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Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
I have been busy typing documents the last few weeks at work - contract documents - copy typing. After a few pages of legal-eez my eyes glaze over - I’m not typing words anymore just copying symbols. Legal documents aren’t the most inspiring read, they are repetitive and wordy but it’s important they be accurate - I’s dotted, T’s crossed - you can be sure if anyone is really reading the document they mean business. Creative writing, on the other hand, is best if kept short, sweet and to the point.
I read an interesting article recently that discussed one of the greatest and most memorable pieces of writing of all time - the Gettysburg Address. Only 272 words in length the address packed such a punch it is still being used as an example of brevity and impact. (the article was so interesting I prompted me to Google the Gettysburg Address - and I have to agree, it is pretty perfect).
Abe Lincoln was a masterful writer with a keen ear for just the right words - most of them just one syllable. He spoke to the people… the average people and he got his point across.
The more documents I type the more I admire people like Abe.
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
As ifinance will be launching a new program and product in the next short while this blog seems to be a timely one.
KYP (Know Your Product) is the premise that it is not enough to sell your product, one must know the product well enough to know how and to whom exactly it should be sold.
A KYP process is most effective if it does not function in isolation. It should involve a firm-wide assessment of employee qualifications, knowledge and proficiency in relation to new products.
The theory being the product should not be:
- sold by anyone who does not fully understand the product.
- Sold to any client who does not fully understand the product (all advantages, benefits, risks, and limitations)
- Sold after just handing disclosure documents to the client-the disclosure should be explained and discussed with the client
A firm’s product offerings should be restricted to the product that has had due diligence done on it and is fully understood by the sales/advisor staff. The understanding and due diligence should be complete in nature and include how the product is constructed and how it will perform in various market conditions. Only this would allow a proper assessment as to suitability to the client in question.
There are a number of regulations in place for products on the market and this “Know Your Product” is an extension of that. Regulators believe that suitability requirements and other sales practice obligations that apply to recommendations/sales of a product should also be applied to products before they are offered to the public, believing this will help a firm avoid conflicts and unsuitable recommendations before violations occur.
With the ever increasing complexities of new product offerings, this “know your product” process should be gaining widespread support, both to increase sales and limit liability to the offeror.
NI 30-103 (the national instrument that regulates all public offerings) has no mandate for an issuer under an Exempt Offering to formally have KYC (Know Your Client) or KYP (Know Your Product) information to make an offering as they are deemed to be operating in the “sophisticated market” realm.
While this is the general mandate, at ifinance we strive to have all our referral representatives, sales people, and clients understand the product offering thoroughly before a sale is completed.
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
I have a little ritual I complete each morning shortly after I log into my computer at work - I take a quick visit to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com. (I have it book marked on my favorites and I’ve done it so often I think my computer now poises itself to surf right on over before we do anything else) and I click the purple prompt. I then take a little surf over to the tabs at the top of the pageand click for ’Hunger’, ‘Breast cancer’, ’Child health’, ‘Literacy’, and the ‘Rainforest’. It takes about 45 seconds to do the rounds and every one of my clicks count. On the Animal Rescue site I’m clicking for food and care. On the Hunger site I’m clicking for cups of food. On the Breast Cancer site the clicks add up to mammograms. I’m clicking for Healthcare on the Child Health site, books on the Literacy site and Habitat Protection on the Rainforest site. I’m helping to save the world one click at a time and it doesn’t cost me a dime.
I just thought I’d pass the word along - because every click helps.
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
It seems everybody’s doing it. If they’re not writing them they’re reading them. Blogging is to the new millennium what jogging was to the seventies - a fast-paced footnote - a sign of the times. The trouble, as I see it, is for the people hanging at the edge of this technology. There’s a large group of us - the baby boomers - doing a subtle dance at the sidelines not knowing how to; or if we really want to; jump in.
Blogging appears to be subjective - some blogs are entertaining, some even thought provoking while others seem to be nothing more than a script of personal details posted like episodes of a cheesy soap opera.
Added to this are internet communities like Facebook and MySpace boasting millions of subscribers. People cyber-poke, send virtual gifts and instant message without ever having to actually visit anyone or see another face. This is the pulse of a techno-generation, impersonal and intense - cold blooded friendship.
