Let's slack away

Jonas | 16 July, 2010 | 0 comments

And finally vacation came. I ended up with two glorious weeks. The trip is going Stockholm -> Båstad -> Lysekil -> Visby -> Lyr (an island outside Orust) -> Stockholm. The first half demands a little more active lifestyle, whereas the second part will be rehab and spoiled by family centric. As a result of this, the blog is likely to take a break for the next two weeks.

I'm convinced that I'll return to a wasp's nest of e-mails and new Italian issues and topics. The Italians have their vacations roughly a month after most vacations in Sweden, so their operations are still quite full on. But - I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Limbo

Jonas | 8 July, 2010 | 0 comments

As a result of the summer's irregular schedules created by parental leaves and vacations, I'm for the time being caught in the middle between trainee period two and three. Until the middle of August I'm working towards Italy in a relatively technical role and I have quite a challenge in filling my predecessor's shoes. The preliminary plan for me is to spend the autumn in Milan with the broad task of increasing the collaboration between Milan and Stockholm, enhance and align processes and support in developing the Italian business which is not yet as mature as the international one.

The sunny weather is already normalized and is therefore taken for granted during the remainder of the summer. A classic mistake. And to hedge as much as possible versus rainy vacation weeks, I'm leaving town Thursday night for some sailing in the archipelago during the weekend. Coming back just before this World Cup final, I've decided to go all in with the betting bankroll, but I'm unsure on what. Suggestions are welcome.

The Italian project continues

Jonas | 2 July, 2010 | 0 comments

This week has been about management meetings and work with the Italian situation. Unfortunately I cannot go into detail in what I do, but the work is about creating clear guidelines for how Stockholm should collaborate with Italy. In order to be successful, the organization must have a coherent target state vertically established.

A good sign of summer are the smiles becoming more and more frequent at the office. Sometimes it’s merely an expression of the happiness the season brings, but if the smile is a little extra brilliant the odds are not very high that it is a classic vacation smile. The room for vacation is relatively narrow for me, but I do whatever I can to maximize every evening and weekend.

Two monster football games this weekend and even though the World Cup will not be the same again after ripping off the Englishmen, it’s going to be great enjoying the battle of Germans, Argentines, Dutchmen and Brazilians. Fantastic weather coming up and I’m looking forward to some hanging out on the cliffs of western Kungsholmen, followed by one or two sunrises. This heals a broken soul which suffered badly from a horrendous stock exchange week.

Southern European influences

Jonas | 28 June, 2010 | 0 comments

A large part of the week was spent in Milan, where we ran straight into the Southern European culture. Milan is beautiful and characterized by astonishing architecture, some haute couture, some cool roughness at certain places, some kamikaze motorcyclists and a myriad of cafés. Exclusivity is in the air without the loss of personality, which I like. As regards to bwin, the office is ridiculously in line with Milan's virtues, with a panoramic view from the balcony about as the picture shows.

What we also experienced was the Italian approach to conducting business, which seems to differ quite a lot to how things are done in Stockholm. With our Swedish eyes, the Italians might seem emotional and not very fact oriented, whereas us Swedes likely seem rather flat and too strategy focused to the Italians. No doubt that this is a challenge.

New work responsibilities coming up and I'm quite exhausted. Midsummer's Eve tomorrow and maybe, just maybe, we'll see 2010's first bath.

Ownership is the fundament of welfare

Jonas | 18 June, 2010 | 0 comments

Yesterday, I was once again reminded about the extreme importance of having clear ownership of processes, projects and events. One specific person must feel the responsibility for a proper final result. If this is not done, you often end up with a "Frankenstein" where combat control is needed to have just a decent result. Delegation within an ownership works well, but one person must secure the quality in the end. This is one of my most important insights after almost three quarters in work life.

Persona ownership is per se one of the fundaments of our society. This can be observed in anything from the difference between a private garden and common land, to the difference between an entrepreneur's will to create and a, sometimes not overly efficient, state driven work place.

