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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
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Blog / ChangeThis
The Aesthetics of Management
By Marty Neumeier
"Okay. Everyone knows you can apply aesthetics to the curve of a fender, or the typography of a web page, or the textures in a clothing line. But it can be even more effective when you apply it to decision-making, upstream strategy, or organizational change. When you use the principles of aesthetics to address wicked problems, you can more easily navigate through the fog of complexity. Aesthetics confers a kind of visibility.Let's look at a few of the principles that artists have used successfully, and see how they might apply to management."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Don't Script, Improvise!
By Porchlight
"Businesses built to operate in the Networked World are as different from the Industrial Age models as a computer is from a multi-plane camera. Networked organizations are more biological than industrial. They resemble their employees more than their employees resemble them. They are highly adaptive, mobile, open, sensitive to their environment, and ultra-responsive. They continuously evolve, nurtured by a steady stream of intelligent input from inside and outside the organization. In a networked organization, where good ideas originate is not half as important as how–-and how frequently—those good ideas become reality. Good managers don't try to control their brand's narrative but, rather, to foster an environment in which it can be liberated, expanded and unleashed across networks. The emphasis is not on following a script, but on improvisation."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Better Than Free
By Kevin Kelly
"The Internet is a copy machine. At its most foundational level, it copies every action, every character, and every thought we make while we ride upon it. In order to send a message from one corner of the internet to another, the protocols of communication demand that the whole message be copied along the way several times. [...] Yet the previous round of wealth in this economy was built on selling precious copies, so the free flow of free copies tends to undermine the established order. If reproductions of our best efforts are free, how can we keep going? To put it simply, how does one make money selling free copies? I have an answer. The simplest way I can put it is thus: When copies are super abundant, they become worthless. When copies are super abundant, stuff which can't be copied becomes scarce and valuable. When copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied. Well, what can't be copied?"
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Smart Networking: End the Resistance, Prepare for Success and Get 24/7 Results Without the 24/7 Effort
By Porchlight
"Though it may be hard to grasp, networking is much easier than you think. Forget the myth that you need to be an extrovert to network well. You don't. Or that you must network nonstop. Absolutely not. Or that networking is all about working the room at a big event with a big fake grin plastered on your face. Far from it."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Here We Go Again: Leading in Tough Times
By Porchlight
"Have you been wishing for the good old days lately? Or at least to rewind the economic clock 12 months? Leading a company during a slowing economy has plenty of challenges: What should you change, stop or continue doing?"
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Passion Manifesto
By Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian
"Words belie the force of emotions. A dictionary defines 'passion' as 'any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling' and 'a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything.' But anyone who has felt passion knows it is more. Much more."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
To Criticize Is To Publicize
By Porchlight
"From Penny Arcade to high academia, numerous theories have been posited as to why being relatively anonymous is a breeding ground for 'flame wars' and 'trolls.' To combat the crap, tools like disemvowelers and community rating systems (as featured on Reddit and Digg)can help sift the 'good stuff' to the top. 'Good stuff' includes critiques which are worthwhile. And they are comparatively few and far between, as we'll see. Nevertheless, if you're the target of vicious attacks, you're going to feel it. Contrary to a popular, mistaken approach, I'm not going to tritely admonish you by saying 'don't take it personally.' Instead, here's a fresh path I'd like to take you on, and by the end of our journey, you'll have a revitalized outlook on how to make the best of bad words."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
30 Days-Notice: Or, Death of a Saleswoman
By Porchlight
30 Days-Notice is a countdown to Aly Hensler's final day as a traveling saleswoman, with each chapter chronicling a day in that month. In a foray into creative nonfiction, we at ChangeThis have the honor to share two of those days with you. "No one expected me to leave. In a world of shifting loyalties and job hopping, Widgets Inc. is the kind of rare place that people retire at, where a sales representative can pull in a comfortable base salary, company car, and expense account."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
The Brand Bubble: How Business Speculation in the Consumer Marketplace Threatens Our Economy
By John Gerzema
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.
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
The Positive Business Manifesto
By Jon Gordon
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 and sabotage teamwork, careers, morale and performance?
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.