QUALITY vs QUANTITY

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Dear Friends:

As a young student of economics, I was taught about the "Law Of Diminishing Returns." As it was explained to me, it was a very pricey version of the old adage "Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth," or somesuch. Intuitively, this makes complete sense. If you picture a small plot of farmland with a crew of fieldhands (each armed with a rake or hoe) working the crop or the soil, you can see that, generally speaking, a greater number of folks gets the job (whatever the job is) done faster -- to an extent. But after a certain optimal number of workers has been reached, the operation becomes counterproductive due to overcrowding. What started out as farming begins to look more and more like a Lacrosse match, a Black Friday outing at a major retail store, or a session of the U.S. Congress, with an ever-increasing probability of injuries and less and less production.

The quantity of people, money or any other resource "thrown" in the general direction of a problem is not necessarily proportionate to the likelihood of reaching a solution. Bigger commitees, larger financial bailouts and increased information are not necessarily desirable (or even helpful), unless there are several issues addressed first:

• What is the actual problem to be solved?


• What is the root cause of the problem? Sometimes merely medicating symptoms just allows the disease to progress.


• What will the solution look like, assuming we succeed? If we don't have a clear vision of what the changed scenario will look like, if we cannot visualize, or think it through to completion, we are possibly taking a Humvee trip on a bridge that is 98% complete --e.g., the last 2% seems small, until you fall into the ocean.


• What are the proposed sources and uses of the the personnel, funds or other resources to be deployed in solving the root cause of the problem?


• How will the proposed steps of the solution be implemented, monitored and corrected, should a change in direction become necessary?


• How will the resources be accounted for and controlled?


• Which parties stand to benefit the most by the plan?


• Which parties stand to incur the greatest burden (i.e., cost) of the plan?


• Are there incentives for competence and efficiency, and dis-incentives for failure? If we reward failure, we encourage and perpetuate it. Don't give the CEO of a major company (which he or she has driven to the brink of bankrupcy through his or her own misjudgments, negligence or avarice) a major sum to keep his or her organization solvent and let him or her continue to receive the rewards that should be reserved for those who are successful. Worse, don't let that same CEO fire the bulk of his staff in order to conserve his or her own level of inordinate compensation.


• How will resources be phased in? what will the benchmark achievements be? Let's not build a "bridge to nowhere" or take a meandering drive without a clear destination and a linear path. What are the expected results, incrementally, along the project timeline?


• Which parties are responsible for which functions?


• Who will oversee the efforts of the responsible parties to maintain their integrity? (Checks and balances anyone?)


• In terms of production possibilities and allocations of resources, will our assignment of resources to a particular problem cause another problem to take its place?


• Are we running the risk of pumping blood (of a rare type) into a patient with an absolutely fatal diagnosis? Are we reacting emotionally and ignoring the analytical notion of sunk costs?


• We must manage people's expectations with intelligence, realism and sensitivity.

These are considerations crucial to intelligent decisionmaking and sucessful problem-solving. They require several ingredients:

• A detailed plan;


• A skilled leader;


• Well-coordinated teamwork and a sharing of costs, as well as a sharing of benefits.

Thank you for reading me.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle, Internationalist

KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, cooperation, peaceful cooexistence, a world without walls...

A MATTER OF TRUST

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My Dear Friends:

Trust is a key ingredient in establishing any relationship, whether that relationship is between family members, neighbors, or partners in any business endeavor. Competence is, of course, important in choosing a person to engage with. But trust is the catalyst that simultaneously cements a good relationship while liberating each partner to do his or her portion of the work with focus and without the distractions of fear.

In this time of faceless international relationships created through internet communications, conveying trustworthiness and good faith are critical from the very outset of a first email.

Having said all of this, please read the correspondence which follows...I receive several just like it (from various senders, in various countries, and with clients who have died in various plane crashes) in my email every single day. They are presumptuous, ridiculous spam. Worse, they increase the inherent subconscious element of suspicion and distrust that so many people have for others in different countries.

In our roles as Citizen Ambassadors, we are being hampered in our efforts by this type of idiocy.

Do not let it dissuade you from conducting friendship and commerce worldwide. Make it a part of your mission to identify these moronic and malevolent solicitations for what they are...litter on the Internationalist landscape.

