'Plant: Solves difficult problems with original and creative ideas. Can be poor communicator and may ignore the details. -- Monitor/Evaluator: Sees the big picture. Thinks carefully and accurately about things. May lack energy or ability to inspire others.'

'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Richman, Poorman, Beggarman, Thief. Why did little 17th century girls enjoy guessing who their future husbands might be? Was their choice of archetypes mere alliterative randomness? Relate them to the Dull Dirty Dangerous – Sexy Lucrative Powerful spectrum, and you begin to see a pattern. Richman enjoys the ultimate privilege: buying his own social identity at the SLP end of the spectrum. Poorman is stuck in the DDD end. Beggarman and Thief have fallen off the edge of society. Sailor and Tinker are successful exodus archetypes. The former is effectively a free agent [a privateer]. The latter, the Tinker, was a neo-nomad, substituting tin-smithing for pastoralism in pre-industrial Britain. -- Today, the remaining modern women who look to men, rather than to themselves, to define their lives, might sing a different song: Blogger, Coder, Soldier, Consultant, Rockstar, Burger-flipper, Welfareman, Spammer. Everything changes. Everything remains the same.'

#Working for Passion Outweighs Working for a Paycheck. #Why is More Important than What. #It’s Not What You Think, It’s What You Feel.

'If you want to start a business, the best $20 you’ll ever spend is to find successful entrepreneurs and take them out to lunch. Spend 90% of the time talking about them: #Ask them how they did it. #Ask them what mistakes they made along the way. #In the final few minutes, you can ask about your idea. Is it crazy? What should you be thinking about? Yes, advice is cheap: Most people love talking about themselves. But entrepreneurs have a curious fascination with helping other entrepreneurs succeed. People want to help you. All it takes is you reaching out.'

Great way to announce going freelance.

Comment: Dan G: "There is more room for happiness and satisfaction in being a believer (’clueless’) than a player (’sociopath’). Life for those who find value in what they are doing and get satisfaction out of it can be happy, fulfilled and peaceful. All they need to do is find their true interest and vocation — their true belief, not a delusion. The life of the player-sociopath is bound to be a constant war; and because it is a competition, satisfaction and success are not under their own self-control. It is contingent on the failure of the other player-sociopaths with whom they need to compete. It is ultimately foolish to make your own hapiness contingent on the payoff of a zero-sum game. -- From the point of view of society as a whole, praising sociopathy is a disaster. A society of believers will always thrive and progress; it will be the Utopia. A society of players will stagnate and self-distruct; it will be a Mad-Max style, pre-Hobbesian Dystopia." -- *nodding*

"[Y]ou do your own thinking and no one can tell you you're wrong," says Edwin Locke, an industrial psychologist and professor emeritus of leadership and motivation at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. "You make your own decisions, and if you're wrong, reality gives you the feedback."

'Because of our cultural bias towards specialization, we have been lead to believe that it's possible to spend our life doing nothing but what we like. The real world is not so Utopian. I believe the key to success lies in how we deal with Everything Else.'

'The true benefit of diversity is that it has the potential to produce better results. Diversity along the lines of age, gender, race, religion and sexual orientation has the potential to make an organization more resilient to conformity. Different people from different backgrounds bring in different biases. And groups that have experienced greater prejudice may have a membership inoculated from group think as a matter of self-preservation — that is, when everyone hates your group, you tend to hold a differing opinion. It’s not easy working with one of the rare people who is deeply nonconformist. But if your goal is to be innovative, to create something great and to make a difference in the world, you should be prepared to make those around you uncomfortable and recruit others who do the same to you.' -- IF ethics THEN diversity

"Culture: what gives Netflix the best chance of continuous success for many generations of technology and people?"