I’m not exactly sure where I stand on all of this. On one hand this technology seems to disconnect us - on the other blogging can be seen as an open invitation to anyone anywhere to comment on or participate in a conversation. Sort of like an online coffee party.
Perhaps in this fast paced impersonal world a blog can allow a person to get personal. And maybe for some people a cyber poke is as endearing as a hug or handshake but it may take a while for those of us at the edge to feel the same.
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
It was never a job I intended to tackle. I hadn’t penciled it onto my to-do-list, nor was it one of those haunting tasks that lurk in the back of the mind like organizing the cutlery drawer. The attic was something I had planned to leave my children - a hidden treasure, an unexpected inheritance, a nightmare. They’ve never cleaned up after themselves - why would I?
So why, on the first sunny Sunday in months were my husband and I unloading the mother of all loads from the attic over our garage? Simply because nothing else would fit up there.
Projects like this have a tendency to sneak up on you but the out-of-site, out-of-mind principle can only handle so much junk.
We’ve lived in the same house for more than 20 years - our three children grew up here. Although they’ve all left home the proof of their existence still weighs heavy on the ceiling of our garage - between the rafters, bedded in insulation lays the dusty remnants of our lives together.
I believe it is primal instinct that inspires us to stash things away, the instinct stronger in some than others and the dominant gene as we procreate. My mother produced four pack-rats; I have generated three. The logistics of these phenomena are overwhelming.
As we set to the task of unloading the attic the reality of the project began to sink in. Boxes of toys, bags of clothing, bird cages and Halloween costumes began to emerge from the darkness and litter the floor of the garage below. Soon the mess spilled into the laundry room and began to creep into the house beyond. We had created a monster.
The further into the attic we ventured the more cherished the memories we uncovered. Christmas decorations gave way to collections of school work. The carefully crafted lava-spewing-papier-mâché volcano made its appearance followed by the giant foam fish one of the kids wore in a skating carnival. My father’s old golf clubs. Items of no worth but priceless just the same.
Over coffee we reminisced and evaluated. Is memory less valuable without the evidence to prove it existed? Will the kids ever require the information safely stowed in their primary school binders?
The recycling bin began to fill with science notebooks and mathematical equations. Garbage cans overflowed with broken toys and forgotten favorites and we began to wonder why we had ever started this project.
Our neighbours eyed the increasing clutter - a few ventured over for a closer look and to ask if we were moving. “No,” we said. “We’re just making some room in the attic for a few things we’d like to save.”
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
As recently professed in a blog article The Moderator is an entrepreneur. The confession didn’t come as much of a surprise to the rest of us at the office - we’ve known about his entrepreneurial tendencies for quite some time.
Always keen to explore new creative ideas and learn about solutions to problems The Moderator is an active member of the Entrepreneurs Organization. As such he attends conferences on a regular basis - the most recent being in Dana Point, California (between L.A. and San Diego) last month.
The good thing for us here is that he usually brings back something really interesting from these conferences.
At this particular conference he had the opportunity to listen to a keynote address given by Harvard professor Tal Ben-Shahar, an author and lecturer whose course, Positive Psychology, grew to be the most popular course in Harvard University’s history. (Positive Psychology is the scientific study of optimal human functioning) Apparently the crux of Tal Ben-Shahar’s keynote was “If you appreciate the good - the good appreciates“.
I’m a sucker for an inspirational speaker - I love a positive message so I did a little online research and discovered some information about Tal Ben-Shahar that I think is worth passing along.
Ben-Shahar advises people to give themselves permission to be human. He claims that when we accept emotions such as fear, sadness, or anxiety as natural we are more likely to overcome them. He suggests we give ourselves room to fail (not to be confused with a license to fail) - “Learn to fail or fail to learn”. He claims an organization where people are afraid of failing will not be an innovative organization.
Positive psychology essentially focuses on what works - by focusing on what is going well in your life you build on that and then deal with what is not working. Research has shown that when we focus on people’s strengths, cultivate their happiness, we are indirectly helping them deal with hardships and difficulties.
His bottom line: When you appreciate the good, the good appreciates
(to listen to Tal Ben-Shahar online go to: www.bigthink.com/talbenshahar/ideas.)
