I'm still not used to how the current generation of venture capitalists is content to throw money at a startup without spending much time with it. Before arriving in Silicon Valley, my impression was that there is a difference between VCs and bankers. Wrong.
Here's an excellent perspective on what venture capital needs, by Jason Pontin of MIT's TECHNOLOGY REVIEW.
Not surprisingly, employee morale and
commitment has worsened during the recession — and in response to
company actions to cope with the downturn. A recent survey finds that
high-performing employees have been substantially more affected than
the rank-and-file.Lin Grensing-Pophal
Human Resource Executive Online, October 2009
… the creative class: a fast-growing, highly educated, and well-paid
segment of the workforce on whose efforts corporate profits and
economic growth increasingly depend. Members of the creative class do a
wide variety of work in a wide variety of industries—from technology
to entertainment, journalism to finance, high-end manufacturing to the
arts. They do not consciously think of themselves as a class. Yet they
share a common ethos that values creativity, individuality, difference,
and merit.
Richard Florida
Washington Monthly, May 2002
Watson Wyatt and WorldatWork just released a survey that tracks, among other things, employee engagement, and Lin Grensing-Pophal explains how companies can do a better job of engagement in a recent article. But that may not be enough, going forward out of the recession. The survey's results inspire a look back to an issue economist Richard Florida raised several years ago: how the drivers of employee performance are changing.
Today, the combination of networking tools, with a power burst from social technology, and a recession that now appears to be the result of an infrastructure crashing under its own incongruities — foreseen by folks like Florida — is forcing companies to look not just at compensation methods but at how they categorize employee positions from the get-go. It's no longer the distinction between management and rank-and-file that makes sense in a service-dominated economy, if it ever did in a manufacturing dominated world, but the quality of performance along the scale of creativity and actual contribution. We're in the midst of another major industrial shift that is exciting at the same time it is mind boggling. And its impact will be felt not just inside corporations but around the cities and towns they populate.
… the economy is different now. It no longer revolves around simply
making and moving things. Instead, it depends on generating and
transporting ideas. The places that thrive today are those with the
highest velocity of ideas, the highest density of talented and creative
people, the highest rate of metabolism.Richard Florida
The Atlantic, March 2009
This post runs simultaneously on the Supernova Hub.
Deloitte, under the leadership of John Hagel III and John Seely Brown, earlier this year released what I believe is a landmark study: The 2009 Shift Index. "Measuring the forces of long-term change," this work uncovers a new way to think about shifts in business and society and absorb them to maximum benefit for the organization. What's more, the study illuminates the pressing need for business leaders to alter the way people interact inside the organization as well as with stakeholders, and it outlines a better way to measure performance. Beyond product and service, the distinguishing characteristic of corporate output will be the way the knowledge of its people is put to use in products, services and daily interaction. [And the study answers the question, "what is the big deal with Twitter."]
Hagel, a speaker at the upcoming Supernova conference, was interviewed recently by Cathy Brooks on The Social Media Hour. He pointed to what is being born out in recent news coverage of this recession: many jobs won't be coming back and the complacent view that upturn is inevitable will marginalize even the most sound companies. The good news: the organizations that harness the flow of knowledge among employees and with stakeholders will thrive.
Those of us who already have concluded that this recession is actually a correction and the gateway to a truly magical intersection of society and business must take the data of The Shift Index and run with it. Armed with this information, we have before us the kind of opportunity that distinguishes one historical era from the next. A golden age? A gold standard? Knowledge is platinum for the people and organizations that welcome reality and appreciate the economic value of connecting in new ways to serve customers and society.
This post runs simultaneously on the Supernova Hub.
I've written about my days at Andersen Worldwide and my growing appreciation for the exposure I had to leading ideas and the people who share them. One of them, as I've mentioned, was Victor Millar, one of the firm's leaders at that time. First as his presentation producer [got his slides through the audiovisual department] and then as his junior speechwriter, I got exposed to a lot of good stuff. One of the concepts was what I called his ages — the progression he took you through on the way to the Information Age and what it would mean for business. As a result, I have a great interest in looking at what happens around us and the notion of how current events can integrate all our endeavors — not just business.
That's why I'm pleased to blog about Wharton's upcoming Supernova Conference in what its creator and chief brain Kevin Werbach calls the Network Age. For the next couple of months, I'll be commenting, from my perch on the contributor bench, about what we're seeing and hearing on the way to the conference and as it's happening.
In December, around 500 people from all over the place and every type of background will gather at Supernova in San Francisco to listen to some talks and engage with each other about all those technology things that fascinate, aggravate, confuse and challenge us. Until then, we'll also have the opportunity to spend an hour each week listening to interviews with some of the people who are speaking at the conference or whose work has some influence on the conference content.
Today, for example, we listened to Christopher Carfi talk with David Weinberger, a voice of the age who regularly helps both those in technology and those around it — meaning all of us, now — understand not only what is happening but what it all means. A co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto and solo author of Everything Is Miscellaneous, David is a fellow at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Today's topic was whether or not the Web is exceptional and why. They covered a lot of ground and I believe made a good case that it is indeed exceptional now and while we can't predict why it will be in the future, it will. Beyond being networked so closely that many boundaries are slipping away — for good as well as for not so good — we have much to discover about the Web's impact. What's interesting is, we're doing the connecting and influencing ourselves, not just the discovering.
For more information about Supernova, visit http.supernovahub.com.
When I was at BlogHer last weekend, I was pleased to find a Liberty Mutual booth. The company runs my most favorite television commercials today, the ones that show people helping each other along a theme of personal responsibility. Powerful humanity without the schmaltz. It's remarkable how thought provoking the content is within the short timeframe. The commercials are part of a larger campaign called The Responsibility Project.
The company was at BlogHer as a sponsor and to do some more outreach on its campaign. Liberty's PR firm, Ketchum, had folks manning the booth. I asked the Ketchum people to give me some background on the Responsibility Project, and here's what they wrote:
"Liberty Mutual’s Responsibility
Project was a sponsor of this year’s 2009 BlogHer conference. The Project was
created in 2008 and uses entertainment content to create a forum for people to
discuss what responsibility means to them. The Responsibility Project has
covered a number of topics including parenting, education and the environment,
among others. The Project never takes a stand on what we feel is
right or wrong – we are simply creating a forum for discussion. Knowing that
BlogHer ’09 would be a strong gathering, Liberty Mutual decided to sponsor the
event and present an opportunity for influential women to voice their opinions
and join the discussion on what it means to 'do the right thing.'"
Rather than just hand out toys, Liberty conducted a survey — and not just on responsibility in general but on the responsibility of bloggers.
With the FTC looking into the question of bloggers accepting products for review and whether there's some underhanded quid pro quo happening, the Liberty Mutual survey featured a quick but interesting set of questions about things like the proposed FTC revisions to the Guidelines for Endorsements and Testimonials, sponsored blog posts and appropriate blog content. I asked the PR reps to share the results. Here they are.
Liberty also conducted video interviews of bloggers, and Ketchum shared the link. Click here.
I'm not sure yet what I think of these results, except to say that the more we can discern between bloggers and journalists, the better. We are just at the beginning of this process, however, so patience is key.
By the way: BlogHer itself was a fun, interesting experience. It is terrific to see so many people dedicated to writing and to exercising their franchise for free speech as well as building rock-solid businesses. It was a good weekend for seeing the right kind of branding, from participants, to sponsors, to BlogHer itself.
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