In the beginning of next week I, Robert and my boss Don are going to Milano to meet Gioco Digitale. GD was acquired by bwin Group last autumn and was the primary poker pioneer in the Italian poker market which was regulated in 2008. This regulation made online gaming "white" in Italy. But as often with regulated markets, decision makers decide in fields they're not experts, resulting in some sub optimal conditions. Without going into details, it will be very interesting to meet some key personnel in the company.

We're moving into a new weekend and I'll gear up with an oyster evening in my apartment. I just topped the apartment up with flowers and furniture for the balcony, which made an invite inevitable. After this, "Stockholm's red carpet is rolled out", as my good friend Fredrik might say. Wedding this Saturday and great PR for Sweden - a great feeling!

Jonas

Central Europe delivers

Jonas | 14 June, 2010 | 0 comments

Horizontally positioned in my couch after watching Germany score 2-0, the classic Lineker quote "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end the Germans win." feels more relevant than in a while. I immediately searched for odds on Germany as the winner of the World Cup, but did not find anything, likely due to that the odds are being adjusted. The vuvuzelas are echoing like a migraine attack in my head and I must say that it is quite a bizarre supporter culture that builds on creating the most monotonous noise for 90 minutes.

The man in the couch likely set a new personal record of the year in calorie intake this weekend. A few hours ago I returned from a weekend in Prague where I and a good friend took the best out of the city for 24 hours. Prague offered magnificent architecture and was quite friendly. After a tourist trap dinner Friday night, we raised the bar with a visit to Guide Michelin where we found the city's only star awarded restaurant which proved to deliver strongly both food and service wise. Ultimately I conclude that it's pleasant to live in a city that is not as tourist oriented as Prague and where you're not automatically approached as a tourist in many categories of the city's institutions.

Work this week can be categorized as business as usual, except for a nice team building event with sailing and a tasty dinner at M/S Gerda which supplied a rare continental feeling. My thoughts are very much centered on the next trainee period and this will continue to be in focus the coming week.

Exciting again

Jonas | 4 June, 2010 | 0 comments

It’s privileged being a Management Trainee in many ways. One of these privileges is the rotation between different departments. When arriving to a new situation, the learning curve is steepest early on. You get to know the new co-workers and the processes, have a fresh way viewpoint and perhaps the largest capacity to think outside the norms. With time, you become part of the team, find your routines, improve and provide more value. But as the entrepreneurial person I am, I love new challenges. That’s why it is exciting to think about the third and last trainee period starting in August. 

Since I’ve been nagging on spring to come like a mantra, earth played me a trick and threw summer on me directly. A huge contrast from the free summers during university are the desired vacation weeks. The good part is that the days become more worth and better appreciated. I’m currently planning a horrifying triangle trip between Båstad, Lysekil and Gotland in July – which likely will not make mother doctor very happy. She would likely rather have seen a hike in the mountains with girl scout routines.

All the best,
Jonas

The value of a pat on the back

Jonas | 28 May, 2010 | 0 comments

Vast preparations resulted in successful full day meetings, which were rounded off by dinners at better restaurants. The parties that I have been collaborating with during the period were truly content and expressed it explicitly. To be given explicit appreciation for conducted work induces energy. It’s interesting how much a little positive feedback can do for the work morale. I believe that work places in general would benefit from a work culture where people get explicit appreciation for work well done.

This weekend is to be enjoyed as a true gambling addict, out on Solvalla with Elitloppet and V75. A few buddies from the firm are coming up and the tempo is to be geared up significantly. We can expect continuous gluttony in the areas of food, beverages and dance. Everything in the sign of the classic power balance between the weekends’ sins and the weekdays’ mental and physical work.

Jonas

It comes down to prioritization...

Jonas | 21 May, 2010 | 0 comments

It has been a sweaty week. Not one workday ended before eight and a lot has been on the table. A good manager once gave me a lesson in prioritization;

1. Create a list of the things you have to do.
2. Prioritize in three levels.
3. Delete everything prioritized two and three.
4. Iterate on the priority ones.
5. Act on remaining actions.

