Open*Business: 2010 in review

2010 has been a fantastic year on the Business channel here at opensource.com.

The Business channel's goal is to highlight examples where the open source way has been (or could be) applied to improve businesses. Not just in software development, but in the management, culture, operations, brand, research & development, or any other part of the business.

What were some on this year's highlights? Let's start with a few stats.

Most popular articles

1.  The Apple exception: Where open innovation theory breaks down

2.  Darwin meets Dilbert: Applying the Law of Two Feet to your next meeting

3.   Does your organization need a "no policy" policy?

4.   The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500

5.  Why the open source way trumps the crowdsourcing way

Most commented on articles

1. 66: The Apple exception: where open innovation theory breaks down

2. 40:  Can truly great design be done the open source way?

3. 31:  Why the open source way trumps the crowdsourcing way

4. 24:  How much transparency is too much?

5. 23: Does your organization need a "no policy" policy?

6. 23: The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500

Webcasts

We also had four great webcasts during the fall. You can read the recaps or replay them all:

• Stefan Lindegaard on Open Innovation Revolution
• Joseph Reagle, author of Good Faith Collaboration
• Henry Chesbrough and Gary Hamel on open services innovation
• "Building a Better Boss" webcast with Bob Sutton and Polly LaBarre

One of my personal favorite posts from the year was Community-building tip: surprise is the opposite of engagement. I've applied this principle almost every day since reading about it. There is also the Greg DeKoenigsberg corollary: "you might not agree with the decision, but you should never be surprised."

And my one recommendation if you have a few minutes during the last week of the year is to listen to Bob Sutton's webcast or read one of his books: The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t or Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best—and Learn from the Worst

Our final business advice for 2010 comes from Bob Sutton: "Are you in tune with what it feels like to work for you?

Thank you to all the authors, commentors, and readers of the site. 2010 was a great year in the business channel. Your participation has made the site a success and contributed to the ongoing conversation about the transformation of business.

It has been very rewarding to highlight and discuss examples where the open source way is being applied to business. I am looking forward to continuing the conversation next year.

Onward to 2011!