Let us all endeavor to be trustworthy, and to encourage and reward trustworthiness.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle


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Dear friend,I assume you and your family are in good health.My name is Mohammed Romaric and I am the Foreign Operations Manager in one of the banks here in Burkina Faso. This being a small world in which it can be difficult to make new acquaintances, and because it is virtually impossible to know who is trustworthy and who can be believed, I have decided to place my trust in you after much fasting and prayer. It is only because of this that I have decided to confide in you and to share with you this confidential business.In my bank there resides an overdue and unclaimed sum of thirteen million two hundred thousand United States dollars ($13,200,000.00). When the account holder suddenly passed away in a private jet crash , he left no beneficiaries who would be entitled to the receipt of these funds. For this purposes, i have found it expedient to extradite these funds to a trustworthy individual with capacities to act as foreign business partners. Thus i humbly request your assistance to claim this fund. On the transfer of this fund in your account, you will take 32% {US$4,224,000.00} as your share from the total fund, 5% {US$660,000.00}, will be shared to Charitable Organizations, Motherless Babies homes, disabled helpless people in both our country as the balance will be for me. Please if you are really sure you can handle this project, contact me immediately I am looking forward to read from you soonest. Yours faithfully, Mohammed Romaric

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KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, cooperation, peaceful cooexistence, a world without walls...

THE POWER OF THE TEAM ENTITY

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Dear Friends:

It bears repeating -- As the worldwide economic situation becomes increasingly intimidating, with its day-to-day volatility and its evident downward macroeconomic trend, several skills are absolutely crucial to survival:

• Entrepreneurship (with its compatriots: initiative, innovation and persistence).


• Networking (with an emphasis on its second crucial phase: relationship-building).


• Teamwork (with a focus on cooperation and equitable sharing of efforts and rewards).

I recently posed a question to some of my colleagues at Linked In about the notion of the Team Unit, and received some wonderful responses. One of them follows for your information.

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LinkedIn
Date: 11/18/2008
Subject RE: THE TEAM ENTITY
Group: Linked 2 Leadership
Kay Stout wrote (in answer to my post, which follows):

"Douglas, I couldn't agree with you more. Effective team performance can be amazing - - remember "Miracle on Ice?". Bud Greenspan said it was the greatest Olympic moment he ever covered. International team cooperation can be especially rewarding personally and professionally. And, thanks to sites like LinkedIn - - you can build a team across state lines, country borders and across the oceans. I've also witnessed the humanitarian success of organizations like Rotary, Heifer International and Kiva, who combine resources and people to build teams and processes that successfully changes the lives of others. No man is an island - - and today we can join hands electronically to make an impact (personally and professionally).

On 11/13/08 8:47 PM, Douglas Castle asked: THE TEAM ENTITY (An Issue For Your Evaluation and Comments) -- (This was my post):

Dear Colleagues:

We spend a great deal of time networking and acquiring new contacts. Then, some of us agressively and positively go to work converting those contects from mere names into good, two-way relationships. Why must it end there?

I believe that the most powerful business operating subunit is the Team. Further, I believe that team-building is going to become a skill of increasing importance as the traditional corporate and institutional paradigms are put to the test.
Kindly review: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/using-teams-to-fuel-exponential.html and let me know your thoughts. Thank you.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle, THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE

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The greatest challenge which lies before us regarding this issue is to educate and motive the tremendous majority of displaced people in the world economy who are inveterate "corporate" creatures with either 1) very specialized, or at the other extreme, very nebulously-defined roles within the political heirarchy of the big company interpersonal infrastructure and typical status quo paradigms, and 2) those individuals who are accustomed to working alone. How do we bring the appeal of "teamwork" to these persons who constitute the greatest percentage of the populations of most westernized countries?

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s. Numerous of my readers (as well as a number of my detractors and my mother, who tends to worry about me quite a bit) have asked what services I actually provide for independent clients when I am not working with Mojave Jet Group, Internal Energy Plus or The National Networker. Please visit my professional blogsite-in-process at http://aboutdouglascastle.blogspot.com/ . Learn something about me. And, by all means, direct your constructive criticism my way. If you are one of my readers, your opinion is not only welcomed...it is encouraged.

KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, cooperation, peaceful cooexistence, a world without walls...

