Boardroom Misunderstandings of the "Digitals"

First came the baby boomers (1946-1964). Then came the Generation "X" or genexers born between 1965-1975. Then came the Gen "Y" generation between 1976-1985 also called the MTV Generation. Now come the Gen"Z" or iGeneration or what some Europeans call the "digitals " born after the 90's. While most of executives and board room directors have come to accept some of the changes in the habits associated with the X generation and the Y generation, they are completely baffled by the "digitals" or "z" or iGeneration and unfortunately, we executives and board members will lose a great opportunity if we don not catch up to them at the pace they are traveling.

First, we all have to understand that there is fuzzy separation between the Gen Y and Gen Z. Many Gen Y have picked up the habits of the Gen Z, and therefore, the group of "digitals" may be greater than just those individuals born between the 1990-2000s. That said, this means that there is a huge number of individuals to be considered "digital" or Genzies.

Second, this group is moving at lightning speed. They pick up ideas, concepts, games, activities, and technology quickly, comfortably, and even "arrogantly". AS IF, how could you not "get it." I have two toddlers: a 20 month old and a 3 1/2 year old. They both know how to work the remote control, how to answer the phone, how to "click" on the computer, how to respond to computer instructions, and how to touch-screen (yes, that is a verb for me). My 3 1/2 year old also learned to drive in one day. Yes, he drives a very small electric car, but he drives it in a straight line, and knows how to go backwards and make 3-point turns.

Third, this group believes in transparency and openness from the get-go. They use Facebook and Twitter to tell the world everything about themselves and their activities. They are also used to make public faux pas and move on without judging or being judged. Mistakes happen and it is morecourageous to move on, than to dwell in the past. Interestingly, we treat children like that: we allow them to make mistakes so that they learn and even when they make the mistake we did not allow, we still teach them to learn from that error and move on.

Finally, this group is part of a mini "boomlet" due to the affluence and war-babies of the past decade.

Now that we know who they are and what are their characteristics, what does the executive boardroom need to learn from these "babies"?

The Boomers and X'rs came from generations and upbringing which thrived on "confidential" or proprietary information, closed doors, secret formulas, patents, trademark protection, closed systems, and closed architecture. They "thrived" from surprising the market with unexpected products and services. These executives and their employees protected their personal information and personal lives.

But guess what....that world came crashing down in 2007 and 2008, and a new world is dawning in 2009 and beyond. Eventually secrets are discovered and the damage is worse. Board room and executives MUST accept transparency and mistakes. It is sad, that we learn the most from making mistakes, and yet, most corporations and businesses fire or terminate their employees because they made mistakes. We have to learn from the Digitals. We have to have transparency. We have to allow mistakes (to a point), learn from them and be better for it. We have to open our board rooms, our "architecture" in our offices and in our computer programming. When I asked a digital, "how can you give your social security number in order to join that site?" He responded, "anyone can get that on the Internet now, so who cares."

I have been telling people for years, that "Hollywood" is the educator of the world. Hollywood movies and television "educate" us in what to wear, what to eat, what is success, what Paris should be like, what Africa is like, what Venice Beach is like, and now, what business should be like. The "Hollywood model" (not the beautiful and sexy woman) but the business model where everyone knows everything about everyone and still compete successfully, is the future of business. The "digitals" have it right and are moving at "Hollywood" speed.

It is time for executives and directors of boardrooms to join the digital age and open their doors, their books, their computer architecture and their eyes to the future. Good luck!!!

