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Don't Cut Back on Innovation

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:43:16 GMT

clipped by: ljmullings

Don't cut back on innovation

I know from experience one of the biggest mistakes that can be made right now is to slash investments in innovation. And by innovation, I don't just mean product research and development. It can also be innovating in new markets, launching new businesses, and even disruptive innovation in work processes.

However, if you fail to fund the future, all you'll be left with is a really lean company trying to churn old ideas into new business.

I'm sticking with the same decision today. Sure, like most companies, we're being extraordinarily tough on costs, taking painful actions that impact our valuable people, and prioritizing cash to offset declines in revenue. But we're also being as extraordinarily disciplined in decisions on where to invest, with innovation high on the list.

Tags: business, innovation

How much will price of crude oil rise this summer?

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:52:37 GMT

clipped by: ljmullings

Clip Source: www.lakeshorelaments.com

A few months back, I spoke on what I called "The Cheap Oil Fallacy." In that post, I mentioned oil prices tanked in last 2008 and early 2009 because of a massive decrease in global demand in conjunction with the global financial mess. In terms of supply and demand in the oil market, no new oil is being found.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news when it comes to the price at the pump, but this is economic reality coming back to smack us in the face. Real question for the foreseeable future is how long OPEC and other oil trading nations will still tie the commodity to a dollar that is likely its way to tanking under intense inflationary pressures from the Obama borrowing and spending spree.

My overall guess: By Crude Oil prices will be around $80-90 a barrel by mid-summer if not earlier, and with that price, gasoline will be back over $3.00 a gallon.

Social Media About People, Not Brand

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:04:58 GMT

clipped by: ljmullings

Clip Source: www.marketingpilgrim.com

It looks like there may be a new hiring criteria in the future if Steve Rubel’s thoughts expressed at the Mediabistro Circus are on target and there is evidence that they are. Internetnews.com reports that Rubel’s talk to this group centered on how brands are moving away from the company and more toward people who are the face of the company, i.e. social media front facers who speak on behalf their employer.

RSS Feeds on HTML sites

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 06:50:25 GMT

clipped by: ljmullings

Clip Source: www.labnol.org

How to Embed RSS Feeds into HTML Web Pages - The Easy Way

Personal Fulfillment & Career Success

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 05:53:38 GMT

clipped by: ljmullings

Clip Source: lifehacker.com

While at work, blogger Bud Caddell doodled the pictured diagram that breaks down how to be happy in work according to three overlapping categories: what we do well, what we want to do, and what we can be paid to do.

Tags: strengths, career

Need to look outside of your own industry

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:29:45 GMT

clipped by: ljmullings

Clip Source: www.globalchange.com

Institutional blindness is a real risk: when we spend too much time with people in our own teams, business units, corporations or industry. So for example, if we are an engineering company, it is easy to be surrounded by engineers, focussed on our own engineering solutions, and miss vital changes which will radically alter our entire market.

As we have seen in the current global economic crisis, consumer confidence is really important. Trust really matters. Emotional reactions to events are often far more important than the events themselves. And emotions can change very rapidly. Just look at people’s growing fears in many nations about the safety of deposits in their bank accounts. That’s why market research is so often unreliable. We need to look deeper.

It is easy to focus on clever engineering, or new product developments, and lose sight of what the future will actually be like.

The truth is that our future

will be driven by emotion.

Tags: future

Social Networking, Online Sharing on E-Book Readers

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 04:03:16 GMT

clipped by: ljmullings

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Next Up for E-book Readers: Social Networking, Online Sharing

Txtr, a Germany-based e-book reader startup, is doing just that. Txtr hopes to introduce a new device at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October that will put social networking and sharing at its center.

“Txtr is to focused on the idea of connected reading,” Andreas Steinhauser, founder and CEO of Txtr told Wired.com. “You can create collections of web pages, documents or images and give friends access to it.”

E-Readers will need to sport applications that connect people through recommendations and ratings, says Epps. And that means integration with communities like Facebook and Goodreads. E-readers are also likely to evolve to provide a way to recommend and buy content for others, says Epps.

Digital book clubs could become the next big thing. Over the next few months, electronic book readers are likely to add the ability to access Facebook and Twitter, share book recommendations and rate e-books,

Tags: kindle, books, social networking, online-sharing

Mind mapping during a conference

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:55:54 GMT

clipped by: ljmullings

Clip Source: www.micropersuasion.com

Yesterday during my keynote on the future of Twitter at the TWTRCON conference in San Francisco I decided to do something different. For one day, at least, I put away PowerPoint and fired up a mind mapping program (in my case I use Mind Node for the Mac).

What is the Future of Twitter? Only You Know

I really enjoyed the experience and, anecdotally from what others told me, so did the audience. For one, It made the session more interactive. Second, because it was different, it seemed to capture people's attention more than a deck would have. (Hmm, is PowerPoint making us blind and deaf?) Still, since this was my first time out mind mapping with the audience I know much can be improved.

Tags: mindmapping, conference