Roman's miles

Under-bidding auctions for Amazon.

There is an option to sell your books (and some other stuff) that you don't need anymore at Amazon.  Each, having an account there, can offer his goods to be sold and the item will appear in the item's page under the "more buying options". There you can see the same items from other suppliers. They're new and used, in different conditions, and vary by price.

I found a few books that are out of my current interest but in good conditions and still may find potential buyers. I put them today on Amazon. A feature I didn't find and thought it might be useful is what I call an under-bidding auction. It's very similar to what we have at eBay just the opposite:-) If a right term exists for it please let me know.

When buyers are fighting for an item at eBay they bid and lift the price higher and higher and the seller benefits from that. Usually prices start at a very close to zero level and then go up. At Amazon sellers offer a price depending on the current situation. So if I want to ask for an item the lowest price I can make it lower the current minimal price.

In eBay auctions you set up a highest price you're willing to pay so the system automatically lifts your price in case somebody else overbids you. eBay auctions serve me, as a customer, and help me achieve my target in an easy and automated way - to buy what I want and pay how much I'm ready.

What I offer as an under-bidding auction is an option for buyers to lower the price if a lower asking price appears. The under-bidding auction should help me, as a seller, to reach my target - to sell an item as cheap as I'm ready. I expect to have an option to set a lowest price I'm ready to sell the item for and lower the current price automatically in case somebody asks for a lower price.

A service which is easy to implement I think could be a win-win for both - the buyers and the sellers.

Technorati tags: amazon, ebay, auction, overbid, underbid

Who is the ideal employee?

The last blog about the ideal boss attracted lots of attention and people expressed their thoughts on the point and we all agreed (surprisingly:-) that the five bullets is, in principal, enough to describe the ideal boss.  This time I want to draw a picture of the ideal employee I'd like to work with. To complement the boss's picture I want to write about the ideal employee that reports to you and not simply a workmate. So here the list goes:

• Passionate. I put this item as the foremost trait in the priority of importance. The employee must care about the job.  Even a brilliant expert without interest to the job not only unproductive but hinders team efforts and exerts on the group detrimental effect. It's important to distinguish between an extreme of working 25 hours a day and being passionate. The ideal employee may work precisely 40 hours a week but I expect him love the job and care.
• Fair. I tried to group here a few traits like being responsible, efficient, and conscientious. Being lazy at work is a synonym of being not fair to the company and to the boss. Each of us has own pace, rhythm, and dynamic of work. One prefers to work all the day concentrating on the work and others can afford to spend more time in the office and have more time for browsing the net, coffee, and talks. Some people can take job home and work weekends and others prefer to separate business from family. I don't care what the employee's preferences are as soon as he executes and delivers (and his mode suits the team). I want to trust people reporting to me and not to check what they do and how they spend their working time (it doesn't mean I'm against of coaching, mentoring, and managing it - I simply hope that the ideal employee can manage his time by himself).
• Self-learning. The ideal employee must constantly enrich himself and be driven by a desire to find something new, learn and try something challenging. Active blog and book reading, participation in professional discussions and groups is the first sign of interest and passion. For the hi-tech area participation in the open source community or an off-duty project on the job is a very feasible and pragmatic way to practically grow the level of professionalism. The last thing to add here is I don't confine the studying realms by the professional ones. I emphasize here a desire to learn at first and only at second the areas of interest. The wider the employee's horizon the more creative he is for the group.
• Trusted. Another wide concept. This time it's in the context of team work. I think this is the key epithet in a long list of definitions of a 'team player'. Not everybody has to be the heart and the soul of a group and not each in the company has to possess the full bunch of the soft skills of a good sales man. But I'm sure everybody has to be humanly trusted and professionally respected - both characteristics are earned by the person himself.

This time I leave a few blank bullets for you to complete the list of the traits of the ideal employee. What would you add to the picture of such a guy?

Technorati tags: team, job, career

Career planning - "Don't sell: Buy!"

I'm reading a very nice book of David Meister "True professionalism" - a set of essays on a variety of topics every professional (non necessary a consultant, as David targets its primary book's audience) meets on his way. Full of the practical wisdom this book is an amazing night-table reading, which ideas inspire you and cement a foundation of your belief.

Yesterday I read the essay "No regrets" where David advises us on building a career path. The gist of the idea is: don't be amorphous, know what you love, deal with what you want, and act with passion. He warns us of choosing our job based on the things that may be in demand but against your inclinations. "Do whatever you enjoy. Don't choose something you don't enjoy just because you think it's what we [partners] want"  - the advice he got from one of his elder statement at the dawn of his career. I wrote about a very similar approach in one of my previous blogs and it seems the idea is the pledge of successful and surefooted career building. We should fuel our engines of passion and excitement by gasoline they like so in a case we straggle from a course to the big target the "mechanisms" are not depreciated and ready to be re-fueled to go for a new voyage. David points out that passion is only the relevant "skill" that makes one  a pro and exhibits drive and determination. "Don't worry about what you're good at… What you like is critical".

I found the next chapter is particularly echoing with some of my previous ideas:

• What do you want to do next?
• Where would you like to be in three years from now?
• What kind of clients would you like to have in three years?
• What kind of work would you like to be doing in three years?
• What next career challenge would you find most exciting?

These questions are addressed to you and your professional satisfaction. They're not about your company. "Many professionals are too busy worrying about their firm's performance criteria to figure out what success really means to them" - another great reveal of the truth from David cautioning us about focusing on our own agenda, target, and path.

David gives a piece of advice on how to find the things we like:

• List all your previous assignments of the last three years and then question yourself on what of them did you most enjoy working?
• Find people you'd love to work with. We'll be happier if we like and respect the people we're doing business with. "For what do I want to be admired and by whom?"
• Clearly identify your evil secrets. Complete the sentence "I don't like to admit, but I…" (am an intellectual snob; don't like dealing with other people; really want to be reach). "Play to your evil secrets. Don't suppress them. You're a lot less flexible than you think" - sums up David.
• Recognize that your planned horizons are moving. "Few career choices are forever. Careers are built by moving from one challenge to the next." We outgrow ourselves and hence have to re-tune and re-focus our dreams every now and then. I call it "dream strategically and plan tactically". Here I'm in unison with David: "Don’t try to plan too far ahead. In 5 to 10 years you'll be a different person who wants different things form life".
• Don't blindly follow the advice of others. Nobody can tell you what you want in your career. "It's always a good idea to solicit outside opinions, in order to expand the range of alternatives to be considered. But you don't have to accept other people's ideas and conclusions, even if what you hear has a common theme".

David attracts our attention to an order of things people typically build their plans. They choose a profession, then a firm, and then a role they want to play. He thinks it's a wrong order. The role must prevail in the subsequence. The role you play is a trump of success and happiness of your career. "Figure our which role you want to play, and then (if necessary) tell your firm about your decision. If they don't t accept it, change firms. Don't sell: buy!"

Again and again David emphasizes the fact that ownership of our career, success, and happiness is solely ours. "You should be a lot picker than they [bosses] in deciding what you're going to do" - repeats David, "Don't sell: Buy!… Nothing is more impressive than someone who clearly knows what he or she loves, and why."

And here is the paragraph I'd like every pro has to make his motto and hang in a frame on a wall in his room: "You can either buy yourself a career, or be bought by one. Don't sell: Buy!"

It's an amazing book, written on very concise and clear English, and bringing tons of wise thoughts letting us to re-think our situation, our vision, and ourselves. I also highly recommend to browse David's site, read his articles and blogs, and listen to his podcasts.

Technorati tags: career, plan, job