Who invented light bulb ?
I think most of you will promptly provide the wrong answer: Thomas Alva Edison. Truth is, the famous inventor’s 1879 debut of his incandescent light trailed others by decades. Check out here :
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bllight2.htm
http://www.ushistory.net/electricity.html
So why does he get all the glory? Mostly because of what he did next – get his creation to the mass … Edison and his team of engineers spent years building the entire electric system, from light sockets and safety fuses to generating facilities and the wiring network. Only then did the electric light flare into the innovation that lit the world.
Same for inventing a light bulb, we need to get our services to the mass public, build the whole system and perfect the whole system … You, me, the colleague sit next to you and all other colleagues in the company, are working hard to create the next eCommerce magic …
Then, try another quiz …
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But, what is our competitive advantage ?
One possible answer is in the book “The five dysfunctions of a team” by Patrick Lencioni
“Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.“
In the same book, it says …
“If you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.“
I suppose everyone of you have your own answers on your own competitive advantage and whether you are a team player … and of course I have an answer for myself and for each one of you as well … what I can say is our competitive advantage, in this regard, is still not strong enough. Let’s work harder, and together, to become a stronger team.
What a strong team can do and will do ? Somehow I found most answers in this gangster movie (one of my favorites) :
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There were three articles written by a Chinese chap 4 years ago, but still treated as bible on how to build an eShop. Kinda simple stuff, but still suggest you to read it (especially if you are the web developer) on the technology and ….. his writing skill.
http://www.devshed.com/c/a/PHP/Building-an-ECommerce-Site-Part-1-Building-a- Product-Catalog/
And of course, the book I mentioned in previous section.
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I am not fan of Superman, but when Mr. Reeve left the world couple of weeks ago, I searched his quotes / books / movie soundtracks on the web like crazy …
“As the old saying goes, you better know what you want because you might get it and you’ve got to accept it. Whether you succeed or whether you encounter adversity you always have to believe in your worth as a person. That’s what counts.” Remarks at a success seminar in Portland, Oregon, February 6, 2001 – Christopher Reeve
M.Y. Lessons Learnt 