Inspiration for you

4 E’s of social media strategy

2011-07-25T13:02:00.000+02:00

Watching the 40 second video embedded below, I learned about the 4 E’s of social media strategy:

# 1: Engage
# 2: Educate
# 3: Excite
# 4: Evangelize

Sanitation – a powerful health prevention tool

2011-07-15T22:38:00.000+02:00

Reading this posting, I learned that sanitation is the most cost-effective health prevention tool in existence.

Solar charging device for mobile phones at city square in Belgrade

2011-07-08T13:16:00.000+02:00

Via this posting, I learned that the solar charging device featured in the 3 minute video below was installed late last year in the Obrenovac city square. The structure features 16 ports and can support numerous types of mobile phones, charging them up for free within 10 to 15 minutes. Built-in batteries enable operation at night and during cloudy weather for up to a month without sunshine. An interesting innovation.

Wise Leadership

2011-07-02T21:04:00.002+02:00

12 life lessons from Forrest Gump

2011-06-28T09:23:00.000+02:00

Via this tweet, I came across this posting with the following 12 life lessons from Forrest Gump:

# 1: Know what love is.

# 2: Be your best.
To be your best, start with getting to know yourself.

# 3: Love what you do.

# 4: Say what you need to say.

# 5: Explain things so people can understand them.
This means that you need to understand who people are, and what they know.
And it means that you need to be sure that people understand you.

# 6: Believe that you can.

# 7: We all have tragedy to overcome. You can too.

# 8: Your actions speak louder than your words.

# 9: Believe in God.

# 10: You define your destiny.
Defining your destiny is about being in touch with what you love.
It is about believing in yourself, having self confidence.
Take a stand for who you chose to be. You define your destiny.

# 11: Imagine, then be.

# 12: Listen to your heart.

6 principles of social commerce

2011-06-20T14:17:00.000+02:00

Via

How Social Commerce Works

View more presentations from Ali Shaheen

Tips on education from Howard Gardner

2011-06-13T14:38:00.001+02:00

Via this posting by Joe Bower, I came across the very interesting 7½ minute video embedded below with Howard Gardner. Listening to Mr. Gardner, I learned the following:

# 1: Engage learners actively.

# 2: Make education learner-directed.

# 3: Accept that people learn differently, have different kinds of intellectual strengths.

# 4: Present material to a learner in a way in which the learner will find interesting and will be able to use his or her intelligences productively.

# 5: Encourage the learner to focus on a few priorities that he or she goes deeply into.

# 6: Highlight for learners - from the day they start learning a topic - the performances for which they're going to be accountable.

# 7: Let learners be active in giving feedback on performances. Let them increasingly assess themselves - say what's going well and what’s not going so well.

# 8: Continuously try out new things to make the way education is done better.

Bike sharing in Hangzhou, China

2011-06-12T08:48:00.000+02:00

Hangzhou’s bike-sharing program now has more than 50,000 bikes and more than 2,000 stations. Via

The Biggest, Baddest Bike-Share in the World: Hangzhou China from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Tip: Learn from customer behaviour that you can observe

2011-06-10T17:07:00.000+02:00

Towards the end of this interesting conversation between Braden Kelley and Scott Cook, I learned that it is a good idea to learn from customer behaviour that you can observe.

De Bono’s six hats explained

2011-06-04T13:48:00.001+02:00

Paul Sloane explains De Bono's six thinking hats method here.

Via

Tips on how to make ideas happen

2011-06-03T12:41:00.000+02:00

Tips on how to make ideas happen

Inputs to become more agile

2011-06-03T11:08:00.002+02:00

Inputs To Become More Agile

View more presentations from Frank Calberg Services

Health tips when using your smartphone

2011-06-01T07:45:00.002+02:00

Via

Health tips when using your laptop

2011-06-01T07:44:00.000+02:00

Via

When somebody does something well, tell them

2011-05-31T16:36:00.002+02:00

Listening to this conversation, I learned – about 5½ minute into the video - the following: When somebody does something well, tell them.

Why it’s good to ask questions

2011-05-25T10:58:00.001+02:00

Via

Rethinking recruitment

2011-05-21T16:06:00.002+02:00

Rethinking Recruitment

You can’t give a smile away - it always comes back

2011-05-19T10:29:00.001+02:00

In this posting, I came across a couple of interesting points:

You can’t give a smile away - it always comes back.

Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.

