I just stumbled upon this site while visiting, Moving at The Speed of Creativity. The site is Wordle. They have created a cool little app that allows you to create word clouds from your delicious tags or blog rss feed. You can then customize the fonts, colors, and layout to your choosing.
Ah, this reminds me of the days I used to subscribe to U&lc (Upper & lowercase) Magazine. Now you can see the online version. But, the print edition was a thing of beauty. Never had type or the crafting of words looked so sexy. Type designers would draw inspiration and just a little envy from the over-sized newsprint periodical. I loved to look at the use of words and letters to create textures and patterns.
Good times…
It’s hard not to get just a little nostalgic. Here is the blog feed in Wordle. Enjoy!
What does it take to achieve sales success? A near-infinite number of experts have pondered, theorized, and philosophized about the answer to this basic question. But when you break down that mountain of opinions (at least the credible ones) it becomes clear that they all have some elements in common.
1. No dead-end leads
In a successful sales strategy, salespeople are not asked to pursue, or even to initially contact, an unqualified lead. Ensure the prospect is shopping for what you’re selling before the lead ever reaches your sales department. Otherwise, you’re wasting salespeople’s time, a valuable commodity. The best way to do this is to place advertising where buyers in your market are already searching for your product or service. Send only qualified leads their way, and salespeople will spend their time wisely and profitably.
2. A tried and true process
You have your sales team screened, hired and trained on the features and benefits of your product. Now it’s time for them to step up to the plate. But what’s their sales approach? Did you think through the possible sales techniques and make an informed choice about what would work most effectively for your product and market? If not, your team may not hit the home run you’re hoping for. Take the time to think about what approach would work best for the sales environment your reps will be facing. Once the process is in place, keep an eye on its progress. Determine what the salespeople do with those leads and (if possible) how many resulted in a sale.
3. Armed with the right tools
A sales team must have the tools necessary to complete the job successfully. If a rep has no leave-behinds or follow-up materials, they are losing the race before they ever leave the gate. Arm your sales team with the knowledge and materials (online and in print) they need to do their job effectively. And make sure your brand is represented…and easily reachable…online. Your brand should be visible on reputable websites where industry buyers go to do research before purchasing.
4. Data intelligence
To succeed, you must have a good handle on what’s working, and what’s not. Spend your budget on the right advertising – that which produces qualified leads. To make sure you’re doing that, track the performance of your marketing programs. No longer is marketing an ambiguous function that’s nearly impossible to track and measure. One of the draws of online marketing is that it has taken the guesswork and mystery out of measuring an ad’s performance. Pick your key metrics – focus on 1 or 2 metrics which show clear progress toward the goal.
5. Secure the future
Once the sale is made, the job shouldn’t be done. At least it’s not for successful sales organizations. Follow-up and relationship building should be a part of the sales process, not a “nice-to-have” extra. Strive to make every company you do business with a long-term customer. When new products and services come out, make sure your best customers from the past know about the new options available to them. To ensure this long-term relationship building happens, it is marketing’s job to provide salespeople reasons to keep in touch with customers. Newsletters, white papers and press releases keep your name at the front of the customer’s mind long after the initial sale is completed.
Make sure your sales strategy incorporates these tools and your salespeople will be on the road to success.
-Source: MediaBrains September 15, 2008 newsletter.
Want a quickie? That was the feeling I got after recently visiting Happy Sumo in Dunwoody, Georgia for my birthday. It must have been the feeling a lot of other people had too, because many were outside afterward smoking cigarettes. Although, it could have been to get the bad taste out of their mouth’s.
But, I regress. Let me start from the beginning. I have been to Japan, studied Japanese, and know the difference between Americanized-Japanese food and the real thing. I know this is not Japan but I appreciate finding good food for a good price in a good atmosphere with good service. Happy Sumo did not come through.
The interior/exterior is about what you’d expect of a typical U.S. Japanese Steak House. Decor and music try to create a pseudo-oriental ambiance. Tables, tatami rooms, and hibachi grills packed with people.
