimized life) by Seth Godin made me feel relaxed. Let us think this way:

Friends can optimize the website/blog text by learning to write a story.
Businesses can get better returns by spending more time on generating new ideas for sales and simpler business processes rather than worrying about the extra tab key needed to post a transaction.
Accountants need to learn that "we can analyze the past but we have to design the future".

I have so many friends in my facebook who are in the SEO (search engine optimization) business but not a single one who teaches how to write well. (Let me know if If you are the one) May be it is time to step into this profession too.

"That's one reason I resist the temptation to optimize this blog for traffic and yield. I'd rather force myself to improve it by having the guts to write better posts instead."

If Seth's policy can result in more than 700 re-tweets of his blog posts, we badly need to re-evaluate our priorities.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Why we can't eat less (or how we can)

2010-07-03T18:49:00.001+05:00

This blog post is for you if you are endlessly trying to stay fit and smart by dieting and eating less but slacking.

I often refer to Michael Pollan's work on diet and health. His book "Food Rules, An Eater's Manual" is a wonderful collection of 64 eating rules. Each rule is described in a concise and simple way. Recommended.

On eating less he has also quoted Prophet Muhammad (PBUH): "the Prophet Muhammad described a full belly as one that contained 1/3 food, 1/3 liqued and 1/3 air."

Now back to today's question; why we can't eat less? Does it really require a lot of will power? This is what I always thought. Michael tells us a little hack which can help.

Neurons in our stomach can take up to 20 minutes to send the message to our brain that our belly is full. This means that we can eat more, a lot more, if we eat faster, within this 20 minutes window.

So the trick to eat less is to eat slowly spanning your meal time to 20 minutes or more.

If you cannot eat slowly for some reason, eat a small portion, promise yourself to eat more after 20 minutes. Here you might need to exercise your will power just enough to restrict your eating for 20 minutes. You won't be able to stuff your belly much even if you try to eat again after 20 minutes.

Try this little hack today.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Do this and you won't need to visit your dentist

2010-07-02T17:19:00.001+05:00

Last month I had to visit my dentist for a number of days. While talking to him I asked what was the best way to keep my teeth in good order. I was expecting something like "brush three times a day, regularly" or "use this great tooth paste because it contains x, y and z".

But his reply was totally unexpected. He said, "eat less".

He said that when we eat more, our blood's pH level gets disturbed and that's the single biggest source of tooth decay.

Now "eat less" is the advice I always acknowledge (though I yet have to practice it on regular basis). I had heard this first from Michael Pollan's famous quote, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.".

So time to "eat less" now. And this blog post is going to serve as a constant reminder for me.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Some more Ubuntu Linux hints

2010-07-01T22:01:00.001+05:00

Few days ago I suggested to try Ubuntu Linux as your desktop operating system instead of Microsoft Windows. Here are few more points which may be helpful.

You can try Ubuntu Linux without installing it on your computer. Just put the CD into your computer's cd/dvd drive and select the live desktop when it shows initial boot options. Ubuntu will discover and configure almost your hardware appropriately (including most wireless network cards). You should be able to browse Internet, try out OpenOffice and few other things of interest.
You can start installation on your hard disk from this live cd environment.
You do not need to have a free partition on your hard drive. You can install it on your existing C: or D: drive. (Though hard disk performance will be suboptimal)

Feel free to share your experiences here.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

I am sorry, I don't have an iPhone

2010-06-30T21:40:00.001+05:00

It is easy to get carried away and invest a good fortune in an iPhone, the latest and hottest gadget. (It is much expensive here in Pakistan) After all every smart kid (actually rich kid) is carrying it. So why not you? And of course you don't want to look apologetic every time a friend of you buys and shows off his iphone.

First, I would definitely recommend you to do a PMI and APC before buying a gadget like iphone.

Second, read this blog post to see why a millionaire does not want to get an iphone.

Third, if you still need it, I would suggest to read this article (Seriously, why do you still have an iPhone?) about alternatives, the better ones.

I don't have one and probably never will.

Do you have an iphone? Let me know.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

A quick way to enhance your vocabulary

2010-06-29T19:06:00.001+05:00

I have been using Google dictionary extension for my Chrome browser for couple of weeks and much pleased. I just double click a new word while browsing/reading and immediately get its definition in a yellow bubble right there.

Try it today and enhance your vocabulary the easy way.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Positive thinking is over rated

2010-06-28T13:14:00.001+05:00

Every one asks you to think positively, to get rid of your negative thoughts and emotions. Many articles, blog posts and books have been written on the power of positive thinking.

Right? Probably wrong. Though the above advice might somewhat help those who are deeply in negative thinking, it often causes confusion to people trying to improve themselves just with positive thinking.

The other types of thinking (including negative and emotional ones) are equally important too.

... Without negative thinking you can't be aware of any risk elements in a new venture, dangers at a new place or bad intentions of a stranger etc.

... Have you ever tried getting rid of your emotional thinking? You should not and in fact you can't.

... Without some creating thinking you cannot move ahead in your life.

So the trick is to give equal share to each type of thinking.

Dr. Edward de Bono has divided our thinking into six types (symbolized by metaphorical hats):

Positive thinking with all the logic. (Yellow hat)
Negative thinking with all the logic. (Black hat)
Emotions without any logic and justification. (Red hat)
Actual facts which can be verified independently. (White hat)
Creative thinking; new ideas, inventions. (Green hat)
Control of your thinking. Forcing yourself to do due justice to every type of thinking. (Blue hat)

An emotional decision is not bad as long as you have given due time to thinking of all other types.

A good thinker has to be good at all types of thinking.

Are you a good thinker?

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Whitewashing jang.com.pk

2010-06-27T21:36:00.001+05:00

To its credit, jang.com.pk is the most frequently updated urdu news website (correct me if I am wrong). Unfortunately it is crowded by flashing, bright color ads which make reading experience anything but highly unpleasant.

Today I installed 'AdBlock' extension for my Google Chrome and it made jang.com.pk instantly more readable, whitewashing the most annoying ads. AdBlock is also avaiable for Firefox.

Here are screen shots of jang.com.pk before and after installing AdBlock.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Is there any education value of quotable quotes?

2010-06-19T16:28:00.001+05:00

When I was growing up I really loved quotable quotes and always searched for good ones in books and newspapers. One day I came to know that compilations of really good quotes are also available in book format. I was excited. I got one and eagerly started reading from page one. Past few pages, I stopped reading. I was disappointed. I was not getting the inspiration from reading high quality quotes in a book.

After some thought I realized that quotes were good for me when I read a single one once in a while and tried to internalize it by thinking long and hard about it. This was obviously not happening when I was reading quotes in a book in alphabetical order.

Many years later when I studied Dr. Edward de Bono and learned that, what every type of training and education (as well as fights and wars) aimed for, was perception change. Now as we grow older and older it becomes harder for us to perceive things in a new way because we settle down each new thought into our established thoughts (patterns). So it becomes really hard for us to change our perception (and thus get any value) from reading a quotable quote casually and then moving to a next one.

Then there is a big question of context. Every quote makes sense in a particular context. For example Jinnah's popular quote 'work, work and work' can easily make you a heart patient without understanding it in a proper context.

In contrast to quotable quotes, thinking tools (as invented by Dr. Edward de Bono) take almost the same amount of time and effort as reading a great quote but can change your perception for your entire life. And fortunately these are just few.

My highly knowledgeable and intellectual friend Marryam Chaudhry posted her thoughts on facebook in these words:

Marryam Chaudhry has noticed that people luv to post quotes coz they sound nice.. How many of you actually read- retain- amend yourself accordingly??? I'm no angel n yes I have horns ;) but at least I try!!!

You are right Marryam. The educational value of quotable quotes is close to zero.

And, yes, facebook has turned into a giant quotable quotes book.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

The best ever computer software no one will try to sell you

2010-06-18T10:54:00.001+05:00

Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 from Microsoft or Mac OS X from Apple are called "operating systems" software (OS for short) in computer jargon. Very few people know that there is an operating system called "Linux" which is free and can be installed on their computers and even fewer of these knowledgeable people use it.

You may ask why bother to even worry there is such thing called Linux. The biggest reason is that you will get rid of all computer viruses, spyware and other security issues as soon as you install Linux. This will make your day to day computer use enjoyable and worry free.