Plinio J Garcia

pliniojgarcia@gmail.com

www.visualcv.com/pliniojgarcia

Letting Your Gut Feel or Intuition Run Your Business

I was recently asked if a business owner should go with his or her gut feel? My answer is yes, with an asterisk. As business owners, and entrepreneurs we make a lot of quick decisions which make us successful and make our businesses grow. Most of the decisions we make are made in a second or a minute and these decisions are called "gut" or "gut instinct" or "intuition." Whatever you call them, these decisions come from your (our) intellect, experience, and emotions. When we are young and we make these decisions off the cuff and find them successful we tend to believe that we will always make the correct decision. Moreover, everyone around us, begin to rely and depend on us to make the correct decision EVERY TIME. But as our business expands and as we get older, we must force ourselves to educate ourselves, engage in exciting discussions, and surround ourselves with new individuals with creative thoughts so that our "intuitions" and our "gut feels" are refreshed and kept abreast of the latest business practices and thinking. Sometimes it is hiring an outside consultant. Sometimes it is hiring a new employee. Sometimes it is enrolling in an intensive MBA or Executive program. Whatever it is, constantly challenge your mind, and constantly feed it new ideas, so as to keep your "gut feel", your "intuition" finely tuned. Good luck. Plinio J Garcia pliniojgarcia@gmail.com facetofacematters.blogspot.com

Starting a Family Business without Destroying the Family

So you want to start a family business with....the family. I have been there, I have done that and here is my advise if you and your family want to keep the business alive and still be able to talk to each other in 10 years and spend holidays together without throwing pots and pans at each other.

First, if you think of a family business, make sure that you understand the dynamics of your family first. This sounds easy, but it is not. You have to figure out who is the aggressive sales person and marketer of the family. You have to determine who is the calm/finance/budgeting person of the family. You have to determine who is the "boss" of the family and ultimate decision maker. You have to determine who is the "networker" of the family. You have to determine who is the diplomat or negotiator of the family and many times, unbelievably so, it is Mom ( I will explain later). So once you determine these roles, then you can move to step two.

Second, what is the family business going to do? Please sit down together and figure it out. You may all think you are going to open a restaurant, but what does each of you really hope to achieve? One of you may want a fast food restaurant. One of you may want a "dining-casual" restaurant. One of you are focused on turning anything into a franchise or multi-location restaurant. One of you dreams of that fine food Italian bistro whose clientele includes the Hollywood glitterati.

The consideratinos are endless and unless you all agree from the get-go, you will be sowing the seeds for your family's destruction. Remeber, just because you all set a goal today, does not mean that down the road, you can't all agree to change that. But, if you define the business TODAY, down the road no one is going to say, "that's not what I wanted" and that individual can then say, "you know what, I dont agree anymore with our objective and if we cannot change that, I need to leave the business in order to remain a happy family member."

Third, once you have figured out who does what, and what the object is, then you have to write it down on paper. I know, I know, you will all say, "dont you trust me?" But the reality is not about TODAY, the realiaty is about the future. If you write down things today, legally, with the help of an attorney, then in the future, you all know what you signed and to change things will take more work and more writing and more lawyers, so it is better to agree on something today. Why? People change, people get married, people get divorced, people become sick, people get in financial trouble, people have addictions, etc, etc, etc

So, even though this is a few words of advise, it is a begining. At a time in history when it presents great oppportunities to start your own business, please consider these ideas before starting one. Good Luck!!
Plinio J Garcia
pliniojgarcia@gmail.com
www.visualcv.com/pliniojgarcia

Now Is the Perfect Time To Start Your Own Business

Am I insane? How can I even suggest that this is the perfect time to start a new business? Let me explain.

Let us first consider how many people are out of work and are going to be out of work. For many of us, this will be the first time we have lost a job. Not because we are incompetent. Not because we are unqualified. Not because we had an argument with our boss. But because the entire economy mandates that businesses, including your own, our own, have to cut costs and this mandate includes people.

If you are out of a job and there are few if any companies hiring, what can you do? You can sit around and hope you will find work. You can sit around and cash in unemployment checks and/or disability. You can go back to school and spend money in the hopes that you can re-orient your career when the market gets better. Or you can finally say, “I have always wanted to do _______________ and at this time in my life, I have nothing to lose if I begin a new business (and become master of my own destiny).

So what is stopping you from starting your own business? For many of us, the answer is FEAR. Fear that you don't have the time to start a new business. Fear that you do not have the money to start a new business. Fear that your business will not be successful. Fear that you will not make enough money to feed your family or take care of your needs. Fear that someone will copy your idea and make more money than you. Fear that if you are building your own business you will not get a "real job" or the "perfect job" if it becomes available.

What did Franklin Delano Roosevelt say during his first speech and first tenure as president during the last Depression: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". Let me calm some of those fears for you.

