Business Improvement and Social media

Mazin Gilbert has an ambitious goal. As vice president of advanced technologies at AT&T, Gilbert wants to make AI technologies widely available throughout the corporation, especially to those who might not have a computer science background and may not even know how to program. Call it the “democratization of AI.” To accomplish that goal, AT&T is building a user-friendly platform with point-and-click tools that will enable employees — up to one-quarter of the company’s workforce — to build their own AI applications.

 

AT&T and a host of other companies are trying to address a crucial issue in business: the severe shortage of AI talent. According to some estimates, only about 10,000 programmers in the world have the necessary expertise to develop advanced AI algorithms. But that’s barely a drop in the bucket for what companies will need in their future workforces. Tools like AT&T’s platform will help spread AI technologies well beyond just a limited number of “haves” and reach the “have nots” that may lack the technical knowledge and experience.

 

This democratization of AI will happen in two ways. First, it will enable employees across a large organization like AT&T to develop their own AI applications to make them better at their jobs. But it will also allow smaller firms to deploy some of the same AI capabilities that have heretofore been limited to large corporations. Think of how spreadsheets like Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel helped democratize data analysis, enabling even mom-and-pop shops to perform invaluable “what-if” analyses.

Via The Learning Factor

Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence. In other words, if you’re not making a positive, lasting difference, you’re not really a leader. Here's a new book that offers some fresh insight into an ageless subject.

Leaders of courage inspire their teams to achieve more than they may have thought possible.

Successful entrepreneurs have a lot of things in common; one is knowing how to make the best use of their time. When the clock is ticking and they are under pressure to deliver, many have a favourite productivity hack to ensure things get done on time. Here, seven entrepreneurs share their tried and tested ways of being more productive.

 

Create artificial deadlines

 

Business expert and author of The Startup Coach Carl Reader uses a clever technique of creating artificial deadlines to guarantee a productive finish.

 

“One of my favourite tricks is the ‘train journey to nowhere,” he said. “I book a return train ticket, don't take my mobile phone, and set a completion target for the journey. With a clear deadline and no distractions, I find that I often produce more than I would in the office in a whole day. It's great if you can tie this around meetings that you need to travel to, but if not, the productivity boost is well worth the cost of a train ticket.”

Via The Learning Factor

Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin Group, is known for his countless insightful musings on the world of business and entrepreneurship, but there’s one saying in particular that’s been on my mind a lot lately.

“Finding something frustrating and seeing an opportunity to make it better is what entrepreneurship is all about.”

What a simple, yet profound, statement. It’s so true. Think of all the great innovations in history, and the inception of that product or service likely came from someone’s long-held frustration. Frustrated that taxis are expensive and hard to fetch? Here’s Uber. Think hotels are overpriced? Well, here’s Airbnb. Want to eat at a place that doesn’t offer delivery? OK, here’s GrubHub. Are you sick of using slow and ugly looking computers? Welcome to Apple.

The examples are endless.

Frustration is indeed the core of what spawns most great businesses. But, on a deeper level, there’s something even more powerful about being frustrated. Not only can frustration help people come up with ideas or create new ventures, but it can act as a motivator to keep individuals from stagnating when it comes to their own development.

Via David Hain

Every day, you and the people who work for you need to make decisions. Many decisions. As the leader, you may take it upon yourself to make the most critical ones, but for the company to thrive you have to be sure that the people who work for you develop this essential skill. One of the best decisions you can make, therefore, is to devote time to helping your team improve their decision-making. Here's how.

1. Encourage autonomy

If you have delegated authority to your employees and solicited their input, avoid dictating to them how they should do their jobs or micro-managing their approach to problem solving. Instead, spell out the goals or desired outcomes and then let them decide how to achieve them.

Via The Learning Factor