With Linux your existing computer will become much faster without spending a dime because you don't need to install (and keep updating forever) those so called "security suites". (anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware software etc)

Linux is available under many names like Redhat, Ubuntu, Suse, Debian etc. For desktop users Ubuntu is the easiest one. 10.04 is the latest Ubuntu release. I have been using this release for about a month and have helped install it on my clients, friends and family members' computers. All these users are, to say the least, quite happy and amazed.

Ubuntu 10.04 sets a new level of ease of use for installation and auto-configuration of your computer peripherals. It installed within 15 minutes and detected all devices (wireless network, bluetooth, wireless keyboard, mouse, memory cards etc.) on my laptop and home computers and got configured without asking a single thing.

You can install it on your existing Windows hard disk or in a separate partition without much fuss. You just need to follow these steps:

Installation

Download Ubuntu 10.04 CD in ISO format (700 MB) from http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download.
Create a CD from this ISO image, boot your computer from this CD and just follow instructions. (Make sure you first backup important work on your computer)

Once Ubuntu is running you can install additional software from a huge software repository by running the 'apt-get install software-package-name' in the command line. Believe me there is every thing you will ever need on Ubuntu Linux and that too absolutely free.

Welcome to free computing.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Making money with your blog

2010-06-15T19:41:00.001+05:00

A friend of mine, with really good knowledge of real estate business in Lahore, writes a personal blog. His posts include personal experiences as well as reviews of various real estate ventures. Recently he mentioned that a large number of people were visiting his blog and said this traffic was beyond his expectations. He wanted to monetize this. He asked for ideas.

The easiest (and lazy man) solution is of course to put google ads. I, however, do not recommend this for three reasons:

If it works, it forces your visitors to leave your site.
If it does not, it clutters your blog and makes the reading experience unpleasant.
And if you can make $100/month or more, you are really lucky.

The other solution I always recommend is to sell your own product or service relevant to your blog. If you don't have one, make a simple one like a PDF booklet. Make two of these.

The smaller (5-10 pages) one which you offer as free download.
The bigger (5-25 pages) one which you sell for a price range of $2 to $6.

Initially simplicity and low price are essential for quick sales. You can always tune things later on.

Your PDF product should have information which helps your visitor to save time and should be formated pleasantly. I often refer to Shama Hyder Kabani's "free online marketing plan" from this link as an example of a really good "product".

This is just to begin with. There are many other and better ideas to make money online. I, for example, write a lot of technical documentation which I make available free. This has helped me get a good number of consulting assignments from all over the world without direct marketing.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Rephrase it

2010-06-13T08:35:00.001+05:00

I struggled last couple of weeks trying to finish an assignment for a
client. It was not just getting done and frustrating me (and my client
too). Why? partly because of bit ambiguous specs sent by client and
partly because of hurriedness on my part to deliver quickly.

Yesterday I just took few minutes, re-wrote his request in my own
words and asked him to confirm. Lo and behold; it was not what he
wanted. And what ever he wanted was something really simple, a half an
hour job.

So whenever you are in doubt, rewrite your customer's request in your
own words and ask him to confirm. This advice is here for my own
reminder so that I don't waste two week again for a 30 minutes job.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Writing habit

2010-05-18T14:05:00.001+05:00

For the past few months I have been busy with work and not able to concentrate and write down my thoughts on this blog.

The less I write the more difficult it looks to do it next time. So here I am again with a self promise that I am going write more and more to contribute something useful (thats first priority) and develop my writing habit.

It is also time to start looking for more simplification in my personal and business affairs. Simplification is not something you do can once and then forget. The evolutionary process seems to favor complexity. So we need to devote some dedicated time, daily or at least weekly, to our simplification drive.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Literacy verses Operacy

2010-04-16T16:05:00.002+05:00

by Edward de Bono in New Zealand

22nd June 1998

The Millennium Conference is now under way. For details please see below. Some input will still be included in my weekly message but the bulk - including comments and contributions - will be published in the special conference area.

Last week I suggested beginning with a look at education since that is generally accepted as the basis of society.

I have not done a full survey or review of education systems around the world so the views I express are based on personal experience. I would say that all education systems I have had contact with are a disgrace and a disaster. How can that be? The reason is that education is a locked-in and self-complacent system. No matter how motivated and excellent individuals may be, and there are many such talented people in education, change is virtually impossible.

There are two important and apparently contradictory principles:

Everything now taught in education has a high value.
Most of what is taught in schools is of very little value to the students or to society.

In the European Union something like 25 per cent of schooling time is spent on mathematics. Yet 90 per cent of those leaving school probably use less than 3 per cent of what they have learned in the mathematics lessons. When did you last use algebra, trigonometry, set theory or calculus?

So why do we spend so much time teaching this amount of mathematics?

Because it trains the mind. There is no evidence for this at all. If we were really concerned with training the mind we could spend a fraction of this time directly teaching thinking - with far more relevance to the lives of ordinary people. For example, something like 90 per cent of mistakes in everyday thinking are mistakes of perception. Mathematics can do very little about this.
Because mathematics is required for many careers in science, engineering and technology. True, but do we need to train a hundred people so that four can undertake such careers? Surely, it would make more sense to teach the relevant skills as part of such professional training.
Because mathematics was there before. This is the real reason. Everyone knows the value of mathematics so no one dare attack the huge amount of time spent on mathematics.
Because teachers, examinations and the curriculum lock us into the matematics requirements.

The last two reasons are the real reasons.

Mathematics has a high value. So does every other subject taught in education. But time is limited in education. There may be subjects that have an even higher value. Let me mention just three.
Basic constructive thinking skills. This is the most important subject of all - virtually never taught. This subject helps youngsters get on with their own lives and also to contribute to society. Is that not a disgrace?
Understanding "Value creation in society". This again is a key subject. Is it not a disgrace that youngsters leave school knowing about the War of the Roses but have no idea as to how business works?
"Operacy" and the skills of doing. The notion that it is enough to "know" is both absurd and dangerous. Research has shown that youngsters who pursued hobbies did much better in life - because they has some experience of operacy. I believe that half the time devoted to sports should be devoted to hobbies and "operacy" projects.

Communication, interpersonal and group skills. Also very important.

All these things are so very obvious. Why are they not happening?

Because there are no exams in such subjects and the subjects are not on any curriculum.
Because there are no teachers to teach such subjects.
Because universities set school leaving examinations and universities are out of touch with the real needs of society.
Because change attracts criticism.

When Charlemagne was the greatest leader in Europe, he could not read or write. It was the role of scribes and notaries to look after the reading and writing activity. Education developed around teaching such necessary skills to scribes and notaries. That is the direct heritage of education. Education has expanded in two ways. It expanded to mass education for all. Education also sought to make available all human knowledge.

Add to this a fatal dominance by (and obsession with) the Greek Gang of Three and we have our current education system.

At the top end we have indeed made some progress - mainly in science and technology. But at lower levels we have made virtually no progress at all. That is why I used the rather strong terms of disgrace and disaster.

If teaching basic thinking skills to illiterate workers (platinum miners in South Africa*) can reduce grievances from 210 a month to 4 a month - then the ideas I suggest above are not only possible but they are incredibly powerful.

© McQuaig Group 1998

The above piece may be re-published in any magazine, newspaper or journal provided that it is not altered and the copyright line is given.

What the best talkers have in common

2010-04-15T09:04:00.001+05:00

Here is a excerpt from the book "How to talk to anyone, anytime, anywhere" by Larry King.

They look at things from a new angle, taking unexpected points of view on familiar subjects.
They have broad horizons. They think about, and talk about, a wide range of issues and experiences beyond their own daily lives.
They are enthusiastic, displaying a passion for what they're doing with their lives and an interest in what you're saying to them at that moment.
They don't talk about themselves all the time.
They are curious. They ask "Why?" They want to know more about what you're telling them.
They empathize. They try to put themselves in your place, to relate to what you're saying.
They have a sense of humor. And they don't mind using it on themselves. Infact, the best conversationalists frequently tell stories on themselves.
They have their own style of talking.

Keep talking.

Everything popular is wrong

2010-03-30T16:01:00.001+05:00

Read the book "Rework" (on NYT, WSJ bestseller lists) and start believing the quote which is title of this post. From book title page:

ASAP is poison
Under-do the competition
Meetings are toxic
Fire the workaholics
Emulate drug dealers
Pick a fight
Planning is guessing
Inspiration is perishable.

