A minute and a half on the founding of Internet Time Alliance and what works for me.

Now that Element K has been acquired by SkillSoft, I wonder if this video series will ever see the light of day.

Happy New Year!

Thanks to Oliver Seidel for pointing this out.

“On February 11-13, 2001, at The Lodge at Snowbird ski resort in the Wasatch mountains of Utah, seventeen people met to talk, ski, relax, and try to find common ground and of course, to eat. What emerged was the Agile Software Development Manifesto.” Source

On January 6, 2001, at a mountaintop ski resort in Stoos, Switzerland, another group is meeting to talk, ski, and discuss how to make the philosophy underpinning Agile a management practice beyond the realm of software development. Steve Continue reading →

Last night (December 10), and I may have been wearing my Santa costume during the conversation, I mentioned to a friend that I’ve studied the concept of time and tell myself I should be free of the tyranny of the agrarian calendar that is the metronome for many of our lives. Nonetheless, every year when the days grow short, I clear away last year’s artifacts and reflect. As Socrates famously said “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I plan to examine journal entries, my writings and presentations, Continue reading →

Best of Working Smarter Daily

January 1, 2011 to December 17, 2011

One of the key tenets of Unmanagement is DELIGHT CUSTOMERS.

Companies that fail to delight customers will soon face a Customer Spring. Rather than gather in the main square, customers will take their business elsewhere. Many corporations will disappear not just from the Fortune 500 but from the face of the earth. I won’t shed a tear when this happens to #12, AT&T.

On Monday AT&T installed their Uverse package (television, phone, internet) at my house. In the process, they cut Continue reading →

Isn’t this a wonderful time of the year? The weather can be a bummer, but the death of another year makes you reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re headed. Then friends, family, and emotions come out of the woodwork. Celebrate.

This card I just received from my pal Eileen Clegg captures precisely what I was feeling. Be calm. Take a deep breath, reflect on your past, and envision a future that rings your bells. Dream up a 2012 that brings a smile to your face.

More personally, Continue reading →

Free webinar Monday, December 19, 10:30 am Eastern/16:30 Zurich. Register

This will be in English. 30-45 minutes max. I expect it to evolve into an interactive conversation, not a presentation.

We’re offering the session to set the stage for two unworkshops that Urs Frei and I will moderate in Zurich early in 2012:

• January 9 13:30-16:00, Creating Content for Learning on the Web
• January 10, 8:15–14:00, Learning and Development in 2012 and Beyond

Preliminary information is here.

The day after arriving home from Berlin, I took part in a two-day knowledge exchange hosted by iventiv and moderated by my colleague Charles Jennings.

Charles

We played by Chatham House Rules, which state that “participants are free to use the information received but neither the identity nor the affiliation of any of the speakers nor that of any participant may be revealed.” So I can’t show you photos of the CLOs of a major athletic shoe manufacturer, a prominent Japanese automobile Continue reading →