Category: Story + Narrative

Story + Narrative1 Comment

TMWK Best Of 2013 3: Manifestos To Live By…

ThisMuchWeKnow

People like directions. Me too. I like simple, evocative calls-to-action; they stir the Head-Heart-Hand. Manifestos drive conversation – it is not necessarily about believing everything in them; but using them as a riff / filter for your own thoughts and ideas. I wrote a series of Manifestos To Live By… posts, the most popular of which has been 4 Manifestos To Live By… #2 – The Cult Of Done. Obviously, the one I am most proud of is the This Much We Know Manifesto – very much a work in progress as I try to articulate my point of view and my value. I … Continue reading TMWK Best Of 2013 3: Manifestos To Live By…

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TMWK Worst Of 2013: People Don’t Like To Know That 90% Of EVERYTHING Is Crap

ThisMuchWeKnow

Everyone loves a good year in review. Here is one for the TMWK blog. Always finish on a high, so let’s start at the bottom of the heap. The post that had the least readership was, IMHO, a fun little gem. I correlated Sturgeon’s Law (that 90% of everything is crap) to an invitation to write, to work out loud! Clearly, 99% of everyone thought it to be a crap idea. Pity. ←This Much We Know.→ Continue reading TMWK Worst Of 2013: People Don’t Like To Know That 90% Of EVERYTHING Is Crap

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World1 Comment

I am no longer sure of the question, but I am certain of the answer: YES!

ThisMuchWeKnow

Sometimes, it feels the world is moving in a particular direction. Ideas coalesce, people enter your life, opportunities occur, or mutate. Things happen, if you can be open (enough) to that change, those moments. Via Seth Godin: “I am no longer sure of the question, but I am certain of the answer: YES!” – Leonard Bernstein. Happy New Year everyone! ←This Much We Know.→ Continue reading I am no longer sure of the question, but I am certain of the answer: YES!

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World3 Comments

When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Flâneur

ThisMuchWeKnow

How could it be that this word, this idea, this approach to life has passed me by all these years?! Fuck fireman, astronaut or Prime Minister, a flâneur is who I want to be, it’s a flâneur’s life for me. Of course, wikipedia has all the details. It is long, sumptuous, beguiling: a literary type from 19th century France…[i]t carried a set of rich associations: the man of leisure, the idler, the urban explorer, the connoisseur of the street. Susan Sontag describes the photographer / flâneur as an armed version of the solitary walker reconnoitering, stalking, cruising the urban inferno, the voyeuristic stroller who discovers … Continue reading When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Flâneur

Personal Branding, Story + Narrative1 Comment

Dissecting Your Personal Brand: Synthesizing Your AwesomeSauce

ThisMuchWeKnow

This is where the hard work begins, and the pay-off too. You have a ton of data, and several interesting ideas to play with. Perhaps your brand has a theme to it. You have a beautiful BrandBoard to share! Now what? Well, now we synthesize. This means distilling down all the brand content into 2-3 core ideas around which you can build a story. Although you brand might skew in a particular direction – mine is a heavily head brand – it does not mean you have no skills in the other Head-Heart-Hand elements. When you meet people, generally you … Continue reading Dissecting Your Personal Brand: Synthesizing Your AwesomeSauce

Social Business, Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

Change Agents Of The World Unite

ThisMuchWeKnow

Let’s start at the end. Change Agents navigate the choppy waters and uneven terrain toward the future of work. They invite you along for the journey – as guides, as co-conspirators, and treasure seekers. They are in the vanguard. This puts them ahead of the pack. It means they are ready. It also makes them vulnerable. There are bruises, and battles, yet Change Agents still ask: How can I help? The currency of social business is a deep understanding of emergent themes and practices in culture, technology, organization design, and the impacts on, and motivations of, individuals. Change Agents are … Continue reading Change Agents Of The World Unite

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When People Tell You Who YOU Are, Don’t Believe Them

ThisMuchWeKnow

Who are you? How do you show up at your best? How do you make the big difference? These big questions are important ones, increasingly so in light of the changes that will be wrought on all us knowledge workers in the mid-term. At TMWK, we turn these questions into a quest to uncover and polish your personal brand. Being able to articulate your value will make a difference in how people see you; who wants to work with you; what great projects you will be a part of. How do we do it? By having you distill your crazy-ass … Continue reading When People Tell You Who YOU Are, Don’t Believe Them

Social Business, Story + Narrative, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

#RelentlessHumanity: Take 3

ThisMuchWeKnow

I am working out loud on this blog. This means the content and much of the thinking is a work in progress. The work is the learning, and the learning is the work, as Harold Jarche says. One concept I am trying to better articulate for myself is how to have better conversations about the connected enterprise, and the (social) technology that drives us towards the future of work. Currently, these conversations are too technocratic: which service does what, how cool every piece of tech is, how a vendor can deliver a perfect intranet of things, even. Wrong approach. Where … Continue reading #RelentlessHumanity: Take 3

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

Insight > Efficiency

ThisMuchWeKnow

Following on from yesterday’s post on (traditional) organizational distaste for insight, I see correlation from a Nilofer Merchant post on twitter: https://twitter.com/nilofer/statuses/385479893997219841 Insight is game-changing. It is not about more of / less of the same. It is about a new beginning. ←This Much We Know.→ Continue reading Insight > Efficiency

Story + Narrative8 Comments

Organizations Hate Insights

ThisMuchWeKnow

They say that 80% of change projects fail, and by ‘they‘ I mean the bigwig consultants and Dr Google. Ask her*. Let’s worry not about citation. Instead, why the heck do so many change projects fail?! Here’s my process rough draft: Hey, something’s not right. We need to do something! [be more efficient / become more innovative / downsize.] Let’s investigate what we might need to do. Insight! <Light bulb moment from contemplation / investigation> Oh. It really means that? Hmmm. Let’s rethink this into something more palatable / an existing framework. Yes! That makes sense, right? Right? OK, let’s … Continue reading Organizations Hate Insights

Personal Branding, Social Business, Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of Work5 Comments

What Does A Friend Look Like In The Age Of Social?

ThisMuchWeKnow

Or, How John Hagel, David Armano, Hugh MacLeod and Harold Jarche Kickstarted Me. Here’s how it began. 2011 Back story: In my MarComms job, I had two projects front of mind – launching an Enterprise Social Network (we were the first company in the world to completely replace our intranet with Yammer) and developing a bunch of infographics on business performance (turning heavy PowerPoint slides into something more digestible). Independently, I was mentoring some young communicators who were trying to work out their pitch and career paths. I spent a lot of time thinking about these topics; with plenty of online … Continue reading What Does A Friend Look Like In The Age Of Social?