Archive for the 'Motivation' Category

Connecting to stakeholders with new media

Keith November 19th, 2007

I have probably mentioned here that I am now a member of the International Association of Business Communicators. I wrote a brief article a while ago for their global magazine, Communication World.  The article was one of a small collection under the topic: How does your company use new media to connect with stakeholders? (Global perspectives.) It seems that this article is now available on the web at HighBeam Encyclopedia and Goliath. On that basis, I figure that I should be able to repeat here (and save you one whole mouse click):

Telstra operates a public web site (Nowwearetalking) promoting public comment and debate on the telecommunications industry. I authored a blog on this site for eight months. I wrote about human communication, technology and my work in knowledge management.

Nowwearetalking has been remarkable for the openness of its editorial policy. Critics of Telstra have been surprised to see their comments published unedited on the forum. Blog articles are checked by legal, but in the 8,000 words I posted, I didn’t have a single editorial change.

Openness is critical to social media, both publicly and inside organisations. It has been my experience that the easier you make it for people to share knowledge, the more likely it is that they will. The more you trust others, the more likely it is that your trust will be honoured.

(Un)written Rules of Management

Keith October 16th, 2007

“A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person.”

Bill Swanson, CEO, Raytheon.

Life, the universe and…

Keith October 11th, 2007

“Hey, did you hear the joke about the Zen master who ordered a hot dog?”
“No…”
“He said, ’Make me one with everything.’”
    – Cris Johnson, Next

The Chessboard of Management

Keith October 4th, 2007

“In a chess match, each position has its own unique possibilities and each opponent has his or her own ideas about how to capitalise on them.  But as a leader of a team or an organisation, you have one enormous advantage over the chess player sitting alone at the board.  All of your chess pieces can think, too.  The pieces on a chessboard are ranked according to their power.  But as all good chess players know, any piece on the board can deliver a great win if its potential is fully unleashed.  The same holds for each and every member of the team you lead.”

 - Carol Kinsey Goman

Small is the New Big

Keith September 12th, 2007

Just got a newsletter from Helen Paige of The Paige Group.  (We met at KM Australia recently.)  She included some great ideas from Seth Godin’s book. 

Godin advises us to “Relax.  Don’t work so hard.  Take a little time off.  Chill out!”  So how do we get everything done?  Godin says, “there’s no correlation between success and hours worked”.  He suggests:

  • Maybe the new economy does not favour the speed-to-market; first-mover-advantage, winner-takes-all mind set.
  • Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate this work ethic.
  • Maybe the current marathon work culture is nothing but an excuse to avoid making the hard decisions.
  • Maybe work expands to fill the time allotted for it.
  • Maybe understanding the key issues and making decisions about how to act on them can be the secret to success.

… which leads to these questions:

  • How would you rate your corporate work ethic?
  • How is your time-management?
  • How well do you understand the key issues your best clients are facing?

Help for Australian commuters?

Keith September 5th, 2007

“There’s no ‘I’ in carriage.”  Is Martin Merton good PR? This is all set up by Connex.  There’s even a MySpace page.

Romp around Melbourne

Keith September 3rd, 2007

And now for something completely different – Australia’s hottest new event has arrived!

Part Treasure Hunt, part Amazing Race, part Puzzle, part History & Culture lesson, the Go for your life/Yarra Trams Melbourne City Romp will see 15,000 Melburnians Romping the streets of the city on Sunday 14 October. 

Entries for the Romp opened on 22 August, and over 1,000 people have already entered, with almost $15,000 raised for Burnet Institute in just the first six days. 

Entry categories include Family & Friend Romp, Corporate Romp, University Romp and Schools Romp, and there’s $100,000 worth of prizes on offer.

See the Romp web site for full details.

Be careful what you wish for…

Keith June 18th, 2007

… because one day, your wishes may be granted.

(Paraphrased.  Various attributions - possibly first to “Anonymous” by W. W. Jacobs, in “The Monkey’s Paw”, Harpers Monthly, 1902.) 

How the Gift Economy pays off

Keith June 15th, 2007

Sick of chasing your tail working more to earn more money to pay other people to do more things for you – then have less time to do what you want to do? I just read an interesting post on Allan Jenkins’ site about the Gift Economy.  Need to go back and read some more later…

The Art Of Motivation

Keith April 23rd, 2007

“Employees, even hourly clock-punchers, will make an extraordinary effort if you reward them richly, treat them with respect and give them real power.”  This insight is from F. Kenneth Iverson, the “legendary” former leader of US steelmaker Nucor.  Read more in the article at Business Week Online.

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