Program or Be Programmed by Douglas Rushkoff
On Thursday, May 26th, Douglas Rushkoff presented the most thought-provoking session at the Webvisions Conference. Promoting his latest book, Program or Be Programmed, he suggested that digital technology imposes biases on our online experiences. Understanding these biases allows us to work around the medium’s limitations and use it most effectively.
Good to Great by Jim Collins
After combing through 40 years of data on over 1400 companies, Jim Collins and his team developed a list of companies that have produced extraordinary and sustained results. Collins published this list in his book Good to Great, along with further in-depth examination of the factors behind these successes. The 11 winning companies were: Abbott Laboratories, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo. A rigorous analysis of these companies produced six Good to Great factors which differentiated them from their competitors and fueled their profits. The factors, as defined by Jim Collins and his team, are: 1) Level 5 Leadership, 2) First Who Then What, 3) Confront the Brutal Facts, 4) The Hedgehog Concept, 5) Culture of Discipline, and 6) Technology Accelerators.
Level 5 Leadership and the Hedgehog Concept intrigued me the most.
3 Steps to Better Google Analytics
Google Analytics is the ubiquitous tool in website traffic analysis. From measuring your site’s day-to-day visitor influx, to the most commonly-typed search engine keywords resulting in hits, or the most referenced content, Google has created a tool unsurpassed in its usefulness. Amazingly, it is free. Not all site owners, however, are taking full advantage of the product features. Beyond installing the tracking code, you must set up goals within Google Analytics to harness its full potential. Goals enable you to go beyond counting visits to tracking your site objectives. Luckily, if you have yet to incorporate goals, they are fairly simply to add.
5 Fabulous Oregon Brewery Sites
‘Tis the season for the Holiday Ale Festival in Portland, where dark craft ales abound under the Pioneer Courthouse Square tent. To align with the seasonal spirit, I’ve visited dozens of Oregon brewery sites and reviewed the five best designs.
Just Say No to PowerPoint
Ever experienced a horrible head-nodding episode while trying to absorb a presentation? Did you manage to fight off sleep’s advance or did you surrender, with much later embarrassment?
Don’t tell me. It wasn’t your fault anyway. I’ll wager that the presenter had not engaged you, and his or her slides were at least partly to blame.
About Bourke Design
Bourke Design is a one-woman studio in Portland, Oregon devoted to creating clean, intuitive websites. On this page, I collect productivity and business-growing ideas for individuals, entrepreneurs, and small business.
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