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May 30, 2007

Microsoft Brings My Pet Peeves to the Surface

One of the things that bother me more than anything else is seeing the reflection of finger prints on my computer screen. It seems that no matter how many times I wipe it down with those special disinfectant wipes they are always there. I'm not even sure how they get there in the first place; I certainly don't spend my days fondling the screen. But my compulsion to keep things clean is frequently set off by this constant nuisance.

So, when I was reading the paper this morning, this finger print problem is what instantly struck me when I read about Microsoft's new product, Surface. This new means of setting off my compulsive cleaning is an interactive table that responds to touch. The table will be able to read multiple touches simultaneously, download pictures from a wi-fi enabled camera that is sitting on its surface, and read digitally encrypted cards like hotel key cards.

According to The New York Times, Microsoft is planning to unveil Surface today at a The Wall Street Journal conference on everything digital in California. Here is an article from the Mercury News that describes some of the capabilities of the table as seen firsthand.

Surface will first be marketed commercially and already has buyers like Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide and Harrah's Entertainment. While I think this product may be a neat idea, a whole slew of problems (beside the fact that it will look dirty all the time) spring to mind.

First, there is my propensity to spill drinks on just about everything. I hope Microsoft has built-in some sort of safety mechanism for just such an occasion, since tabletops are usually where people tend to put their drinks first and are often the beneficiary of my martini faux-pas.

A more pressing problem, though, is technology rape. Surface seems like a whole new way to bring identity theft front and center. I imagine that if this device can read a hotel key card, it makes me wonder if it could be programmed to read my credit cards. I can already see myself unknowingly sitting my purse on the table in a hotel only to find that everything electronic has now been scanned by the table and is in the hands of any person who comes to touch the table next. In an instant I have been abused by what I thought was a seemingly innocent piece of furniture.

But alas, until Microsoft unleashes this bit of technological wonder onto the world, I will not know if my fears are unmerited. If you are at the unveiling today or have heard anything else about this electronic furniture, please share (and hopefully set my fears to rest)!

Posted by Lisa LaMotta at 9:39 AM | 3 Comments

May 2, 2007

We Digg It!

The story is already running rampant through the blogosphere -- News ranking site, Digg.com will not let the man bring it down!

Last night, thousands of Digg users revolted when a code that unlocked copyrighted DVDs was taken off the site after reaching front page status. Geeks across the Web united to post the link in any form possible, from a song on YouTube to cryptic messages on blogs. Soon, the front page of Digg was teaming with copies of the code and the site administrators couldn't keep up with the overwhelming power of their creation.

Kevin Rose, a founder and chief architect, and Digg soon gave in to the power of the people. In Diggtheblog he said:

Today was an insane day. And as the founder of Digg, I just wanted to post my thoughts…

In building and shaping the site I’ve always tried to stay as hands on as possible. We’ve always given site moderation (digging/burying) power to the community. Occasionally we step in to remove stories that violate our terms of use (eg. linking to pornography, illegal downloads, racial hate sites, etc.). So today was a difficult day for us. We had to decide whether to remove stories containing a single code based on a cease and desist declaration. We had to make a call, and in our desire to avoid a scenario where Digg would be interrupted or shut down, we decided to comply and remove the stories with the code.

But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you’ve made it clear. You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be.

If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying.

Digg on,

Kevin

This is a great celebration of how people can affect change if they act as a unit and a better demonstration of living up to your original vision and standards as a company. This is truly what the interactive revolution of Web 2.0 is about. Digg, like Facebook, is another example of a company being in it for the user. Is it time for companies like MySpace to take a page out of the Digg handbook?

Posted by Lisa LaMotta at 10:01 AM | 10 Comments

April 16, 2007

Ideas that Change the World

Remember being a kid and wishing that you could change the world or solve world-hunger? Well, there are adults out there who still believe it is possible and who get together to make it happen in the form of Pop!Tech.

Pop!Tech is a non-profit organization that believes in progress, even if that progress is made by a small group of people one baby step at a time. For the last decade, the company has been holding its annual conference in Camden, Maine where change-agents from all over the world gather in a non-formal setting to make the world a better place. You can get the inside scoop on Pop!Tech 2006 right here at Fast Company.

