Nick Givotovsky: A Proper Goodbye

Dean Landsman wrote this beautiful tribute to Nick. It's worth reading.

People, Thoughts, and Feelings

I find it fascinating that there's no such thing as a neutral expression on a the face of a healthy human being. Our thoughts and feelings are so connected that it's obvious when the latter is missing. The former seems gone as well.

See this post I blogged for Affect Labs.

Proof of Concept: Working Social Media

For those of you struggling with what social media can do, here's a wonderful proof of concept.

This parody of West Side Story (and social media) was designed and distributed to enact, rather than show, how social media functions, its impact on those who participate, and how to market its producers at the same time.

You want to see how fast and widely it spread? Do a search for comments on Twitter. See how many hits it got that instigated public endorsement.

Fabulous.

Data Sets Old and New: Learning is Disorganizing

For those of you who have followed this blog for a while, you might remember a post on the disorganizing nature of learning.

A friend recently asked me how to shake up her staff because she (and they) are so used to working in particular ways. In fact, the entire team has put a lot of effort into working creatively together, but those techniques have hardened into habit.

So What Do You Do?

To sustain creativity, it's important to change your universe of data -- people, ideas, places, and the connections we've forged among them in order to come up with solutions to problems. If you apply old information to new challenges, you are unlikely to innovate.

Another alternative is to take a new process and apply it to the old data. Where would you find that thinking process, and how would you use it?

Crossing disciplines often works. If you use a strategy from one field and (thoughtfully) use it for another, who knows what you'll come up with? Introduce new people to your process. Or new places. Or new things.

Sometimes even unresolved results are better than old ones.

Above all else, remember to play. Process usually needs more care and feeding than results if you want to keep things fresh. And if you're one of those people who want one habit on which to rely, make it sustaining curiosity.

It's probably the most productive (and stimulating) rut that you could possibly (and consistently) seek.
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Time Out for a Small Miracle

Just thought I'd take a moment for a brief advert.


It's Not Like You Haven't Heard This Kind of Thing Before . . . .

This is another one of those stories where the hero spent hundreds of dollars, went to every great doctor in New York, over a course of years (15), and was told there was nothing to be done (ankle problem, me).

Then, after asking a London friend for a suggestion about a back problem, she found out that there was something to be done after all.

Everything changes when you can walk without pain.

Who Is This Magician, You Ask?

Dave Gibson on England's Lane -- I'm not kidding. If you are having any health problems, limp over there as soon as you can.

The Geeks Are Coming

For those of you who are interested in what's going on globally in social media, you can take it (at least partially) off-line next week if you live in the UK.

Some American bloggers coming to London, and there is a big agenda planned. Some events open to the public, some closed -- but certainly worth a look.

Renee Blodgett, publicist extaordinaire, has organised the week and done a remarkable job.

Check it out.

Worth Repeating: Feelings and Business

I've begun revising and posting some older pieces from this blog on Affect Labs' website.

As those who have followed me know, I've done a lot of research on the ways in which people learn, in business and elsewhere.

The bottom line:

The more resources of your own to which you have access, the more innovative and creative you can be.

Sounds Obvious?

In business, it's pretty clear that affect is frowned upon. Feelings are suspect; ideas are supposedly products entirely of the intellect. OK, Emotional Intelligence sold well back in the day, but how often is it actually applied in a board room?

Why is this Worth Repeating? And Why There?

Affect Labs is proof of concept. Their software crawls social networks for what is said about brand based on the feeling expressed in phrases. Jennie Lee, who invented it, says there are no algorithms quite like the ones she created to do this.

Jennie's pretty smart, so I believe her.

It seems like that site is the place to reposition the relationships among language, social media, learning, and business because Affect Labs can help companies benefit from them.

But first they have to believe it.

Feeling Presentable

This might be a good place to connect up how this is related to the way people present themselves and performance coaching.

But that's for another time.