If you have a job, but are afraid you are about to lose it, you are actually in the best position to begin a business. You have an income. You can begin your business part-time. You can begin to save money for your family and the new business. Then you can test the waters with minimal investment to see if you like it. If you are laid off, you have set yourself up with a new job: your new business! If you are not laid off, you can then make a conscious choice to continue with your new venture or give it up or sell it off, or continue it part-time while you continue employed in the safety of your current job.

If you are out of a job and you cannot find another job, then you have the time to start a new business. Take it slow. Take it easy. Talk to others who have started their own businesses. You can be searching for a job, while starting your own business. What-do-ya-have-to-lose?

So you are afraid that you don't have the money to start your own business? Some of the most successful businesses were started with little or no money. The founder of Nike sold tennis shoes out of the trunk of his car. Coca Cola was created by a pharmacist in a kettle in his back yard. Bill Hewlet and Dave Packard built their first electronic test instrument in a garage. My father and I began our first food business with a Concrete Mixer in our garage. The message here is that you don't need a lot of money to start a business. What you need is hope, determination, creativity and the willingness to ask for help or advice. Luckily these days, there are businesses and organizations and consultants who can assist you in your efforts, so that you are not alone in starting your own business, so be willing to ask for help.

Next is the fear that you will not be successful. First response to that is, you will never know until you try. Second response is that today there are a lot of individuals and/or organizations out there who can evaluate your idea or ideas and help you determine if your business concept is a viable one. So, even though a lot of successful businesses may appear to have started with no help whatsoever, a lot of business owners sought advise from family or friends or experts in their efforts to make their businesses function and work.

If you are afraid that you will not be able to feed your family with the new business, then there are a few steps you can take to allay that fear. First, if you are still employed, start the business part-time so that you can feed your family and begin the business. Second, if you are about to loose your job or lost it, you may be able to find financing that can give you the resources to take care of your family's need for,say,6 months or one year. Third, there are investors out there who can help you. Fourth, there are many programs out there who can give you some funding or loans to help you survive.

You are afraid someone will steal your idea. This fear is usually unfounded and many times debilitating. If this is a true fear because you want to make a patented device or idea, then you need to seek good advice from individuals who can help you protect your idea and continue with your dream.

Finally, you are afraid that while you are running your business you miss the "real job" or "perfect job". This is easy to resolve. If you are running your business and the "perfect job" becomes available, get the new job and then figure out what you want to do with your business. You can stop it and tell yourself you had fun, you learned a lot, and you now appreciate your job even more. Or you can pass on the business to a relative, your wife, your kids, etc and simply advise them on the side. Or you can find someone to buy the idea or business from you. You have options which, again, if need be, you can find consultants who can assist you with this matter.

If you start your business now, and the business goes well, when the economy picks up, you will be able to profit handsomely and find that the efforts were all worthwhile.

So, if you are afraid to start your own business, your only fear, is fear itself.
Good Luck!

Plinio J Garcia
Business development specialist; www.visualcv.com/pliniojgarcia
Co-founder of Chef Merito, Inc, co-founder of Marina Peninsula Neighborhood Association, Co-founder of UCLA-Latino Alumni Association, Director UCLA Foundation 2000-2008, UCLA Board of Councillors 2003-2005

Perfect Time to Start a Business

Am I insane? How can I even suggest that this is the perfect time to start a new business? Let me explain.

Let us first consider how many people are out of work and are going to be out of work. For many of us, this will be the first time we have lost a job. Not because we are incompetent. Not because we cannot do the job. Not because we had an argument with our boss. But because the entire economy mandates that businesses, including your own, have to cut costs, and this mandate includes people.

If you are out of a job and there are few if any companies hiring, what can you do? You can sit around and hope you will find work. You can sit around and cash in unemployment checks and/or disability. You can go back to school and spend money in the hopes that you can re-orient your career when the market gets better. Or you can finally say, " I have always wanted to do _______________ and at this time in my life, I have nothing to lose if I try to begin a new business so that I am master of my destiny.

