12/15/14 - 12/19/14: 9:29 PM
This week was productive for me. I have mastered Trello completely, and I am up to date on nearly all Report Rankings. I have found however that some group members have not been putting their progress into the respective boards, and I have had trouble marking a couple of them down. However, this can be remedied by asking them to do it again.
This week I also worked on designing a flyer for our water bottles as part of our $200 project. I essentially created a form that would allow people to purchase water bottles before we have them for a discounted price.
Lastly, I worked on the Storefront Project. I helped work on Part 5 of the writeup. This entailed writing a detailed analysis of where revenue will come from, and creating a graph to show this. I created a graph that compared profit of each product that we will sell (candles, soaps, and T-shirts).
More to come after the new year!
C4E Associates
Noah Mark
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Sunday, December 14, 2014
12/01/14 - 12/05/14: Reading Summary
12/14/14: 4:19 PM
This week I read further into the book Good to Great by Jim Collins.
Throughout this weeks reading, I came across some really interesting passages that once again pertain to this class. One of the lines that Jim Collins is: "The good-to-great companies probably sound like tough places to work and they are. If you don't have what it takes, you probably won't last long. But they're not ruthless cultures, they're rigorous cultures. And the distinction is crucial."
What I have noticed is that as the work load of the company is getting more "rigorous," some people are becoming stressed and overwhelmed. They think that, as Jim Collins tries to reduce, our C4E is ruthless and that they will either do a great job or not do well at all. And since some people (people that do sports, after school activities, etc.) don't have a lot of time to do work, they will become stressed and feel like the class is way too much for them to handle, and then slack off. I think that for the C4E Associates to fully flourish is to let people know that their work simply has to demonstrate effort (at least some) to show that they can survive.
One thing that stuck out to me while I was reading was on page 54. Here, Collins talks about lay-offs. What he finds is that the "comparison companies ... used [layoffs] five times more frequently that the good-to-great companies." This stuck out to me because it makes perfectly logical sense. I feel that the people at top management of a company would keep new employees filtering in and out of the company to bring in new ideas. However, with the employees turning over all the time, ideas would not have a chance to develop into a greater business model. When employees stay for longer, they understand the company more thoroughly and can therefore make better decisions and have ideas that are more pertinent to the advancement of the country.
More commentary to come next week!
C4E Associate:
Noah Mark
This week I read further into the book Good to Great by Jim Collins.
Throughout this weeks reading, I came across some really interesting passages that once again pertain to this class. One of the lines that Jim Collins is: "The good-to-great companies probably sound like tough places to work and they are. If you don't have what it takes, you probably won't last long. But they're not ruthless cultures, they're rigorous cultures. And the distinction is crucial."
What I have noticed is that as the work load of the company is getting more "rigorous," some people are becoming stressed and overwhelmed. They think that, as Jim Collins tries to reduce, our C4E is ruthless and that they will either do a great job or not do well at all. And since some people (people that do sports, after school activities, etc.) don't have a lot of time to do work, they will become stressed and feel like the class is way too much for them to handle, and then slack off. I think that for the C4E Associates to fully flourish is to let people know that their work simply has to demonstrate effort (at least some) to show that they can survive.
One thing that stuck out to me while I was reading was on page 54. Here, Collins talks about lay-offs. What he finds is that the "comparison companies ... used [layoffs] five times more frequently that the good-to-great companies." This stuck out to me because it makes perfectly logical sense. I feel that the people at top management of a company would keep new employees filtering in and out of the company to bring in new ideas. However, with the employees turning over all the time, ideas would not have a chance to develop into a greater business model. When employees stay for longer, they understand the company more thoroughly and can therefore make better decisions and have ideas that are more pertinent to the advancement of the country.
More commentary to come next week!
C4E Associate:
Noah Mark
12/08/14 - 12/12/14: Work Summary
12/14/14: 2:43 PM
Throughout this week, I have been working on improving my Trello skills. I feel 100% comfortable with Trello and am finding it very useful.. I set up a board and invited my group members to it. It is set up so my group members can post what they have been doing, and it allows me to track their individual progress more easily and efficiently. It also makes it a lot easier for others to relay their progress to me.
Trello has been working very well for me and I think it will continue to be useful. It has allowed me to be more on top of keeping HR Report Rankings and has made it easier to assess group members. I find that I am able to do reports quickly. To do these reports, I have been adding comments under each person's cards. Each person has five cards that help me to categorize which aspects they are doing well in. The management system allows for better organization.
