Bob Sutton

My First Huffington Post

My first post in the new business section of the Huffington Post just went up.  It is the first of several posts that introduce readers to The No Asshole Rule. Then I will start turning to various management and business topics. It won't be all assholes all the time!  I was also delighted to see that one of the bloggers is Penelope Trunk; check out her (usual) fiery, persuasive, and controversial post on the pay gap between men and women.

Check Out Tom Davenport

As I've written here before, I Harvard Business Online has recently revamped their website and, as part of the changes, have brought in several of us to blog about various topics.  I write on The Working Life.  I just sat down and read through a bunch of them and was especially struck by several of Tom Davenport's posts about The Next Big Thing. I have always been a big fan of Tom's many books, like Working Knowledge (with Larry Prusak) and his latest -- evidence-based argument -- in Competing on Analytics.   I was delighted to read the range and spirit of his posts, especially check out his latest post, which argues "I believe there is a power shift taking place within and across organizations from producers of information to consumers."  Tom, as someone who has spent big chunks of time as both an academic researcher and in corporate roles, has always impressed me with ability to weave together evidence, theory, and his practical experience to recognize trends and to solve real problems. He is also one of those people who tells people the facts and opinions that he believes will help them most, rather than help them feel as good as possible -- for now.

Also, check-out Gil Corkingdale's latest post on "A Question of Style" in her Letter from London.  I found her observations about the costs that women face for "fashion errors" rang all too true.

Harvard Business Online Launches a New Website -- It Includes Blogs

Harvard Business Online launched a new website a few days ago that includes new content and a nice new look and feel.  As part of this effort, they have recruited a bunch of us as "Discussion Leaders," or in plain language, bloggers. This gang includes Tom Davenport, Tammy Erickson, Eric McNulty, Larry Prusak, Michael Watkins, and Gillian Corkindale.  I am part of the group too, and my postings appear under Bob Sutton -- The Working Life, which fits with the Work Matters theme of this blog well. I've got two posts up now to introduce readers to my perspective, one on What I Worry About and Why and the another on a theme I've talked about here before, but with some new twists, Why I Wrote The No Asshole Rule. My next few posts are on the new design and business classes that we have been teaching at the Stanford d.school, look especially for a future post with a video of an original song by Stanford graduate student Gustavo Bitdinger called  "Back to Orbit," which is inspired by Gordon MacKenzie's classic book Orbiting the Giant Hairball.

Our editor and chief cat herder in this adventure is Jimmy Guterman, who has done a masterful job of balancing pressures for Harvard to do something bold but that still preserves the mighty Harvard Business School brand.  There is already a lot of content up on these blogs, and more will be posted at regular intervals (as I understand it, each of us will put up a post at least once a week). Check out what is up, add some comments (which are moderated).  This is a really big step for Harvard Online, so I encourage you to give them feedback (I certainly have not hesitated). At the same, time remember (as I have to remind myself) that they need to be a bit more careful with this site than a private blog.  They face pressures to please a set of diverse and opinionated stakeholders (from Harvard Business School faculty, to their demanding readers, to Harvard Business School Publishing -- which uses the site to sell content) -- or at least not to alienate too many of them too deeply.   In light of the pressures they face, I am impressed how "loose" they are being with the blogs.  But I am gently pushing them to open things a bit more and you might "help" them with this as well.  Our philosophy at the Stanford d.school is that everything is a prototype, and although this site is a damn big improvement over the old one, it can and will keep getting better, and they need input -- and yes, critical comments -- to make that happen.

Bloggers and Writing Skill

I am new to this blogging thing. I only started reading a lot of blogs after I started mine in June. But I am starting to see a pattern: It is just another form of writing, and the great blogs are written by people who know how to tell stories, who have the gift of self-understanding, who see things in a slightly different way than the rest of is, and who use the language in interesting ways. Just as great writers – and storytellers – have always done. Two of my favorites at the moment are Pamela Slim’s Escape from Cubicle Nation and Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project.  Both are similar in that they are using their blogs, in part, to develop a book, and both are considering paths to happiness. But what makes them both so great to read is the way they see things and lovely language they use. Take a look at Gretchen’s post on gratitude journals, how she blends evidence about their virtues (I never heard of them) with her own gratitude for not having cancer.  Or check out Pam’s post on how to introduce yourself when you are between jobs, moving from the corporate world to starting your own business – great stuff.  It is no accident that Gretchen has already cranked out multiple books and that Pam is getting such serious interest from top publishers for her book.

For me, the lesson is that writing is writing, and the great thing about blogs is that you can find your favorites, and enjoy them a little at time, and in my case, try to learn something from them about writing compelling stuff too.