But if that is just not enough, you can check out a new series of podcasts by Pop!Tech called Pop!Casts, showcasing the great minds of last year's conference.

**Fast Company is a media partner of Pop!Tech

Posted by Lisa LaMotta at 3:31 PM | 2 Comments

March 5, 2007

Patent Offensive

I find patents fascinating. People aggressively pursue patent protection by suing erstwhile competitors for infringement. Other people collect patents like merit badges, becoming often unsung heroes of innovation. And other people help large organizations free up unused and undercapitalized patents in order to foster further innovation.

Admittedly, I find the patent system to be somewhat of a black box. Many patent infringement cases I find dubious. After all, I patented the thing that helps someone do something years ago. Overly vague and general? Perhaps. But in other cases, prior art -- and where someone got their ideas -- can be extremely clear.

So it's fascinating -- and heartening -- that the Patent Office is opening its doors a little bit. A new initiative will enable people around the world to help review patent applications online. Participants will be able to comment on applications, rate the veracity of other commenters, and otherwise contribute to the process.

I don't envy the task of wading through the inane and unhelpful comments, but it sounds like the project is heading in the right direction in terms of identity control, community ratings, and the like. While it's clear that this could help accelerate how fast patents are awarded, it'll be even more interesting to see whether accelerating the rate of patent assignment accelerates innovation in general.

Is a world with more patents a better world?

Posted by Heath Row at 12:17 PM | 17 Comments

January 31, 2007

"We Are Determined to Take Them Some Place They Don't Want to Go."

That's how Brad Seligman described his class-action gender discrimination suit against Wal-Mart to me a few years ago. It's the largest such suit in American history, representing 1.6 million current and former female employees. Now Seligman is taking on Costco, a retailer with a reputation for treating its employees well. Nonetheless, earlier this month, a federal judge in California granted the suit class-action status, the first major hurdle for a claim of systematic discrimination. "Plaintiffs have presented strong evidence of a common culture at Costco which disadvantages women," wrote Judge Marilyn Hall Patel.

Among other things, the suit charges that Costco doesn't post management openings or accept applications, an informal system that gives men the upper hand. Although women make up 45 percent of the company's work force, only 13 percent are store managers and 17 percent are assistant managers. Costco maintains that women opt out of management positions because they're burdened by other responsibilities (for more on the opt-out phenomenon, check out Linda Tischler's FC story Where Are the Women?).

Who is Seligman? He's the least assuming giant-slayer you'd ever meet. He doesn't fit the stereotype that critics of class-action litigation paint, that of a greedy, slick, spotlight grabbing, sleazy lawyer. He's a mild-mannered legal geek who believes the law is a much more effective tool for social change than the student protests he attended in Berkley in the 1970s. He's also an entrepreneur. Using his share of a $12 million settlement, Seligman started the Impact Fund in 1992. The non-profit doles out grants to support social injustice and environmental suits.

Where does he want to take Wal-Mart and Costco? Simple. In a new direction, where transparency is the norm. Where job openings are posted. Where everyone who's qualified gets a shot at management training and promotions. If it takes a law suit to get there, so be it.

Posted by Chuck Salter at 7:11 PM | 2 Comments

January 30, 2007

Sell Phone

Sometimes, it's difficult to pinpoint the impetus of an idea -- or the originator of an innovation. Take, for example, the camera phone. Who knew that one man may very well have been responsible for coming up with one of the more ubiquitous consumer technologies?

A recent Slate piece, "The Camera Phone," contends that the man behind that invention is one Philippe Kahn. Once CEO of Borland Software, Kahn went on to found Starfish Software, which was later acquired by Motorola and is now part of Nokia. He also had a hand in Lightsurf Technologies, which continued his work in mobile media.

Coming across this bit of information hit me like an epiphany -- and it turns out that the "secret" hasn't been well kept. Which begs the question: What other innovators have been forgotten and rediscovered? Why isn't Kahn known as well as, say, some of the grandfathers of the Internet?

Posted by Heath Row at 9:36 PM | 4 Comments

December 15, 2006

Ahmet Ertegun, Atlantic Records Founder, Dies

It's impossible to read about the death of Ahmet Ertegun without reflecting on how much the media world has changed over the course of his lifetime. And how much it hasn't. When he started Atlantic Records in 1947 with $10,000 in borrowed money from a family dentist (seems like dentists have been angels for a long time) the music industry hadn't consolidated into the top-heavy beast it has become. Twenty years later, at the dawn of the merger era, Ertegun sold Atlantic to Warner Brothers-Seven Arts for $17 million dollars, or just slightly more than the omikase at Nobu, in 2006 dollars.

