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January 31, 2006
A Lesson in Contrasts
It's been a rough few weeks for the boys in Mountain View. Even while criticism continues to pour in regarding Google's controversial, ideologically-opposed actions in China (where the company is helping The Man) and at home (where it's fighting The Man) things got worse. Wall Street weighed in Tuesday afternoon, slamming shares nearly 15% after the company announced its fourth-quarter earnings. Those offensive earnings? $372 million - nearly double last year's $204 (though far short of analyst expectations).
Censorship, government subpoenas, soaring earnings and falling stock prices... I hope somebody is making a documentary about this.
Posted by Lucas Conley at 5:20 PM
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2 Comments
In a Lather Over Advertising
Have you seen this television ad? A team of government agents discover a UFO in the desert. Inside are technological wonders previously unseen. A trailer for a new film perhaps? Actually, it is an advertisement for Gillete's new razor, the Fusion. While the TV spot has a movie trailer aesthetic and a release date of February 5, it doesn't mention at all that the Fusion is a men's shaving razor. When I told my wife what the trailer was teasing, she laughed at the incongruous relationship between the commercial and the product.
Do Hollywood production values and over-the-top visuals really help an advertising campaign? For a razor? I believe clever and well written advertisements perform better than action-packed bombardments. And this Gillette ad is the epitome of that, all flash and no substance. Then again, I am talking about it, aren't I?
What do you think about the Fusion commercial? What makes an ad successful?
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 12:48 PM
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Form and Function
"It is said that form follows function. I disagree. Form is function. The two are developed together and are intertwined."
--David Stowell, founder, Smart Design
From Fast Company's recently released book, The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform At Their Best
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:22 AM
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January 30, 2006
Leading Ideas: Play More
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; We grow old because we stop playing." -- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and essayist
A friend of mine is a corporate attorney who is married with 3 kids. About two years ago he recognized that his work was putting a tremendous amount of stress on his family and marriage. He (and his wife) didn't like who he was becoming. And they set out to make some changes. "Aside from carving out daily time to spend together, one of the greatest things we did was create Play Day," he told me. "Once a month, one of my kids picks out a family activity that we all do together for a day. The only rule is that it's got to be something they find fun! We love it because it not only allows my wife and I to see the world from our kids' eyes, but also it allows us to reconnect with our own playfulness."
Posted by Doug Sundheim at 4:25 PM
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Davos 2006: Partying Like It's 1999
Hands down, the best event at Davos was the Google party on Friday night. Never mind the glittering guest list, which included the likes of Michael Douglas and Shimon Peres (who gave an off-the-record talk). Let's talk about the wines that were served at the Kirschner Museum on Davos's main drag. We started with Krug Champage, vintage 1990. Then moved on the Chateau Margaux 1989. Then Gruaud-Larose 1989. And then magnum bottles of Chateau Lynch-Bages—1955, if I read the label correctly, which at that point may have been a bit debatable. It all sure had a 1999 feel to it. Google, coincidentally, will be reporting 2005 results after the closing bell Tuesday. If the party in Davos is any indication, I expect the numbers to be pretty good.
Posted by Mark Vamos at 2:39 PM
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Hearts and Minds
"If you can design a product that appeals to people's brains and hearts, you can get them to pay a great premium."
--Alex Lee, president, OXO International
From Fast Company's recently released book, The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform At Their Best
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:25 AM
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January 27, 2006
The Sundance Set Considers the Net
We're approaching the end of the Sundance Film Festival here in Park City, Utah. The filmmakers in attendance this morning for a panel discussion about delivering movies over the Internet seemed alternately energized and terrified by the prospect. They acknowledged the Internet’s potential as a marketplace for movies that may not receive traditional distribution (via DVDs or theaters or television), but worried about who would pony up the millions required to support their more ambitious projects.
Posted by Scott Kirsner at 5:08 PM
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Live From Davos: The Accidental Brand
At Davos today, Michael Dell told an entertaining story about how his brand came to be called Dell--something he said he never intended. The corporate name was Dell, but the original trade name was PCs Limited. (Dell had wanted to call the company PCs Limited, too, until the lawyer handling the incorporation told him it was too generic.) But the company ran into a problem when it began selling in the United Kingdom. It couldn't call itself PCs Limited Ltd, or, as Michael Dell put it, "really limited Pcs." The folks in Britain asked headquarters what they should call their operation, but got no reply, so they just decided to use the Dell name. And eventually, that became the trade name for Dell worldwide. Michael Dell's verdict: "It worked out OK."