So what is stopping you from starting your own business? For many of us, the answer is FEAR. Fear that you dont have the time to start a new business. Fear that you do not have the money to start a new business. Fear that your business will not be successful. Fear that you will not make enough money to feed your family or take care of your needs. Fear that someone will copy your idea and make more money than you. Fear that if you are building your own business you will not get a "real job" if it is available.

What did Franklin Delano Roosevelt say during his first speech and first tenure as president during the last Depression: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". Let me calm some of those fears for you.

If you have a job, but are afraid you are going to lose it, you are actually in the best position to begin a business. You have an income. You can begin your business part time. You can begin to save money for your family and the new business. Then you can test the waters with minimal investment to see if you like it. If you are laid off, you have set yourself up with a new job, your new business. If you are not laid off, you can then make a conscious choice to continue with your new venture or give it up or sell it off, or continue it part-time while you continue employed in the safety of your current job.

If you are out of a job and you cannot find another job, then you have the time to start a new business. Take it slow. Take it easy. You can be searching for a job,while starting your own business. What-do-ya-have-to-lose?

So you are afraid that you dont have the money to start your own business? Some of the most successful businesses were started out of a need to make money without money. The founder of Nike sold tennis shoes out of the trunk of his car. Coca Cola was created by a pharmacist in a kettle in his back yard. Bill Hewlet and Dave Packard built their first electronic test instrument in a garage. My father and I began our first food business with a brand new Concrete Mixer from Sears in our garage. The message here is that you dont need a lot of money to start a business. What you need is hope, determination, creativity and the willingness to ask for help or advise. Luckily these days, there are businesses and organizations and consultants who can assist you in your efforts, so that you are not alone in starting your own business, so be willing to ask for help.

Next is the fear that you will not be successful. First response to that is, you will never know until you try. Second response is that today there are a lot of individuals and/or organizations out there who can evaluate your idea or ideas and help you determine if your business concept if a viable one. So, even though a lot of successful businesses started with no help whatsovever, a lot of very large companies began with the help of experts and you dont have to be alone.

If you are afraid that you will not be able to feed your family with the new business, then there are a few steps you can take to allay that fear. First, if you are still employed, start the business part-time so that you can feed your family and begin the business. Second, if you are about to loose your job or lost it, you may be able to find financing that can give you the resources to take care of your family's need for, say, 6 months or one year. Third, there are investors out there who can help you. Fourth, there are many programs out there who can give you some funding or loans to help you survive.

You are afraid someone will steal your idea. This fear is usually unfounded and many times debilitating. You are afraid of doing something because you are afraid of losing it. If you dont do it and make it, you cannot lose it, so you dont do it or make it. If this is a true fear, then you need to seek good advise from individuals who can help you protect your idea.

Finally, you are afraid that while you are running your business you miss the perfect job. This is easy to resolve. If you are running your business and the "perfect job" becomes available, get the new job and then figure out what you want to do with your new business. You can stop it and simply tell your self you had fun, you learned a lot, and you now appreciate your job even more. Or you can pass on the business to a relative, your wife, your kids, etc and simply advise them on the side. Or you can find someone to buy the idea or business from you. You have options which, again, if need be, you can find consultants who can assist you with this matter.

If you start your business now, and the business goes well, when the economy picks up, you will be able to profit handsomely and find that the efforts were all worthwhile.

So, if you are afraid to start your own business, your only fear, is fear itself.
Good Luck!
Plinio J Garcia
Co-founder of Chef Merito,INc, co-founder of Marina Peninsula Neighborhood Association, Co-founder of UCLA-Latino Alumni Association, Director UCLA Foundation 2000-2008, Business Development Specialist www.visualcv.com/pliniojgarcia

Now Is The Time To Start Your Own Business

I know. It sounds crazy. But when one reaches the bottom, there is only one way, but up. Given the current economic situation in the world, nation, and here in California, this may be the time to give up working "for the man" and start working for yourself.

Before

Ending Busing in LA Saves Money, Eliminates Pollution, and Keeps Kids Near Home

As a new father of a 1 year old and a 3 year old, my thoughts are now on educating my sons. Private education is prohibitive. I have a "magnet school" walking distance, about 1 mile, from our home, but my kids have to "apply" to get in and most of the kids are bused in to the school from far away.

