bwagy

• Makers, Chris Andersons latest book, as he does over and over highlighting a new trend starting to snowball. He looks at the world of invention & entrepreneurship blending & how that plays out today.
• A Man and his Ship, a biography of William Francis Gibbs, the Steve Jobs of the shipping era. Follows his life and his mission of making the infamous United States liner a reality.
• Checklist Manifesto, told through medical case studies, implementation of checklists & manuals in a world of complexity, where even the experts cannot remember absolutely everything. Major failure from experts usually a series of simple in-bane mistakes.

And for a few Kindle Singles, I enjoyed:

• Wired McAfee single, talking about his shift to Belize, written just before the recent stream of events.
• A quick summary of Warren Buffetts favourite three books, a nice way to digest wider advice.
• Gutenberg, looking at the man who invented the printing press.

Other notables:

• One Click: Looking at Jeff Bezos and the growth of Amazon. An excellent book which is a must read to know the man behind Amazon but also the early years which formed the company.
• Grouped, looking at how the web has reformulated itself so that your peer groups influence your decision making and moving from a 1-1 relationship with the web.
• NewsJacking, latest David Merman Scott, reminding us of guerrilla marketing in the digital (real time) age. A great prod.
• Stealth of Nations, I have written about it before, but looking at the effect the informal economy has around the world. Marvellous read.

A lot of my job is watching how technology flows through the curve.

That is what’s at the end, what’s upcoming and what’s tipping mainstream.

Mobile (as in smartphones, apps, mobile sites, content) is just beginning to tip.

It’s been massive & growing for a while, those in early have definitely benefitted but now it’s starting to get to the bulk of businesses from the laggards to the late majority.

First tip is to look at your current analytics, how many are already coming via mobile? 15% seems the norm, higher means you need to hurry up.

Being based out of New Zealand gives a unique view of the world, so I’m always keen to get out & about see what’s happening on the ground around the world.

Nothing more telling than experiencing something.

So with that, I’m off up to New York for Ad:Tech NY in a couple of weeks.

If any blog readers want to meet up always keen – just flick me a note.

We have a demo of our technology platform Nudge which identifies brand influencers which we’ll be presenting to a few companies.    If you’re a brand manager (especially in FMCG) trying to figure out how to tackle digital give me a bell.

And we (via Young&Shand) have some great case studies of, doubling FMCG sales through digital, effective digital integrated campaigns and a framework for launching new consumer products.  Straightforward but quite insightful

Our schedule is tight but we’re there from 3rd-11th.

Or if you know anyone that I ought to meet I’d also be keen.

For this email me ben.young@youngshand.com

-Ben

The nature of business is that you have to be diplomatic – a lot.

Disagreements come up all the time. Working with parties who have conflicting agendas are all part in parcel.

Disagreement doesn’t mean you’re right and they’re wrong, or vice versa, it just means you disagree. Even if we can’t agree on these points, here are some we can, to build a relationship lets focus on these.

It’s often the lack of relationship which creates the friction, the differences can exist but a stronger relationship lessens the negative effects.

Never let your ego get in the way of getting to that relationsip. It is tough but means you can get to that bigger goal which makes it worth it.  You’d be surprised of what you can accomplish when you do.

Have some area to play. To de-brief, to talk, to unwind. We have table tennis & foosball, as well as being located in a hub of great cafes & bars, so people can connect outside of work.

Inspire yourselves, let people take ownership of their spaces, decorating, or creating art, posters on the wall.

Have a beer fridge – with all sorts of beverages. Again lets people have some social time at work, meaning a stressful day can be unwound before you go.

Have brainstorms. Get everyone out to help solve a problem. Gets everyone involved.

Team lunches. Again when the company has a big win – take the team out. Share the win with everyone. It’s what the whole organisation is there for.

Share case studies. Little stories or wins that people have. This can be a newsletter, notice board.

Company talks every now and again. We do Y&S talks, with topics from how to sell an idea to art installations. Google Talks are even more impressive.

Pick one and give it a go.

Becks latest album is to be launched only with the sheet music.

To bring it to life you need to play it or find a mate who can.

It’s not real or complete till you take part.

People just want to be involved, acknowledged & rewarded for their participation. It’s the fundamental behind all successful products.

10 years ago having a three or more different email addresses was a pain, way too many.  Too many websites to go and check.

However.

These days we have them, one’s called Facebook, one’s called Yammer, one’s called Twitter, on top of our work and personal emails.

At some point there’s going to be some consolidation. There always is.  Make it easier for us.