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ChangeThis Newsletter (10 unread)

Petropolitics, Global Weirding and Why Al Gore Owes Us All a Big Apology

Posted: November 10th, 2008, 11:40am CST by changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)

Thomas Friedman's publisher has sent us a video that we think you'll all be interested in.

It's taken from a presentation he gave in Washington, D.C. and is based on Part II of his new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America. In it, he discusses Petropolitics, Global Weirding and why Al Gore owes us all a big apology.

You can find that demo here.

The link to the full talk is here:
Thomas Friedman's Talk in Washington
52.01 - The Brand Bubble: How Business Speculation in the Consumer Marketplace Threatens Our Economy by John Gerzema

Posted: November 5th, 2008, 2:17pm CST by changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
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"Today's housing bubble and the tech stock bubble from the last decade reveal a widening gap between market speculation and how typical Americans value things.
If you thought those bubbles were bad, get ready for another, even bigger one on the horizon that represents over $4 trillion dollars in S&P market capitalization. That alone makes it twice the size of the sub-prime mortgage market. But, unlike other bubbles, the assets that are at risk cannot be traded away or hedged against uncertainty. Rather, they are the fundamental drivers of competitive advantage for most companies--their brands."
52.02 - The Positive Business Manifesto by Jon Gordon

Posted: November 5th, 2008, 2:14pm CST by changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
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"You would have to live on another planet not to notice the plethora of business books and articles discussing the importance of developing a positive organizational culture at work. The research is clear. Positive leaders, positive work environments, and positive engaged employees produce positive results.

However, if building a positive business is so important and beneficial, then we are left to wonder, 'Why aren't more companies, more positive?' Why are there not more people skipping through the halls, smiling at their co-workers and loving their job? Why do more people die Monday morning at 9am than any other time? Why does negativity cost companies 300 billion dollars 1 and sabotage teamwork, careers, morale and performance?"
52.03 - Redeeming Sisyphus: Get Out of Control! Get More Done! by Barry Goldberg

Posted: November 5th, 2008, 2:13pm CST by changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
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"Walk into any company large or small and you will see employees who are suffering. These talented people hired for their breadth, imagination and initiative are not producing to their full potential. When they leave (and they do leave), their exit interviews most often cite an over controlling boss as the main reason for their departure. Task-oriented bosses under constant pressure to achieve increasing productivity goals rely too often on the 'I think--You do' managerial style.

Most of us know leaders like this.

More of us than want to admit it (or even know it) ARE leaders like this."
52.04 - Workplace 2.0: Motivating and Managing Millennials by Ron Bronson

Posted: November 5th, 2008, 2:12pm CST by changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
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"Welcome to the 21st century.
What motivates young people isn't the promise of a distant retirement check thirty or forty years after they've given all they have to a company that doesn't let them have a piece of the pie. The first thing you need to keep in mind is the fundamental idea of ownership.
You don't have to give up stock in your company, to give a young worker a feeling that s(he) is contributing to themselves, as well as the firm's bottom line. But you do need to invest in their sense of desire to contribute in meaningful ways to institutions that matter. To them, coming to work is an exercise in mutual benefit."
52.05 - Open Innovation: Your On-Ramp to Creating a Better Product by Dwayne Spradlin

Posted: November 5th, 2008, 2:05pm CST by changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
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"For most companies the process of creating new, innovative products and getting them out the door starts with tapping the most talented members of the R&D team. Once they have arrived at an idea and decided it is feasible, R&D moves to determining the most effective way to develop it and bring it to market. It sounds logical; but what if there was a way to reinvent the process and bring better products to market faster and at a lower cost?"
ChangeThis Event

Posted: October 16th, 2008, 11:23am CDT by changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)

Greetings ChangeThisers,

There is talk in the air of a live ChangeThis event, featuring around 40 presenters over the course of two days. We are seeking you're opinion of the idea, and would love for you to follow the link below and answer two questions for us. It will take less than two minutes of your time.

ChangeThis Event Inquiry

Many Thanks & Best Wishes,
The ChangeThis Crew
http://www.changethis.com/
51.01 - Finding Your Howl by Jonathon Flaum

Posted: October 8th, 2008, 3:31pm CDT by changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
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"To find our howl we have to pay a price... This process may feel like a death and may at its most intense terrify us and at its least unsettle us. This is the price of finding our howl, our own one of a kind authentic voice, and there is no way around it... The only way out of our self-erected prison is to go through it completely. There is no quick escape, every square inch of our imprisonment must be touched and lived through before it can be abandoned."
51.02 - Let's Get Persion by Paul B. Carroll and Chunka Mui

Posted: October 8th, 2008, 3:30pm CDT by changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
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"Herodotus, the Greek historian, reported that the ancient Persians always made important decisions twice--first when they were drunk, and then again when they were sober. Only if the Persians reached the same decision, drunk and sober, would they act on that decision.
In addition to using what might be called a second-chance meeting to review important decisions in an unbiased light, businesses should also take advantage of other means of introducing constructive contention into their decision-making... Our research found nine additional ways to introduce disagreement and to manage that disagreement so it keeps everyone on their toes without harming the camaraderie of a management team:
1) Informal devil's advocacy
2) Escalation systems
3) Bets
4) Staring into the abyss
5) Finding history that fits
6) Deciding (ahead of time) how to decide
7) Smoothing out management ruts
8) Constructing alarm systems
9) A formal devil's advocate review
We'll look at those nine methods, one by one, starting with the relatively simple and concluding with a formal process that, we believe, should be used by every company before any major decision is made."
51.03 - Today's Trojan Horse by Diana McLain Smith

Posted: October 8th, 2008, 3:27pm CDT by changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
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"At least as far back as Agamemnon and Achilles on the beaches of Troy, relationships have had the power to create or to destroy enormous amounts of capital--human, social, intellectual, and economic. Yet few among us can say anything even remotely systematic about how relationships work, develop, or change.
[...]
If relationships can have such a decisive impact on the success, even survival, of leaders and their firms, why do so many of us give them such short shrift? The answer lies in the outdated belief system that governs how we conduct business. Among the many beliefs that make up this system, four are killers. This manifesto is a call for us to shift to a new set."