THE POWER OF COOPERATION - THE TEAM

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THE POWER OF COOPERATION -- THE TEAM
A Synergistic Miracle Occurs When Networks Are Upgraded To Teams. -- By Douglas Castle

Dear Friends:

There is a great deal of talk about networking. Most of this discussion revolves around the simplistic notion of collecting contact names and filing them away somewhere where you may forget them. On occasion, some slightly more enterprising souls have come up with notion of converting contacts into relationships. I am told that we can accomplish this by doing several things:

1. Maintaining communication (through personalized emails, through forwarding newsletters and articles, and through reaching out on a continual basis;

2. Asking, from time to time, for advice from these new acquaintances, and asking (just as frequently) how we may be able to help them accomplish their goals and objectives;

3. Sharing some personal information about our lives, our interests, our trifling vulnerabilities, areas where we need help, interesting cultural and familial stories, and the like;

4. Presenting oppportunities to participate in projects together, but without making demands or applying harsh pressures;

5. Making introductions to persons who may be of assistance to these new acquaintances.

In accomplishing the above objectives, it is helpful to communicate by telephone, and to send photographs in order to achieve a fuller, richer, more sensorial personalized perception -- a more "human" bond. I believe that brief voicemails or video clips embedded into otherwise conventional emails will become increasingly popular toward achieving this humanization perception objective. But, as always, I have retreated into my private reverie of utopian super-personalization and cyber-intimacy. (sigh)

More to my subject, I feel that networks should be brought together by diplomatic and energetic initiators, and shaped into cause-based teams...teams which can accomplish great things by working in concert. A well-chosen, well-structured, well-guided team can accomplish great things in this world. Going further, if a team is visulaized as a circle, then every member has his or her own circle of contacts outside of the team with him or her at its center. If these circles can be linked or brought together into the greater circle, team size and power potential have the potential to be exponentially increased. Struggling entrepreneurial enterprises are generally far to frightened and defensive to see the tremendous benefits of this conjunction and cooperation -- this protectionist mindset is, with the possible exception of plain indolence and inertia, one of the greatest barriers to team formation and success. Sadly, even some of the most otherwise active networks remain comprised of multiple dyads, and team formation is relegated to "afterthought" status.

This is as wasteful of human resources as it is wrong. A well -coordinated team accomplishes so many fundamental objectives for each of its members:

1. Complementarity;

2. Synergy;

3. Protective diversification;

4. Risk-sharing and minimization of individual loss exposure;

5. Reduction of redundant costs, and sharing of costs to reduce cost per participant;

6. Cross- marketing;

7. Rapid growth potential.

How are networks formed into teams?

Firstly, each network member must have an existing relationship (in dyad form) with the team organizer, or initiator. This latter person is the unifying friend and catalyst who serves as vouchsafe and introducer of each prospective team member to each of the others. This person may be a leader, or a moderator, depending upon his or her preferred personal style. A team must be formed around a specific projec, goal or mission; if the project, goal or mission is either too nebulous, too vast, or of minimal perceived importance, the team will not bond. Important, relevant, specified purposefulness is key to team solidification and participation amongst members. Passion and vision are important uniting elements as well.

Each team member must have a clearly defined role, and each member must clearly see the importance of each other member's role, as well. A single team member who does not make a perceivable contribution to the team effort will cause dissonance, and ultimately, team dissolution.

The organization of the future, born of today's networking obsession, will be a consolidated team, comprised of component sub-teams. And the wonder of this is that team members can be culled from every part of the world where internet access exists. I firmly believe that this organization of the future will be stronger, better and far more productive than the conventional structures which we see crumbling about us now. It will be more interpersonal, more flexible, more compassionate, and far more profitable.

Teams are more than a business configuration -- they are the natural next step in the evolution of the socially conscious organization.

Prediction: You will be hearing more and more about team-building. You will become increasingly receptive to the idea. You will become a member of a team and reap greater benefits in every aspect of your compensation and quality of life than you ever had when working for a traditionally-structured and typically-managed corporate enterprise.

Cross-reference links:

THE NATIONAL NETWORKER

THE GLOBAL FUTURIST

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle,

Internationalist

KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, cooperation, peaceful cooexistence, a world without walls...

