The usual image of how creativity happens: A composer inadvertently hears a melody rising from a babbling brook, or an ad agency creative director crumples page after page of aborted ideas ripped from the typewriter until the right one lands. But creativity, some claim, can come from a far less elusive muse — from a structured process, one that opens up the ranks of the creative to a wider swath than the Steve Jobs, Jonas Salks and Franz Schuberts of the universe. “I think there are individual differences in our propensity to be creative,” Twitter says Wharton marketing professor Rom Schrift, “but having […]
Bloomberg HT: Girişimcilik Dünyası
ippaworld.com| At Bloomberg HT’s Entrepreneurs’ World Series, I address why entrepreneurs need to focus on communications and building social enterprises rather than solely selling goods and services.
From Good To Great
By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News Sometimes being good just isn’t good enough. When the initial highs of success begin to fade, we almost always want more. We want to move on to even greater things. Whatever our current level, we want to reach for the next one. I think this is human nature. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who didn’t want to become at least a little bit better at something. What does it take to go from good to great? We know that it takes a lot of dedication, and that it requires an endless thirst for learning, even when everyone else […]
Embracing New Technologies
Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News (click here for the newspaper link) I love the Kindle, Amazon.com’s electronic book reader. It makes getting the information I need fast and easy. I like reading hard-copy books, too, but sometimes I want the information right now – I don’t want to have to wait days or weeks for a book to arrive. I am also a globetrotter, so nothing makes me happier than packing my suitcase and flying off to a faraway city. In the past, whenever I went on one of those trips, I ended up lugging a heavy backpack filled with reading material. Now, I […]
On Finding A Goal
By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News, (click here for nwspaper link to On Finding A Goal) It seems like just about every career advisor preaches the importance of goal-setting. These self-proclaimed “life’s path” gurus tell us that before we act we must have a goal, and that without a goal, it is impossible to make progress. To hear them talk about it, you’d think every successful person popped out of the womb holding a detailed road map for life. Now, I don’t discount the importance of having a goal. The business world is a rational and linear place, and it’s […]
Don’t Stare At the Marshmallow
By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News (click here for Don’t stare at the marshmallow) When you’re stuck in a rut, it’s hard to get out. You feel hopeless, like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. The economy might be bad, maybe your sales are down, your customers aren’t renewing their contracts, and you’re losing money left and right. Maybe you’re looking for new customers, but they want products you don’t have, and you’re out of the cash you need to invest in new ones. It’s clear to you that there’s a problem, but the solution isn’t coming […]
Making The Familiar Fresh Again
By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News (click here for Making the familiar fresh again) Having lived abroad my entire adult life, I came back to Turkey in 2003. Upon returning, I felt like an expat, a foreigner in my own country. I saw everything with fresh eyes, exploring the cities as if they were new to me, and relearning my own culture and people. I got curious about my own country all over again. I felt like a child stumbling onto something new and unexpected. I felt energized, happy and excited. When you are an expat, traveling around the world, […]
Finding Inspiration In A Dry Spell
An entrepreneurial person is resourceful, curious, and observant. Always looking for something new to learn. Always looking for new opportunities, and always pursuing the ones that hold promise of changing things for the better.
Hitting the Communication Bulls Eye
By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News (click here for Hitting The Communication Bulls Eye) As a communications professional with a background in management, marketing and psychology and who has been working as an expat most of her life, I have come to realize that most top managers around the world tend to overestimate the strength of their communication skills. They often think that since they communicate at work, and since they are successful at their jobs, they must be good communicators. However, more often than not they are wrong. They are rising through the ranks for various reasons, but they’d […]
Learn To Enjoy The Winds Of Change
By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News (click here for Learn To Enjoy The Winds Of Change) Almost every day, we can see cars going the wrong way down the street. To their drivers, the “Wrong Way” or “No Entry” signs mean little. These people are endangering the lives of the other drivers on the road, but they don’t stop there. They force the legal drivers to back up or otherwise reroute themselves, in order to accommodate their errors. If the law-abiding drivers resist, the wrong-way drivers often yell and scream and gesture such that those in the right feel guilty […]