obama - Yule Heibel on Diigo

10 Nov 08

Obama's Seven Lessons for Radical Innovators - Umair Haque

As usual, a brilliant essay by Umair Haque on Obama's win and what business can learn from it in terms of innovation.
QUOTE
Barack Obama is one of the most radical management innovators in the world today. Obama's team built something truly world-changing: a new kind of political organization for the 21st century. It differs from yesterday's political organizations as much as Google and Threadless differ from yesterday's corporations: all are a tiny handful of truly new, 21st century institutions in the world today.

Obama presidential bid succeeded, in other words, as our research at the Lab has discussed for the past several years, through the power of new DNA: new rules for new kinds of institutions.
UNQUOTE

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obama umair umair_haque management innovation business_model

1. Have a self-organization design. What was really different about Obama's organization? We're used to thinking about organizations in 20th century terms: do we design them to be tall, or flat?

But tall and flat are concepts built for an industrial era. They force us to think - spatially and literally - in two dimensions: tall organizations command unresponsively, and flat organizations respond uncontrollably.

Obama's organization blew past these orthodoxies: it was able to combine the virtues of both tall and flat organizations. How? By tapping the game-changing power of self-organization. Obama's organization was less tall or flat than spherical - a tightly controlled core, surrounded by self-organizing cells of volunteers, donors, contributors, and other participants at the fuzzy edges.
2. Seek elasticity of resilience.
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- What happened when McCain attacked Obama with negative ads in September? Such attacks would have depleted the coffers of a 20th century organization, who would have been forced to retaliate quickly and decisively in kind. Yet, Obama's organization responded furiously in exactly the opposite way: with record-breaking fundraising. That's resilience: reflexively bouncing back to an existential threat by growing, augmenting, or strengthening resources.
- 3. Minimize strategy.
- 4. Maximize purpose. Change the game? That's 20th century thinking at its finest - and narrowest. The 21st century is about changing the world.
- Bigness of purpose is what separates 20th century and 21st century organizations: yesterday, we built huge corporations to do tiny, incremental things - tomorrow, we must build small organizations that can do tremendously massive things.
- And to do that, you must strive to change the world radically for the better - and always believe that yes, you can. You must maximize, stretch, and utterly explode your sense of purpose.
- 5. Broaden unity.
- Obama intuitively understands a larger truth of next-generation economics. Unified markets are what a world driven to collapse by hyperconsumption is desperately going to need. We're going to need not a hundred different kinds of razors - and their spiralling costs of complexity and waste - but a single razor that everybody, from the slums of Rio to the lofts of Tribeca, is overjoyed to use.
- 6. Thicken power.
- 7. Remember that there is nothing more asymmetrical than an ideal.
- That seventh lesson is the starting point for tomorrow's radical innovators - because it's the thread that knits the others together. And it's where you should start if you want to use these seven rules to start building 21st century institutions - whether businesses, non-profits, social enterprises, or political campaigns.

07 Nov 08

Barack Obama: Youth To Pull Up Pants For Obama!

Terrific ~30 sec video clip included on this page:
QUOTE
Barack Obama did an interview with yesterday with Sway, MTV's official friendly ambassador from the land of hip hop. A viewer asked him about towns that try to pass laws banning baggy pants. First Obama said those laws are a "waste of time." But then he added, "brothers should pull up your pants!"
UNQUOTE

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Joho the Blog » We. One.

I think David Weinberger says something really true here:
QUOTE:
Learning to hear and respond to what is good and shared in an expression we find detestable is harder. The best teachers do this routinely. We can all learn to do it. We can. Yes, we can.

It is a big part of how Obama brings out the better nature in us. It is a big reason the unrelenting and unreasoned negative campaign aimed at him failed.

It is also a task performed historically all out of proportion by African-Americans. That is a blessing we have not deserved, but could not have survived without.
UNQUOTE
The African heritage of America is a rock, and with Obama in the White House, it's a rock to build on at last.

www.hyperorg.com/...we-one - Preview

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02 Nov 08

"Class Politics" Richard Florida, Creative Class Blog

Fascinating (possibly scary?) piece by Florida on how Obama's win could still fan the flames of an ugly backlash from the right that may be more convulsive and destructive than the current economic / financial meltdown. Florida factors in some data around demographic changes due to the creative economy (linked to democratic/ Obama politics), to paint a picture of a potentially very divided country.

