A compendium of interesting articles...

For those who who know me I am a raven for information, devouring daily, hourly online feeds, trade press, the broadsheets, many of which form the basis of articles I write online, offline, pod and videocasts and everywhere inbetween. Every so often I will aggregate a compendium of interesting ones or those orientated towards career management but with the occassional left field one....

Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy, “Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time”, Harvard Business Review

http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=R0710B&referral=2342

The demands of Executives have never been more stressful, which leads to you putting more and more hours in which could inevitably lead to burnout. Schwartz and McCarthy from the Energy Project believe that time is infinity and energy is not and by establishing key rituals you could build energy in four key dimensions; physical energy, emotional energy, mental energy and spiritual energy.

“Thought Leaders Series: The Future is Bright for Business Intelligence” in CBR Magazine October 2008

A hot topic, months instalment looks at Business intelligence software, posing questions to a wide range of experts, on why it has become such a hot technology, the trends in BI software and whether projects should be driven by the IT department or sponsored by the business. The general consensus being that the lower cost and more accessibility has made companies take note, and that the business and IT department need to work together to get the most out of this software.

Stefan Stern “Feel the strategy” in Management Today November 2008

http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/search/article/857775/feel-strategy-leaders-engage-hearts-minds/

Strategy has often invoked fear in management, becoming a dirty word. Research has revealed four strategy styles - practical, rational, creative and collaborative but this article believes that all four styles together as a super-engaging strategy delivers results. This sort of thinking, the article argues, is from collaboration and creativity with your staff, rather than believing that strategy is your responsibility alone and not engaging with your colleagues.

Lucy Kellaway, “The Year of the CFO” in The Economist

http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12494665&d=2009

With redundancies and companies collapsing taking the news right now, Kellaway looks at corporate life in 2009. Gone are words such as vision, but replaced by value. Gone are is talk of emotional intelligence quotient, but replaced by economic value added. Thinking outside the box, as Kellaway says, will not longer be tolerated, but ticking them will be.

...and finally some happy news from http://www.trendwatching.com which believes that 2009 could well be a great year for businesses that are actually keen on showing consumers that they care. They believe now is the time to innovate, as times like these bring out the best in creative business professionals. In 2009, they advise you to ask yourself if you have the potential to influence your companies’ vision and to speak the language of the consumers who are the trend setters.