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Expat Research

In a prior post I mentioned that my wife and I have been focused on writing 2 e-books for expats coming to Jamaica.

As a part of that effort, we have been asking for and receiving input on what information expats have been looking for to help them make the transition.

Apparently, there are very few companies that are doing much to assist their employees, and as I mentioned in a prior issue of FirstCuts called “Expats of the Caribbean,” companies often underestimate the cultural transition that must be made.

Hopefully, if the the e-book makes it to completion, it will help companies do a better job of preparing the way for their expats.

In the meantime, if you are an expat who is coming to Jamaica, you can give us input on the kind of information you are looking for, of were looking for at some point. Either leave me a comment, or send me some email.

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Outlook 2007

This has nothing to do with the Caribbean, but I have to add my own words of frustration regarding Outlook 2007.

It is SLOOOOOOOOOW.

I am shocked that some development team in Microsoft let it out of the lab and into production.

The only thing it offers of value that I have found is a prettier interface, and a few slightly better options.

Other than that, I am amazed that I upgraded from Outlook XP to Outlook 2007, skipping 1 upgrade, only to arrive here … with a much slower program that bogs down my entire computer when it’s running. I actually cannot afford to run it all the time due to the time it wastes.

Unbelievable.

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Busy Doing Everything Else

It’s been ages since I have posted up on this blog, and it’s not because I have stopped writing.

It’s just that I have been developing other things of interest, namely:

  • A few new e-books for a new expat transition business that my wife and I are starting (see http://transitionsunshine.info for details.) I learned how to create a wordpress blog from scratch in the process
  • New posts for my a 12 week time management e-course that I am currently trialling with a handful of users (testers). It’s called MyTimeDesign and will be launched soon
  • New content for my time management blog: http://2time-sys.com
  • a bit of content for Moving Back to Jamaica: http://francismove.blogspot.com

Also, I have been planning to move out of blogger and onto WordPress (finally.) This is a year of big moves, as I just moved my website to a new server, and it seems to be working. The learning curve for all these activites has been rather steep, and very IT-intensive.

This is where my engineering background has proven useful. While I have not forgotten how to program, I only “discovered” the php language the other day, so keeping up has been tricky.

At the same time, I have been making a nice long list of the items that I want to write about, but most of them will come when I have moved the blog over to WordPress.

Stay tuned…

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A Manifesto for Change

Yesterday, I figuratively nailed my own version of Luther’s Theses to the ChangeThis.com website.

I can’t claim that it had the same historical significance as other more famous printed texts, but it did feel good.

My ChangeThis.com manifesto was published yesterday, calling for a new approach to time management thinking.

In the 21 page PDF document, entitled “The New Time Management: Simply Focus on the Fundamentals, and Toss Away the Tips”, I make the point that working professionals the world over have destroyed their productivity and peace of mind by buying gadgets, and buying-into too many tips from other people.

Instead, they should be focused on perfecting their time management skills by focusing on the fundamentals of time time management. The manifesto focuses on the first 7 fundamentals (the essentials) without getting into the 4 advanced fundamentals.

Here is the info for retrieving it:

ChangeThis Newsletter No. 45

* * * *
* * * *

45.04
The New Time Management: Simply Focus on the Fundamentals, and Toss Away the Tips
by Francis Wade

“As working professionals across the world, we all want the same things when it comes to time management. We want to feel a certain peace of mind that comes from knowing that our affairs are in order and that we’ve not forgotten something that might jump up later to give us a nasty surprise.”

http://changethis.com/45.04.NewTime
http://changethis.com/pdf/45.04.NewTime.pdf

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Caribbean Interviews

I am in the process of conceiving a Caribbean Thought Leader Interview series to be placed on some different places — CaribHRForum.com and on this blog for example.

I would be looking for managers, executives, consultants, speakers — anyone from around the region with a unique point of view that can be shared in an interesting, informal way.

Who are some people from around the region that you would be interested in hearing from?

Francis

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Executive – Culture Fit

This is quite an interesting article, “Culture Club” taken from BusinessWeek, having to do with matching the culture of the company with executives to be hired.

The best executive for the job will have an impressive résumé, but should also possess the right skills to best maneuver the organization’s culture

by Joseph Daniel McCool

Cultural Matchmaking

One reason for a poor fit is that too often executives are hired based on where they’re coming from without enough thought given to where they are going. A candidate who impresses the board or the boss with his or her credentials might get the nod because on paper he or she appears to have the right range of experience from a respected, market-leading company. Yet an impressive résumé doesn’t guarantee an individual will be able to elevate a company’s performance in a new environment and/or a new role.

Click to see the article in full: Culture Club

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Email and the Exploding Inbox

An article that I wrote for the Newsday newspaper in Trinidad was recently published. The text is below.

Click on the graphic below to read the full article without squinting.