A special day in the life of this blog

Spot the book: Foyles in Charing Cross - via Wikipedia

Today is a big day for this blog - and for me. Today sees the launch (UK at least) of my book The 10 Principles of Open Business.

The book is the culmination of a journey in thought and in practice that dates back to the beginning of this blog - in September 2006.

During that time (primarily driven by my blogging and curiosity) I've been lucky enough to connect with many brilliant minds; from Alan Moore & Tomi Ahonen, through Clay Shirky and Seth Godin, JP Rangaswami and Doc Searls, Mark Earls and Hugh MacLeod, Alan Rusbridger and Tom Watson - the list continues in the acknowledgements and those interviewed or quoted in the book.

But I've had more than just thought experiments to perform. I've been faced with plenty of real world challenges - from creating change at Bauer Media (formerly emap plc) through to working with a very diverse range of clients in my senior roles at Brando Social, 90:10 Group, The Social Partners and as a freelance consultant.

During these past six years (since going agency and consultancy side) I've been working with, often brave, sometimes fearful representatives of organisations ranging from Sony Mobile, The Edge, City & Guilds, The Guardian, Tesco, Honda Europe, SEAT, First Capital Connect, Bupa, Avis-Budget Group (EMEA), Microsoft, Citrix, 3M, Gatwick Airport, Carlsson Wagonlit, The Co-operative, The UK Borders Authority, Department of Transport, Cabinet Office, Expedia, Tate Modern, to name just a handful.

It was the process of putting theory into practice with paying customers that helped Jamie Burke and I shape the 10 Principles and make them the blueprint for success in today's networked economy that they have become. The result is the book that launches today.

A word about Jamie at this point. He is very much the co-author of the principles - but could contribute very little to the writing of the book itself due to business commitments; hence the book is credited to myself as author with Jamie.

I hope many of you who have found value from this blog over the many years may want to pick up a copy for in many ways your contributions have helped to shape this outcome.

Click here to add it to your amazon shopping cart right now. Thank you.

Oh - and if you spot one on a shelf in a book store anywhere, please do send me a pic (email address is at the top of the dekstop- version of the blog. If you share that pic on twitter too (with the hashtag #openbusiness) I'll send the first three to do so a signed copy in return. (Hint, Foyles in Charing Cross, London, should have them by the end of the week.)

Win a copy of the 10 Principles of Open Business

To mark the UK launch date of the 10 Principles of Open Business I have another batch of copies to give away.
Here's how you can get your hands on one:

1. Two will go at random to anyone who has retweeted the following by 1am GMT on January 28, 2014:

"RT this for a chance to win The 10 Principles of #OpenBusiness - http://amzn.to/1eyDweN"

Two winners will be selected at random and sent physical copies of the book - worth £19.99 each. To qualify the amazon link must be included in the tweet, and the user of the twitter handle must be demonstrably human (bots need not apply). Qualifying tweets must be shared by 1 am GMT on January 28, 2014.

2. One copy will go to the person who gives the best reason for getting a freebie by commenting on this post, below.
The catch here is that you have to commit to writing a review (creating a video one if you prefer) for your own social channels AND add a review to amazon. Naturally you are free to publish what ever you like, you just have to commit to doing a review, good, bad or indifferent.

3. The final copy in this batch will go to someone who is prepared to read it, then hand it on to someone else who they think will get value from it. 
Ideally you'll make that a condition of giving it to the person you pass it on to (as will they, and so on). Just drop me your details and postal address to the gmail address you'll find at the top of the desktop version of this blog.

The deadline for 2 and 3 is February 24, 2014.

My bit for Davos: Rethinking IP in the Digital Age

I'm linking to this from  the WEF site. Principle 6?

Over the past six to nine months I've been one of "100 experts from media and technology industry, government, civil society and thought leaders, including innovators and artists" gathered from all around the world to contribute to the World Economic Forum's Seven Principles for Adapting to the New Digital World.

Today the principles are being launched at the WEF's 2014 meeting in Davos.

As is inevitable with so many voices to consider, the outputs are broad.

What they aren't is a How-To guide. How they are implemented by organisations and businesses raises a whole world of new questions and challenges.

The principles do at least provide a framework to ask the right questions within. For example -

" inform users about ownership and rights. "

This in itself can trigger a wide-ranging debate including new definitions of ownership and new measures of return on contribution. The Co-Ip model, considered in my chapter on Open Innovation in The 10 Principles of Open Business springs to mind.

The seven principles - in the words of the WEF

“The way we create, consume and share content and information has changed dramatically in the digital era,” said Diana El-Azar, Senior Director of Media, Entertainment and Information Industries at the World Economic Forum. “The principles lay out a vision for the way we want our online culture to evolve.”

Developed by over 100 experts in workshops and interviews in 2013, the Principles for the Creative and Information Economy in the Digital Age encourage governments, policy-makers, the private sector, civil society groups and individuals to:

• Foster and reward creativity
• Build an ecosystem for innovation
• Expand access to content
• Inform users about ownership and rights
• Give creators and rights owners control and choice
• Enable people to be creators
• Strengthen global collaboration

The Norms and Values in Digital Media: Rethinking Intellectual Property in the Digital Age present a shared set of goals to help adapt business practices and policy-making to changing norms and values in a hyperconnected world. The principles are part of a World Economic Forum initiative which examines digital issues related to privacy, freedom of expression and intellectual property.

 Full release and supporting information,

Edelman trust barometer results align with Open Business approach

Edelman's 2014 Trust barometer survey is out and with it vindication of a key trend we've been observing in Open Business.
The clear majority of respondents to the annual survey (84 percent) believe that business can pursue its self-interest while doing good work for society.

This very much aligns with what we explore in The 10 Principles of Open Business - particularly in the chapters on Purpose and Open Capital. Indeed - The 10 Principles argues that doing good for society offers a competitive advantage in our connected world.

More evidence that 2014 really could be the year of Open Business, perhaps?

From the chapter on Purpose:

There have never been greater drivers for businesses to become Purpose-led.

Apart from anything else, it will reconnect you with the world, re-tying those strands cut loose when CEOs first decided that shareholders mattered more than anyone or anything else.

“It’s a reversal back to the old days,” says Mark (Earls), “when corporations felt part of the world and felt a responsibility to it."

And from the chapter on Open Capital:

Peer-funded partnerships also offer the opportunity to create value beyond the back slap in the boardroom and the bottom line on the balance sheet; value creation which acknowledges resources are finite, that people, communities, societies and ecologies are connected and matter to each other.

And this in itself provides a genuine competitive advantage that the wisest global entrepreneurs are quick to identify. As Sir Richard Branson puts it: “…the boundaries between work and higher purpose are merging into one – where doing good really is good for business.”

In a connected world, where to win is to work together with ever greater numbers of people who care about the same things you do, few are going to sign up to support businesses which are damaging the ecosystem in which they exist – let alone support those organisations with their own money. Open Capital will therefore be a key driver of ‘doing good is good for business’.

• Pre-order The 10 Principles of Open Business now for delivery on launch day - January 28 UK/February 28 US.

My appearance on CrossTalk on Jan 17, 2014

Today the CrossTalk show I'm on is being broadcast four times on the RT channel.
But if you don't catch it, here's a YouTube version you can watch at your leisure.
All comments very welcome.
Glad to be intro'd as the author of The 10 Principles of Open Business - naturally.