Three Ways To Overcome Career Anxiety

At a recent dinner party, I was speaking with a friend who had just been promoted to vice president at a well-known New York hedge fund. The promotion was unexpected, involved an immediate 50% pay raise, and came with broad new responsibilities. When he should have been feeling optimistic and excited about his new position, why did he look like the unhappiest person in the world?

This isn't uncommon. In the course of writing Passion & Purpose, I was fortunate enough to meet and interview hundreds of young leaders, many of them "rockstar" twenty-somethings who command high six-figure salaries, are in stable relationships, and have all the career options in the world. Yet, when I asked them whether they were following their passions — really doing what they loved — they would soon describe how they actually felt about their seemingly perfect lives: lost, hesitant, and uncertain. One respondent summed it up by saying, "I don't know what I want to do, but I know it's not this."

Many of those I interviewed echoed her sense of hollowness, a sense that seemed to be largely career- and situation-agnostic. This set up an intriguing puzzle: With all the ambition, choice, and ability in the world, why are these young leaders getting swept away in an undercurrent of unhappiness and anxiety?

The answer is both surprising and unique to this generation. Young leaders face three main threats to their sense of happiness and well-being.

First, they realize that large companies aren't safe options anymore. Gone are the days where working for LargeCo meant a career for life. After the financial crisis, the large-scale, immediate layoffs at financial institutions and large corporations shattered prevailing expectations of job stability. As a result, many are becoming hesitant of the promises made by large companies, instead choosing to pursue careers in the family business or in government. The latest round of 75,000 Wall Street job cuts will only add to this looming feeling of insecurity.

Second, Facebook and social networks are increasing anxiety. This is a generation of social media junkies — they're on an average of 2.4 social networks, with 28% getting their first Facebook hit before even rolling out of bed. As Facebook gets better at connecting the world, it has become much easier to peer into one another's lives and see what others are doing. As one investment banker put it: "Hearing about everyone's exciting new jobs on Facebook makes me dread going to work even more." This increased sharing and personal transparency is not just a privacy issue; it's causing everyone to (consciously or subconsciously) compare themselves ever more frequently to friends and peers. This is problematic, since studies have repeatedly shown that comparing yourself to others is a primary source of unhappiness.

Finally, young leaders have more career choices than ever. Their parents sent them to college in droves: 54% of Millennials have college degrees, compared to 36% of Boomers. Of course, parents did this so their children could have more options. But is having all the career choices in the world unequivocally a good thing? Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice, would say no. Through my interviews, I saw that the bewildering array of professional options open to today's young leaders is forcing them to focus on "optimizing" choices, which can be an excruciating exercise and added stress, especially as the list of available options gets longer. It puts the focus squarely on making the "right" decisions, with their parents looking hopefully (or sternly) over their shoulders. For a young leader, this pressure only heightens feelings of insecurity about whether or not they've walked through the "right" door and makes them more afraid to fail.

But there is good news. Individuals can overcome these new threats. If you're a young, ambitious individual feeling hesitant and hollow, here are three ways to combat those pesky doubts:

1. De-emphasize prestige and compensation. Money is important, but not at the cost of doing something you love. Taking a job just for the plush office and expense account might be a short-term strategy that compounds feelings of unhappiness further down the track. Without a doubt, the individuals I met who emphasized meaning over money tended to be happier overall than those who didn't.
2. Start experimenting. Commitment is important, but so is flexibility and intelligent experimentation. Try new things; try hard things. Ask your manager for a chance to lead a new business. Speak at an industry conference. Go on a secondment to another country. This way, you'll keep challenging yourself and avoid that feeling of being locked in.
3. Spend time defining your passions. It is a difficult psychological achievement to find what we want. The pursuit itself is hard, and it takes time. Like Clayton Christensen did, spend an hour a day thinking about what things you're passionate about. You're allowed to be passionate about different things, so consider more than one option. Adopting a portfolio of passions, rather than racking your brain for that one answer, will help you move away from impossible optimization and enable you to move forward.

These are just some of the techniques I've seen young leaders adopt to move forward with confidence. With some focus and effort, there is every reason that our next generation of leaders should be happy and ready to act with purpose.

What else can you do to make your work life happier?

Daniel Gulati is a tech entrepreneur based in New York. He is a coauthor of the new book Passion & Purpose: Stories from the Best and Brightest Young Business Leaders.