www.creativeclass.com/...class-politics-3 - Preview

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When people like Colin Powell say Mr. Obama is a “transformational figure,” they’re suggesting that an Obama administration can somehow heal the deep divisions within the American electorate and move the country forward, the way Franklin D. Roosevelt did during the Great Depression. And certainly projected Democratic majorities in Congress make that kind of transformation appear plausible.
I wish that would happen. But I doubt it will, and the reason is simple: The divisions run too deep. The realignment that propelled and kept FDR in office is not happening today. American politics is distinguished today by shifting electoral coalitions, candidate-centered elections, and what some political scientists call de-alignment. America isn’t just suffering from political polarization, but a burgeoning economic divide and class war.
Since then, 20 million jobs in the creative sector have been created, and the ranks of what I call the creative class have grown to 40 million - nearly a third of the work force. That group has become powerful in American politics, and it is squarely behind Mr. Obama. New York Times columnist David Brooks recently reported that Republicans have all but lost creative professionals working in law, medicine, and high technology.
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- Republican strategists have exploited this shift to their party’s advantage, beginning with the ever-prescient Kevin Phillips’s identification of the “silent majority” of white working-class voters in 1968.
  The rise of the creative economy generated a shift in social values. Tolerance, diversity, and self-expression became prized. Diversity and self-expression became necessary for the creative economy to flourish and function.
  As it grew and became more concentrated in locations such as San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Boston, and Washington D.C. - what we now know as blue America - the working class fell further and further behind. Globalization shipped jobs overseas, while institutional supports that led to higher working-class incomes during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s - powerful U.S. companies and powerful unions - were simultaneously being undercut. The great genius of former Bush political strategist Karl Rove was to seize upon the church as the one remaining constant in the lives of working Americans and to use it to his political organizational advantage.
- This class divide is overlaid on America’s economic and political geography, with the U.S. economy being driven by centers of innovation such as San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and Washington D.C.; finance, entertainment, and media cities such as New York and Los Angeles; and university-anchored tech centers such as Austin, Tex., Boulder, Colo., and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
- These class divides will only deepen. Fear and anxiety will probably get worse. And a strange kind of reactive populism, much worse than anything we have seen before, could be on the rise. Unless Mr. Obama can fashion a broad, inclusive appeal that extends the benefits of the creative economy to working and service economies, the bitterness he himself acknowledged, in a moment of candor, will grow deeper.

26 Feb 08

Here's one reason students Barack the vote: respect - Crosscut

Wow, and wow again! U-Dub communications prof David Domke describes how his citizen-journalist blogger students were treated by the politicians campaigning for president, and the difference between Hillary & Barack are astounding.

One of Domke's students, Jennifer Ware, describes it like this: "John McCain spoke in Seattle (the same day) to about 500 people at the Westin Hotel’s conference room. Clinton spoke to a gathering of 5,000 at a waterfront pier (on February 7). Obama spoke at Key Arena, home to the Seattle Supersonics; it seats 18,000 and it wasn’t nearly big enough. People were sitting on the stairs, in the aisles. Seasoned reporters were smiling and nodding softly as he spoke. Some people had tears in their eyes when he came on stage. There’s all kinds of spin out there, but you simply can’t spin those numbers. Or the stark contrast to the others in the race."

Domke adds, further down: "It seems that the take-home point here is this: The Clinton campaign has made the case that Obama is nothing but rhetoric; he’s supposedly all words, while she’s all action. Our experiences showed us that their campaigns — at least in Seattle — were exactly the opposite. In their treatment of my students, Clinton’s campaign was all talk, while Obama’s was all walk."

Obama for President!

