The Bias Against Creatives as Leaders | 99u.com

Illustration: Oscar Ramos Orozco

Two candidates are being interviewed for a leadership position in your company. Both have strong resumes, but while one seems to be bursting with new and daring ideas, the other comes across as decidedly less creative (though clearly still a smart cookie). Who gets the job?

The answer, unfortunately, is usually the less creative candidate. This fact may or may not surprise you – you yourself may have been the creative candidate who got the shaft. But what you’re probably wondering is, why?

by Heidi Grant Halvorson

After all, it’s quite clear who should be getting the job. Studies show that leaders who are more creative are in fact better able to effect positive change in their organizations, and are better at inspiring others to follow their lead.

And yet, according to recent research there is good reason to believe that the people with the most creativity aren’t given the opportunity to lead, because of a process that occurs (on a completely unconscious level) in the mind of everyone who has ever evaluated an applicant for a leadership position.

The problem, put simply, is this: our idea of what a prototypical “creative person” is like is completely at odds with our idea of a prototypical “effective leader.” Continuar leyendo «The Bias Against Creatives as Leaders | 99u.com»

A Product Brand vs A Service Brand? | theideabrand.com

Building a Brand Management Service Vision’

1. What’s the difference between a Product brand and a Service brand?

Product brands are about products. Mars, a classic Product brand, doesn’t answer back, doesn’t get tired, isn’t anxious, is always ready to perform and always tastes the same. Every experience with a Product brand is/should be identical. Service brands aren’t like that. Service brands are about people. People who represent the organization lose their tempers, get tired and anxious, and sometimes have just had enough that day. Every experience with a Service brand is therefore different.

Whatever you feel the Starbucks brand stands for, one thing all Starbucks customers can agree upon is that the chain has elevated the ubiquitous coffee house to much more than a commodity by making it a special, customer oriented experience, it’s become a Service Brand.

Similarly, Virgin has done the same with everything from air and space travel to music festivals.

The Virgin ‘Service’ brand revolves around delivering value pricing, high quality, fun, innovation, while being authentic, people-oriented, hip, and associated with Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson and his personal reputation. Not to mention – great customer service.

Many of the people who are in charge of managing Service brands (CMO’s, MD’s, Call Centre Directors, Customer Service Directors) have been trained in the traditional school of creating great consumer product brands. Their attempt to manage Service brands as though they are Product brands has created vast problems.

For the customer, the person who represents the brand is the brand.

If the person representing the brand doesn’t perform properly, the relationship between the brand and the customer may collapse.
The implication of this is that service-based organizations have to focus on their internal employees to a far greater extent than product-based organizations.

Complete article

Technology Will Only Solve 1/3 of Your Social Business Problem | Logic+Emotion

Logic+Emotion

I’m behind on writing a bit as I’ve just returned from Norway and before that, Dreamforce in San Francisco. It was my first time attending and speaking at Dreamforce and to be honest, I was completely taken back by the extravagance of it all. With Keynotes from heavy hitters such as Sir Richard Branson, Jeff Imelt and even Colin Powell, not to mention entertainment provided by the Red Hot Chili Peppers—I can only estimate that the event cost tens of millions to produce.

Salesforce also made good on what many observers were already suspecting—it has begun to package and consolidate acquisitions of social platforms Radian 6 and Buddy Media into what’s now known as «Marketing Cloud» moving forward. Shel Israel shrewdly views this as a pivot to catering to CMOs as part of the strategy to convert an enterprise to «social enterprise» and in short follow the money trail as companies grapple with how to integrate social at scale.

