It Seems To Me

Thoughts and Rants on Technology, Business and Politics

Never Eat Alone : And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

By Keith Ferrazzi (with Tahl Raz)

Every once in a while I read a book that profoundly changes the way that I think and act. Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi, is my current foundation rocker. This is a highly recommended book for anyone who aspires to be successful in business and in life.

I have a natural tendency towards being an introvert and it is always an effort for me to stay in touch with people. Keith Ferrazzi has set me free. His simple, straight-forward, and inspirational book spells out the principles and practices of building and maintaining a successful network. Ferrazzi claims to have more than 5,000 people on his Palm who will answer the phone when he calls. I believe him. I may never achieve such a rich contact list but I have a new-found confidence in reaching out and leveraging my network.

Ferrazzi’s philosophy is simple and profound. It is built upon the presumption you’re your network is a valuable asset. You take it with you wherever you go, to each new position, to each new encounter. The strength of your network is part of your value to a company. As a valuable asset, your network takes effort to build and maintain. Without constant maintenance it will wither into disrepair.

The key pillar of Ferrazzi’s networking philosophy is that it is not about what your network can do for you, but rather, it’s about what your network can do for others. He says that, “Real networking is about finding ways to make other people successful.” This is a deeply rewarding experience when it happens. It changes the way you look at people you meet. Ferrazzi says that if he is going to take the time to meet with someone, he is going to try and make that person successful.

After establishing his mindset for networking, Ferrazzi goes on for twenty four chapters with page after page of practical guidelines for networking. He defines the follow-up protocol after meeting with someone. Should you send an e-mail? Should you send it right away? Or wait a few days so you don’t look to aggressive. Ferrazzi says to always follow up and do so within 24 hours. Include a few comments that will help the person remember you and then follow up again in one to three months.

Other useful highlights include the Hollywood adage to never disappear. Always be reaching out. Ferrazzi recommends using whatever electronic tools and devices that suit you but take an active role in managing your contact list. Organize your contacts into those who get a monthly call or note, a quarterly ping as well as a general list that receive an annual update. Leverage the time-honored practice of forwarding articles that people may find interesting. Remember friend’s birthdays. Call people when you are in town – never eat alone.

And don’t assume that your contact list is limited to people you have already met. Maintain an aspirational list of contacts as well. Create a category for people you would like to meet and then actively look for ways to forge connections to those people.

There are thirty one chapters to this highly practical book with each chapter averaging less than ten pages. I have taken to reading a chapter each morning as kind of inspirational reading. With titles ranging from the highly practical, like “How to Leverage Conferences” or “The Art of Small Talk” to the deeply personal, like “Be Interesting” or “Never Give In To Hubris” each chapter is a treasure trove of insights and actions to make professional and personal lives more rewarding. This is an excellent read if you are looking to grow your network and your career.

On January 14, a new world record was set for solving the Rubik’s Cube. The previous record was 11.75 seconds which has now been shaved to 11.13 seconds! Can this be true? The SF Gate has a great write-up of the event. But to be truly amazed, watch this five minute video.

 But speed is not the only thing that is amazing about the new generation of speed cubers. The World Championships had 5 categories of competition:

• 3 x 3 x 3 Speedsolve
• 3 x 3 x 3 Blindfolded
• 3 x 3 x 3 One Handed
• 4 x 4 x 4 Speedsolve
• 5 x 5 x 5 Speedsolve

One handed cubing is a marvel of dexterity. But solving the cube blindfolded borders on magic. There are even a few people in the world who can solve three or more cubes blindfolded. According to Angela Hayden, blindfold cubing requires no more than the learning of 5 algorithms and the memorisation skills equivalent to remembering about 40 digits. I appreciate your modesty Angela, but solving the cube in less than 20 seconds, or while wearing a blindfold, is not just magic, it is downright awesome.

It was 25 years ago when I fell victim to my first Rubik’s Cube. I was a senior in college studying mathematics and physics. I felt an obligation to my academic disciplines to solve the little devil. A roommate and I spent three months obsessed with the puzzle. The Internet was not available yet and the tell-all books with step-by-step solutions had yet to be written. We would spend hours twisting and turning the coloured labels on the magic cube. We slowly figured out a number of moves (or “algorithms” as the cubers call them today) that would move a single cube from one face to another without disturbing other cubes. We wrote them down in our own cryptic code. By the time we had about a dozen unique algorithms we realized that we had enough moves to solve the damn thing. It was a glorious day when each face was monochromatic.

At my very best, I was able to solve the cube in 63 seconds. Try as I may, I was never able to get below 60 seconds. Perhaps if I had some optimised algorithms that I could have memorised . . . .

Watch the video again. Or take a look at the video clip of the 11.75 second world record. I caught the first wave of Rubik mania back in the early 80’s. It is a joy to see that the magic is still alive.

I opened Windows Media Player recently and immediately understood why the iPod is rocking the world. According to Steve's keynote address at the recent MacWorld, Apple has sold 42 million iPods so far. I have done my share.

I have owned 6 iPods and my partner is on her second. Two of my previous hard-drive based iPods died after hitting the hard floor one too many times, and one was stolen when our house was robbed. Now, according to my (distorted) calculations, 42 million iPods sold equates to a penetration of only about 6 - 10 million households. But lo, I digress.

Everyone marvels at the elegance of the iPod and the intuitive simplicity of the interface. I can't disagree. The Nano is an amazing device - perfect size and almost weightless. I carry mine everywhere.

But it is not the iPod's design (and it certainly isn't its price) that is driving iPod sales. No, the reason that Apple's iPod continues to trounce all of its competitors is because of the ultimate simplicity in loading the iPod with things you want to hear. Most other MP3 player makers rely on Windows Media Player, WinAmp or their own applications to enable you to transfer songs and audio files to your portable player. Unfortunately, these other media managers pale compared to the simplicity of synchronizing your iPod with iTunes. You install iTunes, you plug in an iPod, and you choose what music / playlists you want, and you take it with you. Of course, buying new music from the iTunes music store couldn't be much easier as well.

In contrast, I opened Windows Media Player the other day and it immediately started copying MP3 files to a USB thumb drive that I happened to have connected. This was going on in the background until, 250 MB of copied files later, I figured out what was happening. Navigating and organising your music in iTunes is much easier than in Windows Media Player. And iTunes only tries to add music to a connected iPod, not every portable storage device that might be attached.

Computers still have a long way to go towards being simple and easy to use but iTunes is the star player at the moment. No one will usurp iPod's market dominance by making a better, faster, cheaper, easier, more elegant, more stylish, or larger capacity player. The iPod's dominance can only be threatened by someone who can make it even easier to get what you want on your portable player when and where you want it.

All this is not to say that the iPod / iTunes combo is not without its shortcomings. But I shall leave such rants for another day.