Luckily I have not yet come to the point when I have to slaughter my action lists. But I do have an impressive list of tasks to accomplish and the problem is that I don’t have the luxury to delete many of them. The life as a trainee implies walking the extra mile every once in a while. Since you report to various parts of the company simultaneously, it’s often impossible to prioritize down areas. Internal prioritization within areas can of course be done, but that’s not necessarily enough.

This weekend implies heavy focus on beer, sun and football, as a man should. I might put in a few hours of poker in order to finance a reckless lifestyle. After the weekend, Monday through Wednesday will keep me sweaty. Starting next Thursday I can see the light in the tunnel and I’ll hopefully have the opportunity to get some long-term stuff done.

Jonas

Short week = short philosophical blog

Jonas | 12 May, 2010 | 0 comments

I believe that people need to take increased personal responsibility in the toughened globalized competition. The fundamental view must be that everybody creates their own fortune. You cannot "demand" that somebody else will provide you with a job, money, welfare and happiness. It's becoming tougher and tougher for individuals, regions and nations where people don't do their best and where you refuse to recognize a changing climate and that disruptive technologies, innovations and methods overthrow old fundaments. Sometimes, you have to kill your darlings. Otherwise the Stockholmers would still manufacture china and the Gothenburgers would build ships that nobody wants to buy. Today, the Stockholmers deliver highly refined services and the Gothenburgers are cleaning fish.

With this in mind I want to bash on the Greeks, who I believe are displaying a behavior originating from the diametrical opposite viewpoint. Preferably, you want your pension after graduation, the general disrespect for taxes is at the same level as for Trustor's top management and if you're discontent, the state is blamed and the capital city put in flames. But what do I know? I'm sitting here like a sofa coach claiming to do a better job than Lagerbäck merely with thin media reports backing me up. In all seriousness, it's impressing and scary at the same time to note- how the world's stock exchanges have taken a massive hit as a result of this crisis. As an example, bwin group have lost around ten percent lately...

This week I've been struggling with workshop planning and B2B strategy work. The four day weekend feels appropriate and it suits me to start running a little short of time, since this increase my capacity.

Jonas

Embrace the light

Jonas | 7 May, 2010 | 0 comments

Nothing can take away spring now. Despite some variance in temperature it’s mostly sunny, the mood is chronically enhanced and people are starting to exploit the city’s possibilities more aggressively. I even drowned in sunlight coming home from a late night out this Saturday. The effect is not only on the private side, but the enhanced well being also affects professional life.

Leveraging on this positive feeling, I’d like to write some generic praise to my work place. It’s hard  to imagine that there are any other work places with a better working environment. The employees are competent, helpful and pleasant. In most group settings, there is at least one rotten apple or person difficult to collaborate with. At bwin Games the situation is quite the opposite. The office is located exceptionally good and is spacious and well structured, making it joyful to walk in every morning. Everything is within reach when leaving the office for the day, which enables a diversified private life in the weekday evenings. I also experience that the stimulating motto “freedom under responsibility” reigns.

The weeks are passing by at the speed of light, which is scary in some senses but also a sign of a high level of well being. The qualitative way of reviewing time – experienced time or “kairos” as the ancient Greeks chose to label it – is speeded up when you’re having fun. Just compare to how slowly time seems to move when studying the second hand of a watch.

Finally; nothing creates more pleasure for a true Djurgårdare as when bars are being shaken in Solna. When the firm is having meetings with the players and coaches at Karlberg. When the players are criticizing each other brutally in media. When the genetically established hubris is coming back biting them in the Achilles’ tendons. AIK football is in a state of crisis and this year’s campaign, which the remaining fifteen teams interpreted embarrassingly literally, will be laughed at for years. Change can be ugly...  

Full-time and part-time work

Jonas | 30 April, 2010 | 0 comments

 My full-time work at bwin Games has proceeded in accordance to expectations this week. Two things have been a little bit out of the ordinary. The first thing is the planning of some full day workshops in May. Each part will invest time and money and bring expectations. In order for us to be able to deliver and hopefully over perform, self criticism, creativity, ambitions and hard work are the winning virtues. A proper challenge.