'...invent an idea, find content, find publisher, manage the process. The skills you bring to the table are vision, taste and a knack for seeing what's missing. #1. It's much easier to sell to an industry that's used to buying. #2. Earning the trust of the industry is critical. #3. Developing expertise or assets that are not easily copied is essential, otherwise you're just a middleman. #4. Patience in earning the confidence of your suppliers pays off. #5. Don't overlook obvious connections. #6. Get it in writing. Before you package up an idea for sale to a company that can bring it to market, make sure that all the parties you're representing acknowledge your role on paper. #7. As the agent of change, you deserve the lion's share of the revenue, because you're doing most of the work and taking all of the risk. #8. Stick with it. There's a Dip and it's huge. It might take years before the industry starts to rely on you. #9. Work your way up.'

Solid advice.

'First defined by American psychoanalyst Herbert J. Freudenberger in 1972, burnout is “a demon born of the society and times we live in and our ongoing struggle to invest our lives with meaning.” He goes on to say that burnout “is not a condition that gets better by being ignored. Nor is it any kind of disgrace. On the contrary, it’s a problem born of good intentions.”'

'Don't do it. Seriously. If you have what it takes to be a good brand strategist, then you probably have what it takes to run a microcredit operation that can bring thousands of people out of poverty, or be an investigative journalist, or make organic goat's cheese. Any number of things that will almost certainly be better for your soul, and your stress levels, than planning.'

"Cyber anthropologists: I didn’t really know what to call these people. They’re the people who have an ungodly fascination with what’s going on ‘out there’ the ones who are living real online lives, and watching and interrogating other people too. So they wouldn’t just be commenting on online dating, they’d be out there getting hooked up. And I’d be particularly looking for the ones who are trying to understand what it all means from a psychological and sociological point of view." -- Sounds like fun ;^)

'Anthropology can be your vocation and avocation . You can do it by day...for clients. And you can do it by night...for yourself. At night, you are an anthropologist "without portfolio." You are working on your own projects...by your own lights...for your own purposes.'

"#4. Do work that a professional wouldn't dare do, and use this as an advantage. If you're the only person on earth who could have done what you just did, then you're a proud amateur."

"Domain knowledge is important, but it's easily learnable. Process, on the other hand, refers to the emotional intelligence skills you have about managing projects, visualizing success, persuading other people of your point of view, dealing with multiple priorities, etc. This stuff is insanely valuable and hard to learn. Unfortunately, it's usually overlooked by headhunters and HR folks, partly because it's hard to accredit or check off in a database. Venture capitalists like hiring second or third time entrepreneurs because they understand process, not because they can do a spreadsheet. As the world changes ever faster, as industries shrink and others grow, process ability is priceless. Figure out which sort of process you're world-class at and get even better at it. Then, learn the domain... that's what the internet is for. One of the reasons that super-talented people become entrepreneurs is that they can put their process expertise to work in a world that often undervalues it."

"20th century capitalism is eating itself... we have reached the boundaries of a kind of growth. Tomorrow's growth won't come from a person, place, or technology - but from understanding why yesterday's growth has failed. The same growth models applied to new people, places, and technologies will simply result in the same crises, over and over again. We have to reboot growth: the problem is not what is growing versus what is not, but how we grow. Here are the four pillars of smart growth - for economies, communities, and corporations: #1. Outcomes, not income: Are people healthier, fitter, smarter, happier? #2. Connections, not transactions: Smart growth seeks to amplify connection and community -- because the goal isn't just to trade, but to co-create and collaborate. #3. People, not product #4. Creativity, not productivity: How many new industries, markets, categories, and segments an economy can consistently create. Smart growth is creative -- not merely productive" -- A classic.

"#Brand yourself ... you ought to be doing for yourself what you’re claiming to be able to do for others."

"...it is a trade."

"Only an anthropologist can observe the larger, richer cultural context from which cool springs and with which it must correspond if cool is to cool into something lasting. Indeed I would argue that it is precisely when culture above resonates with the culture below that things "take," that innovation has a chance to transform us in substantial ways."

"A city speaks to you mostly by accident—in things you see through windows, in conversations you overhear. It's not something you have to seek out, but something you can't turn off. " -- What a great read!

"it's not just fastidiousness that makes good hackers avoid nasty little problems. It's more a question of self-preservation. Working on nasty little problems makes you stupid."

