Immigrants

My parents immigrated to the United States 50 years ago not looking for free handouts. What they were looking for was learning to speak English, earning a better life, and contributing to the American Dream. My parents proud of their heritage, which today includes becoming contributors to the American Dream. A lesson taught by them, leave the world much better than you find it, treat everyone with respect, and contribute more then you take. Be fair to those who do not respect you in return and especially those who do not believe in the American Dream. Because your relentless faith will cause them to finally understand the true importance of America, because it is hard to argue with common sense. Mostly do not let anyone hold you back! My parents raised four children with English as their primary language, now English is part of all our heritages as well!

THE INGREDIENTS OF INSPIRATION – Is the time and wisdom of people who desire to build bridges across all language boundaries. This wisdom begins with faith in the American Dream and continues for generations to come…

Dream Beyond the Future is Called Time Travel!

Often dreams come in the night; all we can hope for is a glimpse, a small measure of time spent while in some sort of half awake state. This written journey ventures out into vast space of time, creating and even wider gap between reality, the present and the future; what becomes clear is that time travel is speculating the future, and visibility increases sustainability one empirical adventure after another.

In business, speculating the future is a form of time travel, how a firm engages the future today determines if there is a future tomorrow. We have grown up in a world with television, and experienced television programs like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, and X-Files. Now given the influence of futuristic time we find ourselves deep into a sense of urgency to revamp humanity’s attitude towards time (Helm, 2005).

Speculating future positive business performance linked to visibility, and an open mind-set leading to different forms of business sustainability. Once humanity accepts the linkage between future, past and the present, developing business solutions for futuristic condition occur today with ease more reason to dream beyond the future!

Helm, B. (2005). Borges’s Elimination of Past and Future: A Paradox. KronoScope, 5(1), p73-82.

Holistic Approach to Winning Business

Holistic Approach to Winning Business and Avoid “Quote-Everything-itis Syndrome”

Winning new business or sustaining existing business is directly related to urgency. Understanding the urgency in the eyes of your customer can yield you greater business opportunities. Holistic approach to winning quoted awards becomes directly linked to your customer’s urgency and your urgency to respond to that customer. Urgency is the key; your response speed sends a clear message to your customer that WOW! “I’m ready to do business with you!”, “I’m confident, let’s get started!”, and “You are important to me and our business can help you!”

Persuading customers that it would be better for them to work with your company because you recognize their sense of urgency is easy to implement because the resources are already in place. Ideas don’t always have to be dramatic or terribly creative to drive successful sales. Urgency trends have a dramatic effect on businesses and our sense of urgency creates a powerful perception that you are the right vendor and service provider, right now, today!

An area that is often difficult to nail down because we are focused on the ultimate goal of higher sales, we lose sight of a tactical part of being in business, making a respectful profit, for that reason revenue must match reality. Tactically achieving higher sales becomes the target and not our true business reality of hopefully lots of money left over at the end of the day. It is not uncommon for businesses to become caught up in what I call; “the Quote-Everything-itis syndrome.” Quote-Everything-itis Syndrome is a common disease that businesses find themselves engaged in when they forget revenue must match their reality to deliver product and services.

Companies don’t even realize they are doing it. The only clear sign is that revenue goals never seem to be reached, and great frustration tends to be the norm because you don’t have enough time to quote efficiently and smartly. A business suffering from “Quote-Everything-itis Syndrome” quotes every request for proposal (RFP) and request for quote (RFQ) that comes across their sales team’s desks even if it’s something they have never done before. Have you ever heard or said this phrase yourself? “Don’t worry if we win the job, we will figure out how to get it done.” There is an old culture out there that believes that increased sales are a result of quoting everything. This quoting strategy gives the false perception that the sales team is working very hard establishing a vicious cycle of wasted resources, “Quote-Everything-itis Syndrome” clearly a vicious disease a business needs to avoid.

To evaluate whether or not to quote something is simple. When the RFP or RFQ ends up on your desk, ask yourself one question. “Can we do this?” If the answer is “yes,” quote it. If the answer is “I think we can do this”; don’t quote it. In aviation we have a famous saying when determining whether or not to fly the airplane that particular day. If you say to yourself. “I think I can make it,” stay on the ground and don’t fly. More egos kill pilots than mechanical errors. The same thought process applies to quoting work.

Staying within your core business is the first important lesson in holistically improving sales; the second lesson which is just as critical is speed to proposal and quote. With speed to proposal or quote, a hot zone correlation between responding to sales leads, RFPs, RFQs, and submitting a quote to the customer exists. The increase in awards is significant if you stay within the hot zone (2 to 4 working days). It does not matter if this is for manufacturing parts, services, or consulting. Hot zone correlation is easy to measure: improve the quoting flow = greater sales. This sends a clear message to customers that you are confident that you can get the job done.

