For Them is a community-built brand that uses products \u0026 services to transform ordinary moments

For Them

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Jakub DRÁPAL, Institute of State and Law of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia, Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; (2) Hannes WESTERMANN, Cyberjustice Laboratory, Université de Montréal, Canada; (3) Jaromir SAVELKA, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, USA. Table of Links Abstract & Introduction Related Work Dataset Proposed Framework Experimental Design Results and Discussion Conclusions, Future Work and References 4. Proposed Framework The framework relies on OpenAI’s GPT-4 model’s capabilities to perform complex NLP tasks in zero-shot settings [24]. We set the temperature of the model to 0.0, which corresponds to no randomness. Higher temperature leads to more creative, but potentially less factual, output. Model We set max_tokens to various values depending on the expected size of the output (a token roughly corresponds to a word). GPT-4 has an overall token length limit of 8,192 tokens, comprising both the prompt and the completion. We set top_p to 1, as is recommended when temperature is set to 0.0. We set frequency_penalty and presence_penalty to 0, which ensures no penalty is applied to repetitions and to tokens appearing multiple times in the output. Resources We utilize the definition of thematic analysis and the individual phases from [5]. For example, the 15-point checklist of criteria for good thematic analysis have been adopted verbatim as well as selected excerpts defining the analysis, its flow and the phases. Together with specifications of the expected outputs from various stages of the processing pipeline, these can be considered as general resources, i.e., invariant to the performed thematic analysis. In addition, the framework requires context-specific resources, i.e., different for each analysis. These include research questions, the parameters specifying the type of analysis (e.g., semantic/latent patterns, focus on a specific topic), the specification of what counts as a theme, and various sets of custom requirements. The proposed framework is depicted in Figure 3. The analyzed dataset is automatically segmented into batches whereas many data points as can be fitted into the model’s prompt are batched together, using the tiktoken Python library.[4] The data points are processed from the shortest to the longest. Processing Flow If a single data point exceeds the size of the prompt it is truncated to fit the limit by taking its starting and ending sequence (both half the limit) and placing the “[...]” token in between them. Each batch is inserted into the user message, alongside the research questions, other context-specific information about the analysis as well as any custom requirements. We also include a random sample of the initial codes predicted in the batches preceding the current one. The system message consists of the general resources. Using the openai Python library,[5] the system and the user messages are then submitted to the LLM that generates a JSON file with the predicted initial codes. This is repeated until the whole dataset is labeled. The subject matter expert may review the predicted initial codes. Then, they may provide further custom instructions to the system as to what aspects of the data to focus on and which to disregard. These instructions are appended to the custom requirements. This process can be repeated until the predicted initial codes match the expectations. The predicted initial codes are collated into potential themes. This stage of the processing is similar to the preceding one with the notable difference that the system operates on the batches of initial codes instead of the raw data points. The most common 20 potential themes predicted in the batches preceding the current one are included in the user message. As a result, each data point gets associated with a candidate theme. The candidate themes, which could be many, are then further collated into a compact set of high-level themes. The whole set of candidate themes is provided in the user message and submitted to the LLM. While this may depend on the specific analysis there is most likely no need to supply these in batches as all of them are likely to fit in the prompt. The output of this stage are the high-level themes (with candidate themes as sub-themes). The final stage of the pipeline is focused on labeling the data points with the discovered themes. Note that this step differs from the prediction of the initial codes or potential themes because, here, the LLM is used to predict the labels from the provided list of themes (i.e., to perform deductive coding). The result of the whole process is the original data points being associated with (semi-)automatically discovered themes. This artifact can be utilized by the subject matter expert as a starting point for the subsequent phase of the thematic analysis (reviewing themes). [4] Github: Tiktoken. Available at: https://github.com/openai/tiktoken [Accessed: 2023-04-30] [5] GitHub: OpenAI Python Library. Available at: https://github.com/openai/openai-python [Accessed 2023-08-16] This paper is available on under CC 4.0 license.6 arxiv

