Richard Branson – On Why Entrepreneurs Need Collaboration

In a recent article published in Entrepreneur magazine, Sir Richard Branson explains why the best entrepreneurs and marketers seek out new conversations, new ideas and new ways of doing things.  A common ‘myth’ of innovation and creativity is the belief in the lone creative genius toiling away on their masterpiece. In reality – most breakthroughs require smart, highly motivated, highly communicative, diverse and argumentative small teams of people, energised by good leaderships and working with good processes. This paragraph from this piece from Branson explains it brilliantly; 

” Many people think that an entrepreneur is someone who operates alone, overcoming challenges and bringing his idea to market through sheer force of personality. This is completely inaccurate. Few entrepreneurs — scratch that: almost no one — ever achieved anything worthwhile without help. To be successful in business, you need to connect and collaborate and delegate.Finding ways to meet with people in the real world and build business relationships is becoming ever more important in the digital age. While in some industries it’s possible for employees to limit their communications to email and, if they wish, avoid interacting with colleagues (and their managers), that’s not possible for entrepreneurs, since relationships built on trust are vital to doing business.”

To can read the full piece here: Richard Branson Is Not Going Alone. 

The Best Marketing, Innovation & Collaboration Pieces From 2013

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Here’s To A 2014 Full Of Collaboration, Innovation And Partnerships…

I was lucky to meet and work with some great people in 2013. From 4CM to Versatile Connections and from Henley Business School and Powwownow to Krems University in Vienna and Tech Music School in Fulham. 2013 was a year of Cafe Workshops and Collaborative Consulting. And a year of some brilliant marketing writing from people I was lucky enough to meet too. Here are my picks for the best writing I saw from 2013.

And here’s to more in 2014.

Continue reading “The Best Marketing, Innovation & Collaboration Pieces From 2013”

Does Remote Working Need More Flexible Thinking? Reviewing The RSA Paper – ‘The Flex Factor’

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What Does Remote Working Really Look Like?

Does ‘The Flex Factor’, a recent paper published by The RSA offer a balanced exploration of the pros and cons of remote and flexible working? Whilst I am a big fan of the use of new collaboration technologies and they may open up new avenues of innovation, Yahoo’s recent decision to restrict remote working shows that not everyone has the same view on what flexible working really looks like … Continue reading “Does Remote Working Need More Flexible Thinking? Reviewing The RSA Paper – ‘The Flex Factor’”

To Sell Is Human –So Does Collaboration Make Us Superhuman? Dan Pink, At The RSA

“Always be closing! A-I-D-A. Attention, Interest, Decision, Action. Attention — do I have your attention? Interest — are you interested? I know you are. You close! Or you hit the bricks!” Blake, Glengarry Glen Ross

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We All Work In Sales. Some, More Effectively Than Others

Sell. Sale. Sold. Four letter words. And as Dan Pink pointed out at a recent talk at The RSA, for most of us the whole notion of sales is still imbued with all of the worst connotations of pressure and aggression so famously portrayed by Alec Baldwin’s Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross. Sales is something seen as quite vulgar. Yet – persuasion and relationship building, no matter how you look at it, is still the most essential ingredient of personal and organisational success. Leadership, innovation, change – it all comes down to selling. Dan Pink shows that sales is not what it used to be and whether we like it or not,  it is in fact, profoundly human. I agree – and what is more, I believe that if sales is human, the ability to build and nurture great creative collaborations – is superhuman…

Continue reading “To Sell Is Human –So Does Collaboration Make Us Superhuman? Dan Pink, At The RSA”

The Best Marketing, Collaboration And Innovation Articles, Research And Blogs From 2012

I’ve compiled a list of my top articles, research and comments from 2012 covering marketing, collaboration, innovation and partnerships.

best of the year starThe first true twinkles of December frost appearing in the fields reminds me that its time to review 2012. The year was not easy for many and perhaps more about challenge and tricky opportunities for most. But it was a year with some great stuff too. I’ve here compiled my list of top articles, research and comments from 2012 covering marketing, collaboration, innovation and partnerships. What were your top articles of the year? Who would you pick? What would you recommend or suggest I add?

In no particular order… here are my top picks for 2012

Continue reading “The Best Marketing, Collaboration And Innovation Articles, Research And Blogs From 2012”

A Year of Blogging And Tweeting

bigger tweet cloudMy 2012 Tag Clouds from my blog and my Twitter feed show what has been colouring my conversations this year. From Collaboration to Partnerships from Innovation – by way of social media, super teams and creativity.

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You can read my blog by visiting https://andrewarmour.com/ and read my Tweets by following me at;  https://twitter.com/andrewarmour

Challenging Marketing Summaries; Gamification, Collaboration And Innovation

You can download the full papers from the Benchstone website but here are some of the top facts, statistics and quotes from the Challenge Series of White Papers covering gamification, collaboration and innovation.

The Challenges Of Gamification, Collaboration And Innovation
The Challenges Of Gamification, Collaboration And Innovation

The recent Challenge Series of White Papers I contributed to focused on three topics that are set to test marketers in 2013. The rise of Gamification, the need for Collaboration – and the demands for Innovation. You can download the full white papers from the Benchstone website–  but here are some of the top facts, statistics, comments and quotes from the three papers in the series.

Continue reading “Challenging Marketing Summaries; Gamification, Collaboration And Innovation”

Why Superteams Win In The Social Era Of Business – ‘Superteams’ by Khoi Tu

What often comes as a surprise is that great teams are often not comprised of steady and easy-going types. By their very nature – high achievers are not satisfied with being average and accepting easy solutions.

Great Teams Stay Well Connected…

Effective teams are often not composed of easy-going types. And some degree of ‘creative abrasion’ may be a requirement if you are seeking genuine excellence. Collaboration is not always about getting along but it’s always about peak performance. And when it comes to effectively innovating in the social era,  high performance team-work is still its foundation.

Continue reading “Why Superteams Win In The Social Era Of Business – ‘Superteams’ by Khoi Tu”

Can Innovators Put Their Faith In Social Media?

Are you a believer? Can social media help energise your innovation efforts? Or are you sceptical? Are you yet to be convinced? Can unified collaboration (UC) and other modern media tools become more than just complicated gossip and file sharing? Do you really have faith in the value of social media to help power innovation?

Continue reading “Can Innovators Put Their Faith In Social Media?”

Collaboration And Gamificaiton White Papers – PDF’s Available For Free Download

Collaboration and Gamification White Papers – FREE PDF’s available for download.

I was delighted to be a co-developer and contributor to the Challenge Series of white papers and discussions. The first two papers are now available to download as PDF’s from the main Benchstone Website – or click on the images below to download your copies.

 < Marketing And The Evolution of Collaboration

This paper contains a review of the recent thinking and research relating to collaboration and innovation and features my interview and discussion with Duncan Thomas, the founder of digital agency – Pomegranate Group and Steve Hemmings from Realpoint Consulting. We explore why successful collaboration is often so difficult and what kind of skills and behaviour need to be developed.

Can Marketers Win With Gamification? >

This paper explores how the psychology and tactics used by games designers and entrepreneurs can be used by marketers and businesses to improve their relationships with users, customers and other stakeholders. The white paper contains some of the history (and controversy)  behind the use of gamification within marketing – and a look at how marketers can avoid the hype and use the smart gaming tactics to add value to their innovation efforts.

What are the modern challenges you think marketers now face? Please comment  – and let us know if you have marketing topics that you think need to be questioned. Or, if you would like to contribute to the future editions of the Challenge Series, please get in touch.