Weekend Digest: The Civil Rights Celebration Edition

For our weekend business and political readers:

HOW A SPORTS COMEBACK TAUGHT BUSINESS A LESSON
Harvard Business Review calls it the greatest comeback in modern sports history.

During last fall’s America’s Cup, Oracle Team USA staged the greatest comeback in modern sports history. On September 18, Skipper Jimmy Spithill’s crew was behind 8-1 in the best of 17 series. In just over a week, they rattled off eight straight victories to defeat Team New Zealand, 9-8. New Zealand didn’t get slower; Oracle got that much faster.

So how did it happen and what lessons can business be taught from this improbable come-from-behind stellar victory?

Harvard Business Review says what it learned from one of the crew “suggested six pieces of advice that leaders of land-based businesses might do just as well to heed.”

What are those six pieces of advice? Go to this link to find out.

MAKE A ‘DONE’ LIST, NOT A ‘TO-DO’ LIST
99U says, “Maintaining your motivation is a difficult battle, especially when you feel paralyzed by a crushing list of action items and projects that seems longer at the end of each day. The solution? Make a “done” list.

The simple act of pausing to reflect and acknowledge your efforts provides valuable boosts of motivation, focus, and insight that would otherwise be lost amidst your busy day. Your done list acts as a signpost, a manifestation of all that day’s hard work. This flips an overwhelmed mindset into action mode to correct course, learn from mistakes, and ultimately make better progress.

So what is the process and how do you start? To learn this great but simple advise, click on this link.

NIKE EVOLVES TO DIGITAL
Fast Company reports Nike has opened its doors to Silicon Valley companies whose products have strong potential to integrate with Nike’s digital platform at its new Nike+ Fuel Lab in San Francisco.

The Fuel Lab grew out of last year’s Nike+ Accelerator, in which 10 startups were given $20,000 and the opportunity to work in Portland for three months to develop apps and products connected to the Nike+ platform.

The Fuel Lab, on the other hand, is a permanent (or at least indefinite) space in the nation’s tech epicenter, created for more established Silicon Valley companies who already have user bases in the millions and a track record for popular products that have strong potential to integrate with Nike’s digital platform.

So who are the inaugural partners and what exactly is the Nike+ “ecosystem”? How does it revolve around the NIkeFuel “measurement system” development of brands?

Click on this link for the scoop on how this athletic shoe company has truly evolved.

THE BEST MARKETING BLOGS
Vero reveals the best 50 marketing blogs and says “you should read them everyday.”

You know that feeling you get when you find a new blog that is just loaded with good information? Get ready to have that feeling 50 times in row.

You can access the list at this link.

LBJ, OBAMA & THE LEGACY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT
This past Thursday, President Obama addressed a summit at the LBJ Library on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin. The summit and presidential address were in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act championed by former president, Lyndon B. Johnson.

In his speech, Obama said the Civil Rights Act and programs that Johnson created as part of the “Great Society” opened doors to people who previously could not walk through them.

“They swung open for you and they swung open for me. That’s why I’m standing here today, because of those efforts and because of that legacy,” he said.

Obama said he rejects the “cynicism” of people who want to roll back some of Johnson’s programs – including Medicare and food stamps – or urge others not to “invest too much hope in our government.”

“I reject such cynicism because I have lived out the promise of LBJ’s efforts. Because Michelle has lived out the legacy of those efforts. Because my daughters have lived out the legacy of those efforts,” Obama said. “Because millions in my generation were in a position to take the baton he gave to us.”

For more on the president’s Civil Rights address, go to this link from The Washington Post.

POLITICAL THEATER…LITERALLY
It’s called “All The Way” and it’s a new Broadway hit play about President Lyndon Johnson and the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Perhaps that’s why more than a few real-life politicians have trooped to New York to see Bryan Cranston of “Breaking Bad” as the nation’s 36th president and schemer in chief. For a certain Washington set, the play at the Neil Simon Theater has become a hotter draw than a summons to the Oval Office or a fund-raiser with the Koch brothers.

“I was loving it,” said Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, who leads House Democrats. She attended opening night to support a friend, Louise Gund, one of the producers. “For me, it was like eating a banana split covered with chocolate.”

Although The New York Times reports “attendance does seem decidedly Democratic,” Republicans have joined the charge of politicians to see the play.

The Times also says Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York raved about the play during a meeting in the Oval Office and has urged President Obama to see it.

But what are the real critics saying and what famous political characters besides LBJ are represented in the play?  Go to this link for the full play bill.

EDWIN EDWARDS ATTEMPTS A COMEBACK
At the age of 86, “Scoundrel, irresistible charmer, four-time governor, reality show star, convicted felon and the very last of the line of New Deal Southern Democrats — is running for Congress.

That’s the former Louisiana governor and Congressman Edwin Edwards’ legacy. He married his third wife after they became pen pals while he was serving time in prison on corruption charges.

“Why am I running? Because it’s what I want to do,” Edwards tells a visitor in the wood-paneled office of his home in a Gonzales golf course development, with that soft Cajun accent born in Avoyelles Parish in 1927 still very much present. “Somebody told me the other day, you’re 86 and retired, why don’t you do what you wanna do? So, I am.”

He faces an uphill battle for an open seat in a redrawn 6th District that now tilts Republican, but he’s a decent bet to make a December runoff and the universal view is that, hey, this is Edwin Edwards, anything can happen and probably will.

For the full story and a rundown of some of the best Edwin Edwards’ one-liners of his storied political career, click on this link from POLITICO.

DEMOCRATS’ ‘CLEVER’ CAMPAIGNS
The Atlantic reports Democrats are hopeful to gain a “tactical advantage” for the 2014 mid-terms by using precision targeting and data campaigns.

“Through precision targeting and data, campaigns from the local to the congressional to the state level could figure out which voters to talk to and deploy volunteers and staff to cajole them from their homes to vote,” the story reports.

State-of-the-art technology would tap into people’s Facebook networks or point them to the correct polling place. Modeling would predict within a narrow range how the election would turn out and dispatch monitors for a possible recount. The tools all had code names: Explorer, Airwolf, Project Ivy.

In short, claims that one party or the other has built up a tactical advantage based on the latest in campaign science are always to be taken with a grain of salt. Political scientists have trouble detecting major effects on elections from even the most intensive campaign efforts.

If that is these case, then why are Democrats using these “magic tricks”?  Go to this link for complete analysis.

LETTERMAN AND COLBERT
If you haven’t heard the news, Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert has been picked to replace the retiring David Letterman on the long-running “Late Show” in 2015.

The Washington Post says the Emmy and Peabody Award winning Colbert should not leave the persona he created on “The Colbert Report” behind although that’s the plan.

But while the fictional Stephen Colbert character will end, that does not mean that Colbert has to leave behind every element of the persona, or every bit of shtick it generated. Here are five elements of “The Colbert Report” that could — and should — transfer to “The Late Show.”

What are they?  Go to this link to find out.

CREATIVITY, INC.: LESSONS FROM PIXAR AND DISNEY
It’s all about managing creativity and Ed Catmull has been doing that since 1986 when he founded Pixar Studios, famous for “Toy Story” and many other beloved animated films.

Pixar was acquired by Disney in 2006, and Catmull became president of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar.

In his new book Creativity, Inc., Catmull expands on his ideas about managing a creative company that he explored in his 2008 HBR article “How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity.”

For a most insightful Q&A read from Harvard Business Review, click on this link.