Thanks to Daniel Gulati / Blogs HBR / Harvard Business School Publishing
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/11/three_ways_to_overcome_career.html?cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-management_tip-_-tip022412&referral=00203&utm_source=newsletter_management_tip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tip022412

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Are You Struggling To Sell New Product With A Legacy Sales Force?

When it comes to launching new products, your Key Account's are the pilot group. We talk about success being 50% talent and 50% the conditions you place that talent in; Sales Enablement defines the conditions for launching new products and services.

Questions:

• Do you struggle hitting the new product first year targets?
• Do you struggle with the sales team not embracing the new products?
• Are you getting beat up for relying on the legacy product to make your number?

If you answered "yes" to all 3 questions, you're not alone. As soon as the product is thrown over the fence to you and your team, it's now your problem the company's not hitting the new product goals.

Sales conditions are constantly changing, the pace of change continues to accelerate, yet you continue to accept new product without properly enabling the sales team.

Give your sales team a chance by ensuring the following groups do their jobs and that you're involved in the process (refer to the Sales Enablement chart above).

• Product Management
• Product Marketing
• Product Development
• Field Marketing

As a CSO, VP of Sales or Sales Manager; Sales Enablement is core to your responsibilities.

Part of your Key Account opt-in package includes access and co-development of new products and services. The launch of a new product shouldn't be a surprise to your key accounts; they should be pushing you to finalize the release based on the value of the solution they worked to help develop.

Key takeaways:

1. Leverage the Key Account Management team to pilot new products; that's why you're in there labs/test environments
2. Make sure you have a Sales Enablement program and that every product/service goes through every step
3. Don't confuse Sales Enablement with a Product Gate Process; only a small portion of the Sales Enablement program is found in a world class Product Gate process
4. Don't assume a tweak to the compensation plan is the answer

Thanks to John Staples / Sales Benchmark Index
http://www.salesbenchmarkindex.com//bid/75955/are-you-struggling-to-sell-new-product-with-a-legacy-sales-force?source=Blog_Email_[Are%20You%20Struggling%20t]

 

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Workplace Violence Defined

In addition to training your workers to take general workplace security steps, you can also inform them of the types of violence more likely to occur in your workplace so that they can be more specifically on the lookout for such occurrences—and be prepared to deal with them.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, workplace violence typically falls into one of four categories. Customize the following information to the type or types for which your workplace is most at risk.

Type I: Criminal intent

In this kind of violent incident, the perpetrator has no legitimate relationship to the business or its employee(s). Rather, the violence is incidental to another crime, such as robbery, shoplifting, or trespassing. Acts of terrorism also fall into this category. Your workplace may be at higher risk of Type I violence if your business:

• Handles cash or drugs
• Could be a target for terrorists

Type II: Customer/client

When the violent person has a legitimate relationship with the business—for example, the person is a customer, client, patient, student, or inmate—and becomes violent while being served by the business, the violence falls into this category. A large portion of customer/client incidents occur in the healthcare industry, in settings such as nursing homes or psychiatric facilities; the victims are often patient caregivers. Police officers, prison staff, flight attendants, and teachers can also become victims of this kind of violence. Your workplace may be at risk for Type II violence if your business involves dealing with:

• Violent individuals such as criminals or those who are mentally ill, or
• Individuals who are confined and under stress, such as airplane passengers who have been sitting on the plane for a long period of time or customers waiting in long lines for a store to open.

Type III: Worker-on-worker

The perpetrator of Type III violence is an employee or past employee of the business who attacks or threatens other employee(s) or past employee(s) in the workplace. All workplaces are at risk for this type of violence, but workplaces at higher risk include those that:

• Do not conduct a criminal background check as part of the hiring process, or
• Are downsizing or otherwise reducing their workforce.

Type IV: Personal relationship

The perpetrator usually does not have a relationship with the business, but has a personal relationship with the intended victim. The category includes victims of domestic violence who are assaulted or threatened while at work. This type of violence can occur in all workplaces, but is most difficult to prevent in workplaces that:

• Are accessible to the public during business hours, such as retail businesses, and/or
• Have only one location, making it impossible to transfer employees who are being threatened.

Once you've identified which types of violence are most likely to occur in your workplace, train your workers on the specific security procedures your employer has developed to prevent these workplace incidents.