So we go in and get seated at a hibachi grill. Swish-swish-clank, swish-swish-clank, swish-swish-clank come the sounds of the server whisking around the table and dropping off the warm towelettes. No sooner had we wiped our hands than a second round of swish-swish-pock, swish-swish-pock, as the towelettes were gathered up and a cup of Miso soup plopped down in front of everyone.
Shortly after that our orders were taken followed by a scurrying of wheels as the chef rolled up to the table for the nights entertainment. Ting-tah-tingtingting followed by a whoosh of flame and then more ting-tinging. Everything about the meal was hurried and rushed. The kids loved it — they have very short attention spans. The adults, however, never really got a chance to enjoy the evening. No sooner had the chef wheeled away to his next table than the owner (?) came by and asked if there would be anything else. We said, “no thank you” as myself and friends were finishing up dinner and preparing to visit and open some unexpected cards and gifts. Suddenly, the owner (?) came back to the table with the check and asked us to leave the table so others could sit down.
That was a first!
I do not think I have EVER been to a restaurant in any country where I was asked to get moving because there was a line outside. If the establishment is good, a customer is willing to wait — thus the concept of a “wait time.”
This told me a lot about the priorities of Happy Sumo. It was not for the benefit of the waiting customers, because I am sure they were hurried through their meal experience as well. This was more about the money and turning tables, which frankly left a bad taste in mouth. As a result, I will not be back or recommend this restaurant.
Remember all the talk in the late 90s of the “brand called you?” Well, much has changed in the past 10 years – including the way we conduct a job search and the way we network with each other. But the original concept of branding yourself, especially in today’s competitive marketplace for plum roles and positions, is more relevant than ever.
Sure, you have a LinkedIn page. Perhaps you’ve signed up for Naymz and one of your colleagues invited you to join NotchUp or even one of the newer business social networks like Ryze. More and more online business networking opportunities are sprouting up every day. You may have even designed a personal web page with your professional credentials.
That’s a good start, but is that enough to build your own personal brand? No.
Focus on Number One
As executives in marketing, advertising and sales can certainly attest, marketing a company’s product or service, generating sales leads and enhancing the brand is paramount to company success. So why wouldn’t you use that same approach for yourself? Sound too self-serving? Think again.
Really successful executives, the ones that are consistently written about, quoted as experts, and asked to partner with top executives and companies, do one thing and do it well. They promote themselves and their expert opinions.
Creating an online profile in a number of places and monitoring your online presence is definitely important, but if you ignore your real world presence, you’re cutting your own legs. Busy executives pour through hundreds of emails and view scores of web pages each day. Will your digital communication or web presence stand out among the deluge of daily digital information? Well, it’s a big challenge.
What will be remembered is poignant, real world interaction.
Make it Real
You can generate this sort of interaction and attention for the “brand called you” in a dozen different ways. However, the three ways that have had the biggest impact and are often a catalyst for more opportunities are:
Participating in industry trade groups and associations
Speaking at prominent industry events
Writing well-crafted, by-lined articles in trade publications
In a sense, think back to basics. Some may scoff at the notion of participation at the trade level. Whether it’s engineering, finance or technology, the trades are not nearly as glamorous as being featured in Forbes or Fortune or speaking at Davos. But let’s be realistic, only a very small handful of people are invited to participate at those high levels.
So don’t scoff at them – embrace your trades! It will be your entrance to bigger and better things. Everything is cyclical – a trade article could lead to being selected for a speaking engagement, which leads to being quoted in a news article, which leads to a panel opportunity, which leads to being interviewed on television as an industry expert. You never know. Your participation with Beer Advocate magazine six months ago could have led to being asked to comment on the mammoth Anheuser-Busch/InBev merger.
Be Memorable
The same holds true for conferences, conventions and industry association events. You certainly don’t need to attend every single one in your industry, but select a few key events and really focus on your personal interactions. You may be a sales person for your organization, so of course one of your goals might be generating sales leads, but don’t make the mistake of ignoring your other goal – selling YOU.
Focus on real world interaction with people. Have the kind of conversations that will make people remember you, not run the other direction because you are hounding them. Be genuine. Be thoughtful. Find ways you can help people as much as they can help you. These tenets may seem natural to some, foreign to others, but in any case, they will go a long way in building your brand.
