One for those that protect everybody

As the year closes out and families come together, no matter what your persuasion, background, colour or creed(quite frankly all of that is totally irrelevant) - everybody, no matter where we are, we all are owe a huge debt of gratitude to those that have put themselves in danger on our behalf.

Massive-scale online collaboration

One of the biggest challenges that still needs to be cracked is the translation of the WWW into every major language.  Best case for free, as fast as possible.
This lighthearted look at collaboration on a huge scale is well worth the time.

 

Pleasantries: Why? Be Direct, It is Safer.

The one thing that you notice when having worked in different countries is that the social and professional conventions used in business are not the same in every workplace.  Body language is different in Africa and the USA etc etc.  Understanding this is a pretty basic skill and most professionals get it.  Well most of them ....  but that is another post for sometime in the future.

There is one thing that fascinates me about many people - their innate preference for avoiding the truth.  Is it because they just cannot express themselves, or are they just socially inept as managers (or maybe just introverts in disguise)?  Most of the time they seem simply not to want to either listen, or deliver the basic message - without all the disguises that are typically used and then described as just being polite. They then are baffled why messages get misinterpreted and things go off the rails.

Engaging with social networks = United Breaks Guitars

Anybody that follows trends on social networks has probably heard of Dave Carroll and his YouTube video about United Airlines and their treatment of his guitar.  Yes, it is an interesting story that demonstrates the power of social networks (and the fact that YouTube viewers appreciate a really good video), but there are some real lessons to be learned as well.

If you have not seen it - then have a look below. Within a week of it being uploaded it had more than three million hits and the mainstream media had picked it up - CNN, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, CBS, and many other print and electronic outlets.

Focus on what you really should do ..

Quite often in the midst of a what seems to be a vast amount of reading that it standard for any student, the odd article resonates and sticks in your head.

I came across one of these today ...  " Just because you can doesn't mean that you should" on HBR.  It has a really simple but profound message that is captured in the title.

Add this pearl of wisdom to your management mantra and you have a really useful governor to keep you on the straight and narrow.  No matter how senior you are in the organisation - this article is relevant to every single decision that needs to be made.

Worth a read.