What can we learn about leadership from a Dabo girl? Well, a lot as it turns out. I had the pleasure of hanging out with several Star Trek celebrities over the course of a recent Seattle convention weekend. I was particularly struck by Chase Masterson Star Trek Deep Space Nine’s Leeta, the most featured of shows…
Celebrity Insights: Tyler Oakley’s Take on Personal Branding for the Rest Of Us
If you are young and spend your time on YouTube, or if you track the world of pop culture through Twitter, you probably know Tyler Oakley. If your YouTube experience is limited to talking dog videos, expand your horizons, and go find Tyler Oakley. Tyler has something to teach you about personal branding, and more…
Radio Shack Store Closures: Time for Management to Step Up and Help People Make Things Again
Radio Shack (NYSE: RSH) is closing 1,100 stores, in large part, because it has become a commodity. It is a classic case of strategic misstep and short sightedness. In 2000 Radio Shack abandoned its heritage name, Tandy, consolidating around the Radio Shack brand.
10 Top Tips for Designing the IT CRM Role
Unlike sales-oriented CRM, Customer Relationship Management within IT focuses on relationships that help empower the business with technology, and if necessary, keep IT out of the way until the time is right.
Why Advertising Is Making The Internet and Mobility Less Fun and Eventually, Perhaps, Less Profitable
I’m not ashamed of telling people I like to play Rovio’s Angry Birds. I liked the game better before Rovio decided it was OK to advertise to me even in games that I paid for. Sure, they are advertising in-app purchases, plush toys and their own games, but it is still advertising and it still…
The Tens—IT Change Management
IT often drives change within organizations. This list of tens focuses on how IT can successfully implement new customer facing systems and infrastructure. Executive engagement Buy-in doesn’t cut it. If executives and organizational leaders don’t actively engage, drive and lead the new applications or infrastructure, change won’t happen. Executives need to understand that adoption arrives…
It’s Time to STOP Talking About Company Culture
Over the last month I keynoted the Chief Learning Officer Symposium and KMWorld. At both conferences, many speakers talked about the need to evolve, shift or otherwise change company culture. In some cases the shift was to support collaboration, in others knowledge sharing, and in still others, the need for…
Ten Reasons Every Futures Class Needs to Use Scenarios
Recently, I helped Rob Salkowitz, the instructor of the University of Washington’s Future of Marketing class work with his students to develop scenarios about the future of marketing. Although we employed an abbreviated process, we successfully engaged students and established a framework they will continue to develop over the course of the quarter.
In defense of Microsoft Surface
This isn’t a formal review of Microsoft’s Surface tablets. Plenty of people can tell you about the original Surface RT’s 1366 x 768 pixel display, the NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-core processor and the various ports and sensors. And many have—in not-so-glowing terms when software and hardware are examined together. As I write this, Microsoft has …
Ten Ways to Reduce Interruptions at Work
Many people working in offices, even factory floors, complain about interruptions. To a great degree, interruptions are things you accept. You may feel like they are push upon you, and sometimes they, are, but for the most part, they are things we do to ourselves out of boredom, frustration or lack of engagement.
