Live, group note-taking. Five people in a meeting? Take one set of notes instead of five. Everyone types on the same web page; End ‘versionitis’ — take one set of notes; See changes as they happen; Publish instantly — stop e-mailing documents; Everything’s stored securely on the web.”

“Bill Strickland has turned a near bankrupt community training center in Pittsburgh into one of the most successful organizations in America. His work has brought him a MacArthur Genius grant, a Grammy award, an invitation to lecture at Harvard University, and a seat on the board of the National Endowment for the Arts. Now he is evangelizing a hybrid model of social entrepreneurship: ‘There’s a way to combine the very best of the not-for-profit, philanthropic world with the very best of the for-profit, enterprising world. This hybrid is the wave of the future for both profit and nonprofit companies.’ His take on the overlap between art and entrepreneurship is interesting…”

“As one of Google’s Principals for New Business Development, I am on the front line of inbound business proposals. I would gather I see 40-50 per day. The launch of Google Talk has probably added another 15-20 per day. So, as I sit with trepidation considering how many emails I have flagged for follow-up in my inbox on this Sunday afternoon, I thought I would take a minute to type out some hints that will make it easier on both of us and increase the likelihood that your company and mine will get some business done.”

“…I designed a printable form to motivate my business development activities. First, I made this list of tasks that I’ve decided contribute to my business growth, with points assigned that reflect their relative power factor. Although they’re all important, I gave lower weights to tasks that I already do frequently–I don’t need the extra motivation. If an activity is not on the list, it isn’t worth any points.”

“Networking is a term that didn’t exist (academically) until almost 40 years ago. It’s a word uttered in and around the business world every day, yet is unclear to most as to how it actually works. Still, it’s a fundamental tool to the success of any business… The following are The 7 Habits of Highly Horrible Networkers, and they can stand in the way of developing mutually valuable relationships. So, next time you attend your Chamber or Association meeting, keep these ideas in mind so you can offer the most value to your fellow networkers.”

“If you’re suffering from job burnout–which is not to be confused with a general aversion to hard work–your work performance, health, and personal life suffer. Ultimately, so does the company that employs you. Both employers and employees need to understand the conditions that lead to burnout, the signs of burnout, and what can be done to prevent and relieve this problem that is becoming even more widespread as companies downsize and remaining employees take on added responsibility.”

“The [business] begins by identifying its vision and mission. Once these are clearly defined, it moves on to a series of analyses, including external, internal, gap, and benchmarking, which provide a context for developing organization’s strategic issues.”

“What goes away when a company moves past the start-up phase? Living only on take-out and caffeine. Working in a [small] living room. Crazy, stupid, unprofessional behavior. Wearing nothing but shorts and ripped t-shirts.”

“…and what you can do about it. Honk if this sounds like you: While much of America is watching Jon Stewart, Letterman, or Leno, you’re stumbling out the office door into a car-service Town Car or groping for the clicker to the BMW in the company parking lot. Once home, you slug down a beer or the last of a bottle of white wine on the door of the fridge, stuff some leftovers in your mouth, and collapse into bed beside your sleeping spouse. A half-dozen hours later, you crawl to the shower, throw on a clean shirt, pour some coffee down your throat, maybe drop a kid or two at school, and jump back on the frenetic work treadmill that you can’t shut off.”

“As you move into management, the very things that made you effective as a craftsman are now deadly threats to your success as a manager. Your independence and self-reliance, which was an asset, is now a liability.”

“It’s not that users are lying (usually), it’s just that they don’t know what they want when they don’t know what’s possible. Very few consumers in the early nineties asked for a handheld organizer that forced the user to learn a special alphabet, yet the Palm Pilot was a runaway success. And as the Slashdot example shows, very few hipsters in 2001 thought that an undersized, overpriced MP3 player was worth a second glance…”

“Once the dream workplace of tech’s highest achievers, it is suffering key defections to Google and elsewhere. What’s behind the losses?”

“Customers are banging our doors down. The demand for our work is growing, and we need quality people to join our growing company. This post is about consultants: the people who lead our teams and manage customer relationships…”

“You’ll succeed as a leader only if you’re a living example of your values. What causes do you champion? How do you behave with others? What decisions do you make? Now ask yourself what values your answers demonstrate. If those values don’t align with your organization, change yourself, change organizations, or tone down your leadership aspirations. Values, if clear and consistent in behavior, are a powerful glue that holds an organization together.”

“Even strong speakers can undercut a whole presentation with three seconds of wobbly indecision at the end. Those last three seconds amount to the last important picture people remember of you. Watch your body language. Not even Patrick Henry’s ‘Give me liberty…’ line can bail you out if you act nervous, disgusted, insincere or hurried. For example…”