From Brian Reich at ChangeThis: I am angry. There are real problems facing the world, and we, as a society, are not doing enough to address them in the right ways, not the ways we know are possible. The old way isn’t working, and we know it.

We continue to reward the same behaviors we have rewarded in the past while expecting different results. We profess interest in really doing things differently but settle into routines that are comfortable and safe, and we are fooling ourselves. There are lots of excuses for not making real, demonstrable changes in the way we live, work, and how we interact as individuals and engage in groups/communities. I have heard them all. I have used many of them myself. But they are bullshit. All excuses are. A person either truly, deeply, genuinely cares about changing things or he doesn’t. You can step up and do what it takes, in whatever way you can, or you need to acknowledge your limits and accept the results.

What might be possible if we were really committed, as individuals and as a society? I’ve thought a lot about this, and instead of remaining angry, I choose to embrace the question and figure out how I can use the anger to make things happen.

From Jim Stengel at ChangeThis: It’s time to change the narrative of business. From a winner-take-all tale, no-holds-barred, no matter what the cost to individual firms, investors, the economy, and society, to doing business on the basis of what I call brand ideals, shared ideals of improving people’s lives.

Wider adoption and leveraging of brand ideals would be the best medicine the economy could possibly get. Instead of inflating a bubble that would sooner or later burst with tragic consequences for everyone, it would trigger and sustain unprecedented growth in every sector it touched.

Make no mistake, however. The business case for brand ideals is not altruism. It’s self-interest and mutual interest. In addition to its wider positive impact, a devotion to brand ideals will do more for your own business and career than any other factor. Maximum business growth and high ideals are not incompatible. They’re inseparable.

and the reason is the explosion of data: “Big data can get us to business at the speed of thought … But the reality is that most companies do business at the speed of the weekly meeting.”
Companies in all industries are finding that software and the data it manages are becoming core to their business, rather than a back-office prop.

From FastCompany: Frog's Fabio Sergio admits that there's no real formula for innovation. But there are common threads.

o-operative Legal Services’ (CLS) is launching a legal apprenticeship framework as part of its assault on the profession.

The new framework, which will sit within the Co-operative Group’s (Co-op) Apprenticeship Academy, will look to appoint up to 10 apprentices in 2012.

The move is aimed to help boost the number of Co-op apprentic

From FastCompany: Scott Anthony, of Innosight and the author of The Little Black Book of Innovation: How it works, how to do it, shows how to find hidden opportunities for innovation

From FastCompany: Disruptive. Small-d democratic. Transparent. Tech savvy. Design savvy. Local and global. Nimble. Values-driven. No matter your gut reaction to what has sprung out of a seemingly sketchy September landing on New York’s Zuccotti Park, the Occupy movement is spiritually akin to the innovative companies we laud elsewhere on this list and in each issue. Square, for example, is working to disrupt an established trillion-dollar payment infrastructure that puts the little guy at a disadvantage. Occupy, meanwhile, is challenging a political, financial, and social establishment that has resulted in income inequality and puts most Americans at a disadvantage. Both attempt to make a more fair future.

Launch of a TTO fund with UCL, Edinburgh and Manchester.

HBR article

The role of CFOs in successful open innovation, with P&G examples.

[From 3. Joi Ito]

"The Japanese government once asked me to be on a committee about taxes and information technology. The first thing I said was, 'Let's figure out a way to use resources more efficiently to lower taxes.' And they said, 'No, no, no--this committee is about using computers to collect more tax.' So I asked, 'How do we reduce costs?' And they said, 'Oh, there's no committee for that.' [Laughs] That's the problem with large organizations. They create roles and constraints, and sometimes people forget why they're there."

That "subtle difference" — of flipping the priorities away from profit and back to great products — took Apple from three months away from bankruptcy, to one of the most valuable and influential companies in the world.