Posted by Mark Vamos at 10:35 AM
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Ignore Intuition
"When making a decision, don't listen to your intuition. Intuition will lead you astray."
--Max Bazerman, professor, Harvard Business School
From Fast Company's recently released book, The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform At Their Best
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:31 AM
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January 26, 2006
Poor Perfection
"The enemy of 'good' is 'perfect.' When time is critical, you have to make intelligent compromises."
--O. Wayne Isom, professor, Weill Medical College, Cornell
From Fast Company's recently released book, The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform At Their Best
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 5:29 PM
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Scandal At Davos
In tomorrow's newpapers, you'll be reading about a controversy that has erupted at Davos. ''Global Agenda,'' the magazine of the World Economic Forum, contains an article calling for a boycott of Israel. In an email to participants at Davos, Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the WEF, expressed his ''great concern and pain'' at the article, which he says is ''in total contradiction to my own, and the Forum's, mission and values.'' The article was the result, he said, of ''an unacceptable failure of the editorial process, specifically an insufficiently short period for review of content.''
I managed to find a copy of ''Global Agenda''--they suddenly were in rather short supply here after the discovery of the article in question. The piece, by Mazin Qumsiyeh, who is described as having served on the faculties of Duke and Yale and as a campaigner for Palestinian rights, is as nasty a piece of work as I've read in some time. It's particularly nasty because it re-clothes many of the tropes of classic anti-Semitism (such as the idea that Jews control the media in the U.S.) in humanitarian garb.
I have the greatest respect for Dr. Schwab, and he's right that this article is utterly antithetical to the spirit of Davos. But it's a little hard to understand how this could be simply a failure of editorial process. Consider the headline of the piece: ''Boycott Israel.'' You have to wonder how much longer it would have taken to review the content of the article to figure out what it was about. The unfortunate, and inevitable, conclusion is that Israel is so demonized in so many minds that this language didn't come into question even in the house organ of a gathering that in the words of its founder is based on ''mutual respect and recognition, and not on confrontation.''
Posted by Mark Vamos at 5:20 PM
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Product Review: Kensington Travel Plug Adapter with USB Charger
Going strictly by its function, the Travel Plug Adapter ($39.99) is nothing new nor special--there are dozens of plugs out there to let you use your electric shaver overseas. But what Kensington's product has going for it is its elegant design, which takes all those different plugs and puts them into one unit. Inside the small plastic canister are four different plug types that slide out, making this adapter compatible with outlets in more than 150 countries, according to the literature. (Italy is one of them, as I found out on my Roman holiday a few weeks ago.) The different plugs all slide in and out with a minimum of fuss, and you don't have to go rooting around your suitcase for all those adapters.
What also makes the Kensington device stand out is that the female input (where you would plug your shaver or hair dryer) can be swapped with a USB port for recharging your iPod or digital camera, which definitely comes in handy after a 7-hour flight and a few days of sightseeing. Come to think of it, I should have remembered to lend this device to Mark when he went off to Davos.
The one caveat is that the adapter doesn't convert voltage (except with the USB attachment), so remember, just because the plug fits, doesn't mean you can use it.
Posted by Michael Prospero at 4:01 PM
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Live From Davos: Development and Innovation
A Columbia University economist, Xavier Sala-i-Martin, spoke at a session on global competitiveness in Davos this morning. He offered what I think is the most succinct statement of the stages economies move through on their way to becoming innovation-based. First, he said, you concentrate on making something cheaper than anybody else. And when you can no longer make something cheaper than anybody else, you concentrate on making something better than anybody else. And when you can no longer make something better than anybody else, you concentrate on making something different than anybody else. That's the innovation economy.
Posted by Mark Vamos at 1:49 PM
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If It's All About the People....
We've heard it so many times we sometimes want to puke: it's all about the people. People are our biggest asset. Without a laser-sharp focus on human capital, we are worthless as a company. Yadda yadda. Part of our cynicism comes not from the fact that it's not true--it most certainly is--but the fact that words rarely lead to action in this area.
This feeling is backed up by a new study from Mercer Human Resource Consulting, which confirms the sad truth that much of corporate-speak about its people is more hot air than anything. A two-year study of the annual reports of the 100 largest publicly-traded companies shows that only about 20% even mention human capital and how it contributes to the company's results in its annual reports. About 25% of the companies "offer platitudes," according to its authors, Mercer consultants Rick Guzzo and Haig Nalbantian, while even those that do talk about the importance of human capital rarely try to quantify exactly how its approach to its people helps improve its numbers.
