Blogs vs. Newspapers

There is an interesting discussion going on lately regarding the importance of blogs against that of traditional information sources like newspapers. Some time ago Malcom Gladwell (by the way if you have not had the chance to read his books I suggest you do so, they are short yet insightful) speaking on a panel about the future of journalism said:

“Without the New York Times, there is no blog community. They’d have nothing to blog about.”

Long Term Success or Survival?

Stories like the above one, even if not as dramatic, are not uncommon. Consider the lists Fortune 500, Forbes 100, Global 1000, S&P 500 and so on, they collect the largest and, supposedly, the best managed companies in the world. If we take a closer look, however, practically all of those large organizations underperform the market in the long term, a rather counter-intuitive fact.

Predictions gone wrong!

The collection of quotes I present below illustrate how managers, scientists and academics often fail to free themselves from paradigms. As Peter Ustinov said “If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can’t be done”.
The list was too big therefore I decided to break it up in 2 parts. Have fun.

When the Web goes Visual!

Most people sooner or later come across an idea or a product and say: “Damn, I was thinking about something just like it!”. For quite some time now I have been thinking how web surfing could become more “visual” and “user friendly”, and when I came across the Swarm site I said: “OK looks like I am not alone”. (If you click the link wait some time on the site to see the dynamics going on).

Survival of the Fittest!

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” (Charles Darwin)

I think most sciences can learn a lot from nature, and management is no exception. As we move into a fast-paced, information based economy the ability to react promptly and decidedly to environmental changes will become much more important than financial resources, economies of scale or any other “industrial age” competitive advantages.