Pioneers of Digital by Paul Springer & Mel Carson - Book review

Pioneers of Digital

Success Stories from Leaders in Advertising, Marketing, Search and Social Media

By: Paul Springer, Mel Carson

Published: November 5, 2012
Format: Paperback, 232 pages
ISBN-10: 0749466049
ISBN-13: 978-0749466046
Publisher Kogan Page











"True pioneers of digital, these innovators have pushed the boundaries of what's possible through the internet and created compelling, entertaining and useful experiences that have touched millions around the world", write communications professor and head of research for Design, Media and Management at Buckinghamshire New University, Paul Springer; and internationally renowned expert on search marketing, social media, and online marketing, and founder of Delightful Communications, Mel Carson, in their inspirational and fascinating digital personality filled book Pioneers of Digital: Success Stories from Leaders in Advertising, Marketing, Search and Social Media. The authors share the their intriguing and revealing conversations with the leading discoverers and innovators in the various disciplines that encompass the entire sphere of digital media.

Paul Springer (photo left) and Mel Carson recognize the innovations and contributions made by the visionary individuals profiled in the book. The digital pioneers presented in the various chapters have careers that cross many different disciplines, various platforms, different campaigns, and many industries across the digital frontier. Intriguingly, the authors point out that the creative people profiled had little idea about how ubiquitous and crucial the internet would be in the lives of people around the world. The various profiles include the identification of expanding and innovative regions of the world, including China, India, and the Middle East, where digital communications are being created and where the lives of people are shaped by those same digital media.

Mel Carson (photo left and Paul Springer present unique insights into the thoughts and vision of the profiled digital pioneers. To provide the information in a consistent form, the authors utilize a format here the individuals explain their digital discipline, tell their story in their own words, analysis of the success of their work, and the main points learned for each of the profiled people.

The authors identified a common set of lessons learned from conversations with the various digital pioneers. Those lessons are as follows:

* Not being original
* Pioneering commercial models
* Repositioning creativity
* Skills convergence
* All platforms and no content
* Running in real time: Not being ahead of the game
* Create something useful and never assume
* Enjoy what you do
* Ten steps to becoming a digital pioneer,from the people who got there

For me, the power of the book is how Paul Springer and Mel Carson combine the insightful interviews and stories of the profiled digital pioneers, with the lessons gleaned from the conversations with the profiled individuals. The authors offer a wide range of profiles that include leading thinkers in an array of industries, platforms, technologies, and disciplines. Despite this wide spectrum approach, the authors provide a cohesive overview of commonalities between the various pioneers.

With this understanding of the traits and ideas shared by the thought leaders, the book becomes more than an anthology of profiles. Instead, it becomes a treasure trove of concepts that guide the reader into the direction of becoming a future pioneer. The various stories have both a standard framework, and a unique sense of the individuals and their vision. The opportunity to learn from the successes of the pioneers, and how to learn from their experiences, transforms the book into a powerful teaching and learning tool for the aspiring digital innovator.

I highly recommend the insightful and success oriented book Pioneers of Digital: Success Stories from Leaders in Advertising, Marketing, Search and Social Media by Paul Springer and Mel Carson, to anyone seeking an anthology of informative and idea filled profiles of successful pioneers in the digital world. This book will guide you on a digital voyage around the world, across platforms, and many disciplines as you learn from the successes of the true pioneers of digital.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

James Mason reads The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

Leading Culture Change in Global Organizations by Daniel Denison, Robert Hooijberg, Nancy Lane & Colleen Lief - Book review

Leading Culture Change in Global Organizations

Aligning Culture and Strategy

By: Daniel Denison, Robert Hooijberg, Nancy Lane, Colleen Lief

Published: June 26, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN-10: 047090884X
ISBN-13: 978-0470908846
Publisher: Jossey-Bass











"It can be easy to forget that the people make the place, because the structures that we create often outlive our memory of how and why we created them to begin with, leaving us feeling like we are the victims rather than the visionaries of the systems that we create", write professor or management and organization at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Daniel Denison; professor of organizational behavior at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Robert Hooijberg; research associate at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Nancy Lane; and project manager for the IMD-Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch Family Business Research Center, Colleen Lief, in their insightful and organization transforming book Leading Culture Change in Global Organizations: Aligning Culture and Strategy. The authors describe the importance of developing a unique company culture, and present the theory and practices to transform the organizational culture into one that aligns with the overall company strategy.

Daniel Denison (photo left), Robert Hooijberg, Nancy Lane, and Colleen Lief understand the importance of of company culture to the success of the organization. The authors also recognize the necessity of that culture being in alignment with the strategic planning of the organization. This alignment is especially critical in a global company, where adaptability and flexibility are crucial to success in diverse markets.

To achieve the needed level of alignment, and a successful company culture, the authors provide the best practices for developing and managing a strong company culture, aligned to the values and strategy of the organization, and how to measure its overall effectiveness. The authors share a number case studies of company cultural transformation, and analyze the successes and challenges experienced by those organizations

Robert Hooijberg (photo left), Nancy Lane, Colleen Lief, and Daniel Denison approach the issue of company culture from an alignment viewpoint. Within that assessment, the authors consider which paths toward cultural transformation have produced the most success. They also assess the role of the organizational leadership in creating a new culture, and what the results of those changes in culture are over time. The authors also consider the results of the various approaches to culture transformation to determine the most effective practices for a global company. To evaluate the myriad approaches taken by several organizations, the authors applied a survey of the companies involved in the changes.

Nancy Lane (photo left), Colleen Lief, Daniel Denison, and Robert Hooijberg present a comprehensive overview of the development of a unique company culture that is alignment withe organizational strategy. The authors tracked the companies included int their study and developed a series of strategies and lessons for leaders as follows:

* Building a high performance business culture
* Supporting the front line
* Creating strategic alignment
* Creating one culture out of many
* Exporting cultural change
* Building a global business in an emerging market
* Building a global business from an emerging market
* Building for the future: Trading old habits for new

For me, the power of the book is how Colleen Lief (photo left), Daniel Denison, Robert Hooijberg and Nancy Lane provide a powerful combination of theory and practical strategies for developing and managing an effective corporate culture. The authors present the practices for leaders to transform their existing organizational culture, including cultures that are dysfunctional, into unique and vibrant organizations, whose actions and engagement are aligned with the overall goals and strategies of the firm.

The authors move beyond the standard culture based books and offer a research based examination of cultures that have transformed themselves into completely different ones. The book contains the case studies of those companies, and how they met their cultural challenges, and became entirely unique enterprises. The book extends the cultural discussion as well to include the challenges and opportunities for an aligned culture to succeed in the global marketplace. The various chapters in the book contain a series of lessons for leaders, as well, that offer actionable ideas and tactics for creating a fresh and engaged organizational culture.

I highly recommend the research based and very practical strategy filled book Leading Culture Change in Global Organizations: Aligning Culture and Strategy by Daniel Denison, Robert Hooijberg, Nancy Lane, and Colleen Lief, to any organizational leaders seeking to transform their company culture to reengage employees to meet the many challenges presented through operating in the global economy. This book will change the way you think about the value of company culture, and its fundamental importance to organizational success.