Because Ertegun had an uncanny ear for talent, and was respected as a class act in an industry where trust was never highly rated in the Billboard charts, Atlantic was able to survive and prosper as a label. While he discovered and sponsored titanic talents like Ray Charles and John Coltrane, over his career he witnessed mass-production take over the industry, and with that the slow death of individuality, as artists got swept up, packaged, made-over, homogenized, and exsanguinated.

Yet as we approach 2007, which will be the 60th anniversary of the founding of Atlantic, in a curious and welcome way the music industry is more open to the kind of unmediated originality that Ertegun lived for, than it has been since the days when he got going.

The arrival of MySpace and YouTube -- and, of course, the entire online distribution platform -- provide an opportunity for talent to bypass corporate blockages, institutional fearfulness and focus-group decision-making. It also provides an opportunity for talentlessness to take the same journey.

Which is why what Ertegun did so brilliantly, to find, filter and nurture, is more necessary now than it was in 1947. Indeed, the combination of a democratic distribution sysem and Ertegun's talent tropism is the killer app we've been waitiing for, but aren't likely to find. We're not likely to see his kind again, though we need him more than ever.

Posted by Adam Hanft at 4:35 PM | 1 Comment

December 8, 2006

"Change or Die" -- the book

To the many readers who sent me email or posted blog entries about "Change or Die," my May 2005 cover story in Fast Company, I'm pleased to announce that I've expanded the article into a full-length book: "Change or Die: The Three Keys To Change at Work and in Life" will go on sale in stores nationwide on January 2, 2007, and it's available now for pre-order from the major online booksellers.

Alan Deutschman

Posted by Alan Deutschman at 10:49 AM | 16 Comments

November 6, 2006

Going The Extra Calorie

Great story in today's New York Times about Hannaford Brothers, a New England-based grocery chain, doing their own nutritional ratings for more than 27,000 grocery items, giving them a straightforward zero to three-star rating based on its healthiness. The ratings are posted next to the items throughout the store. They exceed the FDA's standards, and a number of major food conglomerates, promoting "healthy alternatives," don't score all that high.

The story is chock-a-block with great defensive quotes such as this one:

“We don’t like the idea that there are good and bad foods out there, and these sort of arbitrary rating systems,” said John Faulkner, director of brand communication at the Campbell Soup Company. The Healthy Request line of soup, he said, was “aligned with the government definition of what healthy is.”

Check this out not only to think about whether your healthy eats are as healthy as the box says they are, but also to consider what you can do in your business that goes beyond the minimum. In a highly competitive grocery market, where margins are thin, this is a bold and risky move by Hannaford. Kudos to them.

Posted by David Lidsky at 12:41 PM | 2 Comments

June 21, 2006

On Being Overly Efficient

In Salon today, Andrew Leonard suggests that companies can become too lean and mean -- businesses can optimize processes and practices so they are too effective. What do you think: Possible? Impossible?

Take the Fast Company poll.

Posted by Heath Row at 2:54 PM | 3 Comments

January 25, 2006

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 | 14 Comments

September 19, 2005

Partial Quality Management?

The world of work has seen its share of movements. Some, like reengineering, have been seriously revisited -- and criticized. Others, like Six Sigma, have neared sacred cow status.

Now, quality-improvement programs such as TQM, ISO 9000, and even Six Sigma, are coming under fire -- or at least heavy questioning.

Managers have stretched the techniques, by applying them too broadly to more creative areas such as research and new-product development. And some companies are rethinking the way they use the systems.

Among the charges: Process management can help routine tasks more effective and efficient, but fall short for new projects -- and innovation. It can force people to focus on optimizing older technologies rather than seeking to keep up with new tools and techniques. And such efforts don't meet the needs of projects and processes that aren't as easily measured.

Refreshing self-examination, I think, because Six Sigma can occasionally feel cultish. If you employ quality-improvement practices, what can you do to, well, improve their quality?

