@xavier0912

Milestone

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:26:26 +0200

My first Tumblroo! post…

"Austria ranks 3rd, improving by one position since 2011. Its strong performance is driven by factors..."

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 10:20:25 +0100

“Austria ranks 3rd, improving by one position since 2011. Its strong performance is driven by factors such as tourism infrastructure, in which it ties for 1st place with Italy; a welcoming attitude toward visitors; a very safe and secure environment (7th); and, most importantly, its rich cultural resources. Austria hosts nine World Heritage cultural sites, has excellent creative industries, and attracts many travelers with several fairs and exhibitions organized every year. The country’s tourism industry is also being developed in a sustainable way (10th), with some of the most stringent (4th) and well-enforced (7th) environmental regulations in the world, driving its overall positive performance on environmental sustainability (ranked 6th).”

- Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 - World Economic Forum

parislemon: laughingsquid: Reasons I install Microsoft...

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 19:50:34 +0100

parislemon:

laughingsquid:

Reasons I install Microsoft Silverlight

Perfect. If Flash deserves to die, Silverlight deserves to be buried alive.

Couldn’t be more clear!

Change

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:56:21 +0200

Age might be the root cause for writing this post. On the other hand, it might just be the change of weather in Belgium that inspires me. One thing’s for sure, change is all around. Be it the weather, the daily increasing traffic jams, Apple Q3 figures, smartphone penetration rate, work-life balance shift, … it’s all change. Many people dislike the fact that we have no more long-term predictability, which surely is reasonable. But the fact remains that all these changes are happening over and over again.

My personal idea on change in general is that it creates the opportunity to “do different or do new”. ”Different” as in changing the way you do something while ”new” being changing what you do. In each situation which requires us to make a decision, we need to (re)evaluate the way we will try to achieve our goal or in what way we will change the goal itself.

It strikes me that in all Service Delivery, change is very difficult. It seems a lot easier to change a product than to change a service. Whether it be ICT service delivery, travel services, medical services, … they are all still rather static (compared to the rapid changes in product development and delivery). This is not very surprising, seeing that the one big difference between a product and a service is the human factor, bringing me back to the start of this post, the human resistance against the loss of long-term predictability. How can we convince people to welcome (and even actively seek) changes in customer facing services? How can people be convinced to aspire “different” or even “new”?

Innovation consists in presenting all new services or new ways to achieve a service oriented goal, so the potential success of innovation is (partly) dependent on how the related changes are perceived by people. To me, the true power of Service Design as a “methodology” is not only a consumer centric design of the service(s) itself (the goal), but also design of the change path which leads to the intensified use and acceptance of this service.

It is necessary to keep focussing on your new goal, but in many cases, it’s also extremely important to create a “people-friendly” and motivating change path towards this goal.

Do new by doing different… .

"It amuses me when organisations brainstorm – with the same people, around the topics, in the same..."

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:52:01 +0200

“It amuses me when organisations brainstorm – with the same people, around the topics, in the same environment, with the same tools – and expect different results!”

- Bettina von Stamm, Innovation Leadership Forum

632

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:00:47 +0200

632:

parislemon:

Apple’s share price has passed Google’s at $632-a-share. Share prices are basically meaningless since the number of shares outstanding differ (Apple has nearly 3x the number of shares out there, and as such, nearly 3x the valuation). But the numbers are interesting in historical context. They show what a ride Apple has been on (while Google has remained relatively static).

When Google went public in 2004 and their stock immediately popped over $100-a-share, Apple’s stock was trading around $15-a-share. When Google’s stock hit $500-a-share in November 2006, Apple’s stock was around $85-a-share. When Google shares peaked in late 2007 over $700-a-share and people were wondering if the stock was the next Berkshire Hathaway (up, up and away!), Apples stock was around $150-a-share.

With the price and the number of shares outstanding, Apple’s valuation is now approaching $600 billion. The next closest company in terms of valuation is Exxon. Their market cap is $400 billion. The nearest tech company is Microsoft. Their market cap is $265 billion.

In-sane.

Insane indeed!

The unbearable "Sound of silence" - #sierre

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:44:23 +0100

On March 14, 22 children and 6 adults lost their precious lives in an accident in Sierre, Switzerland.