In Short
Create this simple litmus test: Is what I am doing improving my brand, both online and off-line?
Remember: Networking is not about collecting as many business cards as you can. It’s about quality over quantity.
I recently attended a conference and during the networking portion I was approached by a gentleman who quite frankly told me that his boss told him to attend the conference and hand out his business cards. He then offered me his business card and walked away.
Obviously, his business card was immediately circular filed the same way I file random online invites when I receive them. Do yourself a favor – don’t be that person.
Scott Lahde is a 15-year veteran of the communications industry and is Vice President, Associate Director of Corporate Communications at Deutsch Inc., a $2.5 billion top-ten, bi-coastal communications agency.
It’s funny how many people I speak with that say things like, “I am not creative,” or “I wish I was creative,” or the ever popular, “I do not have a creative bone in my body!” To which I respond, “You’re full of it!…”
…Creativity, that is.
I am a firm believer that everyone IS CREATIVE. Don’t let any art snob tell you differently. Just because you may not play music, perform, paint, draw, or sculpt does not mean you’re not creative. You exhibit creativity every day of your life.
I must say at this point that I do not in anyway endorse illegal forms of creativity. Yet, you must admit, some folks can be very creative in their attempts to break the law.
At WeirdGuy blog we talk a lot about learning, leadership, technology, and more — through the lens of creativity and fun. Solving any problem is a creative process whether it’s a business issue, people issue, technical issue, or any issue for that matter.
Learning
How do you teach, train, or communicate? In order to get in touch with your audience you look for creative ways to engage the “student” in learning. You look for creative ways to make learning stick. You want learning to be fun and memorable and to solve performance related problems so you need to use your creativity. There are many others ways too — tell me how you do it in your line of work.
Leadership
How do you generate income, protect your brand, or market your products? You may hire a creative firm, but the final say is yours, right? You know your audience and you know your culture. How do you keep employees excited and engaged? You allow them to exercise their creativity. How do you use creativity in your business or where you work? Share your ideas here.
Technology
How do you scale your technical infrastructure, protect your digital data, or enhance your online environment? I.T. folk rarely see themselves as creative, yet I see incredible forms of creativity in solving many coding and back-end related issues. For example, a UI designer may come up with a hip and cool look for a Web site, but unless the technology supports the graphics, it’s only eye-candy or a pretty picture. What are additional ways your technology team demonstrates creativity? Share with others here.
Community
How do you create community, drive involvement, and foster interaction? You look for creative ways to create and spur dialog. You open the community to forms of creative expression through customization. You look for way to creatively set yourself apart from the other social networks and communities. You look for creative interchange between you and the community members. And, there are more ways to creatively leverage community — share how you do it.
Creativity
Yes, creativity. How do you foster, manage, and incorporate creativity into your life (work and personal)? What do you do to stay motivated, captivated, and innovative? What kinds of books do you read, music do you listen to, podcasts do you subscribe to, programs and movies do you watch? How do you capture your thoughts and ideas for further inspiration and creative development? Share you examples here.
Bottom line, YOU ARE CREATIVE. Celebrate it. Exercise it. Look for new and fresh approaches to all that you do and above all, have fun while doing so. You’ll find it’s a natural by-product.
Trade shows offer your company a unique opportunity to create visibility and communicate with many people at once. However, trade shows can require a big investment of resources (time and money). Here are a few tips to help you get the most bang from your trade show buck.
Choose the Right Show
It’s usually a good idea to attend a show before you exhibit, unless you’re 100% sure it’s the right show.
Scope out the space you want.
Try to find out as much as you can about past show attendees and exhibitors. This information is often available from the sponsoring organization.
Ask about planned show promotions such as pre-event mailings and media buys. The more resources that a sponsoring organization puts into the show, the higher the chances of a successful show.
Talk to previous exhibitors about their show experience.
Get trade show referrals from your best customers.
If necessary, choose high-interest shows over larger shows.
Consider your budget. If you can’t afford to present yourself in the best possible light at a show, it’s better to pass on that show.
Idea: Find a show that targets an under-served customer base. You could be the only game in town.
Choose Your Space
Get in early so that you can take advantage of early bird discounts and secure your space before the show gets “cherry picked.”
