MPowerment Matters

Mpowerment Matters

February 2007

Mpowerment Matters
I have been working on so many interesting projects and reading so many new books of late, that I have way too many ideas spinning around in my head this month to synthesize them into a cogent article. So, I am going to do something different. My content this month is merely a list of sources of many of those ideas. I have heard it said that there are no new ideas. If that is the case, the authors and designers listed below have done a masterful job creatively re-working old ideas to make them look so new, they absolutely shine and sparkle with freshness and vibrate with innovation.

Everything set forth below is part of the giant mix I am trying to process as I write this. If you think all business books are alike, you haven't read the following:

Mavericks at Work by William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre

The Entrepreneurial Imperative by Carl J. Schramm

Outside Innovation by Patricia B. Seybold

Funky Business - Making Capital Dance by Jonas Ridderstrale and Kjell Nordstrom

Leading Innovation by Jeff DeGraff and Shawn E. Quinn

Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

Wikinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams

Citizen Marketers by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba

Any one of the above can get your brain working on new ways for you to do business and to interact with others. Read them all, and you will need someone to talk to. Feel free to give me a buzz and we can try to figure it all out together.

Blogging as an art form and as a means of communication is nowhere close to reaching maturity. But, it is giving a lot of people an opportunity to be heard and to be found on the internet. It is creating a great debate on every conceivable subject, and anybody can participate. Spend some time reading blogs and you will pick up a wealth of information, a bunch of new ideas and more opinions than you will know what to do with. You will learn what "real people", your potential customers think about things, including, conceivably, your business and your products. What a resource!! If you learn how to enter this world proactively, seeking specific information, think how valuable it could be to you.

As much as I might like to point you to my favorite political opinion and humor blogs, I will judiciously refrain from doing so. But check these out:

www.technorati.com

www.gather.com

www.churchofthecustomer.com

www.xanga.com

www.customersarealways.com

www.stereogum.com

www.poynter.org

www.digg.com

www.widgetbox.com

www.43things.com

http://blog.guykawasaki.com

Do you see from this sampling what you can learn and how you can use that information to benefit your business?

It seems that everyone has their favorite websites for news, opinions, gossip and information. The internet has become such a vital, collaborative community that the world is now seeing it as so much more. Sites that can open your eyes to this expanded universe include:

www.secondlife.com

www.pageflakes.com

www.netvibes.com

www.1728.com/buzzword.htm

www.feedster.com

www.whatsonwhen.com

www.thisnext.com

www.housingmaps.com

www.xuqa.com

http://del.icio.us/

www.stickam.com

www.lulu.com

The world is at our fingertips these days. As we plan out our strategies and execute them in 2007, we need to remember that there are many great minds outside of our own individual companies that can be of service to us. We have access to ideas from multiple sources, including books, blogs and websites that can move our businesses forward.

We at Management Mpowerment Associates will be bringing some new blogs online within the next thirty days or so, opening up new lines of communication with our clients, prospects, and the world at large. We look forward to creating a meaningful dialogue with you all, and where needed, to helping you achieve your business goals. Our strategic planning and thought process workshops, our Entrepreneurial Obstacle CourseTM sessions, our entrepreneurial and innovative thinking mentoring, and our executive coaching programs are all up and running and we would love to bring you on board.