Blogoclump in Print

Looks like a good month for the blogoclump in the newest issue of Associations Now. Jeff De Cagna has a big spread on what associations can learn from Google via his interview with John Battelle, author of Search: How Google and its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed our Culture (say that three times fast). I have to admit having seen the book at the airports and not having looked at it because it appears with some copycats and I haven't known which one of them to pick up. Batelle is a techno journalist who speaks quite cogently about issues of 2.0 and the like, and applies them to associations. I agree with the conclusion in the article that Google et al represent more of an opportunity than a threat. But interestingly 2.0 means "that associations need to have good answers for questions that might be asked of search engines." Good point, and not everyone is sensitive to these issues.

And Ben Martin has a page on how he hates the word orientation. He'll send you directions for speed networking if you send him an email.

An Army of Davids

So, I've been spending some time with Glenn Reynold's book (Glenn being of course the seminal and highly influential Instapundit ), and I must say that it gives me lots of language I can use to talk about phenomena that are easily observable right now. I think you could say that Glenn Reynolds has done for technology what Virginia Postrel did with design topics . Which is to say, they beat the drum and say, hey, look at what this democratization of knowledge can do for you! In that vein, the book is really pretty visionary, pointing out the magic of the internet age. And I for one see it as magical. You know how Laura Ingalls Wilder's Pa in Little Town on the Prairie said to Laura that it was an amazing time to be alive (that was in the 1890s)? I've been actively thinking that to myself for the past few years, and An Army of Davids gives me ample evidence to back that up with its talk of citizen empowerment and the "comfy chair revolution." The theme of "

Public sector information design

Here's an article from the UK's Design Council talking about how information design is important in public-sector efforts. Of course, it's helpful to everyone, but this is a good example of the universal need for better presentation of information--and more design.

Get Out of Your Own Way

This book, by Robert K. Cooper, was on the library's newly arrived shelf. It's pretty good, although if you read biz books a lot, there's a lot you'll want to skim. Still, the principles he talks about are good to think on. The subtitle of the book is "the five keys to surpassing everyone's expectations." These keys are: 1. Direction, not motion 2. Focus, not time 3. Capacity, not conformity 4. Energy, not effort 5. Impact, not intentions Each key has three or four supporting chapters that talk about subprinciples. Some things that I identified with from key one is that a) "good and great are the enemies of possible," a quote Cooper attributes to his grandfather. It's pretty self-explanatory though. The other thing is he talks about "what's automatic, accelerates." Basically, if you can put effort into something until it becomes automatic, you've won the battle. So focus resources on issues and behaviors that will eventually

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