Viaspire - Define.Innovate.Maximize.

Renaissance of Attention

With so many distractions coming in on a day-to-day basis, we are often asked to consult teams on how to manage it all -- email, meetings, project requests.

With the introduction of instant messaging (as a team communications tool), project wikis and a myriad of Web 2.0 and social network tools to keep connected, the interruption factor is at this point detrimental to the productivity it's designed to serve.

In a New York Times article this week, Attention Must Be Paid, Marci Alboher reviews Maggie Jackson's new book, "Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age."

This book takes a look at what working in the Digital Age is like for most of us and how multitasking and other instaneous response actions and expectations are making it tough to have that time to deliberate thoughtfully and "digest ideas" fully.

The "casualties" of our fragmented and distracted attention is deep and significant.

If you are every feeling the struggle to keep up, read this article and the book to understand what is going on here and how to be "attentive" to your actions throughout the day.

Great article. Great book.

Thankfully, it actually inspired me today to take time and reflect, which in and of itself, helped me write a blog post longer than 140 characters. ;)

Recommended Reading List in 2008

We've had a lot of our clients and partners recently come to us asking for recommended reading material that addresses the social media landscape and the ever expanding marketing toolkit. As we move into the new year, we thought we'd publish our Recommended Reading List for 2008 (at least for the first quarter that is).

• Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business by Larry Weber (2007)
• The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media by Paul Gillin (2007)
• Media Rules!: Mastering Today's Technology to Connect With and Keep Your Audience by Brian Reich (2007)
• Plug Your Business! Marketing on MySpace, YouTube, blogs and podcasts and other Web 2.0 by Steve Weber (2007)
• YouTube - Making Money By Video Sharing and Advertising Your Business for Free by Hui Ying (2007)
• Blogging Quick & Easy: A Planned Approach to Blogging Success by Tom Masters (2007)
• Blogging Heroes: Interviews with 30 of the World's Top Bloggers by Michael A. Banks (2007)
• The IT Girl's Guide to Blogging with Moxie by Joelle Reeder (2007)
• The IT Girl's Guide to Becoming a Web Goddess by Camille McCue (Releasing in 2008)

Since we are working with a lot of new "up and coming" businesses, we also recommend these books as well:

• The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything by Guy Kawasaki (2004)
  *One of our most favorite books for anyone wanting to start or renew their business.
• Smart Start-Ups: How Entrepreneurs and Corporations Can Profit by Starting Online Communities by David Silver (2007)

If you have any particular favorites that you would like to share, give us a shout. We'd love to make this the "uber" list of all online marketing "recommended reading" going into the new year.

PS -- Yes, I already recognize no SEO books are included here. If there's a favorite of all favorites that has the current positioning on SEO strategies and techniques, let us know and we can add for sure! Same applies for affiliate marketing, direct marketing and so on...

A Book Worth Keeping on the Shelves

This week we took a long hard look at the books in our library and decided it was time to "free them" into the hands of other deserving and interested readers in a bulk buy on eBay.  As we were going through many of our books, many were nostalgic, reminding me of the days of Web 1.0 and what was popular and strategic thinking at that time. Many of our resources, however, stood the test of time and still hold great vision and serve as the foundation for best practices.

While we parted with many of our books we've read, noted, dog-eared and re-read again, one book that has been on the shelves for years, but unopened until today (again) was Tom Peters' Reinventing Work -- The Project 50 -- Fifty Ways to Transform Every "Task" Into A Project That Matters!

I thought I would share Peter's "The Work Matters! Credo." I think you'll find it relevant and moving. It's a little tiny book, but it packs a powerful punch!

Viva la "project" revolution!

CUBICLE SLAVES...HACK OFF YOUR TIES...FLIP OFF YOUR HEELS...

• The work can be cool!
• The work can be beautiful!
• The work can be fun!
• The work can make a difference!
• Y-O-U can make a difference!
• Bash your cubicle walls!
• Rip up your Dilbert cartoons!
• Take charge of your life!
• Subvert the hierarchy!
• Make every project a WOW!
• Be distinct... or extinct!

It's a new [week], If not now... W-H-E-N?

Leadership Fables - Overcoming the Dysfunction

Recently, two books came on to my radar by Patrick M. Lencioni, Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business and and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, also a "Leadership Fable."

Lencioni's work gets to the source of so many pain points we see everyday in business that I highly recommend them for your bookshelf.

These are a great read for anyone who needs to run or participate in meeting (upon meeting). Equally helpful is to understand the "five dysfunctions" Lencioni addresses to better understand and create super charged and functional teams.

By Heather D

FLF - 05.05.2006

FLF's Focus - Collective Intelligence 2.0

By Heather D

In my search for Fun Links Friday (FLF), I came across some interesting events and it made me look more into the realm of what “collective intelligence” now means in a highly networked and mobile world.

Thinking about the power of our very own connectivity on a day to day basis, technology is bringing more people together, more spontaneously than ever before. Empowered with a cell and a data plan, we are accessible by phone, SMS, and email anytime, anywhere. We can send and receive text files, audio, and video – not to mention the information we can pull down ourselves via WAP to get access to even more detailed information.

Social Coordination
Operating off of the concept of collective intelligence emerging events have cropped up over the years “organically,” assembling groups of people for a variety of causes. For Fun Links Friday, we are only focusing on the events where the world in a moment becomes not so serious, but a time for fun and frivolity.

Called, “smart mobs” Wikipedia describes this as groups of people “contrary to the usual connotations of a mob, behave intelligently or efficiently” because of their own dynamic network. This network enables smart mobs to connect to information and others, allowing a form of social coordination.

For Fun Links Friday, I had to “invite” you to view these interesting social events of the past:

• Pillow Fight Club
• Let’s not forget the Drunken Santas originating in San Francisco, but you'll have to Google that one on your own!
• And in a move to capitalize on this movement, check out XBox-sponsored World’s Record Water Balloon Fight

For more info on this topic,

• Check out Howard Rheingold’s book on Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
• Digerati, The Citizen
• Carnival of the Mobilists - It’s all about the mobile Web

Happy Friday Mobis!

Help! I’m Stuck and I Can’t Get Out

By Avery

If you are relating too closely to Dilbert on a daily basis, you may be stuck.  Whether it is just you, your team, or the entire company, it feels like nothing at work is getting done.  It seems as if you are in room with doors that lead you back into the same room.  You are looking for the path out of this bizarro world. What you need is some type of guide, not only to lead to a way out, but that allows you to understand how and why you were stuck in the first place.  Well, “Unstuck” may not be the be-all and end-all, but it does provide useful tools to help address what Keith Yamashita and Sandra Spataro refer to as the “Serious Seven” states of stuck.  Yeah, there is some self analysis that takes place, but no pain – no gain.  Anyone in a leadership role should at least peruse this book and keep it on the shelf as an excellent resource as we all get stuck in some shape or form, from time to time.

“Serious Seven” states of stuck:

1. Overwhelmed
2. Exhausted
3. Directionless
4. Hopeless
5. Battle-torn
6. Worthless
7. Alone

For more, check out an interview with Keith Yamashita and an article in Fast Company.