Why It Matters

• The vast majority of workplace homicides (85 percent) are Type I violence.
• Only about 3 percent of all workplace homicides result from Type II violence, but this category accounts for a majority of nonfatal workplace violence incidents.
• Type III violence account for approximately 7 percent of all workplace homicides.
• Type IV violence accounts for about 5 percent of all workplace homicides.

Thanks to Chris Kilbourne / Safety Daily Advisor BLR / BLR Business & Legal Reports
http://safetydailyadvisor.blr.com/archive/2012/02/17/training_safety_workplace_violences_types.aspx?Source=SDF&effort=19#

 

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Adams-Onís Treaty

Map showing results of the Adams-Onís Treaty.

The Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819^[1] settled a border dispute in North America between the United States and Spain. The treaty was the result of increasing tensions between the U.S. and Spain regarding territorial rights at a time of weakened Spanish power in the New World. In addition to granting Florida to the United States, the treaty settled a boundary dispute along the Sabine River in Texas and firmly established the boundary of U.S. territory and claims through the Rocky Mountains and west to the Pacific Ocean in exchange for the U.S. paying residents' claims against the Spanish government up to a total of $5,000,000 and relinquishing its own claims on parts of Texas west of the Sabine River and other Spanish areas.

History

East and West Florida.

The treaty was negotiated by John Quincy Adams, the Secretary of State under U.S. President James Monroe, and the Spanish foreign minister Luis de Onís.

Spain's Colonies

While Spain at first refused to rewrite any border in favor of the U.S., Spain had been forced to negotiate because it was losing its hold on its colonial empire, with its western colonies primed to revolt. Specifically, while fighting escaped African-American slaves, outlaws and Native Americans in U.S.-controlled Georgia during the First Seminole War, Andrew Jackson had pursued them into Spanish Florida, but at the same time, he attacked and captured Spanish forts in Florida with absolutely no provocation, thus threatening war with Spain and causing national controversy. Some of Monroe's cabinet demanded Jackson's immediate dismissal, but Adams realized that it put the U.S. in a favorable diplomatic position. Although Spanish power in the New World had long been in decline, Jackson's attacks had exposed how weak Spain was in the New World to the U.S., Latin American revolutionaries, and the other European powers. Taking an aggressive stance, Adams was able to negotiate very favorable terms.

In its weakened state, it was fairly certain that Spain would lose the land to the United States following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Spain had questioned the validity of the purchase, stating that France had no right to sell Louisiana because such a sale went against the agreements in the Treaty of San Ildefonso, and furthermore, there was much discussion about the extent of the area that the United States had bought from France. The Spanish had a very restricted view of Louisiana, considering it to comprise the west bank of the Mississippi and the city of New Orleans. The United States on the other hand claimed that the land they bought extended all the way to the Rio Grande and the Rocky Mountains, thus encompassing much of Spain's northern colony of Coahuila y Tejas.

Details of the treaty

In the agreement, the U.S. received the territorial rights to Spanish Florida (British East and West Florida) in exchange for payments by the United States of residents' claims against the Spanish government up to a total of $5,000,000 and relinquishing its own claims on parts of Texas west of the Sabine River and other Spanish areas. The treaty was concluded on February 22, 1819, in Washington, D.C., ratifications were exchanged, and the treaty was proclaimed on February 22, 1821. The U.S. commission established to adjudicate claims considered some 1800 claims and agreed that they were worth $5,454,545.13. Since the treaty limited the payment of claims to $5 million, the commission reduced the amount paid out proportionately by 8 1/3 per cent.

The Adams-Onís Treaty settled the dispute by attempting to draw clearer borders, roughly granting Florida and Louisiana to the U.S. while giving to Spain everything west of Louisiana from Texas to California. The new boundary was to be the Sabine River north from the Gulf of Mexico to the 32nd parallel north, then due north to the Red River, west along the Red River to the 100th meridian, due north to the Arkansas, west to its headwaters, north to the 42nd parallel north, and finally west along the parallel to the Pacific Ocean.

The claims of Spain on the Oregon Country dated to the papal bull of 1493 which had granted to Spain the rights to colonize the western coast of North America and to the actions of Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513, when he claimed all the "South Sea" (the Pacific Ocean) and the lands adjoining the Pacific Ocean for the Spanish Crown. To solidify these 250-year old claims, in the late 1700s Spain established a military and trading outpost in today's British Columbia and performed "acts of sovereignty" in today's Alaska. As a result of the Adams-Onís Treaty, the United States acquired the claims of Spain to the Oregon Country north of the 42nd parallel.

