ChangeThis
ChangeThis is our weekly series of essays from today's thought leaders that are meant to evoke conversation by bringing forth new and unique ideas.
ChangeThis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Why a Corrupted Service Covenant Has Made Customers Wired and Dangerous
By Chip R. Bell, John R. Patterson
"Progress requires change. And, change provokes resistance. However, customers do not necessarily resist change itself. They accept change when they get a vote; they embrace change when they can participate. They resist the perception or prediction of being controlled or coerced without their involvement. Migrating customers toward self-service, for example, can bring an array of time-saving benefits to everyone—service provider and service receiver. But the manner in which that migration typically occurs—without influence from customers—can be viewed as devaluing the co-creator, thus adding another spark to the flame of their opposition. Today's customers are already picky (all about value), fickle (reluctant to show loyalty), vocal (quick to comment on poor or indifferent service) and vain (only interested in tailor-made offerings). Armed with a computer and a network, the new normal customer becomes wired and dangerous if frustrated."
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Blog / ChangeThis
The Third Screen: Why Mobile Is a Game Changer
By Chuck Martin
"We're in the midst of a revolution bigger than the TV or PC and businesses of all types and sizes will be faced with how to deal with it. Not only are many businesses not ready, others are totally unaware. The new market is mobile and it's about to change everything. Mobile is a game changer."
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Blog / ChangeThis
Reputation Rules: Don't Neglect Your Company's Most Precious Asset
By Daniel Diermeier
"CEOs and board members routinely list reputation as one the company's most valuable assets. Yet, every month a new reputational disaster makes the headlines destroying shareholder value and trust with customers and other stakeholders. During the last year leading companies ranging from Toyota, Goldman Sachs, BP to HP and Johnson & Johnson battled severe reputational crises. In recent weeks we have witnessed not only the devastating earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, but also the so far futile response of Tepco, the nuclear operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. [. . . ] Trust is now an essential part of business success. Yet trust in U. S. business has substantially dropped over the last decade. While trust in business is still higher in developing countries, Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are on a par with businesses in emerging markets and more trusted in developed markets including the United States. These data suggest that business can no longer rely on a trust reservoir. Rather trust needs to be earned.
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Blog / ChangeThis
Change In a Leader Can Change the World
By Jeremie Kubicek
"Our world is in trouble. We need leaders who lead for the benefit of others. I believe we need to systematically transform the leadership culture from a dominating system to a liberating system. I believe it starts one leader at a time. Each leader must play a part in this transformation by thinking differently about the way they lead if we are to ever see true 'Change in the World.'"
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Blog / ChangeThis
The Four Strands: Creating Companies Aligned With Human DNA
By Porchlight
"There are universal developmental issues and milestones in the construction of all people, which like gravity, must be obeyed. They are like the laws of physics, non-negotiable. Break these laws and dysfunction occurs. But, obey these laws and people thrive. They will be what we call "healthy." So, when a company is designed and operates in ways that are aligned with how people are constructed, it will be like an airplane aligned with the laws of physics that govern force or torque. It will reach the altitude, speed and course that its horsepower allows. But if its design is not aligned, it will fly in circles, stall out, crash, or break apart."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Make It Happen: Turning Good Ideas Into Great Results
By Peter Sheahan
"The world is not short of ideas. It's not. It is short of people who can execute on them. It is short of people who know how to take their aspirations and make a real impact on the world with them. What differentiates the great ideas that end up on the cutting room floor from those that wind up changing the world? There are five steps, or rather five competencies you can build that separate the haves from the have-nots, the doers from the talkers ... They are not a mantra for meditation, they are not positive affirmations that you chant to yourself in the mirror, they are actions."
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Little Bets: Think Differently
By Peter Sims
"Our education system places great emphasis on teaching us about facts that are already known, such as historical information or scientific tables, and then testing us in order to measure how much we've retained about that body of knowledge. Those skills work perfectly well for many situations, but not when doing something new. Or creative. Or original. They certainly won't help us invent the future. As education and creativity researcher and author Sir Ken Robinson puts it, 'We are educating people out of their creativity.' But it's still there. And unleashing our creativity, however deeply it's hidden, begins with little bets."
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How to Sharpen Your Sales Strengths
By Tony Rutigliano, Brian Brim
"There is no single right way to sell. In fact, we believe there are as many ways to sell as there are salespeople. Does that feel liberating? We hope so. If you enjoy sales, if you're good at it, and if you're finding some of the success you want, you possess a rare ability—and you should celebrate it. You're someone who can do this job. And if you're trying to follow a method or emulating a sales hero and it's not working, it might not be your fault. Who you are is who you should be. You'll be most successful at sales if you make the most of who you are. And by that, we mean using your natural talents—the ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving that come naturally to you. "
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Blog / ChangeThis
Don't Let the Sidewalk End: How To Create a Revolution
By Porchlight
"This manifesto is about creating revolutions. Not big political revolutions, although it could help there too, but revolutions of any size and in any field or industry. It is also about innovating, and how to be better at it and how innovations, properly nourished, are the catalysts of revolutions. To start with, we should all recognize that innovation is a process, not an event. When the process results in dramatic change, it is called a revolution. At any one time there are numerous revolutions underway that will affect our life. We have a choice – we can be a part of the revolution or we can deal with it when it comes. In our modern world I really don't think the latter option is a viable choice."
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Happiness Advocacy, Or, How Positive Psychology Will Save Us From Zombies
By Porchlight
"Happiness. That feeling you get from StuffOnMyCat.com or Skyping with a far away friend. Side effects include: joy, contentment, glee, elation, and surges of confidence, hope, and gratitude. That happiness. If you're ready to throw in the towel (or this in the garbage), kindly allow me to clarify something. This ain't yo' momma's (or for that matter my momma's*) self-help book so don't get all judgmental. If MacGyver can stop a bomb with a toothpick, we can save the world with happiness. 'Fiction!' you say? It's even been scientifically proven. You see, it's all in the technique, my friends."
Categories: changethis
The original idea behind ChangeThis came from Seth Godin, and was built in the summer of 2004 by Amit Gupta, Catherine Hickey, Noah Weiss, Phoebe Espiritu, and Michelle Sriwongtong. In the summer of 2005, ChangeThis was turned over to 800-CEO-READ. In addition to selling and writing about books, they kept ChangeThis up and running as a standalone website for 14 years. In 2019, 800-CEO-READ became Porchlight, and we pulled ChangeThis together with the rest of our editorial content under the website you see now. We remain committed to the high-design quality and independent spirit of the original team that brought ChangeThis into the world.