Book excerpt is available in PDF format from book home page.

Fake moral lessons

2010-03-06T11:00:00.004+05:00

Many facebook discussions start with some quotable quote or a story. Fake moral stories are on the rise as well. Consider the following interesting discussion on facebook based upon a fake story (names and some discussion removed for brevity and to protect the innocent)

Eagle siting on a tree doing nothing. Rabit thought to do the same & sat on ground. A wolf came & ate it. Lesson: To sit & do nothing, you need to be on top!!

Another friend replied to this with another similar story:

WELL SAID, I heard an other story i mean not related to this but funny;

A turkey was chatting with a bull. 'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.''Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'The turkey pecked at a ... See Morelump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral Bull Shitt might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

I replied with:

I think that both these stories also demonstrate a critical flaw of logic; you can prove anything with logic using an appropriately constructed story involving humans, animals, plants, stars etc.

There are three problems with stories like this:

These stories are obviously fake. No one was sitting with those animals and recording their "thinking" for the story.
We can make animals do whatever we want to according to our planned outcome.
Even if the above two things were right somehow, we are still generalizing from one example which is surely a wrong thing to do. (See http://lesswrong.com/lw/dr/generalizing_from_one_example/)

There are better ways to teach and I shall be writing about some of these in future.

Corporate speak

2010-03-01T18:04:00.000+05:00

What is corporate speak (without corporate speak)?

Corporate talk which means nothing to common people.
An ambiguous way of communication you won't use with your mother, wife or kids.

Definition

Management-speak has triumphed. It has made much of our everyday language dull, dimwitted and meaningless. To sound professional, you must express everything in abstract nouns, and each noun in terms of another one; you must talk about synergy and strategy, uptake and outcomes and outputs and inputs, key performance indicators and drivers and customer experience - even if your 'customers' are in fact patients in a hospital. Your words will be obscure and indigestible. You will conform to the new way. You will surrender the ability to write and speak with spontaneity or clarity and, with prolonged use, even your ability to think clearly. (Source: Weasel words)

And from wikipedia:

Marketing speak refers to particular patterns of language often used to promote a product or service to a wide audience by seeking to create the impression that the vendors of the service possess a high level of sophistication, skill, and technical knowledge. Such language is often used in marketing press releases, advertising copy, and prepared statements read by executives and politicians.

Marketing speak is characterized by its heavy use of buzzwords, neologisms, and terms appropriated from specialized technical fields which are eventually rendered almost meaningless through heavy repeated use in inappropriate contexts.

Who talks like this?
Used mostly in big corporations. Independent consultants also love it. They want to convince you that they are really capable and delivering something you don't know. They are actually delivering nothing. Makes them feel important and you look as stupid as possible. Some intellectuals also love it.

Examples

A job at micrsoft.com:

If you’re looking for a new role where you’ll focus on one of the biggest issues that is top of mind for KT and Steve B in ‘Compete’, build a complete left to right understanding of the subsidiary, have a large amount of executive exposure, build and manage the activities of a v-team of 13 district Linux& Open Office Compete Leads, and develop a broad set of marketing skills and report to a management team committed to development and recognized for high WHI this is the position for you!

From an IT company website:

We take the initiative to redirect with diversity of though, superior coordination and affirmative appraoch, ingenuity of ideas and assessment of skills, which are conductive to the success of any firm. That's why we are committed to quality and value. We are trying to make I.IT a basic need for business development so the creation of reporting in vast fields of business can modify and the decision making power can get improve for the business.

Oh God, I am in trouble. I can't speak like that. Any help?
Yes here is one glossary for the innocent victims.

Simple banking

2010-02-24T17:52:00.000+05:00

Few months ago I lost my ATM/debit debit card. I promptly called my bank and was put on hold because "all operators were busy serving customers". After some waiting and patience I finally got my card blocked. The operator asked me to make a new call to order my new card due to bank "policy".

After going through the call center hell again (including authenticating myself with personal information and getting transferred a couple of times), the operator told me that she could not forward my request and I had to visit the bank branch where I had opened my account. When I insisted she told me that my account was marked "high risk" and she could not take any request on phone.

I could not go to my bank partly due to work and partly due to laziness. Now a funny thing happened. I started living without my debit card but just a bit more financially organized. I just had to think a bit more in advance about my expected expenses and used my good old cheque book to draw money from a branch near my home.

Last week I went to my branch and got my debit cards permanently deleted from my account.

Perceived convenience and actual convenience are two different things. What do you think?

What your doctor dislikes

2010-01-16T08:32:00.001+05:00

A quote from Seth Godin's recent blog post, What the industry wants:

Doctors don't like prescribing lifestyle changes or natural cures, because many patients demand a scrip and it's easily defended and it comes with a sales rep.

Why would a doctor prescribe something which is going to cure you in the long run? This will kill his practice. Like all of us he needs to make money. On the other hand this practice costs us money on unnecessary diagnostic tests and weakens our immune system with over-medication. One suggestion is to pay doctors to ignore the patients.

Next time you have to visit your doctor, ask him to recommend something other than the magic pill he always prescribes.

Using fear as a marketing tool

2010-01-15T11:59:00.002+05:00

I have been using Life Bouy soap all my life. Few days ago I saw the company's "public service message" on how to avoid swine flu. This was a half page ad on the front page of the Daily Jang, Lahore edition. Here are the recommendations:

Wash your hands every time you:

sneeze.
cook.
touch anything (door nob, furniture, computers etc.)
shake hand.

Even as a loyal consumer, I was disgusted. This company is trying its best to induce fear into us to make us all psychotic. For what? Just to sell more soap bars.

My immediate thought was what about the transfer of virus through air when you or someone sneezes? No, you can't stop the virus spreading. You have to make your immune system strong.

You do need to wash hands but not as madly as this ad asks you. And not with soap every time.

This news item (swine flu scare was a "false pandemic") confirms what I and many people were thinking:

A LEADING health expert says the swine flu scare was a "false pandemic" led by drugs companies that stood to make billions from vaccines. Wolfgang Wodarg, head of health at the Council of Europe, claims major firms organised a "campaign of panic" to put pressure on the World Health Organisation to declare a pandemic. He believes it is "one of the greatest medicine scandals of the century" — and has called for an inquiry.

Here is my recipe to avoid swine flu (or any other flu):

Exercise daily and possibly twice a day.
Eat simple and healthy food (vegetables, fruit, very little meat) and avoid processed food.
Avoid medicines whenever possible. Let your immune system get stronger.
Move carefully in extreme weather.
And of course keep your environment clean but you don't need to wash your hands after every 10 minutes.

... because no company is going to promote this public service message with big advertisements in national newspapers.

My 2010 resolution

2010-01-13T17:20:00.001+05:00

Like everybody else I would like to begin 2010 with a resolution. Here it goes:

Be a really good father and husband. Always be optimistic. Make friends. Take care of people and environment. Contribute to society. Excel in whatever I do. Look for opportunities. Keep learning.

The funny thing is that you (or perhaps everybody) can say the same words for your own 2010 resolution. Just like corporate mission statements or quotable quotes, this resolution achieves only one thing; makes you feel good for few moments. Why? Because it is too general and too vague. There is no action plan or target which will force you to take concrete steps or make you feel ashamed at the end of the year. (Who knows you were pessimistic the whole year or ignored the opportunities etc.)

Here goes the revised one:

The number one thing I would do this year is more and better writing on my blog. I just don't want to fill my blog. I want to write something which I enjoy and you enjoy. (Reading and experimenting is a pre-requisite for writing. I shall be doing more of both these things as well)
Teaching Edward de Bono's lateral thinking skills. Possibly start an online training website based upon de Bono's work.
Do more product based business and be less dependent on customized services to my clients. (I run a small IT consulting business in the field of accounting/erp/crm to put food on the table)
Start at least one new Internet-based business which requires only few hours work each week. Start making some money from this new business before the end of the year.
Talking of money, I am making good enough money right now. Though I would love to make millions, I would still be happy if I can maintain the current earnings level throughout the year with same or less amount of effort and achieve the other goals.

I know expressing my plans might make me less likely to achieve but I wanted to clear up my mind and put some social pressure on me as well. I shall come back with a report next year.

