It’s easy to blame Google and PowerPoint for distracting us and making us employ bullet points. But, as Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard, argues in last week’s New York Times, we shouldn’t get worried about technologies’ power of distraction. Perhaps, he says, we should be thankful since “technologies are the only things that will keep us smart.”
Pinker states that new forms of media usually meet initial skepticism. The printing press, radio, television, comic …

Americans spend an amazing 32.7 hours a week on the internet. You can only throw away so much of the day checking Facebook or actually doing work, but there are a few spare hours that need to be filled. That’s where websites like icanhascheezburger.com step in.
Jenna Worthham of the New York Times writes about how this silly time waster has blossomed into an empire that includes 40 employees and 50 other popular websites.
If you don’t …

American’s love their slang. I’m not talking about the four-letter words that get bleeped if they are mistakenly uttered on TV (though we do love that as well). I’m talking about things like “Beemer” (BMW), “Mickey D’s” (McDonalds) and, of course, “Chevy” (Chevrolet). In some ways this kind of slang is a badge of honor. It says: “I love this product so much; I feel comfortable enough to be causal and informal with it.”
We don’t …

I grew up in the world of yellow pads and plastic overheads. I even recall broken chalk and eraser-monitors. Now, apparently I need to make a confession. I use PowerPoint–even though it has been getting a bad rap. In last week’s New York Times Elisabeth Bumiller looked at the prevalence of perplexing PowerPoint presentations in the US military and wondered if they were a necessary evil.
In response, David Silverman, from the Harvard Business Review, took …

Sometimes there’s a article that’s both current and essential reading for leaders. If the heart of leadership, as we’ve often argued, is mobilizing people around decisions–it’s vital we look at examples of decision processes that lead to action. The best tutorial is to examine specific cases, for good or for bad, of the decision process.
For the last three months we’ve watched President Obama struggle with his decision regarding Afghanistan. A superb presentation of his decision …

Reading newspapers today is like making bread. It takes hours and you get your hands dirty. It’s a tradition best reserved for the long weekend.
Between meetings and overseas calls it’s easier to read the day’s top stories online. You might have a personalized Google News page or a Google reader account. You might scan the most-read section of the New York Times. You might refresh Drudgereport every 5 minutes…

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