Hyperspecialization – The future of work 3.0?

All people engaging in the Social Web are eager to pull, push and share all kinds of specializing topics in different areas of thoughts, interests and visions. In some way these people define a new development where the work of generalists is being cut into workload of networks of narrow experts or specialists. At least, Tom Malone, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and author of the Harvard Business Review article “The Age of Hyperspecialization,” sees this trend and explains in an HBR video why breaking jobs into tiny pieces yields better, faster, and cheaper work.

Malone sees the key “trend” behind this movement in “cheap communication technology” brought to us all over the world – more or less instantly and costlessly. Having said that, Malone’s illustration of scambled eggs being made ready to eat via the locations, Boston, China, Moscow, Paris and Singapore shows the limitation in the theory. For “brain workers”, it definitely makes sense and is a valid and applicable theory. Managers need to figure out how to break up traditional single job descriptions into pieces of hyperspecialist work and maybe rearrange their business processes if they want to make use of hyperspecialization.

What I definitely see is greater flexibility for employees in this movement. The development offers also some massive opportunity for freelancers being integrated into different projects. Thus, I would ask, whether the work of employees, sitting in office, could not easily be outsourced to even more specialized freelancers. Or if it will be more difficult to coordinate these specialists? Or would this be the work of a hyperspecialist again?

Is this really a new trend? Is this the normal evolution of worklife and business? Is this another step towards workplace 3.0, the mobile workplace? How do you see that…?

Why you might join Google Plus one day… (Video)

Epipheo Studios created many funny videos around the modern business and social web world. If you still wonder why Google Plus has some value for the future of Social Networking, and if you will need it in the future, just think about segmentation and the clever (however challenging) usability. Or just watch this video which will tell you why Google will get you on Google Plus one day…

News Update – Best of the Day

The vision of Big Brother is still one that separates the generations. Some are scared, some don’t even see that they are engaged to make things happen. But what happens if Augmented Reality becomes Augmented Humanity and merges the world of tomorrow with Visual Search? What a new form of sensual contextuality and the internet of things means to us, explains Tracy Falke.

Have you ever thought of the Initiative Generation? Not Gen X, Gen Y, Gen… whatever. Just simplified with the thought of change, and what creates leadership and how much initiative constitutes leadership? Ed Brenegar takes the initiative to inject our minds with a new generation that leaders just need to see and rate…

After nine years of absence the new Golf convertible is about to launch this year. The launch campaign is based on Augmented Reality and QR codes…

The Top Summer Gadgets for 2011

Every six months, I am looking out for the latest gadgets in the world that I think my readers might like as well – and I combine them with a draw. Of all products that I present below you will be able to win one of them. Cool, right…!?

The last time around christmas, I focussed on the 7 brand gadgets. This time, I will keep it more general on holiday gadgets which have a special design or technology feature that caught my attention. And like in December, every product reminds me of one post that I have written in the last six months…

Time is the new ROI – Casio G-Shock

Our days seem to be getting shorter and shorter… Time will become the new ROI. The reason is not that our time system has changed. Our days are challenged by speed of the internet which sometimes is like on an airjet that travels on high G forces in a race to be the first to know and to spread. We want to do much more than only ten years ago. In my eyes, we need to watch out for our own personal resources as well as the environment in order not to waste more energy than necessary.

I like… It’s fresh summer colour, the tough solar power, the multi-band 6 atomic timekeeping and the centrifugal force resistance surpassing 12G. Just an eye-catching gadget…

Gamify the beach – Angry Birds (Rovio)

The success story from Angry Birds is probably comparable to the Tamagotchi hype in 1996-1998 (until 2010 over 76 Tamagotchis were sold globally). If we look at Angry Birds today, there were 300 Mio. downloads for the app, 120 Mio. active users so far according to one of the latest interviews with founder Peter Vesterbecka. And one in seven people in the world seem to be fans of the brand. So, why not win an exclusive The Strategy Web package of their coolest merchandising products?!

I like… It’s easy to play, you can jump to and fro, just the way you manage to play and you are a kid again when you are playing, immediately. Just the game of the year – and not only for kids…

Relax in 3D – Samsung HT-D7200

People think our world will become more 3D with the evolution of screen technology around us. However, although Augmented Reality and barcodes are a fantastic mobile technology as well as an extension for print and TV that connects boths world, offline and online, the technology is more 2D barcode based than 3D. Television has moved ahead in technology and companies like Samsung are heading ino a new era by transforming 2D films in stunning 3D ones.

