Are you ready for a China Project? Lessons from European Highway Project and Google

I think the biggest mistake people make in a China project is under estimating the complexities and issues that will occur.  They see a lower price and assume they are getting a better deal.  I used to do a fair amount of work in China, but stopped working on those type of projects as they required way more effort than others thought was required. 

The following are a couple of things to think about.

WSJ has an article on a European Highway project that had problems with its China Bulider.

For the Polish highway, by contrast, Covec was hired to manage a complex project from beginning to end in a European Union nation, including design, financing and construction within tight regulatory confines. It failed.

Covec was thin on management expertise, lacked financial skills and didn't understand the importance of regulations and record-keeping in public works projects in the West, according to numerous people involved in the project. Says Marek Frydrych, a Chinese-speaking adviser to Covec: "They thought they came to Africa."

Here is a presentation made at Google by a consultant on comparing American and Chinese Negotiation Styles.

A perspective on Natural Gas vs. other power generations from a Utility Executive

WSJ has an article interviewing Southern Company CEO, Tom Fanning.  The title could be interpreted as what is sustainable needs to be safe.

Tom Fanning: The Natural Gas Skeptic

'Nobody can sit here and tell me that it's going to be safe forever, safe in terms of economics and reliability,' says the Southern Company CEO.

...

Mr. Fanning sat down with the Journal editorial board recently amid "an historic shift" in the electric industry. King Coal is in twilight. For decades it was the engine of the U.S. power system, delivering nearly 60% of net generation by the 1980s. Southern illustrates the new reality; the share of its generation mix from coal has plunged to 35% in 2012 from 70% only five years ago. Meanwhile, gas has climbed to 47% from 16%.

Consider some of the points made in this article if you are thinking of creating your own microgrid for a data center.  Do you have to be a power provider as well as a data center provider?

Oops, patent judges are fed up with the lawsuits

CNet News reports on judges being fed up with patent lawsuits.

Even judges are fed up with patent lawsuits

A few smart judges are throwing out patent complaints, or at least imploring that the two sides figure out a compromise, and that's a good thing.

The reporter is frustrated too.

That's why it's important that judges remain aggressive in their willingness to throw out extraneous complaints. I'm sure you're as tired of reading lawsuit stories as I am of writing them.

One of the reasons why a Green Data Center initiative recruits talent, a better night sleep

One of the funniest conversations I would have with the Olivier Sanche is how many people would reference reading my blog post on Olivier wanting to build greener data centers.

Good Luck, Olivier.  I am placing my bets Apple will change the data center industry the way they changed cell phones and media players with the iPhone and iPod.  It is not just the environmental issues, there are huge opportunities to leverage the data center servers with client devices - iPod, iPhone, and Macs.  Photos, Music, and Video and the associated media industry is Apple's strength.  Google focuses on Search.  Microsoft focuses on Windows, Office, and competing against Google.  Apple focuses on consumers.

Who do you think is going to change the data center industry the most Google, Microsoft, or Apple?

Or maybe what individuals will change the data center industry?  Keep your eye on Olivier.

Since I wrote this post about Olivier all three of these companies (Google, Microsoft, Apple) have announced green data center initiatives.

Fast Company has an interview with Srikumar S. Rao.  The following table summarizes well what Srikumar presents.

But I was surprised because the core principles of the Happiness at Work philosophy run counter to the standard profile of the typical top MBA student I’ve encountered both while at school and after (although, there are exceptions for sure).  For example here’s a quick side-by-side comparison to illustrate my point:

Happiness at Work Philosophy	Standard MBA Profile
It’s about the process, not the outcome.  Focus on the action you can take.	Outcome is all that matters—good grade, high profile job, big paycheck.
Paradox—by insisting on your way, you decrease the chance of getting what you want.	Risk and aggressiveness are rewarded.
You are playing a role, but you are not the role.	My job, my prestigious MBA, my wealth define me.
It’s not about the money (in fact, if it is, you are in trouble).  It’s about the why and what you are doing.	It’s all about the money, even if I don’t love what I am doing.
The models you operate within are not reality.	Prestigious MBA, well-paying job, comfortable life is reality.  And I am angry when it’s challenged.

The Q&A that follows explains the paradox of this table.

My question is why do you think the MBA students who took your class, many of whom fall within some range of that standard profile, resonated so intensely to what you were teaching?  

SR: Before taking the class, they’d never heard anyone encourage them to get a deep sense of meaning from what they wanted to do professionally.  Many of the students have had the same background.  Some have already worked for McKinsey or Goldman Sachs, the brass ring of what many go to business school to achieve, and hated it because they were treated badly.  They face the sharp dichotomy between what they think the want and what they’d really like to do.

The class gave students the courage to consider doing something different. To question their basic assumptions—what do I want to pursue beyond a paycheck?  The course legitimized those questions and provided the support of a group that was doing the same thing. 

(Srikumar S. Rao’s TED Talk (video)—”Plug into your hard-wired happiness”)

More and more the talented people are looking to work differently than it is all about the money and power.

Thanks to others discussing the green data center topic there are more and more people who have pride in lowering the carbon impact of their data centers, making in greener.

How many of you feel good about saying I saved $10 million in operating expense vs. I reduced the carbon impact of the data center by 15%?  What makes you sleep better at night and wake-up energized?

What happens when your stock doesn't perform? Zynga an as example

Yahoo has had a steady exodus of talent for years.  Why? Part of the reason is the stock performance.

There is a post by a Zynga engineer on why work for Zynga?

Work For Zynga?

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Kostadis Roussos, Zynga Chief Engineer

Why I joined Zynga is interesting, because in many ways it explains why I am still at Zynga.

My last employer was NetApp. NetApp is a leader in the enterprise storage space (in many ways they are the #2 or #1 player in the storage market). Not only are they are a leader in storage, they are a great company to work for. The year I left NetApp, NetApp had been named the Forbes #1 place to work. They were and are an extremely well run company, strongly positioned in the market. I loved my team, the place, and the work.

So why leave?

The SJ Mercury news has a post on employees fuming about the declining stock price.  Part of what is fueling the anger is what insiders were able to take advantage of.

Pincus and other executives sold 43 million shares, at $12 each, in the April deal. Limited to senior management and directors, it was explained as an effort to stagger the timing of when stockholders may cash out, preventing a simultaneous sell-off at the expiration of the lock-up.

Vs. the rest of the employees were able to exercise at the end of April.

The Farmville publisher is now barely holding at $6, down 40 percent from a December IPO price of $10, as employees at the end of April were freed from their "lock-up" agreements to sell their stock holdings. Employees past and present told Reuters that morale is ebbing along with the stock price.