All about Authenticity

Generous Products: How Products Do What They Do, as a form of Generosity

January 7, 2016

Tweet I’m “working out loud in public” with a rangy, rambling first draft. What I’m working to understand, with this draft, is how to explain ‘generous products’, and how to link ideas about generous products to current conversations about product design. This is a small piece of the puzzle, focused on how products themselves might be […]

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“Data Shame”: Can It Actually Boost Business-to-Business Relationships?

March 13, 2013

Tweet Data shame It’s such a striking concept, it’s hard to believe that “data shame” gets only two legit google hits — one in a blog post and another in a glossary. I only heard the term a few weeks ago in a presentation at Social Media Week NYC about Open Data for the Public […]

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Negotiating From A Leader’s Perspective

February 27, 2013

Tweet There’s a lot of terrific advice out there to help you negotiate your total compensation package when you’re accepting a new job. While this advice helps you as an individual get what you personally need, most negotiation advice overlooks how you can transform your personal compensation negotiation into a demonstration of your leadership. This […]

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Lead With A Story: Book Review

October 12, 2012

Tweet I’m suspicious of the idea that people who want to be leaders should tell more stories.   While I get the arguments that stories are persuasive because they are emotional, have a predictable arc that makes it easy for people to get engaged with them, are easy to remember, etc. etc. I’ve sometimes wondered whether using […]

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Company Character Grows From Place Identity

February 16, 2012

Tweet What do start-ups and coffee beans have in common? For both, the place they grow shapes who they become. We don’t talk much about the role of place in shaping organizational identity, but the physical circumstance of where we are located as we do our work together helps to determine who we become as […]

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Connecting to the Company Story: Coding is Crafting for Etsy’s Engineers

November 21, 2011

Tweet Every organization has a story. Any group that wants to be an important part of that organization needs to craft a place for itself in that story. The story an organization tells itself and shares with others helps everyone make sense of who the organization is. For members, the organization’s story helps them articulate […]

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Don’t Tell Esty That Authenticity Is Getting “Old” — The Social Dynamic Between Crafters and Buyers is Timeless

October 27, 2011

Tweet “A deluge of vintage and artisanal products is now available online and through mass-market retailers. Has authenticity become just another fad?”   Here’s a quick response to today’s New York Times article by Emily Weinstein, All That Authenticity May Be Getting Old, about the flood of ‘authentic’, handmade and one-of-a-kind-ish items on the home […]

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5 Ways That Systems of Engagement Bring Out Our Full Social Selves

June 22, 2011

Tweet Technology has a way of sucking the humanity right out of us. Consider how we describe, design and deploy ‘enterprise 2.0’ and work system technologies in our organizations: — When we talk about technology systems, we talk about machines, platforms, inputs and outputs.  We forget about values, emotion, flourishing, meaning and purpose. — When […]

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Social Intranet Design and Organizational Identity: Design for functionality and character

June 15, 2011

Tweet In a social organization, the design of digital social tools like intranets should reflect the organizational features that define the organization. These design features, no matter how subtle, can ‘auto-communicate’ and make salient the characteristics that matter most, and help organizations stay authentic. Especially in the digital workplace, our digital tools create an important […]

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Why Should Organizations be Authentic? The Competing Logics of Trust & Uniqueness

June 1, 2011

Tweet Everyone agrees: It’s a good thing for organizations to be authentic. Where folks disagree, though, is why organizations should be authentic. Deep down, we know that authenticity is valuable. But when we try to talk about “why our organization should be more authentic” and convince others to pursue authenticity, our conversations can get pretty […]

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