This is hardly surprising, but somehow, I find it depressing. If people are so important, shouldn't they get as much ink in a company's discussion of its last year as a new bond offering or an inventory overhaul? Why do you think this subject continues to remain so poorly developed?
Posted by Jennifer Reingold at 10:58 AM
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Survivor at Davos
In yesterday's post, I described a creativity face-off at Davos. Participants were asked to describe their vision of the keys to creativity, and the audience voted on those ideas until two finalists remained. As promised, here's the outcome.
Last to be voted off the island was Ideo's Tim Brown, who suggested that creativity is spurred by approaching problems with a beginner's mindset, and by exploring ideas through the use of rapid prototyping.
And the winner is: Google's Marissa Mayer, who argued for "a healthy disrespect for the impossible" combined with the virtues of constraints. In other words, aim high, but focus. Mayer described how an artist friend once told her that it was much easier to paint on a canvas that already had something on it--a mark or a line of some sort--than to begin with an entirely blank canvas. The existing mark is a constraint, something the artist has to think about and work around. And product developers at Ikea begin with a different sort of constraint, she said. They start with a price they have to meet--say $49--and then think about what they can make for that price.
Posted by Mark Vamos at 10:10 AM
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January 25, 2006
The Next Donald?
This morning's New York Times story on the city's wage divide was, in itself, pretty telling: Real wages for Manhattanites rose 5.4% from 2002 to 2005, while those in the outer boroughs (that would be Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island) fell at least 2.9%.
This would sort of explain why pricey joints like Lever House are still packed at lunchtime. It may also explain the latest venture of Barry Sternlicht.
Sternlicht, who built Starwood Hotels into a sprawling global chain, has started an ultraluxury hotel chain modeled after the Hotel de Crillon in Paris, which he bought earlier this year. He plans Crillon hotels in London, Rome, New York, and Barcelona.
"We are going to make each hotel obscenely rich and obscenely beautiful and position them at the top off their markets," Sternlicht told the Wall Street Journal.
Which is fine, of course. But also sort of...obscene.
Posted by Keith Hammonds at 4:32 PM
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Turning the Tables
I was interested to read in today's New York Times how Frank Bruni, the paper's head restaurant critic, put down his notebook recently and worked as a waiter for a week. I've always thought that waiting tables is one of those jobs everyone should do at some point. It's a great exercise in multi-tasking and reading people and learning the art of customer service (really, you should get college credit for it). The two college summers I spent as a waiter, in Atlanta and in Yellowstone Park, made me a more empathetic and critical customer. I know the skill it takes to juggle multiple tables, a moody chef, and demanding diners (I didn't always possess it, but I saw it in my more experienced colleagues). And I can usually recognize when someone's coasting, undermining the efforts of others on the restaurant staff.
Years ago, Bruni waited on tables, too. But he wanted a reminder of what the job involves. After all, he's reviewing waiters week in and week out. It's the right instinct, getting a different perspective on your work and the people whose performance you critique. It reminds me of executives like Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy and JetBlue CEO David Neeleman. They regularly pitch in, serving fast-food and serving drinks. They're not just interacting with customers. They're experiencing someone else's job at the company, which gives them a much deeper understanding of those who work closest to the customer.
How do you get closer to customers and frontline employees? What have you learned?
Posted by Chuck Salter at 4:17 PM
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Live From Davos: Is It Time to Stop Worrying About China?
China's vice premier Zeng Peiyan told a plenary session at Davos Wednesday evening that his country's development over the next five years will create opportunities for the rest of the world. Specifically, he said China will focus on production for its domestic market, and on developing domestic energy sources, especially coal, nuclear, and hydro. In other words, he sought to persuade his listeners that the fears of China becoming an export juggernaut, and of China sucking up a huge share of the world's oil production are overblown. Does that make sense, or was he just telling us what we want to hear?
Posted by Mark Vamos at 3:23 PM
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Sneaking Up
I read a stat recently that three out of four Americans own at least one pair of sneakers. But could Nike’s current difficulties be an indication that Americans don’t love their sneakers enough?
As recently as the mid-90s, US manufacturers like Nike and New Balance were still insisting that customers bought their shoes purely for athletic purposes. But today’s market has been shaped more by European tastes in vintage and fashion sneakers. At least that’s the argument of Tony Bertone, director of brand management at Puma, the German sneaker firm, which has tripled revenues since 2001.
