Link: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25074739-14741,00.html

This is a great little piece from Bernard Salt, for The Australian.
Well worth the read...

I AM reliably informed that in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings the first step is taking ownership of the problem.

In other words there is no chance of sobriety until there is an admission that "I am an alcoholic".

The Catholic Church operates on a similar principle with regard to sinners. First you must confess and then repent your sins in order to have even half a chance of salvation. And what's more, the penance paid is directly proportional to the scale of the sin. Small sins require less penance than big sins. (I sometimes wonder whether this scale needs to be reviewed, because some small transgressions today might be deemed "worth it".)

I think the alcoholics and the Catholics have something to teach the Australian consumer during these trying times.

After a decade of access to easy credit and full employment, we have come to believe that we have a god-given right to spend regardless of the cost and regardless of the debt ultimately incurred. And in a rising employment market, who cares? Next year's income will be greater than last year's, so we can all handle just that little bit more debt.

But now with an economic firestorm bearing down upon us, we are suddenly in a very different mood. "Please save us from our credit card debt and lead us not into temptation but deliver us along the path of righteousness and unto eternal solvency."

Just as alcoholics anonymous have a 12-step plan and Christians have the Ten Commandments to keep them on the straight and narrow, I think wayward consumers could do with is a step-plan leading to fiscal salvation. But I must warn you that such a path is difficult and is lined with temptation and with the empty promises of false profits.

Mark my words, Australian consumers, the likes of Harvey Norman will forever tempt thee with crazy never-to-be-repeated prices on the latest McMansion appliances. Are you prepared to stand fast amid such wanton reductions? If so, then you just might be ready to take on my eight-point plan towards a life of lesser consumption. Or at least it was eight points, but I managed to get the same value out of six points. See how easy this thinking is.

No1: Make the shift to generic brands.
No2: Replace the overseas holiday with a cheaper domestic version.
No3: Ask yourself every day what choice you made to conserve cash that you might not have made last year.
No4: Postpone discretionary consumer spending.
No5: Why stop at postponing discretionary consumer spending? Postpone capital investment.
No6: Cancel your reservation at that glamorous restaurant down on the waterfront.
Read on for detail around each step...

You will appreciate that my six-point plan to fiscal salvation might be regarded as seditious by the Australian Government because it fails to promote spending. But here's my defence. I think this is likely to happen anyway. It might be crudely summarised as the "flight to value" and it will surely surface in every aspect of consumer behaviour by the middle of this year. Oh, and apparently shoes can be worn until they wear out. Extraordinary.

Link: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Business_Technology/Application_Management/Six_ways_to_make_Web_20_work_2294

Over the past two years, McKinsey has studied more than 50 early adopters of Web 2.0 who are using technologies such as blogs, wikis, information tagging, prediction markets, and social networks. They have drawn six insights on how companies can best use these technologies... read on

Greetings ChangeThisistas,

We here at 800-CEO-READ, the caretakers of ChangeThis, are pleased to announce the release of our new book, THE 100 BEST BUSINESS BOOKS OF ALL TIME: WHAT THEY SAY, WHY THEY MATTER AND HOW THEY CAN HELP YOU, hitting the street tomorrow.

More than ever, business people are looking for books with solutions to problems. The trouble? Thousands of business books are published every year. Far too many for any reader to sift through single-handedly.

Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten of 800-CEO-READ are the most respected experts on business books, and now they have chosen and reviewed THE 100 BEST BUSINESS BOOKS OF ALL TIME — the ones that deliver the biggest payoff for today's busy readers. At the end of each review, Jack and Todd also direct readers to more books, both inside and outside THE 100 BEST. And sprinkled throughout are sidebars taking the reader beyond business books, suggesting movies, novels, and even children's books that offer equally relevant insights.

This book is for anyone, from entry-level to CEO, who wants to cut through the clutter and discover the brilliant books that are truly worth their investment of time and money. This is your guide to the books that can help you weather this uneasy economic climate.

