Virtual Graffiti...

From supply to demand...

"We need a huge shift from 'make and sell' to creating powerful experiences." - Lewis Carbone, CEO, Experience Engineering

Driving - Crazy. But an observation on the demands of modern life?...

“We've got a nation of people who have one eye looking out for the next speed camera, another looking for a speed limit sign and another looking at the speedometer - which is a bit of a shame, when you only have two eyes." - Paul Smith head of a British group that opposes the use of cameras to catch speeders.

On equal rights...

"Liberty for wolves is death to the lambs." - Sir Isaiah Berlin

Superficiality explained?...

"I don't think companies think about service as service. They're worrying about whether the company's growing." - Lewis Black, Comedian

The real on-line dividend - Web ‘n’...

“I can foresee a time when a Google-like semi-sentient internet - 'Web 'N' -  becomes an orchestrator of value networks that transcends national and commercial boundaries. This will allow networks of people to focus on particular problems and solve them for the benefit of the rest. Those whose ideas contribute will get some credit which will be a source of wealth creation without need of capital. This will lead to the democratisation of wealth. You can start with nothing but find your value network where you can contribute, and voila...that's your transcendent niche! With millions of such networks functioning simultaneously human kind will make a quantum leap forward". - Jeremy Cox

And finally... (thanks Leon)

"Finding community-building talent is the single most precious resource in the modern world." Peter Drucker (RIP)

This weeks biting writing...

Yep...

“I’m sure that there are Chinese graduates of Tsinghua University and Fudan in some shed in Shanghai coming up with some brilliant new idea that will displace Google and Yahoo! and Amazon and eBay, and throw us all into a state of turmoil” - Sir Martin Sorrell

Not quickly enough?...

"There's a real shift to people with artistic vision." —Arvind Palep, cofounder, 1st Avenue Machine

A new truth?...

"People in huge corporations are afraid of being fired. They don't dare take those risks anymore." - Martin Lindstrom, founder, Brandsense

I want these conditions...

“I read an interesting article from some Booz Allen psychologists - the 'Neuroplasticity of Change' or some such.  The article claimed that under the right conditions and with considerable effort to begin with, the brain develops new networks to cope with significant change. I found it encouraging because it suggested that rather than us losing our marbles over time, with effort and a desire to face change we can develop more brains!” - Jeremy Cox

An understatement...

"The amplitude and velocity of change is such that companies are more at risk." - Paul A. Laudicina, author - "World Out of Balance"

And finally...

"Logic is the most underemphasized  aspect of our society." - Robin Singh, founder, TestMasters

Little gems...

Delivering. Value...

"The biggest driver is the growing urge that when we want something, we want it now." - Jo Ferreira, Managing Director of Hub-Area Business Development, FedEx

Tremendous initiative...

Dropping Knowledge - An incredible venture for those interested in the important questions about the world. I would highly recommend a quick look at what is going on with this social experiment: http://en.grouppartners.net/index.php?title=Dropping_Knowledge

Well I know what he means...

"Designers are the new rock stars." —Ambra Medda, Director, Design Miami Basel

From the master...

"I'm very privileged. I've always had a very good life. But everything that I've gotten out of life was obtained through dedication and a tremendous desire to achieve my goals. I had a great desire for victory, meaning victory in life, not as a driver. To all of you who have experienced this or are searching now, let me say that whoever you may be in your life, whether you're at the highest or the most modest level, you must show great strength and determination, and do everything with love and with a deep belief in God. One day you'll achieve your aim and you'll be successful." - Ayrton Senna.

And another master...

“It is necessary to relax your muscles when you can. Relaxing your brain is fatal.” - Stirling Moss

More than poised if you read the buzz...

"Chinese companies are poised to become the ultimate source of disruptive competition." —Ming Zeng, Professor, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business

We are all involved/interested in these little factoids (a near truth or lie) so I hope they challenge the cells - I do believe the YouTube Google thing has changed the world in some ways. Not least because so many people are THINKING about it. In response to some of the conversation around this I’ve noted and collected a sample of some of the blather and some interesting ideas/new conversations this week... Delete if it bores you. Use if it Delights...