In today’s Guardian newspaper, Bertone says trainers are less of a fashion item in the US because they have been around as bog-standard footwear for longer. "In Europe, [sneakers] have been part of people's lives only for the past 20 years or so, so they see them as something more special."
Phil Knight is saying Nike has too much on its plate to buy Puma. But the company is giving him plenty of food for thought.
Posted by Ian Wylie at 2:23 PM
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Finding Disney
How big was the news that Disney acquired Pixar for $7.4 billion? Here's one measure: The story got attention worldwide, at Websites like Aljazeera and Rediff. (Today's news about the $27 billion deal between Guidant and Boston Scientific didn't get the same kind of play.) That may be evidence of the global power of Disney.
But whether the Disney brand continues to be synonymous with creativity and great animation may now depend largely on John Lasseter (New York Times, free registration required).
Lasseter is considered a creative genius. He could restore Disney to the heights it reached in the early nineties: The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). These films earned a total of $1.8 billion dollars at theaters worldwide (according to Box Office Mojo), and that doesn't even factor in home video and merchandise sales. The world is watching, waiting to see how Disney will change under Lasseter, not to mention Disney CEO Bob Iger and Pixar's Steve Jobs. Some say change is long overdue at the company, where creativity seems to be slumping.
Pixar should revitalize Disney, and with an animation renaissance like that of the early nineties, the merged business could be strengthened financially. There is also an opportunity to truly embrace new digital media, to be the first Hollywood studio to completely implement online distribution. If Disney doesn't accept change, if it doesn't halt its creative slide, the Disney reputation and perception worldwide will suffer.
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 12:14 PM
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Live From Davos: What's the Key to Creativity?
The World Economic Forum at Davos has a theme every year, and the theme of the 2006 meeting is ''The Creative Imperative,'' the idea being that business leaders and society as a whole need to come up with new and creative approaches to change. And so on this first day at Davos, I attended a session called ''Innovation and Design Strategy,'' a topic that is of course close to our hearts at Fast Company. It was, in a lot of ways, a very un-Davos-like session--more a reality show than a typical gabfest.
The eight panel members were each asked to describe what they think is the key to creativity. The audience then voted them off the island, one by one. Quick to go, for example, were panelists who pitched religious institutions and government as important engines of innovation. In the end, we were left with two finalists who are well-known to Fast Company readers, Ideo's Tim Brown and Google's Marissa Mayer.
Posted by Mark Vamos at 10:28 AM
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Know What Customers Want
"The closer top management is to the customer, the more successful an organization is likely to be."
--Dan Cathy, president, Chick-fil-A
From Fast Company's recently released book, The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform At Their Best
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:25 AM
| 2 Comments
January 24, 2006
NSA 101
It's hard to imagine any organizations more obsessed with information security than the National Security Agency or American Express. Whether it's spooks and cryptography or stockbrokers and credit scoring, both outfits are forever updating software and closing loopholes in an effort to stay ahead of hackers and identity thieves. And while the NSA and AMEX have more at stake than the average business, any company with a Web site and a client roster deals with online security issues. Just two years ago, Gartner estimated that 80 percent of Fortune 1000 would employ encryption security by 2007. The research firm now puts that number at 85 percent - by the second quarter of 2006. How is the IT market meeting the growing demand for IT security pros?
Ernie Eugster asked himself the same question when he joined the faculty at the University of Denver two years ago. For answers, he tapped the expertise and support of organizations like the NSA and AMEX...
Continue reading "NSA 101"
Posted by Lucas Conley at 5:05 PM
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Being Clear
"Leaders need to be very clear about what kind of innovation they are looking for. One man's radical innovation is another man's incremental innovation."
--Alistair Corbett, director, Bain and Co. consultants
From Fast Company's recently released book, The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform At Their Best
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:32 AM
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January 23, 2006
To Build Up Innovation, Break Down Your Networks
I recently had the pleasure of attending a conference with quite a few interesting entrepreneurs and innovators. Several contrasts between innovators from large companies and those more accustomed to working within independent startups caught my attention. The starkest was the relative fluidity and ease with which the startup crowd circulated, made new connections, and exchanged ideas.
Entrepreneurs believe in the power of networking. Many are very good at it. They become good because they recognize that most people with interesting notions usually have only one piece of a puzzle. Often unexpected combinations of ideas, or chance meetings of people with complimentary perspectives, ignite genuine breakthroughs.
