December 01, 2006

Virtual Jet Lag

I attended a day-long meeting in Amsterdam today. I did it by phone from home in Southern California, so I dialed in Thursday night starting at about 1 am. I'm not sure that the phone charges will be less than the airfare would have been, but after traveling so much lately, I really appreciated the organizer's flexibility--allowing me to timeshift and placeshift. But after failing to catch up on sleep afterwards, I'm nevertheless struck by how similar my virtual jet lag today feels compared to the real thing.

Dec 1, 2006 12:17:00 PM | Odyssey (travel tips, images and photos)

The comments to this entry are closed.

NEXT POST
Learning from the Poor "A grassroots approach to emerging-market consumers" is a very interesting article from the new issue of the McKinsey Quartlerly. It talks about the corporate benefits to the private sector when they get involved in microfinance and other grassroots efforts. When companies figure out how to serve low-income consumers in developing countries profitably, everyone wins: the disadvantaged gain access to products and services that the private sector is best positioned to deliver, while companies tap into vast new markets. On top of that, when core sectors of the economy—such as banking, electricity, telecommunications, and water—thrive, they transform consumers into producers and promote economic development. But what I thought was especially interesting was the way that these macro companies are learning new market strategies by paying attention to the dynamics of microfinance. They are using mechanisms such as the peer pressure of...
PREVIOUS POST
"The Clockless Office" Check out the cover story in the Dec 11 issue of Business Week magazine: "The Clockless Office." Best Buy started letting people at its Minneapolis headquarters work when and were they wanted to, as long as they got their work done. Productivity is up 35% and turnover is down in some departments as much as 90%. As writer Michelle Conlin explains, At most companies, going AWOL during daylight hours would be grounds for a pink slip. Not at Best Buy. The nation's leading electronics retailer has embarked on a radical--if risky--experiment to transform a culture once known for killer hours and herd-riding bosses. The endeavor, called ROWE, for "results-only work environment," seeks to demolish decades-old business dogma that equates physical presence with productivity. The goal at Best Buy is to judge performance on output instead of hours.

Steve

Steve Barth consults to international government, NGO, academic and corporate clients. Recent work has focused on organizational learning and KM strategies in economic development and peace and security. Award-winning writer specializing in organizational intelligence and knowledge worker productivity.

The Typepad Team

Search

My Other Accounts

Recent Comments