Social competence

2011-05-14T15:52:00.002+02:00

Social competence

View more presentations from Frank Calberg Services

Gary Hamel: Reinventing the technology of human accomplishment

2011-05-14T10:39:00.000+02:00

6 step stress test for your strategy

2011-05-10T08:31:00.002+02:00

Taxi drivers help communicate TEDx ideas

2011-05-02T21:10:00.000+02:00

Via

Our world without borders

2011-04-25T19:49:00.002+02:00

Via

Ideas to improve the customer experience

2011-04-24T15:04:00.003+02:00

Improve The Customer Experience

View more presentations from Frank Calberg Services

Are the companies you work for designed for the Facebook generation?

2011-04-19T10:42:00.000+02:00

Tim O’Reilly: Is your company designed for the Facebook generation?

Rethinking higher education: University 2.0

2011-04-19T08:15:00.002+02:00

Via

Ban Ki-moon - Message of Solidarity to the People of Japan

2011-04-15T16:11:00.000+02:00

Listen to more languages in Google Translate

2011-04-15T09:28:00.000+02:00

The latest update of Google Translate for Android allows you to listen to translations in several more languages. With this launch, which I read about in this posting, Google Translate for Android supports translation between 58 languages and can speak translations in 24 languages.

The Global Information Technology Report

2011-04-13T09:49:00.001+02:00

The Global Information Technology Report is out. Here are the top 10 countries:

# 1: Sweden.
# 2: Singapore.
# 3: Finland.
# 4: Switzerland.
# 5: USA.
# 6: Taiwan, China.
# 7: Denmark.
# 8: Canada.
# 9: Norway.
# 10: Korea, Rep.

Noteworthy is, compared with the ranking of last year, that Taiwan moved up from # 11 to # 5, and Korea moved up from # 15 to # 10. On page 282 of the report, where you can find key data about Taiwan, I read that Taiwan ranks number 1 regarding business usage. For example, ICT has a very high impact on new services and products of companies in Taiwan. On page 17 of the report, I read the following about Taiwan:

"As with most of the top-ranked countries in the Index, the government has placed ICT at the heart of its competitiveness agenda. Through incentive programs and massive investment in ICT infrastructure, the government has been a catalyst of these positive developments. Taiwan ranks 5th in the government readiness pillar and 2nd in the government usage pillar, and represents an inspiring success story of a resource-poor economy turned into a major high-tech global player in the space of a few decade."

In the 10 minute video embedded below, INSEAD Professor Soumitra Dutta speaks with Ms. Shellie Karabell about the The Global Information Technology Report:

A solution to one of the biggest global problems – clean sanitation

2011-04-08T08:46:00.000+02:00

Via this posting, I learned that 2.6 billion people worldwide lack access to toilets.

Peepoople has a solution to this problem: The Peepoo, a single use toilet in the form of a bag. Here are some advantages of the Peepoo bag:
- Peepoo is cheap.
- Peepoo requires no infrastructure.
- Peepoo is easy to carry.
- Peepoo is easy to use.
- Peepoo does not require water.
- After use, Peepoo provides value as fertilizer.

Below is a 2 minute video about Peepoo:

Try things out

2011-04-03T19:49:00.001+02:00

Via this tweet, I came across this video with Gary Hamel. Listening to Mr. Hamel, I learned that it is a good idea for companies to experiment more. How often do you try new things out at the companies, you work for?

Bill Gates über die Bedeutung der Entwicklungshilfe

2011-04-03T14:18:00.000+02:00

Via

Facebook infographic video

2011-03-28T14:33:00.000+02:00

Via

Facebook Infographic from Jean-Jacques Parys on Vimeo.

Recycle

2011-03-23T10:44:00.002+01:00

Via

World Water Day

2011-03-22T13:03:00.000+01:00

Via

The Adventure Project - World Water Day 2011 from The Adventure Project on Vimeo.

Tom Kelley, IDEO on using your whole brain

2011-03-19T15:22:00.001+01:00

Via

Henry Chesbrough: Tackling the barriers to openness

2011-03-17T09:40:00.004+01:00

Jeff Jarvis: The biggest problem facing the next generation

2011-03-16T14:01:00.002+01:00

Wheels for Well-Being

2011-03-11T09:51:00.000+01:00

Via

The world’s most typical person is a 28 year-old han chinese man. By 2030, the world’s most typical person will come from India

2011-03-06T10:56:00.002+01:00

Via

Google with Recipe View

2011-02-24T22:26:00.000+01:00

Via

4 principles of a conscious business

2011-02-24T10:41:00.004+01:00

In this very interesting interview with John Mackey , I learned about 4 principles of the conscious business:

# 1: Purpose. Minute 16 and minute 21

I need to breathe in order to live. I need to create red blood cells in order to live, but that is not the purpose of my life to eat, to breathe, to create red blood cells. I have a much more transcendent purpose in my life that gives my life meaning and value to it. Business is no different. A business has the potential for a higher and deeper purpose and that is the first principle of a conscious business.