Our Proposed Framework: Using LLMs for Thematic Analysis

Currently, we see that more and more large companies are reducing or even completely eliminating work meetings. For instance, has recently cut off all recurring meetings that include more than two people and drastically limited all others. Shopify But given the economy’s recession, does it mean all companies should follow suit and delete the majority of meetings from the calendar? As to all the questions that sound like, "Should I do something because everyone else is doing it?" – the answer is no. At Refocus, 90% of the team works completely remotely. The remaining 10% who live in the cities where our offices are located ) are not obliged to go to the office – although they could come 1-2 times per week if they wish. The majority of business decisions are made online, which is pretty logical. Here's how we managed to build a system for work meetings that allow our team from GMT+1 to GMT+8 time zones to collaborate effectively and earn more than $4.5M since launching from the ground up last January 2022. We all can text. Why even have meetings? Corporate messengers are key to organized communication, so it’s crucial to negotiate that everyone can be reached there and will, with some rare exceptions, answer a message within a couple of hours. They allow us to keep in touch and quickly discuss problems, but they still have disadvantages. For instance, answering one message after another interrupts you from doing something you were concentrating on. You all probably have experienced it: you’re doing some long routine task, then you read a message from your colleague, and then have to return to what you were doing. It often looks like meetings are a waste of money for companies. However, this example shows quite the opposite: it’s cheaper and more effective to dedicate time for communicating than to do it randomly throughout the day and get interrupted from a task. Generally, whether you need work meetings or not depends on many factors, such as: the complexity and developmental stage of the business the number of changes happening at the moment the number of people on your team the multiculturalism of your team Logically, if you have higher values on each of these parameters, everyday communication is needed to maintain productivity. This means that your company is rapidly growing. Thus, all the processes should be regularly organized and reorganized, which is simply impossible without communication. This is the case for us: Refocus is a little over a year old with a multicultural team, and we constantly develop our product–changing the existing ones and creating new ones. So, a lot of communication takes place every day. We don't avoid work meetings but also try to find a golden means. There are three cases when we usually shift communication to a meeting: If you notice that you get interrupted every day by discussing the same matter over and over again, it’s pretty logical to have a brief meeting 1-2 times a week and talk about it there. For example, we’ve noticed recently that we constantly ask each other questions about CSAT or Customer Satisfaction, which happens on various Slack channels. People who monitor it get interrupted from their current tasks and answer questions regularly. So we created a meeting in which we discuss this metric on a weekly basis and, at the same time, a dedicated Slack channel to address anything urgent. Another example is the weekly planning each team has: everyone who has tasks assigned to them should attend and join the discussion–not create extra communication and interrupt the team from working. It is something regular. . The work of some teams requires constant communication with others. For example, another Refocus co-founder recently __ __attention to regular communication between the sales and marketing departments. Similarly, the product and support teams should regularly interact with community managers. It requires cross-team communication drew . I think this simple rule is crucial for communication within remote teams: it's better to talk together for 15 minutes than chat for an hour, waiting for the responsible team member to answer. Of course, we don’t have any kinds of limitations or restrictions – our employees set it up themselves if that helps them come up with a solution. You can’t solve an issue after a dozen minutes of messaging How to make a meeting productive To a large extent, the productivity of your work meetings reflects the productivity of your team in general. As I previously mentioned, we don't have to worry about our employees chatting for hours if they don't need to discuss any issues. We invest a lot in hiring people who we can be sure of. They are hardworking, and their goals are aligned with the business’s. Also, we make sure that apart from having a growth mindset, our employees are good friends with all kinds of collaborative tools: Notion, Slack, Google Docs, Miro, and various task trackers such as ClickUp or Trello. We don’t have time to educate people on how to use them, but I can't say we ever had a problem with this after the pandemic. However, some simple rules will surely make it better. Adjust the meeting schedule to the of other participants. If your team is spread all over the world, it's not "courtesy" – it's a necessity without which productive communication is impossible. We certainly have two hours of overlap among the most distant team members, so we adjust meetings to their time zones as needed. Therefore, every team member should include information about their time zones in the calendar just to make it less confusing for others. time zone When inviting people to meetings, provide a list of participants. The latter are those who have expertise in the topic to be discussed and can deepen the discourse. Nevertheless, the meeting will be fine without them. To create one, think about the cost of the meeting: an hour of a manager costs X$ and you invite 6 different people. Will you eventually earn more than was spent? obligatory and optional . It can comprise topics you're planning to cover and the information each participant should prepare. Even opening another ready-to-use document requires a couple of extra minutes, not to mention trying to calculate something that you haven’t yet. In most cases, it's easy to prepare, although, to be honest, we don't follow this rule too strictly: an agenda is good when it's convenient and when you know what exactly to cover. Prepare the agenda for the meeting Keep track of the . It's hard to say how much time you should plan for each meeting: host ten of them, and you will decide for yourself. However, you should optimize the time you have – it is fine to politely remind them, "Everyone, let's return to the topic." And if the time appears to not be enough to cover everything, you can always drop one meeting and negotiate on another. Some collaborative tools have built-in functionality to follow the schedule. For example, Miro allows you to set a timer to discuss particular blocks. schedule strictly If you have something to discuss regularly, do so We're sure that the best way to organize a meeting productively is to dedicate time to it on a regular basis. As I mentioned above, it allows your employees to not get distracted from their tasks and to plan their schedules. The frequency of such meetings depends on the issues to be discussed: in some areas, it's impossible to keep up with changes if you don't discuss them every day, and for others, once a week is just fine. For example, one of the most important regular meetings we have is called . Guess what? We have it for an hour every day! This is a key meeting led by the CPO where the product and marketing teams and C-level executives sync on the product’s critical metrics: revenue indicators, percentage of installment approvals, CR, and so on. If something is not normal, each of them needs to be fixed as soon as possible, so that's why we discuss them every day, which is especially the case for a rapidly developing startup. Product Daily As for the meetings that take place once a week on Mondays, we have the boards of each C-level with the founders, where they share their weekly indicators. Of course, we're in touch during the week, but those 30 minutes allow us to dive into the processes they run and debug them. And it is also time-saving: each founder prepares their questions and doesn't have to message and wait for a reply. Just after the board, we have another weekly meeting – Megaboard. There, all the C-level executives and founders gather and discuss the business plan for the week in more detail, making the planning smooth and productive. And if it’s a recurring meeting, e. When something is working fine, one may fail to keep updating it, even if changes are needed. While regular meetings usually work perfectly, there is always room for improvement. For example, we have recently changed the Product Daily meeting. While it was under development, more and more people got invited. Some were not needed there anymore but kept attending because they knew that it was indeed essential for business and because they received an invitation. So when we cut the list of participants, it became better for everyone! Furthermore, we decided to hold separate meetings for the two markets we have (the Philippines and Indonesia) to have more time to discuss each of them. What I'm saying is: the changes you may need depend on your business indicators, but you will definitely need to make modifications after some time. don’t forget to adjust it once in a whil Leave space for something more informal Informal communication between employees Without it, it’s almost impossible to collaborate effectively and feel like a part of a team that is reaching the same goal. In the office, people interact naturally, but even in hybrid mode, managers should invest time in helping their subordinates meet each other. So it’s wise to have meetings dedicated to such communication and not forget about it for those that are strictly work-related. The meeting agenda would not be ruined if you spend the first couple of minutes asking, "Hey, how is it going? Where are you now? Do you like it there?" and so on, but it will make future communication easier and more comfortable for everyone. Also, for the same reason, we try to turn on cameras if we can. That's not a hard and fast rule, but isn't it just more comfortable to interact with someone when you can see their face? should not be underestimated. Every two weeks, we have an , which is where we comunicate semi-formally, and every team member attends to share business updates, welcome newcomers, and say thank you to each other out loud. This meeting might look like a waste of money–imagine how much an hour would cost each team member. But it is not. It's crucial to know what is happening in other departments and see the faces of your colleagues, even on Zoom. All Team meeting Another important work meeting you shouldn’t overlook is the regular . At Refocus, this is done as an hour-long meeting once a week. This is a safe place for an employee to share the difficulties they have and receive feedback on their work. To make the one-on-one meetings productive, we also follow agendas, but generally, they are a pretty informal way of communicating between two people. one-on-one each employee has with their manager And what about offline meetings? Even though the vast majority of our team works remotely, we don't believe it's possible to discuss everything online. During a consultation, one experienced tech founder with company’s evaluation of $600-900M told me: you can do something remotely only if you have already organized it offline. I disagree with this statement partly: t . But generally, that's the rule we try to follow – offline mode provides more opportunities to create something from scratch and discuss it. he complexity of our business and almost fully remote team sometimes requires trying to do something new online One of the things we tried but failed to do remotely was strategy sessions that we had four times a year together with the founder and C-level executives. During these meetings, we discussed the company plans and developed the vector of development for the next three months. We tried to do it online, but it didn’t work out: we spent more time than we usually did and were not able to discuss strategy in enough detail. So we decided to move them offline and meet each other in different parts of the world for about a week. Apart from making business decisions easier, these meetings allow the C-level executives to communicate informally, which might lead to better business synergy, which can never be achieved if talking only about work. Moreover, the same is true for other personnel. We do encourage informal communication online, but we also have offices where our employees can come to co-work. As I mentioned earlier, our team is not obliged to do so, but some of them do because they feel more comfortable working on-site. If everyone who is required to attend the meeting is there, they often discuss matters offline or just have lunch together and chat. But if at least one person is at home – everyone else should go to different places and join the meeting remotely. Otherwise, it would be a mess. It is all about the system When your company is developing rapidly, and your goal is to achieve better results every day, it’s simply impossible not to have meetings to discuss your growth. Building a system of regular and extraordinary meetings will save you time: you will spend less on communication and negotiate better.

