----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:24) ---------- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:46) -----If you think about it, there's always been a nice economy, it's the cornerstone of business economics
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:46) -----Nice guys finihs last has never been true in business, not really
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:24) -----Some who means a lot to you, maybe a wife or girlfriend/boyfriend husband?----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:49) -----I'd like you to think of someone nice
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:49) -----in other words....
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:49) -----they're porbably your mum
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:28) -----Your Mum's not just nice, she's REALLY nice
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:28) -----Most of us would do anything for our Mum
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:28) -----we'd buy her anything, help her with anything, do anything for her
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:28) -----That dedication and affection is sold gold
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:24) -----Wouldn't it be great if we could bottle it and sell it, the affection we have for our Mum?
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:28) -----Rewind generations of business and this is what we’ve all been trying to figure out – how to have meaningful relationships with our customers, like the one we have with our Mum. It's the most meaningful, the most enduring and totally devoted. For most of us!
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:28) -----The old way was to go and see customers, buy golf days, do a deal and so on. Being nice was crucial to success. Those who networked did it best.
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 14:28) -----Then along came the internet
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----That meant everyone was morefearful, paranoid, distrusting, suspicious, cynical, insular, and - ironically - disconnected from their industries than ever before...
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----Or were they? I think...
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----Business fell into two camps
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----those who embraced the internet age
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----and those that didn't!
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----Gradually those that didn't were forced to concede...
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----why are the nice guys finishing first?
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----By then it was far too late. The lannd grab that is the internet had already happened. They figured out that the internet was the same as a sales territory. On a global scale.
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----Crucially, thinking had to dramatically change. Those that didn't change their thinking were no longer a part of the conversation. And that's bad because...
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----I believe markets ARE conversations
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----Those conversations used to take ages to happen or they took place behind closed doors. It used to be the case that secrecy was a competitive advantage.
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----Now those conversations happen in real time. In Public. There is nowhere to hide.
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----And what's great about those conversations?
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----They're totally transparent. They're there for everyone to see. There's no hiding. Little cloak and daggery and even less bad mouthing. Why? because this is a nice economy...
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----Transparency is nice
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----Transparent people are trustworthy, believeable, recognisable, nimble, informed, competitive and most important of all, they're different.
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----And then what happens is we begin to see honest, trustworthy, dependable people - in fact all of these positive traits - manifest themselves as products that enable us to be all of those things online.----- Meeting Notes (02/09/2011 15:18) -----Entrepreuners and businesses were effectively bottling what it means to be nice.
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----Critical to this are acts of kindness, sharing
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----CreationLike the light bulb, or the internet, or the telephone, creation is at the core of everything. And creation is inherently nice. Remember how we said that creation solves a problem? That's nice. Nice makes the world go round. Creations that don't solve a problem, help someone, improve lives, die a death. The iPhone is a shining example. You might say that was concieved of profit. No. It's creation solved a problem first. Profit came because it solved the problem.
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----Frankly, if we weren't creative beings, we'd be nothing
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----The most successful people on the planet are creators of something----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 17:28) -----Fast company's 5 most successful creatives are----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 17:39) -----Wadah Khanfar - al jazeeraScott forstall - appleYuri milner - digital sky technologiesJack dorsey - squareSebastian Thrun - Google
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----They're successful because their creative ideas answer questions and solve problems
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----But there are many businesses who have harnessed the nice economy to put creation at the very heart of their business. Like Blurb, who now makes it possible to make and sell your own commercial quality book. That's nice.
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----In fact, this is all very nice...
----- Meeting Notes (01/09/2011 15:10) -----But how can we help our businesses realise the benefits of embracing the Really Nice Economy?----- Meeting Notes (02/09/2011 15:18) -----How have we all learned to be so nice?