Alfred Thompson the Cyberspace People Watcher: Company Cultures

Alfred Thompson the Cyberspace People Watcher: Company Cultures:

"People outside large companies think that the person at the top can change anything they want. They think that the CEO can wake up one morning, hear a great idea (like perhaps Hugh MacLeod writing about how Microsoft should be listening to their customers or Robert Scoble telling Google - and everyone else - how to run their public relations) and make it happen across the company. But it doesn't work that way. Change takes time. It takes time because a lot of times things require culture to change.

Inertia sets in. Passive aggression is a powerful force. People resist change. The only way a CEO could make instant change would be to directly manage everyone. And that is just not going to happen. Small or flat organizations have an edge here. But even in schools which are very flat organizations (almost everyone reports to the principal) and tend to be small are hard to change though. I've seen great principals fail to turn schools around even with the best of ideas. There are no quick fixes in any organization.

Individuals can and do make a difference though. Even in large companies one person changing they way they work and influencing the way other people work can over time make big changes. But 'over time' is key here. Few people want to wait for change to take place slowly and evolutionarily. We are a 'do"

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YouTube - Battle at Kruger

YouTube - Battle at Kruger

vavoylanu

crooks & liars

Regis talks about meeting Amy Goodman on his show Live with Regis and Kelly (Dec. 19th). And that’s really all there is to this but it’s hilarious anyway.

Regis and Joy go to Phil Donahue & Marlo Thomas’ annual Christmas party and Regis finds himself seated next to Amy Goodman, one of the most respected journalists in America — who he’s never heard of. So when he asks what she does Amy explains she has a show on PBS where she covers global events. Regis immediately finds himself feeling a touch inadequate for the conversation. In the end though the most unlikely of plugs.

Smart Mobs » Blog Archive » MIT Press places free chapter by Howard Rheingold online

Smart Mobs » Blog Archive » MIT Press places free chapter by Howard Rheingold online

The contents of the book Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth was posted online by MIT Press this week. It contains a chapter by Howard Rheingold titled “Using Participatory Media and Public Voice to Encourage Civic Engagement.” The book is part of a The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. The series “examines the effect of digital media tools on how people learn, network, communicate, and play, and how growing up with these tools may affect a person’s sense of self, how they express themselves, and their ability to learn, exercise judgment, and think systematically.

The following is the abstract of the chapter by Howard Rheingold, which appears on an MIT Press webpage from which the full chapter can be downloaded in PDF:

Teaching young people how to use digital media to convey their public voices could connect youthful interest in identity exploration and social interaction with direct experiences of civic engagement. Learning to use blogs (“web logs,” web pages that are regularly updated with links and opinion), wikis (web pages that non-programmers can edit easily), podcasts (digital radio productions distributed through the Internet), and digital video as media of self-expression, with an emphasis on “public voice,” should be considered a pillar—not just a component—of twenty-first-century civic curriculum. Participatory media that enable young people to create as well as consume media are popular among high school and college students. Introducing the use of these media in the context of the public sphere is an appropriate intervention for educators because the rhetoric of democratic participation is not necessarily learnable by self-guided point-and-click experimentation. The participatory characteristics of online digital media are described, examples briefly cited, the connection between individual expression and public opinion discussed, and specific exercises for developing a public voice through blogs, wikis, and podcasts are suggested. A companion wiki provides an open-ended collection of resources for educators.

The contents of the book Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth was posted online by MIT Press this week. It contains a chapter by Howard Rheingold titled “Using Participatory Media and Public Voice to Encourage Civic Engagement.” The book is part of a The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation […]