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Well, I see all those articles, posts and stuff are piling up so high I can hardly find my keyboard anymore (figuratively speaking of course - we’re in a “paperless” society, you know…), so I guess it’s time to empty out the ol’ file cabinet once again.

Blogging for National Security

Clive Thompson wrote an article for the NYT called “Open-Source Spying” that really makes you sigh wistfully and say to yourself, “Ah, if only.” It’s well worth the read, and as a special bonus feature for visiting us today, the article is still free, free, free! (At least it was for me.)

“Billions of dollars’ worth of ultrasecret data networks couldn’t help spies piece together the clues to the worst terrorist plot ever. So perhaps, they argue, it’s time to try something radically different. Could blogs and wikis prevent the next 9/11?”

Could Values and Philosophy Trump Science?Lewis Green at Marketing Profs was struck (sound of dull thud) by the similarities of marketing MOMA (it’s a museum in New York, don’cha know) and of marketing Starbucks. “All that holidaty shopping must have knocked a few things loose,” you’re probably thinking. But hey, you’d be surprised, he does bring an interesting thought to the table.

“As mentioned in an earlier post, we seem fascinated by our tools and driven to use them. And yet places such as MOMA and in our world, Starbucks, seldom apply these tools. Instead they invest their energies in creating unforgettable experiences.”

I wonder where else this type of values/philosophy marketing might be more powerful than conventional marketing?

Release Your Inner Networker

Businesspundit writes what may be the best “how-to” I’ve seen yet on how introverts can successfully learn to network. When it comes to networking, the writer reminds me of, well, me when he says, “I would rather spend four hours with my head stapled to the carpet. I would be more comfortable that way.” Good advice, well-presented. (Despite claims to the contrary, I personally believe we introverts outnumber the extroverts of the world – its just that we never raise our hands to be counted because we’re too… well, you know.)

Web 2.0 for Dummies

If you’re anything like me (and my condolences if you are), you have probably chosen NOT to pay much attention when the term “web 2.0” goes floating by. I’ve found it’s far simpler to wait until the flak dies down and THEN find out what it’s all about once the chaff is out of the way. Luckily for us, Matthew Stibbe at Bad Language has written a pretty fair synopsis of the technologies that are involved in web 2.0 that even I could understand. Check it out.

log(N) = 0.093 + 3.389 log(CR) (1) (r2=0.764, t34=10.35, p<0.001)

The obscure post title above is from Prof. Dave Snowden at Cognitive Edge, who started, but has yet to finish (that’s a hint, Professor!), a thought about why human relationships tend to be governed by three numbers: 5, 15, and 150 (approximately). I love his wonderfully obscure explanation of the formula above (it kinda makes me sorry I slept through that particular session at school):

“Recognize it? Well of course, it’s the best-fit reduced major axis regression equation between neocortex ratio and mean group size for the sample of 36 primate genera taken from Dunbar’s 1992 paper which was popularized, and not unduly trivialized by Malcolm Gladwell into a natural limit on human group size of 150 (or 147.8 to be exact).”

Um, what you said, Professor! Read the article for more clarification, but he promises to follow up with more. I sure hope so - I’m on the edge of my seat now.

Hostile Takeover

Ed Brenegar at Leading Questions tells a very enlightening story of a time when the crowd got control of a speaking engagement (they disrupted the speaker ahead of him), and the steps he did to first defuse the situation, and then lead the group back into control. If you’ve ever had to speak before a hostile group (like a PTA meeting?), there are some good lessons here. Very nice, Ed, no firearms or nerve gas canisters needed!

“They did not like the approach his business association took with economic development. They pelted him with questions, and he finally had to leave the event without finishing his presentation because he had another meeting to attend.

As I sat there, I was thinking, if they do this to him, what will they do to me?”

A Whack on the Head

If a whack on the head (sound of dull thud) no longer gets those creative juices flowing again, before you reach for a bigger hammer, it may be that you just don’t know yourself that well! How do they come up with crazy ideas like the Clapper or the Juice-O-Matic, anyway? Roger von Oech at Creative Think (author of A Whack on the Side of the Head, and the inventor of the Ball of Whacks) provides some tips on how to uncover your own creative tendencies.

“Much of our educational system is an elaborate game of “guess what the teacher is thinking,” and we come to believe that the best ideas are in someone else’s head rather than our own. Heraclitus reminds us that there are good ideas within ourselves if we are willing to dig deeply enough.”

The Never-ending List

I don’t know how many times I’ve perused the business bookshelves at the local B&N and thought to myself, “I can do that!” Well, if you’ve ever wanted to write a business book, Ben McConnell at Church of the Customer has 10 things you ought to think about first.

I had to laugh, though, when I noticed #10: “Seth Godin has 19 additional pieces of advice.” I had this vision of a never-ending trail of “lists of things”, where the last one always takes you to the start of yet another list. Gaagh!
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Well, friends, that’s all for this episode! Have a great day!

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