In Russia do as the Russians' do

And I'm finding myself agreeing with this controversial man...

The End of Solution Sales - Harvard Business Review

Are you in sales or client facing roles? Here is a great article on Harvard Business Review about the new era of sales and how to excel under today's challenging and dynamic conditions.



"The hardest thing about B2B selling today is that customers don’t need you the way they used to. In recent decades sales reps have become adept at discovering customers’ needs and selling them “solutions”—generally, complex combinations of products and services. This worked because customers didn’t know how to solve their own problems, even though they often had a good understanding of what their problems were. But now, owing to increasingly sophisticated procurement teams and purchasing consultants armed with troves of data, companies can readily define solutions for themselves."



More at The End of Solution Sales - Harvard Business Review

Persuasion

Indians. They have this uncanny capacity of seemingly infinite patience. They are the masters of meditation. With their warm smile they can make butter melt... And yet.

Irate politicians fighting in the Parliament. What's new?

Politicians using pepper spray in Parliament... Only in India. Hilarity ensues. More at BBC: MP uses pepper spray in parliament

'Chaos breaks out in the lower house of India's parliament after an MP uses pepper spray to disrupt proceedings.'
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-26167129)

The World’s most reverberant space | The Sound Blog

Have a listen to 'the sound file from the Scottish oil storage tank that holds the World record for the longest echo'.



Amazing. Thank you Professor Trevor Cox.

The World’s most reverberant space | The Sound Blog

Why I don't tweet by BBC

Brilliant article on social media and our relationship with it.



"Like so much modern media technology, it creates a dependency without ever actually addressing a need."



More at BBC News - A Point of View: Why I don't tweet

From the master of business life & life of business

The 101 points you'll need to succeed and live well:



GoodNews101: The List Completed - Nicholas Bate

Changes at Microsoft: New CEO is Satya Nadella

A promising change at Microsoft. As he announced months ago, Steve Ballmer is stepping down as CEO and his replacement was named to be Satya Nadella, an engineering executive. Bill Gates is also removing himself from the board to remain (or step up to be) an adviser to the new CEO. While Steve Ballmer had the energy, his strength and experience was always considered to lie on the marketing and business side more so than on the technology. "In Mr. Nadella, Microsoft’s directors selected both a company insider and an engineer, suggesting that they viewed technical skill and intimacy with Microsoft’s sprawling businesses as critical for its next leader." (NYT)



He is of course upbeat as anyone would be, who ever got a new job, or better yet, a great new job. To be fair, he is only the third CEO in the history of the company. But there he is something over and above that initial enthusiasm. A touch of reassuring certainty about Microsoft's future. In his statement Tuesday, Mr. Nadella said: “The opportunity ahead for Microsoft is vast, but to seize it, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform. A big part of my job is to accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers more quickly.” More at Microsoft Names New Chief; Gates Becomes Adviser - NYTimes.com

In the news: boulder smashes through Italian farmhouse

Two large boulders dislodged and one of them smashed through an Italian farm. 

By some miracle no one is hurt, and the second boulder stopped just short of the farmhouse.

Even through the distraction, Italy is so picturesque...

Source: www.bbc.com