Innovation - Servant of Chaos

Thriving in Uncertainty – A Workshop with Viv McWaters

In the corporate world we talk a lot – a lot – about innovation and creativity. There are conversations and plans to “unleash” creativity within our businesses and to empower our employees. Sometimes we even start using language from the world of startups – suggesting that some innovation projects may need to “fail fast”.

But one of the great challenges with innovation is that it’s often inwardly focused. We rarely draw in people and ideas from beyond our line of business let alone others in our industry. And when economic conditions change – and they do with regularity – our efforts become increasingly myopic and doomed to failure.

In these conditions we need the skill and capacity to navigate the changing business conditions. We need superior communications, creativity and agility. And we need to ensure that work remains fulfilling – that there is a shared sense of purpose.

A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to attend a workshop with Viv McWaters. She blends business thinking with facilitation and theatrical improvisation – to address many of these challenges. And on July 12 and 13, Viv is running her Thriving in Uncertainty workshops in Melbourne. In her words:

Participant outcomes include improved communication, better collaboration, increased agility, harnessing others’ strengths and building motivated and enthusiastic teams.

But, to be honest, her workshops go well beyond this. They teach you a deep sense of capability that stays with you well after the event. If you can, take a small team along – you’ll be glad you did.

Influencing Design with Frank Chimero

Conferences, Design, Innovation

One of the biggest challenges we face in the business world is – in my opinion – not generating more sales, cutting more costs or improving productivity. It’s more fundamental and goes to the heart of our human condition. It’s harnessing our logic AND our creativity in such a way that it solves the problems that our work, business, social and creative endeavours throw in our path. I call it The Social Way.

So, the chance to hear Frank Chimero speak in Sydney in June looks too good to pass up. He has worked as a designer, illustrator and strategist for brands such as the New York Times, Facebook and WIRED. His recent book The Shape of Design suggests that logic may not always to be the best way to solve design problems (which obviously is right up my alley) – and his inclusive style promises a lively keynote and Q&A forum.

Here courtesy of Portable and VIVID Ideas, he is also slated for talks in Brisbane and Melbourne. Book in while you can!

Vibewire’s fastBREAK Featuring Dan Ilic

Innovation, Storytelling, Vibewire

On the last Friday of every month, Vibewire in partnership with the Powerhouse Museum, hosts #fastBREAK – a breakfast event featuring young innovators and creatives. This is not just a chance for people to “pitch” to the assembled audience of curious business people, artists and entrepreneurs – it goes a step deeper – challenging the speakers to share something deeper – to share a sense of purpose.

Last Friday, with the umbrella theme of “Rage”, five speakers again assembled to engage and entertain the audience. On the bill was well-known comedian and performer, Dan Ilic. Through storytelling, anecdotes and a spot of culture jamming, he showed just how young innovators are challenging the norms, the political narratives of our times and moving from “rage to action”.

The next #fastBREAK will be held slightly out of sequence – on May 18. It is part of the Sydney Writers Festival and promises to be literary, challenging and more than entertaining. It’s like a breakfast that’s good for you …

And don’t forget – the event is sponsored by the pastry gurus from Black Star Pastry in Newtown. It’s the best $10 you’ve ever spent in Sydney! Be sure to book early!

Inbound Marketing for CMOs

Infographics, Innovation, Measurement

One of the benefits of the rise of digital marketing has been the abundance of analytics. No longer do we need to rely on what people “say” they are going to do or “would do” in a certain brand scenario. With the right tools in place we can actually observe their real time behaviour. We can see how customers arrive into our sales/business process, where they spend their time and where they reach a decision point – to convert or not.

We can even go further. With a mobile and/or social layer integrated into our digital business process, we can remove barriers, accelerate the movement from one part of the sales process to the next and close the loop on the customer feedback and advocacy. Perhaps most importantly, however, the real innovation is happening in the way that the marketing funnel has been inverted. These days, it’s not about creating awareness and outreach but about creating a centre of gravity that draws your customers to your business.

But many businesses fail to grasp the opportunity. Especially in retail.