Language is not a barrier when hearing the unbearable sound of silence. A country divided by language stands united in tragedy, the tragedy of 28 lives taken away from their families and friends in a purposeless accident.

Belgium was completely silenced at 11AM today, March 16, national day of mourning.

Will we remember the true value of life when noise takes over again? Will we be able to distinguish the important from the futile any better after this confrontation with real life tragedy? And most importantly, will relatives and friends of the deceased be able to listen to the sound of life again some day… ?

All my best to the people affected by this incomprehensible event.

(my thoughts go out especially to Kirsten and the kids)

Interview with Jonathan Ive, some inspiring quotes

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:20:05 +0100

Jonathan Ive, Sr. VP Industrial Design at Apple does say some inspiring things in this interview.

(source: London Evening Standard - Mark Prigg)

For one, collaboration in the creative design process is crucial:

…The nature of having ideas and creativity is incredibly inspiring. There is an idea which is solitary, fragile and tentative and doesn’t have form. What we’ve found here is that it then becomes a conversation, although remains very fragile.

…The way we work at Apple is that the complexity of these products really makes it critical to work collaboratively, with different areas of expertise.

His view on innovation is strikingly obvious:

…There are different approaches - sometimes things can irritate you so you become aware of a problem, which is a very pragmatic approach and the least challenging. What is more difficult is when you are intrigued by an opportunity.

…This is why these innovations are so hard - there are no points of reference.

He also stresses the importance of consumer awareness of the care people at Apple have for the products they design and develop. This interview does give an indication.

Data roaming in Europe - #frustration

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:45:04 +0100

Data roaming in the EU… a never ending story if you ask me. Mobile internet usage keeps on rising, apps are commonly used and accessible to everybody. We all want to use the internet anywhere, anytime!

To me, as an IT kind of guy, it’s rather simple to predict which service on my phone or iPad will use a certain amount of data, but I can imagine that for someone not into the technicalities, this is not equally easy.

(data services tariff overview, EC)

So, we found the solution! We will send an sms when usage exceeds a certain threshold (as in: money)… Excuse my choice of words but that’s just plain bullsh*t!

Get those mobile operators around a table and figure out an innovative way of dealing with roaming! Really, this cannot be that hard? I’m sure that people will find a workaround soon. Operators will lose a major part of their turnover if they don’t act now… .

Always knew I’m not really a “southern” kind...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:33:43 +0100

Always knew I’m not really a “southern” kind of person… . (except for Australia ;) ).

So my “better life” is situated somewhere between Canada and Austria… I’ll have to buy my wife some flowers and have a good chat with her! :)

http://oecdbetterlifeindex.org

European Innovation - some thoughts

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:39:28 +0100

If you look at the scoreboard, some (expected) results pop up.

Report: INNOVATION UNION SCOREBOARD 2011

Decline in Venture Capital investments: I guess this is partly due to conservatism and the difficult economical situation. Nevertheless, it’s my opinion that this remains a very important field for supporting innovation. Opportunities are there, we only need to acknowledge them.
Scandinavian countries score well… as expected. Other countries in the EU can learn a lot from our northern member states. What’s with the lack of cross-country-knowledge-sharing? I’m missing initiatives on this part. (and please don’t tell me “language” is still a barrier, nor is “culture”.)
Some countries acknowledge and act on these numbers. Take Austria for instance, WKÖ-Vizepräsidentin Schultz. Many others should act on these numbers too. An economical decline is a driver for innovation, only when we support initiatives.

… I’ll update this post some more later probably.

The art of Listening!

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:55:45 +0100

Service Delivery and the art of listening is what keeps me wondering these days.

My previous post about tourism in Austria is actually a good example. Austrian tourism workers are genuinely ”good listeners”. They really hear what tourists are asking for and most of the time, they deliver! These people are service minded and flexible, they are open to suggestion and they don’t fear what’s new and happening. They don’t cling to conservative values (except for their own well-known traditions) but are always seeking that small opening helping their business take “the extra mile”. They are not blinded by budget forecasts and process flows but instead every move they make starts with listening to the customer.