I like… The white design and built in Wi-Fi technology that makes it easier for our “Homo Buzz” generation” to watch and share on bigger screens. Just a stylish gadget…

Colour your living room – Sitting Bull Sitzsack Candy

Lounging in a nice bean back, listening to great music and enjoying the pictures and videos you have taken throughout your holiday in… Well, how can I know where you are traveling to. ;-)

I like… The colourful Union-Jack spirit, and I think this is a fashion statement – not white and black. Just a relaxing gadget…

Capture your life – Casio Tryx EX-TR-100

Years ago, Europeans and Americans have laughed about people from Asian countries capturing every little piece of their sight-seeing trips. Today, our young generation shares their lives through cameras like the Casio Exilim Ex TR 100, upload parts of events, or even apply for jobs by using cameras like these to describe their lives. Displays will organize our future and are a great tool to describe situations at work, to illustrate products and services without perfect product orchestration. Think about how you could make use of such cameras…

I like… It’s a stylish tech product with an easy twistable 360 degree frame body. Just an innovative gadget…

Stream every song in the world – SONOS Play:3

In the past, we had black stereo systems as big as cupboards. Times are changing. Today, SONOS streams up our lives. Their latest product Play:3 gives the option to use the speaker in a horizontal and vertical position. Thus, the system will fit exactly where it needs to go. Internal motion sensors detect the speaker’s orientation, adjusting the output so that you get the ideal sound wherever you are in the room.

I like…The amazing sound and the smartphone app which allow to use the system whichout another remote control in my dining room. Just a cool sound system…

C3PO saves your data – MIMOCO

This last gadget of this series found my son. As you might imagine from the picture: He is a real Star Wars® fan. When Volkswagen produced the funny commercial video for the Super Bowl, I had to give him my iPhone every time I saw him. He just loved the video. Yesterday, some promotion flyer came into our house and guess what he found… These funny USB MIMOCO flash drives. I had to promise him to write about them. That’s what you do for your kids…

I like…USB drives in most cases are just uncool. Tese are not! Just a geek’s gadget…

How to enter the competition?
Most companies have given me one product for a draw. Just write a Retweet (RT), comment, send us an email, and tell us which product you like most and why. Then you will get a ticket for the competition to win one of the products!

End of participation and date of draw: 31.08.2011. Good luck!

How to get more Retweets….

Dan Zarrella has done some research on Retweets. Buying Twitter followers is probably not the right approach. Some of my followers and I would not recomment it.

According to Dan Zarrella’s studies, there are 5 specific points that are the most powerful ways to get more ReTweets. And guess what…?! He has done a simple infographic…

News Update – Best of the Day

Although the mobile hype is massive, there are studies that question the power of smartphone mobile advertising and it’s efficiency. A new research from YouGov shows consumers accept placements as part of their day-to-day mobile experience but consider them intrusive (79%) and tend to ignore them altogether. Only 5% think mobile ads are a good idea and welcome them. However, the general apathy smartphone users have toward seems to equal ignorance: 88% ignore ads on applications and 86% have ignored placements on the mobile internet.

The security company Imperva released a study that states “web applications, on average, experience twenty seven attacks per hour, or roughly one attack every two minutes.” Imperva monitored 10 million attacks between December of last year and May of this year “targeting 30 different enterprise and government web applications.” Of the 27 attacks per hour most of them are trying to identify vulnerabilities on websites. If a vulnerability is found, attacks can increase to 25,000 per hour which would be seven attacks per second.

What is the future of Twitter? During a keynote interview at Fortune BrainstormTech in Aspen, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo gave insights in his vision of the company’s business model.

PS: Just in case you ask why Twitter is cool, Steven Winterburn has got the answer: “”Twitter is like a fridge. If you’re bored you keep opening & closing it every few minutes to see if there’s anything good in it.”

Can I be your friend?

The English National Opera is making fun of our odd social web online lives with the new opera production of Nico Muhly’s new opera ‘Two Boys’. This film is a great trailer that everybody should see, and think how much fun it is to transfer the online to the offline reality. Can you be a friend of somebody you don’t know in real life…? I know you will say “Yes!”, right…?

