It is, in fact, possible for a man with a ponytail to become the CEO of a major publicly traded corporation.

Maybe the future of Sun, he has suggested more than once, lies in the company's ability to sell services rather than software or hardware.

For Sun Microsystems, a Leader With Little Taste for Convention

It isn't easy to create a real downtown district, vibrant and intense, in a city as sprawling and diffuse as Los Angeles, Frank Gehry admits. But that's what he has set out to do with his design for Grand Avenue, unveiled in preliminary form yesterday.

Los Angeles With a Downtown? Gehry's Vision

Did yoiu read that NYRB article, The Truth About The Drug Companies?

Xenical, sold by Roche in the United States since 1999, has had only moderate success as a prescription drug in this country.

Part of the problem has been what Mr. Burton refers to as the "oops" factor — the drug's potentially embarrassing side effects. They can include diarrhea, flatulence and episodes of incontinence.

Emphasizing that the drug is not a magic pill, Mr. Burton said the company would look for committed consumers — those who are ready to make long term changes in the way they eat and exercise.

Mr. Burton also said the campaign would very clearly warn consumers about the drug's side effects, like flatulence and diarrhea, that become worse when the drug is taken along with a high-fat meal.

A diet devoid of fat, though, would make the pill largely superfluous.

"That's part of the honesty, the bluntness, the candor that we're going to put into our communications."

Hoping for a Blockbuster

Do you remember the recent thread about treating waiters well, and how it relates to character?

Well, when USA Today ran the article, they provided Bill Swanson's list of management truisms.

Turns out they're not his, after all.

William H. Swanson has become something of a management guru thanks to "Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management." It is a compilation of folksy business advice from Mr. Swanson, the chief executive of Raytheon, that the company distributes as a free booklet. No. 3 in his list of 33 rules begins: "Look for what is missing."

What is missing from Mr. Swanson's 76-page booklet, as an engineer discovered last week, is any reference to what appears to be the source of many of his rules: the 1944 book "The Unwritten Laws of Engineering" by W. J. King, an engineering professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"Swanson's Rules" are provided below. You'll notice several also appear in Rumsfeld's Rules.

1: Learn to say, "I don't know." If used when appropriate, it will be used often.
2: It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
3: If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much
4: Look for what is missing. Many know how to improve what's there; few can see what isn't there.
5: Presentation rule: When something appears on a slide presentation, assume the world knows about it and deal with it accordingly.
6. Work for a boss to whom you can tell it like it is. Remember, you can't pick your family, but you can pick your boss.
7: Constantly review developments to make sure that the actual benefits are what they were supposed to be. Avoid Newton's Law.
8: However menial and trivial your early assignments may appear, give them your best effort.
9: Persistence or tenacity is the disposition to persevere in spite of difficulties, discouragement or indifference. Don't be known as a good starter but a poor finisher!
10: In doing your project, don't wait for others; go after them and make sure it gets done.
11: Confirm the instructions you give others, and their commitments, in writing. Don't assume it will get done.
12: Don't be timid: Speak up, express yourself and promote your ideas.
13: Practice shows that those who speak the most knowingly and confidently often end up with the assignment to get the job done.
14: Strive for brevity and clarity in oral and written reports.
15: Be extremely careful in the accuracy of your statements.
16: Don't overlook the fact that you are working for a boss. Keep him or her informed. Whatever the boss wants, within the bounds of integrity, takes top priority.
17: Promises, schedules and estimates are ... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

Raytheon Chief's Management Rules Have a Familiar Ring

eBay has had talks with both Yahoo and Microsoft to determine whether one of them might be a suitable ally against common threats from Google, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday.

"After years of working closely with the search giant, eBay last year became alarmed as Google started assaulting its turf in multiple ways," the report said, including creation of a competing classified advertising service, the report said.

eBay, threatened by Google, seeks help from Microsoft

"For the foreseeable future, the majority of our growth will be through ads," Google chief executive Eric E. Schmidt said in an interview. The worldwide ad market is $600 billion to $800 billion, and online ads still make up only 5 to 10 percent of that, which means that Google and other online companies could still make massive gains.

"We have unmatched reach in audience, and that's why [advertisers] come to Google."

Google's Ad-Grabbing Pushes Profit Up 60%

Google returned to favor among investors yesterday as its profit for the first quarter increased 60 percent, well above expectations.

Google Posts 60% Gain in Earnings

Know Thyself, Work Hard and Don't Get Emotional
The Investment Process Is Methodical
Stay Objective and Independent
Investment Discipline Is Key
The Past Is Not Necessarily Prologue to the Future
Risk and Reward Should Be Assessed Properly
Knowledge of Accounting Is a Must but Meetings with Management Have Little Value
Be Open to Others' Ideas but Rely on Your Own Analysis
Only Invest/Trade When Distractions Are Limited
Read and Learn From the Best

My Tenets of Investing

I'm a former "salaryman" (Osaka), former Apple employee (Cupertino), jazz musician, branding enthusiast, communications specialist, and design evangelist currently working in Japan as a fulltime marketing professor for a local private university. I'm also director of a Japanese design group and love living here in Japan.

Please find more information on my background at my website here.
Interests

OK, here's a list of my interests (in no particular order): Beautiful design, philosophy, branding, business communications, marketing, great presentations (and doing my part to help rid the world of boring, ineffective, ridiculously bad, amateurish PowerPoint presentations") Zen in the arts, Zen in daily life, Buddhism, Jazz, Blues, playing the drums, Japanese pop music (save SMAP and Ayumi Hamasaki, of course), Japanese traditional music, Okinawa music, fitness (particularly weight training & nutrition), hiking, cross-country skiing, searching out "Wabi-Sabi" in the Japanese countryside, reading (mostly non-fiction these days), Mahatma Gandhi, Ayn Rand, Plato, Taoism, Martin Luther King Jr., multimedia, technology, Apple Macintosh, Apple iPods, all things Apple, graphic design, web design, American college football (especially Oregon State Univ.), Hawaii, Oregon, Switzerland, Asia, Japanese labor management, Japanese popular culture, WWII history, laughing, good TV/film animation, leadership, education, the Ocean and incredible sunsets, helping young people (and not so young people) improve themselves, interior design, Earth Wind & Fire, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, good films, digital photography, snow, sun, spicy food, Japanese food, late-night TV, early morning coffee, reading or working in a downtown cafe, meeting friends for drinks, learning something new everyday...

Presentation Zen

Surefire strategies to help you win the hearts and minds of every crowd for every purpose Presentations that Change Minds illustrates fourteen proven strategies for creating and delivering winning presentations. Just as importantly, it shows you how to determine which strategy will work best in a given situation and how to apply a range of best practices for realizing that strategy. Presentations guru Josh Gordon supplies sample timelines for delivering presentations based on the various strategies. He also gives expert advice and guidance on how to read an audience and alter its collective mindset; how to avoid dangerous assumptions that can sink a presentation; how to prepare physically and mentally; and much more.

Presentations that Change Minds, by Josh Gordon