Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation | Video on TED.com

It's not (just) because he's another Dan - in my opinion, he does a fantastic amount of research, and distills it into nicely consumable bits for "the rest of us." Great snapshot of his most recent work.

"Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories -- and maybe, a way forward."

tags: motivation, danpink, psychology, danielpink, incentives, ted, management

Gary's Social Media Count | PERSONALIZE MEDIA

This Flash app doesn't use realtime data, but it's an interesting aggregation and prediction of quite a lot of data sources. If you're doubting there is a business market for Consumer-facing Social Media, take a look at this app.

tags: realtime, social media, counter, flash, statistics, socialmedia

EtherPad Blog: Google Acquires AppJet

A mini-uprising occured when it was announced that Google was acquiring AppJey (makers of EtherPad). With any luck, Wave will take the best of what EtherPad offered, and fold within Wave. Personally, I prefered EtherPad for it's simplicity, speed, and lack of a walled garden/beta/preview - but of course that will change over time as Wave becomes fully public.

tags: etherpad, appjet, innovation, google, wave, collaboration

Cisco: ‘Why vlogging is better than blogging’ | Socialmedia.biz

Cisco has had a much longer history of interest in video than this author seems to understand, but nonetheless, interesting viewing. We're only beginning to get the power of video - not just for video professionals, but for "the rest of us."

tags: innovation, video, vlogging, blogging

Open Innovation Speaker Series

Incredible collection of Open Innovation presentations (slides and video), hosted by UC Berkeley and the Haas School of Business.

tags: innovation, innovation_management, open_innovation, henry_chesbrough, presentations, video

Google Wave - SAP Gravity - Process and Collaboration

If you haven't seen/heard about the SAP Gravity (lab-only at this time) demo within Google Wave, you really need to read up on this. It is, by far, the most interesting purpose-specific collaboration example I've seen, powered by the underlying "stack" of Google Wave. Interesting implications and powers of "bots" to assist process creation, troubleshooting, etc..

tags: bpm, google wave, sap gravity, collaboration

11 Ways to Influence People Online and Make Them Take Action

Have not (yet) read Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click by Susan Weinschenk, but this is an interesting summary. Agree that it sounds very familiar to Robert Cialdini’s work, but is also more oriented towards working online - which may make it more accessible to some. Very interesting. Influence and persuasion are incredibly important skills to master - can't say I'm there yet (and it's always ongoing), but without skill in these areas, life and work is going to be much more difficult than it should be.

"Influence can be defined as the power exerted over the minds and behavior of others. A power that can affect, persuade and cause changes to someone or something. In order to influence people, you first need to discover what is already influencing them. What makes them tick? What do they care about? We need some leverage to work with when we’re trying to change how people think and behave."

tags: marketing, influence, persuasion, action

Lego Grows by Listening to Customers - Advertising Age - Special Report: Marketer of the Year 2009

As a "Distantly Danish" guy (part of my family came from Denmark several generations ago), and longtime fan of Lego (regardless of being from Denmark), it has been heartening to see that Lego has been able to re-invent itself significantly via Mindstorms, video games, branded/licensing agreements, retail stores, etc.. Fascinating article - this looks at Lego from a "modern marketing" perspective - very Web 2.0 focused.

"Five years ago, Danish toy company Lego was bleeding money to the tune of $300 million in a year. It seemed as though reality had finally caught up with a relic of a pre-video game, pre-internet era. But by last year, Lego was posting double-digit sales increases, and in the first half of 2009, sales were up by nearly a quarter, as many rivals were floundering. How did it turn around? The 77-year-old company took on a variety of marketing and operational changes that have made it look thoroughly modern. "

tags: lego, innovation, ADage, advertising_age, marketing, operational_excellence, innovation_management, listening

Next Little Thing 2010 - Electricity without wires (1) - Small Business

Welcome to the unwired world - internet connectivity, voice, and now, energy. Never stop questioning what's possible.

"Marin Soljačić couldn't sleep. The problem was his wife's Nokia cell phone. The tyrannical device beeped on the bedside table when it needed to be plugged in. It could not be disabled.

Instead of taking a hammer to the phone, Soljačić marveled at the fact that this device, and billions of others like it, was sitting a few feet away from all the electricity it could ever need. Why couldn't it receive power wirelessly, just as laptops get Wi-Fi? "

tags: witricity, MIT, marin_soljacic, innovation, CNN, electricity, energy, alternative_energy, TRIZ

Russell Ackoff: A Lifetime of Systems Thinking

Wow - a fantastic article/transcription. There's a reason Russell was known far and wide for his deep work in Systems Thinking. No BS, no apologies, and he is wise enough to know that he doesn't know it all.

Very worth reading, and taking from theory into practice on many fronts.

"Editor’s note: This article is drawn from a speech given by Russell Ackoff at a Villanova University conference honoring his lifetime of work in systems theory and practice—and celebrating his 80th birthday. In the address, Russell, who died last month at the age of 90, reflects on what he enjoyed most about being a lifelong systems thinker. This article was reprinted in The Systems Thinker by permission of Plenum Press."

tags: systems, systems_thinking, russell_ackoff

Fishing Rods From Carrot Sticks and Canvas Made of Concrete?! Seven Amazing Materials | Slideshows

Physical materials have been rapidly reinvented and rethought in the last year. Companies are getting smarter about the consumption of energy/materials, being able to repurpose what would have been thought of as waste as a source of energy/resources, etc..

"Behind every classic of design lies some innovation in materials or fabrication. So what materials will tomorrow's brilliant new products be made from? Material Connexion, a materials library for designers, has just unveiled its inaugural MEDIUM awards, for the best materials of the year. The grand-prize winner and the 11 honorable mentions will then be shown in January at the Material Connexion showroom in New York. Here's an exclusive sneak peek of a few of those mind-bending innovations."

tags: innovation, innovation_management, material_connexion, MEDIUM, materials, design, fabrication, FASTcompany