2012 - Servant of Chaos

Using the Cloud to Launch Your Products

The “cloud” is not just about reducing your IT costs. When you think about it, what business calls “the cloud” has been providing us consumers with plenty of flexibility and innovation for years. Look no further than YouTube to see how this innovation is changing the face of what it means to be a “broadcaster” or a producer of “media”.

But for those of us wanting to reach new audiences, create markets or simply just “tell our story”, cloud computing changes the nature of the game – putting us all on the same level as the largest of enterprises. There are dozens (if not hundreds) of cloud or “on-demand” platforms that provide high-end functionality for low monthly or per-use fees.

I take a quick look at some of the best platforms for launching new products in my latest post for The Pulse. Check it out.

Want to Write a Book? Join Age of Conversation #4

Age of Conversation, Books, Social Media

Have you ever wanted to see your name in print? Do you have ideas you’d like to share with a global audience? This may be the opportunity that you have been waiting for!

Over the last four years, Drew McLellan and I have instigated and published three books exploring the Age of Conversation. These crowdsourced books have brought together over 400 authors, raised more that $50,000 for charity, and provided many people with the opportunity to see their names and ideas in print.

After our third book, the Age of Conversation 3: It’s Time to Get Busy!, we thought that the series may have reached it’s natural end point. But now, two years later, we believe there may be still more to explore. And this time, it’s PERSONAL.

Once again, we are throwing the doors open. If you have an idea that you’d like to share with us, we’d love to have you join us.

How does this work?

Nominate for a topic area using this form (please choose three topics – as we have a lot of authors to accommodate, we need to ensure the coverage is spread)
We will advise you of the area
Write a 400 word chapter (no longer please) or 750 word case study and send it through
We will edit and curate the flow of the chapters
The book will be produced on-demand and be ready to promoted
All funds raised will be donated to charity:water

What if I have a case study?

If you have a case study that you can share, we’d love to have it. BUT … this needs to be YOUR case study. They need to be projects that you have worked on or have been responsible for. You must include measurable results of some sort. We’re not going to get into the whole ROI discussion … but you need to show how it played out. Please don’t propose case studies based on other people’s work.

Where do I sign up for the Age of Conversation #4?

It’s easy … sign up using this form.

Please register your interest QUICKLY as we will close off very soon.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

5 Must-Read Posts

As I surf the web, I normally keep a few tabs open with links to the best stories I find. But last week, there were so many that I just had to start writing this post early – or risk Chrome crashing through over work. These were the best five I could find. Enjoy!

There are many who analyse, rate, rank and make decisions based on various “measures” of influence – from Klout to Kred and back again. But Danny Brown suggests that it’s not influencers we seek but instigators.
Most businesses claim to seek out and nurture creativity – yet, in practise, creativity in the corporation can prove to be not only risky but career limiting. David Burkus takes it further, suggesting that traditional organisational structure – hierarchies – kill creativity. Does this gel with your experience?
In Australia, a price on carbon came into effect over the last weekend. Will it mean that our country will be transformed into a post-apocalyptic Mad Max style landscape? Jim Parker shares his vision of this new world order – and it doesn’t look pretty.
I have always thought that great marketing tells a story. But Jim Signorelli explains exactly why marketers should care about stories.
Can you use social media to find a job? Dave Cutler shares five personal branding best practices.

What Google Searches in the Blink of an Eye

Infographics, Web/Tech

I can remember the day I switched over to Google for my internet searches. Before that I had a number of favourite search engines – each with its own specialty. One I would use for searching forums, another I would use for question and answer content. Still another would be used for web page and blog searching.

I quite liked the feeling of control that I experienced in those old days. I knew which tool to use and when. I could find things that other people couldn’t. This made me valuable.

But this process was time consuming. Sometimes I would need to work through many variations of my search terms using two or three different search engines before I found what I needed. And all the while, the clock was ticking.

Eventually I began turning more regularly to Google. It started with a blog search here or there. A boolean search from time to time. But it wasn’t just the results that made me switch. It was the relevance. And it was the speed.

Google’s search far outstripped all the others for speed. The clean, white page offered by Google smashed the slow loading, ad heavy portal offered by Yahoo! It was easier to read than Alta Vista … and it was just more relevant than Ask Jeeves.

But how does Google actually find and return such powerful results so quickly? This infographic explains nicely. And you may just be surprised to know that since 2003 Google has answered 450 billion unique queries that it has never seen before. And only a small percentage are mine!

LinkedIn and Using the Digital Interest Graph to Attract Talent

Future of Work, Social Business

One of the interesting counterpoints of the digital revolution is the way in which thriving “real life” social networks resist the formalising structures offered online. After all, if your RLSN delivers all you need, then why grapple with the vagaries, issues and complexities for small, unmetered gain, right?

I have long held a theory that this was the reason for slow social network adoption amongst different demographics. Take, for example, students. Yes, they are all over Facebook, but they are surprisingly absent from more formal networks like LinkedIn. Same with artists who live and breathe on the power of word of mouth.

But RLSNs lack one important feature that’s inherent in the digital realm: directed serendipity.

