How Confucianism Could Curb Global Warming

This article talks about China and its government’s consideration of philosophy’s role (Confucianism, Taosim, Buddhism) as a moral groundwork for sustainability and the preservation of natural capital. Since I’m a student of eastern philosophy, it grabbed me right away. There is a distinct role for living philosophy to play in the direction of people’s lives, organizational, and societal behavior.

Faith and philosophy can play a massive role in the world’s transformation to an increasingly sustainable society,at least from a personal living and consumption habits standpoint. What it comes down to, across all religions/philosophies, is the understanding of interdependence, cause/effects, and generalized systems thinking.

It’s my hope that these last lines of thought can reach wider social reach, because from my point of view (and belief that we’re inherently wired to care), this acts as a preemptive psychological mechanism for always doing the right thing to begin with, or at least being more prone to consider the causes & effects of actions we (may sometimes for various reasons) take. Both self and other-interest can be served.

But back to the story though. If many of China’s citizens accept the moral responsibility to ensure the future livelihoods of their children, where does that leave America? Much of this country is agnostic, much of it Christian. The orthodoxic nature of Christianity has been world-renowned to place social/interpersonal care at the top of its agenda, but drastically less-so nature.

Given the American affinity toward pluralism of faiths and ideologies, the burden will be on each of them to integrate this systemic thinking and care for nature into its teachings. It is my sincere belief that many of today’s ills cannot be solely addressed through reactivity and compassion. Rather, we must smartly address the cause of many sorrows. Leadership, Education, and Awareness is the essential first step, followed by rational guidance.

From Ralf Beuker @iterations, comes this awesome diagram he posted on Flickr last month (click on picture or here for full detail version). Here’s his official description:

“In the course of the strategic collaboration with my friend and business partner Erik Roscam Abbing from Zilverinnovation.com we’ve recently dedicated a whole day on framing our key areas of expertise in a meaningful concept.

What we came up with is a map that is defining our view on what a ‘Design Strategy’ actually comprises and how to transform ‘Design Strategy’ into actionable, logic steps.

In order to give interested folks a better idea on the tools and outcomes of our approach we’ve added some examples from recent client projects as well.”

Great job guys! Love it

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A neat thing about 3d printing, apart from being uber rad to begin with, is that the idea of quickly developing prototypes speeds up the product development process and, to a degree, is sustainable in the sense of not using multiple materials and creating waste. Gotta love the direction of this video too, with the Myriad font, Danny Elfman like music, and the feeling of wonder and perhaps desire created, although yes it’s very geeky

via @rebang

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Info as provided by producer:

Futurist Gerd Leonhard’s presentation on the Future of Content & Telecom at the eComm Conference in San Francisco.

Overview: Imagine a world where unfiltered and limitless access to content is bundled directly into your access to the networks. A world where ‘your cloud’ holds all kinds of content, your social network connections, your community, and your context (i.e. meta-content), your meta-data and your interaction-trails, and where access to all of this is feels-like-free, legal, always-on and fully mobile, on any and all platforms. This is the future we are heading into, and telecoms, content-owners and brands / advertisers must forge entirely new partnerships. We are starting to see content creators and rights-owners aborting their long-standing quests for total control, and instead looking to build their audiences and share revenues. So where is this trend going to take us, what do we need to do in order to turn content (music, video, TV, news, games, books…) into a new and truly growing business that is really web-native, where are the big opportunities for telecoms, operators, social networks and rights-holders, and what will the new business models look like? In this context, Gerd also addresses topics such as the flat rate for digital music, ISP/Operator + Content bundling examples in Europe and Asia, copyright 2.0 and the future of content commerce, the shift from control-economy to attention & trust economy, the latest developments in next generation advertising, and the growing economic power of those ‘new generatives’ (> Kevin Kelly)…”

What I found interesting was the mention that Kentucky Fried Chicken is the largest music distributor in Malaysia. Crazy…

via Design Thinkers

About four years ago I read an interesting book called Super Searchers on Competitive Intelligence, which was a series of interviews with professional researchers on a variety of questions regarding CI, research methodologies, project management, and so on. Here are the collective tips I gleaned from the book, in addition to some of my own from practical experience.

1. Trenches time: 20% secondary research, 30% primary research, and 50% analysis.
2. Always ask if your work is actionable and not just “nice to know”.
3. If you see a trend supported by data, but still fragmented, trust your instincts and draw a conclusion.
4. Check sources on all info.
5. Sometimes you need to spend money to get great info.
6. Know your info source’s strengths, weaknesses, biases.
7. Project Management is key.
8. But realize there is no single, generic process. The deadlines, requirements, and recipient impact the depth, scope, nature of project, how it will be used and by whom.
9. Learn the industry including environmental influences, new competitors, opportunities, and threats.
10. Cite sources for quick reference later.
11. PDF data if you’re afraid it might not be available later.
12. Build relationships with everyone.

I’ve used many of these tips for articles, research, and proposals on marketing and product development. A couple particular tips I’ll expand on relate to inquiry and relationships.

