Think Small: Rapid Innovation

March 9th, 2010 by Andrew Swenson

image credit: Feliciano Guimarães

In my most recent post, I asked if enterprise should think small. But as a close friend said to me, it’s one thing to suggest that enterprise should change; it’s another to lay out a clear path for it.

I won’t pretend I have all the answers (or any really), but I do think that with a little critical thinking, together we can talk about practical, actionable steps that translate some of the advantages of small business/startup culture into enterprise business processes.

Should Enterprise “Think Small”?

March 3rd, 2010 by Andrew Swenson

image credit: DeaPeaJay

As social business concepts emerge, there is a clear and growing divide between those companies that have embraced social modes of work and those that are still operating under the rigid rules of twentieth century enterprise.

This of course has lead to all sorts of misguided and mostly useless debate about whether or not the shift to Enterprise 2.0 is important.

But I’d argue that point is not whether or not social business models are “better” than traditional industrial models, nor is it about what’s profitable right now. The importance of this conversation is about how human connectedness through technology is changing the way we interact and do work.

On Shifting Online Business Models: Death to Ads!

February 23rd, 2010 by Andrew Swenson

image credit: A. Drauglis Furnituremaker

It’s one thing to talk about how to leverage new social platforms to do business better. It’s another to talk about shifting business models to adapt to the current state of the web.

I think we’re doing well to address the former. My RSS reader is brimming with shining examples of how to engage, execute and measure social media tactics. But the critical conversation that I don’t hear as much about (and maybe it’s because I’m looking in the wrong places) is about how to shift our business modles themselves to better fit into a world where networks are no longer the exception but the norm.

10 Steps to Writing a Popular Blog Post in no Time Flat

February 19th, 2010 by Andrew Swenson

In a recent email, someone accused me of not being snarky enough lately. HA! You asked for it:

Here they are, 10 steps to writing a popular blog post in no time flat:

  1. Spend 2 minutes on Twitter and find a popular blog post on a hot-button issue.
  2. Open your blogging platform and start ranting in response. Logic here: rant = passion and passion = popular.
  3. If possible, make some audacious claim about Gen Y, or Gen X, or whatever generation you happen to be from. The more it inspires warm fuzzies or outright anger, the better.

Are You a One-Trick Social Media Pony?

February 16th, 2010 by Andrew Swenson

image credit: Helga Birna Jónasdóttir

I’m talking to you, young, hip, fancy social media blogger/guru/maven. You get engagement, community management, and customer interaction.

At least that’s what the young pro blogs I’m reading suggest.

But what about the unsexy stuff?

Do you know your cost of new customer acquisition?

Could you spout off five easy ways to increase average order size?

Can you read a P&L statement?

Can you quickly and easily demonstrate social media’s value to the bottom line?

How are you at using market research data to predict consumer behavior?

Guest Post: R.I.P. Face-to-Face Customer Service

February 9th, 2010 by Andrew Swenson

image credit: icathing

Although I’m hesitant to proclaim that any traditional form of marketing or customer service is completely dead, the shifting social landscape has hallenged us to rethink even our most basic and deeply ingrained practices – like face to face customer service. Neal Rohrbach gives us a taste of what might be the future of customer service:

A Defense of Grad School

February 2nd, 2010 by Andrew Swenson

Last month, a few other young professionals, namely Nicole Crimaldi, Matt Cheuvront, and (to some extent) Shane Mac suggested that the best education is self-education.

As one who loves a good debate, and as someone who’s always been sympathetic to the side of traditional education, I decided to interview Cali Harris (@caligater) who recently quit her job to pursue her Masters full-time. She’s the real deal. The video interview and a recap (with my 2 cents thrown in) are below:

Why “iPad” is a brilliant name

January 28th, 2010 by Andrew Swenson

Despite the obvious connection between a certain feminine hygienic product and “iPad,” I think the name is brilliant. In fact, I think that Apple may have done it on purpose.

Sure, everyone from CNN to Twitter (iTampon was a trending topic for nearly 8 hours), has been poking fun of Apple. Many, including Shereen Meraji of All Tech Considered, are wondering: “maybe there weren’t any women in the room when that got decided.”

Fail Fast, Fail Cheap applies to your career, too.

January 26th, 2010 by Andrew Swenson
work

image credit: Joe Loong

To be honest, this post has less to do with failure and more to do with personal innovation from within the corporate structure—the struggle to make change happen, to get your ideas implemented if you aren’t in a senior leadership position.

The Math of Fast and Cheap

In 2007, Doug Hall suggested that businesses should Fail Fast, Fail Cheap when it comes to innovation. Specifically he showed the business sense of failing quickly and cheaply:

A Defense of Blogging

January 20th, 2010 by Andrew Swenson
Keyboard

image credit: Andrew*

Yesterday Rebecca Thorman contested that “bloggers are not writers” and “blogging is not writing.”

I happen to disagree, but this not really about disagreement. This is about rethinking our basic understanding of writing.

This is about boiling down the underlying implications of Thorman’s ideas in an effort to hold them, to examine them, to test them.

I’m deeply indebted to Thorman’s post and presentation as the start of this conversation, so first: Thank you Rebecca. And now to our point of departure…