(Subscription required to access Wall Street Journal articles.)

Update: Fast Company most recently looked at Six Sigma in the September 2005 issue.

Posted by Heath Row at 11:27 AM | 3 Comments

September 14, 2005

Rebuilding the Big Uneasy

As New Orleans continues to dry out, efforts are underway to reopen the central business district and tourist quarter as soon as possible. The steps send a multiple message: Life goes on, business as usual -- and tourists, please come back! It's a heartening message, but one that brings its own caution. Any economy largely dependent on tourism -- two thirds of New Orleans' travel business is tourist oriented -- runs some risk as tourism trends wax and wane.

As New Orleans begins to rebuild, it'd be wise -- as Robbie Vitrano suggested earlier this month -- to reconsider all aspects of local life and work. Consider the city from a design perspective. Involve engineers, architects, preservationists, designers, and urban planners. Take this as a chance to preserve the best of what was -- while encouraging only the best of what could be. Don't just go back to what was -- or make hasty mistakes in the name of quick wins.

Posted by Heath Row at 11:16 AM | 4 Comments

September 7, 2005

Peace of the Action

In these days of Katrina and Iraq, what's the purpose of business? Several readers have expressed concern that their work matters less in the face of disaster -- and it's challenging to remain focused on workaday business activities in recent weeks. In a new paper, Gretchen Spreitzer, a professor of management and organizations at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, suggests that work indeed matters -- business leaders can contribute to sustainable peace.

In the study, entitled "Giving Peace a Chance: Organizational Leadership, Empowerment and Sustainable Peace," Spreitzer analyzes data from about 80 countries, finding less corruption and less unrest in countries where the leadership of business organizations is more participative.

It may be fashionable to snark about Halliburton's involvement in redevelopment efforts, but some organizations and business leaders are working hard to help rebuild and, yes, spread peace. How does the work you do increase peace?

Posted by Heath Row at 12:33 PM | 3 Comments

August 24, 2005

The Oreo Cookie: Not So Black and White

Is Kraft doing enough? That's the underlying question in The Chicago Tribune's series this week on the Oreo cookie. It's the best-selling cookie on the planet, but, like the Big Mac, it contributes to this country's current obesity epidemic. The Oreo's recipe -- almost 60% sugar and fat -- is high in calories, with its creamy filling loaded with trans fat (which can elevate cholesterol and endanger your ticker). Kraft's conundrum: How can it act responsibly and market junk food at the same time?

Continue reading "The Oreo Cookie: Not So Black and White"

Posted by Chuck Salter at 3:35 PM | 21 Comments

August 22, 2005

Can You Spare Some Change?

Looks like Amazon's changing its book business model from just being a seller to also being a publisher -- the company will be publishing short stories as e-books for 49 cents. As an unpublished writer of fiction, it immediately drew my interest. Then I read Amazon would mostly deal with established writers. What about the many authors who haven't been adopted into the industry yet?

I think businesses should be open to unexpected opportunities. Sometimes it's the outsider's perspective that could lead to great insight. A company's culture and routine may blind it to betters way to achieve success. Or even worse, management could be blind to the holes they've dug themselves into unless someone a step removed points that fact out to them. And while consultants can provide this service, it usually takes a new face with lofty goals to really change things.

What do you think about freelancers and unorthodox talent?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 1:01 PM | 9 Comments

August 15, 2005

Cleaning Mouse

Today's New York Times features an in-depth article about how Robert Iger plans to renovate the House of Mouse. As one of our first CEOs Who Need to Go, former head Michael Eisner has had a difficult story to sell.

Yet it looks like Iger's well on his way to turning a new page. Even before formally taking on his new role, Iger has taken some important, impact-rich steps. Among them: Mending ties with estranged board members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold.

At the end of his reign, for what action do you think Iger will be most remembered? Take the Fast Company poll.

Posted by Heath Row at 9:46 AM | Add Comment

August 8, 2005

Innovative Leadership - A Definition and Roll Call

Thanks for inviting me to BlogJam, heath. As I geared up for the main topic: innovative leadership, I began to think about the nature of leadership and innovation. I thought thought it'd be interesting to start a collaborative roll call of innovative leaders. We've all got our own definitions, so to start on a level field, I started my exploration by looking up two definitions on Dictionary.com (shortened and reformatted for display purposes):

Innovate (Word Net definition: n 1: to create (a new device or process) resulting from study and experimentation [syn: invention] 2: to create something in the mind [syn: invention, excogitation, conception, design] 3: the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new...