"scanning the horizon for changes in your environment that will lead you to that next better thing, while at the same time scanning your history for unique experiences and insights that give you a competitive advantage."

Ta. (Requires email signup.)

"Measuring your worth is tough..." -- *nods*

"The last Career Guide You'll Ever Need" -- In manga format. Nice!

"Several years ago, I formed a Board of Directors for my career. They treated me like a business entity and almost overnight my life changed (for the better). I can certainly see why people in the entertainment business have agents."

"Want to get ahead today? Forget what your parents told you. Instead, do something foreigners can't do cheaper. Something computers can't do faster. And something that fills one of the nonmaterial, transcendent desires of an abundant age."

"A group of 10 people within a large organization is a kind of fake tribe. The number of people you interact with is about right. But something is missing: individual initiative." -- "In an artificial world, only extremists live naturally."

"Reduced Scope: Rather than taking on all types of projects, start specializing and declining unrelated projects. When you stray too far from your expertise, you end up paying for it in unexpected ways." - Yup.

Doing a 'Resume Genome Project' (People like you do jobs like jobs these..) That could get mighty interesting!

"... the new face of work, at least for some people, opens up the possibility that work is the thing (much of the time) that you'd most like to do. Designing jobs like that is obviously smart. Finding one is brilliant."

'"Always produce" is also a heuristic for finding the work you love. If you subject yourself to that constraint, it will automatically push you away from things you think you're supposed to work on, toward things you actually like.'

"For instance, if you land on a Business Week article about IBM, the site will then look at your LinkedIn profile (assuming you’ve given it permission to do so) and highlight the people you know at IBM. Call it six degrees of Business Week..."

"Be able to be big, and be able to be smaller too." Great advice. Pass it on.

"You know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... [Agencies] only want [digitals] who have great skills." Hehe

"What students do in their classes will change too. Instead of trying to get good grades to impress future employers, students will try to learn things. We're talking about some pretty dramatic changes here."

"... what are we asking people at the start, or in the middle of their careers, to spend 10,000 hours doing? Will it be any use to them 10,000 hours later?... are we giving them expertise in something that will last?"

"Optimize at all times for being in the most dynamic and exciting pond you can find. That is where the great opportunities can be found."

Video: 12:00-> (KNOWLEDGE + EXPERIENCE = SHIT)

Robert Sutton: "In order to foster creativity we should hire misfits, goad them to fight and pay them to defy convention and undermine the prevailing culture."

"if you want to work on a cool brand, go and create one. Or, as a second best, work for one. But don't 'Plan' on one or hope you that you will have any real affect on the brand you Plan for. It is a (admittedly amusing and entertaining) waste of time.”

Anne Benevnuto: "If you don't understand the dynamics of culture, how can you undestand how your distruption of culture will shape it."

Interesting.

"Culturally and behaviorally, people are brought up with different values and methods of operating in the world of work. Too often, managers get caught up in the habit of rewarding individuals who are most like them and punishing those who are different."

"sounds like an amazing job that almost requires first and foremost that you be a blogger, and a cross between product manager, spokesperson and evangelist... much along the lines of like the “geek marketer” that Steve Rubel recently wrote in Ad Age."

"Have something to say on Russell's blog, or a question or comment about MOSH in general? This is your space. Tell Russell what you love, what you hate, what you want to see changed, what you want to see more of, favorite color ... you know, whatever"

"For this position, Nokia are looking for "a Russell" - someone who is ALREADY active in the social media space, has a good and practical understanding of the technologies used in social media/community building and is willing to fail in full public view.

Nokia is seeking a "Russell": "Russell will be a face and voice in the virtual world charged with connecting the service to the community. That means you'll be blogging daily and serving as the main interaction point between Nokia and the MOSH community."

Great 'state of planning summary' - plus - Comment: John Grant: "reality constructing where a new business model, utility, service, type of venue etc. literally reshapes our lifestyles; life was never the same after."