Quoting on projects within your core also drives efficiency, allowing a high percentage of quotes to be submitted within the hot zone. Quoting on projects within your core business practices is easier because you have experience and history in gathering all the components of a quote or proposal. The advantage of staying within your cultural knowledge base includes improving internal and external collaboration for better productivity and efficiency

Final thoughts, the holistic approach upon success in sales revolves around:
1. Relationships, face-to-face is better, because the human attention span is short, this is a human factors resource element, and then focus on the quoting hot zone of 2 to 4 working days.

2. Urgency, in the customers mind “Think Customer’s Pain Reduction.”

3. Providing credible services by staying in your core business to drive positive customer perceptions and relationships.
The holistic sales approach is not an overhaul of your sales force. Holistic sales approach becomes a strategic focus on your company’s experience, comfort zone, and elimination of past sales frustrations.

Revised from the Original Article Published in genonow.com; Savo, P. (2008). Holistic Approach to Improving Quoted Business Awards. genonow.com 2(12),2. Creator of the term: Varabiliti-tologist is a person who studies variability.

Futuring Holistic Framework for Business Leaders

Futuring Holistic Framework (FHF) for business leadership’s strategic organizational change is an all encompassing holistic directional change. Directional change is much more than goal setting and trending out or forecasting a business’s objective desired results. When the word holistic comes into play, it must spark relevance instilling a level of research comfort not yet experienced in the business community. Holistic relates to the entire complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into one part, hence, directional change becomes the natural by-product of Futuring Holistic Framework, the study of all parts of a business.

Futuring Holistic Framework reflects and encompasses an entire thought or battery of thoughts that represents a method to invent, develop and implement positive events in the business’s future that come in the form of directional change. What evolves is an all-encompassing mind-set for business learning. With the all-encompassing mind-set, organizational leaders in business combined with academia. This joining provides the means to understand business trends, and predict the future with certain accuracy because this combined involvement contributes to inventing the positive business future guided by a directional change.

Perceived Futuring Holistic Framework mind-set is neither present nor future; it is a simple blending of natural time that moves in directions fueled by the joining of business leaders with academia. Application of Futuring Holistic Framework techniques is wide open, and yet so little of the business’s and academia’s visionaries have ventured there. This venture perhaps will build interest in conducting business in the present; and ultimately the future as well.

Futuring Holistic Framework process is motivational because future business successes evolving from it become successes experience today in the present. Experienced business successes are greatly quantifiable and impact the business’s bottom line. The future is so important, and with great depth what is required to predict it, explore it and change it. The future is in the journey; why not embrace it by encouraging directional change in all directions, one more exciting than the other.

A Natural Leader vs. Un-Natural Leader Test

A Natural Leader vs. Un-Natural Leader; it is very straightforward to distinguish the difference between the two:

–A Natural Leader is a leader that people will follow, even if this person does not have granted authority to be the leader.

–An Un-Natural Leader will tell you whatever you want to hear to follow them even when this person has granted authority to be the leader.

Do not over think this; it is that simple.

Now make two columns on a sheet of paper and label the first column “Natural Leader” and the second column “Un-Natural Leader”, then place everyone you know or come in contact with in the appropriate labeled column: you will be amazed at what you discover.

Please e-mail the total quantity from each column. PietroSavoUSA@aol.com

Common Sense Folks

We find ourselves wondering if the government is honestly paying attention to the economic experts or the common sense experiences of its citizens. Common sense seems obvious if you want to simulate job creation the government needs to reduce or eliminate small business taxes. Small businesses in the United States make up over 75% of the new jobs in our economy and this number represents over 99% of all employers. With reduced or eliminated taxes, business owners can invest money back into their business; they can invest in new business markets, invest in new technologies, and invest in honest American job creation.

Reducing or eliminating business taxes is only half the common sense solution, the other half is not spending money our nation does not have. Most Americans budget for what they need and want, and our government needs to learn the same common sense approach to finance. Becoming a nation that is fiscally smart is not a four-letter word. Fiscally smart begins with the government, because common sense folks understand this important lesson. Common sense folks created this nation, and it appears common sense folks will need to move away from the kings and princes’ the career politicians of the 21st Century. What is interesting is how we have come full circle, and it appears it is 1776 once again. Voting revolutions by the people, is always welcomed in society because they represent positive progress in a political wasteful environment caused by career politicians.

The intent of the founding fathers was a system of citizen politicians made up of common sense folks well-grounded, in reality, and today the financial waste is clearly controlled by the career politicians. The great intellect and scientist Albert Einstein said; “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Common sense folks the voters understand that 2010 the year of the common sense voting revolution!

The Will of the People

During a conversation with a gentleman I met yesterday, he made a statement that the Democratic Party had become hijacked by the far left liberals and the Democrat moderates and conservatives, the self-proclaimed Democratic Blue Dogs are beyond belief that this has occurred.

It then occurred to me that perhaps the same statement about the Conservative right hijacking the Republican Party is possible. I do agree something has changed with the Republican Party over the past twenty-five years; I would not call it a hijacking, perhaps more resembling a transformation that began with President Ronald Reagan.

