Great companies looking for great people

Thank god it's tuesday!

My feed is bombarded with open positions from Finland and abroad. Let's see how many matches we'll be able to find through my network.

All the companies and people behind these companies are familiar and have left a big or a huge positive impact in the past.

Finnchat

Let's start from Germany but with a Finnish company. Roope has worked his ass off for the past couple of years to build a great company that creates a lot of value for big and small companies.

www.finnchat.com

Killer Sales and Business Development Manager (m/w -Berlin)


Customer Service Specialist (m/w -Berlin)

Flashnode

www.flashnode.com

Next up we have one of the most promising startups from Finland in the shape of Flashnode. Great team with ex-collagues and friends. But most importantly a huge challenge to solve in Finland and abroad.

Key Account Manager x2

Pockethunt

https://pockethunt.com/

Pockethunt is looking for a UX designer to help them create the next big thing in recruiting. Helsinki or Tampere.

Idean

www.idean.com

Senior position but I'm sure we can find good candidates for this position also.

VP, Strategy and Growth - Finland

Natify

http://www.natify.co/

As some of you may know is my current company. Great solution with a huge opportunity to grow and learn about digital marketing and the future of content automation.

Business Development Manager

Junior Content Manager (Part-time)
- In Helsinki
- Finnish and English are must. Bonus points for other languages
- Understanding of content marketing
- Good project management skills
- Teamplayer
- Eager to understand about digital marketing and the possibilities
- Armed with a can-do attitude

Contact person: me

Send me an email with answers to these 3 questions and your CV to vili@natify.io
- What makes you a great person to hire?
- Why are you interested in digital marketing?
- What company you wish to work after Natify?

Plan 2.0 - How to device a plan that won't fail

No plan survives contact with the enemy

Is a quote often heard in the military. If a business where success or failure is measured in lives of real human beings thinks this way about plans. Yet "normal" business industries where the price of failure is only counted with stock prices or lost money are in most cases build on plans after plans after plans.

I've thought about some aspects of plans most people and businesses do and work by today. I've also asked myself what sort of plans have worked best for me and have upsides compared to the "old" plans.

After going through the differences of the plan 1.0 and 2.0 I'll share my ideas on why do we plan in the first place. But before that: Let's get mouldy:

1. "The good olde plan"

Looks most of the time like this

Plan 1.0:

• Is long
• Written by a single person
• Has not been worked by a team
• Defines how things should be done
• Is heavily text based with some tables and/or diagrams to base the text on facts
• Builds a single scenario to which the plan is the only truth
• Assumes a lot. From the competition, markets, planners company and customers
• Top-to-down given

Bonus points!

• Is written poorly (grammar errors and really really dry read as a document)
• Has factual errors (due to overworked and stressed author)
• References and/or demands you to lookup an another plan or document

Everyone has at least once read and most propably written one of these plans at one point. I know I've had. So what can we learn from this way of planning to get ahead of the competition or the enemy.

2. Lean, mean, planning machine

Quarterback Tom Brady of New England Patriots giving out orders and information.

Plan 2.0

• Is short and well summarized
• Planned and composed with a team
• Makes you want to read it
• Doesn't assume anything
• Gives clear action points
• Has short list of multiple possiible scenarios
• Does not creat strict long term guidelines
• Is goal focused
• Is clear
• Is based on needs not wants

How many of you have had the feeling after hearing a plan that I can't wait to work by that plan. The defining moment comes when you actually realize that the plan 1.0 can't be given vocally. Or if someone does nobody gets that it's a plan.

3. Why do we plan?

"10 minutes of planning saves you 20 minutes of work" - Everyone

Of course we have to plan. A bad plan is still most of the time better than a no plan at all. But if the plan is focused on creating and fabricating reality to suit you ideas you won't be very successfull. Most people plan to shake their fears and ready themselves for the future. And of course you have to plan if you have a certain goal. But the difference between these versions is that the first one you make for yourself to feel comfy and in control. The 2.0 you create to move forward towards your goals in the evershifting timeline we call life.

