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Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age by Clay Shirkey

I am in the midst of reading this book and enjoying it a lot Shirley seeks to provide some background as to why people volunteer their time and energy on various Internet-conncected pursuits as varied as online communities, sharing Instagram photos and raising money for charities online. I am finding that I am highlighting quite a few sections to consider later, as I read.

It is important for every careerist to understand how this new hyper-connected world effects not only what we do, but who we are. Understanding the tools and the motivations that drive their use is a great career advantage that should not be ignored.

From Amazon.com…

“The author of the breakout hit Here Comes Everybody reveals how new technology is changing us for the better.

In his bestselling Here Comes Everybody, Internet guru Clay Shirky provided readers with a much-needed primer for the digital age. Now, with Cognitive Surplus, he reveals how new digital technology is unleashing a torrent of creative production that will transform our world. For the first time, people are embracing new media that allow them to pool their efforts at vanishingly low cost. The results of this aggregated effort range from mind-expanding reference tools like Wikipedia, which allows Kenyans to report acts of violence in real time. Cognitive Surplus explores what’s possible when people unite to use their intellect, energy, and time for the greater good.”

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

Read more…

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Rules of Thumb by Alan M. Webber

Yet another interesting find via my Amazon recommendations. This book is giving me a lot of food for thought. I have found myself makings lots of notes in my journal, not necessarily about the book, but great ideas and thoughts it is bringing to mind. While “Rules of Thumb” is ostensibly about business, the “rules” apply to life and other pursuits in many ways.

From Amazon.com…

“That’s the context for Alan M. Webber’s Rules of Thumb, a guide for individuals in every walk of life who want to make sense out of these confusing, challenging, and compelling times. Drawing from his own experiences as cofounding editor of Fast Company magazine and a wide range of interactions with some of the world’s leading thinkers and highest achievers, including Nobel Prize winners and global change agents, Webber has produced 52 “rules of thumb”—a collection that is as wise as it is useful and as honest as it is helpful. The rules come from real-life lessons learned and recorded on three-by-five cards, a trick borrowed from one of the many mentors whose teachings Webber captures and catalogues in this book.”

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

1. Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
2. Bulb Planting Tools
3. Blue Snowball Microphone
4. Seagate Backup Plus 500 GB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
5. Logitech C920 HD Web Cam
6. We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
7. Sunset Western Garden Book – New Edition for 2012
8. The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings
9. Garden Mysteries by Anthony Eglin
10. The Creative Habit/The Collaborative Habit by Twyla Tharp
11. Moleskeine Journals
12. Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening (3rd Edition): Month by Month
13. Podcasting for Dummies/Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies
14. Wacom Bamboo Splash Pen Tablet
15. Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead
16. The $64 Tomato
17. Blue Yeti Microphone
18. BioLite CampStove/HomeStove
19. Getting Things Done by David Allen
20. The Curious Gardener
21. Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
22. GoPro HD HERO 3
23. Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart
24. The Starfish and the Spider by Orj Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom
25. Microphone Boom Arms
26. The Information by James Gleick
27. Handy Farm Devices And How To Make Them (1909)
28. Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design, and Engineering of Contagious Ideas
29. Apple iPhone 5
30. Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod
31. Killer Ratings by Lisa Seidman
32. Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon
33. Zoom Portable Recorders (H1, H2, H2n, H4n)
34. Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
35. My Teenager’s Favorite Games
36. The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness
37. In a Mexican Garden: courtyards, pools and open-air living rooms
38. Fields of Plenty: A farmer’s journey in search of real food and the people who grow it
39. Apple iPad/iPad Mini
40. The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam
41. Cucina Rustica
42. The Great Potato Book
43. Rode Podcaster Microphone
44. High-Tech Fitness Monitors
45. Books by Douglas E. Welch
46. Tribes by Seth Godin
47. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
48. The Italian Slow Cooker cookbook
49. The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need
50. Classes from The Institute of Domestic Technology
51. Olympus PEN E-P1 12 MP Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera
52. Backyard Giants: The Passionate, Heartbreaking and Glorious Quest to Grow the Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Susan Warren
53. Cocoon GRID-IT Organizer Packs
54. Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking
55. Podcast Solutions by Dan Klass and Michael Geoghegan
56. The Craft and Business of Songwriting by John Braheny
57. Dexim Visible Green Smart Charge & Sync Cable
58. Wells Lamont Wet and Muddy Latex Coated Gardening Glove
59. Rosanne’s Top 5 Books for Film Buffs
60. Bon-Aire HN-10C Original Ultimate Hose Nozzle
61. Microphones from Giant Squid Audio Labs
62. Re-Imagine by Tom Peters
63. Razer Gaming Mice
64. Garden Hod harvest carrier
65. Nest Learning Thermostat
66. Aha! 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas
67. Yes, You Can! And Freeze and Dry It, Too: The Modern Step-By-Step Guide to Preserving Food
68. A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative
69. Fiskars 7936 PowerGear Pruner
70. Chi-qoo Solar Power Pack Kit from Bootstrap Solar
71. Read This Before Our Next Meeting by Al Pittampalli
72. Sterling Audio ST51 Large Diaphragm FET Condenser Microphone
73. DollarSeed.com – One Stop Seed Shop
74. 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive
75. Desktop Microphone Stands
76. Logitech Harmony 650 Remote Control
77. Maple Sugaring Startup Kit from Tap My Trees
78. Sennheiser HD-280 PRO Headphones
79. Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace
80. Timbuk2 Classic Messenger Bags
81. The SeedKeeper Company
82. Jump Start Your Brain by Doug Hall and David Wecker
83. Joby GP1-A1EN GorillaPod Flexible Tripod
84. Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirkey
85. How Carrots Won the Trojan War: Curious (but True) Stories of Common Vegetables by Rebecca Rupp
86. Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History
87. Behringer XENYX X1622USB Premium 16-Input 2/2-Bus Mixer
88. Starter Kit for Newsite Arduino Uno R3
89. RAM Vehicle Mounts for iPhone (and nearly any other device)
90. The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart
91. Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity by David Whyte
92. Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees
93. Don’t Send a Resume: And Other Contrarian Rules to Help Land a Great Job
94. Olloclip 3-in-1 Lens for iPhone