But amid enjoying some of my favorite tunes belted out by the Peppers in an outdoor venue filled with well over thirty thousand people complete with free beer and wine I couldn’t help but think this:

«all this money—and companies will only be solving one third of their social business problem» Continuar leyendo «Technology Will Only Solve 1/3 of Your Social Business Problem | Logic+Emotion»

Technology Will Only Solve 1/3 of Your Social Business Problem

«all this money—and companies will only be solving one third of their social business problem»

The problem with social technology solutions—even really great technology is that it’s incomplete. It’s no wonder why Salesforce is making a killing, because I’ve seen first hand how a business will freely invest in a technology platform thinking that they have purchased a turnkey solution only to realize shortly after that they’ve possibly invested in the wrong solution and most definitely underestimated the other two areas which require investment (people and process).

The Three P’s of Social Business >>>> Continuar leyendo «Technology Will Only Solve 1/3 of Your Social Business Problem»

10 TED talks that will help you become an innovative leader | via game-changer.net

game-changer.net

leadership ideas worth spreading

I don’t remember ever doing a post like this. But, I’ve recently been thinking about and discussing with a client the topic of innovative leadership. As in what makes an innovative leader. And if you aren’t one, what do you need to do to become one.

With that said, here are a few TED talks that I think will helps us become the leaders of the future. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creativity, fulfillment and flow

Continuar leyendo

¿Qué nos pueden enseñar los mejores?

franciscoalcaide.com

Dentro de poco publicaré un libro que llevará por título «Aprendiendo de los mejores», una publicación que parte de la idea de que tu desarrollo personal es tu destino. Por eso, no hay mejor inversión que la que se hace en uno mismo. ¿Y cuál es la mejor forma de invertir en ti mismo? Aprendiendo de los mejores, de aquellos que con la credibilidad de sus resultados nos pueden indicar pautas sobre cómo enderezar nuestros pasos (ver post Un buen mentor es lo mejor que te puede pasar).

Decía Betrand Russell que «la mejor prueba de que algo puede hacerse es que antes alguien ya lo hizo». Por eso las personas inteligentes aprenden de la experiencia de los demás. Es cierto que nadie puede vivir tu vida por ti –única e irrepetible– pero hay principios universalmente contrastados aplicables a todas las circunstancias y personas, que se repiten una y otra vez, y que son de gran utilidad. Continuar leyendo «¿Qué nos pueden enseñar los mejores?»

10 pequeños locales de donde surgieron grandes emporios empresariales | POST DESTACADO

¿Sabías que la coreana Samsung comenzó su singladura empresarial vendiendo pescado y verduras en un pequeño local de un mercado de Corea? ¿O que Virgin Records vendía discos piratas y nació de una tienda más pequeña que la cabina de uno de los aviones de Richard Branson? Sí, corporaciones que hoy consideramos gigantes financieros nacen, como nacen todas las cosas, de algo muy pequeño, casi diminuto. Y muchas con un sentido fundacional distinto al que hoy las alumbra. Este es el gérmen gráfico de los primeros “cuarteles generales” de marcas que hoy no dudan en erigir auténticas ciudades para sus miles de empleados.

http://www.yorokobu.es| Historia de DANIEL CIVANTOS0

¿Sabías que la coreana Samsung comenzó su singladura empresarial vendiendo pescado y verduras en un pequeño local de un mercado de Corea? ¿O que Virgin Records vendía discos piratas y nació de una tienda más pequeña que la cabina de uno de los aviones de Richard Branson? Sí, corporaciones que hoy consideramos gigantes financieros nacen, como nacen todas las cosas, de algo muy pequeño, casi diminuto. Y muchas con un sentido fundacional distinto al que hoy las alumbra. Este es el gérmen gráfico de los primeros “cuarteles generales” de marcas que hoy no dudan en erigir auténticas ciudades para sus miles de empleados. Continuar leyendo «10 pequeños locales de donde surgieron grandes emporios empresariales | ***POST DESTACADO***»

El peor asiento del avión: ventanilla

Curiosamente, el informe en cuestión tira por tierra el propio concepto de “síndrome de clase turista”: “Viajar en clase turista no incrementa el riesgo de desarrollar un trombo, ni siquiera en vuelos de larga distancia; sin embargo, permanecer inmóvil durante largos períodos sí lo hace”. Los otros factores de riesgo descritos por los galenos son el uso de píldoras anticonceptivas, embarazo y edad avanzada del viajero.