Perceived impact on territories

For the United States, this treaty meant that its claimed territory now extended far west from the Mississippi, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. For Spain, it meant that it kept its colonies in Texas and also kept a buffer zone between its colonies in California and New Mexico and the US territories. Adams considered this to be his greater achievement, as he foresaw that Oregon would allow trade with the Orient and economic powers in the Pacific.

Later problems with the treaty

The treaty was ratified by Spain in 1820, and by the United States in 1821 (during the time that Spain and Mexico were engaged in the prolonged Mexican War of Independence). The Adams-Onís treaty was concluded with Spain, and war with Spain was delayed for 77 years. While Mexico was not initially a party to the treaty, in 1831 Mexico had ratified the treaty, including setting the 42nd parallel as the northern boundary of California. However, by the mid-1830s, a controversy developed regarding the border with Texas, during which the United States claimed that the Sabine and Neches rivers had been switched on maps, thus attempting to claim more land. As a consequence, the eastern boundary of Texas was not firmly established until the independence of the Republic of Texas in 1836, and not agreed upon until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 which concluded the Mexican-American War. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo also formalized the seizure by the United States of California and today's American Southwest.

This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.

Thanks to Encyclopedia The Free Dictionary / Farlex, Inc.
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/p/Adams-On%C3%ADs%20Treaty

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Computer Concepts: Illustrated Introductory (Illustrated Series) By Dan Oja, June Parsons

Computer Concepts: Illustrated Introductory (Illustrated Series) By Dan Oja, June Parsons List Price: $93.95 Price: $72.00 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 57 new or used available from $32.19 Average customer review: (2 customer reviews)

Product Description

Finally - computer concepts presented in an engaging and relevent way! The Illustrated Series has thoroughly revised this 8th edition to reflect the feedback from instructors and students. Among the improvements are the additions of interactive lab scenarios, new assessment opportunities, and a new streamlined design.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #63729 in Books
• Published on: 2010-02-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .60" h x 8.40" w x 10.60" l, 1.45 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 252 pages

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
unequal
By Billy Ogilvie
the book is easy to read and very informative. the only negative i have is that it is heavily biased toward Windows and offers very little information on the Mac. the book would fair better by offering as much information on the Mac.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Book OK but Online Guide doesn't work
By Student Again
A lot of money for a book, especially since the online guide doesn't work-- When you work your way to download with code, etc, nothing there. Book starts with the very basics, which is fine.

http://astore.amazon.com/amazon-book-books-20/detail/0538749393

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A History Of The World In 100 Objects By Neil Macgregor

A History Of The World In 100 Objects By Neil Macgregor List Price: $45.00 Price: $26.86 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 82 new or used available from $18.47 Average customer review: (39 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the renowned director of the British Museum, a kaleidoscopic history of humanity told through things we have made.

When did people first start to wear jewelry or play music? When were cows domesticated and why do we feed their milk to our children? Where were the first cities and what made them succeed? Who invented math-or came up with money?

The history of humanity is a history of invention and innovation, as we have continually created new items to use, to admire, or to leave our mark on the world. In this original and thought-provoking book, Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, has selected one hundred man-made artifacts, each of which gives us an intimate glimpse of an unexpected turning point in human civilization. A History of the World in 100 Objects stretches back two million years and covers the globe. From the very first hand axe to the ubiquitous credit card, each item has a story to tell; together they relate the larger history of mankind-revealing who we are by looking at what we have made.

Handsomely designed, with more than 150 color photographs throughout the text, A History of the World in 100 Objects is a gorgeous reading book and makes a great gift for anyone interested in history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #788 in Books
• Published on: 2011-10-27
• Released on: 2011-10-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 736 pages

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best Books of the Month, November 2011: In A History of the World in 100 Objects, Neal MacGregor, director of the British Museum, takes readers on a tour of the world by way of its material goods. From everyday items such as pots, utensils, and money to valuables such as art and jewelry, MacGregor shows that the things humans have left behind are often as rich and informative as written texts. Whether it's a strange and unique object like a throne made of rifles from Mozambique or a medieval German crystal, or a familiar one like a sculpture of the head of Augustus or Hokusai's painting The Great Wave, MacGregor skillfully weaves each one into the fabric of the society that it came from. In that sense, the book is much more than a museum catalog: it's a hundred keyhole views into a hundred different societies from around the world and throughout history.

