This article raises some strong points on what is necessary to establish a successful "freemium" model, whereby a small percentage of paid users are enough to earn profits from a product which most customers opt to use for free. Evernote provides the evidence that such a model can work when the necessary elements exist. The key elements needed are:

1 - a massive potential audience
2 - very low operating costs
3 - "gotta-have-it" value to some consumers
4 - high retention rates

The business model of Evernote lends itself well to this approach, and it is phenomenally profitable with only ~6% of its long-term users opting for the paid version. The business was designed to be profitable at just a 1% conversion rate, thus keeping operating costs low. The service it provides becomes even more essential the more you use it, to the point where some customers just can't walk away from it. And, over time certain features have been cleverly designed and offered to only paid customers, thus enticing them to stay and maintaining retention rates.

This article in Strategy + Business (click above to visit) makes a strong case for considering the impact that the growing economic clout and empowerment of women around the world will have on your business over the next 10 to 20 years. So much of the "growth market" focus has been on China and India that this shift has gone largely unnoticed. Interestingly, this is not strictly an "emerging market" (geographically speaking) phenomenon, as there are millions of women in developed economies who will also see greater opportunities by 2020.

One point the article makes is that the growing economic activity of women should help to ameliorate future recessions. That is because this evolution is more widespread than typical "emerging market" conditions, making the benefits easier for a wider range of companies to enjoy. Additionally, the reduced number of children combined with more aggressive tendency of women to share the benefits of economic gains with their children mean that future generations can be lifted through this trend.

So how do you capitalize on this in your business? A few ideas:
* Consider the impact on your workforce planning - how can you make your company more attractive to women, especially in developing economies?
* Can you offer products aimed both at educating and enabling women and serving them as new consumers?
* What impact will the broader social and legal / regulatory changes that may result from the growing clout of women have on your business?

Leadership promotes new directions; management executes existing directions.

The function of management

Management can do much more than merely keep things ticking over. It manages complex projects ranging from making a major movie to putting the first man on the moon. Managers can use facilitative skills to foster innovation. By sticking to a purely functional definition, we leave completely open the question of style. This liberating move means that managers can be inspiring. They can empower, nurture and develop talent. An inspiring leader influences us to change direction while an inspiring manager motivates us to work harder. Managers needn't be restricted to mechanical control, transactional rewards, bureaucratic methods or relating without empathy. Portraying managers in such negative terms was an accident of history that we now must put behind us.

To get the best out of knowledge workers, managers might set up self-managing teams. Here, the classic functions of management (planning, organizing and controlling) are delegated. But the function of management is still operating even though the manager is not personally doing it. This should dispel the myth of the manager as a control freak or bureaucrat.

By removing all style connotations, leadership benefits as much as management. No longer needing to be inspiring cheerleaders, leaders find it possible to exhibit quiet, factual leadership. This is essential in technical contexts, where a hard business case often moves stakeholders more than an inspirational delivery. Not being committed by definition to any particular style, both leaders and managers are free to use any style that works for the context in which they want to make a difference.

The function of leadership

Leadership needs to narrow its focus to promoting new directions as one-off acts to promote a better way...

...Key features of leadership reinvented

• It consists in showing a better way, either by explicit advocacy or by example.
• Those who are led may not report to the person showing leadership, even informally.
• No implementation is entailed. This is management's domain, getting work done through others, motivating people, developing them (more on management below.)
• It does not involve managing the people led or getting things done through them.
• It comes to an end once the target audience buys the need to change. It sells the tickets for the journey; management drives the bus to the destination.
• It relies on influence; since it’s not an actual role, it can't decide for the group.
• It can promote ideas developed by others; no need to be creative personally.

This is a very interesting assessment of the role of "leadership" and "management" abilities in an organization, why both are important, and why, in particular, it is time to re-elevate the view of management as an essential skill set for getting things done. Perhaps the best line in the paper is an analogy:

(Leaders) sell the tickets for the journey; management drives the bus to the destination.

This line emphasizes that both processes are necessary to achieve success. It is time to reduce the stigma associated with "management" - the belief that it is rooted in bureaucracy, a lack of creativity, and a defense of the status quo. Effective managers develop organizations, motivate teams, plan for contingencies, and, in many cases, provide warning when a goal is unachievable. Better management (specifically of risk) at big banks would have mitigated the depth of the recent financial crisis. Make sure that your organization is recognizing and rewarding managerial skills as opposed to becoming overly enamored of "one-off" leaders, lest you find yourself full of great ideas that remain unrealized.

This short video says it all. When California goes orange or, heaven forbid, red, we are all doomed.

OK, maybe this scene from The Office isn't what Michael Schrage had in mind in his article on Why Keeping Score Is the Best Way to Get Ahead, but the spirit is the same (minus the cheating, of course). Most people have at least some degree of competitiveness, and figuring out how to tap into that in a positive way can inspire individuals or teams to reach performance levels not originally thought possible.

I consider it a great day when I can see a juxtaposition of my passion for running (I saw this video on Dailymile this morning) and leadership (I read the blog post on keeping score this evening). This is another situation where professional motivation can be informed by personal motivation; as a competitive runner, I constantly strive to beat my last personal record (even, unfortunately, on too many of my training runs). As a professional, I'm always seeking a better, more effective way to deliver results. I don't think most runners or professionals are much different in that manner.

It appears that at some point this year, if current trends hold, Apple's revenues will surpass Microsoft's. In essence, then, Apple appears to be winning the second war between these two companies.

The post from which this graph appears sounds some dire warnings for Microsoft, specifically stating that it has become too focused on defending its core and lost any momentum on expanding into new markets. As the graph shows, once a company's revenue growth stalls, it is difficult to re-start it. Can Microsoft be one of the rare companies that manages to reinvigorate it's growth? It seems to be behind in any logical market into which it could expand (consumer electronics, smartphones, etc.).

We have all heard the horror stories of failed efforts to translate Western marketing approaches to a different culture (pictures of babies on Gerber's jars in Africa, the Chevy Nova in Mexico). While this often revolves around language and pictures, another more subtle requirement is consideration of the colors you use.

This chart gives a quick snapshot of which colors convey which emotions in major global cultures. While the effect would obviously be subtle, even subconscious, choose the right color can certainly help promote the right "feelings" towards your brand. Or, at the opposite extreme, you probably don't notice a lot of Japanese companies using black (signifying bad luck and evil) in their logos.