ChangeThis: Issue 50
September 10, 2008
That's right folks, Issue number 50. For this landmark issue, we brought ChangeThis founder Seth Godin back to discuss Tribes, the opportunities now available to lead a tribe of one's own, and what the Grateful Dead has to do with any of it. Next up, we have John Kotter, providing us with A Sense of Urgency while writing about its fundamental importance to organizational change programs.
That's right folks, Issue number 50. For this landmark issue, we brought ChangeThis founder Seth Godin back to discuss Tribes, the opportunities now available to lead a tribe of one's own, and what the Grateful Dead has to do with any of it. Next up, we have John Kotter, providing us with A Sense of Urgency while writing about its fundamental importance to organizational change programs. The third spot in the lineup is filled by Jonathan Salem Baskin--author of Branding Only Works on Cattle--with 10 Rules for Branding in a Post Branded World. Hitting cleanup is Vince Poscente, former olympic speed-skier and member of the Speaker Hall of Fame, with a manifesto on how to excel in this, The Age of Speed. And, bringing the issue home, we have Michael Cayley, discussing his "spin-out of brand management," Social Capital Value Add, and Andrew Abela--author of Advanced Presentations by Design--who will show you how to give an effective presentation before a smaller audience (as most of your presentations probably are).
Snippets and links below. Happy reading everybody!
:::::
How to Sell a Book (or Any New Idea)(step 1 is the hard part) by Seth Godin
"My friend Fred has a new book coming out and he was trolling around for new marketing ideas. I think he'd be surprised at this:
Sell one.
Find one person who trusts you and sell him a copy. Does he love it? Is he excited about it? Excited enough to tell ten friends because it helps them, not because it helps you?
Tribes grow when people recruit other people. That's how ideas spread as well. They don't do it for you, of course. They do it for each other. Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work. If Fred's book spreads, then he's off to a great start. If it doesn't, he needs a new book.
You don't get to take step 2 if you can't do step 1."
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
It All Starts With A Sense of Urgency by John P. Kotter
In a turbulent era, when new competitors or political problems might emerge at any time, when technology is changing everything, both the business-as-usual behavior associated with complacency and the running-in-circles behavior associated with a false sense of urgency are increasingly dangerous.
In bold contrast, a true sense of urgency is becoming immeasurably important. Real urgency is an essential asset that must be created, and re-created, and it can be.
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
10 Rules for Branding In a Post Branded World by Jonathan Salem Baskin
"We live in the twilight of a branded world born over 100 years ago.
Most marketing remains blinded by the fading glare of its old, outdated promises.
Yet there is a new approach to brands ahead of us, based upon a definition that is less about static image and imagined identity, and more about real-time interaction and actual involvement between company and consumer.
This is your Manifesto for making branding work in a post-branded world."
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
The Age of Speed Manifesto by Vince Poncente
"In the following manifesto, we will explore our present relationship with speed and examine four behavior profiles that can help you determine if you (a) embrace speed and (b) harness the power of it. By the end, you just might discover that our 24/7, CrackBerry, more-faster-now world is not threatening to eat you alive, but rather, to set you free."
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
Social Capital Value Add: Value Based Management for the Networked Age by Michael Cayley
"The marketing/communications mix is completely different than it was before 2004. Broadcast's monopoly on attention is dead. The symbolic brand, which has been the fastest growing source of corporate value for the last quarter century has reached its pinnacle. It is being absorbed and replaced by memetic brand. Technologies have evolved and mapped so tightly against the way humans transact, form relationships and create self-identity that it is time for business management to link the pioneering academic studies of social capital and social network analysis (SNA) to value based management and the priorities of marketers.
The transition required is no less abrupt than that moment when the search of Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion reaches confrontation with the Great Oz faade and the curtain is pulled back to reveal a mere mortal. The corporation is at risk of being the 'humbug' caught shouting into the loudspeakers and pulling at the mechanistic levers of the past."
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
Presenting to Small Audiences: Turn off the Projector! by Andrew Abela
"The typical presentation to a small group today is designed just as if it were being made to a large group in a big auditorium. We follow the same advice in creating our slides, and then we turn on the portable projector and inflict slide after deadening slide on our audience--vintage Death by PowerPoint.
Too much of this effort is wasted. There is ample research evidence that projecting lots of text and speaking at the same time is so distracting to your audience that it is less effective than projecting your slides and asking your audience to read them while you remain silent, or speaking with no slides at all!"
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
How to Sell a Book (or Any New Idea)(step 1 is the hard part) by Seth Godin
"My friend Fred has a new book coming out and he was trolling around for new marketing ideas. I think he'd be surprised at this:
Sell one.
Find one person who trusts you and sell him a copy. Does he love it? Is he excited about it? Excited enough to tell ten friends because it helps them, not because it helps you?
Tribes grow when people recruit other people. That's how ideas spread as well. They don't do it for you, of course. They do it for each other. Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work. If Fred's book spreads, then he's off to a great start. If it doesn't, he needs a new book.
You don't get to take step 2 if you can't do step 1."
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
It All Starts With A Sense of Urgency by John P. Kotter
In a turbulent era, when new competitors or political problems might emerge at any time, when technology is changing everything, both the business-as-usual behavior associated with complacency and the running-in-circles behavior associated with a false sense of urgency are increasingly dangerous.
In bold contrast, a true sense of urgency is becoming immeasurably important. Real urgency is an essential asset that must be created, and re-created, and it can be.
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
10 Rules for Branding In a Post Branded World by Jonathan Salem Baskin
"We live in the twilight of a branded world born over 100 years ago.
Most marketing remains blinded by the fading glare of its old, outdated promises.
Yet there is a new approach to brands ahead of us, based upon a definition that is less about static image and imagined identity, and more about real-time interaction and actual involvement between company and consumer.
This is your Manifesto for making branding work in a post-branded world."
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
The Age of Speed Manifesto by Vince Poncente
"In the following manifesto, we will explore our present relationship with speed and examine four behavior profiles that can help you determine if you (a) embrace speed and (b) harness the power of it. By the end, you just might discover that our 24/7, CrackBerry, more-faster-now world is not threatening to eat you alive, but rather, to set you free."
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
Social Capital Value Add: Value Based Management for the Networked Age by Michael Cayley
"The marketing/communications mix is completely different than it was before 2004. Broadcast's monopoly on attention is dead. The symbolic brand, which has been the fastest growing source of corporate value for the last quarter century has reached its pinnacle. It is being absorbed and replaced by memetic brand. Technologies have evolved and mapped so tightly against the way humans transact, form relationships and create self-identity that it is time for business management to link the pioneering academic studies of social capital and social network analysis (SNA) to value based management and the priorities of marketers.
The transition required is no less abrupt than that moment when the search of Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion reaches confrontation with the Great Oz faade and the curtain is pulled back to reveal a mere mortal. The corporation is at risk of being the 'humbug' caught shouting into the loudspeakers and pulling at the mechanistic levers of the past."
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
Presenting to Small Audiences: Turn off the Projector! by Andrew Abela
"The typical presentation to a small group today is designed just as if it were being made to a large group in a big auditorium. We follow the same advice in creating our slides, and then we turn on the portable projector and inflict slide after deadening slide on our audience--vintage Death by PowerPoint.
Too much of this effort is wasted. There is ample research evidence that projecting lots of text and speaking at the same time is so distracting to your audience that it is less effective than projecting your slides and asking your audience to read them while you remain silent, or speaking with no slides at all!"
Click here to visit the site.
Click here to download the PDF.