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And along the way we learned some important things about the Obama and Clinton campaigns. We didn’t set out to learn these pieces — but the campaigns taught us loud and clear.
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- When I called the Clinton campaign to ask for a contact at their Washington state campaign office, one staffer tried to tell me that Washington was where their campaign headquarters is. "Yes" she said, "Washington, it’s right next to Virginia."
  - Holy cow... - on 2008-02-26
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- Every single person I’ve dealt with from the Obama campaign was upbeat, positive and helpful. Even when the press couldn’t initially get into the venue on Friday for Obama’s speech, and a reporter from The Seattle Times was yelling at one of the volunteers, she handled it with poise and kindness. It was almost so good it looked staged, but she was real. She said, 'I’m just a volunteer from Shoreline, I’ve never done this before, please bear with me.' Even as Obama volunteers managed mobs of people at KeyArena, they did it with purpose, not burden.
- John McCain spoke in Seattle (the same day) to about 500 people at the Westin Hotel’s conference room. Clinton spoke to a gathering of 5,000 at a waterfront pier (on February 7). Obama spoke at Key Arena, home to the Seattle Supersonics; it seats 18,000 and it wasn’t nearly big enough. People were sitting on the stairs, in the aisles. Seasoned reporters were smiling and nodding softly as he spoke. Some people had tears in their eyes when he came on stage. There’s all kinds of spin out there, but you simply can’t spin those numbers. Or the stark contrast to the others in the race.
- When my students had trouble reaching the Clinton campaign in the run-up to the caucuses, I made a call to her national office. I figured that maybe they’d respond to a UW professor better than a student — which would be an error on their part, but still one that we might use to help our coverage. I told them we were having trouble reaching people — anyone — on the ground in Washington state with the Clinton campaign, and I implored them to make sure my request on behalf of my students for press access to Clinton’s event in Seattle received a response. They assured me I’d hear from them. I emphasized my point a second time. They kindly repeated that I would certainly hear from people on the ground here.
  I’m still waiting for that call.
- The Obama and Clinton campaigns weren’t the only ones to come to town. On the Republican Party side, Ron Paul held a rally on the UW campus. Janet Huckabee held a rally at Northwest University, and her campaign team reached out to my students covering her husband’s candidacy — returning calls and making sure they had press access. McCain’s campaign aides went out of their way to let my students know about his press event at the Westin, and to get them in. For those scoring at home, five presidential campaigns came to town — and four reached out to my students, treating them like what they are: journalists and citizens.
- It seems that the take-home point here is this: The Clinton campaign has made the case that Obama is nothing but rhetoric; he’s supposedly all words, while she’s all action. Our experiences showed us that their campaigns — at least in Seattle — were exactly the opposite. In their treatment of my students, Clinton’s campaign was all talk, while Obama’s was all walk.
  It suggests to me that the Obama campaign’s appeal to younger people is not just because of Obama himself. It’s a campaign that treats young people like full adults. And across Washington state, Obama crushed Clinton, defeating her in every county in the state. It’s been a pattern repeated in every contest since.

23 Dec 07

Harvard Institute of Politics Poll Find Youth Favor Obama, Giuliani

- so much for the myth of disengaged youth; most are paying attention, and they're not happy with what the traditiional parties are dishing up. I think this also indicates unhappiness with the parties' neglect of urban issues.

www.ksg.harvard.edu/...120507_iop_survey.htm - Preview

2008_elections giuliani harvard obama political_parties politics polls usa youth

Another of the poll’s key findings shows only three in ten (30%) young people believe that the Democratic and Republican parties do an adequate job of representing the American people, with a plurality (37%) saying the two parties are doing such a poor job that a third major party is needed.
- - traditional parties consistently neglect cities and urban needs; that's probably why there's so much dissatisfaction with them among youth - on 2007-12-23
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"The most interesting aspect of the survey relates less to candidate preferences than to the indication that young people are focusing on the issues facing America, and this cohort of nearly 30 million 18-24 year-olds is substantial and likely to have a significant impact in the upcoming election," said IOP Director and former U.S. Representative (R-IA) James A. Leach.
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- Young Democrats still favor U.S. Senator Barack Obama over U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton for President in 2008, particularly “on campus,” while Clinton edges Obama among non-college youth.
- Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani still leads challengers among young Republicans, but “undecided” voters and those favoring former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul are growing.
- Nearly two in five young people say the Democratic and Republican parties aren’t representing them well enough; support exists for a major third party candidate.
- Healthcare becomes the second most pressing national issue of concern among young people today.
- While young “Independents” outnumber young Democrats and Republicans, minorities – particularly Hispanics – could grow the Democratic Party in coming years.
  - - hmm, suggests that "identity" politics is still a huge draw and a "unifier," which is really too bad
    - what they should be articulating are issues aroung place/ use of place/ cities/ infrastructure/ competitiveness/ innovation/ urban issues and the need to decrease the economic disparities that exist
    - a country of such huge disparities & economic extremes can't go into the 21st century and come out ahead; too much wasted talent. - on 2007-12-23
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- Young people are politically engaged and looking forward to participating in the 2008 presidential election.
- America’s youth are ready to volunteer on a political campaign that asks them.
- About half of all 18-24 year-olds have volunteered for community service in the last year. I n the last 12 months, forty-eight percent (48%) have volunteered for community service, with nearly six in ten (57%) of those volunteering doing so about once a month or more. Segments of this population most likely to volunteer in their communities are 4-year college (62%) and graduate students (65%), high school students (58%), and supporters of Senator Obama (63%).
  - - wow... that's an interesting angle on Obama's popularity, as well as what he represents to people. Way to go...! - on 2007-12-23
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Yule Heibel's Library tagged obama → View Popular

Obama's Seven Lessons for Radical Innovators - Umair Haque

Barack Obama: Youth To Pull Up Pants For Obama!

Joho the Blog » We. One.

"Class Politics" Richard Florida, Creative Class Blog

Here's one reason students Barack the vote: respect - Crosscut

Harvard Institute of Politics Poll Find Youth Favor Obama, Giuliani

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