La trombosis de vuelo no es tan infrecuente como pudiera parecer: un estudio alemánrealizado entre 900 pasajeros frente a otras tantas personas que no viajaron, estimó en un3% la incidencia del llamado síndrome de clase turista (que, como vimos, afecta por igual a los viajeros en clase preferente).

Eso en caso de que todo vaya bien y el avión llegue enterito a su destino. En caso de que vengan mal dadas, el asiento con vistas al cielo tampoco es el más adecuado. Popular Mechanics llevó a cabo un amplio repaso a las estadísticas de accidentes de aviación en aerolíneas estadounidenses entre 1971 y 2007 para concluir que los pasajeros sentados junto al pasillo tenían una tasa de supervivencia en caso de accidente del 64%. Por su parte, sus “afortunados” vecinos que madrugaron más y pillaron ventanilla sobrevivieron en un 58% de los casos.

http://www.cookingideas.es

Es probable que si en el mostrador de facturación le preguntan si prefiere ventanilla o pasillo responda la primera opción. Al fin y al cabo: ver las luces de la ciudad, los campos y las montañas durante los primeros y últimos veinte minutos del vuelo resulta divertido a la par que instructivo. Ahora bien, ¿qué sucede en las horas de en medio, sobre todo cuando se trata de vuelos de larga distancia?

Sucede que los pasajeros sentados junto a la ventanilla tienen el doble de posibilidades de sufrir trombosis de vuelo (afección conocida como “síndrome de clase turista”) que los que se están sentados junto al pasillo. ¿La razón? Éstos se levantan más a menudo para ir al baño o darse un paseo, y lo hacen por un motivo muy evidente: no tienen que molestar a nadie para levantarse, según concluye un informe del Colegio de Médicos Coronarios de EEUU recientemente difundido. Continuar leyendo «El peor asiento del avión: ventanilla»

Personality and Entrepreneurship: Why are some people more entrepreneurial than others, and why should you care?

This is why you should care about entrepreneurship, and why that implies caring about personality: Personality rules the world, and the more power a person has, the more important is personality. Social psychology has shown us how our lives are affected by others, but personality psychology explains why some people are much more likely than others to affect our lives. Entrepreneurship is just another process by which this influence occurs; it is (like leadership) the natural consequence of differences in personality and yet another proof that the personality of some is much more influential than others’.

So, how entrepreneurial are you? To find out whether you may be the Richard Branson or Oprah Winfrey of tomorrow, or whether you should just stick to a 9-to-5 job, just take our test!

(…) http://www.psychologytoday.com

Mr. Personality

A personality expert talks character and destiny.

by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Ph.D.

Do you have what it takes to be the next Richard Branson?

So far, psychologists have failed to explain why some people are more entrepreneurial than others, but the answer is straightforward: personality. Indeed, individual differences in creativity, ambition, and risk-taking explain why some people have much more potential for entrepreneurship than others, and valid personality measures can help us identify who the entrepreneurs of tomorrow will be. Of course, there are also socio-political factors contributing to entrepreneurship, which is why it is a lot harder to be entrepreneurial in North than in South Korea, or why unemployment may actually foster entrepreneurship. Still, in any country at any given point of time there will be more and less entrepreneurial people and a country’s economic and social development is much more dependent on the former. Continuar leyendo «Personality and Entrepreneurship: Why are some people more entrepreneurial than others, and why should you care?»

5 Ways to Cause a Revolution in Your Business

Why are we so pre-occupied with how everything looks? Of course you need to stand out in a crowded market place and looking good is a big part of that, but too many great ideas get over shadowed by the aesthetics. What your customers think is more important than how pretty you think it looks. Microsoft understood this years ago when they released flawed software and improved it once it was out there. Apple didn’t and they got left behind because they wanted the design to be perfect before showing anyone. Apple now has hundreds of design awards, courtesy of Jonathan Ive and I don’t believe Microsoft have any – but whose balance sheet would you rather have? (Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department).

by jeremywaite| //jeremywaite.wordpress.com

Point of view by Me® (out of post):
In my opinion one of the leaders that inspire, amuse and provoke its readers.
Jeremy Waite, madness and genius in the right balance.