YOUR PARTICIPATION IS DEMANDED

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Dear Friends:

Welcome to Douglas Castle's THREE TENETS OF INTERNATIONALISM:

1. Each of us is a responsible custodian of the Entire Human Race.

2. Each of us is a responsible representative of the Entire Human Race.

3. Each of us is a responsible ambassador to every other Member of the Entire Human Race.

Admittedly, these appear, at first glance, to be daunting responsibilities. They are second to our individual responsibilities to ourselves in terms of health and survival...but are necessary to have a fully-functional, peaceful and constructive society. A society with more building than destroying. A society with more entrepreneurship and less prosecution. A society with more freedom and less repression and persecution. A society that where each individual can be himself or herself, but yet be an integral component of the entire machinery of Humankind.

In the most vulgar terms, if we spend all of our time "looking out for # 1," we will eventually find ourselves in a quagmire or storm of # 2. We must undertake self-growth, but we must always look to widen our circle of allies. further, we must seek to acquire their allies as our allies. Adam J. Kovitz and I speak of these notions as they relate to commerce in The National Networker, as well as in its accompanying Blog, which is still under construction. Each of us must build his or her value -- his or her Relationship Capital.

I came across an interesting article that I am excited about sharing with you. If you enjoy it, and feel as moved by it as I did, please visit the author's site. This gentleman, Mr. Win Wenger, may indeed be worth following.
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A Little of What History has been Teaching Us
Posted by: wwenger101@aol.com
http://us.mc559.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=wwenger101@aol.com&Subject=winwenger
Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:38 pm (PDT)
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Gentlepersons and Mindlist Colleagues -
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One thing that 19th AND 20th century conditions in this sometimes drought-stricken North American continent, was about fighting fires and wildfires. One needs to put out or block the fire before your neighbor's house burns, or your own house goes with it.
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In the 20th Century, the start of World War II taught us the same lesson again, in another context, however imperfectly. For an animal as smart as we humans are reported to be, collectively we are remarkably slow learners.
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Another thing that the 20th Century taught us was that there are indeed wrongs and evils in the world which must somehow be changed or overcome - among them totalitarianism, genocide, racism, disease, and destruction of the environment and of common heritage. One thing the Great Depression taught us was that an economy of peers is way, way more prosperous and productive than an economy of peons. Money concentrated into too few hands can't do its work, that makes your markets too small and we all lose.
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Why have we had to learn this painful lesson all over again? And HAVE we? One thing which history and our own times have consistently taught us, over and over and over and over again, is that no one stock of people is inherently better or worse than others, people are pretty much the same everywhere. Values and circumstances may differ from one subculture to another, from one culture to another, and those do matter. What is it locally, that gives people advantage over each other within a community or within a nation, that largely determines what gets done there, the good and bad which that society commits and professes? Who there gets positively reinforced for what - Hitler or Mother Theresa? Answer that question, then look around us today, look at much of what got us into our present trouble, look at our political campaigning, look at our media. What have we become? What are we becoming?
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One hard-to-swallow lesson which our own times, our present years, have taught us to our shock and sorrow, is that no one people and no one nation can be trusted for long with too much power. That includes my own very much loved country, the object lesson of our time. Put the stakes of concentrated power high enough and our own highest aspirations and most generous natures are betrayed and used against us, in OrwellSpeak and generally.
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For the survival of humanity, we can't afford the dance of the superpowers any longer. We have to get things done by some other means than that of clawing our respective ways toward world hegemony. One thing that the whole sweep of history, economics and sociology have taught us is that in any given situation, advantage tends to drift into the hands of a relative few. The few then, having a stake in preserving the conditions which gave them advantage or which now support them in that advantage, tend to greet change with something less than whole-hearted enthusiasm. Make the situation large enough which thus continues maladaptive, and the accumulated stresses ultimately release in killer socioquakes.
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As much as possible should be done through small situations, under structures and conditions which encourage appropriate adaptivity. A fractal look at the world, past and present, shows us over and over again at every level the root of all the ills in the world, and how to correct them! As Lord Acton indicated, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Whenever you have long-term imbalance in human power relationships, that situation tends naturally toward serving the convenience of the advantaged. After awhile, convenience becomes abuse. All the evils of the world can be traced at least large part to abuse of unbalanced human power relationships. Compare fields of human endeavor which generally progress and advance, with those which do not. We learn that whether in science or in business, in order to succeed you must have the chance to fail.
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Biographies of contemporary billionaires and other current successes, show instance after instance of abject failure before the successful breakthrough was made. Whic means, that in human society generally, in order to have success, people must have the chance to fail - and that some will, indeed, fail. It's what happens AFTER that failure that is critical - - - - - - Failure must not be allowed to be permanent.
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We need to rapidly recycle our failures into another legitimate chance and try for success. No more of this leaving people mired in circumstantial failure for a hundred generations, until the very protein sequencing of their genes is hunkered down into self-replicating failure mode. In accepting their exploitation, we deprive ourselves and our civilization (and our markets!) of their potential high contributions to our common human adventure. HOW may we adequately enough and rapidly enough recycle failures - people AND resources - into success? By much the same methods and techniques which are currently designed to enable anyone to perform better, live better, experience better, contribute to and participate far more wholly in what it is to be a human being.
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(For more on this and related issues, see _http://www.winwenger.com/part76.htm_ (http://www.winwenger.com/part76.htm).