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Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirkey

From Amazon.com…

“One of the culture’s wisest observers of the transformational power of the new forms of tech-enabled social interaction is Clay Shirky, and Here Comes Everybody is his marvelous reckoning with the ramifications of all this on what we do and who we are. Like Lawrence Lessig on the effect of new technology on regimes of cultural creation, Shirky’s assessment of the impact of new technology on the nature and use of groups is marvelously broad minded, lucid, and penetrating; it integrates the views of a number of other thinkers across a broad range of disciplines with his own pioneering work to provide a holistic framework for understanding the opportunities and the threats to the existing order that these new, spontaneous networks of social interaction represent. Wikinomics, yes, but also wikigovernment, wikiculture, wikievery imaginable interest group, including the far from savory. A revolution in social organization has commenced, and Clay Shirky is its brilliant chronicler.”

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

1. Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
2. Bulb Planting Tools
3. Blue Snowball Microphone
4. Seagate Backup Plus 500 GB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
5. Logitech C920 HD Web Cam
6. We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
7. Sunset Western Garden Book – New Edition for 2012
8. The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings
9. Garden Mysteries by Anthony Eglin
10. The Creative Habit/The Collaborative Habit by Twyla Tharp
11. Moleskeine Journals
12. Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening (3rd Edition): Month by Month
13. Podcasting for Dummies/Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies
14. Wacom Bamboo Splash Pen Tablet
15. Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead
16. The $64 Tomato
17. Blue Yeti Microphone
18. BioLite CampStove/HomeStove
19. Getting Things Done by David Allen
20. The Curious Gardener
21. Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
22. GoPro HD HERO 3
23. Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart
24. The Starfish and the Spider by Orj Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom
25. Microphone Boom Arms
26. The Information by James Gleick
27. Handy Farm Devices And How To Make Them (1909)
28. Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design, and Engineering of Contagious Ideas
29. Apple iPhone 5
30. Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod
31. Killer Ratings by Lisa Seidman
32. Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon
33. Zoom Portable Recorders (H1, H2, H2n, H4n)
34. Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
35. My Teenager’s Favorite Games
36. The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness
37. In a Mexican Garden: courtyards, pools and open-air living rooms
38. Fields of Plenty: A farmer’s journey in search of real food and the people who grow it
39. Apple iPad/iPad Mini
40. The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam
41. Cucina Rustica
42. The Great Potato Book
43. Rode Podcaster Microphone
44. High-Tech Fitness Monitors
45. Books by Douglas E. Welch
46. Tribes by Seth Godin
47. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
48. The Italian Slow Cooker cookbook
49. The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need
50. Classes from The Institute of Domestic Technology
51. Olympus PEN E-P1 12 MP Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera
52. Backyard Giants: The Passionate, Heartbreaking and Glorious Quest to Grow the Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Susan Warren
53. Cocoon GRID-IT Organizer Packs
54. Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking
55. Podcast Solutions by Dan Klass and Michael Geoghegan
56. The Craft and Business of Songwriting by John Braheny
57. Dexim Visible Green Smart Charge & Sync Cable
58. Wells Lamont Wet and Muddy Latex Coated Gardening Glove
59. Rosanne’s Top 5 Books for Film Buffs
60. Bon-Aire HN-10C Original Ultimate Hose Nozzle
61. Microphones from Giant Squid Audio Labs
62. Re-Imagine by Tom Peters
63. Razer Gaming Mice
64. Garden Hod harvest carrier
65. Nest Learning Thermostat
66. Aha! 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas
67. Yes, You Can! And Freeze and Dry It, Too: The Modern Step-By-Step Guide to Preserving Food
68. A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative
69. Fiskars 7936 PowerGear Pruner
70. Chi-qoo Solar Power Pack Kit from Bootstrap Solar
71. Read This Before Our Next Meeting by Al Pittampalli
72. Sterling Audio ST51 Large Diaphragm FET Condenser Microphone
73. DollarSeed.com – One Stop Seed Shop
74. 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive
75. Desktop Microphone Stands
76. Logitech Harmony 650 Remote Control
77. Maple Sugaring Startup Kit from Tap My Trees
78. Sennheiser HD-280 PRO Headphones
79. Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace
80. Timbuk2 Classic Messenger Bags
81. The SeedKeeper Company
82. Jump Start Your Brain by Doug Hall and David Wecker
83. Joby GP1-A1EN GorillaPod Flexible Tripod

