-
Sport vs Business (5) – Winning
Winning is a core attribute of sports. It is encapsulated in its DNA. It motivates, it creates a purpose, it provides returns. But is winning-centricity the right philosophy in companies or societies? The concept of winning is quite challenged lately, by many theoreticians or specialists in various domains, from business to education. Is winning a chimera? Is it just a habit (eventually, a bad one?), something we might have learnt in childhood and now we realize there are no positive outcomes beyond it? Many people in sports would raise an eyebrow. Or both. However, talking about facts, let’s take a look into neuroscience. As no-one would dare to argue, in…
-
De ce citesc (eu)?
Un birou, undeva prin București, secolul XXI: – Eu nu citesc – Cum așa? (confuz) – Nu citesc romane (cu franchețe și seninătate)… Un scurt dialog, real, pe care l-am avut, mai demult, cu o persoană pe care am cunoscut-o în context profesional. Un rol de conducere și, categoric, o persoană foarte smart, un profesionist de top. M-a mirat. Îmi amintesc cum, mai recent, am văzut o postare a unui cunoscut, aș putea să-l numesc un influencer prin ceea ce face, despre cărțile pe care le-a citit. Erau toate de business (sau din zona help-yourself) și a precizat că nu vom găsi la el romane, ficțiune. Și atunci m-am mirat……
-
Sport vs Business (4) – Lessons learnt from running marathons
Running a Marathon is often quoted as a major challenge a regular person of our times could face. I have been through inner debates myself, whether to dare it or not. Passed through and felt elated. Like many others before me. Like many more to come, enlarging this wonderful “army” of finishers. Every single person completing those 42.2km takes his/her own take-aways. However, by discussing over and over again about this provocation with lots of people, being involved in organizing sport events myself, I hereby wrap up a few learnings, which I find useful in business and life in general. As completing a Marathon is much more than achieving a…
-
Story Telling. Friend or Foe?
I LOVE Storytelling! Just wanted to make this clear statement from the start, as I guess I will be questioned in a couple of minutes, once you finish reading this small paragraph… Storytelling is great because it wraps data in digestible layers of meaning. It connects the dots, it concentrates our attention from vast arrays of numbers and charts to the take-away, to contexts and conclusions. Stories are memorable, they could be better recalled, they imprint in our memories. They are the music of numbers and facts. Imagine trying to learn by heart hundreds or thousands of musical notes. It would be quite a challenge for our brains. But as…
-
Sport vs Business (3) – 5 Learnings for entrepreneurs
Are you eager to start your own business? Have you already decided and you’ve taken your first steps towards fulfiling your dream of independence, money and control of your life? I wish you good luck! At the same time, we must both agree that the road ahead is not an easy one. I will try to draft a bit of guidance by replicating experiences sport performers faced in their early stages. It takes time to succeed. It goes without saying that reaching some goals may take time. The higher the goal, the longer the required time to get there (in most instances). I want to play tennis like Federer, dribble…
-
Client or Agency?
I’ll be friendly and give you a small advise: don’t scroll down to check the verdict! The main reason would be… the lack of such a thing. Disappointed? I hope not. I’ll add my perspectives in the end of this text. I realized I have spent about 10-11 years in the client’s shoes and relatively similar in agenies. It seems like a proper time to put this postures in the ring, facing each other for the ultimate match. Which is better? The answer is like trying to vote between rock or classical music. Between Dostoevsky or Kafka, between Forrest Gump or Star Wars. It surely differs from person to person.…
-
Ce îmi place să fac…
Desigur, putem enumera numeroase lucruri care ne plac, activități care ne creează plăcere. Am încercat multe și, la felul meu de a fi, m-am regăsit în tot felul de hobby-uri. Pun în lumină mai jos câteva, care cred că sunt mai reprezentative pentru mine, cel de până acum… Sportul este, fără doar și poate, un leit-motiv al vieții mele. Fără să fac vreodată un anumit sport la nivel înalt (să folosim apelativul uzual, ”de performanță”), m-am tot lovit de sport, încă de mic. Și la ora asta, în ceas de maturitate (o formă semi-mascată de a admite că, poate, chiar în plin avânt pe partea descendentă a evoluției mele, cel…
-
Profession & Jobs
I started as an intern in Citibank Romania, dealing with electronic banking app installations and trainings (in ’97). It was an emerging sector, in a world class organization. However, I felt I was not fit for the specs of that job and decided to step off, after about 1 year. I applied for a marketing research analyst at Connex, a newly launched mobile operator. It was a Canadian company, with Vodafone shares. Connex was an iconic company in Romania around 2000, something like Google, Apple or Tesla today. Or all in one… The company became full Vodafone branch in 2005. I had several positions and responsibilities in Connex/Vodafone, during the…
-
Early stages
I came onboard in 1973, in Bucharest. That would be the capital of Romania, a pretty nice country in Eastern Europe 🙂 I have no brothers or sisters, which I guess helped me build strong friendships. Most of my childhood friends are, even today, people I spend vacation with and those buddies I often meet at parties or informal visits. I learned in a regular school, in Pantelimon, a not so fancy district of Bucharest (many would say, it was quite grey & risky). That helped…I attended high-school at “Mihai Viteazul”, one of the best colleges in the city, setting proper foundations for the next stages in life. In ’92,…
-
Corona Thoughts 2
March 23, 2020. After some time, we will be able to say when this post was written, relative to the duration of the corona virus. Now, only assumptions. We see lots of models, lots of experts estimate bell curves and statistical predictions. I can’t help wondering about Taleb’s black swan. This is a typical example in support of his perspectives. And the fundamental logic he shares, the core rationale he conveys, gravitates around his rejection of the statistical models based on time series. Humans, as scientific community, as homo sapiens, may be facing a logical contradiction: if this is a black swan, an out of ordinary, accidental and disruptive event,…