Wednesday, October 27, 2010

What is it good for?

The Blog Crisis
Like many bloggers I have been through the phases of enthusiasm and frustration. This blog is a unique way to tell in a more personal way about the way I see the business that I'm in. On the other hand does anybody care? The internet is a fascinating media, but a challenge to use productively. A couple of events have convinced me that it does make sense.

Advice From an Expert
Talking to a communication expert, he had been given our corporate communication an audit, and he came up with a whole lot of good and relevant comments. On of his final comments were. "I see that you have a blog. A blog is a great communication tool. But if it is not active - you should close it down". For a while I was thinking about closing down or not. The reality is that in a growth company time is often a very limited factor, every day I have a long list of things that I should do that just never gets done because of lack of time. The Time times Urgency times Importance factor just never got big enough for a while.

People Actually Read This
The other day I had the great experience that talking to a person interested in working for our company. I learned that the fact that this person had read my blog actually made a difference and had him given a good understanding about our company and the drive that we get every day from working with a subject that is contributing to a better world.

Regaining Motivation
Also recently I was speaking to a group of international business people about our company. I was realising that the things that I take for granted should not be taken for granted. Many companies are struggling to communicate on the soft values, how they take responsibility, how they work with Corporate Social Responsibility CSR), and how they reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. In MBP CSR is such an integrated part of our corporate DNA that we sometimes take it for granted. I see this blog as a suitable tool to work with improving my understanding of how MBP makes a difference, putting things in perspective and improving communication.

Future Great Subjects
Obviously we have been so occupied with our growth and the challenges that come along with it that this takes up a lot of focus - and so it should be. A good manager need to focus on the right issues at the right time. Over the coming months I look forward to blog about some of these exiting issues.
  • Our new company website that we have recently released in a new version.
  • Update on the biodiesel industry
  • More sophisticated industrial biofuel customers
  • Exciting new partnerships in by-product services
  • How EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RED) intended to improve biofuel sustainability actually works
  • How EU's reform of chemicals registration REACH is actively discouraging reuse of by-products