Moving to Mac

Although I have been thinking about it for some time now, I have
finally taken the plunge and I have invested in a mac. The initial
outlay on the macbook is a bit more than a comparable windows PC, this
was not really my concern, it was the conversion away from the windows
operating system. I was worried that it would take me some time to
reach the skill levels I currently l have with windows and time is
scarce enough.

I was in London on Wednesday last and went into the apple store for a
look and thanks to the experience I came out with a macbook under my
arm. I think the conversion will be fine however as I have hardly
turned on my dell since.

The macbook is certainly cool, I chose a black macbook with duo core
processor, 2 Gb of memory and 180G harddrive. I couldnt wait to get
it out of the box and I had no problem getting set up initially.

I am currently trying out pages and keynote and they seem fine, I have
found that I really only use the basic features on word and powerpoint
and everything I need seems to be in the iwork versions.

I am going to transfer over my mail, contacts and critical files over
the holidays, so hopefully I will be fully up to speed on the mac by
the time I get back from the holiday.

Happy Holidays!

Facebook Rules!

I could not understand all the hype about social networking sites, with everyone going on about how important they were, how they were growing so fast, etc, etc.But then I had not tried it out at that stage.

After some good advice one day when a very wise person urged me not to comment until I tried it, I took the plunge and signed up with facebook.  

I really have one word to say in relation to my experience.  ADDICTIVE!  I had a quick look around and quickly found a few friends that I had not heard from in a long time.  All of a sudden we were emailing and meeting up for coffee.  I had added some apps and had a little site created in no time.  I must say Im not sure where superpoking was going but I tried it anyway and got a sheep hurled right back at me.  Interesting!

However on a more serious note I found a few interesting things going on.  Co-creation, I really took control and built my own little site in minutes.  Networking, I got a few friends and was up and running in no time.  Convergence, this was perhaps the most interesting part.  I downloaded a little app on my blackberry and I was updating facebook from everywhere.  And I mean everywhere!  

I think I may not have developed the same interest in the site if I had not got the little facebook icon appearing on the top corner of my blackberry screen telling me that someone somewhere in the world has sent me a mail or written on my wall.  Cool!

Probably the greatest learning for me is the only way to understand facebook, linkedin, bebo or whatever, is to stop talking and start doing.  As Kevin Kelly says if you are going to climb a mountain dont talk to someone who has not climbed one already.  Or in my case just climb a little one first!

See you on facebook!  And watch out for the sheep!

Who Moved My Cheese Open Day

We have had a great response to our recent "Who Moved My Cheese?" Gaining change skills open day programme. I have partnered with Spencer Johnson Partners to deliver the "Who Moved My Cheese?" training programmes in Ireland and the UK. We held an open programme on the 14th of this month in the Ryan Centre for Entrepreneurship for HR professionals and Department managers in order to introduce the course content. The programme will be rolled out over the coming months.

Feedback has been fantastic, with a number of participants booking sessions for their own organisation. For more details contact Rory O'Connor.

Funky Business Forever

I just picked up Ridderstrale and Nordstrom's Funky Business forever and cant wait to read it. I loved the original version and I am mad to see what is still funky and what's not!

I will post a review as soon as I am finished!

NUIG MBA class get serious!

I recently conducted an introduction to the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methodology to the second year executive MBA class in NUI Galway. Thanks to Dr James Cunningham we got the opportunity to spend a half day with the class getting some serious play in.

The session gave the class the chance to experience the methodology and give the students a chance to use their imagination. It was the first time we had introduced the process in an educational setting and thanks to the input of James and the feedback from the class we have been able to tailor a workshop that is very suitable for an educational setting.

We looking forward to playing in univeristy again!

Luxury Brand Masterclass

I came accross a fascinating presentation on Luxury Brand Marketing on slide share by Idris Mootee:

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Having worked in marketing and strategy in the Luxury goods sector for 14 years, I found his presentation well researched and presented. He has really hit the nail on the head in relation to the challenges facing the industry.

If you work in or have an intrest in the Luxury goods industry it certainly worth checking out.

Herding Cats

In his book Scott Berkun, see below, talks about the myth of having a method for innovation. He used a phrase I love, and have used myself previously to try and convey complexity.

Whilst thinking of it I wondered if anyone had attempted to put this image on video. So I checked youtube and of course there was something there.

Enjoy the thrill of herding cats!

Myths of Innovation!

I have just finished reading Scott Berkun's The Myths of Innovation and it is certainly worth the read. In the book Berkun takes a look back at innovation history and explores how ideas become successful innovations.

He uses examples from the history of technology to explain some of the myths that have developed around innovation over time! He clearly outlines how to convert the knowledge you have into ideas that can really add value.

The book outlines ten great myths in the innovation process:

1. The impression that innovation comes in a Eureka Moment
2. That we understand the full history of the manner in which an innovation occured
3. That innovation is systemic
4. That everybody loves new ideas
5. That there is usually a lone inventor
6. That good ideas are hard to find
7. Your boss knows more about innovation than you
8. The best ideas win
9. All problems have solutions
10. Innovation is always good

Berkun's work is clearly laid out, easy to read and full of nuggets. I would suggest anyone intrested in innovation should put in on the list of must reads.

LEGO CEO - presentation to ECCIX conference

Keith Bohanna attended the ECCIX (10th European Conference on Creativity and Innovation) in Denmark on the 14th to the 17th of October and felt that there was one outstanding talk there.

Jorgen Kundstrop the CEO of LEGO delivered a presenation on LEGO's story of creativity and Innovation. Having heard Jorgen speak earlier this year in Billund, I am not surprised as he is both visionary and modest.

View Keith's blog on the conference here.

How did we forget about Serious Play?

I was reading a very intresting article recently which helped me put some of my thoughts in perspective. In my experience convincing business leaders that Serious Play as a integral part of their activities can be challenging, in fact some of them dont seem to get it! I have often had remarks that this is a new business fad. Apparently however we have know about the importance of Serious Play for some time, perhaps we have just forgotten about it!

However Plato and Socrates (circa 400 BC) clearly understood and debated the necessity for Serious Play, indeed Plato mentions it specifically in his Republic.

According to Plato play appears, both as a method used in the instruction of learners as well as an activity related to educational context. Plato distinguishes between play which is playful amusement and the law-abiding play which is serious. Frivolous or non-serious play is the play which diverts attention from the educational goal of the discovery of the truth, and focusses on the dialectical activity as a sport or pastime unrelated to the pursuit of the truth. Serious play concerns itself with the goal of imbuing learners' play in music, stories and athletic games with good order that fosters excellence in the education. The aim of the educational process is the fostering of the growth and development of the learner toward the ultimate objective of the individual's contribution to a good society and the vision of the good itself.

I don't think that it has changed too much since!

If you are intrested you can access the complete article here.

The Creative Competencies

Robert Rasmussen's recent newletter has a very intresting section about "Creative Competencies" He talks about Charles Palus and David Horth's book "The Leader's Edge - Six Creative Competencies for Navigating Complex Challenges" In the book the authors outline six creative competencies that help leaders to make good decisions in turbulent times:

1. Paying Attention; using multiple modes of perception
2. Personalising; tapping into others unique life experiences
3. Imaging; using all kind of images, such as pictures, stories and metaphors
4. Serious Play; generating knowledge through exploration, improvisation, experimentation
5. Co-inquiry; dialoguing within and across community boundaries
6. Crafting; synthesising issues, objects, events into meaningful wholes

In overall terms these six competencies ring true with me based on my own experience and I am going to order the book and review it. I will let you know my opinion in relation to the detail behind the competencies as soon as I finish it.