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Fast Company :"100 Most Creative People in Business"

Fast Company names its 100 most creative people in business. That's a lot of inspired thinking.

Could business learn from how big science is done?

BusinessWeek: Business leaders could learn a lot from the collaborative management style at the Large Hardon Collider at CERN. Key thought:

Because their community is close-knit and their most valuable currency is reputation, experimental physicists around the world know who contributes. Conversely, the few who have been too proprietary with their ideas have been ostracized. It's like a crowd-sourced performance review.

Seminar: Developing viable business strategies

Today, Dr. Jeryl Schreiner, founder of  IdeaFoundry, in Pittsburgh, is leading a seminar for 60 clients of KSTC and the ICC offices. The seminar, being held in Louisville, is focused on the development of a viable business strategy. In her tools, Dr. Schreiner is helping high-tech companies from around the state integrate all aspects of strategy development - business model, product, positioning, sales, operations.

Matt McGarvey, VP, KSTC. 

"US Now"

[Cross-posted from the IdeaFestival] Featuring commentary from leading digitalist Clay Shirky, "US Now" documents a new form of organization that values transparency and self-direction, and is taking market capitalism in an entirely new direction. With low barriers to entry and almost zero cost for the exchange of information, networked communities challenge 20th century models of organization and value creation, which tended to hierarchically hoard power and information. In other words, the value produced came at a substantial cost in personal autonomy. Transparency? Not so much.

Left unanswered economically: Will this still-developing model of participation make it more likely that by doing good one might also do well? Left unanswered governmentally: how many services now provided by government will move into the public realm as people are able to take and implement common decisions?

If after watching the video all this sounds a bit suspicious, fear not. Wire-archies don't subvert authority, they just expose it.

Us Now from Banyak Films on Vimeo.

Hat tip: Putting People First

Free seminars: Local entrepreneurs invited to learn about starting and growing a business

Awesome Inc. presents a three part seminar for local entrepreneurs to learn important concepts relevant to starting and growing their businesses.

• 5/27 – Entrepreneur Seminar session 1 - Legal Focus, 6:00 pm at Awesome Inc. Attorneys Trigg Mitchell (Dinsmore & Shohl) and Ken Sagan (Stites & Harbison) will host a seminar discussing legal necessities to starting your business and dealing with raising money for your business.

• 6/3 – Entrepreneur Seminar session 2 – Sales Focus, 6:00 pm at Awesome Inc.  Founder of KOSA Consulting Group Kent Howell will host a seminar focusing on developing and implementing sales effectiveness programs.

• 6/10 – Entrepreneur Seminar session 3 - Finance Focus, 6:00 pm at Awesome Inc.  Financial Service Professional Kevin Hanley will host a seminar discussing financial planning related to operating your business.

The series is free.  Each seminar will last 60 - 90 minutes and will include some time for Q&A.  Please rsvp if you plan to attend any of the three seminars - http://entrepseminar.eventbrite.com/

Kentucky technology company, Mersive, honored

"Mersive Technologies, a leading display technology company, today announced that it has been named one of the 'Red Herring 100 North America,' a prestigious list honoring the year's most promising private technology ventures in North America." More on this honor here.

Robots roam Eden: Herschel and Planck

[Cross-posted from the IdeaFestival]

While the daring repair of Hubble has grabbed the majority of the popular news coverage, it's not the only significant event in space today. Having been sent on their way atop and Ariane 5, a pair of scientifically ambitious space observatories, Herschel and Planck, have survived launch this morning and will find their ways to the L₂ Lagrange point. Together with other observatories like the Earth-hunting Kepler, launched only two months ago, the two robotic craft could dramatically alter what we know about the birth and development of the universe by studying it at far-infrared and microwave wavelengths. The following video from the European Space Agency explains a bit more.

Wikipedia: Cosmology

Roger Martin: MBA, reformed

Dean and a professor of strategy management at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, Roger Martin, believes that if the MBA is to retain its position as "the most sought after graduate degree," it will need to develop "depth, breadth and dynamism."

Paul Saffo: U.S. entering "creator economy"

In the latest BusinessWeek innovation podcast, futurist Paul Saffo describes the emerging creator economy and traces its origins to the crushing success of the consumer economy. It's brief, so have a listen.

Steinbeck's economic theory

What would John Steinbeck have to do with the current economic malaise? Plenty, if Justin Wolfers is be believed. From agency theory to behavioral economics, economics is finally coming to grips with human desire.        

Wayne