“Frankly, I'm astonished as with many others and then not at the prices that have been paid for MySpace and YouTube. If these were physical, or at least persistent, assets that would be one thing. They aren't. Kids have always been smarter than the grown ups give them credit for. If the media barons become too invasive with the ads, everyone will just fade away to another meeting place on the net, and Murdoch and company will be left holding the (now empty) bag.”

“Give people some credit. We've always had an "off" switch. We still have one. Walk away from the TV. Shut off your cell phone. Unplug. Immersion is an option.”
“Yes, it's a shame that concentration of traditional media ownership is reducing choices. But what's different now is that new media channels don't like that word suddenly have very low barriers of entry. Pretty difficult to start your own TV station. Putting up a site or a blog or a video is simple and cheap. The internet routes around this stuff, as others have more famously said. “

“I certainly see that News Corp et al are trying to create this pervasive commercial immersion for everyone. Can't really blame them--scorpion and the frog, you know. But if people insist on being passive receivers, I guess they get what they deserve. No government, regulation, nanny state, or impassioned call-to-arms will save us from ourselves. I taught my daughter what "persuade" meant when she was 4. Now I never miss an opportunity to point out the hidden agendas in the things she sees.”

“It is also obvious that peer pressure has no impact on the kids, as demonstrated by the fact that almost NO teenager is wearing overprices branded shoes, and the constant infringement on their privacy has driven all of them (except some of the more dim witted ones) away from MSN/AIM.”

“Unfortunately the level of "pain" that the "media barons" can inflict on users of something like YouTube (or skyblog) is not linked to the service itself, but to the service + the fact that all the other kids are using the same platform. So if for instance you are using the "really nice and cool peoples video blogging platform" vs You Tube. You will NOT get into the "friends list of your friends (stored on You Tube/skyblog/ current local culturally accepted brand), and therefore your friends will not be "alerted" when you update your site, which means that they will not "comment" on your site. i.e. your'e out.”

“And as a final comment 1.6 Billion US$ is about 6 times the price of Mirabilis (and if I remember well Mirabilis was paid for in cash vs stocks for You Tube). I'd be very surprised if the "size" of the internet has not been multiplied by more than 6 in the past 8 years. Moreover I do believe that AOL would not have any hope of morphing from a modem access provider into a content provider without the leverage that ICQ gave them. (so who will be able to afford 10 Billion US$ for the "next big network effect based thing" in 2012 ?)”

How We Think

"If we know what the future is, we aren't looking far enough ahead."... Arthur C. Clarke, science fiction author, July 1997.

In addition to Mount Rushmore, one of Gutzon Borglum's great works as a sculptor is the head of Abraham Lincoln in the Capitol in Washington, DC. He cut it from a large block of stone in his studio. One day, when the face of Lincoln was becoming recognizable out of the stone, a young girl was visiting the studio with her parents. She looked at the half-done face of Lincoln, her eyes registering wonder and astonishment and then ran to the sculptor.

"Is that Abraham Lincoln?" She asked. "Yes" Said Gutzon.

"Well" said the little girl, "how did you know it was inside there?".

Random ones..

An excellent question...

"What would we solve if we weren't breaking down barriers?" - Reverend Richard Cizik

Well that’s one perspective...

"There are three ways to a consumer's heart - mystery, sensuality, and intimacy." - Kevin Roberts, Worldwide CEO, Saatchi and Saatchi

But Apple ‘really’ applied the thinking?...

"Good design is good business." - Thomas Watson Jr., former Chairman and Chief Executive, IBM

Hopefully more than viewed?...

"Part of being successful in doing business in China is to be viewed as sincere." —Kai-Fu Lee, technologist, Google

Displaying real words of wisdom...

“An essential analytic task in making decisions based on evidence is to understand how things work – mechanism, trade offs, process and dynamics, cause and effect. That is, ‘intervention – thinking’ and ‘policy-thinking’ demand ‘causality thinking’. Making decisions based on evidence requires the appropriate display of that evidence”. - Edward Tufte. Yale University

“Good display of data help to reveal knowledge relevant to understanding mechanism, process and dynamics, cause and effect. That is, displays of statistical data should directly serve the analytical task at hand” - Edward Tufte. Yale University