However, the Republican Party does not have the community organizing skills we have witnessed on the Democratic Party side, especially during the past presidential election. Today with the various Tea Parties, and the events of 9/12 what we are witnessing once again is a transformation of historical proportions and it is occurring in all directions around America.

It is not clear if one political party should receive the credit for driving this transformation across America, or perhaps simply the credit belongs to “the will of the people”. “The will of the people” always wins over career politicians, the will of the people” has no political boundaries, and “the will of the people” is what our founding fathers intended.

by AMERICAN WRITER

Manufacturing Research Practitioner ™ by Pietro

Read, write, and question everything!
Our voices are powerful and true!

Pietro Savo E-Mail Link PietroSavoUSA@aol.com

God and Our Government Do Mix!

Our Founders established the great truth and core values in the Declaration of Independence. President Abraham Lincoln reminded the nation of that great truth contained in the Declaration of Independence when he said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator. The Declaration of Independence appeals to God no less than three times (Source: Declaration of Independence, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address).

The solutions are simple, by God’s Grace; we became the greatest nation on earth. Our employees the politicians that work for us must never lose sight of that Grace. Today we have examples that indeed politicians are losing sight of the importance of God’s grace. An event that took place on April 14, 2009 surrounded by American flags and presidential seals, there was something missing when President Obama’s economic speech at Georgetown University, and that was Jesus. The gold “IHS” monogram symbolizing Jesus’ name in Gaston Hall was covered over (Source: The Washington Times, NBC Washington).

Now it becomes difficult to understand why the National University of the Catholic Church, would ever cover up significant religious art or signage for any reason. Upon the Obama administration’s request, the gold “IHS” monogram was openly disrespected. What the administration did was violate the Georgetown’s freedom of religion because the administration knowingly held their political economic speech in a religious hall. The First Amendment guarantees the Freedom of Religion is an inalienable right. This is not an example of separation of church and state because the president could have held their speech somewhere else. Once the president selected a religious setting, the Obama administration obligated to church rules, not a church over-rule. The second example is President Obama decided against holding a White House National Day of Prayer ceremony. (Source: CNN)

As a concerned citizen my question is, what’s next, will the White House attempt to omit “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance?

by AMERICAN WRITER

Manufacturing Research Practitioner ™ by Pietro

Read, write, and question everything!
Our voices are powerful and true!

Pietro Savo E-Mail Link PietroSavoUSA@aol.com

2010-Midterm Elections Coming Early To The State of Massachusetts

It appears that perhaps the 2010-midterm elections coming early to the State of Massachusetts. With the passing of Ted Kennedy, filling his senatorial seat decided by a special election. As Massachusetts’ law stand today the special election will be open to all political parties. Massachusetts law requires a special election within 145-160 days after a Senate seat becomes vacant and the law prohibits the governor from making an interim appointment. This was not always the case in Massachusetts, which last changed its succession law in 2004 to require a special election. Before that change, the governor could name a successor. At the time, the Democrat Party worried that the Republican Governor Mitt Romney would be able to fill any vacancy created if Democratic Senator John Kerry became elected president, obviously changing the rules to best fit the Democrat Party’s politics of the day (Source: CNN).

Imagine what would happen if we change the rules to favor the New York Yankees before the next Boston Red Sox World Series.

Ironically, the American Revolution began at Christ Church in Boston where it was “one if by land, two if by sea,” by passionate people who believed in freedom, liberty, and developed what we call today democracy (Source: Library of Congress). Such important history beginning in Massachusetts is on the verge of historic significance once again.

The question now becomes will the Democrat Party change the rules to keep this senatorial seat or will they put their trust in our democracy and fair play?

by AMERICAN WRITER

Manufacturing Research Practitioner ™ by Pietro

Read, write, and question everything!
Our voices are powerful and true!

Pietro Savo E-Mail Link PietroSavoUSA@aol.com

Democracy is Not A Polite and Pretty Entity

Many of my liberal, moderate, and conservative friends focus more on the argument than the actual importance of having the argument. Agree or not, the disagreement of different political viewpoints represents the only true important factor in the rhetoric. We must never stop debating, never stop disagreeing, and never stop questioning because that is what democracy is all about.

Democracy is not a polite and pretty entity; it can become fearful for the light-at-heart. When we stop arguing, when the rhetoric becomes one-sided, when any side is no longer willing to question, we achieve pure submission. Submission does not work in a democracy; submission is not liberty nor is it being free. The human race has not achieved the top of the food chain because we were submissive. The human race represents the uppermost part of the food chain because we are willing to risk all to get our point across. What does this all mean, there is no real democracy without passionate rhetoric!

Regardless of where your political beliefs reside, be it left, middle or right, is not the concern, what is important is questioning our government to keep them honest and true to our best wishes. When we are questioning, we’re pro-actively taking the time to understand each issue that interests us, and affects us, as long as we independently determine our own belief at the end of the day that is true democracy. Read, write, and question everything!

Manufacturing Research Practitioner ™ by Pietro

Pietro Savo E-Mail Link PietroSavoUSA@aol.com