When you work from a higher purpose you unleash greater degrees of commitment, greater degrees of loyalty and greater creativity in the workplace and that gives competitive advantage.

# 2: Stakeholder model. Minute 19 and minute 22

The 2nd principle is that there is a variety of stakeholders that are interdependent, that are connected together, customers, employees, suppliers, investors, communities—both local and larger communities—and then the larger environment that we’re part of.

When you work from the stakeholder model, you understand that you’re trying to optimize the entire system. You are able to do that in such a way as when you optimize the entire system you also optimize the value that you’re creating for the investors as well.

# 3: Servant leadership. Minute 19

The 3rd principle of the conscious business is what we call a conscious leadership, or you might also think of it as servant leadership.

# 4: Culture. Minute 20

The 4th principle is that to realize these first three principles you have to create a culture, a conscious culture that has strategies, structures and processes that create a culture that optimizes the stakeholder model, fulfills the purpose and allows the conscious leadership to do their jobs.

At the end of the great interview, John Mackey talks about businesses that have strong innovation potential. He mentions, for example, healthcare, education, travel, and entertainment.

The rise of the connected generation

2011-02-23T16:18:00.001+01:00

Reading this article I learned the following about Generation C, the connected generation:

# 1: As a rule, they were born after 1990.

# 2: Many of their social interactions take place on the Internet. In fact, they are the first generation that has never known any reality other than that defined and enabled by the Internet, mobile devices, and social networking.

# 3: They are communicating, community-oriented and always clicking.

# 4: They are typically realists and materialists.

# 5: They live with their parents longer than earlier generations ever did.

The arrival of Generation C will have an impact comparable to that of the Industrial Revolution, but it will take place much more quickly.

Ideas for hairdressers

2011-02-19T11:15:00.001+01:00

At the hairdresser, I spontaneously came to think about the following 5 ideas to improve the experience for customers and hairdressers:

Idea # 1

Make the ground around the chair, in which the customers sits, softer. That will make it more comfortable for the hairdresser to work. Consider, for example, using material which is applied in some playgrounds.

Idea # 2

Make it possible for the hairdresser to raise and lower the chair in / from the ground. That will help the hairdresser work in more healthy positions and also help the customer sit in a position which is right for him/her. For example, the hairdresser could lower the chair of a customer who is tall and thereby avoid raising shoulders and arms to cut his/her hair.

Idea # 3

Make it possible to schedule appointments on the Internet. Thereby, hairdressers will be less disturbed by the phone when they are working.

Idea # 4

Place a self serve coffee machine and a couple of comfortable chairs in a corner of the hairdresser shop. This initiative will improve the customer experience in case of waiting time.

Idea # 5

Install speakers in the hairdressing shop that can be connected to any smartphone. Also, encourage customers to bring their favourite music on their smartphones. Thereby, the customer experience can be individualized even more. In addition, the music may serve as a conversation topic for hairdresser and customer.

IDEO’s vision for the future of the book

2011-02-12T15:34:00.003+01:00

Via

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.

Sir Ken Robinson: What we do know is if you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original

2011-02-10T11:59:00.001+01:00

Via

100 things to watch out for in 2011

2011-02-07T13:14:00.001+01:00

Among 100 things to watch out for in 2011 are, according to the presentation below, that I came across through this presentation, the following:

# 2: Africa’s middle class.

# 25: Digital downtime.

# 32: Entrepreneurial journalism.

# 42: Home energy management.

# 49: Mobile health applications.

# 57 and # 70: The new mobility industry – including P-to-P car sharing.

# 86: Stricter green building standards.

JWT: 100 Things to Watch in 2011

View more presentations from JWTIntelligence.

Henry Chesbrough rethinks the concept of open innovation

2011-02-03T15:08:00.001+01:00

Via

TEDActive: What the world needs now

2011-01-25T11:21:00.001+01:00

Via

More commerce, more learning, improved healthcare, and a cleaner environment thanks to solar power

2011-01-24T11:13:00.000+01:00

Via

Welcome to the age of direct democracy

2011-01-24T10:53:00.001+01:00

Listening to Mads Qvortrup, I learned, for example, that, according to a study, trust in politicians goes up by as much as 20% in the places / countries, where you have direct democracy. What's it like in the places where you live?

