Monthly Archives: November 2009

I recently saw a video that I found incredibly inspiring from the99percent.com that outlines the traits of successful social entrepreneurs. What I found most insightful was that the ideas outlined can be generalized and applied to anybody who wants to be successful in any endeavor.

In the video below, Cheryl Dorsey, president of Echoing Green, outlines the attributes that define successful social entrepreneurs. She describes a new behavioral model called SEQ, or “social entrepreneurial intelligence.” On a daily basis, her organization has to find “the right person, with the right idea, who can execute on that idea and potentially change the world.”

In summary,…

Although getting up at 4:00 am to catch a flight usually requires large amounts of caffeine, I was energetic and high on anticipation the October morning that I got up to head off to Oxford in the early dawn. I was heading to Meltwater’s annual management training seminar, held this year at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Being the nerd that I am, I was looking forward to the lectures, to exploring the libraries and to getting a feel for the atmosphere in the famous town that inspired authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling.

Day one, Saïd…

In a recent blog post, Gina Trapani, founding editor of Lifehacker.com, described ways to shorten meetings and increase efficiency.

Here’s a summary of her “extreme” techniques and my thoughts on why I agree:

1. Keep everyone standing
A bit extreme, yes, but keeping everyone standing means people have a vested interest in finishing the meeting early. The meeting will only finish early if you reach your objectives. I have also found that most people think better when standing or slowly pacing.

2. Ban distractions
No mobile devices and no laptops means people aren’t checking email or doing online shopping during a lengthy meeting.

3. Schedule 30-minute…