Authentic or Not?

Burned by Inauthenticity

September 14, 2009

Tweet I had almost forgotten the details of our family’s bad experience with a national espresso chain after my daughter was burned by a grande hot tea on her way to the Big Apple Circus. Then I saw this article about a toddler being burned by a hot hash brown at Dunkin Donuts, and my […]

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Response to 9/11 Tragedy Revealed Business Schools’ Values

September 11, 2009

Tweet You will read many stories today recounting the heroism and the losses experienced eight years ago. We know now how many individuals and organizations rose up to help victims of the WTC & Pentagon attacks, and how individually and collectively  our responses to the 9/11 tragedy revealed important goodness deep within us. Every year […]

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The Two-Faced CEO: Citizen or Whole Foods Shareholder?

August 24, 2009

Tweet In today’s transparent and political economy, the two-faced CEO can’t catch a break. When he acts as a Citizen, he might damage his organization’s reputation. When he acts as a Shareholder, he  might limit his own participation in our political conversation.  Neither option is good.  What’s a CEO to do? The broohaa over the […]

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Can Walmart Earn the Girl Scouts’ Good Citizenship Award?

August 14, 2009

Tweet You don’t earn a merit badge for Good Citizenship by picking on the Girl Scouts. But what if Wal-mart wanted to? Commenters here and on other blogs that picked up my story that Wal-mart has chosen to compete with the Girl Scouts by knocking off the Girls Scouts’ two most popular cookies have criticized […]

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Thin Mint-y Gate: Wal-mart’s Socia Media Opportunity

August 8, 2009

Tweet Where is Wal-mart’s social media outreach? This ongoing experience with “Thin Mint-y Gate” is raising a bunch of questions, for the audiences reading and commenting on blogs, for the Girl Scouts and their community, and for me as a blogger & management scholar. I hope I’ll get a chance to address some of these […]

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Wal-Mart Knocks Off the Girl Scouts

August 3, 2009

Tweet (Welcome MacLeans Readers… Please join the conversation! ) Just when you think your opinion about Wal-mart might be changing… Just when you think that maybe, just maybe, Wal-mart was learning to be a better citizen… Wal-mart turns around and does something really … despicable. It’s not discriminating against women, strong-arming suppliers, polluting neighborhoods or […]

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BlogHer 09: Does Swag Pervert the Purpose?

July 27, 2009

Tweet Walking into my office this morning, I tripped over a ‘rubber bracelet cum flash drive’ that was part of the swag I brought back with me from Chicago and the 2009 BlogHer. That clumsy move plus a few friends’ Tweets about supposedly free swag costing them money to ship home, made me wonder about […]

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Authenticity: Is there an app for that?

July 20, 2009

Tweet A few weeks ago, I finally gave up  my shiny-pink Motorola phone personalized with Hello Kitty stickers, and moved to the lbd of digital tools. Yes, I bought an iPhone. My iPhone purchase completed a long, slow and ultimately satisfying move from anything PC & Microsoft to all things Apple & Google, a move […]

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Peek inside an Authentic Organization: Blogging at Berrett-Koehler

July 14, 2009

Tweet Years of following industries that create culture have left me with a special fondness for book publishers. Year after year, season after season, page after page, book publishers create objects that convey what I love most — great ideas. Increasingly, book publishers do this in an embattled industry, towards a customer base with a […]

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Don’t Let Personal Branding Stifle your Authentic Voice

June 9, 2009

Tweet There is a battle brewing between the concepts of Personal Brand and Authentic Voice. If you’ve been paying attention at all (and I’m sure you have) you’ve seen the articles and the individuals touting personal branding. Everyone from Tom Peters to Seth Godin to Dan Scwabel is online telling you how to create your […]

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