I recommend looking in the categories «jeremywaite.wordpress.com», where they found the collection of articles he published.

Gabriel Catatalano

Continuar leyendo «5 Ways to Cause a Revolution in Your Business»

How TED Connects the Idea-Hungry Elite

Inside the World’s MOST EXCLUSIVE (and Most Accessible) CLUB with SPECIAL GUESTS including

Elizabeth Gilbert • Richard Branson • Jamie Oliver • Malcolm Gladwell • Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala • Barry Schwartz • Ken Robinson • Sarah Silverman • Bill Clinton • David Byrne • Bill Gates • Craig VenterJill • Bolte Taylor • Dave Eggers • Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy • Sunitha Krishnan • Tony Robbins • Julia Sweeney • Isabel Allende • E.O. Wilson • and the chief himself, Chris Anderson!

The other day, I got an email from a new friend. The subject line read «Are you a TED talk person?»
It linked to an 18-minute video of MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely talking about the bugs in our moral codes. Other friends have sent me videos of Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert on the spiritual dimension of creativity; rocker David Byrne on how venue architecture affects musical expression; and UC Berkeley professor Robert Full’s insights into how geckos’ feet stick to a wall.

Each of these emails is like a membership card into the club of «TED talk people.» I love being a member of this club. The videos give my discovery-seeking brain a little hit of dopamine in the middle of the workday. But just as important, each one I see or recommend makes me part of a group of millions of folks around the world who have checked out these videos. What links us is our desire to learn; TEDsters feel part of a curious, engaged, enlightened, and tech-savvy tribe.

By: Anya Kamenetz

Photograph Courtesy of TED, by Marla Aufmuth, James Duncan Davidson, Andrew Heavens, Robert Leslie, Asa Mathat

TED, Speakers, Video, Bill Gates, Richard Branson

Chris Anderson: The entrepreneur bought TED in 2001. «It felt like something you could devote your life to,» he says.

Why Tech Nerds Love Flying Virgin America

Last month, Virgin America teamed up with the online influence measurement company Klout to promote their new routes between San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Toronto. The campaign offered free tickets to select influencers–with no strings attached. I spoke with Virgin America’s social media manager Jill Fletcher about managing an airborne viral campaign, how Virgin became the airline of choice for the nerd set, and the customer service challenges presented when everyone on board is connected.

How did the idea of giving influencers free flights for the new Virgin America Toronto leg come about?

We have a network of influencers who are very supportive of our brand. We have a close relationship with Jeff Pulver and Guy Kawasaki and Xeni Jardin who fly constantly and are always tweeting about us.

We saw the influencer program as a way to extend that network. We thought of it as an experiment to see what kind of reach we could get working with people outside of our existing relationships.

In addition to the flights being free, there was no demand for coverage, right?

Exactly. It was a new route and our first international destination so we wanted to spur trial and give people an opportunity to take a flight on Virgin America.

BY Mark Borden

This interview is part of our ongoing series related to The Influence Project.

How did the idea of giving influencers free flights for the new Virgin America Toronto leg come about?

We saw the influencer program as a way to extend that network. We thought of it as an experiment to see what kind of reach we could get working with people outside of our existing relationships.

In addition to the flights being free, there was no demand for coverage, right?

Exactly. It was a new route and our first international destination so we wanted to spur trial and give people an opportunity to take a flight on Virgin America.

Continuar leyendo «Why Tech Nerds Love Flying Virgin America»

Only entrepreneurship overcomes the crisis

by cristian.saracco

Politicians are still trying to understand the crisis, some big companies are launching innocuous campaigns, bankers are crying because they didn’t deserve this situation… Should I continue the list? Probably, I could, but that’s not the point.

