Why Group Brainstorming Is a Waste of Time

(3/31/2015) Do you feel the same as this author? Brainstorming is wasting your time? It may be. However, when the whole team has no idea to start, you always need a process like brainstorming to start with. Don't expect too much or take it too seriously.

Frontier's New Reservation System Is A Disaster

(3/13/2015) You booked a flight and it turns out the waiting line on the reservation system is 'significantly' different from the actual flight time? Well, that's what happened in the Frontier Airlines' new reservation system. If you keep them wait a little bit longer, it is not a big deal (yet). But if you mess up their connecting flight or miss several days of passenger's vacation trip?

The key issue was the testing before launching the new system. How can their process improvement got so wrong which focus only on their internal system integration but forgot the consistency of the "moment of truth" -- which is the interaction between the passenger and the company's system?

I am appalled see that the solutions they respond is like this:
"The airline says that all issues with the system should be resolved by today, but in the event that doesn’t happen, the company posted a few tips for consumers on its Facebook and Twitter pages.

           Suggestions from Frontier included clearing your cache and using Google Chrome, as it apparently works best for FlyFrontier.com"

(3/25/2015) There is another problem in Frontier. This time, passengers are stranded on the plane for 18 hours due to a series of mechanical delays and crew issues. I can understand the mechanical delay. But after 12 hours of delay on the plane, and Frontier could not foresee lack of crew problem? That is a failure of risk management.

MOOC Wave #2 Coming?

(3/13/2015) When several ivy league universities like Harvard, Stanford and MIT jumped into the MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) bandwagon three years ago, many predicted that our traditional college systems can be in trouble. But the impact is not that big, so far. Today, the New Work Times has an article arguing that the technology and online education ecosystem is not there yet now, but it may come soon.

I think I agree with the author on the point that the technology and online education ecosystem is not there yet now. But I don't think an "Open Badge" can change the tide at all, at best, it generates some ripples. The real problem for students finishing an official degree through MOOC is the "advising process" that will accompany students in their course selection and scheduling. That is, if someone is interested to claim (s)he earns an Business Analytics degrees, there should be one or several curriculums that guiding students through this process. The curriculums have come from some well recognized associations. For example, for the business school, AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) can be one of such organization to set up such curriculums for various business degrees. Without such a supporting system, not many self-motivated students will be able to figure out the path.

Microsoft Excel Is Crucial To Making More Money

(3/8/2015) According to Burning Glass Technologies (a labor research company) from WSJ, they found that the most important basic knowledges for middle-skill jobs are: spreadsheet and word-processing software such as Microsoft Corp.’s Excel and Word, or the software from SAP and Oracle."

"Positions that require basic digital skills tend to pay 13% more than jobs that require no digital chops: median pay of $22.66 per hour versus $20.14 per hour."

Western Australia Mining Cities Go Busted with Iron Ores and Coals

(3/8/2015) It's really like a dream (黃粱一夢) for several mining cities in Western Australia. Just several years ago, these cities are booming like crazy when China had a huge appetite for importing raw materials (iron ores and coals) from commodity-rich Australia. How crazy was that booming you may ask?  "Truck driving and cooking jobs offering $100,000 a year." It was that crazy. Now, many office spaces are up for lease and temporary workers are forced to return back to their countries since the jobs are gone. As far as we can see the economic outlooks of China, there is no recovery in a near future. The iron ore's price has dropped below $60 per tonne, which is never seen for 11 years in the global market. That is why several mining companies have to mothball their mines.

For city like Perth Australia, I feel that maybe it's better this had never happened. Now the mining bubbles left the city unemployed workers (native or foreign), empty buildings, and dwindling tax incomes. A big hangover from the booming party.

Buildings in Perth Australia are almost ready, but the business is gone.

Many companies probably regret they had won mining permission or jumped in the bandwagon.