Continue reading "To Build Up Innovation, Break Down Your Networks"
Posted by Chris Trimble at 4:28 PM
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These Brands are on Fire
Interbrand's Brandchannel.com released its rankings of the most-influential brands of 2005. Just as in previous years, Google and Apple jockeyed for the top position. Google won out in the Global category, but Apple held onto number one spot in North America. The lists are voted on by the Website's readers during November and December; this year, about 2500 people in 99 countries voted. The largest group of voters was men ages 26 to 35.
The global top ten had a few surprises, with Skype ranked third and Firefox eighth (both probably helped by voting being done online). Craigslist, which ranks number six on the U.S. list was also likely helped by the Web-based voting. The U.S. list also features Oprah at number nine, up from ten last year but, surprisingly, still behind Lance Armstrong at number five. Maybe that just goes to show the branding power of Armstrong's yellow bracelets.
What brands influenced you in 2005?
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 2:48 PM
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Show Me the Results
"How do you demonstrate the value of innovation? By translating ideas into something that even skeptics can understand: results."
--Durwin Sharp, Virtual Thinking Expedition Co.
From Fast Company's recently released book, The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform At Their Best
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:41 AM
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January 20, 2006
Digital Dominance
Panasonic will no longer be making analog televisions, not particularly surprising since technology and media have been steadily converting to digital for a few years now. All of the major manufacturers are concentrating on the various high-definition television technologies, with Panasonic pushing its plasma televisions (such as the massive 103-inch set). The Panasonic announcement echoes Nikon's recent announcement that it was ending production of traditional film cameras and the Konica Minolta move this week to pull out of the camera business completely.
The move to digital is a universal trend that has been going on for some time, but it seems to be gaining strong momentum. In 2005 digital music sales were $1.1 billion, more than triple 2004's sales. That, along with iPod's 4th quarter 2005 sales, make obvious the progress of the digital-music transition. This trend is also pronounced in the movie business, as notable directors push for digital filming and digital projection--George Lucas, James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, to name a few. The home film experience is changing as well, with new high-definition discs coming this year to play on all those HDTVs. And lets not forget the success of satellite radio or that with the emergence of broadband, TV programs are now being offered online.
None of this is a shock. But it's worth taking a step back and looking at how far we have come in the last decade. The question is where will we go next? What companies and industries will abandon analog for the digital future next?
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 12:49 PM
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Courage Quest
"Before you can be creative, you must be courageous. Creativity is the destination, but courage is the journey."
--Joey Reiman, CEO, Brighthouse
From Fast Company's recently released book, The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform At Their Best
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:57 AM
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January 19, 2006
The Wal-Mart Effect
Fast Company senior writer Charles Fishman's new book The Wal-Mart Effect -- which FC recently excerpted -- could very well be the most important book about the most important company in the world.
Wal-Mart sells salmon fillets at $4.84 a pound nationwide at its Supercenter fish counters. How can it sell what was once a luxury item at $2 or $3 less than other grocers already low price? Would we purchase and grill up that salmon so happily if we could watch a video of how it was raised and handled before we bought it?
Do consumer product makers really close U.S. factories and open Chinese ones to reduce prices, because of demands from Wal-Mart -- or is that a kind of economic urban legend?
What's the typical workday like, not at a Wal-Mart store, but for the 10,000 people who work at Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, a place surrounded by a wall of silence?
Wal-Mart isn't just the largest store in America, or the largest store in the world, or the largest employer in the world. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world -- and one of the most powerful. It is also one of the most secretive.
In the book, Fishman cracks open Wal-Mart in a way no journalist or insider ever has before, and answers a pair of related questions: What is Wal-Mart doing for America? What is Wal-Mart doing to America?
Continue reading "The Wal-Mart Effect"
Posted by Heath Row at 12:59 PM
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Coming Soon to a Theater Near You--We Wish!
Steve Jobs, the man who has sold some 18 million iPods and tripled his company's stock price, reached the height of overexposure last year. So I wouldn't be surprised if a biopic were in the works--perhaps produced by the big Apple head himself? In such an event, Jobs should take cues from the entries received by Mike Davidson, who held a Steve Jobs movie-poster contest last December. The rules: None, really. The prize: an iPod, of course. View the entries on Davidson's blog. A winner has already been awarded. Based on some of the ingenious entries, do you agree? I personally would shell out to see the corporate intrigue plot promised in "Enemy of Bill Gates." Or the lighthearted romp "Windows Crashers," anyone?