Lead: 1: To show the way to by going in advance; 2: To guide or direct in a course [syn: guide]; 3: a) To serve as a route for; b) To be a channel or conduit for; 4: To guide the behavior or opinion of; to induce; 5: a) To direct the performance or activities of; b) To inspire the conduct of; 6: To play a principal or guiding role in; 7: a) To go or be at the head of...

By definition Innovation is a creative act that has implicit leadership characteristics. Leadership itself does not necessarily require innovation.

Continue reading "Innovative Leadership - A Definition and Roll Call"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 4:19 PM | 4 Comments

Why Integrated Marketing Makes Me Shudder

I've been spending a lot of time with disappointed executives who mistakenly assumed that integrating the marketing department would revolutionize marketing and dramatically improve customer acquisition and relationship management.

More than a few of these executives (especially the ones on the hook for the technology ROI) are now fighting to keep their jobs.

Were they wrong about their investment in CRM tools? No, but that may not help much.

These executives are now steeped in the knowledge that truly integrated marketing can only be driven out of a truly integrated organization. Creating such an organization spans beyond the marketer's area of influence and control and stands in the way of improved experience and customer-centricity. A lack of organizational integration also impedes effective collaboration and frustrates the sales and marketing process.

Continue reading "Why Integrated Marketing Makes Me Shudder"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 12:50 PM | Add Comment

Get Smart about Managing Marketing Burnout

According to the UK Recruitment firm, the Hudson Group, 44% of all marketers are facing burnout. I haven't seen any US figures on this yet, but last week's article in Brand Republic reinforces one of my hypotheses that today's marketers are being stretched beyond their limits.

The UK is feeling the backlash in the form of increasing absenteeism, turnover, poor morale and declines in productivity and quality of output. Conduct an informal quick poll of the marketers around you. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that this phenomenon is present in the US, as well.

Wanted: Marketer.

Continue reading "Get Smart about Managing Marketing Burnout"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 10:40 AM | 3 Comments

Find the Right People for Social Change

This well-rounded-people quote leaped out at me this morning while, of course, I was looking for something else. It's from Charlotte Young, chair of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, frequently dubbed the school for the hard-headed and high-minded.

"Key to this model of social change is finding the right people and recognizing their capabilities -- not just their intellect and knowledge, but their emotions, values, political savvy, social awareness and confidence as well. The next step is to work on real projects using a flexible, supportive and practical approach rather than traditional academic methods which can be stifling."

I help organizations capitalize on their brainpower, but whenever I can, I encourage them to consider and develop other dimensions of success: feelings, instincts, priorities, cluedinness, and courage.

Posted by at 8:46 AM | 1 Comment

August 2, 2005

With (and Without) Pressure

Salon today features an article about external pressures on Wal-Mart: national protest campaigns, a documentary film, and other efforts to change how the biggest-box retailer works.

Compare those makings of change to parallel efforts at American Airlines. There, employees on the inside are striving to save money -- as well as jobs and the company's future. Their small, sensible steps remind me of those taken on the USS Benfold.

Just goes to show, ideas are free, and sometimes, you just have to look close to home. What's most likely to change your company: inside or outside pressure?

Take the Fast Company poll.

Posted by Heath Row at 7:35 AM | 2 Comments

July 29, 2005

Barriers to Change

Do you need to change? MindTools' Force Field Analysis might be a useful tool to identify what might hinder change efforts. The process also helps you identify pressures for change, as well as prioritize the potential impact of each pro and con.

[via Occupational Adventure]

Posted by Heath Row at 3:20 PM | Add Comment

July 25, 2005

The Revolutions Continue

The Seven Futures project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, DC, offers its Seven Revolutions report. The study looks at how factors such as population, technology, and governance will affect life and work in various geographic areas through the year 2025.

Each section of the study includes a self-test, and the report may make an interesting parallel read to Five Regions of the Future.

[Thanks, Valeria!]

Posted by Heath Row at 5:43 PM | 1 Comment

June 8, 2005

Al Gore: Making Geeks Feel Good

Al Gore had just five words to say at the Webby Awards held in New York this week: "Please don't recount this vote."

