Topic: Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Innovative Individual

What Jim Canterucci mentions in his post is a pertinent issue. There is only so much that organizational processes and structures can do to make organizations more innovative. Let us not forget that above all organizations are not ...READ»

Data Is My Business

Each May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases it earnings estimates for the previous May, derived from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey. I am always delighted to get my hands on a fresh collection of data. ...READ»

Every Move You Make

Calling Margaret Mead: Ad agencies are hiring anthropologists and ethnographers to study and film consumers in their natural environments to see what they really eat, drink, and buy. Hey, check out that grooming and bonding behavior!READ»

Web Archaeologist

Job Titles of the Future: Michelle FriedmanREAD»

Greener Mountain Coffee

"How can we even think of saving chimpanzees if the humans around them are struggling to survive?" That was the question posed by Dr. Jane Goodall, who's devoted 47 years of her life studying chimps in the Gombe Stream National Park ...READ»

Adapting To New Economies

Darwin 200 Adapting to a New Economy An evolutionary perspective on economics can explain how we got into this current mess, and how we might find our way out. by Rob Mitchum • Posted February 12, 2009 08:00 ...READ»

Anthropologists Go Native in the Corporate Village

Get me Margaret Mead! The biggest names in business -- GM, Intel, Nynex -- enlist anthropologists to decode the rituals of corporate life.READ»

Paul Krugman, Nobelist

"Economics is as close to psychohistory as you can get."     -- Paul Krugman "Incidents from My Career" This year's winner of the Nobel prize in economics is one of the finest scholars in the field, ...READ»

How to Be Your Own Futurist

Advice from Watts Wacker on how to stay ahead of the curve.READ»

(Econo)Misty-Eyed

John Kenneth Galbraith celebrates his 95th birthday today. Considered a reformer, Galbraith has been criticized for not fully subscribing to free-market economics.READ»

Sophisticated Sell

Why are so many women so passionate about shopping at Anthropologie? Because Glen Senk and his colleagues aren't just selling clothes and furnishings. They're selling a sense of adventure and originality -- and the promise of self-discovery. A field report from the frontier of retail.READ»

Clan of the Caveman

When the Martin Agency won the $580 million Wal-Mart account, it proved that smart advertising is about more than geckos--it's about the numbers.READ»

The Promise of Mentoring

Mentoring has become a buzzword of sorts and a lot of ink (or typing) has been devoted to the topic. Often the first advice given to a woman starting her career in technology, “get a mentor” has become the de-facto touted solution ...READ»

Personality Tests: Back With a Vengeance

Are you an INTJ or an ESFP? Why employers love personality tests more than ever, and what you need to know before you pick up a pencil.READ»

Ethno-shopno

Ethnography has become the "research" technique of choice in new product Development, and for good reason. Getting into an environment, experiencing and observing, are the best way to learn true user needs for any product or ...READ»

Ethno-shopno

Ethnography has become the "research" technique of choice in new product Development, and for good reason. Getting into an environment, experiencing and observing, are the best way to learn true user needs for any product or ...READ»

Shawn Baldwin from CMG with Nobel Laureate Dr. Gary S. Becker

Shawn Baldwin from CMG in Chicago with Dr. Gary Becker at the 2009 Milken Global ConferenceREAD»

Room for Improvement...

The U.S. ranks only 45th out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum's index of environmental sustainability for 2005.READ»

Meme Weavers; Evolution, Accelerated; All Together Now

Very Short List delivers one excellent item to your inbox, daily: Books, films, music, web-things, and dispatches on science and technology. Today, trace the history of internet culture, read the latest theory about human evolution, and play a great new musical instrument -- online.READ»

Regulatory Contagion?

I had the pleasure to be on a panel on Capitol Hill last Friday sponsored by the Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute. The subject was whether the current financial crises and the likely push to rightly reregulate the ...READ»

Extreme Commutes

Chuck's entry yesterday brings up an interesting point. The U.S. Census Bureau just released its most recent study of how long it takes people to get to work. The bad news? The average American spends more than 100 hours a year ...READ»

IT's Not about the Technology

Fast Interview: Gartner researcher Tom Austin on why your head of IT should be a cultural anthropologist and why you should think twice before you block YouTube.READ»

• What Does Silicon Valley Want from Washington?
• The Curious Genius of Twitter

Career Taxidermy

Career taxidermy makes dead models of work and family look alive.READ»

Test Case

In response to a recent feature about personality tests in the workplace, Georges Grinstein asked whether a list of such tests is available. Here's a start: Personality Tests SimilarMinds Tickle Keirsey Temperament and ...READ»

Act II: The iPod Effect

If you're still hungry for more riveting news on the social impact of the iPod (see David's post from last week on subway theft), it turns out iTunes playlists are more about bling and less about revealing your true self! Who ...READ»