Think about traffic patterns and layout. Will the attendees get sidetracked by a show feature before they get to your booth? People tend to go to the right when they enter a show, so a booth located up front on the left might not be the best choice. You also want to avoid dark corners of the exhibit hall.
Position yourself near traffic drivers like food, drink, anchor booth, interactive elements, Internet cafes, or the entrance door to a show seminar.
Ask about booth restrictions such as exhibit height limitations, lighting rules, music/sound restrictions. Be sure that your Wow Factor isn’t against the rules!
Pre-Show Publicity and Visibility
Consider doing a series of pre-event mailers or emails to attendees with a very specific call to action that gets them to your booth and/or your Web site. Come see us in booth ## just won’t cut it. Big, pretty postcards or “lumpy mail” are my favorites!
Offer a compelling and interactive booth promotion and ensure that attendees will “get it” with just one glance.
Use the show as an opportunity to meet potential vendors and strategic partners.
Contact prospects that you know will be at the event and set appointments to meet with them during the show days.
Try to leverage media coverage during the show. Sponsor something, volunteer to serve on a committee, let the show producers know you’re willing to do media interviews, have a visually interesting pitch for the media, and develop some media one-sheets about your company to have on-hand.
Set Goals
Determine your primary purpose for being at the show. Generate leads? Close sales? Cement customer relationships? Develop an opt-in email or mailing list? Find vendors? Set a specific goal for that objective.
What is your branding/awareness goal? What impression are you trying to make?
Being present with the competition is a non-measurable, but often important goal.
Incorporate a Wow Element into your Show Presentation
The key to getting attention at a show is interactivity and brand-related fun! Your job is to be the talk of the show.
You must get the attention of attendees so you have an opportunity to qualify them.
Unique giveaways, costumes/characters, games, demos and entertainment are all big hits at trade shows.
Hand out brochures selectively. It’s better to have a postcard or rack card for everyone to pick up. Reserve your large brochures for the real prospects.
Create a reason for following-up with booth visitors.
Getting Ready
Make a packing checklist for all your materials and supplies.
Practice booth set-up.
Choose extroverted, knowledgeable and enthusiastic people to staff your booth.
Have enough people staffing each booth shift. Three per shift is a good rule of thumb…two to stay in the booth and one to network on the show floor.
Develop and communicate a complete booth marketing plan for all staffers.
Determine beforehand how leads will be captured and who will do the follow-up.
Establish a primary booth message that everyone uses.
Discuss dress and booth protocol.
Create brief qualifying questions that everyone will use.
Wear pockets for stashing business cards while on the show floor.
Make top executives available throughout the day if possible.
Have everyone practice the 30-second commercial or elevator speech so it flows naturally with attendees.
Now go out and conquer that next trade show!
Source: Renea Myers is the President of Renea Myers Marketing.
I love the simple design of this functional artwork. Also, if you’re working in a terminal and do not want someone sitting next to you, all you need to do is remove the back-rest and –tadaa! — instant work surface :)
One of my buddies just tipped me off to a must-have tab management add-on for Firefox. It’s called FoxTab, and it’s a cross between Mac OS X’s Expose, Windows Vista’s Flip 3D, and the thumbnail view in Google Chrome. When you’ve got a lot of tabs open in Firefox, this offers a quick way to jump to the page you want without having to eyeball the name of each one.
To toggle it on you just hit a small keyboard shortcut and it zooms out all the tabs into a giant wall. You can also summon it with a small button that sits next to the address bar, or by choosing it from the right click menu. Once opened, you simply pick which tab you want to see by clicking it, or simply scrolling with your mouse wheel. It’s not nearly as smooth as Tab Effect, an eye candy tab switching add-on Rafe wrote about back in September of last year, but it’s neat nonetheless.
NOTE: This was posted on Communication Nation a little while back, but I loved the drawings and had to share.
By Dave Gray
The difference between local and global markets is like the difference between the fishbowl and the ocean. To understand and engage successfully requires a shift in perspective. Here are a few tips to help you get the most from your global communications efforts:
1. Get outside your fishbowl. To go global you’ve got to get out from behind your desk. Your culture surrounds you like the air you breathe, and you can’t understand it until you get outside it. Spend some time – an extended period, if possible – completely immersed in another culture. When you return, you’ll be surprised how many things you notice that were previously invisible.
