Topic: Global

A creative solution: a red stretch Trabi in Berlin.

TED Talk. Elizabeth Gilbert: Success, failure and the drive to keep creating

29.04.2014

Shaking off old burdens

Breaking free from the stereotypes reigning a life in a stalemate requires a vast amount of courage. Whatever is out of balance, is often easier endured in a state of paralysis. Elizabeth Gilbert – the writer – went for the first option and travelled the world for an entire year to escape from a life that wasn’t hers any longer. In Italy, she indulged in good food and fully enjoyed „la dolce vita“, found her spirituality in India and a new love in Bali. Her memoir „Eat, Pray, Love“ remained on the NY Times Best Seller list for sensational 187 weeks; Julia Roberts starred in the book’s film version. Elizabeth Gilbert delivers a brilliant talk, eloquently describing how she tackled the effects of failure – and of success! The two are not as easily distinguished „by the hinterland of our psyche“ as one might think, she says. Her urgent message is: never give up on your creativity!

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Apples: Insanely simple meetings taught by Ken Segall

Ken Segall: Insanely Simple

18.04.2014

What I Learned About Great Meetings from Steve Jobs

A guest post by Ken Segall

The principle of keeping meetings small and made up of smart people is deeply woven into the religion of electronics behemoth Apple and is key to any organization that wants to nurture quality thinking. The idea is pretty basic: Everyone in the room should be there for a reason. There’s no such thing as a mercy invitation. Either you’re critical to the meeting or you’re not. It’s nothing personal, just business. Apple co-founder, the late Steve Jobs, actively resisted any behavior he believed representative of the way big companies think – even though Apple had been a big company for many years. When he called a meeting or reported to a meeting, his expectation was that everyone in the room would be an essential participant. Spectators were not welcome.

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Sign "closed": Don't close up! Dare to disagree instead!

TED Talk. Margaret Heffernan: Dare to disagree!

24.02.2014

Are we all hopeless ignorants? Or pitiable cowards – heads in sand? Why is it, that we are readily looking for others to prevent distaster from striking? Why are we so frequently shying away from making unfavourable decisions and why do we not speak our minds in all those meetings or seminars we attend on a regular basis? Most people instinctively avoid conflict, says Margaret Heffernan and demonstrates in this talk, that a good disagreement is vital to progress. The best partners aren’t those who echo an opinion in a stereotype way. Quite on the contrary! Great research teams, relationships and businesses allow people to fundamentally disagree.

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Dawn in the African bush: Preserving nature and resources are prime goals of humankind.

TED Talk: Let’s go all-in on selling sustainability

4.12.2013

Coming from the non-profit consultancy Climate Group, Steve Howard is now the chief sustainability officer at a furniture megastore and talks about selling sustainable products to millions of people by implementing eco-friendly materials and practices. Ikea buildings have sprouted solar panels and wind turbines, the shelves inside are stocked with LED lighting and recycled cotton. An investment of €1.5 billion flows into renewable energy sources.

298 Ikea stores have seen more than 690 million customers in 2012, buying sofas, lamps, bookshelves and other goods worth € 27 billion. More than 1,000 suppliers worldwide do business with the furniture giant.

“I don’t think we’ve fully realized the extent to which sustainability is going to shape society and the business landscape over the next couple of decades.”