Above the Fold

And the Award for the Next HBO Goes to . . .

GQ • February 2013

Game change. In a brash bid to capture the lead in the streaming media market, Netflix is launching several new high production-value in-house series and reviving some old favorites. Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos says, "The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us." Netflix stumbled badly a year ago—read on for a preview of the next big media comeback.

Reed Hastings is an intriguing CEO who's all about disruption. (His big philanthropy is education reform.) I know he took some big hits over the Qwikster introduction and withdrawal but he wasn't wrong just hamfisted. If you haven't seen the SNL parody that never aired but was viral on the interwebs check it out. And follow the infographic flow chart to see how ready you are to cut your cable (I'm not). (Michalko)

Six Secrets to Doing Less

Strategy+Business • 28 January 2013

More white space. Creativity coach Matthew May touts the "art of subtraction, defined simply as the process of removing anything excessive, confusing, wasteful, hazardous, or hard to use." We've all heard about "doing more with less," but May says in some cases "less is best" is a better strategy for showcasing an organization's strengths.

Worth scanning. (Reed Hastings violated the "The simplest rules create the most effective experience" rubric. He won't do it again I bet.) After reading this article I'm going to say "Break is the important part of breakthrough" at least once in a meeting and see how quickly eyes will roll. (Michalko)

Bring Back Shushing Librarians

Salon.com • 30 January 2013

Shhhhh. The recent Pew Research Center report, "Library Services in the Digital Age," indicates that "quiet study spaces for adults and children" ranks #4 in importance—only one percentage point behind "free access to computers and the Internet." As libraries open their doors to community groups and after school activities, how do they accommodate patrons just looking for a quiet place to read? For a more in-depth discussion of Pew's findings, see also Libraries: Good Value, Lousy Marketing in Publisher's Weekly.

Okay, I wish they hadn't leveraged the stereotype to make the point but we shouldn't ignore the value that attaches to quiet and the way that value is associated with libraries. If books, for better or worse, is our primary brand recognition, quiet is number two. No reason it can't be part of the rejuvenated offer. (Michalko)

Building Customer Communities is the Key to Creating Value

HBR Blog Network • 1 February 2013

Getting to Level 4. Customer relationship expert Bill Lee describes various levels of B2C interaction and suggests that top-level customer relationships involve "helping customers build their social capital—that is, helping them to build and expand valuable support groups and communities." Read on for Lee's suggestions on ways to help organizations boost reputation, expand affiliation networks, build status and exchange ideas.

This is a helpful way to think about the value of the services you provide. I would like to think that at OCLC Research we do our work with the community in a way that builds your status and gives you a say. The research library work on researcher identity is responsive to all the customer levels discussed here. Our Registering Researchers in Authority Files is a network level enabling component. (Michalko)

When Experts Go Blind

National Geographic • 31 January 2013

Attention deficit. In a new twist on the well-documented 1999 "invisible gorilla experiment," researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital showed groups of both radiologists and non-experts CT scans that included a gorilla—and most of them missed it, although a majority of the radiologists did spot the cancerous nodules they were checking for. The experiment results are a reminder that preconceptions and biases can cause us to miss vital bits of information in any situation. For a more alarmist view of the experiment results, check out Wray Herbert's Huffington Post article, "The (Really Scary) Invisible Gorilla."

I love this kind of thing. And if you haven't seen the original experiment, watch it here before reading the article. (Michalko)

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