The second thing is that we have brought a senior person to our team, Niclas Ruthberg, who I’m helping to introduce to the work. Niclas has a solid background from the business and we already have a few large areas where we will collaborate during the remainder of my trainee period. Hopefully Niclas and I will produce some good stuff together.

My part-time work, sports, I thought had come to a temporary end after with pride losing the finals last Saturday. I was actually looking forward to be able to dedicate some time to other things in the weeks. But after watching DIF football this Monday, witnessing Ibracadabra’s looser stamp grow this Wednesday and watching a third game today, I laconically realized that things don’t change. I believe that I am running short of time working, watching and conducting sports, playing some poker and having a few nights out… How will I possibly manage family life?

Burn some bonfires now,

Jonas

Stepping up in abstraction level

Jonas | 23 April, 2010 | 0 comments

This week offered work on a high abstraction level. Two management group meetings with the management groups from Stockholm and Stockholm-Vienna on three hours each were attended. Substantial time has been invested into the B2B organization's vision and strategy work.

In the line work, the most memorable part was a workshop on how to build relations and how to steer successful business development meetings/workshop with partners which I organized together with Pernilla Rönnlund from HR. Pernilla had a more theoretical part on relationship building, coaching and usable models, while I had a hands on focus, largely built on my experience from partner meetings.

Finally I'm compelled to comment on the non-logics of sports and in particular a golden goal or sudden death situation. The more illogical it feels that the first team is going to score and the more momentum the other team gains, the more probable the victory becomes for the first team. Find my reasoning unscientific, weakly supported or accuse me for having a severely selective memory - I won't change my mind on this one. I hope that we tonight can win an undeserved victory versus Huskvarna/Vätterstad 1971 in Jönköping (what a mess of town names, right?), so that we can enjoy the game of the millennium this Saturday at Hovet.

Have a nice weekend,

Jonas

Back to the routines

Jonas | 16 April, 2010 | 0 comments

Easter holiday combined with two days of vacation rendered in one blog post less. Now I’m back and the week has developed nicely from a slow started Monday that has escalated to me in a state of trance delivering on action points here this Thursday evening.

The week’s highlight is that I have been given the opportunity to part-take in the company’s vision and strategy work in purifying the B2B business, which is a positive contrast to the line work. This work will serve as the fundament for how the organization and the business should be designed from the autumn and onwards. Our organization and processes will differ a lot in January 2011 compared to January 2010. The fact of the dynamics and changing climate of the internet gaming business is one of the main reasons for why I started working in the industry. It’s not exactly the same thing as working for Svenska Kullagerfabriken… which has its ups and downs, with emphasis on ups in my opinion.

The first SM final is due tonight and many are surprised by Stockholm’s Pride’s performance. The team has stolen the hearts of the audience by primarily having Stockholmers in the team and by allowing young players to take a huge responsibility. That the player’s behave as they would lose an arm for the club does not make things worse. Let’s close the bible for the obscure letter combination from Sweden’s Jerusalem.

Enjoy!

Jonas

Easter comin' up

Jonas | 1 April, 2010 | 0 comments

Out of nowhere we’re struck by it – Easter. Independently of the religious fundaments behind it or the nice traditions our part of the world associate it with, I can simply with a crass state of mind conclude that four days off feels quite relevant. One of the downsides of being a worker compared to being a student is the lack of free time…

Two steps forward and one step back, or the other way around, is how spring is limping forward in Stockholm currently. To everybody’s great happiness, the volatile weather reports now state almost ten degrees and sun at least part of the weekend. Let’s hope that we can wander the streets lightly dressed.

Back to the subject of worker versus student. One of the largest upsides with work life contra student life is that the tasks generally feel more meaningful at work. A task might be less “amusing” but since it creates real and not only academic value, it’s a lot more inspiring to do it. Frankly, I’m very satisfied that my time in the academic world is over.

