Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Getting in the (Learning) Zone

Most of the time we operate from our comfort zone. If you do a quick review of your working practices, you will likely find the firm takes the path of least resistance -- it keeps doing things the same way, what it knows already. This works when you need to get things done. It establishes an operational tempo for the organization. It's efficient as it has worked before. You see things in relationship to what you know to look for. This happens with approaches on problem solving as well as behaviors. Put more attention on trying to replicate exactly what... Read more →

Humans Can Learn to Understand

"Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s places." [JK. Rowling] +++ Humans can learn to understand, if they're willing to do so. How many times a day do you seek to understand? How do they compare to the number of times you look to receive and transmit information? You could make many appropriate course adjustments by analyzing the gap between promises made and promises kept. The more you close that gap -- learning to understand -- the greater confidence you have in your ability to... Read more →

Mind and Body

Peter Lovatt on Good Moves from The School of Life on Vimeo. You know the aphorism mens sana in corpore sano (Lat.from Greek philosopher Thales). A healthy or sound mind in a healthy body. In sharing a link to learning resources on the Conversation Agent Facebook page, I added: We spend a lot of time exercising the body, or talking about it, and comparatively little in exercising the mind. The fascinating thing is that in Western societies we spend a lot of time mining the brain and little using the body in business. It is fascinating, isn't it? One of... Read more →

Doing Something Hard, Making Hard Choices

We're confronted with a myriad choices in business and in life. There is much discussion around making smart moves, picking one thing over another, optimizing the effective use of attention, time, and resources. Challenging the mental models that drive those selections is considered too nuanced -- and just plain hard. Yet, it is when we challenge the reality we have constructed around the recurring situations in our lives that we have breakthroughs. Doing something hard, making hard choices The two stories that caught my eye this week are: +++ Chris Dixon shares a memo to investors and employees by Jonah... Read more →

Where to Go from Here

Even with a myriad social networks, apps, and tools to record, share, quantify, and (let's not forget that) populate with something, blogs are still a powerful tool. It's powerful in at least two ways: it allows you to publish your ideas and stories in one place, with the ability to back up the archives, own the domain, both literally and topic-wise. It's your turf, not a space where you sharecrop. it enables you to create a direct presence where you can develop context over time, attract readers, build an audience, shift from one place to another in both the conversation... Read more →

Popular Posts from July You Might Have Missed

From Customer Conversation to Conversion For many organizations, integrating the customer experience with social media remains a challenge. Companies do social and still forget to organize to be social. +++ The (new) Marketing Revolution Is marketing that makes business sense. Has marketing in control failed to attempt, or has it attempted and failed? Are we doing marketing that makes business sense? +++ Sephora: It Comes Down to (Good) User Experience, Even in the Store Word of mouth works best when you provide a great experience. Period. How do you do that? We all want to be heard and understood. When... Read more →

Sincerity and Passion Resonate

"Nowadays, more than any other time, people are eager for inspired ideas that stand out and are worth believing in. There’s so much disingenuous noise in our culture than when an idea is presented with sincerity and passion, it stands out and resonates." [Nancy Duarte] +++ We often talk about passion -- being passionate about the work we do, a cause, the pursuit of art and happiness. You may hear about sincerity when describing a representation in design. It's a good term to use in a business context. The language of sincerity is focused and purposeful. When we speak clearly... Read more →

Do You Value Comments?

Do you respond to comments to your posts? Do you spend time making comments on other blogs? Have you set comment guidelines for yourself? Yes, people comment, they don't converse online. Show me the money Why do we care (beyond "social proofing" our sites)? Are comments still valuable? Whenever I read posts, I also read the comments. There have been many discussions about lack of comments on blogs now that people use social networks more. You've probably also seen what happens when the comment box is overtaken by a mob. Tech blogs and mainstream media digital publications tend to have... Read more →

Six Areas of Opportunity to Connect with Customers

Your customers have their own antenna, complete with BS detector without needing a two-year plan for it. While it was easy to see how a bit of attention and time on your part would have given you better information about their taste, purchasing history, and where they hang out, technology can help you see and remember who did what better. Add to that the layer of social, and you have a way to make marketing more relevant to your customers, and get better results. The areas of opportunity are many. Gianluca Diegoli shared with us five ways to make that... Read more →

Living Companies, Stories, and Brand Value

The corporation is a good mechanism that allows a bunch of people to trade as one. More than a leaf -- a tree. For your organization to do good trading, it needs to close the gap between the promises it makes and those it keeps. I was rereading a Fast Company article about brands and storytelling and the specific paragraph quoting the work of Arie de Geus inspired me to think about this with you: [... ] a longtime lead strategist for Shell, developed the concept of Living Companies. According to him, "Of all the companies listed in the Fortune... Read more →