Don’t Drop Your Work Meetings – Rather, Build a System for Them

The thrill, innovation, risk—and above all, the reward! If you work with a startup, these concepts are likely familiar, as is the roller coaster of experiences – both ups and downs – that come with launching a new company. And while there are many advantages to working with a startup, it’s not for everyone. The appeal may seem obvious, but many startups fail to get off the ground, and balancing the pros and cons can be a challenge. What if I told you, it’s possible to get the best of both worlds – to capture the advantages of working with a startup while mitigating the downsides? Why Would You Join a Startup? Many developers are attracted to startups because of the opportunity to be part of something from the ground up, creating something entirely new and helping shape an organization’s future. This dynamic helps lead to greater job satisfaction and fulfillment because people feel to something bigger than themselves, and they can clearly see where their contributions have made an impact. attached In fact, a whopping reported job satisfaction, compared to a meager 30% reporting happiness while working for larger institutionalized companies in tech industries. 60% of startup employees Part of this satisfaction comes from the opportunity to try on many hats and learn diverse new skills as the company scales. This contrasts with working in a larger, more established company where you might stay in the same role for years. For example, it’s not unusual for startup employees hired for marketing to jump into the role of an , or for workers in any position, including tech development, to have to learn to successfully , from finance to sales and even visionary leadership. office manager balance different roles While challenging, this exposure to multiple roles can help you learn new skills and grow your career more quickly than at a larger company. Startups also help you build leadership skills In larger companies, most employees often have very limited or no access to the leaders of the company. In some cases, you may not even meet the CEO. But in a startup, you can actually access leadership and may even be able to bounce ideas directly off the CEO. This can and provides access to mentorship from leaders in the company, which can help workers grow. boost morale and productivity By providing an ideal environment to take risks in, startups also help employees develop leadership skills through trials, tribulations, and hard-won experiences. Learning to be a leader in a startup requires embracing the fact that you will make mistakes and learn from them. If you adopt this growth mindset in a small group with a fledgling company, your team will likely catch mistakes early, so you can rectify them quickly and learn from them before it’s too late to change. Because of the smaller, collaborative team dynamic startups supply, you will also work in nearly every role the company requires, enabling you to gain leadership experience daily, empathy for every position you may be expected to lead someday. and Cool Company Cultures and Perks Due to their disruptive nature, startups tend to attract like-minded people. This creates a unique company culture based on innovation, creativity, and risk-taking. One of the best advantages of working with a startup is coming forward with ideas and being supported through the creative process. With a smaller team, there’s usually a greater need and support for new initiatives than in larger companies. And while the small nature of startups means funding is limited, these companies and the firms that work with them also require the best talent to succeed and offer many to attain this talent, such as the ability to work from home, paid health insurance for employees their families, reimbursement for professional events, travel assistance and training opportunities. meaningful perks and These benefits, which you may also find in bigger organizations, are also often bolstered by some very offered by grassroots companies to make the environment more fun. unique perks Lastly, working with a startup can provide you with an incredible opportunity. Startups are often connected to industry professionals who can help them succeed. These connections can also benefit you, opening doors for future opportunities. networking More Innovation and Greater Impact If you thrive on creative thinking and innovation, then working for a startup can be the right choice. Startups are about thinking outside the box and coming up with new, innovative solutions to problems and shared vision. Per the : “experience alone does not make a team successful–soft skills, such as ‘entrepreneurial passion’ and ‘shared strategic vision’ are also required.’” Harvard Business Review This commitment to innovation and shared vision can have a meaningful impact on an industry and the world, with some arguing the collective value created by new ventures of a G7 economy. rivals the entire GDP The impact is not only measured in dollars but in how innovative changes can improve millions of lives. One example of this is one of our Commit clients, This game-changing environmental company leads the charge in developing clean water solutions by creating water from the atmosphere. Watergen. Through working with Watergen, Commit has seen firsthand the changes one visionary company can have on billions worldwide. The possibilities are limitless. If you want to leave your mark on the world as Watergen has done, then working for a startup is for you. The Risks of Working a Startup for While the benefits of working with a startup are enticing, there are also many risks that must be considered when taking an in-house gig at one. of startups fail in their first year! 20% , with many closing before launching their solution. 90% of startups fail Only of startups actually turn a profit, meaning there is very little job security and even a chance you may not receive your paycheck. 40% More than startup and tech employees have been laid off in 2022 alone, with many fast-growing companies scaling back. 110,000 The bottom line is that both startups and the tech industry are highly volatile, and even if you think a company is a groundbreaking disruptor with something to offer, anyone joining a hi-tech startup should recognize that their job or company is not a guarantee. Reaping Rewards Without the Risk If the perks of working with a startup excite you, but concerns are holding you back, I have good news: it’s possible to reap these rewards (and more) without the risk. There’s a growing number of software development firms today that specialize in supporting startups, presenting an ideal opportunity for developers and tech specialists to capture the best of both worlds. While the business models and services may vary among these firms, they can provide the opportunity to work their startup clients’ teams – delivering all the same benefits a traditional employee would receive, while mitigating the risks of working for a startup. within For example, an in-house developer will often lose their job if a startup fails to launch, runs out of funding, or no longer believes a role is necessary. A third-party software development partner, on the other hand, can quickly reallocate these employees to other projects and clients, ensuring job security and a steady paycheck regardless of emerging challenges and economic conditions. Importantly, many startups are increasingly outsourcing these roles to software development firms, and this trend will only continue to grow. A recent study from Commit found that between 2022 and 2023, a sign that outsourcing is becoming an increasingly important strategy among startups. software development outsourcing will grow by 70% So, if you want to experience the excitement and camaraderie of a startup culture, while minimizing your risk, consider working with – not for – a startup. It’s the best way to experiment in multiple startup environments and on many new innovations, without needing to job-hop every few months.

