Some very special readings this week

Those are special to me! And to you? Take a look!

The Rising Underemployment Rate and its Emotional Impact by Steve Nguyen

In a previous post called The Cost of Unemployment, I wrote about the toll, on health and well-being, that unemployment had on people.

One aspect of unemployment that rarely gets mentioned is underemployment. Gallup defines underemployment as people who are “unemployed or working part-time but wanting full-time work” (Jacobe, 2010, para. 3). According to the latest Gallup poll, the underemployment rate is at a staggering 20% as of March 15, 2010, compared to the 9.7% unemployment rate reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

#Innovation = changing things by Jorge Barba

When I was younger and went with my parents to all family get togethers all the grown ups would sit at a table and talk/rant about politics (you get the picture!). My mom would ask me why I didn’t go and sit with my dad so that I could learn something, to which my response was:

Open Innovation Perspectives for Executives, Innovation Leaders and Employees by Stefan Lindegaard

As I prepare for a couple of workshops in the coming weeks, I have the opportunity to think about how to prepare different messages for three different groups of stakeholders within a company; executives, innovation leaders and other employees working with innovation.

 

Preparing for the Unknown by Andrea Meyer

Story: What will the web look like in 20 years? Stuart Miniman of the Office of the CTO at EMC Corporation asked me to contribute my thoughts on this, as part of EMC’s ON magazine celebration of the web’s 20th anniversary.

 

The Art of Good Decision Making by Mitch Ditkoff

What follows is the second in a series of postings by leadership maven, Barry Gruenberg, the newest member of the Idea Champions team.

 

The Law of Attraction is a Dangerous Delusion by Paul Sloane

One of the biggest bandwagons that has rolled through the self-help community in recent years is the so-called Law of Attraction (LoA). This claims that you attract into your life whatever you think about.  Before I explain why I believe that this is not a law, not true, and not helpful, let me differentiate the LoA from some associated but different self-help concepts that actually do work.

How You Define a Problem Determines if You Can Solve It by Tim Kastelle

How we define things is incredibly important. I’ve been reminded of this almost constantly this week. Here are some examples:

• I was talking with a friend of mine over the weekend about using social media to improve the flow of ideas within an organisation. She is a high-ranking manager in a very large organisation, and she was curious to hear about this blog, and about how John and I have used it as a communication tool

 

Design Thinking: Everywhere and Nowhere,… by Kevin McCullagh

It’s a sign of the times when The Economist, the house journal of the global business elite, holds a conference in London on ‘design thinking’ (official Big Rethink site here). Having attended the conference, produced in association with The Design Council and held over 11-12 March, I was left wondering one thing: why is design thinking such a hot topic with business leaders, given that it leaves so many designers cold?

Thinking About Open Design  By Roland Harwood and David Simoes-Brown

“Open-source software is one thing, but would you fly in an open-source aircraft?”

This question was posed late last year at a gathering of senior design professionals in London. It was couched as a counterargument to the rise of open design and such companies as 99 designs and Quirky that offer low-cost, crowd-sourced design.

Good readings! Have a nice weekend!

Etiquetas: Andrea Meyer, David Simoes Brown, Jorge Barba, Kevin McCullagh, Lindegaard, MItch Ditkoff, Paul Sloane, Rolan Harwood, Steve Nguyen, Tim Kastelle