success

This weekend I spent a bit of time with Andrew Zuckerman's work and (courtesy of Maria Popova) listened to this talk he gave at this year's 99% conference which contains a series of fantastic insights into his view on the creative process, wonderfully illustrated by soundbites from his work, most notably the Wisdom and Music projects.

What a day! The World Business Forum featured phenomenal speakers and drew over 4,000 attendees from 60+ countries. I’m so honored to have been invited to attend as a guest blogger.

I tweeted the best bits from today as they rolled off the speakers’ tongues and will be doing the same tomorrow morning (follow me: deniseleeyohn) but here are six of my main takeaways so far:

I like the concept of this - ie: metrics adjusting to reflect new realities. Plus it's nice to have an eg that is not so advertising centric. I suspect this is all a *long* way off happening though. :-)

"In the highly turbulent, quickly reforming environment of the new economy, the competitive advantage goes to the nimble and malleable, the flexible and quick. Speed and agility trump size and experience. Fast to find the new is only one half the equation; fast to let go is the other important half." Kevin Kelly

In recent weeks, both the New York Times and Bloomberg Businessweek ran stories on the booming music concert business.  

The Times piece, A Front-Row Seat, to Go? Rock Fans Pay for Perks relayed the success of VIP packages which give concert goers special perks like face time with the artists at thousands of dollars a head. 

I’ve finally made it through all of the hours of Olympics coverage which I DVR’d because I had been unable to watch most of the Games live. Since I already knew the result of many of the competitions, I was interested in watching mostly for the profiles of the athletes and stories behind and nuances of their achievements. I gleaned a few insights that seem to have relevance for companies who are competing in the game of business.

Growing up, I loved to debate. With anyone. My debating tone used to drive my mother batty because she thought I was yelling at her. Exasperated, I would often bark back that I was simply debating. Over the years, I realized that my debating tone is one of such confidence that people believe me to be stating facts, not opinions. My mother interpreted it as yelling; my classmates interpreted it as arrogance. I also began to realize that it was the same tone as that of my male peers. I never apologized for my opinions, never deflated them with "I may be wrong but I think..." I asserted. Confidently. And loudly.