innovation - Page number 7

Humans have a natural tendency to share and socialize. People have ideas they want to discuss with others, get comments on and build upon. People also love to see, meet and interact with like-minded people and form a team so as to pursue their passions, ideas and dreams. People like to reach out to other people, and they have been doing this through small gatherings–at coffee shops, bars, and, recently (thanks to Web 2.0), through blogs and social networking services. The social networking era has begun and witnesses an overflow of information people want to share with others. » Read more

So much of the leadership conversation centers around the question “how do I get more out of my people?”  I don’t think I’ve been at a conference or sat in on a conversation with business leaders where the subject—and that exact phrase—hasn’t come up.

Now, without a doubt, bringing forth the full ingenuity, initiative, energy, and passion of every person in the organization is one of the most urgent agenda items for leaders in every realm of endeavor. But when it comes to unleashing the best gifts of people, that mechanistic metaphor of extraction (“how do I get more out?”) and, more importantly, the approaches it engenders, quickly break down. » Read more

Daniel Pink, known for his insightful take on what truly inspires and encourages us all, joined opensource.com for a webcast June 22 on the subject of his latest book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. » Read more

On Monday I was invited to participate in the Energy panel of the President's Council of Jobs and Competitiveness.  After introductions by NCSU Chancellor Randy Woodson, North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan, and US Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Chair of the Council (and Chairman and CEO of GE) Jeffrey Immelt got right to the point of the session: He and his team came to North Carolina to listen.  His job, and the job of the council, is to integrate ideas and insights from business leaders around the country into a realistic plan that can meaningfully reduce unemployment, strengthen our economy, and do so in a sustainable way.  Energy technologies, policies, and strategies are all important dimensions to this overall challenge, and the assembled leaders--who are users, distributors, and generators of energy--came ready to participate in the discussion. » Read more

The other day I noticed that the application deadline to be considered for the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list is this week. My company is too small to be considered for this honor (you must have at least 1000 employees), but I always pay close attention when the rankings come out, and I'm sure many of you do as well. » Read more

We're thrilled to be hosting critically-acclaimed and inspiring author Daniel Pink as the next guest in our Open Your World webcast series this Wednesday, June 22 at 2 p.m. (EDT). Register now.

Note: This event was originally scheduled for June 9 and has been moved. » Read more

Brand managers, customer experience executives, and marketing VPs, I need to tell you something. And it might hurt.

Your strategies and innovations may be brilliant, but whether they’ll come to fruition is entirely up to some employees who are quite far down on the corporate totem pole. Most of the time, they aren’t even hearing about the “new direction” the company is going in, and if they are, they’re rolling their eyes at it.

I know, because I’ve been there. And I’m pretty sure it all started with a Beanie Babies calendar. » Read more

What a difference three years makes. It seems quaint now that in the 2008 NEJM there were concerns raised about the flow of health information onto the web. Back then there was but a faint trickle of what could be entered, mostly by hand, and accessed on the web. Before HITECH and health care reform, exchanging health data online seemed blasphemous to many hospitals, patients, and physicians alike.

Fast forward to today and where we are now: » Read more

When you ask children what they want to be when they are older, how many of them say they want to be a manager? I've certainly never met one who had such aspirations. In part this is because management is a pretty amorphous concept to a ten-year-old. But it's also because we adults aren't exactly singing the praises of the management profession either.  For example, in a 2008 Gallup poll on honesty and ethics among workers in 21 different professions, a mere 12 percent of respondents felt business executives had high/very high integrity--an all-time low. With a 37 percent low/very low rating, the executives came in behind lawyers, union leaders, real estate agents, building contractors, and bankers. » Read more

Green Energy Corp creates software and services for communications and energy companies. They're working towards an open source smart grid solution that will help both new and old companies in the industry for more efficient, greener energy. » Read more