A new model for emerging markets

2011-01-20T15:12:00.000+01:00

Listening to the interview, embedded below, with Matt Eyring, I learned, for example, that what is missing in emerging markets is products and services for the emerging middle class, i.e. products and services between high end and low end. During the video, Mr. Eyring shows a couple of interesting examples.

3 technologies that changed the way we think

2011-01-20T07:23:00.000+01:00

The Internet is just one in a series of “intellectual technologies” that have reshaped the way humans think. In the interesting 5 minute video embedded below, Nicholas Carr gives examples of 3 technologies that changed the way we think:

The map

Before the map came along people understood where they were and where they were going through what they saw, heard etc. With the map, the pure visual and auditory and sensory perception was supplemented by an abstract picture, which is a radically different way to think about space. The map trained us to think more abstractly.

The mechanical clock

Before the mechanical clock came along, people experienced time as a natural flow. People measured time by watching the stars, the moon, the sun etc. With the introduction of the mechanical clock, people came to experience time as a series of discreet, precisely measurable units: Seconds, minutes, hours etc. People’s way of thinking became much more scientific.

The printing press

What the book does as a technology is shield people from distraction. In other words, the book gave people a more attentive way of thinking – whether you are paying attention to a story, an argument or whatever.

A tour of Masdar City

2011-01-18T18:00:00.002+01:00

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

2011-01-17T17:31:00.003+01:00

The Nobel Peace Prize 1964 was awarded to Martin Luther King Jr. Via this posting and this posting, I came across the speech below by Dr. King:

Examples of growth in hard times

2011-01-16T19:32:00.003+01:00

Reading this interesting McKinsey Quarterly article, I was struck by this paragraph:

"Although the 1930s were very hard times for the United States, not every industry or business declined. As the economy shifted massively from capital goods to consumer goods, some industries - such as steel, rubber, coal, glass, railroads, and building - suffered greatly, but consumer brands such as Kellogg’s hit their stride. Campgrounds and motels blossomed along highways. Airline passenger traffic grew robustly. Entertainment surged with the growth of the radio and movie industries, and of their audience, during the Golden Age of Hollywood."

You don’t have to be afraid of what you are

2011-01-15T10:16:00.001+01:00

“There’s a hero if you look inside your heart; You don’t have to be afraid of what you are.”

Listening to the very first words from the song Hero, which Mariah Carey performs beautifully in the video embedded below, I came to think of the 5 personality traits in the five factor model. Do you know who you are, and who you are not? In this regard, I also reflected on these tips to help improve self confidence. Have you thought about that knowing who you are will contribute to improving your self confidence?

Citizens in Mexico create bike lanes themselves

2011-01-14T20:44:00.002+01:00

The 4½ minute video below about Mexican citizens, who – in Guadalajara, Mexico – create bike lanes themselves is in Spanish. For those of you who are not fluent in Spanish: Don't worry: Images speak for themselves ;-) In this article through which I learned about this quite remarkable citizen initiative - an initiative that led my thoughts to FixMyStreet - I also read about the reasons why these citizens decided to act themselves. Here’s an extract:

[We have a problem: 350 cars are added to the city traffic every day; the average traffic speed has fallen to 18 km/h and the quality of our air reaches alarming levels during several days of winter.] [In Mexico, the cost of building a bike lane reaches about 100,000 dollars per kilometre. This means that the section on which we worked, 2.5 kilometres on each side of a two way avenue, could have cost about 500,000 dollars. The investment, the citizen's investment, was only 1,000 dollars.]

Here are some ideas on creating bicycle friendly cities

Experience it for yourself

2011-01-11T14:17:00.000+01:00

Via

KLM Surprise

2011-01-08T14:21:00.001+01:00

In a previous posting, I posted an example of a fine initiative Spanair took to surprise customers positively at Christmas time. Here’s another interesting example – initiated by people working for KLM. Via.

Here are some inputs on improving the customer experience.

Spanair's special Christmas surprise

2011-01-08T13:36:00.000+01:00

Here is an interesting initiative from Spanair showing that it is a good idea to work on surprising customers positively. Not least for the kids in the video, the experience seemed to be great.

Via

Do you know why you are here?

2011-01-07T14:24:00.001+01:00

In this interesting conversation between Charlie Rose and Clayton Christensen, I learned, for example, this:

Minute 5

Clayton Christensen: “To know why we are here is of critical importance to guide our lives”.