This way of doing business for many creates a lot of uncertainty. It implies that you adapt your business model to continuous change. A kind of dynamism we tend to swear off in times of economical crisis where we seek stability and retention above all.

Being in ICT Service Management, I get confronted with this attitude daily. We are afraid to provide transparency as this could generate change and change attributes uncertainty about our future. We are afraid to communicate as communication implies confrontation which will force us to reflect on what we do and how we do this.

In other words, we’re afraid to listen…

Tourism in wonderful Austria!

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:45:56 +0100

Every year I’m more amazed of the adoption of new- and social media in Austria! Tourism in this beautiful country is not seldom described as simple and conservative… yet, I don’t know any other country (I’m not exactly a world traveler) so in to new media opportunities!

Finding a hotel is dead easy. Lot’s of them have a decent website, free WiFi, a facebook page, Foursquare entries, yes even Google+ pages!

The bigger resorts now already have their own mobile app. Some even have free WiFi on the slopes!

This country’s tourism industry really makes an effort! And yet, the people are amazingly friendly and down to earth… (and yes, they make very good schnapps :) )

Just a few nice examples of great resorts:

Ski Amadé - amazing use of technology - free WiFi hotspots, mobile App, …

Some examples of hotel- and/or resort info sites:

Tiscover

Bergfex

I could go on for ages… just to say, I never experienced a bad holiday in Austria. To me, it’s an innovative “wolf in disguise” with many friendly but smart people running a strong tourism business!

Maybe I’m just “homesick”?

Das aktuelle Wetter in Lech Zürs am Arlberg

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:18:59 +0100

Das aktuelle Wetter in Lech Zürs am Arlberg:

Some nice weather in Lech… very nice and cold!

Crisis 2.0, the year is 2012.

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:51:49 +0100

When I read the news today (talking mainly EU here), I start wondering how we will ever overcome this financial crisis? Somewhere along all those depressing statements, one has to say “stop, clear your head and think!”. I can’t loose the feeling that battling the crisis by mitigation measures is the only priority we define.

What will we do when we succeed? When every big company and even every family home is “economically dried out”?

Top priorities should also contain “new (means of) business” (in the broad sense). We should stimulate people in just going the other way, taking a turn and move on! Creating opportunities and motivating other people in doing great things. We should empower young people, allow them to develop some of their great ideas and we should focus on the “grey spots” in society where people with great ideas have no means of sharing them or even expressing their thoughts.

Our current approach is surely taking us into an evolutionary coma if you ask me… .

But, I’m not all negative of course. I do see a whole new year of novelty and surprises! We’re only day 2 and already I’m noticing a lot of people standing in the front of the line, acting like children at the entrance of a new playground.

Well, wish all of you a great and exciting 2012. Now let’s get busy and have some fun doing that! ;)

$AAPL FQ4 results... not really bad I think

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:53:47 +0200

Everybody is disappointed in the results published by Apple yesterday. It kind of strikes me that Wall Street Analysts didn’t see this comming?

If you look at the projections for FQ4 made after the previous quarter, they did really good:

“Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter of 2011,” said CFO Peter Oppenheimer, “we expect revenue of about $25 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $5.50.” According to MarketWatch, analysts are expecting higher projections: revenue of $27.7bn and earnings of $6.42 per share. (The Register)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/19/apple_q3_fy11/

So why did this get out of hand? I guess estimates were adjusted all summer long based on rumors of the iPhone 5 coming in September. The fact that estimates were not revised down when rumors appeared to be no more than that, is not a very smart move.

I’m not an analyst myself, just a small time investor, but the numbers are not a surprise to me at all… .

At this point, Apple estimates for January are higher than the Street’s numbers… now that’s an interesting one!

Belgium buys... bank

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:36:04 +0200

Belgium buys... bank:

Well, ante is up! If you’re still interested in buying Belgium, know that we just bought a… euhm… bank! So all of the sudden, all it’s habitants are now partial owner of a “good” bank!

Up’s the value? Think again I would say…

For Sale... Belgium! #nogov

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:12:00 +0200

Well, that’s about it. We’ve been trying appoint a new government for ~~almost~~ more than 500 days now, but no luck. In discussing the appointment of 3 mayors (on a total of 590!), the political parties just could not agree. And that was just the start! Don’t bother trying to understand, it’s a language thing.

