noochi

web guru henriette weber (yes, i’m officially a disciple! she made an ism!) wrote the e-book: why every company should be a rockband. it’s cute, short, simple and with a powerful message that salutes passion-driven and sustainable companies. she asks:

Wouldn’t it be great if the place we worked made us feel more like rock stars and less as cockroaches?

and answers with the managerial advice; to embrace chaos and anarchy instead of being overseers & master mechanics… and that employees should start to think differently about their own instruments, so to speak. everyone wants to be happy. well, here connected to cool. acknowledged. worshipped. accepted… as part of the group. companies need to change their mindset, their ways of doing and understanding business. change… into being truly sustainable and to have a real wish to make a difference. not just clean up their own mess, but to give back to society. so much so, that the employees cockroaches rock star potential will shed their blood in the company’s name cause. that’s sustainable. amen!

the reason you should be bothered, henriette says, obviously, is that the more involvement you throw in, the better the result. i agree. and of course, henriette is not the only guru to sing this song; from aristotle to seth godin, the clever ones agree: strive to do the right thing and you will become excellent. if you bother to do it, you may as well do it to the utmost of your abilities. that’s what being a rock star means! and we should all sing in the clever people’s choir!

this makes me feel extra happy that the team building session i recently joined at my new work place evolved around singing. yes, singing. first we all sang together. then each person had to sing in front of everyone else, while the rest of us provided the rhythm, the beat, the support and the back-up vocals. everybody joined in with their voice, their feet, their hands, their good attitude. now, i’ve heard at least, the team has initiated a company choir. i am so in. they are so cool! work without passion means that your prime hours of the day is without passion. why save the energy for the sports results? why not let your work and the rest of your life ingredients nourish each other?

even if your boss is an idiot, or even worse/ better, if you are an idiotic boss yourself, i say raise your voice, unpack your instrument, play the “#¤% triangle as its never been played before, if that’s what you have! (although i today learned that every person holds a huge layered tool box and to not settle with just a few items from the top layer. one mighty fine metaphor. perhaps there’s an oversize drum set for each of us to bang right underneath!)

a rock band can be formed in many ways - sometimes it just takes one star to get the music going! yet stars shed light! download henriette’s why every company should be a rock band (it’s free, yeah!) for inspiration to go shine!

tags:henriette weber, modern management, passion, rockbandism, sustainability

so, we’re finishing off yet another sweet year in the land of the rich and slightly overweight. a year of war, recession and great need for new hope. another year of international distress. and we finish a year on the web, where rich and poor connect. as one world. of information that is brought to life by friend and foe - to enrich and empower us. one web and one people. peers and experts in all shades and forms. and arts that bring smiles, reflection (and prolong the overheating of my #¤%&@son-of-a-gun-i-paid-too-much-for-this-pile-of-S#¤%-zepto-w-vista)!

style stands illustrated. for 2008 anyhow. the year i said goodbye to the travel industry. quit my job - kept working hard. took on another. moved to christianshavn. with my ab fab o. met his delightful ‘kids’. got some of my long-gone friends back (i still love to go out with you although you have a terror squad sweet children waiting at home). also through facebook (i salute you, liv & dea in particular). other friends less present. i hope its just a phase. my new job brings me back downtown.

except for strong wishes to upgrade this blog, go to jamaica (life is good, man), visit will in minneapolis and perhaps go to italy also, i am not sure what 2009 will bring. that’s the nature of time. but i am standing well on my 2 feet. i look forward to starting my new job. with all good, fun, competent and passionate people. how can it not be great? and i look forward to follow the seasons change from my fifth floor apartment. and to get to know everyone better. family, colleagues and friends (not necessarily in that order). my modest new year resolution is that i will know what i am doing, why and with whom! not to eliminate spontaneity and surprises, but to live with acceptance and joy. with understanding of other people’s behavior and patterns. makes sense?

now that i’ve thought it through… that would work for the entire world… on the condition of course that the world share a few key values of peace, love and respect. let the web rule for democracy and for equality through communication and sharing! may God protect the Web from any evil hackers or foul terrorists! let the coolest developers, hackers, entrepreneurs, communicators and artists work their magic in favor of the good! you do it so well!! let’s get rid of the overweight. let’s even it out! balance, man! balance! throw in your coins. throw in yourself. give back. share!

friend or stranger! i know i have your attention right now! for the first time i ask you directly: please make a comment to share your resolution or 2009 wishes (editor will only roughly spam-check). come on… just do it (any language will do)!

with love and with hopes of a memorable and positive 2009 for you and for mankind,
n

tags:democracy, family, friendship, love, new year

exclusively on noochi, its a pleasure to introduce this romantic innovation: the love glove. its designed and hand-knitted with the finest wool by my very cool mum. let these pictures - and this very good offer - be my way of wishing a merry christmas.

order your love glove now. each has its own unique style. and it is just 100$. fill out the form below to order, please!

p.s. if you are into knitwear, you can design your own hat and choose which granny you want to make it for you on french goldenhook.

