The Real War on Talent
This article is the Context piece from the Book Rapper issue: Anti-Self-Help. It provides a context for the book summary of two books: Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers and Geoff Colvin’s Talent is Overrated. Just over ten years ago, three executives from McKinsey and Co coined the phrase ‘The War For Talent’. It came out of a […]
How to Succeed in 10,000 Hours
The Books Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers AND Geoff Colvin’s Talent is Overrated – A special issue double act! The Big Idea Success is not simply a function of talent. In fact, ‘natural’ talent may have very little to do with it at all. Speed RAP To be a world-class performer requires two specific factors: the community […]
Brand Worship
The Book Douglas Atkin; The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers Into True Believers, Portfolio, Penguin, New York, 2004. The BIG Idea We all crave ‘meaning’ and ‘belonging’. Cult-like brands have become the new religion because they provide these two basic human needs. Speed RAP People queue overnight to be the first into the new […]
The Keys to Blogging from Top Bloggers
The Book Michael A Banks, Blogging Heroes: Interviews with 30 of the World’s Top Bloggers; Wiley Publishing, Indianapolis, 2008 The Big Idea Blogs are a media channel in their own right with their own rules for success. Speed RAP If you think that a blog is simply a time waster, or an easy outlet to […]
How to Give Your Idea a Potent Twist
The Book Chip and Dan Heath, Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Take Hold and Others Come Unstuck; Random House; London; 2007. The BIG Idea Your greatest asset is your mind; your greatest advantage is the stickiness of your messaging. Speed RAP We’re all scientists in one way. We all have theories and hypotheses. We’re […]
How to Build Collaborative Communities
The Book Barry Libert and Jon Spector and thousands of Contributors, We Are Smarter Than Me: How to Unleash the Power of Crowds in Your Business Speed RAP Bees do it; kids live it; grown-ups adopt it; smart business values it. Collaborative Communities are the near future now. Web 2.0 has enabled community building through […]
The Four Hour Work Week Summary
The Four Hour Work Week Book Summary The Book Timothy Ferriss; The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich, Vermillion, London, 2007. The BIG Idea Our live-to-work culture is obsolete. The Industrial Revolution’s 40 hour a week Deferred Lifestyle has reached retirement age. For the first time in 200 […]
How to Thrive in the Digital Marketing Era
A quick review of Seth Godin’s book Meatball Sundae… The Book Seth Godin, Meatball Sundae, How New Marketing is Transforming the Business World (And How to Thrive In It), Piatkus Books, London 2008. Speed RAP The rules of Marketing have changed. Old Marketing was about selling average products to average people by interrupting them with […]
How to Think Right
The Book Daniel H Pink, A Whole New Mind, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest, 2006 Speed RAP Logical, rational left-brain thinking is necessary yet no longer enough. The right brain skills of design, story telling, emotional empathy, the big picture, playfulness and creating meaning are the keys to succes BIG Idea Pink uses a great […]
Make Money From Niches
The Book Chris Anderson, The Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand, Random House, London, 2006. Speed RAP Thanks to the Internet we’re moving from an ‘OR’ to an ‘AND’ era; a culture of Compact Head and Long Tail, institutions and individuals, professionals and amateurs, mass market and niches. Mass culture won’t fall; […]