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
I was given a ‘Blackberry’ for my birthday last year - I’m still getting the hang of typing with my thumbs and texting. I like it for the most part but the 140 character limit poses a bit of challenge to me - I still like to punctuate properly and I haven’t figured out the new fangled short hand texters are wont to use, but I’m trying.
Smiley faces seem to be used to imply emotion, facial expression or tone of voice. Often I find myself trying to determine if the little yellow balloon indicates a happy thought or sarcasm. Acronyms are common place;LOL, ROFL, CUL8R ; it seems to me the time people save typing a message is spent by the reader trying to decipher what the heck the message means.
I’ve been formulating a rant about the misuse of language - I had plans to tackle the laziness of the techno-generation. Thankfully before I took off on a tangent I googled ‘acronym’ and made an interesting discovery.
The tendency to abbreviate entire sentences into a few select letters is nothing new. In fact if I’d given the subject some thought I would have realized that initialism is common in our every day language. Who hasn’t received an IOU? Or done something ASAP? Or added a P.S. to a note? Abbreviation is so common that often we don’t even realize that the word we’re using is actually an acronym. Take ‘Sonar’ - I was surprised to learn the word was created from abbreviating “Sound Navigation And Ranging”. ‘Golf’ is supposedly derived from “gentlemen only, ladies forbidden”.
FYI initialisms have been used as far back as ancient Rome (BC) so this new computer lingo is actually not new at all - what they’re trying to say on the other hand is entirely another thing.
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
I feel very fortunate to work for a progressive organization - the management here is always on the look out for new strategies and tools that support a positive work environment. To this end we recently participated in a DISC analysis of our team.
DISC is a role behavior analysis,purported to help in the understanding of the dynamics of working relationships. According to William Marston PhD (the founder of the theory) there are four basic personality styles that tend to exhibit specific characteristics. We all possess all four styles to some extent. The difference is in the ‘blend’ of characteristics.
The four basic personality styles in a nutshell are:
Dominance: People who score high in the intensity of the “D” styles tend to be very active in dealing with problems and challenges. They are direct ,decisive, strong-willed and like accepting challenges.
Influence: People with high “I” scores influence others through talking and activity. They tend to be ‘people people’, They are optimistic, outgoing and energize others by sharing ideas.
Steadiness: People with high “S” scores usually want a steady pace, security and dislike sudden change. They are sympathetic , cooperative, and tend to like to work behind the scenes.
Compliance: People with high “C” scores tend to adhere to rules, regulations and structure. They can be sticklers for quality and like to get things right the first time.
Extreme scores (high OR low) in a given area exhibit tendencies toward a primary behavior. Secondary scores contribute to the ‘blend’ and make us individuals.
The analysis consists of a lengthy questionnaire - multiple choice with no right or wrong answers. The results are meant to show who the individual actually is and not what the person thinks he/she needs to be in the existing environment. The report identifies true characteristics.
I went into the analysis a little skeptical but enthusiastic as I love this sort of thing in the same fashion that I love my horoscope. I had basically pre-determined where my personality would fall given the brief outline of the types described above. I consider myself a people person;optimistic with a tendency to be strong willed. Yep - I was certain I’d score a strong “I” with blended “D”. As it turned out I am among 14% of the population who rate a strong ‘C’ (this is interesting as the “C’s” were the group I thought I least related to).
I’ve been reflecting on the assessment and have actually come to agree with it for the most part. It makes sense - I’m all about telling the truth and being accountable - fessing up when you’ve made a mistake and really trying my best when I say I am. Of course I have other influencing qualities - my “I” and “S” qualities soften the rigid detail-oriented side of my “C”. All in all I found the analysis a fairly accurate photograph of the ‘who’ I am in terms of a member of the team.
DISC analysis could prove to be a helpful tool as far as team building goes. Identifying the behavioral style of team members has an impact on the team’s performance - understanding leads to better relationships which helps to build the foundation for a strong, positive work environment.
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
By The Moderator
I remember back to my days in university where I studied full time but also worked full time in order to pay the bills, finish my degree without a huge debt burden of student loans and balance a married life I entered into at the age of 21. I always seemed to be trying to balance these challenges in a different way to the other “normal” students.
