Group items tagged

Stories, Storytelling, Story-Selling in Business

"Good stories fascinate us all. They always have. They always will. At this moment in our nation’s history, we are seeing two epic stories evolving—in terms of our new President, and in the state of our economy. The story of Obama many believe is epic, and certainly the story of our nation’s recession and economic downfall is also a burgeoning epic tale. Stories move societies forward. They inspire, engage and initiate change through their telling and re-telling. Basically, there are two types of stories: Truth Stories and True Stories."

Social Change and the Connected Age

Connectedness does not come from technology but is facilitated and strengthened by it. The greatest challenge for nonprofit organizations and their leaders in the connected age is recognizing that using social-media tools is easy compared with adopting a new mindset for social change. Today, nonprofit groups are part of a larger network or ecosystem of people, organizations, resources, and information. Relying on old-fashioned, top-down management approaches for setting activist agendas and designing fund-raising and volunteering efforts will lead inevitably to disappointing results. Power is shifting from institutions to individuals throughout society. We have seen what happens when people can barter and sell goods without a middleperson on eBay, and when we can watch what we want, when we want, through YouTube. The same sorts of shifts are happening quietly in the nonprofit world. Anyone can create and post a video of what they think their Congressional representatives do all day as part of the "Congress in :30 Secs" campaign organized by the Sunlight Foundation. Volunteers can document the connections between campaign contributions and legislation as part of the Genocide Intervention Network. Donors can pick a school and a specific project to support as part of the DonorsChoose Web site. Successful connected-age organizations are those that facilitate broadly representative networks of social activists — not necessarily organizations with the biggest membership lists or the most money in their coffers. These days, young people, in particular, are not likely to join behemoth membership organizations. Instead, they go online to express their views and instantly connect with individuals and communities interested in their issues and concerns. They also self-organize for social action as so many did in joining the immigration marches last spring.

David Allen, author of "Getting Things Done," one of the best-selling productivity books of all times joins Robert Scoble to talk about the future of work and how to make the most of productivity while minimizing stress. Allen also talks about his upcoming GTD Summit

GROWING GRASSROOTS LEADERS

Central to Rare Pride’s early success was its ability to identify and train local leaders who could sell their fellow community members on the value of conservation.