Welcome to the second episode of ContextMatters. My co-host Chris Saad and I are having fun recording this series. More so, we’re enjoying expanding the community beyond our world here in Silicon Valley to explore the things that affect business, tech and culture. In this episode, we take out our macro lens to look closely at the strange fascination with what could best be described as Silicon Valley’s unconventional behavior. Listen (also embedded below). Schedule Topic 1: We attempt to…
Your Workforce is Disengaged: Here’s What To Do About it
Change is in the air. With disruptive technologies hitting businesses from the outside in and the inside out, how companies invest in technology and ultimately how people use it to get work done is under significant re-evaluation. At the same time, the rising workforce clash between older and younger generations is also pushing HR to radically reform management processes and education programs. Indeed, change is the air. In fact it’s imminent. But change is never programmatic nor is it ever…
Made in Detroit: How Shinola’s Good Ole Fashioned Business Values Outperform the Status Quo
You don’t know shit from Shinola. Ever heard that saying before? This World War II era colloquialism caused a movement to revive the American watchmaking industry and with it bring to Detroit yet another chapter in its storied history in manufacturing. This year at SXSWV2V, I was fortunate enough to interview Shinola president Jacques Panis live on the main stage. He’s not only the president of a thriving lifestyle company contributing to the resurgence of Detroit, he’s also incredibly genuine and…
Broadcast Yourself(ie): If You Think Gen Y is Different, Wait Until You Meet Generation Z
How teens use social media and why it matters to you. Generation Z = (Today’s Teens, Preteens and Children) If you want a glimpse of the future of technology and its impact on society, study how younger generations interact with one another today. While everyone is talking about Millennials these days, there’s another, potential more disruptive generation behind them…Generation Z. With the sting of a face palm, you’ll experience a sheer rush of humility as you realize that everything you…
Curiosity Didn’t Kill the Cat, It Unleashed a Lion: Cultivating Tomorrow’s Leaders Today
Guest post by social impact journalist and filmmaker Melissa Jun Rowley (@MelissaRowley), creator of the upcoming series “Magic Makers.” Earlier this week, I was talking with a friend of mine who sold a fashion tech company in the early 2000s — before social media spawned copycat startups left and right, before TechCrunch made rockstars out of hot, young founders, and before corporations were seeking new ways to engage customers as forever faithful, digital brand ambassadors. “There are times when I…
Becoming the Future
I’m pretty passionate about changing how we teach in order to create a bridge between analog and digital generations. I recently contributed a short chapter to The Little Book of Inspiration and I wanted to share it with you here. In an age where knowledge is more accessible than ever, how do we create engaged workplace learners that are inspired to go out and discover the answers themselves? Reed, in conjunction with Learning Technologies and the Learning & Skills Group,…
The Millennial’s Guide To Surviving Corporate America
Guest post by Michael Price (@michaelpriceles), millennial and author of “What Next? the Millennial’s Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the Real World” A new generation has emerged and they now make up 36% of the U.S. workforce (source: U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics). Many have called them lazy, entitled, and unprepared to take on the challenges of the real world. They can often be seen walking into a hiring manager’s office with a gold star on their shirt,…
The Future of Learning is Stuck in the Past: Why education is less about technology and more about behavior
Here’s a story I haven’t shared much, but I’m doing so now because of an opportunity I recently had to present at the Learning Technology conference in London. Over the last two years, I’ve personally studied learning technology and also learning behaviors to relearn how to engage Generation C through analog and digital media. While writing WTF, I studied the learning patterns and preferences among Generation C and how they differed from less connected students. What I learned reshaped how…
#Philoselfie: Science behind selfie-expression
Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year is also one of the most fascinating movements in social is that of the selfie. Part vanity, part communication, part fun, and part absurdity, selfies represent a new generation of #selfieexpression cum egotistical emoticons…but not necessarily in a bad way. Nevertheless, the psychology and science behind selfies are strangely fascinating and therefore I continue to study and report on its evolution. Selfiecity, a new research project, studies Instagram data from five cities around the…
Hello, It’s Nice to Meet you…Again: Your Digital Reputation Precedes You
My good friend Andy Beal just released his latest book, Repped, 30 Days to a Better Online Reputation. Late last year, he asked me to write the foreword for the book and when I heard what it was about, I was all in. Whether you realize it or not—or even wish to admit it—you already have an online reputation to protect. It doesn’t matter if you’re fresh out of college and hoping your past Facebook indiscretions don’t torpedo your career…