Why It’s a Good Idea for Developers to Work with Startups Instead of for Them

FTX + SBF Chapter 11 (Bankruptcy) Court Filing by John J. Ray III, Nov 17, 2022 is part of . You can jump to any chapter in this filing . HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series here III. ACTION TAKEN SINCE MR. BANKMAN-FRIED’S DEPARTURE K- Corporate Communications 76. Finally, and critically, the Debtors have made clear to employees and the public that Mr. Bankman-Fried is not employed by the Debtors and does not speak for them. Mr. Bankman-Fried, currently in the Bahamas, continues to make erratic and misleading public statements. Mr. Bankman-Fried, whose connections and financial holdings in the Bahamas remain unclear to me, recently stated to a reporter on Twitter: “F*** regulators they make everything worse” and suggested the next step for him was to “win a jurisdictional battle vs. Delaware”. I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Date: November 17, 2022 John J. Ray III CEO Continue reading here

'Mr Bankman-Fried is not employed (by FTX) and does not speak for them', says new CEO John Ray 

'Mr Bankman-Friend no está empleado (por FTX) y no habla por ellos', dice el nuevo CEO John Ray

"M. Bankman-Friend n'est pas employé (par FTX) et ne parle pas pour eux", déclare le nouveau PDG John Ray

नए सीईओ जॉन रे कहते हैं, 'मिस्टर बैंकमैन-फ्रेंड (FTX द्वारा) कार्यरत नहीं हैं और उनके लिए बात नहीं करते हैं'

「Bankman-Friend 氏は (FTX によって) 雇用されておらず、彼らの代弁者ではありません」と、新しい CEO の John Ray 氏は述べています。

'O Sr. Bankman-Friend não é empregado (pela FTX) e não fala por eles', diz o novo CEO John Ray

'Ông Bankman-Friend không được tuyển dụng (bởi FTX) và không nói thay cho họ', CEO mới John Ray nói

新任首席执行官约翰·雷 (John Ray) 表示，“Bankman-Friend 先生未受雇于 FTX，也不代表他们发言”

Vue is a reactive language, meaning when the data changes, we can automatically have that represent itself in the HTML. To help us with this, we can use to watch for a change in data, and then do something to the HTML, or send a message to the user about it. watchers in vue This works fine for simple datasets, but if we start to have data which is deeper than one level, it becomes harder to watch it properly for changes. Watching for Nested Data Changes in Vue To understand a little about this issue, we need to understand how watchers work in Vue. Vue only watches for For example, below, we watch for changes in , and those changes: shallow changes count console.log <script>
export default {
    data() {
        return {
            count: 1
        }
    },
    watch: {
        count(data) {
            console.log(data);
        }
    }
}
</script>