Minute 9

Charlie Rose quotes Einstein: “95% of getting to the right answer is asking the right question.”

Rethinking recruitment

2011-01-05T14:25:00.002+01:00

Rethinking Recruitment

10 business models that rocked 2010

2011-01-04T14:20:00.000+01:00

Via

10 business models that rocked 2010

View more presentations from Board of Innovation (BOI).

Legal challenges to collaborative consumption

2011-01-01T15:12:00.000+01:00

Via

Shaquille O’Neal conducts the Boston Pops

2010-12-31T17:23:00.000+01:00

Here’s a 3½ minute video of Shaquille O’Neal conducting the Boston Pops

Via

How much are you training your right brain abilities?

2010-12-27T14:52:00.000+01:00

Listening to this interview with Daniel Pink, I learned more about what people need to do to avoid that the work, they do, get outsourced.

Video # 1

The abilities, that we associate with the left side of our brain, i.e. logical, linear, sequential, spread-sheet abilities still matter, but they matter less. Work, that is basically about following a set of rules, can relatively easily be outsourced.

It is now abilities characterized by the right hand side of the brain, for example, artistry, empathy, inventiveness, big picture thinking, that matter most in several professions and industries.

Video # 2

What becomes valuable is what you cannot reduce to a set of rules.

Accountants, for example, need to work more on becoming financial advisors.

Video # 3

The abilities, that are hard to outsource and hard to automate - for example design, storytelling and seeing the big picture - are fundamentally human abilities.

Video # 4

Right brain abilities require a certain measure of autonomy and allowing experimentation to happen.

Get your creative confidence back

2010-12-19T14:43:00.000+01:00

Via this tweet, I came across the interview embedded below with David Kelley of IDEO. Listening to Mr. Kelley, I learned, for example, that everybody is creative. However, when we educate ourselves, we are talked out of being creative and into using our analytical mind. We need to get our creative confidence back.

What are you doing to get your creative confidence back?

Surprise people positively

2010-12-15T13:59:00.002+01:00

Listening to this interesting 23 minute conversation between Charlie Rose and Andrew Mason of Groupon, I learned, for example, that it is the element of discovery, of finding new things, of being surprised by whatever the deal is that makes Groupon fun for consumers. Groupon tries, according to Mr. Mason, to remain surprising in various ways. About 5 minutes into the conversation, Andrew Mason also mentions that people have a thirst for experiences.

Reflecting on the surprise effect, that Mr. Mason refers to at the start of the conversation, I also came to think of the 2 versions of Händel’s Hallejujah embedded below. Both versions of the song are, I think, beautifully performed by the competent artists. Notice - in the last of the 2 videos - the surprise effect. In this regard, consider also the cool idea of using a shopping centre as a venue for an experience like this. By the way, check out the faces of the kids in the video. They look completely amazed. I think I would be as well ;-)

1f0749d2-3a6a-47bc-bf09-0960d257fb62

4 forms of human intelligence: Being, feeling, thinking, and doing

2010-12-12T20:36:00.000+01:00

Listening to Deepak Chopra, I learned that there are 4 forms of human intelligence:

# 1: Being

Being is the highest form of human intelligence.

# 2: The feeling that is aroused from the level of being

Love and compassion.

# 3: Thinking

Creativity

# 4: Doing

Doing is based on the 3 other forms of human intelligence mentioned above. This means, for example, that action without love is meaningless.

10 things that make a green city

2010-12-12T11:30:00.000+01:00

I came across this slideshow about 10 things that make a great green city.

I noticed, for example, idea # 10: Farmers’ markets. What examples of great farmers' markets do you know in which cities?

Are you oriented towards the past, present, or the future?

2010-12-08T13:07:00.001+01:00

Via this posting, I came across the 10 minute video embedded below. Watching the video, I learned that there are 6 main time zones that people live in:

# 1: Past positive orientation

People, who remember all the good old times, for example successes and happy birthdays.

# 2: Past negative orientation

People, who focus on regret, failure, and all the things that went wrong.

# 3: Present hedonism

People, who are hedonistic, i.e. people who live for pleasure, avoid pain, seek knowledge and sensation.

All of us begin life as present hedonists.

# 4: Present orientation 2

People who think their life is fated, for example by religion, poverty, conditions that they live under.

The nearer you are to equator, in an environment where climate doesn’t change, the more present oriented you are.