Make yourself great

2010-01-08T11:17:00.002+05:00

From Be Nice:

I don't care how good you are at programming, finding bugs, whatever. If you're rude, or if you speak poorly to people who don't understand your... quirks.... you will wind up being shunted to the side. No one wants to work with someone who makes them feel beat down all the time, or someone who they simply can't understand, or someone whose reaction to every issue is to start wailing about the end of the world.

and

Being very good at what you do makes you just that: very good. Being very good and being nice: that makes you great.

Read full blog post here.

An iPhone killer?

2010-01-06T10:05:00.005+05:00

Nexus one, the Google phone is finally here powered by, Android, Google's open source mobile operating system. The best part is that it is officially available unlocked. See interactive demo here.

How to Make Million Dollars

2010-01-05T16:32:00.000+05:00

Internet is full of such advice. Fortunately this one is different and from a qualified person, Marshal Brain. He is famous for his website, How Stuff Works. He frankly relates his own experiences on the path to a millionaire. Read here.

Minimum body exercise you should do every week

2010-01-03T08:49:00.003+05:00

I am not very particular about body exercise. I usually prefer yoga but not punctual enough. Usually the excuse for not doing exercise is not having "enough time" to do the "errand". But I am realizing now that downtime (due to bad health conditions like headache, flu, lethargy etc.) is much more than any time "saved" from not doing the exercise. So I am going to do it more frequently in 2010. (my first resolve for 2010)

Here is a New York Times links which discusses how little you must do every week.

Bill Clinton read this self-help book

2010-01-01T14:01:00.001+05:00

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who started his new autobiography, My Life, with a reference to the book:

When I was a young man just out of law school and eager to get on with my life, on a whim I briefly put aside my reading preference for fiction and history and bought one of those how-to books: How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life, by Alan Lakein.

The book’s main point was the necessity of listing short-, medium-, and long-term life goals, then categorizing them in order of their importance, with the A group being the most important, the B group next, and the C the last, then listing under each goal specific activities designed to achieve them.

I still have that paperback book, now almost thirty years old. And I’m sure I have that old list somewhere buried in my papers, though I can’t find it. However, I do remember the A list. I wanted to be a good man, have a good marriage and children, have good friends, make a successful political life, and write a great book.

(From hacker news)

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Happy new year

2009-12-31T17:48:00.001+05:00

Happy new year. May God brings more prosperity and happiness to you in 2010.

The new year milestone forces us to reflect back on our past achievements and mistakes. If you are still not getting there despite all out efforts for a good number of years, its a sign that your current way of doing things or thinking is not helping you. Instead of digging the same hole deeper and deeper to find gold, you may need to dig a new hole at a different place.

Albert Einstein rightly said "The problems of today will not be solved by the same thinking that produced the problems in the first place."

You are always told to think "out of box", be creative, become problem solver, have a different perspective etc. But how? I would suggest to start with one of the de Bono's books. "Teach yourself how to think" is a good start.

Here are few related links from my blog:

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Writing succinctly

2009-12-31T10:23:00.001+05:00

From Letter XVI of Pascal's Provincial Letters:

The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter.

Great words. Writing a concise, clear and simple piece does require a number of readings, revisions and corrections.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

What matters now by Seth Godin

2009-12-25T07:55:00.002+05:00

Seth Godin has released a new free ebook titled "What matters now" which is full of provocative thoughts. Each of its 80 pages is a complete chapter written by a respected author or a blogger. Its format makes it convinient to read pages in any order. Here are some excerpts:

Fear

Have you ever wondered who’s behind that little voice in your head that tells you, “you’re in this by yourself, one person doesn’t make a diﬀerence, so why even try?”

Dignity

Dignity is more important than wealth. It’s going to be a long, long time before we can make everyone on earth wealthy, but we can help people ﬁnd dignity this year (right now if we choose to).

Ease

We are the strivingest people who have ever lived. We are ambitious, time-starved, competitive, distracted. We move at full velocity, yet constantly fear we are not doing enough. Though we live longer than any humans before us, our lives feel shorter, restless, breathless...
Dear ones, EASE UP. Pump the brakes. Take a step back. Seriously. Take two steps back. Turn oﬀ all your electronics and surrender over all your aspirations and do absolutely nothing for a spell. I know, I know – we all need to save the world. But trust me: The world will still need saving tomorrow. In the meantime, you’re going to have a stroke soon (or cause a stroke in somebody else) if you don’t calm the hell down.

Neoteny

Neoteny is the retention of childlike attributes in adulthood. Human beings are younger longer than any other creature on earth, taking almost twenty years until we become adults. While we retain many our childlike attributes into adulthood most of us stop playing when we become adults and focus on work.

Adventure

I’ve been thinking about how big our world is and how small-minded we’ve become; how quick we are to judge and how slow to understand. Technology places the resources of the world at our ﬁngertips, yet we have trouble seeing past the ends of our noses.

Dumb

But what makes dumb, smart? The ability to look at the world through a diﬀerent lens from everyone else. To ignore rules. To disregard the ‘why’s’ and ‘how’s’ and ‘never-succeeded-befores’. Then you need conviction, and the ability to stand by that conviction when other (smart) people look you in the eye and say, “no way, nuh uh.”

Attention

You can buy attention (advertising).
You can beg for attention from the media (public relations, Web).
You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales).
Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free: a YouTube video, a blog, a research report, photos, a Twitter stream, an ebook, a Facebook page.

Confidence

Conﬁdence is rocket fuel for your business life. Conﬁdent people have a come-this-way charisma that generates a following. When you possess total conﬁdence you are willing to take risks. When you have it, you propel yourself and your team forward into the future.

Knowing

There is no such thing as boring knowledge.
There is only boring presentation.

Download "what matters now" from this link.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

This ad is a public service message?

2009-12-24T23:16:00.001+05:00

This obvious advertisement for a food supplement on the front page of a newspaper (The Nation, 24-Dec-2009) is a public service message?
How?
Am I missing something?

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Power crisis, environment and bikes

2009-12-24T09:41:00.002+05:00

This news item about Copenhagen's bike friendly streets prompted me to write this. Copenhagen is the city where a recent climate conference concluded.

Power load shading and now natural gas load shading (here in Pakistan) in winter has severely crippled our home and business life. Using a bicycle to commute is one possible way to save energy, keep our environment a bit cleaner and keep ourselves healthy. I know it is going to take a lot of courage to adopt this poor man's mode of transport in our status conscious society but why not?

If you live at a place where roads are not too busy (we don't have bike lanes) and your work place is not far away, you can use it for your daily communte or just for the supermarket trips.

But on larger scale we need our government support to take initiative and make our roads bike friendly. This surely is going to cost much less than any new power or gas pipeline projects.

Meetings

2009-12-19T19:03:00.002+05:00

Enough

2009-12-06T09:16:00.001+05:00

From Derek Sivers blog:

Two friends were at a party held at the mansion of a billionaire. One said, “Wow! Look at this place! This guy has everything!” The other said, “Yes, but I have something he'll never have: enough.”

And ...

I live simply. I hate waste and excess. I have a good apartment, a good laptop, and a few other basics. But the less I own, the happier I am.

Derek was a multi-millionaire who gave away all his wealth to a trust.

Website of world's richest man

2009-11-27T09:40:00.002+05:00

Warren Edward Buffett is the world richest man with estimated net worth of $62 billions. His company BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. ranks 17th among the world's biggest companies. Its worth having a look at its website.

I would also suggest to read some of its pages. Content is free of buzzwords with to-the-point information and personal tone.

This website is not an exception. Personal and business websites of Jakob Neilson, who is considered authority on making usable websites, are also worth looking at.

There are countless others including the one you use daily.

Ridiculous automation

2009-11-12T09:11:00.002+05:00

I just happened to visit Liberty market in Lahore yesterday after a long time. The attendant at parking entrance gave me a parking ticket with my vehicle number written on it. He did not ask for the parking fee. When asked he pointed to a parking meter for payment.

So the next step was to get another ticket from the "automatic" parking meter. An attendant girl standing besides that meter helped me to get the ticket and also provided the 5-rupee coins which I did not have.

When coming out of parking, both tickets were collected and checked by the guard standing there. The first ticket was checked for vehicle number (to make sure I was not stealing someone else car) and second was checked for the parking time. (to make sure that I did not overstay)

This new system just makes things difficult for everyone. If the sole purpose is to collect more money by hourly parking rate, that could be done by writing time by the attendant at entrance. (Or better yet by increasing the flat parking fee for every one)

This new parking system "automation" is just ridiculous. It has increased the number of attendants besides incurring the additional cost of 10 expensive meters.

