Are "Nerdism" and "Coolness" mutually exclusive?

A question that has befuddled me for decades is: Why do so many Americans think it is not cool to study science and technology?

So many people want to go into liberal arts, political science, and the like. If a person is good in science and technology, he is branded a nerd in school. How long can the US continue on this path and still prosper? These days, most people in high schools want to major in "business" in college. Ask them what they want to do in the future and most of them state they want to be a senior executive. I have encountered thousands of college seniors and graduate students who want to be "consultants." Ask them what they know about the real world for them to be "consultants" and all one gets back is blank stares. We have too many Chiefs and too few Indians in the US. (Coming from an Indian immigrant, the pun was intended!!!)

Immigration, Innovation and Job Creation

I found an interesting article in the May 14th issue of the Wall St. Jl. I am including a few excerpts from that article over here. In addition, have added a few elements to reflect my own opinion.

For decades, the US has been a magnet for immigrants. During the 20th century, millions of talented foreigners, from Alfred Hitchcock to Sergey Brin, flocked to our universities and benefited from our financial capital and open culture. In the process, thousands of them started businesses in the US; in fact several of them created entire industries.

There are signs, however that the allure of America is fading. A study by UC Berkeley, Duke and Harvard has found that, for the first time, a majority of American trained entrepreneurs who have returned to India and China believe they are doing better at "home" than they would be doing in the US.

Innovation in the US is driven in large part by first-generation immigrants. The US Patent Office states that immigrants are responsible for double the patents as non-immigrants. A 1% increase in immigrants with college degrees leads to a 15% increase in patent production. In recent years, immigrant inventors have contributed to more than a quarter of all US global patent applications. Since 1995, 52% of all Silicon Valley firms have been co-founded by immigrants.

Why is immigration so essential for innovation? Immigrants bring a much needed set of skills and interests. Last year, foreign nationals received more than 60% of all US engineering doctorates. (American students, by contrast, dominate doctorate programs in the humanities and social sciences). According to the US Department of Labor, only 5% of US workers are employed in fields related to science and engineering, but they are responsible for over 50% of sustained economic expansion.

Immigrants add to the diversity of the US. With diversity comes a multiplicity of cultures, outlooks, different ways of looking at things, different ways of solving problems. With diversity comes innovation. Many of the most innovative places in the world, such as Silicon Valley and New York City, are also the most diverse.

One lesson from all of this is: If you want to build a culture of innovation in your organization, strive hard to promote diversity and inclusion. Try to tap into the value of such multiculturalism. Innovation will be a clear outcome.

Turning Entrepreneurs Into CEO's

Turning Entrepreneurs Into CEO's

"Taking the Next Step to Profitable Growth"

August 25, 2010

Holiday Inn Irvine Spectrum

23131 Lake Center Drive

Lake Forest, CA 92630

To register, go to www.etoceo.eventbrite.com

• Have you started-up your business and are now wondering how to take it to the next level of growth and performance?
• Do you worry about what would happen to your business once you retire? Are you wondering if you can ever retire and enjoy the fruits of your labor?
• Would you like to learn about the key levers you need to develop in order to transition from an entrepreneurial small-business to a significantly larger company?
• Is cash flow management of constant concern to you?

If these and other such issues keep you awake an night, we have the right solution for you. This is a unique program to help you transition from an entrepreneur to a CEO. Through a series of interactive, thought-provoking all-day learning programs to be conducted once a month, we aim to shape your thinking and your actions so as to position yourself and your business for success.

The first in this series of seminars will be conducted on August 25, 2010. We will begin with each participant carrying out a thorough self-assessment utilizing six key lenses: (1) Balancing home and business life; (2) Transitioning from a tactical to strategic thought process; (3) Becoming a better leader and building a dynamic team to support you; (4) Financial management - Identifying the key factors that impact profit and cash flow; (5) Making technology work for you; (6) Building your personal fortune. Our research has shown that the issues faced by entrepreneurs in small-businesses can be categorized into these six groups. Following the comprehensive assessment, we will then address each of the six levers during the August 25th session, why they are important and how one can improve in each of them. Registration is now open for the August 25 seminar.