All these buses, 5 for this tiny school, made me think. At a time when we have to cut costs AND we have to think about the environment, should we not ALL be looking at eliminating busing throughout Los Angeles county? It is my understanding that the district owns 3,400 buses which make no less than 2000 trips per day. This cannot be cheap. At the same time, these buses create major traffic congestion and pollute our air in ways none of our cars do. It is also my understanding that in addition to these 2000 trips, there are an additional 97,000 trips per year for things such as field trips, etc. So more congestion and more pollution.

When I speak to mothers of all socio-economic levels whose children attend public schools, they all have the same complaint: they dislike busing because it takes their children away from home and it is difficult for them to make parent-teacher meetings.

If the "working class" and "ethnic minorities" dislike busing and if the "middle class" would like to save private school funds, since they already pay for schools with their property taxes, why are we still busing kids to places far away?

It seems that crisis forces us to think and the thought is that we should end busing NOW. The elimination of 2000 trips of diesel smoke would be a "green" act for the City. The elimination of the 2000 per day plus 97,000 extra yearly trips would definitely lighten up traffic during rush hour. The savings of dollars we make by eliminating busing, might just be enough to keep all the teachers in our classrooms and all the schools operating at regular schedule for the rest of the year.

"Guns vs Butter" in 2009

I keep reading and hearing that most Americans oppose the $700 billion stimulus bailout package proposed by our president and Democratic congress. I don't care if you are a Republican, a Libertarian, a GreenPeacer or a Democrat, there are very good reasons to support and vote for this plan. If we compare what Americans have supported over the last 8 years with what Congress is proposing now, Americans should easily support the stimulus package. Let's look at dollars and what Adam Smith called "guns-vs-butter." First, "guns."

Americans, over all supported, or at least did not oppose, that our government spend $597,000,000 (nationalpriorities.org) for the war in Iraq. That's almost $600 billion. Why did we spend this money and where did it go? We spent this money to stop Al Qaeda activities in Iraq and the development and use of Weapons of Mass destruction which were going to be used by Saddam Hussein against the US and/or its allies. But there was no Al Qaeda in Iraq and there were NO weapons of mass destruction. So the reason we approved the funds in 2001-2002 were ill-founded and yet, we all continued to support a President and government that kept spending the billions of dollars. In 2004, after we knew there were no weapons of mass destruction, Bush requested and Congress approved $100 Billion more dollars! Moreover, The Washington Posted reported in March of 2008, that the war in Iraq may end up costing $3 Trillion( Washington Post By Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz Sunday, March 9, 2008; B01) and many of us still support our representatives who support staying in Iraq.

Where did this money go or where is it going?Generally, the money went for guns and destruction. Did this money go into the hands of the American people? NO. It could be argued that some of this money went to the troops. First, I want to say I support our troops and believe they deserve the entire $600 billion, but unfortunately,that was not the case. Moreover, according to National Priorities.com, the war costs US Taxpayers $1,721 per person or $4,681 per household. If you look only at Texas, the President's home state, Texan taxpayers will spend $53 billion on the war. That was dollars.

Now casualties and injuries. According to the Associated Press, as of Thursday, February 12, 2009 4,243 troops have lost their lives in Iraq. According to AntiWar.org as of February 13,2009 at least 31,500 troops have been injured. [On a side note, according to AntiWar.org over 1,311,000 Iraqis have died as casualties of the war.]So, we have supported and spent over $600 billion on "guns" and killed over 1.3 million foreigners and lost the lives of over 4000 US citizens and now we are debating whether to spend a similar amount on HELPING AMERICANS survive in our own territory? Are we insane?