Posted by Jennifer Vilaga at 12:15 PM
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Providing Answers
"The most dangerous question a prospect or customer asks is 'Why should I?' And he may ask it more than once--but never of you. The product and its communication stream must continue to provide him with both rational and emotional answers."
--Lester Wunderman, founder of Wunderman Direct and the father of direct mail advertising
From Fast Company's recently released book, The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform At Their Best
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:43 AM
| 4 Comments
January 18, 2006
This Jingle Brought to You by Google
Google is expanding again. The company announced yesterday that it is acquiring yet another advertising company. Shocking. (Not really.) But what is surprising is that this acquisition, dMarc, is radio-based. It’s offline. Again, still not all that shocking: Google has been making strides into traditional advertising, with print advertising already being tested.
With all the momentum happening in online media, why would Google want to go into old media, where margins are low and often so is morale? Especially in the radio business, where the growth of portable music players and satellite radio have been eating away at the audience for traditional radio. Will Google make an impact on the diminishing radio industry?
Personally, I just don't believe Google can make enough of a difference to sustain the incredible shrinking radio market. They must have bigger plans in the works, perhaps using dMarc's resources on Internet radio and podcasts. In which case, traditional radio becomes merely a proving ground for their advertising model, before Google expands it to online venues.
Do you think Google wants to save radio advertising? Or are they looking to the future?
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 6:01 PM
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Innovation Challenge: Chips Ahoy!
I enjoy being a journalist, but there are jobs I could imagine that would be even more compelling. I once thought it would be cool to go around the country convincing people not to go to law school. But now I've perhaps discovered my true dream job: professional potato chip taster. Here's a job I've spent my life training for, but have heretofore only held amateur status and I haven't had much of an audience for my skills. (For more on my potato chip credentials, click here.)
That may have changed yesterday when a box from Kettle Chips arrived at my desk containing five new potato chip flavors that the company is considering putting into production.
It's all part of Kettle's very cool program where they let chipaholics like me (or chipaficionados, if you prefer) nominate flavor ideas and help decide what new flavors Kettle makes. Fast Company has written about co-creation with customers before, but this is a very developed program worth taking note of for any company interested in engaging its customers in their products.
So okay, enough of that "business stuff." On to the tasting.
Continue reading "Innovation Challenge: Chips Ahoy!"
Posted by David Lidsky at 5:19 PM
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The Blackberry Diet
While thumbing through Crain's Chicago Business on the El the other morning, I read about several local executives' resolutions for 2006. There were the usual goals of exercising more (yep, that's one of mine), playing more golf (oops, me again), and spending more time with family and friends (whoa, a trifecta). Then this: Beating a Crackberry addiction.
I can't tell you how many times an interview subject has pulled out his or her Blackberry and casually begun answering email at the same time they were answering my questions. That's the main reason I don't carry one. I don't want an anytime-anywhere email habit; clearly, it'll get in the way of this year's gym/golf/family-friend time. A local psychologist told Crain's that she suggested developing better Blackberry discipline by attaching a note to the device that tells you when you can use it again. It's like a note on the fridge that helps you count calories or avoid snacking.
Regardless how the ongoing patent dispute over Blackberry shakes out, devices with mobile email are here to stay, and more and more of us are going to struggle to give our thumbs a rest. What works for you?
Posted by Chuck Salter at 4:45 PM
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Social Swag
Want to feel good, fast? Spend four hours in a room with the top social entrepreneurs in the nation. On January 12, Fast Company and our partner Monitor Group hosted the third annual Social Capitalist Awards celebration in New York, and it was a very cool affair.
All 25 winners showed--Martin Fisher from Kickstart, Chris Elias from PATH, Wendy Kopp from Teach for America, Earl Martin Phalen from BELL--as did leading lights from the philanthropic world. And there was real buzz: These are completely smart people with outrageous energy and persistent dissatisfaction with the status quo.
For the winners, we prepared (as FC contributing writer Cheryl Dahle described them) "the first-ever socially responsible bling baskets." Tote bags made by Zimbabwean artisans of recycled bottle caps, imported and donated by World of Good. Inside, donated wares from Ben & Jerry's, Timberland, Clif Bar, ABC Home, Sambazon, and others.
The baskets were assembled by workers from Reciprocity Foundation, a NYC organization that matches hundreds of artistic homeless youths with mentors from the fields of design, fashion and media. It also helps participants secure internships, full-time jobs, and help with college applications and placement.
Just a ton of energy in the room--and proof that entrepreneurship in the citizen sector is a growth business.