These are obviously not the only lessons that one can draw from the multiplex richness of human history and context. - But they are some of them. If any part of this briefing has value or merit in your eye, please feel free to pass it on. I have not affixed any copyright notice to it.
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---Win Wenger
http://www.winwenger.com/mind.htm_ (http://www.winwenger.com/mind.htm) http://www.winwenger.com/sociotec.htm_ (http://www.winwenger.com/sociotec.htm).
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Mr. Win Wenger.
__________________________________________________________

AVAAZ.ORG has a wonderful version of a political ad which does not overtly endorse a candidate for the U.S. Presidency, but which gives a world perspective of what the International Community would like to see in the next U.S. Administration. In a nation of partisan politics and negative campaigning, I hope that you will find this ad refreshing, as I did.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/all_of_us/?cl=141358989&v=2339

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle, Internationalist

KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, CIOF, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity...

INTERNATIONALIST NETWORKING UPDATE!

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Dear Readers:

I refer you to my previous post regarding THE MYTH OF COMPETITION. Please take the time to read it carefully, and with due consideration.

As always, thank you.

Faithfully,
Douglas Castle

KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, CIOF, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity...

THE MYTH OF COMPETITION

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Dear Friends:

Competition requires a tremendous effort at defending your business against others potentially serving your chosen marketplace. The competitive spirit, combined with entrepreneurship, have created every great business, and every giant industry. The will to succeed and the will to be noticed above others are powerful motivations for achievement -- especially during times of general economic prosperity, and during the initial phase of a company's trajectory.

The practical truth, however, is that it considerably more efficient to consolidate and build alliances (often through either the absorption of competitors or the sharing of turf with them contractually) than to spend time in a defensive/offensive alternating strategy. Befriending and negotiating are more effective than alienating and issuing challenges. The great planners and designers of conglomerates and cartels understand this and use it is as a primary strategy. They absorb and grow. They promote sharing.

In a tempestuous economic time, blind competition becomes increasingly suicidal, even when the thought of sharing a "smaller pie" becomes contrary to certain hard-wired survival instincts.

Ask yourself these simple questions, on the subject of partnering and cooperating:

1. Why should I invest new money in something that someone has already developed?


2. Why should I fight for market share when I can consolidate marketshare?


3. Why shouldn't I consolidate and add more products (diversification), as well as expand and cross-pollinate my customer list?


4. Isn't a larger company (through consolidation) going to get better vendor terms, greater credit facilities, and a more diversified talent pool of employees and staff?


5. Can't I grow my entire business (markets, products, talents) more quickly through consolidation?


6. Can't I create efficiencies (through elimation of redundant positions and functions) through consolidation?


7. Can I integrate businesses with a supplier, my consumers (if they are resellers), or with a competitor?


8. Can I combine forces with a company outside of my industry if we sell different, non-competitive products to the same market?


9. Can I combine forces with with a company who uses the same vendors that I use?

Substantial tasks and skills are required to form the alliances and partnerships which annex business "territory" and create the means to defend it by sheer virtue of size or dominance. Some of these tasks and skills are enumerated quickly below:

1. Networking. You must create as many contacts as you can in order to either create or be presented with potential opportunities;


2. Research. You must learn about the strengths and weaknesses of your prospective target partner. What are the existing and prospective benefits and costs?


