Microsoft is laying off 1,850 to “streamline” its smartphone business, takes $950M charge

 Following last week’s news of Microsoft selling off its feature phone business for $350 million, today Microsoft turned its attention to smartphones: the company announced it would lay off 1,850 staff and take a charge of $950 million, including $200 million in severance payments, as it “streamlines” the business to focus on enterprises and niche areas where it feels it… Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/25/microsoft-is-laying-off-1850-to-streamline-its-smartphone-business-takes-950m-charge/?ncid=rss

Transitions

Coming and going matter far more than what happens in the middle.

Opening things.

Closing them.

Tearing off the bandage.

Losing something.

Meeting someone new.

Getting on the airplane, getting off of it.

Being greeted.

Elections.

Ending a feud.

We mistakenly spend most of our time thinking about, working on and measuring the in-between parts, imagining that this is the meat of it, the important work. In fact, humans remember the transitions, because it's moments of change and possibility and trepidation that light us up.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/155677840/0/sethsblog~Transitions.html

Apple prepping Siri SDK and Echo-like home assistant gadget

 Apple is preparing an SDK that would allow developers much greater access to Siri — and the improved assistant will power a stationary hub device like Amazon’s Echo. A report from The Information tallies with what we’ve heard over the last few weeks; expect an announcement, if not the device itself, at WWDC in June. Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/24/apple-prepping-siri-sdk-and-echo-like-home-assistant-gadget/?ncid=rss

Microsoft tries its hand at a news bot with “Rowe”

 Like everyone else these days, Microsoft sure loves its bots. Now, the company has rolled out its own news-finding bot called “Rowe,” who lives inside the latest version of Microsoft’s Bing-powered personalized news reading app, News Pro. Rowe is an experiment with helping you keep up with the news that matches your current interests. You can ask the bot to show you news… Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/24/microsoft-tries-its-hand-at-a-news-bot-with-rowe/?ncid=rss

There is more than one solution to your problem (and your problem is real)

Challenge one: Believing that the solution you've got (the person you want to hire, the strategy you want to implement, the decision you want to make) is the one and only way to make the problem go away or take advantage of the opportunity.

Falling in love with your solution makes it incredibly difficult to see its flaws, to negotiate with people who don't agree with you, to find an even better solution.

And, on the other side of the table...

Challenge two: When you find someone who is pitching a solution you don't like, it's tempting to deny that there's much of a problem at all. After all, if you diminish the problem, you won't have to accept the solution that's on the table.

But of course, the problem is real. The dissatisfaction or inefficiency or wrong direction isn't going to go away merely because we deny it.

It's amazing how much we can get done when agree to get something done.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/155535760/0/sethsblog~There-is-more-than-one-solution-to-your-problem-and-your-problem-is-real.html

Amazon kills its price protection policy

 Amazon has quietly ended its price protection policy on all products except for televisions. The change to the company’s policy comes at a time when a handful of startups have launched to help consumers automate the process of requesting refunds when prices change on online sites, including Amazon as well as dozens of other e-commerce stores. For example, newcomer Earny recently… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/23/amazon-kills-its-price-protection-policy/?ncid=rss

Don’t get “Theranosed” Eric D. Brown

Kaiser Fung just posted a blog titled “Tip of the day: don’t be Theranosed” where he defines “theranosed” as:

Theranos (v): to spin stories that appeal to data while not presenting any data

To be Theranosed is to fall for scammers who tell stories appealing to data but do not present any actual data. This is worse than story time, in which the storyteller starts out with real data but veers off mid-stream into unsubstantiated froth, hoping you and I got carried away by the narrative flow.

I really liked the definition of being ‘theranosed’, but anyone that’s been around long enough knows that this type of activity has occurred for many years and will continue to occur for many more.  In this particular example, a storyteller uses the appeal of data without actually using data to tell a story that led to a multi-billion dollar company valuation.  The people caught up in the story feel like they are being fed data to help back up the story they are being told and gladly go along with the narrative.

How can you ensure you and your company aren’t “theranosed”?

Well…I’m not sure you can be 100% safe from being spun stories without data, but you can build a culture of curiosity and questioning that almost ensures that at least someone in your company asks the right question and/or sees through the story being spun.

Additionally, you can build a strong data culture within your business.  Understanding how to use data to make decisions and tell stories can help you spot someone trying to “theranose” you. Understanding what it takes to analyze data and build meaningful stories with data will help you see through someone else’s BS  very quickly.

If you teams ask questions and dig into the data, you can be sure that you’ve do everything possible to minimize the possibilities of being “theranosed.”

from Eric D. Brown http://ericbrown.com/dont-get-theranosed.htm
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