# 5: Future orientation 1

People, who have learned to work rather than to play, and who resist temptation.

# 6: Future orientation 2

People who think that life begins after the death of the mortal body.

All propaganda, public relations messages, educational messages are designed for future oriented kids. To be future oriented, you have to trust that when you make a decision about the future, it is going to be carried out. As an example, people living in Northern Italy tend to be more future oriented than people in Southern Italy. Also, protestants tend to be oriented towards the future, whereas catholics tend to be oriented towards past or present. Watching the video, I also learned that there’s a revolution in time going on. Kids today live in a digital culture. What matters is the second. Waiting has, even more than before, become a waste of time. For example, it makes people angry that a computer takes so long, i.e. a minute or so, to start up.

Are you oriented towards the past, the present, or the future?

Applying the Toyota Production System to food basket handout

2010-12-06T08:41:00.000+01:00

Via

How true are you to yourself?

2010-12-05T12:15:00.000+01:00

Listening to this Thinkers50 interview with Kjell A. Nordström and Jonas Ridderstråle, I learned, for example, this:

Minute 3

Kjell A. Nordström mentions that “if there’s one thing that is very much the same as it was in 1999, it is the business school, and how we train people.”

Minute 5

Kjell A. Nordström says that “It’s a well known fact that Sweden, or Scandinavia in general, is a very good market to test a product.”

Minute 9

Jonas Ridderstråle explains that funky means to be authentic, to be true to yourself.

Minute 10

Kjell A. Nordström mentions that he’s involved in a company that makes plant walls. Mr. Nordström mentions that the company will grow a lot of things in the cities in the future. He also explains that they will probably use walls much more than they do today.

Minute 11

Telling a story about a person who, in the 1960s, succeeded a previously fantastic football player as the coach of Juventus, Jonas Ridderstråle refers to the answer that the new coach, who was – contrary to his predecessor in the coaching role – not a former great football player himself, gave a journalist. The journalist had asked the new coach how he could become the coach of the team, when he didn’t have any great history as a football player. The answer of the new coach: “You don’t have to be a great horse to be a jockey.”

Try to think of the opposite

2010-12-04T13:14:00.000+01:00

Going Green at Google

2010-12-02T20:39:00.003+01:00

200 years of global progress in health and wealth

2010-12-01T16:39:00.002+01:00

Via this posting, I came across this innovative 5 minute presentation by Hans Rosling.

3 megatrends: Demographic changes, urbanization, and climate change

2010-11-29T17:52:00.006+01:00

At a very interesting presentation today by Mr. Siegfried Gerlach of Siemens Schweiz at the Kalaidos Business Forum, held at Hotel Novotel Zurich City-West, I learned, for example, about the following 3 megatrends: Demographic changes, urbanization, and climate change.

Regarding demographic changes, I came across - on the website of Siemens Schweiz - this image showing that the population of Switzerland, women as well as men, is getting older. We live longer.

I was somewhat surprised to also learn that, globally, buildings are responsible for 40% of energy consumption. See photo below. In this regard, I learned that there’s a large need to invest in energy efficient housing / buildings – thereby creating win-win-win solutions. The population / businesses win by being able to reduce energy costs for, for example, housing and by being able to produce energy. Businesses win. And the environment wins as well.

At the Q&A session, I asked to what extent people working for Siemens Schweiz use / will use, for example, social media, crowdsourcing, and open innovation technologies to involve external people / the population in, for example, city development. Listening to what Mr. Gerlach said, I got the impression that it has high priority. For more information about the shift happening at Siemens towards Open Innovation, have a look at this posting.

What I also found excellent about the presentation by Siegfried Gerlach was the design of the slides he used. Great photos from many parts of the world combined with little text on each slide have the effect, that listeners focus their attention on the presenter.

A question to you, dear reader: What effect do the 3 megatrends mentioned above, i.e. demographic changes, urbanization, and climate change have on your life?

Reimagine the restaurant experience

2010-11-27T15:47:00.002+01:00

Reimagine the restaurant experience

104 years of separated bicycle infrastructure

2010-11-26T19:41:00.002+01:00

Via

People like a deal

2010-11-23T08:39:00.000+01:00

Listening to the interesting conversation embedded below with Mr. Eric Schmidt, I learned, for example, this:

Minute 6

Imagine walking down the street, and instead of typing a search, your phone is giving you information all the time.

Minute 7

People like a deal.

Minute 9

Instead of focusing on competitive landscape, people should be focusing on how much bigger the market is getting.