tags:design, family, feelgood, knitwear, love, personalization, webshop

my mishaps in spreading old news (like below) made me check in on some of my favorite web sites. springwise is currently featuring free love in manila, a deli chain that gives away coupons for free sweets under the name my secret santa. very clever idea. a lot more people will email coupons than cash them in. and how much does it cost to mass produce an almond biscotti? springwise and now me and quite likely a ton of other online marketing cookie enthusiasts will immediately spread the word and remunerate with some free link love! very low cost per contact. and the contact is worth more because its qualified by friends or peers. my secret santa is also effective because the sender (delifrance - delightfully different) so tactfully plays it down. (almost) leaves it up to springwise and the rest of us to throw in the name. trendwatching has more on free love. that’s also where the pic above is from.

the word free really is redundant in connection with love… but in this f”#¤%& up world, love is so easily reduced to a consumer good that is likely to cost you… we are downgrading our vocab in a dangerous area. just look at the word friends in connection with facebook… even the word connection has become misleading. cookie karma would have been a more descriptive headline at both trendwatching and springwise. i’m on deep water. so goodbye.tags:freeconomics, love, marketing, trends

for various reasons i missed barcamp copenhagen which was held yesterday. but from the twits from probably the coolest geeks in my network, my guess is that nabaztag is the new black. and damn’! is this little adoptable rabbit adorable.

this little tai chi mastering rabbit literally speaks for your network, alerts, calendar, mailbox, radio, time manager and for other nabaznauts (who can even send songs and more to each other) based on your personal settings. this might actually drive you very crazy very quickly, but that’s just a matter of settings (i would hope!)! this clever rabbit can also read books or blogs out loud for you. all that monsieur rabbit needs to work like this is a wifi router. check it out (remember sound)! or join the nabaztag community before i do…

tags:community, irl, nabaztag, social audio

my duoboots arrived on wednesday, 10 days after i ordered them. and the tnt guy said to have been by 2 times before, and i believed him. they fit. they actually fit. very comfortable. go holland, go holland!

added nov. 30: plus, i received 20 hits from duo boots until delivery, so as far as i know they’re cool!tags:boots, consumer info

my first blog (this one!) wasn’t all that easy to make. neither was my second nor third one. however, the combo of wordpress 2.6 + one.com + harvesting on previous efforts made my fourth attempt a piece of cake. it took me a couple of hours to set up monocop.com from scratch (there was a logo only), including picking a theme, fiddling with graphics and contemplating this and that with all the time in the world with my ab fab o. i think that’s pretty cool. judging from all the support forums i’ve been through during the past attempts, its not just a matter of practice. something always goes wrong, right!? well, not anymore… wordpress today is a full-fed cms (the term blogging is so passé, i’ve come to think… worthy web presence is key, who cares about the format?), and there is an open source plugin out there for any weird feature you want! i loooove the world wide web. LOVE IT!

anyhow… at least i’ve managed to keep myself busy while awaiting my duoboots… the payment was deducted from my account on the 13th, and the tnt link since then has said that zending zit in afleverroute, which i most certainly hope believe means that the package is on its way safely…

the speed of the web, and all the wonderful things you can do with it in no time makes me terribly impatient though. a former colleague cleverly twitters: i promise to try to be nicer if you try to be smarter. i agree. speed and efficiency count! if my duoboots arrive and fit nicely, i’ll forgive them…tags:efficiency, love, monocop, speed, web presence

the dutch are being clever once again (previously praised dutchmen in green graffiti, eco-clubbing and interior design). duoboots made me buy a pair of boots online. something i would not have done if it hadn’t been for the little duo difference: calf fitting (and width fit for shoes).

i’m glad my list of ecommerce do’s doesn’t come short yet, as it really is that tiny touch of ‘personalization’ that makes all the difference… the shoes and boots are all made to begin with; you can search your shoe- as well as calf size… so the ‘personalization factor’ really is emotional, and in reality it is the product selection that stands out as a niche. will be back with unbelievably interesting info on whether the boots actually arrive fit or not. tags:boots, personalization, webshop

stress is so uncool. embarrassing, really. yet recently i have been the most tense and most ruthlessly targeted version of myself. and i did not like it. because i slowly realized that i was determined to reach all the wrong goals. i guess my soon-to-be-former employer would tend to disagree that i accomplished the wrong things, but important yet forgotten birthdays, friends in “project” contours and wrinkles getting deeper ahead of time beg to differ. there is no hocus-pocus to it, i know my stressors.

one of them a job change. instead of becoming an internet millionaire immediately, i decided to quit my job, and take on another. the playing field for working in a highly constructive manner at the place i am going to is simply too appealing (worked there before)! so i decided to spend some more time learning. by doing. practicing to communicate what i’ve learned in a more efficient manner, and facilitate that others develop in a good way.

another stressor, or perhaps a symptom of my stress, has been that i felt mainstream. awfully mainstream. although i’m not sure that is the worst thing you can be (and this was “relaxation hour” in my oh-so-busy life). i’ve now decided to look at it like this: i am a professional. i aim at being a front runner in my work while actually getting the job done. follow the books when these make the most sense, and continue to ignore the poorly written ones and experiment with the right things. for now, that is cool enough for me. and i guess that stressing after the wrong things - even though its not a sound investment - contains a strong energy, and i’ve been lucky that my hands grabbed the right tasks. or well… i actually don’t know.

i want more art on this blog again. more clever parties. more friendship, love and talent. no stress. all passion.tags:dayjob, love, stress

and i’ve been feeling that this blog has taken a wrong turn… i hope david shrigley doesn’t mind lending noochi a hand while i contemplate to put together a post on work ethics.tags:appreciation, art, moon