When you examine the qualities of the people chosen most frequently for promotion and leadership, you discover that the vast majority are people who generate lots of new ideas —fresh ways of looking at a situation. Fear keeps most people from training their minds to think creatively and keeps them from putting forth a new idea when they happen to have one.

Being a solution-oriented person with lots of ideas will position you for promotion and increase on the job.

by Mac Hammond
Copyright © 2003 Mac Hammond

Think about your future based on what you are expecting.

In 2009, we saw some pretty great examples of good and bad communications. I will never forget the Miss America winner on Larry King. Although she was clearly shafted for standing up for what she believed in, her performance on Larry King’s show was very awkward and strange. I will not forget that. There are a lot of other great memories from 2009. Check out the Ten Best (and Worst) Communicators of 2009 on the Decker blog here.

What do you think? Spot on or completely off?

Check out this article.

They live well below their means.
They allocate their time, energy and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth.
They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status.
Their parents did not provide economic outpatient care.
Their adult children are economically self-sufficient.
They are proficient in targeting market opportunities.
They chose the right occupations.

The Big Three for Health & Fitness are

1) Exercise

2) Nutrition

3) Sleep

We’ve got to keep the balance to be a good contributor of our corporate team. Very good to keep this in mind.

We have a new media business. As I was talking with a friend at a large advertising company, we talked about managing engineers vs managing creatives. We talked about how is a bit like herding cats sometimes. He told me about this hilarious commercial of years past (below). Reminds me of me how great it is to be in IT.

It is great to be a part of the work at AINEO. We work very hard and do a great job for the smart firms that select AINEO to do their IT.The year 2007 was a great year for us. We delivered product or services in every major city in Japan, and a lot of minor ones to boot. Our weakness has always been that we are an engineering company… our strength is that we are an engineering company.AINEO client satisfaction levels are the highest of our history in 2007. Of course, we are Asia Pacific’s best IT firm. We also continue to be the best Nortel reseller (distributor) in Japan. The number of NEC, Avaya, and Cisco PBX (or IP PBX in many cases), continues to increase.Due to the increase in hardware and software business, we have become the top buyer of HP, Dell, Microsoft, Canon, Polycom, Panduit, Lenel Systems, Rittal, and just about anything IT. With our business volume, we have been able to become the IT purchasing department for many Japanese and Multinational firms. We can get great prices for our clients. We are in the 10 ten shops for business volume in Tokyo now.Probably the most exciting area is a new service we will be launching in April. This product is designed specifically for out customers. We have named it AINEO Secure. Very excited about this as we have many people waiting for its introduction.Many thanks to the great AINEO team, and the AINEO partners. Without are partners and their faith in us in outsourcing their IT departments, entrusting their moves and other projects, and enlisting AINEO consultants to clean up their IT departments, we would not have the success that we have.

Many thanks to everyone involved with AINEO!

As a long time member of the international community in Japan, we have the pleasure of meeting many people from many countries. I have always enjoyed Australians and have many friends that hail from the country.

A few years back, an Australian couple I knew introduced a young lady who had just returned from University in Australia (Wollongong). She worked as my secretary for three years, working hard and smart. I have spent all of my professional life in Japan and have a bit of a Japanese business ethic. On top of that, I have a great Dad, who is a very smart and hard worker. He has always been a great example to me.

I asked my secretary at lunch about the difference between Japanese and Australians. Her response shocked me. She flat out said, “In general, Aussies are lazy.” I had never heard anything like that, so I checked with her to make sure of what she had just said. (I knew that Americans can be seen as pretty ignorant, but lazy is not a word I had heard lobbed at a whole nation before). She confirmed.

I really like Australia and the land. One of my favorite bands is from Australia. They’re a fun loving people but evidently there is a stereotype to break here. Of course, we hear about the crooked cops in the news, the high crime rates (3 cars were stolen at a conference I attended in Melbourne in 1994), and other drawbacks. Every country has got them.

I called a 58 -year old Aussie buddy in Tokyo and asked him about this stereotype. He said, laziness is indeed a problem and holding the country back as a whole. I was disappointed to hear him confirm in his opinion that the majority of the time, this generalization is true. I thought that was a horrible stereotype but how what can you can you when someone from that country tells you a similar thing.

This experience got me thinking about how important it is to stay out of stereotypes. We’ve all got to be careful about the images we present What other stereo-types are out there?

Americans- Loud and pushy

Canadians- Oversensitive about being called American

French- Arrogant

Singaporean- Self-centered

Korean- Emotional

Chinese- Money Hungry

Swedish- Technocratic, gullible

German- Over-Detailed

Japanese- Perfectionists

Finnish- Stoic, silent

British- Dull

Brazilian- Playful, lazy

Arabs Violent

South Asian (Indians) Cheap

All of these words have come directly from people who have lived in the country. There are so many others that we missed. Of course, these stereotypes are just on the national level. There is whole set of regional stereotypes. In my travels, I found New Yorkers generally to be pushy and don’t give much information while Washingtonians are friendly, but probably talk too much.

There are a whole boatload of stereo types out there. We all have to work on demonstrating that we are honorable people. Let’s break the stereotypical molds and show the world that each and every on of us is important and can make a difference regardless of our nationality.

How do you break a stereotype?

1) Though consistency

2) Working through the members of the group to the whole

3) Educating our children with a good work ethic and teaching a sense of responsibility (ownership) of our actions.

4) Teach honor and dedication to completing the task.

The opening of Spring is marked in Japan by the blooming of the cherry blossoms (Sakura). Japanese love the Sakura or what is known as ‘hanami’. Hanami is cherry blossom viewing. Usually when the cherry blossoms bloom it is just between winter and spring. The Japanese usually pack up ‘bento’ (box lunches) and gather under the Sakura to eat, drink (some to great excess), and chat. The weather is usually a bit cold still in the Kanto plain (Tokyo area) so people usually need to bundle up a bit. Other folks go out for a walk with their husband or wife and children, while older folks also enjoy walking along the rivers lined with Sakura trees.

It is truly a beautiful season as we see the blossoms spring to life we know that the trees are coming out of the winter time. With the blooming also comes other kinds of life… insects, flowers, myriads of other trees, and plant life. It is truly a beautiful time in Japan when people begin to come out of their houses and do things outdoors again.

With 2007, AINEO Networks is celebrating our 10^th year in technology. We could not be doing this without our great customers. The airlines, telcos, banks, food companies, web search companies, cellular phone makers, recruiters, insurance companies, software manufacturers, IP companies, law firms, hardware manufacturers, consumer products and so many other companies that rely on us for bright, quick, and flexible know-how and support. We thank them for their business. We have seen a interesting thing in these past 10 years. The companies that use AINEO are all doing very well in their business. We believe this is because the AINEO team knows and promotes their products as well.

With Spring, we are reminded of the growth AINEO is seeing this year. In 2007, AINEO

1) Has transformed from a pure engineering firm, to a consulting firm

2) Has honed our skills and has the best team of engineers, consultants, account managers, and customer service reps (CSRs) that we have ever had.

3) Is moving into new Tokyo offices that will equal the size of our Saitama facility.

We are excited about the great things that are coming!

Sakura At University Of Washington In Seattle