Review
A History of the World in 100 Objects ... has been a triumph: hugely popular, and rightly lauded as one of the most effective and intellectually ambitious initiatives in the making of 'public history' for many decades. -- John Adamson Sunday Telegraph Highly intelligent, delightfully written and utterly absorbing -- Timothy Clifford Spectator Allen Lane has done Mr MacGregor proud... The objects have been beautifully photographed, Mr MacGregor's voice comes through distinctively and his arguments about the interconnectedness of disparate societies through the ages are all the stronger for the detail afforded by extra space. A book to savour and start over Economist This is a story book, vivid and witty, shining with insights, connections, shocks and delights -- Gillian Reynolds Daily Telegraph The style is authentic, personal and humorous. MacGregor could not have skewered our pretensions better...Look on our works, ye mighty, and despair -- Andrew Roberts Financial Times Brilliant, engagingly written, deeply researched -- Mary Beard Guardian

About the Author

Neil MacGregor has been the director of the British Museum since 2002; prior to that, he was the director of the National Gallery in London. A popular presenter on BBC television and radio, he was named Briton of the Year in 2008. He lives in England.

 

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89 of 91 people found the following review helpful.
An Elegant History
By William Holmes
"A History of the World in 100 Objects" began with a BBC Radio 4 program that described 100 striking objects housed in the British Museum in London. I encountered the "100 Objects" while visiting the museum in the summer of 2010, and I was delighted to learn several months later that the original radio scripts were being adapted into a book.

The result, as author Neil MacGregor reminds us, is simply "a" history of the world rather than "the" history. Each chapter tells the story of a unique object or set of objects, ranging from a hand axe and chopping tools that are more than a million years old through the modern credit card and a solar-powered lamp and charger. Some of the objects are famous, some are obscure, but each inspires its own intriguing story. Chapter by brief chapter, the book carefully and clearly describes each object, places it in its historical context, and explains what it meant (or may have meant) to the people who created, used or admired it.

The UK edition of the book is quite elegant--nearly 700 pages of high-quality paper with numerous striking color photographs showing each object from multiple vantage points. It makes a fine gift for friends and family who appreciate art, or history, or both, and it deserves pride of place on any bookshelf.

As an aside, for those interested in the original BBC Channel 4 Radio program that inspired the book, you can download each of the 100 original broadcasts on iTunes. They make a marvelous companion to the book.

54 of 56 people found the following review helpful.
Wonderful book to read in small bites
By Jerry W Schoen
The book is extremely well written but not concise -- think of it as musings over the evolution of human civilization rather than as a history book. It is broken down into short 100 chapters making it ideal to as a relaxing read before bedtime. Only wish I would have thought to gotten the videos.

152 of 168 people found the following review helpful.
Neil MacGregor - A 100 historical tales to relish and delight
By Red on Black
One of the joys of being resident in the UK is the presence of the wonderful BBC Radio 4 a channel with which listeners have a true lifelong love affair. To Dear American chums a quick scan across the internet to the BBC "i" player will find this rich source and life will be all the better for it. Radio 4 challenges, it provokes and gets as near to that much sought after but rarely achieved quality "the heart of the matter" as is humanly possible (the probing questions of presenters on the Today programme makes me think that democracy still has a fighting chance). The channel also carries many brilliant series of which "A History of the World in 100 Objects" by Neil MacGregor is a prime example, even the trailers leading up to its broadcast in January this year were great. What a pleasure therefore to have copy in the written word of this weighty book (738 pages) to accompany the series and to revisit the passion and authority of Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum and cultivator of fabulous facts.

The whole premise underpinning this epic journey was predicated on a wicked idea conceived by Mark Damazer, then head of Radio 4 to challenge our hugely knowledgeable bods at the British Museum to undertake a somewhat mischievous and loaded exercise. Indeed on the surface any attempt to tell a rather large tale like the history of the world over a modest 2 million years in this manner seems like a piece of First Class honours inspired lunacy. "Baby and bathwater" is the phrase that comes to mind and even if the radio series and the following book were outright bilge you would at least have to give Neil MacGregor three stars for accepting the challenge and embracing with gusto the humongous concept. Yet he succeeds triumphantly and as the BBC blurb states he sets out in copious detail the sheer importance of "A chipped stone that was one of the first things ever made by human hands; a clay tablet telling the story of the great flood centuries before the Bible; a broken hunter's spear dropped by one of the earliest settlers in America; a hoard of gold abandoned in the Wars of the Roses ... every object tells a story" The use of this quote shows just how bloody difficult it is to summarize the sheer diversity of the subject matter and scale of the challenge that the author faced. I frankly remain in awe of his herculean task not least of all for his chapter on the English pepper pot dating from 350 BC which should be required reading for every child of school age. Most of all he understands the true value of encyclopaedic knowledge, in short the ability to illuminate through a fine selection of the facts while at the same time employing the skills of the story teller and then re-connecting his narratives with the present.

