Small companies sometimes don't get bigger

I've just been in Pakistan where there are thousands of small companies. As new Pakistani companies stabilise, they seem to reach a point where the owner can satisfy the demands of his (even extended) family ... and so he (and it is almost always a 'he') eases off into his comfortable lifestlye.  the company never gets big enough to take advantages of scale or to make real investment ... and sooner or later a technology or a new product comes along ... and the company fails.

So, the question you have to ask yourself is ... How do I keep myself and my staff hungry for more?  What gets them up in the morning?  What keeps them awake at night?  Am I sure we are not just coasting into oblivion?

(And a question for my Muslim friends.  is the pakistani situation a result of people treating this earth and their place on it as a waiting room for the greater world and greater riches to come?)

Make me happy, Infolinks

Infolinks is the organisation that puts adds on this blog (and lots of others) ... unobtrusively, of course. They are a model of customer service ... when they communicate with me they do so in a way that is always useful (they only talk to me when they need to) and always entertaining ... and they give me money. What more could I ask?

Well, since you asked (oh, it was me, wan't it) ... they could add to my future level of happiness by allowing me to ride a llama in any country where they are native. I'm sure that's not beyond them.

In the meantime, I suggest you check them out if you have a blog or website (www.infolinks.com) ... and see, in particular, how they operate.

Always ask ... Why?

Most of us are very busy ... sometimes too busy to think about all our activity and how much it is contributing to our longer-term goals. (Of course we all have crises to deal with but I'm talking here about our regular day-to-day activity.)

Why are we doing what we are doing. (We can ask later about how we are doing it!)

Always ask yourself the following question ...

Is this task really something that I want to, and need to, accomplish, or am I confusing activity with productivity?

To do ... or not to do

There are lots of 'to-do' applications around for your computer but many of them are little more than static lists of pending responsibilities. Teux Deux, though, is a slick, simple, and free online task manager that visually groups your upcoming chores by date, giving you a clear view of what you need to accomplish in the coming week. It was designed to be simple but visually appealing.

The site's interface works particularly well with the popular Getting Things Done method for enhancing productivity. Each date acts a bit like a folder, keeping all of the tasks for the day contained and compartmentalized, so you can focus on what matters most at any one time. If you have tasks with no specific due date, you put them in a ‘Someday' box on the main screen, so you can put them off without forgetting about them.