"We called it influencing the influencers." Adobe. Late-80s.

You have been influenced when you think something you wouldn’t otherwise have thought, or do something you wouldn’t otherwise have done. In the 20th Century, the marketing department did marketing, the PR people did PR, and no job title included the word influence. To this day, no role or team or department in the typical organization incorporates the word, which is why I pivot my client workshops around the topic of influencing and being influenced – not only does it address the actual thing we’re all interested in, it helps lower ego defence and removes functional blinkers. ...

August 5, 2014

Fancy a coffee? Social business and your non-solicitation terms

The recent antitrust lawsuit against Apple, Google, Adobe and Intel for collusion in hiring practices demonstrates a lack of respect for the respective organisations’ employees. Fundamentally, how dare one’s employer collude with another in ways that may limit one’s career progression! Having been an employer carrying the not insubstantial costs of hiring I know how difficult it is to watch someone in whom you have invested considerable time, money and energy walk out the door, but I think my memory serves me well when I say we encouraged the team to celebrate such departures. If anything, our alumni network grew +1 each time. ...

May 12, 2014