by Annie Jackson | Feb 25, 2015 | General
We’ve compiled some of our favorite motivational phrases that inspire #MakingChange from quotes in our interviews and in the Make Change Work for You book to mantras readers shared with us. JASON FALLS – #MakingChange Interview: Rule #2 Make Fear Your Friend Twitter – @JasonFalls TONY HAWK – Make Change Work for You book, Chapter 5 Twitter – @TonyHawk SYDNEY CAMPOS – Digital Media Praytell Agency Twitter – @sydcampos415 SARA ZUCKER – #MakingChange Interview: Rule #1 Be Courageous Twitter – @sbz COREY KINDBERG – Social Media Editor Twitter – @coreykindberg Broke & Chic Twitter @brokeandchic DONNA KIM – Donna Daily Twitter – @donnadaily...
![Interview: PHILIP SWISHER [Business Innovator]](http://makechangeworkforyou.com/wp-content/uploads/Philip-Swisher-Business-Innovator-1080x675.jpg)
by Annie Jackson | Feb 25, 2015 | General
BUSINESS INNOVATOR Philip Swisher – SVP, Innovation – Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Question: How do you and your organization adapt to fast-changing times and trends? Phillip Swisher: A very important element is increasing the speed at which a company can learn, which is one of the few sources of durable competitive advantage. Q: What’s the best way to innovate and stay ahead of the curve? PS: The critical element needed for any innovation program to succeed is strong support from the leaders of the company. Innovation inherently involves the new and different, and can challenge those who have benefited from the status quo. Q: What advice would you give leaders when things don’t go as planned in business, despite the best-laid plans? PS: The more new and different the opportunity, the more likely things are to veer into the unexpected. I’m a big believer in using lean, and the build-measure-learn loops can maximize a company’s ability to deliver high quality outputs very quickly. Q: What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever been given? PS: An early mentor taught me that you can only really negotiate if you can walk away. Q: The most important thing businesses should know about competing today is…? PS: Big businesses don’t beat small businesses and small businesses don’t beat big businesses. Fast businesses beat slow businesses. And in a large business, the speed at which an organization can learn is a critical management metric, and a major potential source of competitive advantage. Share your stories of how fearlessly innovating and #MakingChange in your life or career has helped you succeed. Post to...
by Annie Jackson | Feb 24, 2015 | General
Finding the courage to embrace change and take chances is the only way to succeed. We’ve asked some of our favorite industry power players and business innovators to share stories of how #MakingChange worked for them, as it relates to the ’10 Rules to Future-Proof yourself, fearlessly innovate, and succeed despite uncertainty’. Rule #8 Pick Your Battles with Seth Porges – Co-founder & CEO, Cloth Question: How did you get where you are today – and what tips would you give others hoping to follow in your footsteps? Seth Porges: My background is a bit kooky. I spent most of my career as a journalist and magazine editor. I stumbled into writing about tech, which turned out to be the best crash-course in product-building one can imagine. When you play with every piece of hardware and software out there, you get a real sense of what works and what doesn’t; and what mistakes companies tend to end up with again and again. I also had access to—and could ask questions of—the smartest and most accomplished folks in the world. Before long, I realized that the founders and builders and engineers who make our built world aren’t that different from myself. That psychological barrier is a huge obstacle for many people wanting to bring their ideas to reality, and feeling it crumble is an energizing experience. As for tips: Ask a ton of questions, and learn to love learning. As a journalist, I was really a professional question-asker. Today, I still ask questions: They are just about how we can make our product better. Q: What does being courageous in...
by Annie Jackson | Feb 19, 2015 | General
We’ve launched a new eBook, LEADING WITH INNOVATION, available for free download (at AKeynoteSpeaker.com/InnovationGuide), revealing how tomorrow’s most successful businesses stay ahead of the curve. Today’s business leaders, and businesses, operate in a world of endless change and disruption. But as new training guide LEADING WITH INNOVATION: How Tomorrow’s Most Successful Businesses Stay Ahead of the Curve reveals, anyone can follow the simple formula that the world’s most successful organizations use to survive and thrive, even in the most unpredictable and uncertain business environments. Readers will discover how top innovators from Intel, SAP, EMC and more drive ongoing success and growth in this must-see digital download. Taking a further look at concepts first explored in this critically-acclaimed work, LEADING WITH INNOVATION reveals how senior leaders at today’s most cutting-edge businesses stay ahead of the competition and drive ongoing success, even in the most fast-moving and highly-unpredictable business environments. To learn more about or download your free copy of LEADING WITH INNOVATION: How Tomorrow’s Most Successful Businesses Stay Ahead of the Curve, please visit AKeynoteSpeaker.com/InnovationGuide. Check back on the blog for more inspiring interviews with industry innovators on makechangeworkforyou.com/blog and share your stories of innovation and how you’ve made change work for you on your socials with...
by Annie Jackson | Feb 17, 2015 | General
Finding the courage to embrace change and take chances is the only way to succeed. We’ve asked some of our favorite industry power players and business innovators to share stories of how #MakingChange worked for them, as it relates to the ’10 Rules to Future-Proof yourself, fearlessly innovate, and succeed despite uncertainty’. Rule #7 Experiment Constantly with Steve Rubel – Chief Content Strategist, Edelman Question: How did you get where you are today – and what tips would you give others hoping to follow in your footsteps? Steve Rubel: As Edelman’s Chief Content Strategist I am charged with studying how digital content flows from the people who create it to the people who ultimately will consume it and how this impacts how companies must now communicate. Edelman is the world’s largest public relations firm, with more than 5,000 employees in 65 cities, as well as affiliates in more than 35 cities. My role is to help all of our employees and our clients connect the dots in new ways that ensure they will be heard. I have been in the public relations field for 20 years. I joined Edelman in 2006 to help accelerate the firm’s embrace of social media as a new way for our clients to engage their various stakeholders. (In my prior role at another firm I launched some of the earliest social media programs in PR.) For the last three years I have been focusing on how our clients can embrace systems thinking to connect paid, earned and owned content programs into a memorable constellation. I would advise others who want to do the same to...
![Interview: STEVE MYERS [Business Innovator]](http://makechangeworkforyou.com/wp-content/uploads/Steve-Myers-Make-Change-1080x675.jpg)
by Annie Jackson | Feb 12, 2015 | General
BUSINESS INNOVATOR Steve Myers – Chief Technology Officer, Optum Specialty Networks Question: How do you and your organization adapt to fast-changing times and trends? Steve Myers: Personally, I take the approach of trying to listen to key market players, folks introducing new disruptive technologies or business processes, and staying informed to market trends. I apply the knowledge to look at opportunities and solutions for ideas that mix our culture, mission, and vision, and would better prepare our business for the future. Organizationally we do similar processes globally, and work to solidify the foundations of our core business – constantly looking for improvements and business innovation that will give both incremental positive change but afford us the opportunity to gain significant market share through internal and external development of those ideas. Q: What’s the best way to innovate and stay ahead of the curve? SM: I try not to focus on today; it is almost over. I look at the future with our consumers – what their future needs are – through actively listening, watching and monitoring the market, and by planning for future action that has both short term and long term effects. Innovation cannot be accomplished without creating a culture of change within the organization, that is monitored and guided for positive movement forward. Couple these things with your vision and a plan, and you will be successful. Q: The trick to getting ahead in an increasingly uncertain world is…? SM: Actively listen and hear the world around you, then adapt, act and lead in a way that supports your journey in life. Always do the right thing,...
