Nicholas D. Kristof: Obama and the war on brains

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/09/opinion/edkristof.php

The one above from Nicholas is an amazing yet obvious insight. In India, politicians are corrupt. Mostly. But the Prime Miniter has always been intellectually strong. Mostly.

With the emergence of Bush and his defeating Gore, most of us really gave up on the need for intellectual leadership as one of the criteria for American presidency. The Amercian "common man" it seemed cared nothing of intellect, as long as he got his beef, corn and well oiled rifle.

But the participation of the youth has changed this. Youth that have access to information and have a medium for making themselves heard. 24 X 7. From the comfort of their rooms. Just out of college. Who would like to believe that they have the right to asking intelligent questions and be given intelligent answers. They want to believe that change for the better comes from them. (this may be naive, but it gives change a chance)

Never before have young people been so engaged in an election. People, it seems, saw through Palin very quickly. The internet and the right to a good education will change the way leaders will get chosen. There is no doubt about it.

What we will see next is the use of the internet in other western economies which have a high penetration of the internet. Western European elections of the near future will be influenced. (I wonder why Gordon Brown has still not activated the web?)

The US election and the rise of Obama must be taken as a catalyst by all those people that are tired of being condenmed for their intellect. Strong intellect should not mean "lack of touch" with the common man. It should mean the ability of the leader to understand better the problems of theb common man and to build better solutions.

We hope Obama succeeds. (whatever that may mean). Because the rise of intellectual political leaders in the future will gain a lot of momentum from his successful presidency.

Ritu and Venkat

Arsene Wenger and his management philosophy at Arsenal Football Club...

Mr. Wenger demanded more support from the fans of Arsenal for his very young team.

Please read through this note, Mr. Wenger speaks of the need to support young talent while taking the bold (and necessary) step of putting them in the hot seat.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/arsenal/3249813/Support-young-Arsenal-team-says-Arsene-Wenger-Football.html#comments
He speaks of keeping an eye on the future, yet striving for excellence today.

He speaks of investing based on internal accruals and not borrowings.

He speaks of willingness to bring in outside talent when the need arises.

I was very impressed by this gentleman. Not many football managers (or CEOs) speak with such clarity.

And he is a Frenchman in the English Premier League.

The fans have responded very positively (based on the posted comments).

Talk of bridging the cultural barriers as well.

Venkat
("This is football you know..... you write it", said Ritu)

Here's another note of the game recently where the average age of the AFC team was 22 years! Playing in the champions league.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article4989228.ece

The core of a business

The core of a business:


1. All companies process information: Whether you are making bricks, operation systems for computers or tires. You are processing information in converting resources from one form to another.

2. Industries differ in the type of information they process.
a. Within industries, companies very in the efficiency with which they process information.
b. (In selecting core products/ service, keep in mind that market share and price premiums do not go hand in hand. There has been no known example of this.)

3. Finally, in a stable state (stalemate), all companies converge in terms of their offer. The returns to all companies converges to the minimum returns. Any higher or lower than this will destabilize the industry and cause the equilibrium to move back to the lowest value.

To avoid this, continuous differentiation is required. This depends on innovation.

Innovation secures above normal profits for companies.

Innovation is the application of the brain to deliver differentiation. It is always possible to innovate.

1. Innovation is possible across all frontiers:
Product/ Process/ Price/ Place (distribution) etc.

2. Innovation is necessary to avoid stalemates (Bruce Henderson) and consequent commoditization of industries.

3. The rate of successful innovations determines the vibrancy of an industry.

Innovation is either disruptive or evolutionary. But it is necessary.

Strategy then becomes a bet on which innovations to fund. This leads to the classical view of strategy that “Strategy is about how the future will unfold and taking in the resources today to handle this.”