Tag: Personal Growth

The fields of science and technology are undeniably dominated by men. However, the contributions of women in these areas has been overlooked and underestimated throughout history. At the recent 2009 Women in Technology (WiT) Awards presentation, WiT President and i.lab CEO Anne-Marie Birkill delivered a keynote address in which she lauded the little-known achievements of female scientists and technologists, and called for greater acknowledgement and support for women today. Here is an edited extract from Birkill’s speech.

This July 2009 lecture to the TED in Oxford, UK sees Daniel Pink explore how the 20th century thinking behind staff and employee motivation...

Sometimes, all it takes to move ahead in life is being able to back up your fresh perspective with unique logic. Anyone can crank a widget, but how many people can prove that 7 x 13 = 28?

Sometimes, all it takes to move ahead in life is being able to back up your fresh perspective with unique logic. Anyone can crank a widget, but how many people can prove that 7 x 13 = 28?

We all want the best for our families, and building successful companies is one of the best ways to provide for them. But while you're off establishing your empire, will your kids turn into spoilt ingrates?

Most people will always forfeit personal luxury to provide for their baby. It's no wonder that the baby industry is perpetually booming. Liz Heynes and Catherine Kerstjens take a look at five Australian companies on the move in an industry where only the best will do.

Cash is king... and no one except Elvis is likely to disagree. So why don't we ever have enough and how can we fix cashflow problems without selling off part of our company?

While sometimes apocryphal, start-up failure rates tell a sombre story: most start-ups don't see their third anniversary. This high attrition rate has many causes, but a primary factor is poor cash flow management.

Book Reviews

Dr Don Fry's ultimate objective in life is to see every home on Earth powered by sun and water. As owner and director of AIMTEK, Fry has designed and built 225 ships and trained 1,000 apprentices. Now he wants to fly from Sydney to London in two hours and unleash the sun's nuclear power.

Pete Thomond spent the past four and a half years working out the secrets of successful innovation. The British academic and business consultant was co-manager of the "Disrupt-it" project, a €3 million European Commission co-sponsored programme of research and business tool development. Now he's spreading the word downunder, as a Research Fellow and innovation consultant at the Brisbane Graduate School of Business. At 29, he's young, but how many people do you know with a PhD in disruptive innovation?

Highly acclaimed marketing expert Tony Surtees prefers to avoid labels. If he had to nominate one for himself, it would be 'enterprise creator'. His particular ability is to assess changing market places and pick future trends, uncovering opportunities. He lets us in on some tricks learnt so far in his glittering global career.

If you ever feel under the pump at work, spare a thought for these three professionals. How would you have dealt with the pressure to win gold placed on Cathy Freeman at the Sydney Olympics? Perhaps the intensity that greets a police sniper at a siege would be more to your taste? Could you have surmounted your own vertigo to launch the Sydney Harbour BridgeClimb business? When it's your job to deal with fear, you'd better learn fast.

Salespeople acquired a stereotype for foot-in-the-door, sell-your-mother-for-a-dollar moral bankruptcy long before Zig Zigler cartwheeled his way into the public consciousness. But if salespeople appear a hardened bunch it's because they spend their days on the front line. And let's face it, if salespeople fail, no one gets paid. It's about time we cleared society's pedestal of entertainment celebrities, precious artists and fatuous egomaniacs. At long last, it's time to hail the salesperson!

A prison sentence early in life can dash the hopes of a would-be entrepreneur. Or it can fuel them. In the youth unit at Port Phillip Prison, rock bottom gives way to the bottom line as teenaged inmates become CEOs. Jodie O'Keeffe clears security to find out what it takes to build a business behind bars.

Has it really been six years since the world's first wave of internet entrepreneurs fell through that plump cloud they'd conjured in the sky, taking with them the turgid hopes of our fledgling new economy? It's been six years peppered with hard luck stories, investor reluctance and, lately, cautious hope rekindled. Australian internet startups were in the thick of it back then. The survivors emerged with slightly bloodied noses and wisdom far beyond their years.