March 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.The Case for Long-Term Optimism

Mesmerizing, uplifting 90-minute audio talk by TED regular Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist, about the case for optimism (HD video for website members). Great information about declining global poverty and increasing prosperity. For instance: by the end of the century,  the global average income will two to three times the average income of Americans today.  Perfect antidote to the prevailing spirit of declinism.

2.Football Socialism

James Surowiecki’s persuasive case that, in the NFL labor negotiations, it is the team owners—not the unionized players—who are the enemies of capitalism:

With the possible exception of the members of OPEC, N.F.L. owners have pretty much the coziest business arrangement imaginable: they’re effectively members of a cartel—able to limit competition, enhance bargaining power, and hold down costs.

3.Better Brainstorming

“There are no bad ideas!” Actually, this declaration is usually the death knell of brainstorming sessions.  Original McKinsey Quarterly article offering seven methods of improving creative group thinking.  Good advice on what to do and not to do, including this:

One thing not to do is have the full group choose the best ideas from the pile….Rather, close the workshop on a high note that participants won’t expect if they’re veterans of traditional brainstorming: describe to them exactly what steps will be taken to choose the winning ideas and how they will learn about the final decisions.

4.Who Talks on Twitter?

Yahoo! Research labs have analyzed how people use Twitter. Their study suggests that it has evolved into an elite news filtering service. Fifty percent of tweets consumed are generated by just 20,000 elite users. Most consumers use it like the Americans once used the evening news: as a convenient way of getting news reported elsewhere, repackaged by a trusted source. Full study here. Good summary here.

5.Remarkably Unsurprising Study of Facebook

New research from Australia confirms widely held suspicion that “Facebook is particularly appealing for narcissistic and exhibitionistic people”:

In fact, it could be argued that Facebook specifically gratifies the narcissistic individual’s need to engage in self-promoting and superficial behavior.

6.Dominant Statistics

Terrific map of dominant industries the world over, accompanied by useful statistics. Click on “full size map” at bottom left. Sample information:

In 2009, more Americans worked as retail sales people and cashiers than as any other type of worker.

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

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