Minute 15

Any company of scale is subject to the following narrative: Big, fat, dump, and happy.

Minute 21

When you walk down the streets of London, you’re likely to be on a camera. It is widely accepted there. In the

USA

, it would be completely unacceptable.

Minute 26

One of the fundamental principles of the Internet is that this kind of information is generally open.

Say ”Yes” to innovation

2010-11-20T13:04:00.000+01:00

Redefining the rules in healthcare

2010-11-17T10:02:00.000+01:00

Redefining the Rules in Healthcare

A soccer ball that captures energy with every kick

2010-11-16T07:34:00.000+01:00

Watching the 2 minute video embedded below, which I came across though this blog posting, I learned that 15 minutes of play with the soccer ball powers a light for up to 3 hours. For more information about this fine innovation, have a look at sOccket.

When followers are proactive, introverts are the better leaders

2010-11-14T21:47:00.001+01:00

Listening to this conversation between Ms. Sarah Green and Ms. Francesca Gino, I learned this:

- When followers are proactive, introverts are the better leaders.

- In Western culture, being an extrovert seems more valuable than being an introvert.

- Being authentic can produce better outcomes.

How well do you know who you are?

Shift happening at Siemens towards Open Innovation

2010-11-13T16:52:00.006+01:00

Listening to the interview - embedded below - with Mr. Peter Löscher of Siemens, I learned, for example, this:

Minute 8

There is nothing more important than the personal and direct dialogue.

Minute 10

With people coming from Spain, you have to allow more time for communication.

Minute 29

For any company, 90% of innovation is happening outside the walls of the company. Historically, researchers and developers at Siemens have been focusing on what is happening in their own labs. Now, the focus is shifting to Open Innovation. There is a big push driving innovation outside the boundaries of the company.

Minute 33

Peter Löscher pushes for diversity at Siemens. For example, Mr. Löscher expressed, as he joined the company, that the management is "too white, too male, and too German".

Minute 44

Peter Löscher encouraged the participants, who were listening, to find out who the role models of the companies, they work for, are, and how these people live the values of the company. Mr. Löscher also encouraged the participants to reflect on whether they can relate to these role models in the way they work / live. Peter Löscher encouraged the participants to say “no” to do something - even if everybody else does it - if the particular activity does not align with their personal values.

Uncertainty avoidance

2010-11-12T15:28:00.002+01:00

Uncertainty avoidance

What is more important to you: Love or power?

2010-11-10T07:59:00.000+01:00

Watching this 2½ minute video featuring the love between a lion and 2 human beings, I came to think about the following question:

What is more important to you: Love or power?

Bridge transformed into vertical garden

2010-11-05T15:10:00.001+01:00

Via this posting, I came across the photo below of a bridge in Southern France that has been transformed into a vertical garden. Iinteresting innovation. It’s certainly more beautiful to look at – compared with grey concrete. When is the city / state / region, you live in, planning to do something similar?

Inspiration from the classroom

2010-11-04T23:14:00.000+01:00

Via

How good are you at listening?

2010-10-31T07:16:00.002+01:00

Listening to John T. Chambers of Cisco, I learned, for example, these 5 things:

1. The next generation of organization structures is built on social networking.

2. As a leader you need to be very good at communicating. The most important is to be good at listening.

3. Culture is hugely important. A good leader is, in the way he/she leads, an example of the culture.

4. Cisco does not focus on competition at all. When you think about setting the strategy off your competitors, at a minimum you are 2 years behind.

5. Video is the next voice. Video will constitute 90 – 95% of the network loads in the future.

Reinvent things constantly

2010-10-29T19:24:00.003+02:00

Via a tweet by Debashish Bramha, I came across this 3 minute video with Arianna Huffington. Listening to Ms. Huffington, I learned, for example, that we need to constantly reinvent things. I also learned that more and more people want to participate in the production of news.

Collaborative Consumption

2010-10-26T16:21:00.000+02:00

Via this tweet by Paul Hobcraft, I came across this talk by Rachel Botsman about collaborative consumption. Listening to Ms. Botsman, I learned, for example, that the first farmers’ market in the UK was formed in 1997.

Collaborative Consumption - Rachel Botsman from NESTA UK on Vimeo.

Citroën C4 and bicycles

2010-10-24T17:47:00.001+02:00

Via this posting, I came across the 1 minute commercial below for the Citröen C4. I find the idea of combining cars and bicycles interesting. For inputs on redefining the rules in transportation, have a look at this presentation.