Let's talk about the stimulus package or what I call "butter." Let's first talk about our troops. Yes, of all the money spent on the war some of it went to our troop, who deserve every dollar and then some. But the troops number 130,000 to 160,000. The stimulus package will impact MILLIONS of Americans, including our troops. It is very important for everyone to realize that as we pull these troops out of Iraq, they will return home and will need to find employment. Those returning home will be hundreds of thousands of MORE individuals looking for work or out of work. How will we accommodate for them? The stimulus package will give Taxpayers making less than $75,000 a year tax credits. Well, most Americans, including many troops, earn less than $75,000 per year. So, let's support this. The stimulus package will give first time home buyers tax credits. A lot of veterans will be able to qualify for home loans. Let's support this. The stimulus package would give $40 billion to assist the unemployed in various ways. For example, it would give the unemployed a $25 INCREASE in their weekly checks and those benefits would be extended to 46 weeks, which is almost 1 year. Let's support this since job hunting is very difficult right now since few companies are hiring. The stimulus package would give about $21 billion to help the unemployed keep their health care benefits. This is good, let's support this. On a state level, for example, California would receive $26 billion which would help it offset its $46 billion deficit. Let's support this since a lot of these dollars would go to keep gorvenment jobs and stop more individuals to go into unemployment. $46 billion would go to transportation projects. We all know we need to pave our roads, reinforce our falling bridges and build more public transportation to decrease our reliance on oil. Let's support this.

Instead of nit-picking and wondering whether the Democrats or the Republicans are right or wrong, this is a time to understand that the private sector does not have the money or the confidence to solve the nation's ills. I am not a socialist or communist, but there is a time to believe that the government can take care of us. We supported that same government when we believed we had an enemy in Iraq and supported that government to spend OUR taxpayer dollars to the tune of $600 billion for dollars that went to guns. I think this is the time to tell our government officials that it is time to spend the same amount of dollars on butter. Thank you for reading.

Plinio J Garcia
9:23:00 AM
by Plinio J Garcia

Guns-vs-Butter (and People)

I keep reading that although the "bail out stimulus" package that Obama and the Democratic members of Congress are pushing the project through, most Americans oppose the bailout. I don't care if you are a Republican, a Libertarian, a GreenPeacer or a Democrat, there are very good reasons to support and vote for this plan. If we compare what Americans have supported our government to spend on for the last 8 years with what Congress is proposing now, Americans should easily support the stimulus package.

Let's look at dollars and what Adam Smith called "guns-vs-butter." First, "guns." Americans, over all supported, or at least did not oppose, that our government spend $597,000,000 (nationalpriorities.org) for the war in Iraq. That's almost $600 billion. Why did we spend this money and where did it go?

We spent this money to stop Al Qaeda activities in Iraq and the development and use of Weapons of Mass destruction which were going to be used used by Saddam Hussein against the US and/or its allies. But there was no Al Qaeda and there were NO weapons of mass destruction. So the reason we approved the funds in 2001-2002 were ill-founded and yet, we all continued to support a President and government that kept spending the billions of dollars. In 2004, after we knew there were no weapons of mass destruction, Bush requested and Congress approved $100 Billion more dollars! Moreover, The Washington Posted reported in March of 2008, that the war in Iraq may end up costing $3 Trillion!( Washington Post By Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz Sunday, March 9, 2008; B01) Where did this money go or where is it going?

Generally, the money went for guns and destruction. Did this money go into the hands of the American people? NO. It could be argued that some of this money went to the troops. Ok, so we paid our In fact , according to National Priorities.com, the war costs $1,721 per person or $4,681 per household. If you look only at Texas, the President's home state, Texan taxpayers will spend $53 billion on the war. That was dollars. Now casualties and injuries.

According to the Associated Press, as of Thursday, February 12, 2009 4,243 troops have lost their lives in Iraq. According to AntiWar.org as of February 13,2009 at least 31,500 troops have been injured. [On a side note, according to AntiWar.org over 1,311,000 Iraquis have died as casualties of the war.]

So, we have supported and spent over $600 billion on "guns" and killed over 1.3 million foreigners and over 4000 US citizens and now we are debating whether to spend a similar amount on HELPING AMERICANS survive in our own territory? Are we insane?

Let's talk about the stimulus package or what I call "butter." Let's first talk about our troops. Yes, of all the money spent on the war some of it went to our troop, who deserve every dollar and then some. But the troops number 130,000 to 160,000. The stimulus package will impact MILLIONS of people. It is also very important for everyone to realize that as we pull these troops out of Iraq, they will return home and will need to find employment. That will be hundreds of thousands of MORE individuals looking for work or out of work. How will we accommodate for them?