There’s a lot of collective intelligence scattered amongst company employees and partners. This includes both line-workers, managers, and executives. Many folks are eager to express their opinions, but they’ve just never been asked. Therefore you have to be social with everyone, engage in a little bit of small talk, and ask questions. Perhaps the individual may not know the answer you’re looking for, but knows someone else who does.

Today’s social web makes for a huge variety of potential sources in building a picture of what you’re researching. But of course be aware of how biases, sentiments (positive/negative), and opinions may add a lot of unuseful data. FILTERS (technical & human) are very important! As mentioned before, source credibility is paramount.

Sketch! Seriously. Draw diagrams and maps of human relationships, processes, knowledge, and so on. It really helps. There’s only so much text alone can do for us. But drawing helps build conceptual interrelationships, and the labels we use carry deeper meaning to text we’ve already written, or thoughts in our head. Sketching also helps us visualize what we’ve accomplished, what still needs to be done, relative importance, and may open up areas we haven’t explored yet. It’s an interative process throughout a project, and may carry benefits forward for additional ones.

Additional Resources:
Competitive Intelligence - A Selective Resource Guide - Updated and Revised March 2009

In mid-May, I attended the Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s University summit in Miami Beach, FL. It was an amazing time, where I took many notes on various presentations, and learned quite a bit. In an effort to make sure I can better retain the knowledge while sharing it, I’ll be doing a series of posts on the various sessions for everyone’s benefit. Note however that these posts will be written as a mix of notes and personal opinion for time management reasons. If you have a question or comment, please call me or (obviously) leave a comment.

Yelp is a social review engine with 21 million unique monthly visitors and over 6 million reviews, of which 31% are for restaurants, and 23% for shopping. There’s a 6:1 ratio of positive reviews. Business owners get free accounts, and Yelp makes money from local search ads. National retailers should care about reviews - people are checking and giving them. We all have a love/hate relationship with reviews though, whether it be for a brand we own or have an opinion about.

Geoff recalls a carpet cleaning small business owner who he’d met who said that control in the hands of customers is terrifying (branding/reputation). Just in case he accidentally cut off somebody in traffic, he removed all the logos from his vans since he didn’t want to get a negative review. In the past, he’d spent $50-100k on Yellow Pages advertising, but now spends $0. The Yelp effect on his business was that (in terms of dollars) = increased customer service, lower marketing, and increased sales.

Nothing sells better than word of mouth, but it requires thick skin. Customer-provided stories about products and services work far better for sales than advertising. Businesses doing well on Yelp, and notice it, are putting more time and effort into customer service and promoting WOM.

Yelp started their first national ad partnership with Starwood hotels. Interesting backstory though: Scottsdale, AZ hotel had a nightclub. An angry turned-away clubgoer left a bad review of the club. Starwood contacted Yelp and wanted the review removed. What to do? The ad partnership was already signed and Starwood wasn’t very happy. The review wasn’t blasphemous and Yelp thought it’d be unfair to simply remove it. Starwood hesitantly went along. To increase the average rating, you’d have to try and get more people to experience the brand and leave their opinions. Since people use Yelp for finding dining & entertainment experiences, an advertising opportunity presented a good option for further brand exposure, and people who attended via Yelp would have a higher propensity to leave a review.

The temptation to spam is strong. A simple but gray example is of a gentleman who maneuvered the system: some good older reviews went missing due to spam filters, owner wanted them back up, so he set up fake accounts to put that person’s name and original comment back on the site.

Manufactured reputation usually backfires. The crowd knows better and may conduct vigilante justice by posting things like, “BUYER BEWARE: Don’t trust these reviews.”

Negative word of mouth can be good for business though. Geoff recalls an incident where someone left a comment about a coffee shop, “WAY too serious about coffee”, and left a one star review (that person preferred an average non-memorable experience). However, the coffee shop owner proudly took that review and branded it on shirts, mugs, and other identity touchpoints.

It’s worth engaging your vocal customers…gently. According to a small wine retailer, “The customer is the most valuable person”, and had used Yelp to respond to reviews and address customer service issues. Negative reviews turned positive, and those individuals became fans.

Geoff’s parting thoughts: 1) Genie is out of the bottle 2) Better off joining the conversation than not 3) Choose ambassadors carefully

Question: Ethics of promoting reviews?
Answer: Financial incentives (coupons/other) are frowned upon - in other words tying social norms into market norms. Instead, be subtle; consider multi-channel linking (online, creative offline) to the brand’s Yelp page. Directly asking for a review is a bit awkward.

Question: What about having ambassadors for national retailers? How could that work?
Answer: Local people to the retail location are the answer. Ambassadors could be store employees who look after Yelp reviews as a small part of their job. On the other hand, people attuned to social media listening at corporate can work with designated store personnel on customer service and engagement.