This neat infographic from the Marketo folks provides a handy snapshot for marketers, explaining how traditional and “inbound” marketing differs. And once you see the opportunity, check out the Sticky 360 degree approach. It may just be the solution you need to your inbound marketing challenges.

Hi, I’m Gavin – How Do You Tell Your Personal Story?

Infographics, Innovation, Jobs, Personal Branding

What do you say when you introduce yourself to someone? How do you speak and how do you make eye contact. How firmly do you shake hands?

When you meet face-to-face there thousands of data points and impressions being captured by the people you are meeting. Some are visual. Some are tonal. And yes, some are olfactory.

But what do you do online? How do you tell your story? For example, you can find out about me at:

But, for me, the sum always feels greater than the parts.

To be honest, telling your own story is extremely difficult. In my opinion, it’s why we have agencies and consultants … because they can view your achievements, strengths and qualities with an outsider’s perspective. But tools like LinkedIn and blogs can definitely help. And in this age of infographics, sometimes you just need a visual snapshot – which is why I quite like Visualize.me. It connects to your LinkedIn profile and turns the underlying data into a visual CV. Here is mine – and while it could do with some additional elements – it does seem to get the point across. What do you think?

Creative is Back – Conversational Topics with Responsys’ @simonoz

Age of Conversation, Creativity, Customer Experience, Innovation, Social Media

As I sat bleary eyed in the audience at the Ad:Tech Sydney breakfast briefing this morning, three words sailed over the heads of the audience and slapped me awake – “creative is back”.

He said it again for added impact – creative is back.

The speaker, Responsys’ Simon O’Day, was part of a panel focusing on email marketing – but his interest was broader. He was talking lifecycle marketing, multi-channel and data.

I caught up with him after the panel for a quick conversation and to get a greater sense of what he was hinting at. Here are some of the themes we discussed:

Creative is back: there is a clear opportunity but also a challenge in the years ahead – after all, we are now all receiving vast amounts of email every day. The opportunity and challenge is to invest in creative and bring it into the heart of our campaigns and use that to cut through.

Data drives insights: there is a vast amount of data now at our fingertips – but rather than delivering insights, most marketers are drowning. Increasingly we need to look to technology to help us sift through the information that is available to us. My view was that we needed some creative partnering to take place – between the marketing teams, agencies and companies like Responsys. To make this data work for us all, we need the deep expertise and the maturity to collaborate. Of course, that’s easier said than done!

Data is everywhere: We have our mailing lists and our databases – and that is all goodness. But social networks are now delivering additional data points that can deliver fantastic insights – as long as you know where to look. We should be looking for these opportunities beyond our own organisations – and tapping into the networks of value that already exist.

Imagine a world of 100% plus open rates: This is where it got interesting. As we spoke, Simon became more and more animated. He explained that hidden deep within the data – what Responsys call “profile extensions” – is information that allows you to engage people in a highly relevant way. The way I understood this was that a new piece of data – like a status update or a change in profile information (whether in your system or on Facebook or Twitter etc) could trigger an engagement – like an SMS alert, an email or an @ message. And because it was highly targeted and relevant, it generates 100%+ open rates.

So what we are seeing, really, are micro-segmentation capabilities that are based on people’s behaviours rather than demographic or other forms of segmentation. It’s pretty exciting – slightly spooky – but also the way of the future.

So what do you think? Is this deep level of targeting, when coupled with a focus on permission a way for us to deal with email overload? Is this a new way of understanding trust or is it going in the opposite direction? You tell me.

Are You the Agent of Your Own Change?

Conferences, Innovation, Vibewire

Have you ever made a deep change in your life? Did you look at the status quo and decide you didn’t like the shape, smell or grind that defined your life? If so – did you have the courage to change? Did you make that u-turn?

At the recent fastBREAK event – Vibewire’s co-production with the Powerhouse Museum, five speakers explored this topic. My favourite was this one story by Phil Gomes. He explains how he was able to turn his interest and passion for bikes and cycling into a job as an online editor with SBS Cycling Central.

It wasn’t easy – or even quick. But Phil makes the point – “be the agent of your own change”.