2. Be authentic. Being global doesn’t mean losing your identity. If you’re a global company that was started in Germany and is headquartered in Germany, it’s perfectly ok to be German. It’s a multicultural world and you are a part of it too. The key is to be respectful of other cultures while being true to your own unique identity.
3. Remember that you are a guest. When you are visiting another country, or when you open an office there, you are a guest. The same rules apply that would apply if you were visiting a friend’s house. Be polite, respectful, and thoughtful in your communications.
4. Think visually. There’s a reason why TV is booming while newspapers are going out of business. People understand pictures faster and more easily than words. With pictures you can communicate complex ideas instantly, and virtually nothing is lost in translation. And words need to be translated, while pictures are a universal form of communication.
5. Ask for feedback. Share your ideas with global teams early, when they are in the napkin-sketch stage, and ask for feedback. When you ask people to participate in defining the message, you build trust. If you build your message globally, then deployment becomes much easier.
Are you on a virtual team? Are you amongst the next generation web workers of the world? Then Wiggio is for you!
From Wiggio’s About Page
As seniors at Cornell, we started wiggio out of our own frustrations with unnecessarily clogged inboxes, using five different websites for five different functions, and all the other hassles associated with working in groups. We were tired of sending eleven emails back and forth just to set a meeting time. We were tired of that guy who just never knows where and when to be there. We were tired of list-servs, contact lists, phone-chains and incompatibilities. We wanted everything to be in one place, and we wanted it simple. So we created wiggio.
Wiggio lets you use the following group tools, and it’s all for free!
Messages— send mass text messages, voice messages and emails from wiggio
Calendar— keep a shared group calendar that will send you text message reminders before all your meetings, practices, rehearsals, games and other events
Poll—survey your entire group and get their responses as they answer
Folder— dump all your groups’ files into one folder and never send another attachment
Meetings— never walk 15 minutes through the snow to get to a 10 minute meeting again… setup free conference calls and web chats on Wiggio
It’s in your pocket: teaching spectacularly with cell phones. Great speech by Hall Davidsonfrom Discovery Education Network about using mobile phones in education, the kind of talk many teachers and administrators need to hear. The first thing Hall said was to take out and turn on our cell phones
There is a large potential for cell phones in education, but current best practices are small. Mobiles have lots of functionality, including:
Telephone
Text messenger
Still camera
Video camera
Video player
GPS device
Podcaster
Music player
Are we really going to ignore a device this powerful? Can we, when it has all kinds of applications for teaching, learning, school-to-home, administration?
In general, we still take cell phones away, and school districts ban them (e.g. during school hours). However, if this is a tool for adults, we need to teach kids how to use it.
Last year WeirdGuy blog participated in Blog Action Day. This year, we will again and share from a weird perspective on the issue of poverty. I encourage you to get involved. Find out more details at Blog Action Day.
As I coach candidates on job search and interview tactics globally, I admit that there is a bit of a science to nailing the second round interview. If you have the proper formula, you may be the only candidate to make a lasting impression that the company will not soon forget!
Chances are good that if you’re being invited back for a second round of interviews, then you’ve made a good initial impression and have something that they want. That said, besides charisma and all of the right answers to their questions, what will you bring to the interview that will impress them enough to use your interview as the standard against which to grade all other candidates?
Answer: Your 60/90-Day Strategic Plan.
During your first interview, you probably heard all about the pain-points that are driving the hiring manager crazy. This includes project deadlines, technology initiatives, budgets, client visits (if you’re in Sales), revenue goals and so on. Additionally, you may have noticed that they never seem to have enough people on staff!
If you’ve asked the right questions in your first round of interviews, and you are truly excited about this potential opportunity, then you should have a pretty good idea as to what you will do to be successful in this role. You should be able to identify at least a 60/90-day strategic plan, based upon your knowledge of the role as it is today.
If used carefully and properly, your strategic plan can be “The Difference Maker” for you in your second round of the interview process.