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Great #careerchat today about Gen Y. Here is what I had to say.

• @bizMebizgal Hmmm…hope we don’t fall into generation bashing. “Hey you kids, get off my company’s lawn!” and all that. #careerchat
• @kbaumann Yes, I hear so much disparaging stuff about youth, but the young people I know don’t seem like that at all #careerchat
• I many ways, we have to be careful of trying to apply our career experience to them. The world had changed dramatically. #careerchat
• @bizMebizgal In one way, the concept of 1-2 long term jobs vs a series of shorter term positions. It is more “work” to manage
• When I write about careers, I use the term to mean a succession of work/projects/etc, not one or two “jobs”
• Each generation has it differences, to be sure, but we really need to watch for our bias in labeling their “faults”
• @sunshinejess22 I think every generation demonizes youth in some way. You think we could grow beyond that.
• @rezlady I also try to encourage people to direct their career and not simply let it happen to them.
• On major issue for Gen Y is that have learned that what THEY want is more important then what a company wants. Causes conflict.
• Yes, they must meet company needs, but responsibility for their own career happiness lies directly with themselves.
• Different approaches can mean that parents can often be pushing children towards choices that no longer fit.
• We have to be very careful in using the exception the rule. Every gen has some slackers but not ALL slackers.
• Guess who is most to blame for lack of comm skills though. Oh Oh, it’s US (i.e. the parents) Yikes!
• Yep, for me “Success is supporting yourself and your family doing something you love!”
• Re: parents – That said, we also have to realize they they are growing up in a much different work from ours. Not bad, different
• I think we have to watch too using college kids as guideline of gen. We all changed quite dramatically once we left
• @bizMebizgal I think college is an extension of high school for most and it is only on exit that reality starts to kick in
• @BeKnown A think a wide breadth of knowledge is important, with a few spikes of expertise here and there.
• @kbaumann I would say it is a combination of both. Those who have internalized the “soft” things do better overall.
• @WorkAtKforce Career centers have to be sure they are not teaching career skills for LAST generation. Can turn off students.
• Re: Career Services - @tacservicesllc In some cases you have to go out and find students where they are i.e. social media, campus life, etc.

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Join me for the Career Opportunities Office Hour Google+ Hangout on Wednesday, January 11, 2011 at 9pm EST/6pm PST.

This is an open discussion of whatever career topics are on your mind. Bring you questions and discussion topics.

Circle my personal Google+ account or the Career Opportunities G+ page to see the link to the hangout on Wednesday.

Click to join this hangout

(If hangout is not currently in progress, you will be returned to this blog post)

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Join me for the Career Opportunities Office Hour Google+ Hangout on Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 1pm EST/10am PST.

Circle my personal Google+ account or the Career Opportunities G+ page to see the link to the hangout on Wednesday.

The office is now OPEN!

The office hour has ended. Thanks to all who attended.

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I am going to be in Cleveland, Ohio (and my hometown of New London) from Wed, May 11, 2011 to Sunday, May 15, 2011 to kick off Saturday6,  a new, garden blog project with Troy-Bilt. As I am arriving a day early, I will be available for various meetups and consulting sessions based on all my areas of interest.

If you would like a private consult on your career questions, email me at me@douglasewelch.com to schedule a time. These consults are billed at my usual rate of $100/hour and would most likely take place near downtown Cleveland, as that is where I will be staying.

I am also open for an informal meetup on Wednesday afternoon or evening, if folks are interested. We can set up an event on Facebook or other service to allow for RSVPs.

I look forward to seeing you all and spending some time in my hometown again.

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I want to collect your top career questions and then present them to my “team” of career advisors. In this way I hope do give you a variety of viewpoints on the most pressing issues of the day.

This post is an “Open Discussion” to both collect your questions and also allow you comment on the questions of others.

Got a question that is really concerning you? Add it as a comment to this post. Then, come back and chime in on the questions of others.