<template>
    <h1>{{ count }}</h1>
    <button @click="++this.count">
        Click Me
    </button>
</template> Every time the user clicks on the button, we , and our watcher watches for any changes in . It then logs the data, so we can see the new count value. That means . ++this.count count console any time the button is clicked, the value of count is shown on the console log However, means Vue only checks for changes in that properties value. If we have data more than one level deep, Vue will not check for updates. For example, updating below will not trigger our watcher for , since Vue simply doesn't check for any changes deeper than : shallow changes count.number count count data() {
    return {
        count: {
            number: 1,
            type: 'number'
        }
    },
    watch: {
        // This doesn't get triggered when count.number!
        count(data) {
            console.log(data);
        }
    }
} Instead, we need to mention specifically which element is changing. We can continue to watch for changes in above by changing our watcher to watch for : count.number count.number data() {
    return {
        count: {
            number: 1,
            type: 'number'
        }
    },
    watch: {
        // This gets triggered when count.number changes!
        "count.number" : function(data) {
            console.log(data);
        }
    }
} Using the above method, we can easily check for changes in properties within properties, so that we can fire the appropriate watchers, but it can get messy. If we want to simply watch for any changes, we need to use the property. count deep Using the deep property The deep property can be added to any watcher, and it forces Vue to watch for any change within a specific data property. This means we have to write our a little differently: watcher data() {
    return {
        count: {
            number: 1,
            type: 'number'
        }
    },
    watch: {
        count: {
            handler(data) {
                console.log(data);
            },
            deep: true
        }
    }
} Now whenever any property within changes, the watcher will fire. When we this time, the entire object will be console logged, i.e. . count count console.log(data) count { number: 1, type: 'number' } This is a lot easier than targeting specific properties within properties, but it is costly. Since Vue has to go through each property every time, this can cause serious performance issues for very large objects. As such, only use this if you have a known object of small size. For other situations, stick to targeting specific properties, like . count.number Originally published here.

Nested Changes in Vue: How to Watch Out for them

[Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash .] Leaders have to think digital, embrace design thinking, and read every day to keep up. One the greatest challenges for leaders today is keeping up with the constantly changing business landscape. In this post, I flag the trends that professionals in every field will have to adjust to, and how to do it. Leaders have to think digital, embrace design thinking, and read every day to keep up. BY FAISAL HOQUE The modern economy — local, domestic, and global — operates in a state of accelerating change, driven by increasing and changing competition. This is due in part to easier market entry created by advances in technology and communications infrastructure, restructuring of product sourcing arrangements, the growing availability and changing costs of global labor pools, the continuous restructuring of capital markets, and the emergence of new economic powers. One of the greatest challenges that businesses leaders face is the ability to quickly respond to this constantly accelerating change and to act as the catalyst of organizational adaptation. Whether you’re in a leadership role, focused on innovation, running your own business, or all of the above, here are six traits and trends that will impact your work today and for years to come: 1. READING A LOT WILL KEEP YOU OPEN TO CHANGE Bill Gates, Barack Obama, and Warren Buffett all put ample time on their iPads and/or with physical books and publications, and you should, too. Reading can force our minds to attract, retain, and cultivate new knowledge and skills. Success can quickly inflate egos and cause isolation of leadership, but reading can help break down those walls. Leaders who read can get into continuous learning loops that allow them be more empathetic and collaborative, rather than commanding and controlling. 2. REMOVE ‘END POINTS’ AROUND INNOVATION When was the last time your cable company introduced a groundbreaking, innovative product? Or your electric company rolled out a pioneering new service? The answer is probably “never,” and that’s because competition spawns innovation. In the absence of a competitor knocking on customers’ doors, trying to sell them a newer, better, and more efficient product, the drive to innovate dwindles. Innovation includes everything — how you take your product to market, how you serve your customer, and how you come up with effective pricing. All of these activities go well beyond the very narrow “cocktail napkin” approach to innovation. By adopting this mindset, companies can become more competitive, customer-friendly, and profitable. The latter is a particularly important point in industries where thin margins and higher levels of competition are challenging firms to find more innovative ways to generate revenues. 3. THINK, ACT, AND DO DIGITAL Technological transformations will continue to reshape the way the business world is organized. As information becomes more plentiful and less centralized, more organizations are likely to decentralize, too, in order to respond swiftly to it all. As I wrote in a recent , we are being inundated by a new wave of challenges and opportunities as the planet becomes increasingly connected. article Today technologies have wildly different fates: Anything that can be digitized will be Anything that can go wireless will Anything that can get smaller will Information will move more freely Digital transformation can be defined as a process whereby an organization shifts their business models, processes, and organizational culture with digital technologies to adapt to changing customer behaviors. 4. APPLY AI AND MACHINE LEARNING Nebulous and complicated by nature, AI and the movements it fuels all require a highly specialized skill set. For it to work, people must connect the dots between AI and how it can be effectively applied in the private or public sector. That’s not always easy to do — and the very notion of it may be scary to some who think that the day when machines “take over” isn’t that far off — but the positive results are already evident. As AI and machine learning continue to evolve and mature, it’s time for every company to start experimenting with the many ways these technologies can help organizations work smarter, better, and faster. 5. EMBRACE DESIGN THINKING Contrary to the popular belief that design thinking is only used for a new product or service, existing business processes greatly benefit from design thinking. They usually need to be reinvented the most. Although there are many models and frameworks available for applying design thinking, let’s establish some basic concepts: — Do extensive cross-industry market research, both qualitative and quantitative, to understand current and changing customer behavior. Research — Define the problem that needs solving. Define — Consider many options from many perspectives, disciplines, and sources. Design thinking requires multiple iterations of idea generation before picking the ultimate winning idea. Ideate — Develop rapid prototypes to gather feedback from stakeholders. Once the final solution is refined and approved, an execution plan is then produced to move forward. Execute Design thinking is not just about creativity, as complex problem solving requires a collaborative approach incorporating all parts of an organization — from internal resources, to partners, and customers. 6. REMEMBER, EMPATHY ALWAYS PAYS DIVIDENDS For communication to get through on all sides, we have to be clear about what we want from each other. As a leader, I try especially hard to remain approachable and keep an open dialogue flowing. It’s difficult to keep everyone motivated, asking questions, and sharing their concerns when a lot is changing. But getting it right just means doubling down on the type of empathy leaders love to talk about under much steadier conditions. This means not just clearly articulating our message but also listening actively — without bias or judgment and with a real willingness to consider different perspectives. It’s about trading messages respectfully and accurately, not just them. delivering Leaders may feel their job is to reassure their teams — to talk more than they’re used to. But I’ve found listening to be even more important. When I’m actively listening, I’ll hear genuine concerns and clear a space for talking level-headedly about how to cope with them together. . Original Article @BusinessInsider Serial entrepreneur Faisal Hoque is the founder of Shadoka , which enables aspirations to lead, innovate, and transform with its accelerators and solutions. He is the author of “ Everything Connects: How to Transform and Lead in the Age of Creativity, Innovation, and Sustainability ” (McGraw-Hill) and other books.Copyright © 2018 by Faisal Hoque. All rights reserved. Follow him on Twitter @faisal_hoque .

