Top 50 eco-cities

Via this posting, I learned about the top 50 eco-cities. The eco-city ranking includes the following criteria: Water availability, water potability, waste removal, sewage, air pollution and traffic congestion. In the top 5 are the following cities:

1. Calgary
2. Honolulu
3. Ottawa
4. Helsinki
5. Wellington

What is the city/town/village, you live in, doing to become a better eco-city?

How good are you at empowering people?

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Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!

Watching and listening to this TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson, I noticed, for example, this part of his talk:

"We have to go from what is essentially an industrial model of education - a manufacturing model - which is based on linearity and conformity…. to a model that is based more on principles of agriculture. We have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process. It’s an organic process. And you cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do is – like a farmer – create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish."

What, in particular, do you think needs to change regarding the way education is done?

Surprise people positively

Via this blog posting and this article, I came across the 3 minute video below featuring Mukhtar Adow Mohamed, a Danish bus driver, who gets a surprise birthday present as a flash mob start singing the Danish happy birthday song for him. Reading this posting, I learned that this birthday celebration was a part of a larger campaign called Better Bus Trip.

Encourage kids to build things

Via this blog posting, I came across this interesting 2 minute video about kids in Africa building a radio from scratch in 1 day. If you’re interested in learning about another example of genius in Africa, have a look this and this.

Mobile phones are taking off in Africa

What are people driven by?

In this NZZ interview with Mr. Brady W. Dougan, CEO of Credit Suisse, I heard Mr. Dougan say the following:

”Our compensation systems were an important aspect of us being able to deliver that kind of performance through a very challenging period..”

The remarks by Mr. Dougan raise an interesting question: What are people driven by? In this regard, I came across some interesting experiences / studies:

# 1
Reading this article, I learned about what the management of BMW has discovered: The people, who work for BMW, are intrinsically motivated people who do not need carrots in order to be able to move.

# 2
In this 4½ minute video, Gary Hamel mentions that initiative, creativity, and passion, that create wealth in the creative economy, cannot be commanded.

# 3
In this 1 minute video, Alfie Kohn explains that the more you reward students for doing something, the more they tend to lose interest.

# 4
In this Time article, I read about the findings of Edward Deci. Mr. Deci’s research shows that money - like other tangible rewards - does not work very well to motivate people over the long term, particularly for tasks that involve creativity.

# 5
In this 2 minute video, Tom Malone talks about the importance of focusing on intrinsic motivation in an economy that is driven by knowledge.

# 6
In this McKinsey Quarterly article, I learned that non-financial incentives are more effective than financial incentives. In particular, praise and commendation from immediate manager is a considerably more effective incentive than the most effective financial incentives.

# 7
Via this blog posting by Joe Bower, I came across an 11 minute video about Daniel H. Pink’s book Drive. Watching the video, I learned, for example, this: For simple, straight forward, mechanical tasks, you can force a higher performance by paying people more money / using the carrot-and-stick approach. However, when a task gets more complicated, when it requires some conceptual creative thinking, these kinds of motivators don’t work. Watching the video, I also learned that there are 3 factors which lead to better performance and personal satisfaction:
1. Autonomy, i.e. the desire to be self directed.
2. Mastery, i.e. the urge to get better.
3. Purpose.

# 8
At the end of the 4 minute video below, Mr. Peter Brabeck explains that sometimes, financial institutions have been forgetting what their real roles in society should be.

From church to regular home

Via this posting, I learned about a couple that bought an old church in England and recreated the inside like a regular home.

Strong investment in renewable energy in South America

Inputs for leaders

Via a tweet by Alexander Osterwalder, I came across this 10 minute Harvard Business Video IdeaCast with Mr. Marshall Goldsmith. Mr. Goldsmith mentioned the following leader characteristics that are different for a leader of the future compared to leader characteristics of the past:

- Think globally.
- Appreciate cross cultural diversity.
- Be technologically savvy.
- Build alliances and partnerships.
- Know how to ask.
- Learn agility.

What leader characteristics would you add?

Better education systems correlate with lower poverty

Strong growth in foreign direct investment into Africa

Preparing teachers of 21st century learners

Via this blog posting, I came across this 6 minute video. How are you changing the way education is done?

Eric Schmidt: ”It’s mobile first”