This automated parking system is used in developed countries for 100% self-service paid parking. This is of course not possible in our country due to cultural and existing system differences.

This is the type of automation we achieve when we mindlessly copy systems from other countries.

I often have hard time convincing my clients on simpler and to-the-point IT solutions for their businesses. They will insist on getting big, expensive and complicated solutions like Oracle, SAP etc. Not because they need it but because the big companies around the world use these.

I never give up though.

Are you a hacker?

2009-11-01T09:18:00.002+05:00

A hacker is normally considered someone who can break into a remote computer and can steal or destroy data files which may be worth millions of dollars etc. Initial hacker stories were also centered around some clever computer programmer with skills to break into Pentagon computers bringing USA/USSR on the brink of war. This is a negative portrait of a hacker. This is, at best, layman's definition of a hacker.

A hacker is more than this definition. He is probably someone capable who is highly motivated to solve a given problem with any amount of effort using his insight and thinking to recognize shortcuts. He is curious and determined to find a simple solution to a complex problem; a solution which no one else is yet able to conceive.

Paul Graham's essay Great hackers is a must read for any one who wants to become a great hacker. On recognizing hackers around you, he says:

The problem is, if you're not a hacker, you can't tell who the good hackers are. A similar problem explains why American cars are so ugly. I call it the design paradox. You might think that you could make your products beautiful just by hiring a great designer to design them. But if you yourself don't have good taste, how are you going to recognize a good designer? By definition you can't tell from his portfolio. And you can't go by the awards he's won or the jobs he's had, because in design, as in most fields, those tend to be driven by fashion and schmoozing, with actual ability a distant third.

Eric Raymond, a great hacker himself, has a written an article on how to follow steps to become a computer hacker. The hacker attitude, he writes, is:

The world is full of fascinating problems waiting to be solved.
No problem should ever have to be solved twice.
Boredom and drudgery are evil.
Freedom is good.
Attitude is no substitute for competence.

On cultivating hacker abilities, he cites this short poem:

To follow the path:
look to the master,
follow the master,
walk with the master,
see through the master,
become the master.

And being a master himself, he advices these steps:

Learn how to program.
Get one of the open-source Unixes and learn to use and run it.
Learn how to use the World Wide Web and write HTML.
If you don't have functional English, learn it.

And to achieve hacker status, according to him, you also need to:

Write open-source software
Help test and debug open-source software
Publish useful information
Help keep the infrastructure working
Serve the hacker culture itself

Paul Buchheit, a great hacker who created GMail at Google, recently wrote an excellent blog post which neatly sums up all the thoughts behind philosophy of hacking.

Every system has two sets of rules: The rules as they are intended or commonly perceived, and the actual rules ("reality"). In most complex systems, the gap between these two sets of rules is huge.
Sometimes we catch a glimpse of the truth, and discover the actual rules of a system. Once the actual rules are known, it may be possible to perform "miracles" -- things which violate the perceived rules.

The words "in most complex systems" in above definition broaden the scope of hacking. It is not limited to computers. Finance, economics, medicine, business, education, human resource, politics are all examples of complex systems.

And on hacker's mindset:

We're often told that there are no shortcuts to success -- that it's all a matter of hard work and doing what we're told. The hacking mindset takes there opposite approach: There are always shortcuts and loopholes. For this reason, hacking is sometimes perceived as cheating, or unfair, and it can be.

When comparing hacking with thinking I find strong correlation. Hacking is a new and simple way of solving old problems. Hacking is a different life perspective. Hacking is lateral thinking.

So back to our original question. Are you a hacker?

If not, take the advice of great hackers, and be one. (Note to self, you should too)

Finding your moment

2009-10-29T13:21:00.000+06:00

From "the moment": <http://gapingvoid.com/2009/10/28/finding-your-moment/>

The Moment is a confluence of empathy, understanding and clarity
that enables you to elevate yourself to your next stage of
development. I have a true Moment about once a year, and it falls
within a different category each time (ie. Parenting,
personal, professional).

QUOTE: Making money

2009-09-30T17:54:00.000+06:00

If somebody said to me, "Look, I'll offer you a lousy job, but you'll get paid £3 million a year," I'd say, "Thank you very much, no." Charles Williams

An MBA in six months

2009-08-31T12:07:00.001+06:00

Seth Godin, a marketing expert and a business guru, has successfully demonstrated how an MBA program can be taught in six months with much better results.

Here is the description of this program and a follow up on completion.

It is perhaps a good example of backward learning.

Formula for success

2009-07-16T19:08:00.001+06:00

"Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure."
Thomas J Watson, Founder of IBM

Murder your darlings

2009-07-07T07:07:00.000+06:00

With the passage of time all of us accumulate a lot of office/household goods which are practically junk. And it is hard to get rid of this junk without conscious effort. I advocate (and rigorously practice) simplicity but sometimes I find it hard to get rid of something which looks and feels wonderful but is practically useless.

This blog post discusses this in a nice way:

My theory is that the things that you own that you’re not using or don’t need aren’t just a waste of money and space: they’re draining you of your energy. Every time you walk past that cookbook that you never opened, or that model airplane kit that you meant to assemble, or the oscilloscope that you haven’t turned on in a year, a little neural pattern fires that says “Someday I should..” or “I always meant to…” or “God, I really ought to take care of that.”
...

There’s a saying among writers about the process of copy-editing: murder your darlings. You may have crafted a beautiful phrase or metaphor in this paragraph, but if it’s not serving the whole piece, it’s got to come out. You have to murder your darlings.

Six hats map

2009-07-05T09:44:00.001+06:00

Six thinking hats framework by Dr. Edward de Bono helps you stay focused and productive during meetings and discussions. Hats framework allows you to detach your ego from your discussions and focus on results.

Hats are used symbolically and there is no need to actually wear a particular hat. You just state that you are going to wear a particular hat. Hats are used to simulate the role playing. Six hats framework is extremely easy to learn and can be taught in 5-10 minutes to anybody including children. (who love role playing)

To use the hats during a meeting or discussion, you explain the six hats metaphor to everybody. During the discussion, everybody explicitly states the hat he or she is wearing and makes a statement according to his or her hat's color. Hats can be changed as many times as you like.

For example if you want to make an emotional statement, you will put on your red hat and put forward your statement. Similarly to say anything negative, you will tell the participants that you are now going to make black hat statement.

Blue hat is normally used by someone who is conducting the discussion (the controller) and allows him or her to keep everyone stay focused on the subject of the discussions. If the discussion drifts to off-topics, he can wear his blue hat and ask everyone to stay on the topic.

Some people are always positive, some find satisfaction in findings faults. Some others are creative. Six hats framework forces you to recognize your favorite hat and expects you to use all the hats in a balanced way. For example if you are too much critical (black hat) or emotional (red hat), it is expected from you that you use the yellow hat (positive) and white hat (facts) too.

To use the hats effectively you need to use the correct hat for each statement. For example you cannot say something emotional and make it look like a white hat statement. White hat is reserved for pure facts and you are expected to be asked for a reference which can prove that your statement is a pure fact.

Here is a mind map of six thinking hats which you can print and distribute before meetings/discussions or use as your computer desktop background for easy reference.

Low cost and innovative businesses

2009-07-03T08:50:00.002+06:00

It is always possible to look at your existing business practices and simplify and/or innovate these. Unfortunately most people do not do it unless there is a competitive pressure or some regulatory demand. Innovation and simplification require both lateral thinking and courage.

Intercity bus service in our country was terrible before Korean company Daewoo started its service and set the standards of quality service and punctuality. It still seems the only buss service which has a regularly updated website. I tried but could not find the website of the biggest local intercity bus service, New Khan.

PIA started offering e-tickets only after Air Blue launched its service in Pakistan with e-tickets.

The picture below (click to enlarge) shows how low cost airlines (In Europe and US) are able to lower their fares compared to expensive airlines. Some of the strategies (from the picture) include:

Higher seat density with single class cabin.
Fast turnarounds (up to 25 minutes) - higher utilization of the plan.
Direct flights - point to point; no transfers, short routes.
Smaller airports - cheaper and simple ground facilities.
Tickets sold directly mostly by internet (easyjeb - 95%)
No frills - no additional costs
Standardized fleet (only one aircraft type) - cheaper maintenance, training
High variable proportion of salary (up to 26%) - better HR utilization. Ryanair is serving 9679 passengers per employee
compared to 715 passengers by employee by Air France.

