"It takes 5 years to train a power plant operator"

When I heard this from the operations manager of a large coal fired power plant in Thailand I was dumbstruck. He went on talking and my mind headed into outer space. I wondered to myself why training a power plant operator was related to the  earth orbiting the sun, and why it took 5 orbits to do so.  After coming back to planet earth I composed myself and asked the operations manager the obvious question.  He thought then said "well it takes 5 plant shut down/start ups before we consider an operator fully trained." I thought that makes sense. He went on to say, " We only shut down the plants annually."  He had conflated two facts and come up with a policy likely to generate a shortage of operators.

Better solution: Invest in simulator training for his operators.  Simulators are not so dependent on the number of times the earth orbits the sun.  Actually in a month an operator can have many, many more shut down/start up experiences.  In fact it is not duration of time that determines proficiency but rather repetitions that builds skill.

Myths and Drowning

The ancient Greeks and Romans developed myths to explain natural phenomena that otherwise defied explanation.  These myths were projections of people's own fears, and the natural human intellectual desire to fill the void. While it is easy to understand why myths were developed, it is vital to realize these explanatory myths were not fact based.

Business owners both in ancient times and today may likewise suffer from believing in myths and with the same results as the ancient Greeks and Romans.

A few myths:

1. "Make a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." Nearly every inventor, programmer, engineer, designer, Phd, seems to suffer from this powerful delusion. If you fall into one of these groups, there is a 99% chance that you truly believe this. Those suffering from this delusion should ask themselves the question: If a tree fell in the forest but no one was there to hear it would it make a sound?  It is profoundly amazing that in the presence of even the simplest lemonade stand business owner how widely spread and how deeply felt this myth continues to exist.
2. "I can't afford to advertise." Clearly a myth related to Myth Number One above.  Advertisement is the communication with prospective customers/clients about you what you can do for them.  If you don't effectively and frequently tell them, how are they to know?  Can customers/clients actually buy products and services of which they are unaware? If you don't invest in communication you will never have a business, and you will barely have a practice.  
3. "No one without my experience could do what I do as well as I do it." This is both myth and egotistical arrogance but is fed by the way technical people are educated and trained. The reality? Most people claiming 10 years or 20 years experience really have only a few months or years experience repeated over several years. 

Are these myths confined to one culture? I've done business in more than 40 countries and have found these myths thriving, especially among technically trained and heroically hard working professionals.  They suffer and wonder why their business does not thrive.  They blindly thirst while stumbling about in the oasis. They are doomed as they stumble back into the desert only to dehydrate and die all the while wondering why they could never find the sweet water of success.  Myths are unforgiving. 

How can I help someone suffering such terminal 4th stage drowning delusions?  It's not unlike helping non swimmer avoiding drowning. I must be careful lest I am pulled down with the victim and we both drowned.

Reducing Marketing Risk

When considering a marketing plan, it is wise to divide your customers into four groups:
1. Customers who know you and know your product or service.
2. Customers who know you but your product or service is new to them.
3. A product or service known to potential customers who as yet do not know you.
4. A product or service which is unknown and for whom there never has been a customer

These 4 factors are presented in order of lowest to highest level of risk. Risk here is related to both marketing budget and schedule plus expected cash flow from these investments.

To understand how to market to the first three groups of people, please give me a call and we can devise a plan which will work.

To understand how to market to the last group, call someone else. It's a mystery to me.

What is hot?

Renewable energy! Hybrids! Solar and wind!

All the best and brightest minds are working feverishly to make these new energy solutions work. The kind of brains that gave us the nuclear bomb and nuclear power plants, the internet, personal computers, the mouse, software, and hardware have been updated. Look to the men and women who have electrical engineering degrees to lead the technical vanguard.

The new version of those brains are working out how to make photovoltaic panels out of clear glass panels. They are closer than ever before.

Thousands of megawatts of solar plants are in design, under construction, and even more thousands are being sought be governments of oil starved third world countries.  Countries where there is little oil but where there is abundant sunshine are scorchers in the summertime. Those countries increasingly need to have "factories" where knowledge workers can be educated and trained. Without a/c it won't work.

Imagine if all the glass tower windows in Singapore could generate electricity....

Drive through the pass west of Palm Springs. It's suicide for low flying birds!  But awesome for a/c users in Palm Springs.

Renewable energy has the "big mo." That's big momentum.

And my recently graduated step daughter agrees. If you are looking to get with a hot growing trend get on this one and ride it for the next decade.