ChangeThis: Issue 52

We've published the 52nd issue of ChangeThis for your reading pleasure. Excerpts and links below. ::::: 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." Click here to visit the site. Click here to download the PDF. 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 1 and sabotage teamwork, careers, morale and performance?" Click here to visit the site. Click here to download the PDF. Redeeming Sisyphus: Get Out of Control! Get More Done! by Barry Goldberg "Walk into any company large or small and you will see employees who are suffering. These talented people hired for their breadth, imagination and initiative are not producing to their full potential. When they leave (and they do leave), their exit interviews most often cite an over controlling boss as the main reason for their departure. Task-oriented bosses under constant pressure to achieve increasing productivity goals rely too often on the 'I think--You do' managerial style. Most of us know leaders like this. More of us than want to admit it (or even know it) ARE leaders like this." Click here to visit the site. Click here to download the PDF. Workplace 2.0: Motivating and Managing Millennials by Ron Bronson "Welcome to the 21st century. What motivates young people isn't the promise of a distant retirement check thirty or forty years after they've given all they have to a company that doesn't let them have a piece of the pie. The first thing you need to keep in mind is the fundamental idea of ownership. You don't have to give up stock in your company, to give a young worker a feeling that s(he) is contributing to themselves, as well as the firm's bottom line. But you do need to invest in their sense of desire to contribute in meaningful ways to institutions that matter. To them, coming to work is an exercise in mutual benefit." Click here to visit the site. Click here to download the PDF. Open Innovation: Your On-Ramp to Creating a Better Product by Dwayne Spradlin "For most companies the process of creating new, innovative products and getting them out the door starts with tapping the most talented members of the R&D team. Once they have arrived at an idea and decided it is feasible, R&D moves to determining the most effective way to develop it and bring it to market. It sounds logical; but what if there was a way to reinvent the process and bring better products to market faster and at a lower cost?" Click here to visit the site. Click here to download the PDF.