Time for a U-Turn?

Conferences, Innovation

The 2012 season of Vibewire’s #fastBREAK series gets underway on February 24 – with the topic U-Turn.

fastBREAK is a monthly series of rapid-fire interactive talks held on the last Friday of each month from 7:45-9:00am at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum. Each event has five young industry leaders from various sectors exploring the question or topic of the month. These five minute responses circle around the themes of creativity, commercialisation, collaboration, connections and conversation. You can join the fastBREAK meetup community here.

This month’s speakers include:

Robert Beson is the director of AR-MA. Educated in the United States and Australia, Robert holds degrees in literature, classics and architecture.As an architect, Robert has worked in Europe, the United States and Australia with a number of internationally recognised practices and institutions. His work has been exhibited at the Prague Quadrennial, Gwangju Biennial, and the Venice Biennale.In 2010, Robert was awarded the Byera Hadley Traveling scholarship for research on digital fabrication and production of complex structures. Robert has acted as art director and curator for academic institutions, and lectures at UTS and the University of Sydney.

Ralph Hobbs is Art Equity’s Art Director, Ralph Hobbs has a wealth of experience as an artist, art educator and consultant to art institutions. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Art, Diploma of Education and a Masters in Fine Art and Design. His ongoing studies and life-long passion for art has positioned him as an authority in the industry. Highly regarded for his eye for exceptional art and understanding of what makes an artwork both collectible and valuable is an inherent skill that Art Equity clients have appreciated for many years.

Philip Gomes is an Editor and Journalist for SBS and Cycling News, who started his career as a Tennis Player/ coach. He migrated to Australia from Canada and in that time changed his preferred sports to cycling and triathlons. He is now fulfilling a life long dream to become a writer and journalist by converting online publishing into a full-time career as a journalist and online editor at SBS.

Katherine Tu is an Arts/Law student currently studying at the University of Sydney. She is also the Australian Youth Climate Coalition’s NSW State Co-Coordinator. She is passionate about acting on climate change because she wants to see a cleaner, fairer and more just world. Katherine is also active in social justice issues in general, she has previously volunteered for the Australian Red Cross on International Humanitarian Law, Young UNIFEM, and she is currently volunteering with the Aboriginal Legal Service. In her spare time, she likes to read, travel and try and play the ukulele (but isn’t very good at it).

Don’t forget to book your tickets here.

The Social Business Comes First

Flaneurs, Innovation, Social Media, Strategy, The Social Way

In the coming months and years we will hear a lot more about “social business” and what it means for your organisation. There will be infographics, presentations, blog posts, tips, tricks and links galore. Those who have been working in social media – say, as consultants – will begin to transform themselves into social business practitioners, just like many of us from the “dot com” boom transitioned from web to marketing.

Over time we will also wrestle with the “place” for social media. Each line of business will claim ownership – as will your advertising, media, PR and creative agencies. But like all things business, ultimate responsibility lies within your organisation – and arm’s length social media will become more difficult to manage as it scales beyond your borders.

David Armano has been at the forefront of social media’s integration with business over the last five or six years. And as EVP of Global Innovation and Integration with Edelman Digital, he has access to big brands with big challenges. This deck on Social Business Planning is a great starting point – especially as a credentials deck for Edelman Digital.

Social Business Planning

View more presentations from Edelman Insights

But there is still a lot of focus on the marketing/branding side of business. That is understandable given both Edelman’s history and the strong adoption of social media pioneered by marketers the world over – but as I have suggested many times – social brands follow the lead of the social business. And in most cases the heavy lifting of the social-focused innovator – what I call the digital flaneur – is (or should be) focused internally. On enablement. Transformation. Getting. Shit. Done.

Your job is to drive that innovation. Enable it in your teams. Encourage it in your management. Take a critical eye to the slides in this deck and apply it to your business. Use your business nous. Use what you know about the workings, machinations, politics, processes and directions of your organisation and build a small plan. Own it. Change what you can. Discover collaborators. Find the way to make it work.

All the rest is just window dressing.