I also worked on Part 5 of the Storefront Project. That entailed creating a write-up of the sales forecast of our business. The sales forecast included what we believed (through research) would be our revenue, profit, and income for the first year of business (essentially keeping track of how we would generate revenue). I also included in this part a graph that compared the profit, revenue, and income for the first year of business.
I also worked on other parts of the Storefront Project. I helped research some economic parts of the project. For example, I helped to come up with some insurance estimates as well as costs for art supplies + beginning inventory.
In addition, I continued to work on the $200 Project. This Friday, I started to design a flyer for selling the water bottles that we had previously designed and which are currently on order. As soon as we receive them, the group hopes to start selling immediately.
C4E Associate:
Noah Mark
Throughout this week, I have been working on improving my Trello skills. I feel 100% comfortable with Trello and am finding it very useful.. I set up a board and invited my group members to it. It is set up so my group members can post what they have been doing, and it allows me to track their individual progress more easily and efficiently. It also makes it a lot easier for others to relay their progress to me.
Trello has been working very well for me and I think it will continue to be useful. It has allowed me to be more on top of keeping HR Report Rankings and has made it easier to assess group members. I find that I am able to do reports quickly. To do these reports, I have been adding comments under each person's cards. Each person has five cards that help me to categorize which aspects they are doing well in. The management system allows for better organization.
I also worked on Part 5 of the Storefront Project. That entailed creating a write-up of the sales forecast of our business. The sales forecast included what we believed (through research) would be our revenue, profit, and income for the first year of business (essentially keeping track of how we would generate revenue). I also included in this part a graph that compared the profit, revenue, and income for the first year of business.
I also worked on other parts of the Storefront Project. I helped research some economic parts of the project. For example, I helped to come up with some insurance estimates as well as costs for art supplies + beginning inventory.
In addition, I continued to work on the $200 Project. This Friday, I started to design a flyer for selling the water bottles that we had previously designed and which are currently on order. As soon as we receive them, the group hopes to start selling immediately.
C4E Associate:
Noah Mark
Saturday, December 6, 2014
12/01/14 - 12/05/14: Reading Summary
12/06/14: 5:30 PM
This week, I started to read a book on Entrepreneurship. This book is called Good to Great by Jim Collins.
So far, so good. I find this book very interesting as Collins comments on the inner workings of how companies go from, well, good to great. What interests me is that this book resonates within the scope of what we are doing in class. While we aren't quite at the stages that Collins is commenting on, it is really intriguing learning what might go on when we launch our own companies (if we do). On page 12, there was a diagram that essentially explains the process of companies vastly improving.
What stuck out most to me was the put-down of a certain component of success (or that was thought to lead to success) on the following page. Collins wrote that he "expected that good-to-great- leaders would being by setting a new vision and strategy." Instead of that, he found that "they first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats - and then they figured out where to drive it." This stuck out to me because I always had the assumption that to improve one had to have a brilliant idea and follow. Now however, I can see that it is the people that you have with you (the right ones at that) that will help you to know where you're going.
I also read about how companies do not go from good to great in one leap. While this seems to be common sense, as no companies go from naught to sixty overnight, it is never thought about. I think a reason that some entrepreneurs, or companies, or products don't reach their full potential because they have set their expectations too low. When they finally get to the point where they think they have become great, they stop putting in as much work, and this separates the good companies from the great companies. The great companies never assume that they have reached their maximum (maybe there isn't a maximum?), and keep thinking they can go the extra mile, and they can.
All of that ties into Collins' point about confronting the "Brutal Facts". One has to be willing to accept that they will have difficulties, and that their company might not become great, but at the same time they have to firmly believe that they will become great. I think that the people that can't grasp this ideas are the ones that never make it to great because they either don't think they can make it (and they don't) or they think they will make it with no problems and they will make it quickly (and they don't because they give up after failure or a non-success).
More commentary coming next week!
C4E Associate:
Noah Mark
This week, I started to read a book on Entrepreneurship. This book is called Good to Great by Jim Collins.