Concretizing slightly, this week has mostly been about a few isolated tasks. The most communicable is that I’ve been helping our Human Resource department to develop at workshop. I’ve been contributing with learnings from my latest business trips combined with the business development perspective I’m trying to have. The most unusual task is that I and Robert are having a poker school for new employees during Maundy Thursday.

Enjoy this fine time of the year,

Jonas 

The Big Challenge

Jonas | 26 March, 2010 | 0 comments

One of my largest challenges at work is the balance between being operative and strategic. This is a common dilemma throughout the industry, from company level to individual employees. In a firm with demands on fast returns from the owners, acting long-term is not always beneficial to the decision makers in the short-term.

Personally, I'm struggling with my long-term and more strategic projects in a stream of quick fix tasks, mail chains and meetings which could be more or less important. Unfortunately, it's not only a one time happening that I pack up my stuff at work realizing that I have not done as much as I hoped for in the morning. The upside is that this is a key learning experience and I'm constantly looking for new ways to facilitate a proper balance between being operative and strategic.

The interest for hockey in Stockholm is returning to the legendary status of the eighties. Today, the first game in the Globe arena is due and it's sold out. The atmosphere at the games is in absolute world class and is closest compared to the Stanley Cup finals in North America. The supporter culture in Sweden is close to unique and instead of focusing on spontaneous cheering, munching popcorn and drinking soda, the DIF supporter group acts as a synchronized, spontaneous and huge organism helping our heroes towards the gold medal.

East, west, home is best

Jonas | 19 March, 2010 | 0 comments

My road show in Europe rendered in a sleep deficit, a health deficit and massive work backlog. But also in heaps of beneficial and exciting experiences. It feels good to be able to look back on the last two weeks with joy, considering that I'm currently sitting in my couch with a cold, a few kilos extra and ready to fall asleep.

The good old saying of "east, west, home is best" springs to mind, since it suits my state of mind quite well. My trips and being out of office for some time created a good deal of action points of varying complexity. To handle even smaller tasks can be challenging without quick access to the office's human capital and network, why it's good to be back and start cutting the backlog.

In my new role (now one month old) I'm partially doing line work and partially take an overview perspective in order to find ways to improve our operations. It's a developing challenge which renders in skills applicable in most organizations. This broad spectrum of applicability is one of the things that make me appreciate bwin Games' management trainee program.

Welcome to the Jungle

Jonas | 12 March, 2010 | 0 comments

The Malta trip is over and I can conclude a couple of days full of learning. The workshop developed into a relatively harsh meeting with reality. It came down to managing - in the eyes of the partner - historical shortcomings where I, as new in the organization, had difficulties taking responsibility and answering, and simultaneously establishing the two parties in the same future oriented boat (to wear out a classic empty phrase).

Key learnings primarily are to secure that meeting expectations between the parties are on par and that you internally have very clear roles and responsibilities. I and my colleagues are looking forward to already on Monday driving a Polish workshop where we'll have the opportunity to improve our processes and routines.

Today's blog post will be the shortest in a while, since I'll soon be running over the asphalt towards WTC and a bus to Skavsta Airport. I and a portfolio of friends are to experience Berlin's underground life, through clubbing until 14.00 in closed down nuclear power plants. The Germans are given a change to reshape their tarnished reputation of punctuality, after having me and Fredrik waiting a few hours extra in a plane during a transfer at Frankfurt this Wednesday.

In the zone

Jonas | 5 March, 2010 | 0 comments

It's snazzy to be in the zone where things go down. When you feel like a Wall Street yuppie from the eighties having dual phones as weapon of choice. When you feel just adequately hunted to perform on top and sharpen the senses a few extra percent. In other terms, not like a soldier storming Omaha beach by boat, but rather as part of a special ops team operating behind enemy lines. That's the way my job feels like right now, if my analogies make any sense.