The 6 Trends That Will Shape Your Business In The Future — And How To Prepare For Them

When I worked at Trilogy, one of my fellow managers seemed to have a brutal case of absenteeism. He was never at his desk. Even more concerning, when I did see him he seemed to be doing random things — talking to one person, going for coffee with another, or maybe just standing around and looking at people. Yet his teams performed excellently. I wondered if luck bestowed him with a pack of A-players, enabling him get by doing nothing as a manager. I thought he was hopeless, but then I discovered something powerful: he spent all his time helping people. Those ostensibly random activities were his way of unblocking his team and paving their way to success. I changed my own behaviour. I started to work for my team and carried that practice throughout my career. Whether I manage five (as I did at first) or 300 (as I did at Xtreme Labs), I help people do their jobs. I volunteer for the unpopular jobs. When my people are blocked, I work as hard as I can to unblock them. To an outsider, it might look like I’m doing nothing. But the value accruing to the company is tremendous. There are four main reasons: Your people need a threshold level of responsibility to get creative Your people need missions and authority to reach peak productivity You are in the best position to unblock people This is how your people learn — and how you learn 1) Your people need a threshold level of responsibility to get creative “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” — Kurt Vonnegut In order for someone to do her best work, she needs to feel and understand the problem. She’ll never grow wings if she’s never forced to fly. The conflict and struggle of fixing one’s own problems is the key to creativity. This is why people should work for themselves and ask for help from managers when they need it. This is the opposite of what most people think (people work for managers and ask for help from below when they need it). As a manager, your job is to unblock people by getting your hands dirty, showing them who to ask for help, or asking for help a level up — from your own manager. This way, the company benefits by having far more people working on creative solutions to problems. Command-and-control works for organizations like the army, but not for knowledge workers. You need each of your people to spread their wings. 2) Your people need missions and authority to reach peak productivity “You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” — Toni Morrison Your people have to shed their chains to do good work. A typical manager might give her subordinate a task and micromanage until it . I prefer to ask my people to build something that . looks like they want solves the pain For example, I asked one of our Helpful product designers, Novia, to help solve a pain: some users want to use the app but they won’t use their phones. The mission was to build web functionality for everything in our app. Her output looked nothing like I expected, but it was fantastic. Roger Martin calls this the “Choice Cascade” — choices cascade down the org chart and fall to the people that actually do the work. Missions alone, however, are not enough. Your people need to have the authority to accomplish their missions. Even if you think the output should look different, they need to be able to say “no.” Saying “no” is a skill, and like all other skills, it has to be nurtured. I encourage and reward people who defend their points of view. For example, I gave Shawn, another Helpful product designer, a specific feature suggestions. When I didn’t see it in the app, I repeated it five more times. Eventually, I asked, “Why isn’t that in the product?” He replied, “I know you’ve told me many times, but I don’t agree with you.” He has the final say. I am just one voice. 3) You are in the best position to unblock people “In most cases you will have more context than I will about a [technical] decision, but come to me when you’re blocked and I’ll unblock you. That’s my job.” As a manager, you understand who knows what, who’s done what, and who owns what. By virtue of that alone, you know how to get help for your people. At Xtreme, I spent a lot of my time learning about people. This way, I could help people quickly. My team called me “air traffic control.” My task as air traffic control was to unblock people (making sure there were no crashes), but not micromanaging (how to fly the plane). 4) This is how your people learn — and how you learn “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” — Richard Branson As a manager, your job is not to prevent people from making mistakes. Don’t worry about mistakes. In reality, there are extremely few catastrophic mistakes that people can make. Your job is to set a tone that making mistakes is okay — as long as people learn from them. Make your own mistakes. Bring a mindset of learning to everything. Explicitly call it out: “I thought that X was right, but turns out I was wrong and Y is better.” I learned that you have to be explicitly and emphatically advertise your own mistakes. At Pivotal, I once called someone by the wrong name and a colleague said, “Woah, you make mistakes!” I was floored, ”Do you think I never make mistakes?” My mistake was to not showcase my mistakes. This helps people get rid of their fear — again unleashing autonomy and creativity. Two Cautions 1. You can very sparingly say “no” Success for a manager sometimes requires saying “no.” Some of your creative people will sometimes create output that just won’t jive (with other departments, with the company vision, or with other team members). Your duty to the company may require you to put a bullet in such projects. Do it quickly and without remorse. As a manager, you have to be decisive — your team will appreciate it. Just use your bullets wisely — saying “no” should never become a habit. For example, I will not budge in my stance pair programming. I believe so strongly in the benefits of pairing that I simply will not allow engineers to code alone. I often say that, if you don’t like pair programming, you don’t have to work at Helpful. 2. Don’t create a leaning monolith When you have large numbers of people all working to advance their mission, you increase the risk of colossal failure. They might build a huge monolith only to have it fail in an unexpected way. To mitigate this risk, be agile (ship, test, iterate). At Helpful, everyone (not just our engineers) demos every Friday. This means nobody can work on something for more than a few days without another person seeing their output. Friday demos also force people to think in terms of short-term output. It’s okay to demo something that’s broken, as long as it’s moving in the right direction each week. Be hard on the process, not the people. Another way to avoid creating a monolith is to time box activities. For example, one of our Helpers wanted to create a new analytics report. I know that analytics can take a lot of time, so I said, “Sure, but don’t spend more than one day on it.” This forced him to hone in on the few most valuable metrics, create a lightweight report, and move on. Your org chart is upside-down. Flip it. Conclusion:

