Given the choice, most Americans would rather be richer and thinner than smarter and younger, according to the results of a new Adweek Media/Harris Poll.

.. And then put a lot of effort into looking younger and money into plastic surgeries ;-)

Most customers these days demonstrate a huge — and increasing — appetite for self-service, yet most companies run their operations as if customers prefer to interact with them live.

i say that there is no use for such articles as it is impossible to persuade any manager, who works "on the phone" (most of them are)

The Frontal Cortex reports on an interesting study that found that the personality characteristics teachers define as creative are the same ones that make their pupils least likeable in the classroom.

Sounds familiar?

In spring of 2007, the web video series In the Motherhood, a humorous look at modern motherhood, made the move to TV. In the Motherhood started online as a series of 5 minute videos, with viewers contributing funny stories from their own lives and voting on their favorites. This tactic generated good ideas at low cost as well as endearing the show to its viewers; the show’s tag line was “By Moms, For Moms, About Moms.”

The move to TV was an affirmation of this technique; when ABC launched the public forum for the new TV version, they told users their input “might just become inspiration for a story by the writers.”

Or it might not. Once the show moved to television, the Writers Guild of America got involved. They were OK with For and About Moms, but By Moms violated Guild rules. The producers tried to negotiate, to no avail, so the idea of audience engagement was canned (as was In the Motherhood itself some months later, after failing to engage viewers as the web version had).

The critical fact about this negotiation wasn’t about the mothers, or their stories, or how those stories might be used. The critical fact was that the negotiation took place in the grid of the television industry, between entities incorporated around a 20th century business logic, and entirely within invented constraints. At no point did the negotiation about audience involvement hinge on the question “Would this be an interesting thing to try?”

Shared by @fredwilson

Thanks to @fishtalks for a link.

9. Experiment, or die.

Let me beat this dead horse one more time. Sorry.

If you don't have a robust experimentation program in your company you are going to die.

It is just a matter of time.

Friendly reminder

mappoop

In this course, Sandel challenges us with difficult moral dilemmas and asks our opinion about the right thing to do. He then asks us to examine our answers in the light of new scenarios. The results are often surprising, revealing that important moral questions are never black and white.

This course also addresses the hot topics of our day—affirmative action, same-sex marriage, patriotism and rights—and Sandel shows us that we can revisit familiar controversies with a fresh perspective.

The Morality of Murder. How Much is a Life Worth? Natural Rights and Giving Them Up. What's Fair and Deserved? The Good Citizen and the Freedom to Choose. And other lectures. Makes you wanna jump and bump. It will make you better and different.

Phone poop

Such A Bad Idea(feat Nina Zeitlin)_Radio Edit©  by  Biboulakis

Some bad ideas are good.

Vanilla