In a span of just ten days, Malta, Poland and Germany are to be visited and two of these visits are on the behalf of business. Heavy preparations fundament the trips and it is exciting to get thrown into a "learning by doing" setting where things have to go right from the beginning in order to maximize returns. But challenges make you grow and a deficit in responsibility and expectations hampers personal development.

Walking home from the office with an energized and inspired emotion is likely a far more extensive virtue than a person new to work life understands. May the prosperous and spoiled times continue!

The chock of today is the realization of that DIF football's premiere game merely is a little more than a week away. This feels massively awkward, taking our Siberian winter and Röda Borgen's pitch status into account.
 

Inspiring week

Jonas | 26 February, 2010 | 0 comments

The hand-over of the responsibility area to me in my new role are done in sequences, due to special circumstances. This has both up- and downsides. One upside is that I get the opportunity to step by step understand my new role. One downside is that I currently to a certain extent lack job tasks directly related to my function. The beautiful part is that I've been working with a few side projects in the open time slots, which have felt really meaningful. These tasks have been of the character that they have the potential to directly affect the organization, which are morale enhancing conditions to work under.

What makes my new position truly stimulating is the possibilities and freedom (also expectations from above) to work proactively and with business development. This renders in a fine mix of tasks ranging from back-office analyses to interaction with external parties. Two exciting business trips are already planned to countries which I have never visited before - Malta and Poland.

It's half past nine Thursday night and I'm tired as a man with one foot in his grave. Unfortunately, I cannot blame anybody else but me, since I spent the night watching Olympic hockey offering steaming Canadian bulls and slow paced Swedish sloths. Luckily, sport related debacles don't hit me as hard as they used to with age. When Salo headed us away from Salt Lake City 2002, I got into a mentally induced week long coma ruining the long awaited holidays...

Calm before the storm – Storm after the calm

Jonas | 19 February, 2010 | 0 comments

To everybody's disappointment, no blog post was published last week - a result of that the communication of the new role description could not be published under reigning circumstances. The implication of this is a condensed two week retrospect today instead, with a slightly shifted focus.

Last week was likely the calmest week since I first started at bwin a sunny day in late September. I finished and handed over work, dedicated some time to reflect and finally took a sneak peek on my new role. But it would be exaggerative to say that work required massive efforts last week. This fact proved to come in handy since this week implied a moving bonanza - both to a new home and a new role.

How about the new role? As anticipated, I'm moving down to our B2B department Ongame Network. Without going into details, I hope to leverage powerfully on my poker expertise and background within Intellectual Capital Management - which is a strong fundament to successfully conduct business in the knowledge economy.

Last weekend offered a glorious banquet to celebrate the end of being internalized in somebody else's home. I had almost forgotten how it feels like to be my own boss and to be able to fill up a fridge with whatever suits me... The question is how this weekend will respond?

The sinus curve over my activity level has gone from bottom to top in just a few days. I've been rolling 24/7 this week with getting to know my new team, familiarizing myself with some of the tools and processes of the new role while I've in parallel been moving like a criminal getting his hands on a castle. Did we even mention the insomnia induced by the Winter Olympics? Cycles are life!

Have a nice weekend,
Jonas

Phasing out

Jonas | 5 February, 2010 | 0 comments

In times like these it is difficult to focus the blog on the more operational parts of the trainee life, since the organization is in the eye of the storm of change.

Just recently I came from a five hours MOPS meeting and to say that I am mentally exhausted is not an understatement. I min role, I’m privileged to observe top management’s discussions and actions from a somewhat objective perspective. To be thrown into these circumstances early on in work life gives you a perfect possibility to swiftly grasp the underlying mechanisms behind a top management group and an organization. You are allowed to de-dramatize aspects of management that were almost mythical seen from the academic side.

If this wasn’t enough, I held a presentation on a business case during the same meeting. Despite the fact of inevitable nervousness before the presentation, it is rewarding afterwards to feel that you can pull of a presentation in a professional manner. I will continue seeking opportunities to present for a demanding audience.