In a RLSN, your conversations start in a distinctly one-to-one format. They originate from you and are directed according to your interest and knowledge – that is, you will directly ask the person who you think knows the answer (or where to find it). After all, a RLSN is based on the social graph – the network of relations that connect us all.

But social networks allow answers to find questions and the people behind them. They are driven by what we call the interest graph and powered by human curiosity. As Wikipedia explains:

The Interest Graph refers to the specific and varied interests that form one’s personal identity, and the attempt to connect people based on those interests. On an individual scale, this means the different things one person is interested in—be itjogging, celebrity gossip, or animal rights—that make up their likes and dislikes, and what has more meaning to them over someone else. On a broader scale, it’s the way those interests form unspoken relationships with others who share them, and expand to create a network of like-minded people.

Once a RLSN realises the value in and potential of the interest graph, a gradual migration begins to take place.

We can see this happening now, with a recent report indicating that LinkedIn usage amongst graduates is rising dramatically – in fact, students and graduates are the fastest growing demographic on LinkedIn. More that 35% of students plan to use LinkedIn as a primary source for their job search – a 700% increase since 2010.

The question you’ve got to ask yourself is this – how are you engaging young people via LinkedIn? How are you planning your over-the-horizon sourcing? And how are you priming and directing the interest graph of those you want to attract to your business? Sound challenging? It’s the future of work.

Sometimes Open Source Software Just Wins

Infographics, Innovation

When I first came across open source software I was amazed. I could hardly believe that good quality software could be made available for a minimal cost. Sure there could be issues with support and maintenance from time to time, but the flexibility and pure value for money equation was hard to beat.

My first real experience with open source was about 15 years ago implementing Norwegian CMS developers ezPublish. Not only was their content management system way ahead of most of the commercially available providers, it was built in a way that was collaborative and had a strong developer community around their various solutions. And – almost intuitively – they had built in community / social networking features which many other CMS platforms still struggle to deliver.

As I put the business case together, I remember laughing as I entered a software license line item. I knew it would generate questions – and sure enough I was called in to speak with the CFO. “Did I make a mistake in my costing?” I assured him that the figures were correct – but that there were trade-offs that came with open source.

Two years down the track, the software was still powering our corporate website and had transformed the way that we thought about the web, our customers and the distribution of our corporate information.

These days it seems that open source is a corporate norm – with 98% of enterprises using open source software in some form. As the folks from Source Ninja point out, it’s not just about lower acquisition costs – flexibility and abundance of code are vital elements when it comes to choosing open source software for business.

But the question for you is … does this ring true? Are you using open source in your business? Why?

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

5 Must-Read Posts

This week I’m all about creativity – what makes it, what bakes it and what fakes it. Sometimes we need to follow our hearts and sometimes we need to think through problems and issues in more complex ways.

Remember Richard Florida’s Rise of the Creative Class? At its heart was a concept that I loved – and deeply wished to believe in. But it always seemed a little hollow for me. Frank Bures explains why in the Fall of the Creative Class.
“The best art is neither socialist nor indifferent to the needs of others”. Ben Irvine writes persuasively about the social entrepreneurial role of artists – and may just change the way you think of innovation and the role of creativity.
I’ve been loving Saul Kaplan’s The Business Model Innovation Factory – but as he points out in this post – the hardest question any leader can ask is one we must all ask ourselves.
To be creative means to be fearless – or rather it means taking your fear and channelling it in a different way – away from paralysis and into action. Amber Naslund shares her thoughts On Fearlessness.
One of the most compelling transformations that are driving our behaviours and sense of identity is the notion of trust. Just think about who we trust and why. Venessa Miemis asks how do we trust each other without proof?

When a Kid’s Perspective Challenges Your Own

Innovation, Vibewire, Videos

As President of local youth non-profit organisation, Vibewire, I am constantly amazed at the energy, insight and passion of the young people that I come in contact with. But often, these opinions, ideas and insights are ignored by others – by the mainstream media, employers, opinion leaders and by those with “more experience”.

And yet, some of the most stimulating conversations that I have ever had have come from being inclusive – from asking for the input of others. So what happens when young people are given the skills and opportunity to lead discussion? How can it challenge us all? How can it open our minds?

These are some of the questions that are at the core of Vibewire’s regular monthly fastBREAK event, co-hosted at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. We give five people, five minutes to share their story and their passion.

It strikes me that these stories and these types of event are ever more important in a society where public opinion and media can be bought at market rates and exercised in the favour of those with the means beyond the dreams of the many. How do we take the “long view” when the bombardment of media narrows our vision to the next week, next budget or next election?

Maybe we need a new perspective – a fresh pair of eyes on the road to our shared futures. Take a few minutes to watch this great TEDx talk by 11 year old, Birke Baehr. His topic is the “food system” – but his vision is long and his message clear – “We can either pay the farmer or we can pay the hospital”. Apply the same thinking to the other industries that we see toppling – and think about the type of world you want to live in. How do you participate? You can start by joining us at the next fastBREAK. It might just amaze you.