"... you need to get yourself in a situation with two things, measurement and leverage. You need to be in a position where your performance can be measured... And you have to have leverage, in the sense that the decisions you make have a big effect."

They are. No doubt about it.

#1. Go get what you need. #2. Stop trying to employ all creatives in-house outright. #3. Stop being afraid of what seems like a renegade idea.

A tremendous outpooring of resentment. Take a sickbag and few tissues with you for this one. *Barfs*

"Here’s our suggestions: Hire people who intimately understand the landscape of new media. And then, hire people who have no idea about the advertising business, as well. At least on a contract basis.. (cont.)"

Taxonomy: #BUSINESS ACUMEN: Move Product #EMOTIONAL: Insight into how to think #RELATIONSHIP ACUMEN (CONSUMER DEVELOPMENT): Galvanise the relationship #EXECUTIONAL: Insight into how to behave

"a good synthesizer crystallizes the problem which needs solving for—so the solution process can begin in an informed fashion vs. a more arbitrary approach. This is where competencies in design thinking, and storytelling become critical."

"all of the really good people seem to have their own game going on. They’ve either started their own small companies, or they’re freelancing and living the life that they want, on their terms."

"Doug needs to leave for a very simple reason. He's been branded. The time to look for a new job is when you don't need one. The time to switch jobs is before it feels comfortable. Go. Challenge yourself. You owe it to your career and your skills."

a "fool's job is to extol the trivial, trifle with the exalted and parody the common perception of a situation... makes us conscious of the habits we take for granted and rarely question... fool needs to be part actor, poet, philosopher and psychologist."

"There is no one future waiting to happen," Gary Hamel once opined, "the future is something you create, not something that happens to you."

"Designers are advocating that ‘design thinking’ has something to offer for strategy beyond the design function. Design consultancies are pushing into strategy and it’s still a hard climb."

Quote: "There is a Chinese saying that happiness is having something to work on, something to look for, and someone to love." -- Quote: "We are too reactive. We’ve lost the ability to shape our own world. That’s why people leave organizations."

Too true.

“Today’s gamers are learning collaboration, self-organization, risk-taking, openness, influence, and how to earn incentives linked to performance and be flexible in the way they communicate.”

"Money is, in short, a commodity. As believers in differentiation, we should seek to reward people in currencies that our competitors cannot supply in greater quantities – such as civility or quality of life."

Crazy guy getting things done. I want to be him.

"And remember that you can be doing good while you are doing well. You'll all go out and get good jobs. But you'll make your living by what you do in those jobs. You'll make your life by what you give. Have a good life."

"A lot of the time these days, we're talking about stuff which gives consumers real value, "enabling" them, defining our marketing through actions... We need to stop thinking of ourselves as in the "communications" business."

"There are numerous ways to execute proper account planning; Intuitive skills, a passion for advertising, and personal involvement are all essential and are a good place to start... It is fun if you have the passion to fight for your beliefs."

Some solid advice on taking interactive skills to a traditional agency: "Some people won’t like you. Who cares?, Yes, you will have to sell, You need to design in front of people, Confrontation is a must. Gloves are optional, Get Your hands dirty (...)"

'"McKinsey & Co. is using video games to test recruits for leadership potential and assess their team-building style." Okay, that's all interesting, but who is ready to stick MMORPGs on their CV under interests?'

"The words 'graphic designer,' 'architect,' or 'industrial designer' stick in my throat giving me a sense of limitation. This inadequate set of terms to describe an active life reveals only partially the still undefined nature of a designer."

"Ad agencies are about to trade three-martini lunches and fast-talking account executives for programmers, custom software and anthropologists who can navigate MySpace. "Digital anthropologists are going to be the next people you scramble to hire"

"Strategic incompetence isn't about having a strategy that fails, but a failure that succeeds. It almost always works to deflect work one doesn't want to do without ever having to admit it."

"What’s in your personal DNA? How are you wired? Left brained, right brained, all brained? Where do you excel? Where do you need help? How does your personal DNA affect what you do for a living?"