If you are having trouble making your business profitable in these difficult times, reconsider your strategies.

Better employment

2009-06-30T19:42:00.000+06:00

In the UK the Holst Group working with New Deal (the government programme for unemployed youngsters) found that teaching just six hours of thinking increased employability FIVE FOLD. What was taught was a mixture of CoRT and Six Hats.

This is truly a remarkable result and if any reader of this message wishes to send it on to his or her member of parliament, minister or prime-minister, please do so.

If six hours of thinking can do more for employment than ten years of traditional education, then there is something seriously wrong with education.

Edward de Bono, 26-June-2000

EBS

2009-06-27T10:29:00.000+06:00

Examine Both Sides (or E.B.S for short) is a simplified form of O.P.V which involves you and the other person's (or group) thinking. For the duration of this tool application, you put yourself in the shoes of the other party and try to read his mind. As with O.P.V you are not trying what the other party should think but what he or she is thinking based upon his wishes and environment.

Practicing this tool is same as practicing other thinking tools. You set a time limit (2-5 minutes) and write down first your thinking and then other persons' thinking.

Practicing this tool before a job interview or a business deal can increase your success rate. You understand the other side better and you prepare better.

A small business owner, I have worked with, is extremely good at doing E.B.S. His employees always remark that when they go to him for something he would already know what they were going to discuss or demand. So he always has counter arguments (or a solution) ready.

With E.B.S you are not forced to think humbly or cruelly. You just do your best possible effort to examine the thinking of both parties involved.

Exercises:

Your spouse wants you to go for a morning walk. You prefer to stay at home to study a book. Examine both sides and write down the thoughts of both parties (you and your spouse)
Your brother (who is also your business partner) wants to do aggressive marketing to get new customers. You want to focus on satisfying existing customers. Do an E.B.S.
You want your son (or daughter) to read books. He (or she) wants to watch moves or play video games. Do an E.B.S.

Your mission

2009-06-24T08:06:00.000+06:00

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where ..." said Alice.
"Then it does not matter which way you go," said the Cat.
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

The famous quote above provides ample reason for a mission or direction in your life. A mission creates a filter in your life which gets applied to all your activities. A mission vitalizes you and gives you a sense of achievement with every small step or learning experience. This, in turn, makes you happy and vibrant.

Without a mission or direction you can live decades without achieving anything.

What is your mission?

QUOTE: Action

2009-06-23T19:27:00.000+06:00

"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action."
Benjamin Disraeli

OPV

2009-06-22T09:08:00.000+06:00

Attention directing thinking tool OPV stands for 'Other People's Views'. To practice this tool in a given situation;

List the people involved or affected by a particular situation or thinking.
List the views of each person involved. For this put yourself in each person's shoes and imagine what he thinks.

As with any thinking exercise, time allowed for this is very short from 3-5 minutes (or bit more if the list of people involved is bit longer)

Note that with OPV you do not list what other people should think, but what they will think on their own. You are not trying to impose your thinking, you are trying to read their minds.

Exercises:

You are owner of a business. Your organization provides free lunch to all staff. You are thinking to discontinue this free lunch. Do an OPV. (List the people affected and what they will think)
You are tired of your job which is getting you nowhere in future. You just decide to take risk, quit your job and spend a year to build your own business or find a new job. Do an OPV for your wife, father, mother and a close friend.
Your employer stops the free medical care because a number of people were misusing it. Do an OPV for employees who were misusing it and for those who were fair.

Writing makes you think better.

2009-06-20T00:04:00.001+06:00

Among other things, writing clarifies your thoughts and generates ideas. This guy had a problem and proceeded to write it down so that he could post it on internet to get recommendations. But he never posted it. His problem was solved while he was writing.

Paul Graham writes in his essay, "Writing, Briefly":

"expect 80% of the ideas in an essay to happen after you start writing it, and 50% of those you start with to be wrong;"

So write it even if no one reads it.

Intelligence is not enough

2009-06-18T07:44:00.000+06:00

"The general notion that intelligence (analysis, logic, and argument) is enough is dangerous in many ways. The emphasis is on the logical rather than perceptual skills, which are so important in real-life thinking and doing. The ability of an intelligent person to avoid obvious errors and to put together a coherent argument often blinds that person to the need to develop deliberate thinking skills. The avoidance of error is certainly not enough in thinking."

(Edward deBono, I am right you are wrong, p-275)

Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to achieve

2009-06-17T10:20:00.000+06:00

An interesting article which says that if you announce your plans you are less motivated to achieve them. Agreed. I have experienced the same thing myself.

From the article:

Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you’re less motivated to do the hard work needed.

...

It may seem unnatural to keep your intentions and plans private, but try it. If you do tell a friend, make sure not to say it as a satisfaction (“I’ve joined a gym and bought running shoes. I’m going to do it!”), but as dissatisfaction (“I want to lose 20 pounds, so kick my ass if I don’t, OK?”)

QUOTE: Conquering fear

2009-06-16T07:51:00.000+06:00

Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content
with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with course and rough dress,
saying to yourself the while: "Is this the condition that I feared?" Seneca.

Learning backwards

2009-06-15T07:02:00.000+06:00

Dr. Edward de Bono says:

"If you were teaching someone how to use a wood-turning lathe you might use the following sequence: check the machine, switch it on, position the tool in the jaws, position the wood in the chuck, recheck, switch on the drive, observe and control the process ... switch off the drive, take out the tool, remove the formed wood, switch off the machine. This is the normal time sequence in which the operation would be carried out and it seems sensible to teach first things first.

But this way of teaching may be quite wrong. It may be best to teach the sequence backwards. Perhaps the first thing we ought to teach is how to switch the machine off, then how to remove the formed wood ... and lastly how to switch it on." (I am right, you are wrong; page 96)

I have had great success with this method when teaching databases to students about 10 years ago. First I showed them a real database application running, dissected it into its parts, taught them how to build the major building blocks (tables, forms, reports). Database normalization, terminology and other abstract things were the last items they were taught. Learning was extremely fast as well as other benefits. Students were able to make sense of their learning immediately and were enthusiastic and looking forward to each learning session.

Alternate uses of blogs

2009-06-14T22:19:00.001+06:00

Blogging platforms (blogger.com, posterous.com, wordpress.com etc.)
allow you to create a blog where you can publish your thoughts at a
frequency you like.

A blog is a web page which has a date associated
with each post (a sort of web page). These pages are presented in
reverse chronological order (that is, the latest post/page is shown
first followed by the older posts/pages.)

Simplicity of blog websites coupled with the ability to post updates
through email makes it possible to do a number of wonderful things like:

Publish a daily updated things-to-do list for yourself or your department or your organization.
Update daily (or weekly or monthly) prices and rates in your industry. (Gold, currencies, real estate etc.)
Make notes of what your learned today. (class room or self-learning.) Share it with world or keep it personal.
Build a repository of web sites links (bookmarks) you find useful while browsing internet and may want to visit later.
Prepare lecture notes and share with your students through a blog.
Update your inventory onhand list for your branches or salespeople reference.

etc.

Keep in mind that:

You can allow the whole world to view your blog or restrict it to yourself or a group of users.
You can allow multiple people to update the same blog.

QUOTE: Perfection

2009-06-13T14:51:00.000+06:00

"Perfection is not when there is no more to add, but no more to take away."
Antoine De Saint-Exupery

The easiest way to build your blog

2009-06-12T21:14:00.000+06:00

You wanted to build your blog but always thought it was difficult.

Not anymore. The easiest and simplest way to build a blog is here. You
only need to know how to send email.

1. Write something. Attach any images, videos, files etc.
2. Send it to post@posterous.com.

Your blog will be created and its URL sent to you in email. You can keep
updating it by sending more emails to the above email address.

See a sample one here: http://saqibawan.posterous.com/

Now there is no excuse to not having a website or blog.

QUOTE: Dressing up

2009-06-12T20:50:00.000+06:00

"There is another branch of decorative art in which I am sorry to say we cannot, at least under existing circumstances, indulge ourselves, with the hope of doing good to anybody, I mean the great and subtle art of dress ...