The quip won laughs, even if he was simply following the rules: The Webby's only permits winners five words in their acceptance speeches.

The Webby Awards has been attempting an evolution of relevance out of the dot-com period in which it was born and this year featured celebrity names outside of the Internet -- but that's not the point. The Webby's are still a geek's paradise, and so it was most fitting that Al Gore, whom everyone knows once implied that he created the Internet, was on hand to make jokes everyone could find funny.

Otherwise, Al Gore has become increasingly unfunny. Again. Like the Webby's, he is similarly stuck in the past, the punchline of jokes about hanging chads and Florida retirees.

Unlike other failed presidential hopefuls, Gore has not been able to move past his past. As you look around at other incidents, like major corporations hitting some nasty snags, it seems a lot of entities are having trouble getting past their pasts. Is this the end of good old American reinvention and change?

Posted by Laura Rich at 7:39 PM | 7 Comments

April 28, 2005

Arranging Change

There's an interesting blog discussion going on between Frank Patrick's Focused Performance and Gaping Void about what drives change -- new tools, or new processes and relationships among peers.

The respective entries -- and the comments they've attracted so far -- resonate well with the May issue's cover story: Change or Die. As part of a wide-ranging analysis of how people are wired in terms of change, John Kotter, a Harvard Business School professor, offers, "The central issue is never strategy, structure, culture, or systems. The core of the matter is always about changing the behavior of people."

Is that the same as culture? Would Kotter agree with Frank and Hugh? Or is behavior separate from organizational culture?

Posted by Heath Row at 12:28 PM | 11 Comments

March 23, 2005

Scandalous Change

There is an interesting story running on CNN/Money this week. The numbers of self-employed people -- no surprise, given layoffs and such -- are on the rise. It is thought that this might be due to the variety of corporate scandals from the last few years.

I agree that in some circles, there is a perception that "going corporate" may be a bad thing, especiallly when some view corporations as a potential labyrinth of ethical dilemmas. Some believe you can't help but fall to the dark side. While this opinion is clearly an exaggeration, I wonder if such a view is inherently bad. From these scandals we may get a generation of entrepreneurs who head out on their own to make their fortune and maybe change the world. Or maybe such influenced newcomers will enter the corporate field with the goal of changing it from the inside out, bringing more integrity and ethical standards.

Either way, this report is a good sign that people are being affected by the many corporate scandals. That can't be a bad thing. What do you believe, FC readers?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 11:41 AM | 1 Comment

January 5, 2005

A Nimble Giant

Wal-Mart is famous for being tight-lipped about its inner workings, but there's a fascinating blow-by-blow account in the NYT today of how the world's largest retailer responded to disappointing sales on the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. What's remarkable is how quickly this enormous organization moved. Make no mistake, Wal-Mart can dance.

Continue reading "A Nimble Giant"

Posted by Chuck Salter at 3:44 PM | 13 Comments

September 28, 2004

Martin Luther King on Change

In the current edition of the Wharton Leadership Digest, Dave Holloman, change management practice leader for IBM Business Consulting Services considers the change management lessons offered by Martin Luther King's campaign in Birmingham.

The article touches on the following concepts:

• Conflict Can Be Constructive
• Public and Personal Sacrifice Has Limits
• Dramatizing the Reality to Vision Gap is Vital
• Execution to Plan Supersedes Stakeholder Concerns and Desires

Perhaps the most interesting idea is the gap between vision and reality -- and how dramatizing those differences can help motivate the people you work with. Some business thinkers have cast this as a performance gap and suggest that you measure it based on your vision or reality. One educational leader warns against lowering your goals based on such gaps. And still another change agent proposes that reality needs to be more clearly defined before any gaps can be identified.

How have you dramatized the gap between your work's reality -- and your vision? What do you do to close that gap and move toward what Sparks describes as advancing structures rather than oscillating structures (in which no real progress is made)?

Posted by Heath Row at 2:04 PM | 2 Comments

August 30, 2004

Change from the Bottom Up

You are frustrated with the progress of your project. You want more attention from your manager, hoping he can help your team, but he is overextended, working on several projects. He's just not accessible. What to do?