3. Negotiate. Weaker partners are usually extremely easy or extremely difficult to acquire (a curious, ideosyncratic bi-polarity,), while stronger partners are almost invariably more challenging to deal with -- this is largely due to the perception that they have much more at stake to lose. They can take their time to evaluate the pros and cons. You must appear strong, yet reserved in your acquisitiveness, in order to court these desirable allies. Also, if you present your quarry with a parade of all of the benefits you offer, and don't discuss a bit of what you expect (or demand) in return, you will seem less than credible;


4. Communicate. Be in touch with your chosen allies as frequently as possible. This increases their comfort with you, their reliance upon your presence as a voice in their affairs, and the free flow of valuable intelligence back to you for your use. Be participatory. Be real. Be present.


5. Share. It would seem to be elementary, but this aspect of partnership and alliance-building seems to be forgotten. If you hear of any news which could have an effect upon your ally or partner, get that information to him/ her immediately. Also, if you discuss a resource which you have discovered which has increased or enhanced your business in any way, share that information as an added benefit to your partners and allies. By making it obvious that you care about them, you make it easier for them to let their instinctive guard down, and begin to trust and care about you.

These are tempestuous economic times. Fortify yourself, and your business interests with powerful circles of well-chosen partners and allies.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s. Internationalists! Two quick actions that I would recommend...

• Click on THE NATIONAL NETWORKER and subscribe to get your free networking newsletter immediately. The letter is fabulous;


• Click on THE RELATIONSHIP CAPITAL TOOLKIT and start monitoring the site for highly-specialized services and products designed to monetize your networking efforts and acquired contacts. These tools will only be available to subscribers to the THE NATIONAL NETWORKER.

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EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS versus INEFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS

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Dear Friends:

I won't preach about organizational basics... a good charter and mission, leadership, management, acquiring talented and deicated employees, partners and volunteers, fiancial responsibility, teamwork, communications, command and control, or the cold fear of asking for needed investment or capital contributions that seems to paralyze so many of us.

On point, an organization exists to accomplish a mission or to solve a problem. Everything else is secondary, merely the means toward that noble end. When we lose sight of our Mission or purpose and begin to merely "take actions and make noise", we begin to fail. An effective organization has strength, consistency, integrity and generally, speaking, takes the moral and ethical "high road". They build multiple bridges and open channels, and don't invest i baiting and making enemies. They find friends, and do their best to convert enemies through a combination of education and emotional appeal. They look for common ground instead of for hurtful differences...and they exploit and expand that common ground. Successful organizations (for the longer term) grow by uniting instead of dividing.

I want to share some wisdom with you. Hatred kills. It kills us as individuals, it kills organizations and it destroys credibility and reputations. If you must be branded, be branded as a fighter...but never as a hater. Don't campaign against individuals and rake through the muck of their misdeeds. Ask them questions. Pose challenges. Offer to "help" them. Be morally unassailable. Do not be branded as a hater, a "negative campaigner", a persecutor or a prosecutor. If you appear concerned but not governed by emotions, people will tend to associate that with greater credibility and more objective, "mature" reasoning -- whether or not it is, in fact, true. And don't let your organization be any of those negative, "irrational" things;

1. A proponent of more legislation, regulation and government action concerning personal freedoms and choices, or of government intrusion into free enterprise or personal affairs. There is too much of this already, and it invariably generates poor and unforeseen results;

2. A street-corner screamer (with placard) at every "evil" institution or person that (or who) does something naughty or sells something unhealthy. Screamers (a 60's thing) are like sensitive car alarms. At first they are annoying. Then, they fall into the backdrop of unremarkable noises. Finally, they are either the butt of jokes, or they get disconnected (like the battery on the smoke detector over my stove in the kitchen);

3. A collection of fanatics who want to hate and denounce, instead of inform, question and solve problems. When fanatics fall out of fashion, they are generally exiled, laughed about, beheaded, burned at the stake or crucified. None of these makes for an enviable retirement plan;

4. A fringe player joining in the fray of partisans with their own agendas and "wrongs" to avenge. These people and organizations cannot ever raise funds -- people don't want to go on record as supporting them. They are seen as eccentric. They tilt at windmills, like Don Quixote de La Mancha, but without his romantic virtue;

5. A negatively-themed, exclusionist group.

As smart organizations, we have to applaud the good (no matter who is attempting to do it); question or challenge the policies (not the people or the companies) of people and companies with respect to obesity; conduct research, support programs and produce a good product or service; encourage positive thinking and efforts; provide newsworthy, interesting content and campaigns to heighten awareness; and, to provide incentives for problem-solving and productivity.