Podcast Interview with Geoff Donaker, COO of Yelp - 20min

About 7 weeks ago, I received a review copy of “Rules of Thumb” by Alan Webber as a gift from their agent. Instead of making a comprehensive book review, I thought I’d break down the 52 rules on life and business into various posts, using a bit of Alan’s writing and personal perspective as I read through it. That way it’s helpful to us all

“When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Relax”

Alan recounts being an associate editor for the Harvard Business Review in the early 80s, and describes a live interview opportunity he’d received with then German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt. Now this gent was apparently known to be a bit “better-than-thou” with people asking questions, so Alan had good reason to feel a bit nervous. Before Helmut walked in, he wrote a couple key reference phrases at the top of his pad, along the lines of

“Relax! Smile! This is a blessing, a treat, and an honor. It’s not a punishment to be endured.”

That’s the key. When we’re in situations where there’s great opportunity, we all can tense up, and perhaps think of all the things that can go wrong. If we dwell on them, a little whirlwind or slight breezes of negative thinking can hinder the best in us from coming out, reaching out, and giving our best - unconsciously, naturally. I liken such scenarios to black-or-white thinking: a dangerous pool to be wading in even if we’re looking on the extreme bright side of things, because overconfidence may hinder us from great interpersonal interaction, while also inflating expectations and potentially setting ourselves up for a big letdown, which may result in lame emotional reasoning. I think you get the point.

Alan further expands on this by mentioning W. Edward Deming’s 8th point in total quality management:

“Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.”,

but stresses that the starting place lies within US. In addition to the aforementioned reasons, having a relaxed composure and confident attitude ensures that we’ll have a good time - no matter what the outcome is. After all, things may not go favorably, predictably, or easily for a variety of reasons. Given that, isn’t it then worthwhile to ensure you at least made the best of it and smile?

“Don’t let fear undermine your chance to do that one thing you’ve wanted to do…Take a second and smile. Enjoy the trip.”

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Great video on leadership, produced by the information design company Xplane and Nitin Nohria, who had this to say from the press release:

“It is my desire to inspire people of all ages and social demographics to think about leadership on a broad level, contemplate what it means to them and what individual impact they can have when it comes to leading.”

via @rtkrum

I had this article saved as a draft for a review and summary, but since it’s a bit multi-faceted and not very long, I suggest you check it out. In the meantime, here are some of Ann’s nuggets from the Core77 piece:

“Perhaps the central implication of a “low product” scenario is that designers could help articulate a new “social language.” A new language would rely largely on inner growth and improved social contexts as a means to well being, rather than material goods and individual purchases. What will we do instead of shop? Alternatives include things like self-provisioning (DIY), sharing, or community provisioning. Interestingly, a non-purchase solution doesn’t have to mean a non-design solution, as these emerging categories indicate:” [see article for examples]

“The bottom line, if you’ll excuse the pun, is that designers need to see and understand the economy before they can grapple with how to organize their own work. Unfortunately most discussions of sustainable design gloss over the workings of the economy (my own book deals with it substantially and, I like to think, accessibly in design terms). Designers alone can’t bring about a steady state economy, but we can begin to use the economy for sustainable ends, rather than letting the economy use us solely for economic growth. This challenge requires us to simultaneously deal with the daily realities of the high product context (where we typically try to make existing consumerism more efficient), while simultaneously plotting moves towards the low product context.”

For more of Anne’s thoughts, check out her blog: Design Activism

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John Thackara shows the ways in which business as we know it are about to change for good, and then identifies how interaction designers can take these challenges on as design problems. I know many of us are time-strapped, and it’s within our nature to have a low patience tolerance unless we’re being engaged in a Story. Therefore, I recommend just pressing play and let it act as a radio show while you go about your activities. About 2/3 through, you may want to actually start watching it because John shows examples of a variety of projects on the overhead for which the visual experience is worthwhile. In his own words:

“Climate change, environmental degradation, resource depletion, peak debt and peak energy: these are all stakes being driven into the body of business as usual. The days of acting as if infinite growth were possible within a finite system are over.

Where does this leave interaction design? Last year, a new product was launched every three minutes. Many of these involved the design of an interaction or an experience. But the overwhelming majority of these products and services also waste stupendous amounts of energy and natural resources – and eighty percent of their negative environmental impact is determined at the design stage.

We need to develop products, services and infrastructures according to tough new principles: low-carbon, zero waste, resource-efficient. In this new world of better lives with less stuff, the keywords are resilience, and regenerative design.

What will the experience off these new solutions be like? Where should we look for answers? How do we scale up promising new ideas?

We should start with changes already underway; social innovation is all around us. Among more than a million grassroots environmental organizations already out there are Post-carbon Cities; Energy Descent Action Plans; Resilient Communities; Transition Towns.”

What I liked about this presentation is John’s framing of the issues at hand, how certain innovators and solutions have sprung up, and the opportunities for interaction designers to help make a big difference in their accessibility and adoption, thereby contributing to the movement. Being a fan of interface, information, and usability design, I highly appreciate the contribution these fields can make. Can you say Apple?

About John:
Director of Doors of Perception, which was founded in 1993 to create a conference of that name in Amsterdam. It now produces festivals and projects that engage a worldwide network of designers, media artists, technology innovators, and grassroots innovators to imagine (and begin to design) sustainable futures. He also works with cities and regions seeking to build next-generation institutions.

His personal web site is http://www.thackara.com