My personal development at bwin has been steep. As new to the working life, I was not entirely sure of how I would react to vast responsibilities and heavy work load , even though I’ve always been ambitious. Now it has become evident to me this makes me grow as a person, increase my willingness to deliver and that the pressure makes me stronger rather than burdens me. This is self confidence boosting insight.   

The headline reads “Phasing out”, and what’s being phased out is my work at Business Intelligence. In the end of last week, things played smoothly as old-school Soviet ice hockey and I will begin a new role in another bwin department the week after next week. When exciting possibilities turn up, flexibility is a virtue. The last week with BI will foremost be about packaging and structuring the work I’m still active in so that I can make a solid hand over. My coming role will be further commented next week.

Ultimately, I want to acclaim the fantastic BI team. Everything from chief Rosander’s and sub-chief “Renawd’s” inspiring support and openness, to the gang’s brutal but yet refined jargon out in the field. Not taking oneself too seriously, having humor and being personal while delivering professionally is a winning code of conduct at BI. It has been a pleasure and honor to work with you and I will enjoy my last time up on the eleventh floor.

All the best,

“The Adept”

Let's tighten the horizons

Jonas | 29 January, 2010 | 0 comments

Friends,

In this week’s blog post I will try to shrink the holistic and long term perspective to what have actually been my focal points of the week. This is done to give greater insight into the trainee life. I will give three examples.

The major task has been to evaluate the currency question within the poker product from a business perspective, meaning aspects from purely short term monetary ones to risks and soft values. The question deals with the implementation of additional currencies over the USD. The goal is to present the results of the analysis at the MOPS meeting next week where the top management from Sweden and parts of the top management from Vienna are gathered on a monthly basis for some “updating”, to underestimate a bit.

The next highlight has been to together with my colleague Robert manage a live poker tournament for the after party of Jfokus. The arrangement was held at the top floor of one of the Hötorgsskrapor, meaning a magnificent view over the Royal Capital. Unfortunately, the snow storm spoiled most of the panoramic pleasure. The tournament was a successful part of the after party and more or less poker savvy java capable individuals battled over some desirable home electronics.

To put additional perspective on the work, my third example is a phone call. Today, I was given the challenge to during one hour explain relatively advanced and beta like poker statistics to an enthusiastic but less poker experienced Spanish bwin woman wanting to improve the CRM (customer relationship management) of the Spanish customers. To conquer the telephone as a means of communications, some language barriers and at the same time explain things so they make practical sense is not done without effort. If we are to believe what was said afterwards, both parties were happy with the collaboration and we found distinct paths to take the work further.

On a private note, I’m currently behaving as a child in December, desperately urging for the days to pass by. You know, when time is exponentially moving slower the closer you get to the 24^th and when you’ve already mentally played every game, done all the feints and lifted the greatest trophies in that particular hockey game. And then you get a football game. Or a jigsaw puzzle. But in my case it’s about moving into my new apartment in two weeks. And I hope for no additional Christmas analogies, such as relocation of the apartment from Vasastan to Tullinge or that the wooden floors have turned into broadlooms.

Good luck in the snowball warfare!

Jonas

Out with the 00s, in with new bwin times!

Jonas | 22 January, 2010 | 0 comments

The latest week has been overwhelming to say the least. Our current managing director, Carl Klingberg, has announced his resignation and his successor Peter Bertilsson takes over already the first of February. In summary, Carl’s role was more organizational which has been of crucial importance the latest years, whereas Peter will take on a role more focused on the business. In connection to (but not automatically because of) this, a group of competent co-workers at bwin Games resigns. One of these is my eminent mentor and head of PMO/PPS: Bo Wänghammar. On top of this, strategic organizational changes are to be expected.

It is clear that our b2b business will increase in importance in Stockholm and that b2b will become a more important part of bwin Group’s business. Peter Bertilsson’s combination of extensive experience within the online gaming business as well as within entrepreneurship will likely be a winner when paving the new road. On a personal note, it is clear to me that my vision is to stay in Stockholm and work under the b2b sphere during the next trainee period. My goal is to formalize this decision within the coming weeks, which I believe is reasonable.