Certainly it is true that the hugely hyped and momentous unveiling of THE one object that defines the modern age was somewhat of a disappointment (I will not spoil it - read the book). That said you suspect that MacGregor probably faced the same horrific challenge as Douglas Adams encountered in "The Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy" coming up with something simple but clever enough to answer the Ultimate Question. Anyway give him a break since he was probably in need of a rest by this time.

To his eternal credit it is understood that as a result of the radio series and now this book, citizens of our curious nation have been flocking to Bloomsbury to seek out the hereto unknown treasures/pleasures of the British Museum and examine for themselves the Mexican ceremonial ballgame belt (AD100-500) and yes the good old pepperpot. Satisfying the other key factor of the whole exercise is that some of more obvious choices that he could have gone for are ignored at the expense of the more quirky but equally illustrative. This then is a wonderful book, full of lavish illustrations and crystal clear maps. And yes I know that times are hard and deep cuts stalk the land but "A History of the World in 100 Objects" by Neil MacGregor is a fairly priced volume full of unparalleled treasure and should be included on all lists heading up the chimney to Santa in the next few months.

http://astore.amazon.com/amazon-book-books-20/detail/0670022705

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The Social Organization: How To Use Social Media To Tap The Collective Genius Of Your Customers And Employees By Anthony J. Bradley, Mark P. McDonald

The Social Organization: How To Use Social Media To Tap The Collective Genius Of Your Customers And Employees By Anthony J. Bradley, Mark P. McDonald List Price: $35.00 Price: $23.10 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 45 new or used available from $21.69 Average customer review: (10 customer reviews)

Product Description

As a leader, it's your job to extract maximum talent, energy, knowledge, and innovation from your customers and employees. But how?

In The Social Organization, two of Gartner's lead analysts strongly advocate exploiting social technology. The authors share insights from their study of successes and failures at more than four hundred organizations that have used social technologies to foster—and capitalize on—customers' and employees' collective efforts.

But the new social technology landscape isn't about the technology. It's about building communities, fostering new ways of collaborating, and guiding these efforts to achieve a purpose. To that end, the authors identify the core disciplines managers must master to translate community collaboration into otherwise impossible results:

• Vision: defining a compelling vision of progress toward a highly collaborative organization.
• Strategy: taking community collaboration from risky and random success to measurable business value.
• Purpose: rallying people around a clear purpose, not just providing technology.
• Launch: creating a collaborative environment and gaining adoption.
• Guide: participating in and influencing communities without stifling collaboration.
• Adapt: responding creatively to change in order to better support community collaboration.

The Social Organization highlights the benefits and challenges of using social technology to tap the power of people, revealing what managers must do to make collaboration a source of enduring competitive advantage.

 

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105003 in Books
• Published on: 2011-10-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .90" h x 6.50" w x 9.20" l, 1.00 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Editorial Reviews

Review

One of the best books to help your team is The Social Organization: How to Use Social Media to Tap the Collective Genius of Your Customers and Employees. It covers the best ideas for managing employees and customers through social media. Authors Anthony Bradley and Mark P. McDonald, group vice presidents at Gartner Research, crafted a thoughtful book." – Small Business Trends

"Bradley and McDonald practically present the process of becoming a social organization where employees, customers, suppliers, and all other stakeholders are direct participants in the creation of value." – T+D magazine, The American Society Society for Training & Development (ASTD)

Featured on the CIO Insight 2011 Fall Reading List.

About the Author

Anthony J. Bradley is a group vice president in Gartner Research. His responsibilities include advising clients on the enterprise employment of social media and social software solutions. Mark P. McDonald is a group vice president and head of research in Gartner Executive Programs, working with executives on the business application of information technology.

 

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
an exciting vision and opportunity, with real world implementation plan
By michael #e20
Social media / collaboration is a `cool' topic but has lacked `business credibility', this book changes the game.