First off, since I worked full time I could only take 3 courses per semester, but being that SFU was a trimester system I could also study year round. So each year instead of getting 30 credit hours done I got 21 - 24 credit hours completed, which of course meant it took me 7 years to graduate instead of 4. A great way to extend the university experience.
But here is the really interesting part…of the 3 courses I took each semester I would always try to do one through the normal course offering, do one via correspondence and then course challenge the third one. I was able to course challenge (which means you just show up and write the final exam and if you pass you get a Pass grade and if you fail you Fail - with neither one affecting your GPA) almost a third of all my courses! Most often the course challenges could only be done for lecture courses, not lab work - so I remember that for my 3rd year Anatomy Lab course (dissecting a rhesus monkey) I got pissed at the prof for not allowing me to course challenge it because in her opinion, “I would miss too much of the hands-on experience in order to pass the course”. So in protest I did not show up at any of the labs except for the mid-term and final exams, which accounted for 80% of the final grade. I was able to get a 72% grade in this course by doing this - and felt proud for proving the prof wrong! Just seemed I had to do things differently!
So layered onto this was the fact that I was working full time in the Recreation Department at SFU as the Intramural Coordinator. I had my set hours for work, but the reporting structure was a bit loosey-goosey, so as long as I kept all the programs functioning properly and growing I was pretty much left alone. Of course, my idle mind quickly started churning, and in no time I was able to run a series of dances in the gyms completely with volunteer labor from the students in my intramural department. I built my own stage, beer garden, etc. and stored it all in my intramural storage area in the gym. The dances were hugely profitable and my deal with the students who worked the dance for me was that I tracked all the hours that everyone put into the dance and then the profits were divided by the total number of hours worked. Then, from my “dance profit bank account” that had nothing to do with my operating budget from the university, I was able to offer the students the ability to apply for release of their percentage of the profits to apply towards attending any educational conference they wanted! A great motivator…although I am still not sure about the one “conference” attended by a couple of the male students that was in Daytona Beach during Spring Break? Oh well….it was fun and I am sure they learnt a couple of life lessons!!!!
So what is the point of both of these scenarios: the student who does things out of the norm and the employee who creates their own “project”? It is the realization that for me to thrive I can not be bound by the normal, accepted way of educational and business life. I can not be a “student” or an “employee”…..I am an entrepreneur. I am an individual who performs optimally when setting my own goals, boundaries, responsibilities and lifestyle. My life is different than the normal, “employed individual” as I have a different set of benchmarks, a different set of risks, cash flow requirements, priorities and goals, in which I measure myself. Since that realization over 20 years ago I have only worked for myself or in cooperation with business partners and I still strive to learn and educate myself on how to be a better person. For me true happiness rests in the balance between business and personal life and I am challenged every day to reset that balance based on what life throws at me. I admit it ….I am an entrepreneur!!!
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Spring has sprung…
The weather here on the west coast has been unseasonably warm this year - all through the Olympics people wandered the streets of Vancouver in light jackets, the sun shone and trees bloomed in spontaneous abandon. We made a wonderful impression on the world.
Were it not for the winter games we might have celebrated our early spring — instead we looked for something to pin the phenomena on - El Ninio - Global Warming - as trucks hauled snow from the interior 24 hours a day to make up for the lack of the white stuff on Cypress Mountain.
West Coasters are known throughout Canada as blowhards… we usually flaunt our flowers while the poor people on the prairies are still shoveling their driveways - we’re kind of awful that way. The rest of the country generally tries to get even - we get the gears about our seasonal wet stuff (the ten months of rain) and put up with claims that we rust rather than tan out here - we then retaliate with phone calls when we hear about blizzards or ice storms. It’s friendly banter.
Not so this year - the mild weather this past February almost proved an embarrassment… almost.
The 2010 Olympic Games were a huge success - despite of (or in part, because of) the weather. And that success has garnered us boasting rights again. So as I note the flurries in Edmonton this afternoon I am also making plans to run home after work to cut my lawn - I may just give my cousin in Sherwood Park a call. It is, after all, spring time in Alberta as well.
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