Direct from DELL

In this world where you can live only a single life, and could not taste the multi flavor that it offers. So, I feel that the books people write about themselves or about there experiences that they had in their life, or it could be an unsual incidence that they would like to share. These could give a glimpse of such things that we may not be able to touch its periphery, but by reading about them, makes you as a part of the ongoing phenomenon. This is a short summary of life of Michael Dell basically taken from his book "Direct from Dell". Also a set of brief learnings during his tenure at Dell. So, this is Mr. Dell..............

At 13, Michael Dell was the young man with a knack for taking apart his Apple computer and an ambitioin to run an business. Today, after becoming the youngest CEO in History to head a Fortune 500 company, he leads one ofthe most profitable and innovative organsation of he world.

Michael Dell releates the remarable story of Dell Computers rise to suceess. Beginning in his college dorn with $1000, he set out to beat IBM at their own games, created the direct sales model(a Dell halmark) and pioneered the customer support,combining it with the unravelled speed to market andd a fierce commitment to product quality and performance. But the story of Dell Computer is no fairy tale - along the way Dell made mistakes and learned some hard lessons, emerging stronger as a result.

Lessons Learned :-

If you've got a idea, it pays to do something about it.

Sometimes it's better not to ask or to listen when people tell yoy something cant be done.

With every new growth oppurtunitycame a commensurate level of risk.

No matter what your industry, try to identify potential problems early- and fix them fast.

Involve your customers early in the development process.

Establish a fludity and consistency of Communications.

The right people in the right job are instrumental to a company sucess.

you need to engendera sense of personal investment in all the your employees- which comes of three things: resposibilty,accountibility and shared sucess.

you need to embrace an experimental attitude in making deccision.

Make failure acceptable as long as it creates learning opputunites.

Delight your customers.

Dont be satisfied in learning your industry. learn as much as you can about your customers previos experience, not only with your competitors, but with other companies as well.

Go beyond selling your product or services, and make yourself valuable to your customers as an advisior.

Speed for market is important for two reason. One is that it creates competitive value that can be shared between buyer and supplier. The other is that when it comes to delivering the latest product - no matter what it is - you're either quick or you're dead.

Dont underestimate the value of information.

Flip the equation: Dont settle for the standard supply/ demand relationship. Work towards Demand/supply.

Differentiate for the competitive edge.

Learning to thrive on constant change is the next frontier.

Reorient your priorities : Price is not the prevailing factor in the connected ecconomy; as the internet levels the competitive playing field, competitive value is more apt to be found in execution. Stress personalization,convinience, ease of interaction for your customers.