Barry talks about the ways that social media and community are fundamentally changing the way smart companies are doing business!
Back to Blogging: WHY Business Leaders Should Do It and HOW
7/18/2008 | posted by
barry
As much as I hate to admit this, I'm not a great blogger. This is evidenced by the fact that prior to my last post, I hadn't updated this in over a year. I could go on about all of the things that happened that got in the way of posting - things like growing Mzinga into the leading provider of business social media solutions, joining the board at Innocentive, becoming a faculty member at Wharton, etc. - but what ultimately matters is that I'm back.
There are two questions some ...
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Wow, summer is officially here and school is out. Even though students are taking a break from the classroom, many of them are learning new lessons in other environments, in particular, the working world. I've had the opportunity to observe three young individuals who are doing this and as a result, I'm revisiting some of the lessons that I've encountered in my own career:
Lesson 1: To be the best, you have to train the hardest. A rising senior at Harvard, my oldest son Michael is spend ...
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I recently spoke to several hundred Fortune 500 Business professionals at the Warrillow Summit in Las Vegas. Below you will find a ten minute clip of the highlights from this keynote. During the video, you'll hear me talk about:
- SCORE - or the construct we use for becoming a "WE" company
- Examples of well known companies that are using "WE" to improve their top and bottom lines
- Five steps on how to get started with "WE"
Facebook or Face to Face Meetings?
3/24/2008 | posted by
barry
Each time I engage in a conversation about communities, I am asked about blogs, discussion forums, podcasts and wikis. What I find interesting is how few ask about the use face-to-face meetings and conference calls in building communities. It is almost as if people believe that as corporate communities get created, physical meetings and the use of phones (cell or land lines) will disappear.
Now, I recognize that I am not the same age as my two sons who do everything using Facebook, eBay and te ...
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As someone that has been in the business of "community" for the last 10 years (since I was advocating this at Andersen with their clients), I'm constantly surprised with how fast the "community" market is changing. Just two short years ago, I remember attending one holiday party after another where guests asked me what I did for a living. The blank look on everyone's face when I told them I ran a "community" company said it all. So you'll forgive me if I started to ...
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A long time ago, my friend, who was the CEO of Thomson at the time, said that success accrues to companies that produce products which are consumed like air, not haircuts. Let me clarify what he meant. In short, there two types of businesses:
The first category sells products that are like haircuts — their customers purchase them only infrequently — once a month at most, if not less often; and
The second group creates products that are like air - their services are inhal ...
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I read an interesting article in today’s weekend WSJ. It showed that the future is here when it comes to who owns content, broadcasting, and distribution in all industries in the age of community. In short, todays web 2.0 technologies and social networks are enabling the crowd to become the king of content and distribution regardless of the source and industry. The only question I have is when will the traditional purveyors of content -- be they management consultants, market researchers, ...
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I remember the first time my young sons asked me, "Where's Waldo?" We would be reading at night before they went to sleep, and we would diligently look for Waldo among a large crowd of people. Depending on the level of the book or game, it was either hard or simple. But in the end, we found Waldo.
As I look back, I have been plagued with looking for Waldo throughout my adult career. Whether I was looking for the right attorney for a specific transaction; an executive search consultant ...
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My peers are finally beginning to wake up to their kids’ technologies - including blogs, wikis and podcasts, as well as up- and downloadable videos - and how they can be applied to improve business performance according to this week’s issue of Businessweek. And it couldn’t have come any sooner for my company and yours.
We have all known that our rolodex (who we knew) was invaluable. It helped us find new jobs, make sales, compare notes and gain trusted feedback. And the same w ...
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I just finished reading a great article about Web 2.0 in BusinessWeek. The main point was that Web 2.0 technologies have all CEOs spinning because they cede control from the enterprise and their leaders and give it to their crowds -- e.g. customers, employees, partners and investors. Given that I am a CEO, I understand their pain. In short, I was trained at an Ivy League business school, have worked for major enterprises as an executive and have started small companies as their leader. Each tim ...
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There has a tremendous amount of press recently about the growth of online advertising, communities, social networking, job growth and e-commerce. There is no doubting it: online is coming of age.
But I think it is more profound that any of us in business can imagine. Currently, the hottest media properties, jobs, phone company, real estate firm and, as we all know, means for finding anything and everything form of search is online. More amazing to me, however, is that my mom runs a car dea ...
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I can remember sitting in front of my TV as a young child in the 60s, excited to have a choice of three different stations to watch -- CBS, ABC and NBC. My family sat together to enjoy the entertainment and news together. It was an important social gathering for us. Wow has the world changed.
No longer does my family sit together around a single TV in our living room watching the same show (in fact, there isn't even a TV in our living room). We all have shows that we like, and they are differ ...
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My first start-up involved building and buying apartment complexes. It was during the 1980s, after a stint with McKinsey & Company. We reached nearly a quarter-billion dollars in assets before we sold it. What I didn't realize in building brick and mortar communities, was that they were less durable than virtual communities. How can that be? Buildings have plumbing, electrical, roofs, windows, carpentry, wallboard and flooring. They are 'rock solid' -- while virtual communities are just tie ...
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