happiness in the workplace At our company-wide get together last December we decided that 2008 was going to be a year of workplace experiments. Among other things, we discussed how we could make 37signals one of the best places in the world to work, learn, and generally be happy. Here’s are a few of the things we’ve implemented so far: Shorter work weeks Last summer we experimented with 4-day work weeks. So if that’s the case we could either push everyone to work harder during those five days or we could just skip one of those days. So recently we’ve instituted a four-day work week as standard. Three-day weekends mean people come back extra refreshed on Monday. Funding people’s passions We decided that 37signals would help people pay for their passions, interests, or other curiosities. For example, Mark has recently taken up flight lessons. 37signals is helping him pay for those. Part of the deal is that if 37signals helps you pay, you have to share what you’ve learned with everyone. Discretionary spending accounts
Revisit: Visualizing the Temporal Dynamics of Twitter Streams Revisit [moritz.stefaner.eu] is a live visualization of Twitter messages (tweets) surrounding a topic that can be specificied by the users. The visualization can be used to create a unique "Twitter wall" at a conference or workshop, or as a dynamic ambient display at a company headquarters. In contrast to most existing Twitter visualizations, Revisit provides a sense of the temporal dynamics in the twitter stream, and emphasizes the conversational threads established by retweets and @replies. When new tweets arrive, they are brought to the front and highlighted. Other interesting Twitter visualizations: .
De Bono Hats / Siz Thinking Hats Six Thinking Hats is a book by Edward de Bono which describes a tool for group discussion and individual thinking involving six colored hats. "Six Thinking Hats" and the associated idea parallel thinking provide a means for groups to plan thinking processes in a detailed and cohesive way, and in doing so to think together more effectively.[2] Underlying principles[edit] The premise of the method is that the human brain thinks in a number of distinct ways which can be deliberately challenged, and hence planned for use in a structured way allowing one to develop tactics for thinking about particular issues. de Bono identifies six distinct directions in which the brain can be challenged. Since the hats do not represent natural modes of thinking, each hat must be used for a limited time only. A compelling example presented is sensitivity to "mismatch" stimuli. Six distinct directions are identified and assigned a color. Managing Blue - what is the subject? Strategies and programs[edit]