The End of Men? I certainly hope not, but responsibility has to be taken for where we’re at right now…
Reading through Tony Featherstone’s article “The Planet of Women” this morning in TheAge.com (which is well worth reading I might add), he brought this to my attention…
As reported in the July/August 2010 ATLANTIC MAGAZINE…
Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are now women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same. For years, women’s progress has been cast as a struggle for equality. But what if equality isn’t the end point? What if modern, postindustrial society is simply better suited to women? A report on the unprecedented role reversal now under way— and its vast cultural consequences… read on
What if modern, postindustrial society needs to be remoulded to suit the Lifestyle that women aspire to, and that men will also definitely benefit from?
What if all considerations of Life were treated equally as importantly, without there being the lop-sided tilt towards work as it is now?
What if all the entrepreneurial mothers, who have left work as we know it to pursue their own version of what that Life needs to look like, were encouraged to return to the corporate jungle to re-vegetate and re-establish the equilibrium?
Replacing women with men will not be the entire answer, we know that. But to keep doing things as we have always done them will not rectify the straining issues right now either. At least the conversation has started…
trends…from a consumers point of view
A little while back, trendwatching.com gave us a light-hearted yet insight-heavy video edition of their trend report, featuring consumers from all over the world speaking their minds on a variety of trend topics. After all, one consumer video sometimes says more than a 20-page Trend Briefing 
Enjoy!
Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world’s leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide.
aCE talentNET Professional Edge July10
The latest informative edition of the Professional Edge from aCE talentNET, read on for the up-to-date thinking in Organisational Development…
From the desk of the Head Corporate Talent Agent, Deirdre Gruiters…
It’s probably boring to start my meanderings with yet another “well what a busy month it’s been” but alas when the cap fits….?!!! But the interesting fact is that the work that has and is keeping aCE talentNET busy over the past 6 months is quite different to the past. Yes, we continue to support our clients with one off needs for consulting and facilitation resources and deliver on our important long term contracts, but we are also being asked to assist in a more strategic way by working more closely with HR and L&D senior executive. These conversations include being part of Panel arrangements where we are working with Government Departments to source the best-fit HR and Learning resources to deliver on key initiatives as well as working with large Corporates to source a pre-approved stable of consulting resources to be ready to go at very short notice to resource priority Business Unit programs.
This later approach in particular allows a client to avoid the delays often experienced when selecting, recruiting and onboarding for contract resources. The upside means that a pre-approved pool of consultants is able to become familiar with the organisation culture, processes, procedures, policies and are able to hit the ground running when appointed to a project role. The client also avoids the time consuming advertising and selection process and the risk that goes with appointing an unknown and untested consultant. The downside is…. well I’m yet to find one! If these strategies are of interest to you and or your clients you know where to find us!
An observation based on the web poll question from last month… more than 50% of you said that last year’s turnover did not show a significant increase. To ensure this financial years turnover is a lot healthier I strongly recommend you avail of all that is offered in the AdvantEdge, in particular the Referral Program. Only today, we’ve received another from one of our consultants, and assuming all works out as planned, it will be very beneficial for all parties.
As always we have some interesting articles for you this month… so keep reading!
Deirdre
and to continue… click here
Innovation Insanity is Upon Us!
another must read from the team at trendwatching.com
take notes!
We all agree that innovation is the only way to survive in an ever more global, competitive business arena. We’re talking basically anything that will get consumers spending, and preferably the kind of spending that involves sustainable goods, services and experiences.
And since everyone from Seth Godin to the Harvard Business Review is providing you with excellent, inspiring insights and theory on innovation as a mindset, a process, a way of life, we’d like to contribute to the conversation with examples of actual B2C innovations. Tons of ‘em.
As we see it:
INNOVATION INSANITY | There will never be a shortage of smart new ventures, brands, goods and services that deliver on consumers’ wants and needs. In fact, with the entire world now engaged in creative destruction, INNOVATION INSANITY is upon us. So yes, the dozens of innovations we’ve rounded up for this briefing, courtesy of our sister-site Springwise, are just the tip of the iceberg. Invent, improve, copy… or perish.
