Business and management articles | Cooler Insights

When Analysis Become Paralysis

April 3, 2011 • Blog • disabled comments

In the field of strategy and planning, there are two age-old dilemmas which one commonly encounters in the process of doing one’s work, namely:

1) How much research should we conduct?

Mischief in the Museum

March 29, 2011 • Blog • 1 comment

Can we allow ‘real life’ games in our museums ala Da Vinci Code and the Louvre? (source of image)

Should we allow people to ‘play’ in the museums? How much leeway should we provide for spontaneous citizen initiated activities and when should we say no?

Nina Simon of Museum 2.0 highlighted recent buzz-worthy examples of unsolicited ‘pranks’ in two hallowed institutions: The Met and the Smithsonian Institution.

6 Lessons in Japanese Resilience

March 27, 2011 • Personal Branding • disabled comments

Against the cataclysmic forces of Nature, few have responded as well as the Japanese (courtesy of Joseph Friedman)

Have you wondered what made the Japanese such a resilient and robust group of people? How do they overcome the challenges of living in one of the most disaster prone areas of the world?

Often, it is in the worst of times that you see the best in people. Nothing is more true than how the Japanese faced the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on the Northeast coast of Japan.

Zooming in on Zappos

March 25, 2011 • Business and Management • 1 comment

Tony Hsieh, CEO and Chief Happiness Officer of Zappos.com (courtesy of Sunni Brown)

UPDATE: 28 November 2020 — Tony Hsieh has tragically passed away in a house fire at the age of 46. May he rest in peace.

Few companies are as zealous as Zappos in ensuring that excellence is ingrained into every single process, person and policy of the organisation.

Radical and almost ruthless in their quest for the holy customer grail, Zappos is famous for legendary strategies which few of their competitors dare to take up.

KLM’s Highest Party in the World

March 22, 2011 • Blog • disabled comments

Every once in a while, you come across a marketing idea so radical that you simply have to talk about it. That honour today belongs to airline company KLM and its effort in creating the highest party in the world where a DJ gets to spin music 35,000 feet in the air.

What’s cool about this effort is that it came about from a bet between KLM and two DJs/creative producers – Sied van Riel and Wilco Jung – to organise a party on board a plane for the very first time. I like how it weaves in online channels (like a blog, website, and online radio station) with a grand idea of a party for those who have the time, money and energy.

Montages, Mashups and Morality in Music

March 20, 2011 • Blog • 3 comments

Source of image

In an attempt to understand what’s hot in today’s music scene (and chill out after a tough day’s work), I’ve been viewing music videos on Youtube, checked out Billboard’s Hot 100, and listened to the most popular hits on MySpace. What I discovered was pretty fascinating – and perhaps a little shocking – for a mountain tortoise cum geek like me.

Several trends seem to be prevalent in contemporary pop music culture (at least in the US):

How to be an Indispensable Linchpin

March 18, 2011 • Book Reviews • disabled comments

“You are not a faceless cog in the machinery of capitalism…” In fact, according to Seth Godin’s latest book Linchpin, you are an “artist who can give good gifts”. Best of all, you don’t need a canvas, a stage, nor a musical instrument to create art.

Beginning with such a delightful premise, Linchpin tackles the age-old issue of career motivation. What’s interesting is that Godin doesn’t just promote entrepreneurialism but rather, a form of intrapreneurialism – one where you as a worker in any circumstance or situation can “make magic”.