So far, so good. I find this book very interesting as Collins comments on the inner workings of how companies go from, well, good to great. What interests me is that this book resonates within the scope of what we are doing in class. While we aren't quite at the stages that Collins is commenting on, it is really intriguing learning what might go on when we launch our own companies (if we do). On page 12, there was a diagram that essentially explains the process of companies vastly improving.
I also read about how companies do not go from good to great in one leap. While this seems to be common sense, as no companies go from naught to sixty overnight, it is never thought about. I think a reason that some entrepreneurs, or companies, or products don't reach their full potential because they have set their expectations too low. When they finally get to the point where they think they have become great, they stop putting in as much work, and this separates the good companies from the great companies. The great companies never assume that they have reached their maximum (maybe there isn't a maximum?), and keep thinking they can go the extra mile, and they can.
All of that ties into Collins' point about confronting the "Brutal Facts". One has to be willing to accept that they will have difficulties, and that their company might not become great, but at the same time they have to firmly believe that they will become great. I think that the people that can't grasp this ideas are the ones that never make it to great because they either don't think they can make it (and they don't) or they think they will make it with no problems and they will make it quickly (and they don't because they give up after failure or a non-success).
More commentary coming next week!
C4E Associate:
Noah Mark
12/01/14 - 12/05/14: Work Summary
12/06/14: 4:50 PM
Throughout this week, I have been working on developing ideas for our Storefront Project. We have finalized an idea: a do-it-yourself crafts-shop that will focus on candles, soaps, and paintings. The shop may also contain an area in which pre-made (by the shop staff) candles and soaps are for sale. I personally have contributed main ideas for the store, as well as worked on Trello.
My main focus this week was configuring Trello to my specifications and adopting it as a tool for keeping track of HR Reports. It has become an invaluable tool for tracking progress. Throughout the week, I made multiple reports for each person, and assigned a number (out of 1-5) to each person in each of five possible categories (I will list them from most important to least important): Motivation, Efficiency, Empathy, Leadership, and Grit. I also created a HR Report for the group as a whole to assess Productivity, Cooperation, and Collaboration/Idea Flow. As of today, I have completed at minimum three rankings for each person in all of the categories. Trello is working well and I have not had any problems. I would highly recommend Trello to anyone interested in keeping track of HR Reports.
I have also been using Trello to keep track of group deadlines and important contacts. As of yet, I have not put in any contacts, but as we gain contacts, they will be added. Some deadlines have been added, but not all have been added. This is a work in progress.
Lastly, I have been communicating with all of the group members to ensure all of the deadlines are being met and all of the work is being completed. I created a group text and asked everyone to tell me what they were working on, so I could input that information into Trello. So far, everyone has been very responsive.
Next week I hope to feel 100% comfortable and efficient with Trello so as to use my time most effectively. I also hope to contribute more actual content to the Storefront Project, rather than just keeping track of progress.
C4E Associate:
Noah Mark
Throughout this week, I have been working on developing ideas for our Storefront Project. We have finalized an idea: a do-it-yourself crafts-shop that will focus on candles, soaps, and paintings. The shop may also contain an area in which pre-made (by the shop staff) candles and soaps are for sale. I personally have contributed main ideas for the store, as well as worked on Trello.
My main focus this week was configuring Trello to my specifications and adopting it as a tool for keeping track of HR Reports. It has become an invaluable tool for tracking progress. Throughout the week, I made multiple reports for each person, and assigned a number (out of 1-5) to each person in each of five possible categories (I will list them from most important to least important): Motivation, Efficiency, Empathy, Leadership, and Grit. I also created a HR Report for the group as a whole to assess Productivity, Cooperation, and Collaboration/Idea Flow. As of today, I have completed at minimum three rankings for each person in all of the categories. Trello is working well and I have not had any problems. I would highly recommend Trello to anyone interested in keeping track of HR Reports.
I have also been using Trello to keep track of group deadlines and important contacts. As of yet, I have not put in any contacts, but as we gain contacts, they will be added. Some deadlines have been added, but not all have been added. This is a work in progress.
Lastly, I have been communicating with all of the group members to ensure all of the deadlines are being met and all of the work is being completed. I created a group text and asked everyone to tell me what they were working on, so I could input that information into Trello. So far, everyone has been very responsive.
Next week I hope to feel 100% comfortable and efficient with Trello so as to use my time most effectively. I also hope to contribute more actual content to the Storefront Project, rather than just keeping track of progress.
C4E Associate:
Noah Mark
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