People for Smarter Cities: Clever IBM Campaign

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IBM is committed to creating solutions that help cities all over the world get smarter, in order to make life in those cities better. That’s why IBM and Ogilvy are working together to spark positive change with the “People for Smarter Cities” project, and unite city leaders and forward-thinking citizens. To spread the word, Ogilvy created outdoor advertising with a purpose: a bench, a shelter and a ramp that are not only designed to be beautiful, but to be useful to city dwellers as well.

This is a variation on the clever IBM theme of Let's Build a Smarter Planet.  For me, innovation is not just wild, breakthrough ideas that we've seen from the likes of Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, but also the simplest of things that are positively inside the box.  This ad campaign does the trick beautifully:  It's colorful, simple and practical.  Plus it's lovely irony that a high technology company like IBM creates a low technology solution for the most mundane of needs among city dwellers.

A+E Abbe Raven Breaks Ground with FYI

A+E Networks is trying to take the energy of sites like Pinterest and Yelp, and translate it to TV.

What A+E Chairwoman Abbe Raven talks about may be more ground breaking than Forbes interviewer Dorothy Pomerantz realized.  The last time I looked at numbers, TV remained boss as far as global media reach was concerned.  Many of us may talk about social media and high technology as if these were the only conduits people had for information, entertainment and connection.  But for Raven & Co. to tap into all that hullabaloo, and bring it into tried-and-true mainstream media, has to be phenomenal.  Of course we still have to see how it all works out, but A+E has good track record of launching new brands.  She points out that FYI Network may be for your information, it may be for your inspiration, it may be for your innovation.  The possibilities are, in her exuberance, for your infinite as well.

Business Lessons Jessica Simpson Learned

Jessica Simpson must define what it means to be a celebrity: someone who's in the media, and the public eye in general, a lot and subjects herself to the best and the worst that that public hurls at her.  For instance, there are only a few comments on this Forbes YouTube video, but they're virtually all negative and a couple are offensive.  But she is sitting on a fashion line that is doing very well, and she's grown thick skin apparently, finding humor in the fact that people who criticize her still buy her shoes.  I don't know how much of her success is due to her business acumen or that of her backers.  Still she managed to position herself well in an industry that is tough even for lifers in that industry.  No one can really knock that.  No, she is not a billionaire, at least not yet (rf. Jessica Simpson Net Worth and Meet 20 People Who Became Billionaires This Year [2010, scroll to the end of the article]).

Billionaire Lessons from Michael Jordan

It is quite a feat for an athlete, more than 10 years retired now, to keep his brand alive to the tune of millions of dollars and to crack the surface, according to Forbes estimations, of $1 billion in net worth.  Michael Jordan's Hornets played better this past season, but they were bottom dwellers for a few years.  Despite that, the team is worth $600 - $675 million, and Jordan has inched his ownership stake up to nearly 90% at this point.  

As a point of reference, the Clippers were perennial losers for years and years, but their value was estimated to be close to $1 billion.  This increase apparently came at the heels of the Sterling ownership, which didn't invest much into carving out a winning ball club, until relatively recently.  The Cowboys, playing mostly at a mediocre level, are the most valuable franchise in the NFL.  So, evidently, the relationship between sports performance and business performance isn't so simple or linear.  I want to research this.  

4 Lessons From Michael Jordan On How To Become A Billionaire

In any event, Forbes staffer Mike Ozanian parcels out the secret sauce to Jordan's billionaire climb, in an article I reference in the above caption:

1. Get a percentage
2. Buy distressed businesses in great industries (rf. Warren Buffet)
3. Use your brand as leverage to strike a favorable deal
4. Use social media to keep your brand relevant (rf. LeBron James)

Erik Wahl on Thinking Differently à la Einstein

Sometimes it pays to take a risk, to take ownership, to take action on an idea.  One of the first steps on becoming an entrepreneur is to not only dream big, but then to be engaged and take action.  

Erik Wahl is someone I hadn't heard of, until now of course.  I love this dude.  I love how he painted that portrait of Albert Einstein, and quoted him before some people, maybe many of them, realized it was Herr Professor himself.

F.E.A.R. is false evidence appearing real.   

Creativity is daring to be different.  But as Wahl suggests à la Einstein, creativity doesn't always mean acting differently but maybe just thinking differently.

Identifying High Performing Candidates

A clear, succinct and useful video on how to pinpoint candidates who are likely to be high performers on the job.  Here are some additions and emphases: 

• Using valid, reliable psychometric tests can help in that process; resumes are helpful only to an extent, and interviews ought to be structured and behavior-focused.  
• Intelligence gets the short shrift in some circles, but it's de rigueur and it's the basis for learning, performing and growing.  
• Work ethic is akin to Stephen Covey's be proactive, that is, taking initiative to get things done and seeking to contribute beyond listed duties are prized attributes indeed.
• Along with hypothetical scenarios, asking candidates for specific examples of how they dealt with a moral dilemma or ethical faux pas will help illuminate their integrity.

The Embattled Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer

Marissa Mayer

The word this morning is that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer overslept and missed the bulk of a key advertising meeting in Cannes. 

Some of the chatter on social media suggests that if this is true, she should get a pass. Um, not necessarily. In Yahoo's position, with its flat revenue and its need to sell a new digital magazine strategy, this would be the equivalent of oversleeping for a key job interview. After the Henrique de Castro debacle, Mayer needs to show she's personally plugged into the needs of the ad community. It doesn't help that she has a storied history of making people wait. Now, there's the important question of whether a male CEO would get the same scrutiny. Frankly, I think he would. De Castro caught similar heat when he seemed unprepared for ad industry gatherings. And Steve Jobs, though he could be mercurial, was a master schmoozer when he needed to convince a partner to do what he wanted.

Reference: Tech Buzz @ CNBC pre-Squawk Alley: Mayer, Rascoff & Micron

CNBC Technology Editor John Fortt posted an article on LinkedIn, and I weighed in:

Maybe Mayer was not feeling well. Nevertheless, I would have simply but sincerely apologized for being late, left it at that, and kept focused on the people and business at hand. Obviously her absence was an issue, but her presence was all that mattered, upon arrival. I very much agree with Joe Shanahan about not crucifying Mayer: She's only human, and she's not the only top executive who's ever been late for a meeting.

Shanahan remarked:

Let's not crucify Marissa for oversleeping- there was an article on here not 4 months ago stating how she was sleeping 4 hours a night. She needs to delegate a few more big tasks to who she deems fit. Humans were meant to sleep 8 hours a night, be well-hydrated, and operate on high carb diets. I feel quite badly for her- and I wish more people would understand this is the key to a productive, clear mind.