Let's be like a virus and infiltrate the social machine so that we can transform it: Let's not be protesters on the Whitehouse lawn. Let's convert and absorb our enemies, or obscure them by being superior and inclusive.

Our organizations will be judged by the company we keep, and by the words that we say.

Faithfully,

Douglas

DOUGLAS CASTLE
at http://www.linkedIn.com/in/douglascastle
CHILDREN'S INTERNATIONAL OBESITY FOUNDATION - HELP SAVE A CHILD'S LIFE.
THE GLOBAL FUTURIST
THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE
HUMANITAS MAXIMUS

FINDING COMMON GROUND

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Dear Friends:

Sadly, people seldom open their doors, whether in real space or cyberspace, to strangers. As Human Beings, we have been reared in a culture of defensiveness and fear. Yet, despite this, we must find the appropriate instrument (not necessarily a battering ram or a tear gas grenade) to pry the door open in able to commence a productive dialogue; productive dialogues lead to friendships; and friendships lead to enhanced Relationship Capital, prosperity (through trade), and peace.

Some door-opening techniques are simply outlined below for your consideration. Each of them positively and effectively exploits some aspect of behavioral psychology:

• Before you communicate, review the prospective recipient's bio, blog or website, so that you can open with a genuine compliment or a relevant question;


• Initiate your dialogue informationally...do not speak of specific business;


• Touch upon topics which are universal to all civilized persons, such as: difficult economic times, bringing up healthy children, climatic change, alternative energy, international cooperation and relationships, and the like;


• Ask for the recipient's opinion or views on these topics;


• Ask that the recipient review your blog, website or other materials and give his or her opinion on them -- this shows your respect for the other person's intelligence and point of view;


• In correspondence, try to incorporate pictures of yourself (with family, if possible), and ask if the recipient would do the same -- this personalizes and humanizes the dialogue, and permits the recipient to exercise a bit of ego;


• Have a productive informational interchange (as described in the preceding points) before you tactfully broach your business or other cause-based proposition.

A ritualistic celebration of "common ground" is so deeply ingrained in the socialization process, that to gracelessly rush into a business proposition would be foolhardy. Additionally, if you honor this ritual, you will be talking about business with a new friend, instead of a stranger.

Again...build bridges instead of fences.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle, INTERNATIONALIST

p.s. I could not resist posting the picture in the above right. As silly as its portrayal of the situation is, there is, lamentably, too much truth to the astounding deficiency of reason that instantly overwhelms otherwise rational persons when there is a perceived threat and they are in need of some release of pent-up energy, or in need of a person or group of persons to blame for the problem.

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THE NEW ACTIVISM

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Dear Friends:

The term "activism" is more than occasionally negatively-charged. It represents an aggressive approach to a significant change in the status-quo. People are generally fearful of any change, and they are especially fearful of rapid change. This is an ingrained Human propensity.

We all live in a world that is in need of repair. But the wonderful news is that we possess the technological means to change it.

With the internet, through blogging and posting forums, and with the additional techniques of viral marketing, a single individual can send a message around the world, virtually at the speed of the written word. This is a tool of enormous power and, as yet, unrealized potential.

As a citizen ambassador, any individual can be an activist. Your words, and the ability to broadcast them through the Internet, are the only weapons necessary. You can leave your guns and tear gas at the door. No violence is required.

You must choose your words carefully for maximum resonance (with your fellow Human Beings) and maximum impact (each word is precious -- say more with fewer words -- do not hide your message in a cloud of narrative, or obscure them in a treatise).

There is no limit to this power. It is yours for the taking.

Write. Blog. Post. Be an agent of positive change.

If you need help with doing this, please be at tliberty to contact me directly at douglas.castle@yahoo.com (please put the word "INTERNATIONALIST" in your subject heading).

You will want to read the next several posts, as they will be about viral marketing.

Thank you, my Friends.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s.

Please donate to THE CHILDREN'S INTERNATIONAL OBESITY FOUNDATION. Obesity is a worldwide problem, and its complications are killing our children. Please be generous! Thank you.