There can be no question, that all the money we spend on the forms of dress at present worn, is, so far any good purpose is concerned, wholly lost." Ruskin

Provocations

2009-06-10T09:41:00.000+06:00

"You are working in an organization for the last 5 years. You sometime
think about switching your job or starting your own business but dismiss
it immediately considering all the risks associated with it. One day,
your boss gets infuriated on some petty issue and threatens to fire you
from job. This episode is repeated next day too. Suddenly your brain
starts working and you no longer consider the idea of switching your job
or starting your own business (or changing your job) too risky."

"Some old friend of yours visits you and tells you how easily he was
able to setup an internet based business which allowed him to get rid of
his lousy 9-to-5 job (which is actually at least 8-to-6). He
enthusiastically discusses his newly got freedom, shows off his new car
and invites you to his new apartment. Suddenly you start thinking that
perhaps starting your own venture is worth the effort and risk."

"Your cough is not getting better even after a 3 months treatment by a
specialist doctor. You start thinking about alternate medicine and
treatment (acupuncture, herbal, homeopathy, yoga etc.)"

"Your star employee who is handling a key business function in your
organization stops performing and starts behaving strangely.This
triggers a thought in your mind to outsource that business function."

These are all examples of provocations which immediately make you think
in new possible ways your never thought. These are all chance or
(sometimes) unpleasant provocations.

With lateral thinking it is possible to sit down and setup provocations
for yourself with the sole purpose of leading you to new and better
ideas of doing anything. We shall explore this method in future posts.

QUOTE: Simplicity

2009-06-09T19:45:00.000+06:00

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
Leonardo Da Vinci

LINK: History of advertising industry and its future

2009-06-09T11:46:00.000+06:00

From the article:

"By the mid-1920s agency copywriters had already figured out how to appeal to the more psychologically complex aspects of consumer choice: print ads began to prey on the individual’s fear of social failure, and radio announcers told tales of how their competitors’ products would lead to illness. Unchecked by any sort of regulatory body, advertising agencies had the freedom to pitch whatever worked best. Over the span of just a few years, advertisers successfully convinced the great unwashed to brush their teeth regularly, rinse with mouthwash and smoke as many cigarettes as humanly possible."

"Ad agencies had mastered the ability to sell the American consumer products that they had never heard of and had no real need for. This was the cunning genius of advertising."

"Consider the sheer superfluity of certain kinds of goods which this forcing of turnover entails. We are deluged with things which we do not wear, which we lose, which go out of style, which make unwelcome presents for our friends, which disappear anyhow – fountain pens, cigar lighters, cheap jewelry, patent pencils, mouth washes, key rings, Mahjong sets, automobile accessories – endless jiggers and doodads and contrivances. Here the advertiser plays on the essential monkey within us, and uses up mountains of good iron ore and countless sturdy horse power to fill – a few months later – the wagon of the junk man."

Read full article here: http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/84/pop_nihilism_adverting_eats_itself.html

iPhone price slash

2009-06-09T08:57:00.000+06:00

According to Yahoo news, Apple has drastically reducd the prices of iPhones. Now:

8 GB iphone is $99
16 GB iphone is $199
32 GB iphone is $299

Though Apples' iPhone is not available officially in Pakistan, people here have been using it after getting it unlocked by creative phone vendors at Hall road and Hafeez Center, Lahore.

For those people who still don't know about iPhone, it is a mobile phone with email, internet and other computer applications. Its gesture based interface has been one of the reasons for its popularity. A large number of software applications are available on internet which can be downloaded and run on iPhone.

Elite school systems

2009-06-08T08:04:00.000+06:00

I went to a mediocre public school. These schools have been built for "masses" and differ primarily on medium of teaching which is Urdu verses the English in elite schools. I also had the opportunity of observing an elite school closely while working there as a consultant.

Due to my "connection" (if there is any) with that particular elite school, people often ask me for information/process about getting their kids there. Though I avoid it but sometimes I cannot resist my urge to ask them "why they want their kids go there?". The usual answer is that they want to give the "best" possible education to their kids. If you ask they cannot define the "best".

Some people are honest with themselves and say that this school will help their kids build right kind of contacts. Yes, contacts and not the education. They want their kids to get rich and not interested in helping them become thinkers, philosophers or inventors. All these people are already rich people and they can "afford" to make their kids thinkers, philosophers, inventors etc.

William Deresiewicz taught for 10 years at Yale University, an elite educational institute in US and has written a detailed article on the disadvantages of elite education.

Few quotes from his article:
"The first disadvantage of an elite education, as I learned in my kitchen that day, is that it makes you incapable of talking to people who aren’t like you."

"The second disadvantage, implicit in what I’ve been saying, is that an elite education inculcates a false sense of self-worth. Getting to an elite college, being at an elite college, and going on from an elite college—all involve numerical rankings: SAT, GPA, GRE. You learn to think of yourself in terms of those numbers. They come to signify not only your fate, but your identity; not only your identity, but your value. It’s been said that what those tests really measure is your ability to take tests, but even if they measure something real, it is only a small slice of the real. "

"Graduates of elite schools are not more valuable than stupid people, or talentless people, or even lazy people. Their pain does not hurt more. Their souls do not weigh more. If I were religious, I would say, God does not love them more."

"An elite education gives you the chance to be rich—which is, after all, what we’re talking about—but it takes away the chance not to be. Yet the opportunity not to be rich is one of the greatest opportunities with which young Americans have been blessed."

"Being an intellectual means, first of all, being passionate about ideas—and not just for the duration of a semester, for the sake of pleasing the teacher, or for getting a good grade."

"The world that produced John Kerry and George Bush is indeed giving us our next generation of leaders. The kid who’s loading up on AP courses junior year or editing three campus publications while double-majoring, the kid whom everyone wants at their college or law school but no one wants in their classroom, the kid who doesn’t have a minute to breathe, let alone think, will soon be running a corporation or an institution or a government. She will have many achievements but little experience, great success but no vision. The disadvantage of an elite education is that it’s given us the elite we have, and the elite we’re going to have."

(Emphasis added by me)

Read the full article here.

QUOTE: Teaching

2009-05-29T16:05:00.001+06:00

When you teach, be brief, that your readers' minds may readily comprehend and faithfully retain your words. Horace.

Need for some lateral thinking

2009-05-28T13:00:00.000+06:00

The aluminum-glass doors of the accounts office in Aitchison college, I was sitting in yesterday, swung open and closed with a big bang without any apparent cause. After few minutes investigations it turned out that this was not some black magic but a powerful bomb blast resulting from a suicide attack in Lahore at Rescue 15/ISI buildings.

Issues like terrorism are the ones which badly need some fresh thinking using lateral thinking tools. These issues are so much complicated that our right/wrong logic cannot help us solve these issues. Sadly there is nothing in sight which suggests this is going to happen.

Job or not

2009-04-14T17:47:00.002+05:00

I really enjoyed reading the following blog posts.

Top 10 reasons to have a job

Top 10 reasons NOT to have a job

and

10 reasons you should never get a job

Enjoy.

Excellent but not enough

2009-03-12T07:50:00.000+05:00

Edward de Bono has coined a new word, ebne, which stands for 'excellent but not enough'. This new word helps us to point out the need for improvements in systems which are otherwise considered highly successful.

Our education system is ebne.

Health science is ebne.

Your job is ebne.

Management Evolution

2009-03-11T07:08:00.004+05:00

Procedures and functions of organizations get complicated with the passage of time. We need to make conscious effort to keep things simple.

In my last post, bosses hierarchy, I pointed out towards the unwanted layers of management which get build when an organization evolves. I just got a power point presentation from a friend of mine which describes the exactly same concept in an interesting way.

Do have a look at this presentation [the_ant.pps].

Bosses Hierarchy

2008-12-20T18:00:00.003+05:00

Let us start counting:

In big businesses, there is regional manager who supervises the country managers in all countries which fall in his region. Country managers guide the branch managers who in turn make sure that sales and service department managers are doing their jobs perfectly. The department managers, of course, need to have supervisors to manage the teams of salespeople who are doing the actual selling.

And I have not yet mentioned the top management, personal assistants and secretaries.

This is how most of the big (or even medium-sized) businesses operate. And these are the businesses who are in real trouble right now.