Johanna Rothman suggests that you start right where you are. While initiative from the top down may not work, technical leaders should strive to implement improvements locally.

Here are some of her tips:

Continue reading "Change from the Bottom Up"

Posted by at 10:10 AM | 1 Comment

August 18, 2004

Announcing: Change This

I've held off on commenting on Seth Godin's most recent project until it's live -- and it's a live wire! -- but I think its debut two days ago is worth noting -- especially given Keith's guest hosting this week and our discussions about change.

ChangeThis experiments with the publishing model to explore how we can make more ideas spread further more quickly. Featuring material from Guy Kawasaki, Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell, and Amnesty International, it's a banner beginning. Check it out!

Posted by Heath Row at 3:15 PM | 2 Comments

Light Ways to Get Unstuck

Reading Keith Yamashita's book Unstuck is an active, engaging experience. You don't really read the book, you use it. To be true, the book has been written -- and designed -- as a tool, one that includes plenty of Choose Your Own Adventure-like page turning, room to write, and thought-provoking questions. So the read is somewhat slow going, as you need to savor it. To read strategically.

Thinking about that on the train this morning, led me to ask why change can be so challenging. Yes, many are resistant to change. Yes, we're creatures of habit. But maybe it's because we aim too high right from the get go?

Continue reading "Light Ways to Get Unstuck"

Posted by Heath Row at 1:23 PM | 2 Comments

August 17, 2004

Stuck in a Rut?

I'd like to offer a belated welcome to Keith Yamashita, this week's guest host. The author of the August Readers' Choice book selection, Keith works with Stone Yamashita Partners, a consultancy that specializes in change and innovation.

As guest host of FC Now, he'll be expanding on his book Unstuck, as well as exploring the topics of change, innovation, and how to shake up people's thinking about new ideas or processes. Welcome, Keith!

Posted by Heath Row at 1:53 PM | Add Comment

Courage

Greetings. My first posting. Bear with me as I get the hang of this. I was taken aback by the latest Fast Company on the topic of courage. I was particularly struck by the article by Kasparov. In it he talks about losing a chess match because he was playing sloppy and failed to take a pawn early in the match -- it was a move he could have done at any time, but didn't. And in the end, as the board got messier and messier, he paid for not tending to the simple act of taking that pawn. Ultimately, the board go so messy, he lost the match -- the pawn was the culprit of cascading doom that filled the game.

Which got me wondering whether the reverse is true: Is it possible to tend to the little moves day by day and along the way achieve huge transformation within an organization? The pawn, in fact, is always there for the taking, but how few leaders take the small moves to enable large ones later. Thoughts?

Posted by Keith Yamashita at 1:12 AM | 4 Comments

August 13, 2004

Old School Fast Company Is True School Fast Company

There ain't nothing old about Old School Fast Company articles.

Despite so much change of the cataclysmic and upheaval variety taking place since Fast Company printed its first issue in November 1995, the articles from back in the day still have resonance and cadence in the woebegone innocence and cynicism heavy business environment of today.

Don't believe me?

Read the 50 Reasons We Cannot Change from the November 1993 prototype issue and nod up and down fifty times as the article runs the voodoo down on why we and our business allies are resistant to change. Be prepared to nod five times as you read this bite-size sample from the article...

• #45 - We're doing all right as it is.
• #31 - It will obsolete other procedures.
• #13 - Our competitors are not doing it.
• #14 - It's too much trouble to change.
• #15 - Our company is different.

Continue reading "Old School Fast Company Is True School Fast Company"

Posted by John Moore at 1:51 AM | 2 Comments

July 27, 2004

Inquiring Minds

Educators at the Michigan Business School have been pursuing what they call Positive Organizational Scholarship, a new organizational studies method that concentrates on excellence and positive deviance. Much of the material reminds me of appreciative inquiry and learned optimism and merits further exploration.

Posted by Heath Row at 3:22 PM | 2 Comments

June 9, 2004

Problem Solvent II

FC Now readers Frank Patrick and Gautam Ghosh suggest several additional useful problem-solving tools and processes.

Patrick recommends TOC thinking processes, which I've touched on previously. And Ghosh offers Virtual Salt's Creative Thinking Techniques and additional resources.

Thanks for your contributions! Any other problem-solving techniques or processes people use to good effect?