The link between INNOVATION INSANITY and consumer trends? As focused as we are on emerging consumer trends, we never tire of pointing out that trends are only good for one thing: inspiring you to innovate, to come up with new goods, services and experiences for (or even better, with) your customers… keep reading
The latest book reviews from The Keen Thinker… Tough Love!
More brain food for you…the latest from The Keen Thinker… features:
Tough Love!
Less is More
Plenitude
Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit
Delivering Happiness
The Rational Optimist
The Why of Work
Retirement Breakthrough
Retirementology
and so much more… find them all here
The Keen Thinker is your monthly source for information on the newest business books you should be reading (both publisher recommendations and our own), current trends in business thought, advice to make your work life more successful and satisfying, music recommendations to make your work day more enjoyable, and the chance to win free books!
Mass Mingling… new services? = new businesses…
The latest and greatest from trendwatching.com; well worth reading…
Long gone are the days when ‘online’ was synonymous with social isolation and loneliness. In fact, we’re now witnessing the exact opposite: technology is driving people to connect and meet up en masse with others, in the ‘real world’. It makes for an interesting, easily-digested trend, begging to be turned into new services for your customers… continue
If there are new services to be provided, that has to lend itself to new business options as well surely? As you read through this article, think about what your business is doing now, and what it might be doing in the future…
Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world’s leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide.
‘STATUSPHERE’ how and where your customers are finding their status fix…
The latest from trendwatching.com…
Whatever industry you’re in, in the end, everything is about status. And since what constitutes status in consumer societies is fragmenting rapidly, like it or not, the need for recognition and status is at the heart of every consumer trend*. Status is the ultimate (hidden) motive, a subconscious but ever-present force.
Now, in a traditional consumer society, where consumption is one of the leading (if not the leading) indicators of success, those who consume the most (and especially those who consume the rarest and most expensive), will typically also attain the highest status. This is why brands have, for decades, gladly provided people with goods, services and experiences that help them (boldly or subtly) impress their peers and help alleviate their anxieties about how they’re perceived by others.
However, mature consumer societies are changing, and so is the ‘STATUSPHERE’: an increasing number of consumers are no longer (solely) obsessed with owning or experiencing the most and/or the most expensive. Our definition:
STATUSPHERE | As consumers are starting to recognize and respect fellow consumers who stray off the beaten consuming-more-than-thou-path, ‘new’ status can be about acquired skills, about eco-credentials, about generosity, about connectivity… All of this makes for a far more diversified ‘STATUSPHERE’ than most brands and organizations have traditionally catered to. Time to really figure out how and where your customers are now finding their status fix.
Get a Life, and the Future of Careers…
By Paula Caligiuri, Ph.D. for ChangeThis.com
With the downturn in the economy, the elimination of jobs, and the increased desire for work-life balance, people are looking for more stability, greater fulfillment, and increased satisfaction from work. Unfortunately, most people are still operating with an old set of career rules that no longer apply to today’s employment reality.
Now is the time to take control of your career destiny so you can enjoy greater work-life balance, security fulfillment and satisfaction. The secret lies in understanding the new employment reality and rewriting the rules of what a career can be.
The latest book reviews from The Keen Thinker…
The Keen Thinker is a monthly source for information on the newest business books you should be reading (both publisher recommendations and our own), current trends in business thought, advice to make your work life more successful and satisfying, music recommendations to make your work day more enjoyable, and the chance to win free books!
For details, click here…
The The Keen Thinker has previewed a number of books this month including:
* The Responsibility Revolution
* Companies on a Mission
* The 1% Windfall
* The M Factor
* Get Rid of the Performance Review
plus there’s much much more to review and update yourself with.
Time and travel stress…what mothers do!
This is a great little piece from Deborah Gough for The Age
GIULIA Baggio’s mad mornings are a familiar tale of hustling children from bed, dropping them to kinder and school, hurried goodbyes, then a race to work through rat runs to avoid traffic, only to be funneled, bumper-to-bumper, onto the main routes into the city.
When she sits down to a plate of cereal at her desk to ‘’start” her day at 9.30 am it is almost a relief…
…People who considered themselves time poor were 6 per cent less satisfied with life than those who did not define themselves that way, the research found.
Of those who said they were unhappy, 46 per cent said ”time” was a factor and problems with public transport’s cost (34 per cent), regularity (43) and availability (44) were also factors…
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