Make streets of a city attractive for people

2010-10-21T08:18:00.001+02:00

Do you want an attractive city? Start by making streets attractive. That is a key message of Charles Landry, I read in this article. Here are a couple of extracts:

“And just as talent is drawn to hubs and the patterns of links they enable, so are hubs in essence a great collection of streets. For a hub to succeed at drawing the best people and unleashing their talents, therefore, its collection of streets must be aspirational, world-beating, irresistible - a draw. London, he tells his audience, cannot maintain its status in the first rank of the world’s hubs unless it becomes more skillful and intentional about managing and improving the experience that its streets provide.”

“If we feel at home in the streets, we will feel at home in the local culture, and if we feel at home in the culture, we will aspire to participate by investing our time or money in its precincts.”

Here are some inputs on bicycle friendly cities:

Bicycle Friendly Cities

Top 100 tools for learning 2010

2010-10-19T10:22:00.002+02:00

During 2010, 545 learning professionals from around the world shared their top 10 tools for learning. From these lists, Jane Hart compiled the Top 100 tools for learning 2010 list. As in 2009, Twitter tops the list this year. Twitter is followed by YouTube and Google Docs.

Top100 Tools for Learning 2010

View more presentations from Jane Hart.

Can you imagine a world without countries? Part 2

2010-10-19T08:50:00.002+02:00

In a previous posting, I asked if you can imagine a world without countries. Listening to Peter Sondergaard of Gartner talk, I learned that if Facebook and Twitter were countries, they would be # 3 and # 7 respectively. Reflecting on this, I was wondering to what extent it should be possible for the individual global citizen to participate - in one or more countries - in some votes / referendums online, for example using the “like” button? What’s your view?

How good are you at being a follower?

2010-10-18T16:15:00.001+02:00

Via this posting by Tyge Mortensen, I came across this 3 minute video. Watching the video, I learned, for example, that being a first follower is an underappreciated form of leadership. In fact, there is no movement without the first follower. The role of the first follower is a crucial role. He or she has the courage to stand up and join a lone nut who is doing something great. The first follower publicly shows everyone else how to follow - and transforms the lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark that really makes the fire.

How good are you at being a follower?

Help people do, what they want to do, better

2010-10-17T18:48:00.001+02:00

At the start of part 2, embedded below, of a talk that Jeff Jarvis held in Frankfurt, Mr. Jarvis quotes Mark Zuckerberg for responding “you can’t” to a question on how to create a community. Jeff Jarvis explains that Mr. Zuckerberg elaborated on his answer by saying that it is the wrong question to ask. Communities already exist. People are already doing what they want to do. The question you should be asking is “How do you help them do, what they want to, do better?”. According to Jeff Jarvis, Marc Zuckerberg’s prescription for this is giving people elegant organization. All 3 parts of Jeff Jarvis’ talk are published in this blog posting of Mr. Jarvis.

7 skills students need for their future

2010-10-16T12:46:00.002+02:00

Via this swissmiss posting, I came across this 29 minute talk below by Tony Wagner. Mr. Wagner speaks about 7 skills that students need to be successful in life:

# 1: Critical thinking and problem solving

# 2: Collaboration across networks and leading by influence

Tony Wagner mentions, for example, the importance of understanding cultural differences. Mr. Wagner also mentions that command-and-control management is collapsing.

# 3: Agility and adaptability

# 4: Initiative and entrepreneurialism

# 5: Effective oral and written communication

# 6: Accessing and analyzing information

In this regard, Mr. Wagner mentions that the amount of information that is available to us is increasing exponentially. This makes the ability to, for example, do an effective search on the internet and find out what information is important, essential.

# 7: Curiosity and imagination

How do you develop your creative skills?

Speaking, at about minute 13, about an experience he had, where he observed students not being actively engaged in independent learning, Mr. Wagner refers to a comment by a superintendent who said this:

“The problem is not that these are bad teachers. They are some of the best. The problem is us. They are doing exactly what we have asked them to do which is teach to the test.”

Reflecting on the comment of the superintendent that Mr. Wagner refers to, I would like to ask you what your ideas are for superintendents, who have realized that they, themselves, are the problem? As you see it, what exactly should administrators do differently? Thanks very much in advance for your feedback.

As Mr. Wagner, towards the end of his interesting talk, speaks about how the new generation learns, he focuses on the new generation’s use of the Internet – for example to extend friendships, learn through exploring, and as a tool for self expression. In this regard, I’d like to share this presentation with you about 11 advantages of using a blog for teaching.