So next time you start to plan something think how will I form the plan and why do you do it in the first place.

Back to the drawing board

Back to Basics

As some of you might notice I've gone back to the drawing board with my blog. And most importantly come back with a clear plan. Which is funny because the first blog post of the new and "improved" blog will be about plans and why they do not work.

I'll start with a tweet of mine a couple of days back:

Why plans fail? The same reason behind most failures: assumptions. Assume less, ask more. #starup #business #sales
— Vili Urpilainen (@vonelone) April 10, 2014

So next post will be all about assumptions and failures. Until then I'll leave you with this great idea filled with assumptions...

NBF 2013 Suzy Welch

Suzy Welch on 10-10-10

Welcome back to my thoughts form NBF 2013. Ending of year 2013 drove and pushed me finally to blog the remaining talks for me (and hopefully you) to learn from. These will be a lot shorter than the previous ones but one must sacrifice somewhere.

10-10-10 is a lovely concept and mostly for me it opened up as a form of evaluation process to help people with the choices that we all must and get to make.

The process goes as follows:

First 10 represents the next 10 minutes after making the decision (I'd also like to add to the first ten minutes the minutes leading to the decision because it raises the idea to an another deeper level in leadership also.)

Are you looking for a fast or quick pleasure? Or are you ready to postpone it for a positive impact on the next level...

Second 10 stands for next 10 months you'll have after the decision.

Are you willing to put the extra effort to reach this years goal or making a difference in one of your relationships in the near future.

The last (but the most important, at least in my opinion) is the next 10 years in your life.

This might take some thinking to start actually do but in the long run it'll make the biggest impact. The people we want to be or want to spend time with are most importantly reflected with the decisions we've made a while ago. Trust takes a lot of time to build. As does all the other really important things in life such as, health, wisdom and balance with different areas of life.

Pictures: www.nbforum.fi

How to measure if a knowledge worker works hard or not

Photo Courtesy of danamionline.com

As a knowledge worker myself (and most propably many of you) I've found often pondering about the term "working hard". Luckily I noticed a tweet about the issue a while back and we had a quick but an interesting bouncing of ideas and opinions.

Also the blog of @klakhani raises valid points: to the blog!

Are Your Programmers Working Hard, Or Are They Lazy? In other words it's hard to measure knowledge workers http://t.co/V7QMRxtjck
— Karim R. Lakhani (@klakhani) December 12, 2013

@klakhani No it's not. Knowledge workers are working hard if they offer and bring to the table more than they are asked for.
— Vili Urpilainen (@vonelone) December 12, 2013

@vonelone why should knowledge do more than asked for?
— Karim R. Lakhani (@klakhani) December 12, 2013

@klakhani Because if they are doing only what they are asked for they are not using their capacity to the fullest.
— Vili Urpilainen (@vonelone) December 12, 2013

@vonelone ermmm. Then you need to revisit incentives.
— Karim R. Lakhani (@klakhani) December 12, 2013

@klakhani Of course. But that's leadership. We were talking about lazy vs. hard if I recall right. 1/2
— Vili Urpilainen (@vonelone) December 13, 2013

@klakhani If someone wants to bring more to the table than just whats required means (most of the time) that they want their company to win.
— Vili Urpilainen (@vonelone) December 13, 2013

I've thought about the different things that make you a "hard worker" as in you being an investement to the company rather than a cost.

If you're evaluating someone do note that these questions should work as a guideline more than a black and white truth by number. Answers can be either yes/no or go from "never" to "always".

1. Is an employee doing the things what he/she is paid to do?

2. Is an employee sucking energy and time from co-workers or from his or her boss?

3. Does an employee charge others with energy?

4. Does an employee raise difficult issues to the discussion even if it wouldn't be good for him or her?

5. Does an employee spread and enhance trust around his or herself?

I hope that I could dig deeper into these questions right now but not tonight. I'll try my best to get back to these tomorrow.