I've read mountains of commentary and research on the potential of `social', this book synthesizes the best of that down into a compelling business case, action plan and guidance - a clear Call to Action for every manager.

`The Social Organization' presents an exciting vision, opportunity and challenge to implement a better organizational model and increase employees' contribution. Not to underestimate the scope and effort required, the book addresses real world implementation issues and game changing benefits that make action compelling.

This book is different, in that the theory is combined with practical plans and scenarios that address the real world issues we all face with IMPLEMENTATION - culture, org. maturity and politics. It is the blueprint for you to Sponsor change.

`Must Read' book for every CEO, CIO and employee who wants their business to have a future performing at a higher level. I foresee Managers prepared to embrace the challenge will look back on this book as a turning point in their creation of a new high performing business. Those managers will grasp the message of this book that management and employees can both improve their performance, business results and job satisfaction by engaging people's natural social dimension on specific issues. The book recognizes `mass collaboration' is not a silver bullet or universal approach, but a necessary management capability we must to add to our organizations.

Read this book before your boss does, or your employees.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Organizations as collaborators ... not just groups
By T. Sales
Organizations know they need social media to get their communities collaborating, but how to do it? Much has been written about the technology of blogs, wikis, forums, etc. and how the future of the Web--already here--is dialogue rather than one-way messaging. But what makes The Social Organization interesting and somewhat unique is its concentration on community-building across an organization and not just with single, standalone groups. It avoids considering collaboration as an office politics issue but instead considers the value of collaboration in accomplishing business objectives.

In combination with other things I've read, the book shows that you have to pay attention to three things simultaneously. You need:

1. A group dynamics focus to help individual groups to be successful in their individual initiatives.

2. A technology focus to provide the right platform and applications that motivate participation.

3. And what this book points out -- an organizational focus on how all of those groups solve problems in tandem to empower employees and customers who want--and increasingly demand--to be heard.

For me, the high point of the book was its discussion of purpose and the idea that a group's purpose evolves as the community and its individual members grow and encounter new opportunities. Bradley blogged that Facebook strives to keep people in touch, Wikipedia to build an online encyclopedia, and LinkedIn to do career networking. These purposes sound so obvious and so easy to identify, but when growing your own communities such purposes take a long time to emerge. If it were easy, everyone would have collaborative cultures rather than the 10% the authors claim.

With books like The Social Organization it should get easier to see what motivates successful collaboration and give companies and institutions a better roadmap for engaging their people.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Clear path to capitalizing on mass collaboration
By Doug Laney
The Social Organization by Gartner analysts Anthony Bradley and Mark McDonald is a groundbreaking business book that's a must-read for any executive--not just marketing types. The authors lay out a clear path to sustainable high-value mass collaboration initiatives. They illustrate how dozens of organizations have done social media/collaboration right and how any organization without such a program is going to quickly wither. The book lays out rationale for such efforts including collective intelligence, interest cultivation, relationship leverage; and the many interwoven keys to mass collaboration sustainability.

Also standout are the sections on how to purpose-build mass collaboration initiatives, manage risks, and what are the requisite technology capabilities depending upon purpose. In addition, the authors' 6-Fs attitudinal model also helps explain motivations from a participant (user) perspective, thereby enabling collaboration managers to guide participation uptake.

Social media isn't just for kids anymore, and this book is a clear guide for any organization (big or small) to reap its rewards.

http://astore.amazon.com/amazon-book-books-20/detail/1422172368

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13 Paintings Children Should Know By Angela Wenzel

13 Paintings Children Should Know By Angela Wenzel List Price: $14.95 Price: $10.17 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 61 new or used available from $4.50

Product Description

In this attractive and accessible book, thirteen engaging works by the world s greatest artists are beautifully presented in an excellent
introduction to art for young people.

People of all ages are fascinated by Mona Lisa's beguiling smile, Van Gogh's hypnotic night sky, and Frida Kahlo's depiction of herself with a monkey. These paints and ten others are featured in the book in large reproductions with accompanying details. The readable text offers biographical information about each artist and important facts about the painting's technical and historical aspects. Games, quizzes, and colouring exercises provide additional opportunities for young readers to interact with the artworks, while a timeline throughout the book allows for easy historical orientation. Readers will return again and again to these works, which provide continued opportunities for contemplation and discovery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #255183 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .50" h x 9.50" w x 11.00" l, 1.35 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 48 pages

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