Inspiration to learn about yourself

Ms. Kseniya Simonova , a Ukrainian sand animator, uses a light box, music, imagination and sand painting skills to tell stories. Ms. Simonova won the "Ukraine's Got Talent" competition with the impressive performance shown in the video below – a performance that is also described in this article . As her motivation to join the "Ukraine's Got Talent" competition, Kseniya Simonova said – according to this article : "I only entered because there was a child I know who needed an operation and I wanted to help." I came across the 8½ video, which has been viewed more than 8.8 million times and rated more than 22,000 times with an average rating of 5 stars out of five, via this blog posting by Mitch Ditkoff. What do you have a talent for?

In this bcg.com July 2009 report titled "The CMOs Dilemma", I read that traditional media outlets – newspapers, magazines, radio, and broadcast television – are losing revenue, readers, listeners, and viewers. I also read that the future of mass marketing and advertising, at least in developed markets, is now just as much in play as the future of the traditional media industry itself. Online search, advertiser microsites, word-of-mouth marketing, social networking, and Twittering all have an important place in the marketing mix. At a Kalaidos University Forum seminar in Zürich yesterday evening, Mr. Tim Ringel of metapeople , an agency offering online marketing solutions, shared experiences and spoke, for example, about the use of Google AdWords . With Google AdWords, you can advertise a product or service with different keywords, ads, budget and targeting – and monitor the performance of your advertisement(s). Watching the 1½ minute video below, that I came across through ...

"Sustainability is not an option, sustainability is a must." We need to think about sustainability as innovation – not as compliance and regulation, Mr. C.K. Prahalad, the World’s # 1 business thinker also says in this video , from which the quote above is. An identical message comes from Towers Perrin . In its Global Workforce Study , Towers Perrin found that Corporate Social Responsibility, which can range from “going green” to supporting local charities, is the 3rd most important driver of employee engagement overall. Searching for information about companies that act responsibly, I came across, for example, Campbell Soup Company , Pictet & Cie , and MyC4 . Campbell Soup Company Reading this Knowledge@Wharton Article , I learned that, by far, the easiest "sell" for Corporate Social Responsibility remains environmentally based improvements to operations, because they can be shown to save money for a company. According to Mr. Dave Stangis, Campbell's vice...

Reflecting on the word mobility , I came to think of, for example, these 4 things: 1. Innovative design of cities making it attractive for people to exercise As I was helping out in Zürich renew a "Finnenbahn" - a jogging/workout track in the forrest, I came to think about the possibility of designing the centre of cities in ways that make it easy for people to get some exercise. As an example, how about opening up and designing school yards in cities in ways that make it attractive for people at all ages to go there and do a workout? Also, how about designing parks in ways that make it attractive for people to keep fit? Here is some inspiration from a park in China. Via this posting , I became more aware of the fact that, through intelligent design, we can promote more mobility in our everyday lives. In this particular example, surfboard shaped floor graphics are placed right on the moving walkway – thereby making the walkway experience a little bit more fun for kids, whose...

At # 5 of the 12 work-relevant characteristics of online life, which Gary Hamel puts forward in this blog posting , I read this: Tasks are chosen, not assigned The Web is an opt-in economy. Whether contributing to a blog, working on an open source project, or sharing advice in a forum, people choose to work on the things that interest them. Everyone is an independent contractor, and everyone scratches their own itch. In this interesting 10 minute McKinsey Quarterly interview , Mr. Andrew McAfee sends a similar message – referring, for example, to how Wikipedia became a success: As people self selected roles they wanted to play, content they wanted to create, and basically did whatever felt natural to them, they reached much better results. Mr. McAfee also gives some good advice for management of companies that want to move in this direction. Here are 3 of them: 1. Send signals to people on what is of value to the company. 2. Get out of the way. Let people do things themselves. 3. W...

Watching this conversation between Tom Davenport and Paul Michelman , I came to think about this extract from page 120 the book "The Future of Management" by Gary Hamel : “Build a “just try it” culture – emphasize “test and learn” instead of “plan and execute”." Thinking about the companies, you work for, what is more important: “Test and learn” or “plan and execute”? If you have the possibility, please explain why.

Compiled by Jane Hart , you’ll find the top 100 tools for learning 2009 in the slideshow below. The top 5 tools are: # 1: Twitter . # 2: Delicious . # 3: YouTube . # 4: Google Reader . # 5: Google Docs . Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009 View more documents from Jane Hart .

Towards the end of this interesting blog posting by Gary Hamel, I read this: "At the heart of the Web is a bundle of social values that stands in stark contrast to the values that predominate in most companies. Community, transparency, freedom, meritocracy, openness and collaboration - this is the fundamental ethos of the web. Within the beige precincts of corporate-dom, the values of control, discipline, accountability, reliability and predictability reign supreme. Twenty-first century organizations must amalgamate all of these values. Only then will they be able to deliver the goods day-after-day with penny-pinching efficiency while showing their heels to the winds of change." Earlier in the posting, I also read this: "Standardization, specialization, hierarchy, goal alignment and control are great principles, but they’re toxic to adaptability." For information about problems of hierarchically organized companies, have a look at this slideshow . Also, to get info...

I came across this 19 second video with Jeff Jarvis through this blog posting. When you think about a company you work for, how generous would you say that the people working for the company are?

Through this blog posting by Jeff Jarvis, I came across this 1½ minute video during which Mr. Jarvis touches upon an issue that I find important. Admitting that I have a tendency, myself, to strive for perfection – and also sometimes “fight with myself” regarding how perfect something, that I do, should be before launching it / putting it out / sharing it, the message by Mr. Jarvis had an influence on me. How about yourself? To which degree do you share work you do, before you think it is perfect? To which degree do you open up to improvement, ideas, suggestions, lessons?

The video below is a 2½ minute message by Mr. José Manuel Barroso , President of the European Commission . Watch also this 5½ minute video during which Mr. Barroso encourages us all to remove the remaining walls, for example the walls of protectionism.

Surprising people positively is a good way of offering a good experience. Here’s a proof of that. I came across the video via this blog posting . When you did you surprise people positively last time? What did you do?

To get the full value of this 3 minute Sketchcast, please turn on your loudspeakers.

What is the company purpose? View more documents from Frank Calberg Services .

Via this blog posting , I came across this innovative flowchart of the great Beatles song Hey Jude which several extraordinary artists performed at the Royal Albert Hall .

Via a Twitter update by Larry Ferlazzo , I came across this 2 minute audio about flow. What do you need to get into flow in your working life?

As a part of a mini survey, I did during a seminar, I held, I asked the eight participants the following question: To learn, do you think that A. people should create knowledge, or that B. people should reproduce knowledge? I think it is worth noting that everyone chose A. In this regard, I’d like to ask you to which degree you create knowledge during the education you’re taking?