Well, watch the video… and always remember my lead theme: Online is just a catalyst of the offline reality! Especially if you log into real life in a 1-to-1 online mode like the guy in the video…

Virals: If you are first, they will spread without help…

Tiger Woods might have lost some of his golf glory in the last months. The old Nike videos with him are still trendy. They are creative, well-produced and most of them with his head cover tiger Frank are really funny. Remember this one (which was my favorite…)?

Nike also produced some trick shot videos those days. They probably weren’t meant to be virals. How could they those days…? They were TV commercials. However, the difference between viral and TV commercial is still difficult to define for many people, the Nike videos used media plans to get spread, succeeded and people were proud to share a copy of them with friends.

Now, after some years, the trick shot videos and the bloopers version are coming back to life again.

Why?

Martin Kaymer, the new German golf star, has just recently created a social media viral (apart from his Facebook page). It is a Hole-in-One trick shot video… and obviously, the golf pro hopes that it will be spread around the world, or at least Germany. Created as if the viral was real, it does appear unreal to me.

The difference to Tiger Woods some years ago? Not only was Tiger Woods the first with a trick shot idea. He did not need social media buzz generation tactics. The video spread without help – mouth-to-mouth, more in the offline than the online world. I doubt that the Kaymer viral will in the online world of today…

Dies ist ein durch hallimash vermittelter, honorierter Eintrag

News Update – Best of the Day

Looking to increase the number of people who access your Facebook apps? A recent MIT study gives three insights marketers should watch out for…
1. Adding a personalized message feature (such as, “Hey! check out my new favorite app”) substantially increases adoption (three times more effective per message).
2. Notifications and invites outperform ad campaigns used in their recruitment phase on Facebook. Viral strategies are up to 10 times more effective than banner ads in converting users and around twice as effective as email advertising.
3. If companies and brands are looking to secure the most amount of committed users inside of a campaign app, personalized messages might be the way to go.
The study could be summarized that we are still in a trial-and-error mode in what works, what doesn’t work, and “how to improve–instead of choosing one strategy and praying it was better than all of the others”.

Finding valueable Augmented Reality apps is a time-consuming effort. Tripwire Magazine has done a trip through the AR world and found 45 (I would say 20) interesting iPhone apps that are worth exploring. My favorite five ones are… Star Walk, Yelp, Golfscape GPS Rangefinder, Theodolite Pro, and the best branded apps Stella Artois – Bar Guide.

Do you know what sharing means? One of the greatest sharing campaign comes from Casa do Zezinho: Share Project. Watch it, spread the idea, and support the campaign, so it can be expanded throughout the countires that could need it…!

News Update – Best of the Day

Does social media activity during work distract employees from productivity? Shel Holtz knows why blocking social networking (48% of companies still prevent people from using Facebook and Twitter at work), is less distractive than email processing and switching windows (for further reading have a look at Social Engagement & Jobs). He quotes that email or answering a cell phone call account for 83% of in-meeting interruptions which I think is even worth, when you see people in meetings being engaged on their iPhones and Blackberries.

“There are issues with the study as well, which reports that the hour spent each day on distractions accounts for “$10,375 of wasted productivity per person annually,” which translates to $10 million per year for a 1,000-employee company. (…) It’s worth noting that today’s productivity levels are considerably higher, and that studies like the one from the University of Melbourne prove that unobtrusive breaks increase productivity by up to 9%.”

In the last three years, I have told many managers why productivity won’t get lost if employees use the Social Web during work. Just think about how much loss in productivity you have with Football World Cups, people smoking or chating during work. Well, I would rather prefer finding the eager Gen Y and Z generation, and having them engaged as brandvangelists in conversations…

Ever thought about the value of a fan? Of course you have as your bosses want toknow what ROI metrics your Facebook brings to the retail activities your business is engaged in. A study by Hitwise tells us…“1 Facebook fan = 20 additional visits to your website over the course of one year”. What sounds good for retailers, still does not mean that all Facebook Fanpage sites can rely and profit like those companies covered by the study. It is important to understand the metrics behind the figures, so you better read carefully before you start spending on advertising straight away…

If you think wireless technology is critical to our health, while music is good, then watch out for The Human Jukebox by Pause in Stockholm. No pain, no gain? Or just a great idea…?

« Vorherige Seite — Nächste Seite »