ChangeThis
ChangeThis is our weekly series of essays from today's thought leaders that are meant to evoke conversation by bringing forth new and unique ideas.
ChangeThis
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Distracted: A Manual for Living a Creative, Productive, and Happy Life In the Digital Age
By Brian Solis
“Somewhere along the way, we got distracted. As much as we multitask, love our devices and feel like we’re in control, deep down we know that something is off. Shortened attention spans, declines in critical thinking, lack of sleep, self-doubt and decreased creativity are just some of the effects coming to light in an age of digital distraction. It’s time to reclaim our lives. It’s time to take control.”
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The ChangeThis Manifesto
By Porchlight
"Sometimes it seems as though our disagreements over everything–from politics to business to the designated hitter rule–are more serious and more divisive than ever before. People are making emotional, knee-jerk decisions, then standing by them, sometimes fighting to the death to defend their position. And yet, weʼre optimists."
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Mastering the Basics: Simple Lessons for Achieving Success in Business
By Porchlight
"In every industry, we all face hurdles and obstacles as well as opportunities and potential for success. I found myself referring back to what I had learned through the years and stating again, this time to a new audience, the importance of mastering the basics."
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Having Said That: Business Clichés to Avoid Like the Plague
By Robert Spector
“Caught between a rock and a hard place, listening to your CEO’s dry-as-dust dogand- pony show, you resist checking your phone because you’re a team player in a well-oiled machine. But left to your own devices, your attention turns to Minecraft or Instagram when the boss declares, ‘We’re raising the bar and pushing the envelope.’ It’s time for a paradigm shift; perhaps a sea change. Clichés, it goes without saying, are integral to daily discourse. Familiarity with their meanings puts us all on the same page in order to get the ball rolling toward a win-win situation. (But, of course, only time will tell.)”
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It Is Your Right To Be Heard: Why Women's Voices Get Silenced and How to Set Them Free
By Veronica Rueckert
"The voice is an amazing gift, both a privilege and a responsibility. Using it takes courage, especially if you're a woman. We're given only a finite amount of time to figure out what it's for, to grow into ourselves enough that we can speak up when the time comes. Yet a woman's right to speak in public is a right that hasn't been fully granted."
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How to Reverse the Dismal Failure Rate of Digital Transformations
By Tony Saldanha
"Most digital transformations fail for two reasons: 1) their transformation strategy lacks clarity and 2) they don't choose the right processes for disciplined execution. In short, they fail at the where of digital transformation and the how. The roots of the first part of the problem—the where—lie in the hyped-up, fuzzy interpretations of the term 'digital transformation. ' Every new IT tool, from new communications software to the next release of an SAP upgrade, is called digital transformation. Technology providers use "herd marketing" techniques to move executives to urgent action. Strong board members, CEOs and executives understandably jump at the opportunity to lead change. This necessary and decisive push by them ironically leads to a 'Ready-Fire-Fire' approach instead of 'Ready-Aim-Fire. ' The roots of the second part of the problem—the how—lie in fundamental misunderstandings of the appropriate methodology. Typically, IT projects rely on process improvement methodologies.
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Nincompoopery: How to Find and Kill the Corporate Stupidity That Drives Customers Crazy
By Porchlight
"Why should our customers have to rekey their data multiple times to make a single purchase? Why are there four levels of approval just to order basic supplies? Why can't we get qualified candidates for open positions, or provide new employees with decent training? In short: How did we become such nincompoops? And when will we stop?"
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Redesigning Business for a Democratic Economy
By Marjorie Kelly
"We find ourselves in a moment of breakdown—but also a moment of unprecedented opportunity. Even as widespread faith in the workings of our economy is falling apart, unsung innovations are quietly arising. Entrepreneurs, business executives, investors, and community leaders are choosing to 'get in front of this problem,' showing how we can move beyond an economy that serves the few to one that serves the many."
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The New Era of Innovation
By Chris Duffey
"100 percent of jobs, 100 percent of industries, and 100 percent of professions will be affected by Artificial Intelligence in the next five to ten years, By 2020, companies using AI will take 1. 2 trillion from competitors who don't. Every day, we see or hear another mind-boggling statement about the impact Artificial Intelligence will have on the future. As consequential as these statements are, the truth is that nobody can predict just how profound this emerging technology will be. For example, just look at Amazon. No one could have foreseen that what started out as an online store could have grown to be one of the world's most powerful and valuable companies in the history of the earth, or more specifically, how the "Amazon Effect" would grow a supporting ecosystem comprised of manufactures, logics, and even suppliers like the cardboard box industry—all of which have greatly benefited from Amazon shipments. What we can be certain of is because of new emerging technology like AI, the rate of change will only increase.
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Become the Leader You Would Follow
By Scott Jeffrey Miller
"Leadership isn't always rewarding. It can feel like a bottomless pit of problem solving and adult-sitting. Leadership is exhausting, repetitive, and requires a constant stretch of your emotional and intellectual skills. It demands an 'always on' mentality, as you're expected to have all the right answers and make all the right decisions, often on the fly. But it doesn't mean leadership isn't important; on the contrary, often the things we struggle with yield the biggest return. It's okay if you admit that leadership can be hard and unenjoyable, because the benefits of being successful at it can be life-changing."
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The original idea behind ChangeThis came from Seth Godin, and was built in the summer of 2004 by Amit Gupta, Catherine Hickey, Noah Weiss, Phoebe Espiritu, and Michelle Sriwongtong. In the summer of 2005, ChangeThis was turned over to 800-CEO-READ. In addition to selling and writing about books, they kept ChangeThis up and running as a standalone website for 14 years. In 2019, 800-CEO-READ became Porchlight, and we pulled ChangeThis together with the rest of our editorial content under the website you see now. We remain committed to the high-design quality and independent spirit of the original team that brought ChangeThis into the world.