I think the only option of getting out of this shaming mess is just selling the country. Consider it a discrete family car. The ones you don’t even really notice. They have some nice features but they’ll never be a Porsche.

So here are some specifics:

Building year: 1830
Mileage: 30528 sq Km.
Seats: 11.000.000 people
Current owner: King Albert (he’s flying over from France to sign the deal)
Country pass available - last general maintenance about 500 days ago
Needs engine revision (or just a new engine - not driveable at this moment)
Manual available in 3 languages (Dutch, French and German)
Guinness Book recommendation: longest drive without driver!
Color: black, yellow and red - looks flashy by the way!

Buy in it’s current state for a very reasonable price! Can serve many purposes (eg. tax paradise, parking lot for Germany, France and the Netherlands, …) and is really reliable (as in: “conservative”).

Bidding starts at €1!

#blackfriday special!!! AA+ -> AA! (sponsored by Standard & Poor’s)

(more pictures available on request)

"If it ain't broken, don't fix it" - corporate conservatism

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:10:37 +0200

In addition to my previous post, I can’t stop thinking about an easy model to ignite change in Belgian enterprises. Change, to me, can be triggered by several “motives”. Most obvious motives are problems, shortcomings, growth, etc, all well mastered by most companies.

One motive that I don’t notice enough in Belgium is innovation. How does corporate innovation fit companies in times of crisis. As managers, we are completely focused on the financial aspects of the crisis as it happens. This makes us unaware that we are not arming ourselves for the post-crisis market situation of our company.

Possibly, this is what strikes companies all over Europe these days. Look at Nokia, Sony Ericsson and many others. This is the time innovation can benefit a company the most. It can fail for sure, but when you succeed as an enterprise, you will be able to conquer the financial challenges you face. Take a look at Apple for instance. During this whole financial debacle, the grew more than any of their competitors. And yet, they are situated in the “nice to have” segment of their market.

How do you ignite and support innovation in your company? I think there are 3 important and basic rules to that:

As company leader, express clearly the need to innovate to all your employees! Innovation has to be acknowledged as a core enterprise attitude;
Embed means to facilitate innovation throughout the entire company. There’s no such thing as an innovation department or division. As stated in 1, it’s an attitude every employee should master. The smallest, most basic changes can have a big impact on your company, so they can be initiated by anyone;
Have someone with strong managerial and leadership qualities orchestrate innovative ideas into workable and feasible projects.

Probably, everybody has a different view on this, and that’s good! Change and innovation leading to change is a dynamic process evolving with company culture, market situation and above all “human capital”, as in people.

Changing the "establishment"

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:05:46 +0200

For some time now, I’m really struggling with the way the current enterprise leaders and managers are keeping focus on established values. Let me be clear, I’m referring to the majority of Belgian companies and institutions.

More and more, as technology and the way we deal with it is evolving, I hear and read protectionism and despair. Is it related to the current financial uncertainty? Are we protecting our companies from a monster of Loch Ness, one that may surface one day (or not)?

If you look at the political situation in Belgium, I do see some similarities. Eight political parties around a table discussing for more than 400 days the way and the extent in which Belgium should be split (or not). Some cities in the world have more residents than our country and yet, they manage to manage them rather well.

Norway had it’s share of reality hit every civilian brutaly in the face and what happens? They all stand together, focussed in the same direction: forward!

Belgium, it’s government and it’s companies are vast asleep. I’m fearing the moment we get our wake up call because it will probably hit us hard. This country needs to set it’s mind on one important focus, innovation!

I do believe we have our share of people who can make a difference, in politics as well as business. These people are key in taking care of the way Belgium faces the future. They are the innovative engine that we need. But… as we still are a rather safe (conservative) country, we stick by the slogan: “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”. Of course, in world evolution, this attitude will sooner or later take us in to palliative care .

My personal message: managers, politicians, reflect and decide to stay and innovate or to step aside and support a new generation of leaders. The ones who get driven by change, by major turnaround. We need to make calculated risks in this country! Support the ones who describe their dreams as feasible ideas. We don’t need people going for established values, we already have enough of those… we need to dream, design, create and believe.