And they are really addicted to their way of doing business. That is why the top bosses of auto industry in USA flew to Washington in private jets to ask for the money to avoid bankruptcy.

Small businesses don't have these hierarchies. The business owner is the one who builds the products with the help of his small team, sells and provides support and service when needed and takes lunch on the same table with all his employees.

If you have been planning to start your own small business, now is a good time. To cut costs, a lot of people and companies are looking for cheaper products and services which only small businesses can provide.

Lets us get started.

Lateral Thinking

2008-12-16T07:49:00.000+05:00

Floating black balls on water surface; a novel idea to stop sunlight reaching towards a huge open water reservoir. Amazing.

Things-to-do with Gmail

2008-12-13T16:29:00.003+05:00

Google has added a really nice 'Tasks' feature to gmail which you can use to manage your things-to-do lists right there in your gmail account. It is still an experimental feature so you will need to enable it by going through the Settings--Lab tab.

You can create tasks by entering a single line description or from within an email. It will even link that task to the email using email subject as the text for the task (you can change it though)

If you are still keeping everything in your head, take a break and off-load your thinking to gmail tasks list.

The Blame Game

2008-11-25T08:22:00.000+05:00

When things go wrong in a business who is going to be blamed by top management?

Employees
Economy
Software
Suppliers
and sometimes even customers

What will be deliberately "overlooked" by top management?

Failure in hiring good employees and/or keeping them happy.
Lack of delegation and trust.
Complexities.

And when a business is making a lot of money and progress, who is going to get the credit for success?

Well, no prizes for the right answer.

Why have a blog?

2008-11-24T08:13:00.001+05:00

There are many compelling reasons. One of these is trust.

Internet makes it possible to sell your product, service or idea to millions of people in the world. But why do these millions of people will trust you with whatever you say on your website?

There is an old internet adage which says that "on the internet, nobody knows you are a dog".

It is quite easy to look like the biggest textile manufacture or the "most respected" consultant through a cleverly built website. And everybody knows this.

Your blog makes it possible to start a dialog with people you have not met with and let your would-be customers know your commitment and expertise. It is a free, simple but extremely powerful tool to build the trust. Now every body knows you are not a dog.

Your website address please

2008-11-23T14:54:00.004+05:00

An elegant website or a blog is a much better tool to introduce you or your business to me than your business card or 5 minute talk in the hotel lobby. Even if you have nothing to put on your website, start with a single page, putting your resume and contact information there.

There was a time when building a website was difficult. You were supposed to learn about quite a few technical things like html, ftp, web hosting etc. as well as buy and install software to build the website and upload it to the internet. The "easiest" tool was Microsoft Frontpage which allowed non-technical people build a website with broken links and many under-construction pages. These under-contruction pages never got updated because of the hassle involved.

Not any more. There are now a lot of wonderful tools and websites which will get you started building a new website or blog absolutely free in minimal time. A very short list includes blogger.com, google sites and, my personal favorite, wordpress.com.

Wordpress.com gives you a website in matter of seconds. You can write your blog or create a website to sell something using the powerful control panel without learning a whole stack of internet technologies.

Wordpress.com (and other such tools) gives you a web-based control panel to build your website. There is nothing to install on your computer. This makes it easy to incrementally develop your website from your home or office or with the help of your online friends.

Feeling poor

2008-11-22T11:50:00.000+05:00

Are you filthy rich? No matter how much money you make, we can still make you feel poor.

Take a look at few pictures of newly opened The Atlantis Palm Hotel and Resort in Dubai.

Forget about starving people.

Doing what you love

2008-11-21T09:12:00.000+05:00

I saw them on a London tube station. They were playing music, collecting tip and selling their CD. They were doing what they loved though their 'marketing strategy' could be better.

Sometimes it takes a lot of risk, courage, effort and lateral thinking to do what you love and still be a success.

Shopping Mania

2008-11-02T20:40:00.003+05:00

Shopping centers are so much organized and fun here in UK (and every where in the western world) that I ended up with a number of useless things in my hands while visiting few shopping places. Even the people who are crying of hard times are constantly buying more and more junk to fill their homes. All the 'poor' people in London seem to have every luxury imaginable in their homes and still feeling unsatisfied.

Westfield, the third biggest UK shopping center opened two days ago. Enormous crowd was reported by newspapers and other media. London mayor is urging people to spend, spend and spend.

But do we really need to do all this spending?

Annie Leonard of The Story of Stuff has correctly analyzed why we love shopping and why we should not do this. Visit storyofstuff.com and watch this 20-minutes eye-opening story.

Best Things in Life

2008-10-28T13:53:00.005+06:00

Best things in life are simple and free:

Homeopathy medicines to cure the diseases.
Lateral Thinking to keep your head clear and focused.
Yoga to exercise your body.
Watching sunset and eating home made food. (compared to dining in a 5 star restaurant)
... (i could list hundreds of things)

Unfortunately the corporations are hell bent to make us believe otherwise using the power of marketing.

So what is your choice?

Simple and free or complicated and expensive?

Procrastination and Comfort Zone

2008-10-26T13:35:00.009+06:00

Procrastination (delaying things without any reason) and your comfort zone have direct relationship. It is easier to take any action which falls within your comfort zone.

For example:

It seems easier to chat forever on IM but extremely difficult to write few lines on your new blog so you always postpone your blog post until you just forget about it.

It seems easier to browse zillion websites aimlessly but difficult to read few blogs daily to enhance your knowledge.

It seems easier (and tempting) to order a new and faster laptop for 800 because you love computers (though all you do is email and word processing) but you will think over and over before ordering HIP for 300 (in UK) to sell your house (which matters most to you right now).

You tend to procrastinate more when you have a narrow comfort zone. You will always complain that you are too busy but you are in fact playing within your comfort zone.

The trick to expand your comfort zone. To do so do at least one thing daily you are uncomfortable with.

Remember the most important decisions are always uncomfortable and are worth doing right now.

Simplicity and Design

2008-10-24T15:20:00.004+06:00

It seems economy came down crumbling like a falling house of cards. Latest computers, powerful databases and top of the line analytical tools could not help predict and prevent this fall.

As part of my consulting business I am required to provide more and more tools and reports for analysis of business data. It is time we realize that our obsession with analysis is not going to help us much. As de Bono says "You can analyse the past but you have to design the future". We waste a lot of energy and resources on analysis. Let us divert some of it towards simplicity and design.

Seth Godin writes:

I've always been frightened by big-firm accounting. The sort of financial legerdemain in which skilled accountants work hard to make the numbers look the way the CEO wants, instead of making them clear. Cash accounting run on a simple bookkeeping system is the small way to do it... even if your company is huge. That's because sooner or later, management has to know what's actually happening as opposed to what they can pretend is happening.

Short URLs

2008-10-13T15:50:00.005+06:00

Bit.ly is a url shortener. It gives you a short url for any long url. You can then spell this url on phone or send it through email without the line wrapping issues.

For example:
> http://saqibawan.blogspot.com/2008/10/short-urls.html
becomes:
> http://bit.ly/1MWO1G

Personal Emergencies

2008-10-12T06:09:00.001+06:00

Last date for tax return is tomorrow and we still need to collect all the information.
We are planning to cancel subscription of a magazine,website or any other service we don't need anymore but we forget.
We need to read that book which will help advance our career or business but can't find time.
Kids need some stationery before going to school today.
Bills were due yesterday.
....

Emergencies are part of daily life.

Our short term attention span and memory is limited. We always fear, and rightly so, that we will forget something important so we either try to do it right now or postpone it a bit (and then forget it.) This is one of the causes of emergencies in our life.

Emergencies can be reduced. The trick is to stop doing things off your head. Instead maintain a list of things to do using some tool like hiveminder.com and do things from there.

Caution: Do not put every small bit of work on your things to do. You will make your list unwieldy and soon get fed up. Sometimes it is better to forget things which don't matter much in short term and long term.

Rule 20-80

2008-10-10T13:12:00.007+06:00

Rule 20-80 states:

20% people have 80% wealth.
20% of your customers generate 80% revenue.
20% of your employees complete 80% of their assignments.
20% of your reading is enough to provide 80% knowledge.
20% of your effort generates 80% of your expected outcome.
20% of a software fulfills 80% of your requirements.
and so on ...

The rest 80% usually gives you only 20% and can be ignored if you love free time and higher productivity. The trick is to identify the 20%.