At the end of the program, the participants will

• Gain a good understanding of the importance of the core competencies they need to succeed in the small-business world
• Have completed a detailed self-assessment of where they stand on the various elements, their own strengths and opportunities for improvement
• Put together a clearly defined action plan on what they will be working on in the near future vis-a-vis their own path towards excellence
• Have ample opportunity to think about their own actions and behaviors and how they should change

Leadership Lessons from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

What are the lessons in Leadership (positive and negative) from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill? What can we learn from the way political leaders have been behaving? What can we learn from corporate leaders? How about the media?

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill - Dirty Politics and the Lopsided Media

It is disgusting to see the way in which the Obama administration is behaving during the current crisis as regards the oil spill in the Gulf. Recently, Obama stated that he was looking for "whose ass to kick." In the middle of this massive crisis, when BP has been doing everything it can to fix the problem, this esteemed president has also gone on record to say that if he were Tony Hayward's boss, he would fire him. Such stupid comments, coming from the man who is the president of the most powerful nation in the world are disgusting indeed. Coming from the man who has preached tolerance and put on a front of bringing people together, such comments are hypocritical. Coming from the man I voted for, such comments make me sad.

I am also disgusted by the sensationalism espoused by the lopsided media. They are pillorying BP day in an day out, constantly talking about how BP has not done a good job on safety. Even Anderson Cooper, someone who I have respected all along as a fair and educated reporter is coming across as just another one of those good old boys sitting in ivory towers pontificating on matters they know very little about.

To Mr. Obama, I have the following questions: You seem hell-bent on driving BP to the ground. When you succeed in doing so Mr. President, who is going to take care of the cleanup effort and bearing all the cost and compensating all the people. You seem to be doing everything you can to make BP declare bankruptcy. If that is what you want, be careful what you wish for. If BP declares bankruptcy, are you going to raise our taxes again to pay for the cleanup.

Mr. Obama, you are losing my confidence and support. More importantly, Mr. President, you are in danger of losing my vote.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The Deepwater Horizon accident and subsequent oil spill are tragic indeed. However, the accident was just that, AN ACCIDENT. It is amusing and annoying to read all the articles in the media about how BP messed things up or how BP did not do something right. So-called oil spill "pundits" most of whom have never even seen a drilling rig in their lives, leave alone an off-shore platform at such extreme depths are plunging into the discussion offering their "expert" opinion on what BP should have done or what it should do. Bureaucrats are jumping into the fray telling BP how to run the company. People who have never run a business in their lives or managed a joint-venture or partnership before seem to have become experts overnight.

I worked for the BP family of companies for nearly two decades. I left the company because I did not like several things that went on there. However, on the issue of safety, I have not seen another company take things more seriously than BP. During my time there, the company always put Safety and Environmental Responsibilities above profits or cash flow. Projects would be put on hold or manufacturing plants would be shut down immediately if the team had the slightest doubt about safety. In fact, several of BP's suppliers, customers and contractors have been coming to BP to learn how BP did such a thorough job on issues concerning Health, Safety and Environment.

So, to all of you "arm chair" pundits out there criticizing BP for what happened, let me give you some food for thought. Around the world, hundreds of off-shore oil wells are being drilled. Several of them are deep-water wells. What happened with the Deepwater Horizon should not have happened. Every accident is preventable; but it is still an accident. Shouldn't we take comfort in the fact that the party responsible for the oil spill and hence the clean-up effort is a company with the resources of BP. What would we have done if the responsibility fell on the shoulder of a company that was a fraction of the size of BP? Would we still want to put our feet to their neck (or what ever it is that Ken Salazar said)? For those playing the card of US .vs. UK, remember that BP might be a UK company but it employs a lot of people in the US.

It is always easy to sit in an arm-chair (or Starbucks or wherever it is the so- called "experts" sit in or whatever they sit on) and pass judgement on something one has no experience in whatsoever.

Gobbledigook

From The Times (UK), Dec 13, 2005

Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister of Wales, has won the Plain English Campaign's Foot in Mouth award for the second time. During a debate in the Welch Assembly on policing he said: "The only thing which isn't up for grabs is no change and I think it's fair to say it's all to play for, except for no change."