Three of the primary factors that demonstrate your value proposition, and will drive your success in this new potential role are as follows: having a vision / overview for the job, establishing trust with clients and colleagues, and being able to identify and set goals and objectives. Let’s go into each of these in depth.
Vision / Overview
Based upon what you have heard in the interview, you should know the vision / overview of the department or company. What impact will you make within your first 60/90 days that can be tied back to the company reaching its goals?
Consider the following when drafting your plan:
Know the Product
Establish a working knowledge of products or services to create long-term value in your employment.
Be Credible
Become a leader among your peers by spearheading initiatives, collaborating with the leadership team, or presenting to your department.
Establishing Trust with Clients and Colleagues
Establishing trust is essential for success in any role. What will you do to establish a high degree of trust within your piece of the company or amongst your peers
Make Introductions
Meet with key stakeholders in the company or department. This is beneficial on all fronts. It offers an opportunity for you to demonstrate your skills, but also allows you to get their perspectives on the company and projects.
Share Expectations
Understand the leadership team’s expectations. This is paramount to your success. Investigate revenue objectives, if possible, to set your personal goals. Think about setting “best practices” that may be beneficial to the company and your role. This will include understanding client needs and identifying what may have been learned from any mistakes along the way.
Create Buy-In and Set Priorities
Identify how you will partner with the leadership team to create attainable goals for success. Fully understand the company mission statement and be able to share it with others. This represents a degree of commitment and clarity on the corporate goals.
Goals and Objectives
Setting goals and objectives is simply good business practice. You need to fully understand your new role in order to be successful, and you must approach it as a business. In doing so, it’s critical that you identify your personal goals and objectives for success in this new capacity
Determine the Objectives
Educate yourself daily on a new aspect of the company, the expectations or the job. Establish product expertise within the first 30 days of employment. Build cross-departmental relationships with departments that are responsible for supporting your success.
Shape a Methodology
Identify the steps that you will take to accomplish your objectives. For every objective that is listed, you should have a supporting methodology for the accomplishment.
Reflect on Success
Identify how you will evaluate or measure the success of your contributions.
Setting yourself apart from the rest of the candidates is mission critical to having a lasting impact on the person or team that is interviewing you. No doubt, you’ve heard the phrase “raise the bar.” My perspective is that the candidate before and after you can raise the bar all they want. By entering into the second round interview prepared with a 60/90-Day Strategic Plan, you are sure to launch yourself over any bar that is set before you!
Dean Tracy is a Professional Recruiter, Public Speaker and Career Coach based in Northern California. He also serves on the Leadership Team for Job Connections.
Kevin Kelly is one of those guys I could listen to for a time and then have to walk away and ponder on all the implications of the information I have just received. He is one of a handful of people I greatly admire. At the “5000 Day” mark, Kevin talks about the next 5000 days of the Worldwide Web and makes some interesting predictions. The clip is about 20 minutes long, but well worth the time. Sit back and listen to what Kevin has to say.
Those who are accustomed to judge by feeling do not understand the process of reasoning, because they want to comprehend at a glance and are not used to seeking for first principles. Those, on the other hand, who are accustomed to reason from first principles do not understand matters of feeling at all, because they look for first principles and are unable to comprehend at a glance. – Blaise Pascal
While on a recent panel discussion, Jeffrey Veen noticed something…
I was on a panel at this year’s South by Southwest talking about the role of analytics in design. With me were two veterans of the advertising industry who’s work included some of the biggest ad campaigns of the past few years – some really amazing stuff. I started the conversation by saying how the remarkable amount of audience data available to us gives designers tremendous power to affect user experiences. My collegues suggested my approach sucked the creativity out of design. I countered that they were mistaking preferential research from behavioral. The argument heated up.
While this was happening, my phone was buzzing non-stop. I slipped it out of my pocket to discretely turn it off, but noticed a stream of Twitters going by – many from audience members in the room. So I set the phone down on the table in front of me and kept an eye on it. I’m so glad I did.
As the conversation on stage continued, the stream of questions and comments from the audience intensified. I changed my tactics based on what I saw. I asked questions the audience was asking, and I immediately felt the tenor of the room shift towards my favor. It felt a bit like cheating on an exam.