In this social network we use to talk about branding, about brand experiences… about us!… We could isolate branding issues from our current situation, however, it would look, at certain point, something between naïf and unconscious.

Reality, which is neither the Big Brother nor Code Lyoko, is showing that to overcome the crisis, we do need as individuals certain specific behaviours (remember what Dr. Utterson said when he talked about the online and offline worlds… both are real).

Going back to the first sentence of this post:

Today’s politicians (from the left, center or right) learned how to manage a country as if sea captains had learnt to sail in calm waters
Some big companies use to be managed under the SYA (Save Your Ass) policies. So, everything coming from them seems to be decaffeinated
Bankers follow the patterns designed by the Chicago’s boys or the ones that are fashion, and teach how to overcome a crisis produced by others
…

All that I mentioned above would have something in common…. All the people involved behave as burocratic employees. This is not bad, however, it’s not enough to overcome a crisis.

Both burocrats as well as employees are needed to make the world works, and probably, they are better prepared to manage stable situations than other kind of people.

Today’s crisis is a point of inflexion. It cannot be solved with old formulas because, probably, we are not going to go back to some old habits…. And they have no idea of what to do.

What is the relation of this with brand experiences?

During a long period of time I was thinking of differentiating between big brands from those ones that we finally fall in love (it’s a way of saying): Continuar leyendo «Only entrepreneurship overcomes the crisis»

Happy Google Fools’ Day: Timeline Of Pranks | Online Media Gazette

April Fools’ Day is a holiday celebrated in various countries on 1^st of April every year. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, and neighbours. On top of that, the ‘victims’ may be sent to run a fool’s errand, in which it aims to embarrass the gullible.

Google, a multinational public cloud computing and Internet search technologies corporation shows their mischievous side during this time. In fact, they have a tradition of perpetrating hoaxes to the public. Let’s take a look at those that are caught my interest from the year 2000 to the more recent ones. What are your favourites?

2000

Google announced a new search technology called “MentalPlex” that supposedly reads user’s minds to determine what the user wanted to search for; simplifying search queries.

2002

Google uncovers the algorithm behind its PageRank systems; the use of PigeonRank. The technology relies heavily on the superior trainability of the domestic pigeon and its unique capacity to recognize objects regardless of spatial orientation.

2004

They announced that they were looking to hire for their research centre on the moon called the Google Copernicus Centre. On top of that, Google announced that they came out with a new operating system dubbed the Luna/X.

2005

Google announced that they will start producing a beverage that would optimize one’s use of the Google search engine by increasing the drinker’s intelligence with the introduction of Google Gulp.

2006

In 2006, Google claims that “Dating is a search problem. Solve it with Google Romance.” It tricks people into believing that from that year onwards they’ll be offering a “Soulmate Search” to send users on a “Contextual Date.”

2007

At about 10:00 PM Pacific Time on 30 March 2007, Google changed the login page for Gmail to announce a new service called Gmail Paper. The service offered to allow users of Google’s free webmail service to add e-mails to a “Paper Archive”, which Google would print and mail via traditional post.

2008

In 2008, Google announces a joint project with the Virgin Group to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars called Project Virgle. The announcement includes videos of Richard Branson as well as Larry Page and Sergey Brin on YouTube, talking about the project.

2009

Google reports that on March 31, 2009 they’ll be releasing a new “Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed-Intelligence Entity” or CADIE for short. This new technology is implemented into Google Mobile’s “Brain Search”. The instructions are to “Put phone to forehead for brain indexing” and “Think your query”. When you click “Try Now”, a page loads with “Brain indexing” status. When indexing is complete, a button comes up with “search me”. However, after clicking this button, the user is directed to fake search results.

2010

Google wants to bridge the gap between animals and humans with the introduction of Animal Translator BETA. They placed a link on their main page and when users click on it, a new page opens up showing the app for Android phones for the translator.