ChangeThis
ChangeThis is our weekly series of essays from today's thought leaders that are meant to evoke conversation by bringing forth new and unique ideas.
ChangeThis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
The Nature of Investing
By Porchlight
"We are all investors. We invest our time, our energy, our money. We invest every single day, as citizens, as consumers, as businesspeople. At its core, done well, investing is aligned with the same principles that govern natural systems. It involves connection, exchange, and mutual benefit: we humans invented this activity, to serve our own needs, our communities, and our planet. For any business endeavor, wise investing—of human capital, social capital, physical capital, and financial capital—is at the heart of success. [...] We need to reengage with investing in its essential, connected form—to reintegrate our professions with the real world, instead of the world on the screen. But how?"
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
How to Unlock Employee Ideas to Power Your Organization
By Alan G. Robinson, Dean M. Schroeder
"After years of being asked to do more with less, managers are increasingly aware that they cannot produce the results that are expected of them with the organizations they currently have and the methods they currently use. Cutting wages and benefits, and requiring people to work harder with fewer resources can only go so far. Interestingly, the best solution to this problem involves the same people who have been bearing the brunt of the cost so far: front-line employees. Every day, these people see many problems and opportunities that their managers do not. They have plenty of ideas to improve productivity, responsiveness and customer service, for new and better products and services, or to enhance their organizations in other ways. Yet organizations generally pay little attention to soliciting these ideas, believing there is not much value in them. [. . . ] It is time to change the way we run our organizations. Today, a growing number of organizations are becoming very good at promoting front-line ideas, and as a result are reaching extraordinary levels of performance.
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
The 3 Stoic Disciplines: How to Turn Your Trials Into Triumphs
By Ryan Holiday
"On a dark night at the front in the year 170 Marcus Aurelius, the most powerful man in the world, wrote the following prescription to himself: 'The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.' Great individuals, like great companies, find a way to transform weakness into strength. It's a rather amazing and even touching feat. They took what should have held them back—what in fact might be holding you back right this very second—and used it to move forward. Like these great individuals we can also flip our obstacles and turn adversity into advantage."
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
Make Your Company Smarter
By Porchlight
"The unspoken beliefs that wield the most influence over business behavior are the metaphors that people use to envision the following major aspects of the work experience: What is business all about? What is a corporation all about? What is management all about? What role do employees play? What really motivates people? What is the nature of change? What's the role of technology? What is the essential nature of work? The answers to these questions define a company's corporate culture. So, then, what type of culture allows companies to pursue strategies that work today? What makes a corporate culture smart, given today's business environment? A good way to answer these questions is to compare what the executives inside successful companies believed in the past as opposed to what executives inside successful (i.e. smart) companies believe today. Here's what 'smart' cultures believe ... "
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
12 Myths that Lead to a Busy, Unfulfilling Life
By Greg McKeown
"15 years ago, I quit law school to pursue one overarching question: 'Why do capable people fail to breakthrough to the next level?' The answer to the question, to my great surprise, is success. I first noticed the phenomenon while working with executive teams in some of Silicon Valley's most innovative companies. When they were focused on the right few things it led to success. But the success bred options and opportunities which undermined the very focus that led to success in the first place. In other words, I found that success can be a catalyst for failure. If we are not careful, it leads to what Jim Collins described as "the undisciplined pursuit of more." It is true for companies; it is true for people."
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
Flowing to the River of Ultimate Performance: The Science of Productivity
By Steven Kotler
"Researchers define flow as an 'optimal state of consciousness,' a peak state where we feel our best and perform our best. . . . If you've ever lost an afternoon to a great conversation or become so involved in a work project that all else was forgotten, then you've tasted this experience. In flow, we are so focused on the task at hand that everything else falls away. Action and awareness merge. Time flies. Self vanishes. All aspects of performance—mental and physical—go through the roof. We call this experience flow because that is the sensation conferred. In the state, every action, each decision, leads effortlessly, fluidly, seamlessly to the next. It's high-speed problem solving; it's being swept away by the river of ultimate performance. This last bit is no exaggeration. Over 100 years of research shows that flow sits at the heart of almost every athletic championship; underpins major scientific breakthroughs; and accounts for significant progress in the arts. . . . In recent years, flow has also become exceptionally critical to business.
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
The Magic Triangle of Company and Career Health
By Rich Karlgaard
"While giving speeches about the post-recession recovery, I began to wonder why some companies had blasted out of the recession in fine shape while others had not yet escaped, as if sick or dysfunctional. When a human being is sick or dysfunctional—or just not thriving—the root cause is always found in one of three areas. Picture a triangle. One side is physical health. Another side is emotional. A third side is social. If you are thriving on just two sides but not on a third, your entire health is at risk. Ask an otherwise physically and mentally healthy person who is struggling with social health, going through a traumatic divorce, say. What does robust health look like in a company or career? Can we find a similar triangle that can help us locate the root cause when our companies and careers are underperforming? I believe so. But warning: I will spend most of the time discussing the least appreciated side of the triangle—the soft edge."
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
How to Ignite Innovation with F.I.R.E.
By Dan Ward
"Solving a difficult technical challenge requires imagination, focus, endurance, and a tolerance for failure, to name but a few key ingredients. However, the real secret behind delivering world-class innovation actually depends on what we lack rather than what we have. [...] In fact, the pattern of rapid, thrifty innovation shows up across a large range of technical contexts and genres. Whether we are talking about submarines or software, medical or military technology, the most impactful and successful innovations tend to be produced by small teams with short schedules, tight budgets, and strong commitments to simplicity."
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
Heed Your Call
By Porchlight
"You have been invited to heed your call, and now it is up to you to decide where you go from here. You are the result of the choices you make every single day, and what you choose, you become. To choose wisely, be a witness to your thoughts and actions, both positive and negative. Observe each and every one with neutral emotion. Avoid judging or being critical. Just examine your thoughts as they pass through your psyche. Consider the source, then act or don't act on them. How you choose to respond to this call is what will define and shape your future."
Categories: changethis
-
Blog / ChangeThis
Your Product or Service Is Either Relevant or It's Worthless: Three Things You Need to Do to Make Sure It's Relevant
By Porchlight
"Every day, according to best estimates, your customers and the people you would like to be your customers, are bombarded with more than 5,000 messages. There are advertisements—commercials, billboards, pop ups; calls from telemarketers; emails from deposed princes who need your help banking their fortunes; companies promising to enhance this or that; signs on buses and cabs; branding on clothing and in stores... you get the idea. No wonder it is becoming harder and harder to break through the clutter. In an environment where literally thousands of messages are competing for attention, how do you get people to pay attention to your business, message, or offering? Simply put: by being relevant."
Categories: changethis
The original idea behind ChangeThis came from Seth Godin, and was built in the summer of 2004 by Amit Gupta, Catherine Hickey, Noah Weiss, Phoebe Espiritu, and Michelle Sriwongtong. In the summer of 2005, ChangeThis was turned over to 800-CEO-READ. In addition to selling and writing about books, they kept ChangeThis up and running as a standalone website for 14 years. In 2019, 800-CEO-READ became Porchlight, and we pulled ChangeThis together with the rest of our editorial content under the website you see now. We remain committed to the high-design quality and independent spirit of the original team that brought ChangeThis into the world.