To buy THE 100 BEST, visit us at: http://800ceoread.com/100best. When you buy our book from us, you’ll get a free copy of our annual magazine, IN THE BOOKS, and a CD of us talking about the book and its beginnings.

To learn more about the book, visit 100bestbiz.com to find a free download of the introduction and two reviews, inspirational posters, and a variety of other resources for your use.

Many Thanks & Best of Days,
The ChangeThis Troupe at 800-CEO-READ http://www.changethis.com/

Link: http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/generationg/

Another priceless offering from trendwatching.com, especially given the highly publicised times ahead, coupled with what you actually want to be doing... plenty of food for thought...

Has there ever been more urgency for corporations to ditch the greed and embrace generosity? It's something that countless individuals have already started doing, of course: giving is the new taking, and sharing is the new giving. And yes, we do realize that this month's Trend Briefing is massive, but in this business climate, can you really afford not to spend some time figuring out how to get a little closer to your customers?

GENERATION G | "Captures the growing importance of 'generosity' as a leading societal and business mindset. As consumers are disgusted with greed and its current dire consequences for the economy—and while that same upheaval has them longing more than ever for institutions that care—the need for more generosity beautifully coincides with the ongoing (and pre-recession) emergence of an online-fueled culture of individuals who share, give, engage, create and collaborate in large numbers.

In fact, for many, sharing a passion and receiving recognition have replaced 'taking' as the new status symbol. Businesses should follow this societal/behavioral shift, however much of it may oppose their decades-old devotion to me, myself and I.”

If the recession is hitting you where it hurts, and your budgets are tight, GENERATION G may feel like too costly a trend to capitalize on. We beg to differ:

Not all GENERATION G projects and initiatives are costly. Often, it’s a case of mindset, of attitude, of being creative, of finding the right partners, without spending millions. In fact, many of the services and projects highlighted in this briefing didn't cost the world.

Those projects that do involve serious money should be paid for by shifting funding from any kind of bland, non-relevant, non-interactive, and above all, non-generous ad campaign you’re planning to run this year. Hey, if others—in all the examples above—can do it, so can you.

Not infusing your company’s or brand’s mindset with a heavy dose of generosity will eventually cost you much more. Like, seeing your brand go bust. Which makes any kind of expenditure on generosity a bargain.

Joining GENERATION G as a company or a brand is not really optional, it’s a fundamental requirement if you want to stay relevant in societies that value generosity, sharing and collaboration. Joining obviously entails more than adding a social responsibility or sustainability department; it means adopting a generous mindset that permeates every interaction with your community, with your employees, with your customers, with, wait for it, your ‘stakeholders’. Nothing more or less than a holistic approach* to generosity and business.

The benefits?

It doesn’t hurt that in turbulent times like now, generosity will find an extra-appreciative audience, and certainly won't be forgotten.

Not only will your customers be more appreciative, they'll also return your favors by being more willing to spread the word about you. And being more willing to collaborate with you, co-creating or co-inventing or co-improving. Which would get us to CUSTOMER-MADE. See, we told you this would be an umbrella trend.

And last but not least, to manage a company with a caring, generous mindset can actually be good for your soul, too ;-)

indeed! read on...

Link: http://www.sixfigures.com.au/advertisers/resources

Six Figures has recently produced the Executive Job Market Confidence Report to gauge this market segment's confidence in the current job market and their intentions to move locally, nationally and/or internationally for job opportunities.

The findings show that for high salary earners the lure of interstate and international work opportunities is still very high. A key finding was that while quality of the employer's leadership played a significant motivator for attracting and retaining talent locally (as found in our previous survey report What You Need to Know About Attracting & Retaining High Salary Earners, October 2008), this was not the case when it came to interstate or international moves.

A copy of both reports can be found at http://www.sixfigures.com.au/advertisers/resources in the Reports & Whitepapers tab.