Leadership is hard to find. It’s not that it’s not out there, but true mentor worthy leadership is rare. Why is that? Where does it fall down? I discuss some of my thoughts here in my first video blog post.
Posts Tagged ‘Philosophy’
June 2nd, 2010
Written by Cynthia Thomas
@deziner
Putting the Human Back in Humanity
There’s been talk about a shift in sentiment that has been evolving over what seems to be just the last few months. A backlash if you will against the thinking surrounding social media and the focus on implementation tactics. A level of frustration with the trepidation, nervousness and overarching reluctance to embrace social media for a fear of “doing it wrong.” I have a thought a lot about this. And it goes a bit beyond embracing a new channel. I think the core issue is deeply rooted—more than we want to admit. Because I see social media’s influence going way beyond a marketing or engagement tool. It’s actually working towards putting the human back into humanity.
May 10th, 2010
Written by Cynthia Thomas
@deziner
Overcoming Creativity
Over the last several months I’ve been participating in a discussion group (IRL… can you believe that?) centered on the topic of removing roadblocks of our individual creativity. It’s been a fascinating journey to say the least. Not only is the subject of creativity wide open for interpretation, but openly facing how you might be sabotaging yourself in the manner can be a bit eye-opening. Nonetheless, I delved into the cerebral examination of what creativity actually is, and is not, and have landed on a few key descriptors…
Tagged with: creativity, emotions, human behavior, motivation, Philosophy, Simon Sinek, TED, unGeeked
April 21st, 2010
Written by Cynthia Thomas
@deziner
The door is wide open. Where’s my iPhone?
On a recent evening I had a very scary, yet very enlightening experience arriving at my house after being away for a few hours. Before I get to the story of what happened, let me share the summation of my epiphany:
The deep integration of, and reliance upon, technology and digital engagements is being constantly overlooked, and grossly underestimated.
I know that sounds silly. I mean, we’re bombarded with stories of the importance of digital every day. Oh sure, we read about the number of people who own iPhones and Blackberries. Statistic after statistic is shared and devoured regarding the adoption of this social platform, or the prevalence of that given technology. The whos, the whats, and even on occasion the whys of this world are widespread and assumingly comprehended, weighed and applied to bigger and better strategies for living in the digital age. But I challenge that we, those of us that consume those statistics with fervor, are missing a level of understanding of what is really going on. Just how ingrained these digital touch points are becoming, if not have become, in and to our daily lives.
Here’s where this fateful evening’s story comes in.
Tagged with: engagement, experience design, human behavior, iPhone, Philosophy, smoke monster, user experience
April 13th, 2010
Written by Mark Fairbanks
@markfairbanks
Running, digital, and running a digital agency
Sara Santiago wrote a great little post (a love letter, she calls it) last week about dailymile. For those not familiar with dailymile, it’s essentially an unbranded descendant of the groundbreaking Nike+ site created by R/GA a few years back. dailymile has taken the concept a bit further, allowing not only runners, but anyone actively training (cycling, swimming, strength-training) the ability to track their efforts and share it with other members of the community.
It’s amazing how well digital has connected the dots for runners, but that’s always a matter of identifying key user insights. First of all, the majority of us are fanatics. Why else would anyone go out and run all those brutally monotonous miles? Runners are also obsessive (no surprise) about keeping track of personal progress. All those endless miles, all those hills, all those repeats become a body of work. They become a story of individual growth, an epic on a personal level. They are the equivalent of the most timeless of stories: the quest.
Tagged with: DailyMile, Digital, digital agencies, digital tools, experience, experience design, Nike+, Philosophy, quest, R/GA, Runners, Running, social media, training tools, user experience, utility, widgets