Your team doesn’t work for you. You work for them.

By Nenad Zaric, Co-founder and CEO at Trickest Every industry generates massive amounts of data, which is now being used for better decision-making — tech giants understand this. For example, streaming powerhouse Netflix implements data analytics to study viewers’ visual preferences and adjusts content thumbnails to similar content its users have liked to increase viewership. The rise of AI is further influencing this trend, helping companies make sense of their datasets to uncover weaknesses and predict outcomes. However, these advancements are no longer exclusive to engineers, managers, and IT teams who grapple with data daily. This information is increasingly climbing the ladder and knocking on executive’s doors. In fact, one of today’s most pressing challenges for executives is data privacy concerns and cybersecurity. It has never been more important to make key decisions toward better data governance, and data skills are necessary to understand the specific risks and demands a company faces. So, reading reports an engineer crafted with dedicated software programs is no longer enough. A concerning report revealed that only half of C-suite executives were confident in their data literacy, and 45% made decisions based on their gut feeling instead of data-backed facts. Modern executives must have data skills to understand the flow of valuable data in their company and know how to make it work for them, not the other way around. From crucial decision-making to infusing data culture and enabling democratization, positive company changes stemming from data analysis must start at the top. Spot pain points in minutes, not days When a company decides to change directions, these choices begin at the executive level and trickle down to managers and workers — nothing new there. But, while an exceptional leader has always been crucial in driving change, it’s how they do it that is shifting. C-suite directors are in charge of crafting better strategy, financial performance, risk management, and corporate governance, and data is becoming increasingly connected to all of these activities. Imagine you’re meeting with the Head of Sales to discuss the sudden performance drop of a fan-favorite item in your online store. You can’t seem to connect the dots from the sales report you’ve received, and it becomes a hurdle to decode the issue. One skill that can help executives and department heads easily uncover patterns for weak performance is data visualization. Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, and Looker Studio are some of the most prominent data visualization tools. They are easily accessible from popular corporate programs (Salesforce, Office 365, and Google Studio) and help analyze massive amounts of data in visually appealing ways. While you don’t need to be a data scientist to use them, setting up and building charts requires certain data skills and tech acumen, or at least prior training. Whether from a data science and visualization course at Harvard, or self-taught online classes, a few hours and hands-on practice will be time well spent to hone your data visualization skills. With this newfound talent, you can aid and guide department leaders to the answers to their performance questions. In this case, you would pivot to the online sales data in the company database using visualization to track downtime and realize the fan-favorite item’s link has been down, leading to that drop in sales. Expertise in data visualization tools allows executives to stay ahead of the curve in every business vertical by quickly analyzing pain points and understanding what their verticals need. This leads to improved strategies and more accurate decision-making at a fraction of the time it takes to crunch vital datasets. KYC: Know Your Cybersecurity While data management isn’t an executive’s role in itself, knowing its ins and outs allows them to understand the company's successes and areas for improvement. When data increasingly plays a vital role in a business, ensuring that it is being properly managed and secured can save leaders major headaches in the future. Does your company practice master data management? Does it have an outdated data lake that’s slowing down processes? How is sensitive data access managed? These are governance questions investors, stakeholders, and partners might ask, and you must be ready to understand and navigate these concepts. Moreover, adopting good cybersecurity practices starts at the top — especially when 63% of security professionals say users with access to critical business data are their biggest data risk. Knowing the basics of cybersecurity and current trends not only allows top-level roles to mitigate risks from their end but also helps them foresee their IT teams’ needs, like allocating a budget for better endpoint security and enforcing staff training. Beyond courses and academic work, data governance and cybersecurity at a C-suite level are more easily learned through conversations with experts. You can resort to networking and approaching other industry leaders and even your own staff to gauge these concepts and what they mean for your company. As a result, instead of wrestling to understand the demands of security professionals, data-savvy executives will know when needs are pressing or if they can wait, making wiser and more objective business choices alongside their team leaders. Make data work for you — not the other way around There was a time when data was only one of many business assets, something you generate but store for audits or other compliance purposes. Those days are gone, especially as we move toward data-driven solutions that thrive primarily on how a company can implement data for other use cases. Data is no longer a stagnant asset — it can make you money if you derive the right value from it. Knowing the value of your data is only possible if you’re well-informed about it and know its potential. Executives with data skills will be able to take the lead and inject their data into better risk management strategies, extract customer data to improve marketing, and further implement it into AI tools to speed up business processes. Grasping these concepts also impacts the way you communicate with stakeholders. Expressing the importance of data security, governance, and even democratization for your company must come across as more than numbers and graphs — they wish to know the real value of these practices. By clearly explaining the importance of safeguarding data and placing it front and center of your operations, stakeholders will be on the same page about business decisions. Simply put, skipping the data-related courses will do nothing for future executives. In fact, nowadays, being able to run a successful company is directly linked to your data knowledge. So, prioritize these skills if you don’t have them, and make sure to pitch them as a worthwhile talent when climbing the ladder; they will be key to your success. By Nenad Zaric , Co-founder and CEO at Trickest Nenad Zaric Nenad Zaric Trickest Trickest Every industry generates massive amounts of data, which is now being