I'm incredibly proud to be a member of the Contact Energy Ltd team and whānau. Monday we announced our revamped and inclusive family leave policy, which is comprehensive and far-reaching. I think about my teams, some members of which are growing their families and will be directly affected by this - potentially in a life-changing way. It... Continue Reading →
Transformation Talks: Innovation in NZ with Vic Crone of Callaghan Innovation
Last week we kicked off the first of the Transformation Talks, a live interview series in which speak to leaders of true transformation and innovation in New Zealand. This series is a partnership of Contact Energy and our Auckland home, The Generator NZ. I can't imagine a better guest for the inaugural Transformation Talk than... Continue Reading →
Two months of inspiration – the start of my journey at Contact
This week marks two months for me as Chief Digital Officer of Contact Energy, a role for which my family moved from our beloved home in Amsterdam to Auckland. As everyone knows, we find ourselves in a dramatically different and unexpected place than we were in February. When interviewing for my role, meeting board members and... Continue Reading →
Ending my 29-year relationship with my bank because of its unethical behavior
In 1989 at the age of seven, my father and I opened my first bank account at a Wachovia branch in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a family joke to pronounce the Charlotte-based regional bank's name, "wa-chov-ia." Barbara*, the employee who opened my account that day also helped my parents with their mortgage and later... Continue Reading →
Game-changing, hack everything, social influencing, and anonymous trolling. Let’s do better in 2016.
Game-changing, hack everything, social influencing, and anonymous trolling. Let's do better in 2016. Happy 2016, everyone! I hope you all had a happy festive season and that your new years are off on the right foot. For the first time in a year I had a few weeks off and lots of time to... Continue Reading →
The Power of Social: IBM Reverses Decision to Ban Uber After 26-Year-Old Employee Disagrees on Internal Social Network
One of my favorite topics of discussion about Social is the power it can have to flatten even the most hierarchical organizations. I especially love when my own company provides examples of how this works. If you don't know me or haven't yet read my bio, I'm a consultant at IBM and currently lead Social... Continue Reading →
Introducing The Wally Awards: Using Social to Break Down the Digital and Corporate Hierarchy
As I've written about previously, one of the most powerful aspects of Social is its ability to break down corporate and entrenched hierarchies. Airlines are being forced to listen to customers not flying in the first class cabin, videos of poor delivery service can earn almost 10 million views, and cable companies are being publicly pilloried by none... Continue Reading →
Enterprise Social Affects More Than Just the Bottom Line
Over the past year many of my conversations with clients have turned the corner from "Why Social?" to "Which Social?" These organizations are realizing that the benefits of Social Enterprise tools extend far beyond simple measures of ROI. Though famously difficult to measure, Social tools, when chosen and rolled out effectively, lower costs by reducing duplicate... Continue Reading →
How You’re Actually Paying for Those “Free” Apps and Online Services
I'll admit it: I love Gmail and Google Drive, I check my LinkedIn app daily, I've even come to appreciate Twitter, and man does my wife love Instagram. These tools can be extremely useful, are well designed, and offer fantastic user experiences. Funny thing is, I doubt either of us would pay even a nominal... Continue Reading →
Keys to a Successful Enterprise-Wide Social Adoption
As the rate of companies and government agencies deploying enterprise-wide social strategies and tools increases -- whether it be IBM's Connections, SharePoint, Yammer, Huddle, or some combination of these -- it's important not to focus on simply why these tools are important, but how to make them successful. There's no silver bullet strategy or tool that will... Continue Reading →