August 2011

About once a month, the partners at High Lantern Group gather a small list of interesting, provocative, and contrarian items that shed light on what makes great strategic positioning and thought leadership. We are happy to share them with you – and hear from you about ideas worth sharing.

Six Ideas That Made Us Think

Six Ideas That Made Us Think

1.  Steve Job’s Best Computer Analogy

A short video from the 1980s in which Steve Jobs compares the power of a computer to the acceleration in motion that bicycles bring to man. Typically insightful, original.

2.  Who Invented the High Five?

Brilliant,  original social investigation and history of how the high, single-hand slap became a fixture of sports and celebration. Reads like a mystery, replete with competing theories and unacknowledged heroes:

The low five had been a fixture of African-American culture since at least World War II. It might seem impossible to pinpoint when the low five ratcheted itself upright and evolved into the high five, but there are countless creation myths in circulation.

3.  How Has America Changed in Two Decades?

USA Today provides a surprisingly detailed yet concise account of changes in American life as tracked by the 2010 Census:

The USA is bigger, older, more Hispanic and Asian and less wedded to marriage and traditional families than it was in 1990. It also is less enamored of kids, more embracing of several generations living under one roof, more inclusive of same-sex couples, more cognizant of multiracial identities, more suburban, less rural and leaning more to the South and West.

4.  Everything on 9/11

Anticipating the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attack, New York does a superb job of pulling together articles, photos, and videos on just about every topic associated with that terrible day in its 9/11 Encyclopedia.  Worth bookmarking.

5.  The Military Speaks With More Than One Voice

A thoughtful speech by the Chief of Naval Operations to the Institute for Public Relations.  Explains why it’s a strategic error for communications to come only from the top of an organization:

[T]here may be some anxiety about giving up control of your message by acknowledging the potential of your workforce to communicate….[But] it would be a strategic error of the most basic nature to not do everything you can to empower your workforce to communicate on behalf of the organization. No less a military mind than Napoleon Bonaparte observed, “Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.” (I note that’s under 140 characters, so he was well ahead of his time.)

6.  Can Businesses Really Help Public Schools?

Maybe not.  This assessment in The American of the recent cheating scandal in the Atlanta public school system shows where business failed:

Too often, local businesses wanting to get involved in their K-12 education systems fall into this trap. Eager to be seen as ‘partners,’ they donate dollars first and ask questions later. But to be effective, business leaders must recognize that partnering with school districts or policy makers doesn’t simply mean carrying their water. It means asking tough questions and insisting on certain end results or operational targets in exchange for support.

For more information about High Lantern Group, please visit our website at www.highlanterngroup.com

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