used for better decision-making — tech giants understand this. For example, streaming powerhouse Netflix implements data analytics to study viewers’ visual preferences and adjusts content thumbnails to similar content its users have liked to increase viewership. Netflix Netflix The rise of AI is further influencing this trend, helping companies make sense of their datasets to uncover weaknesses and predict outcomes. However, these advancements are no longer exclusive to engineers, managers, and IT teams who grapple with data daily. This information is increasingly climbing the ladder and knocking on executive’s doors. In fact, one of today’s most pressing challenges for executives is data privacy concerns and cybersecurity . data privacy concerns and cybersecurity data privacy concerns and cybersecurity It has never been more important to make key decisions toward better data governance, and data skills are necessary to understand the specific risks and demands a company faces. So, reading reports an engineer crafted with dedicated software programs is no longer enough. A concerning report revealed that only half of C-suite executives were confident in their data literacy, and 45% made decisions based on their gut feeling instead of data-backed facts. only half of C-suite executives only half of C-suite executives Modern executives must have data skills to understand the flow of valuable data in their company and know how to make it work for them, not the other way around. From crucial decision-making to infusing data culture and enabling democratization, positive company changes stemming from data analysis must start at the top. Spot pain points in minutes, not days When a company decides to change directions, these choices begin at the executive level and trickle down to managers and workers — nothing new there. But, while an exceptional leader has always been crucial in driving change, it’s how they do it that is shifting. C-suite directors are in charge of crafting better strategy, financial performance, risk management, and corporate governance, and data is becoming increasingly connected to all of these activities. Imagine you’re meeting with the Head of Sales to discuss the sudden performance drop of a fan-favorite item in your online store. You can’t seem to connect the dots from the sales report you’ve received, and it becomes a hurdle to decode the issue. One skill that can help executives and department heads easily uncover patterns for weak performance is data visualization. Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, and Looker Studio are some of the most prominent data visualization tools. They are easily accessible from popular corporate programs (Salesforce, Office 365, and Google Studio) and help analyze massive amounts of data in visually appealing ways. While you don’t need to be a data scientist to use them, setting up and building charts requires certain data skills and tech acumen, or at least prior training. Whether from a data science and visualization course at Harvard, or self-taught online classes, a few hours and hands-on practice will be time well spent to hone your data visualization skills. With this newfound talent, you can aid and guide department leaders to the answers to their performance questions. In this case, you would pivot to the online sales data in the company database using visualization to track downtime and realize the fan-favorite item’s link has been down, leading to that drop in sales. Expertise in data visualization tools allows executives to stay ahead of the curve in every business vertical by quickly analyzing pain points and understanding what their verticals need. This leads to improved strategies and more accurate decision-making at a fraction of the time it takes to crunch vital datasets. KYC: Know Your Cybersecurity While data management isn’t an executive’s role in itself, knowing its ins and outs allows them to understand the company's successes and areas for improvement. When data increasingly plays a vital role in a business, ensuring that it is being properly managed and secured can save leaders major headaches in the future. Does your company practice master data management ? Does it have an outdated data lake that’s slowing down processes? How is sensitive data access managed? These are governance questions investors, stakeholders, and partners might ask, and you must be ready to understand and navigate these concepts. master data management master data management Moreover, adopting good cybersecurity practices starts at the top — especially when 63% of security professionals say users with access to critical business data are their biggest data risk. Knowing the basics of cybersecurity and current trends not only allows top-level roles to mitigate risks from their end but also helps them foresee their IT teams’ needs, like allocating a budget for better endpoint security and enforcing staff training. 63% 63% Beyond courses and academic work, data governance and cybersecurity at a C-suite level are more easily learned through conversations with experts. You can resort to networking and approaching other industry leaders and even your own staff to gauge these concepts and what they mean for your company. As a result, instead of wrestling to understand the demands of security professionals, data-savvy executives will know when needs are pressing or if they can wait, making wiser and more objective business choices alongside their team leaders. Make data work for you — not the other way around There was a time when data was only one of many business assets, something you generate but store for audits or other compliance purposes. Those days are gone, especially as we move toward data-driven solutions that thrive primarily on how a company can implement data for other use cases. Data is no longer a stagnant asset — it can make you money if you derive the right value from it. Knowing the value of your data is only possible if you’re well-informed about it and know its potential. Executives with data skills will be able to take the lead and inject their data into better risk management strategies, extract customer data to improve marketing, and further implement it into AI tools to speed up business processes. value of your data value of your data AI tools AI tools Grasping these concepts also impacts the way you communicate with stakeholders. Expressing the importance of data security, governance, and even democratization for your company must come across as more than numbers and graphs — they wish to know the real value of these practices. By clearly explaining the importance of safeguarding data and placing it front and center of your operations, stakeholders will be on the same page about business decisions. Simply put, skipping the data-related courses will do nothing for future executives. In fact, nowadays, being able to run a successful company is directly linked to your data knowledge. So, prioritize these skills if you don’t have them, and make sure to pitch them as a worthwhile talent when climbing the ladder; they will be key to your success.

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