To already after three months work experience large changes on strategic level is two folded. On one hand, it will be exciting to follow the development originating from the changes and to join the journey. On the other hand, it is sad to lose good friends and competent co-workers. But the world keeps turning and few in the modern industry have a gold watch after 25 years in faithful service to look forward to.

In summary, this week has offered a mean spare time-to-work ratio, with a 24 hour task force operation in Vienna and late nights in its portfolio. One of the pros with these weeks is that they fly by in 180 kphs, putting me on the verge of another charming weekend.

When finalizing this blog post, the author does not yet now if the referee for the third time in a row exploited DIF and if the three points reluctantly had to travel to Gothenburg. I should bet some serious money on Frölunda since I have a lifetime jinx in sports betting, which likely puts me in the top of the CRM hierarchy at the sport betting firms (as a true cash cow).

Towards brighter times!

Jonas

A changing business environment

Jonas | 15 January, 2010 | 0 comments

In an opportunistic and changing business environment as the online gaming business, things are seldom set in stone. While for example the automotive industry plan in cycles closer to a decade, companies in our business can lag far behind by not observing the surrounding world closely for as short time as up to a year. (On a side note, one might question if the automotive industry hasn't had a little too claustrophobic tunnel vision despite their long product cycles.)

One example of fast changes in our business is the regulation of the gaming markets in parts of Southern Europe. The regulations dramatically change the prerequisites to conduct business in these regions. The challenges following a regulated market are costly in resources to overcome, but has in the pioneer country Italy proven to reward us more than many had dared to dream about.

If we zoom in the abstraction level, I have among other things this week been on a full day of management and leadership training and have conducted an analysis with a 20 hours long database query that had to be partially rerun after intensive troubleshooting as basis. I'm going to Vienna this Monday with two BI managers to participate in a broad portfolio of meetings, as an evaluation of live poker events.

It has been an intensive week and the upcoming weekend feels more relevant than in a while. But first we are kicking off the week with a bwin Friday beer...

Live long and prosperous!
Jonas

A new era

Jonas | 8 January, 2010 | 0 comments

The proud and faithful servants Fredrik and Kamil are practically done with their trainee programs and it is thereby time for the firm’s most recent management trainee to dust of his keyboard. A short introduction of me;

As a newly returned ex-exile Stockholmer with five years of Chalmers studies behind me and just recently half a year in the Middle East, my life seems more exciting than in a long time. I have obtained a perfect position for me in one of the most dynamic industries within the entertainment business. As a sports addict with genuine poker interest, the management trainee position gives me an opportunity to understand the business, to understand how a larger company is managed and to understand the career paths which are not entirely obvious to a newly graduated engineer. On top of this, to have the privilege to live in the world’s greatest city and to be able to follow Royal Djurgårdens IF live makes the future look dazzlingly bright. 

It is difficult to summarize my first three months at bwin Games in one paragraph, but in conclusion the work has been varying, fun and rewarding. The tasks have differed from headquarter visits in Vienna where I acted as poker expert in bwin’s collaboration with Harvard Medical School (a partner in research on gambling addiction), to deep analyses in half a million row Excel documents. I have been active in a work environment likely best referred to as Sweden’s response to the work culture in parts of the mythical Silicon Valley with the famous flagship of Google as the obvious example. bwin Games offers a broad portfolio of benefits, where the free tasty breakfast comes in very handy for a man like me who easily gets the food stuck in his palate if he eats too early. 

Of the three half year long blocks in the trainee program, I have just about completed the first half of block one. I’m currently placed with Business Intelligence which has been an ubiquitous entrance into the world of bwin. B.I. tends to be in the eye of the storm in everything from information flows and analyses of new ideas to demands from above about investigating revenue losses and other temporary unpleasant surprises. It is not yet decided where my next block will be but the process is ongoing in and my possibility to steer the direction appears to be good.

After some holidays it’s time to once again get up to pace and I’m excited to take part in whatever 2010 brings!

Until next time,

Jonas