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Once people moved freely in a world strung together not by
roads or wires but by impressions, stories, and images. For these people, simple
communication skills helped the individual stay tuned in with his everyday concerns.
For centuries, the modern world branded these people "primitive." But
in Digital Aboriginal, two noted authors show that technology-driven information-moving
as freely as the wind-now blurs old borderlines, and that in many ways our survival
instincts resemble those of our mobile ancestors. In
this brilliant, forward-thinking book, Mikela and Philip Tarlow urge business
managers to re-imagine strategies and customers the way today's leading companies
do: - Rockport Shoes totally changed its marketing
strategy to encourage less talk at its customers and to absorb more talk from
them. The new economy is about conversation, and everyone has a story to tell.
- Mega-camping
gear supplier REI turned its Seattle store into a 100,000 square food simulation
of an outdoor experience. In the world of digital nomads, brick-and-mortar
stores are becoming oases that connect the nomad's environment to the product.
- W.
L. Gore, the maker of GORE-TEX, pioneered a tribal structure in which workers
"look around for something to do" instead of staying locked in job descriptions.
In a world driven by external connection, the best companies make new internal
connections.
- 3M Corporation is famous for its
15 percent rule: Employees are authorized to spend 15 percent of every workday
just experimenting with ideas. Aborigines grant ultimate respect to the dreamer.
By
looking into the past, we can see our future. Digital Aboriginal will help
managers, entrepreneurs, and CEOs enter this new age with a clearer vision of
new markets, new products, new companies, and new rewards on the digital frontier.
Mikela and Philip Tarlow have worked with clients as diverse
as senior executives of Fortune 500 companies, Grammy and Emmy-award winning entertainers,
and entrepreneurs in every field. They have presented to corporations such as
Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Sony in venues as varied as the Kaiser Executive Leadership
Program, Young Presidents Organization, and the World Future Society. They are
founders of the Praxis group, and for almost twenty years they have focused on
action-based learning strategies. They can be found at digitalaboriginal.com.
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