The stimulus package will give Taxpayers making less than $75,000 a year tax credits. Well, most Americans, including many troops, earn less than $75,000 per year. So, let's support this.

The stimulus package will give first time home buyers tax credits. Let's support this. The stimulus package would give $40 billion to assist the unemployed in various ways. For example, it would give the unemployed a $25 INCREASE in their weekly checks and those benefits would be extended to 46 weeks, which is almost 1 year. Let's support this since job hunting is very difficult right now since few companies are hiring. The stimulus package would give about $21 billion to help the unemployed keep their health care benefits. This is good, let's support this. California would receive $26 billion which would help it offset its $46 billion deficit. Let's support this. $46 billion would go to transportation projects. We all know we need to pave our roads, reinforce our falling bridges and build more public transportation to decrease our reliance on oil. Let's support this.

Instead of nit-picking and wondering whether the democrats or the republicans are right or wrong, this is a time to understand that the private sector does not have the money or the believe that it can take care of itself. I am not a socialist or communist, but there is a time to believe that the government can take care of us. We supported that same government when we believed we had an enemy in Iraq and supported that government to spend OUR taxpayer dollars to the tune of $600 billion for dollars that went to guns. I think this is the time to tell our government officials that it is time to spend the same amount on butter.

Thank you for reading.

Plinio J Garcia

In an Email World Face-to-Face Matters by Plinio J Garcia

Yesterday, I attended a panel discussion at Pepperdine University about cross-cultural diversity in the work-place as well as relating with different cultures when working internationally. On the panel were two individuals, one, a V-P of one of the worlds largest and most powerful entertainment firms, and the other, myself, an entrepreneur of a small business based in Los Angeles. The resulting discussions surprised me as to what is truly important for both small and large businesses: the relationships between people.



Each panelist, lets call the V-P, Mr.Sj, and call me, Mr.PJG, first presented his company's history and his relationship and success within that company. Then, a group of about 30-40 MBA students questioned us on a variety of issues. As the discussions progressed, knowing people seemed to matter the most. When we were asked about doing business internationally, the accord was that businesspeople need to understand the "individuals" and "their cultures" when engaging with them. It may seem obvious, but repeatedly we came up with examples of how "Anglo-Americans" do business very up-front and matter-of-fact, avoiding most inter-personal discussions and using emailing as part of doing business, while other cultures seem quite the opposite at either creating small-talk before doing business and using emails, more to let you know that you have to call each other or talk face-to-face.

Mr.Sj, gave the example of how many Europeans like to have face-to-face discussions, and then take those discussions back to their companies for an ultimate decision, versus Americans who like to make decisions on the spot. Mr.Sj further explained that his new boss insisted on having a meeting with a specific European group and insisting on a decision. In the end, the Europeans agreed to take the discussions back to their company for further discussions and approval. Mr.Sj's boss began to trust Mr.Sj after that incident.

I gave an example of an experience I had in Brazil. I wanted to work for a certain firm. One of the directors was invited by my friends to their home. I met the director there on a sunday evening. For about 2 hours we talked about Brazil, the US, soccer, films, Hollywood, etc. At the end of the conversation, the director stretched out his hand to me and said, "I understand you want to work for us, come by tomorrow monday to our office to start working." At no time, did he see my resume or asked me serious work questions.

As the Gen-Y and Millenials begin to pursue careers, I write to you specifically. There is nothing more important than face-to-face discussions. Sitting in a room texting each other, may have results for you now, but in the long run text someone to meet you or have a phone conversation with you, rather than making it the ultimate negotiation tactic. If you SEE a person's facial expression and reactions to what you are saying, you will be more effective in communicating your ideas, and will have a better opportunity to salvage any mistakes or misstatement you may make.



As a "vendor" or "sales person", a customer may not cut relations with you or drop your product line so quickly if they know you or know that you have a family to feed. These inter-personal skills still matter in a dog-eat-dog world.



Good-Luck!!

PJG