I guess it really wasn’t cheating, but it does illustrate one of the frustrations I’ve had at conferences lately. Most of the events I attend have a rich conversation happening in the room, yet the only people not able to participate are those on stage. A couple times, I’ve seen organizers project a live IRC channel, but that usually bring out the worst in people (“First!!!111″) – and is terribly distracting. So I’ve been wondering for a while if there was something smart we could do at our conference.
Apparently, Bryan had the same idea. As we were planning Start, he said, “We should have someone onstage the whole time to represent the audience. Like an ombudsman does for a newspaper.” (for more visit Jeffrey’s blog)
This is community driven synchronous learning at it’s best! Why do we often think learning has to be limited to traditional “learning environments”? Learning happens every moment of every day. Unfortunately, there is often a monologue going on inside each of our heads as we learn new things about ourselves, others, and the world around us. Yet now, with the social networking and collaborative tools available, we no longer have to settle for a monologue — we can have a dialog. And, the fact is, we are!
Learning On The Road
Mobile devices incorporate much of the new social networking technology. Whether you’re a tweeter, yelper, IM’er, ichatter, texter, blogger, vlogger, or whatever, there is a conversation going on. It is constantly going on around us. You see people talking and texting in cars, trains, buses, and planes. Even during meetings there are other conversations going on (some related to the meeting, some related to the speaker, and some totally unrelated).
Those of us in the learning profession have seen synchronous and asynchronous learning happening for years. Utilizing the latest tools and technologies to further equip learners is what good trainers do.
Speakers Do The Same
Who is my audience? What do I want them to learn? Is it practical? What is the best way(s) to communicate and transfer information to them? How can I make it “stick”? How can the audience take and apply what they learn?
These are questions any good communicator/trainer should be asking. So, what have you learned today?
Are the days of Da Vinci dead? Is it possible to, at once, be a world-class painter, engineer, scientist, and more?
“No way. Those times are long gone. Nothing was discovered then. Now the best you can do is pick your field and master it.”
The devout specialist is fond of labeling the impetuous learner–Da Vinci and Ben Franklin being just two forgotten examples–”jack of all trades, master of none.” The chorus unites: In the modern world, it is he who specializes who survives and thrives. There is no place for Renaissance men or women. Starry-eyed amateurs.
Is it true? I don’t think so. Here are the top five reasons why being a “jack of all trades,” what I prefer to call a “generalist,” is making a comeback:
5) “Jack of all trades, master of none” is an artificial pairing.
It is entirely possible to be a jack of all trades, master of many. How? Specialists overestimate the time needed to “master” a skill and confuse “master” with “perfect”…
Generalists recognize that the 80/20 principle applies to skills: 20% of a language’s vocabulary will enable you to communicate and understand at least 80%, 20% of a dance like tango (lead and footwork) separates the novice from the pro, 20% of the moves in a sport account for 80% of the scoring, etc. Is this settling for mediocre?
Not at all. Generalists take the condensed study up to, but not beyond, the point of rapidly diminishing returns. There is perhaps a 5% comprehension difference between the focused generalist who studies Japanese systematically for 2 years vs. the specialist who studies Japanese for 10 with the lack of urgency typical of those who claim that something “takes a lifetime to learn.” Hogwash. Based on my experience and research, it is possible to become world-class in almost any skill within one year.
4) In a world of dogmatic specialists, it’s the generalist who ends up running the show.
Is the CEO a better accountant than the CPA? Is Steve Jobs a better programmer than the iTunes VP of Engineering? No, but he has a broad range of skills and sees the unseen interconnectedness. As technology becomes a commodity with the democratization of information, it’s the big-picture generalists who will predict, innovate, and rise to power fastest. There is a reason military “generals” are called such.
3) Boredom is failure.
In a first-world economy where we have the physical necessities covered with even low-class income, Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs drives us to need more for any measure of comparative “success.” Lack of intellectual stimulation, not superlative material wealth, is what drives us to depression and emotional bankruptcy. Generalizing and experimenting prevents this, while over-specialization guarantees it.
Posted by ebrown 
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