Popular Posts

Friday, March 23, 2012

Anonymous : The new wave


Initially, I intended to write an article about the hacktivist group Anonymous. In the course of my research, I realized that they are establishing a new culture.

According to Wikipedia “Anonymous is a meme (an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture) spread through the Internet whose goals,  like its organization, is decentralized. Anonymous seeks mass awareness and revolution against corrupt entities”.  The group activities began back in 2006-07 with the Habbo, Hal Turner raids and the Chris Forcand’s arrest but the mark year was 2008 with the protests against the Church of Scientology in order to protect the freedom of speech and end the financial exploitation of church members. Many protesters wore masks based on the character V from the graphic novel and movie ‘V for Vendetta’ who, in turn, was based on Guy Fawkes, the name of the person who planned to assassinate King James I on the 5th of November, 1605 in England. The common theme was the dismantling of something larger;   and it starts with the domino effect – one small thing after another, until the whole thing comes crashing down.  

In support of the Arab spring and due to censorship and corruption, Anonymous launched attacks such as “#Operation Tunisia”, “ #Operation Egypt” and “ #Operation Reasonable Reaction “.  The hacktivist group has more global vision fighting against the “system“ especially after the financial debacle of 2008. They believe the only one answer to that mystery is “Corruption“.  Out of control greed by fat-cat bankers on Wall Street had a negative impact on families as far away as Somalia. We now realize we are all linked, due to the octopus policy. This is globalization; and Anonymous believes global corruption needs global resistance.

Last September, this global corruption also gave birth to Occupy Wall Street.  As a result of the mass awareness against corrupt corporate entities, Anonymous has given support to the movement. With the “Occupy mentality” spreading over the past six months, people have been protesting locally, nationally and globally; and have even occupied social media adding another dimension to the movement. This has been a revolution full of creativity attracting many inspired artists of all genres. “Since art is considered a noble field, art should be used to promote all that is good and noble, and in a noble fashion” - E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly. This is what Dan Bellini, an artist from Chicago, believes. “I want to help spread the world about OWS” he said. This is a sample of one of the artists who became involved in designing the new concept of Occupy Wall Street through painting- like adding the Guy Fawkes mask to the ‘Mona Lisa’, Picasso’s ‘Old Guitarist’ or just a cartoon character. Our artist does that on demand for profile pictures on Facebook to people who support the Occupy Wall Street movement.

 
Occupy " Mona Liza"



Occupy "The Old Guitarist"
Occupy ""Whistler's Mother"
Occupy " Superman"
 
Occupy "Asterix "

Occupy "Sleeping Beauty"

“The spoken animal is a human
  The spoken human is an artist”

The global awareness becomes a culture through art and the new uncontrolled wave of freedom of speech. 



Friday, March 16, 2012

We need to adapt not to create stability : Exploiting Chaos


Recently and while I was taking a look on my Facebook profile a “recommended Ad “took my attention which led me to a how-to free eBook was written by Jeremy Gutsche an  innovation expert and the award-winning author of Exploiting Chaos . 

Exploiting Chaos describes and explains how to spark innovation during times of changes, time of total chaos which is the living situation in Tunisia during/after the revolution. According to news reports, analysts and entrepreneurs the instable situation stymied economic performance and unemployment rose among the university's graduates, sending the country’s economy into a tailspin.

Tunisia's newly elected government faces immediate challenges stabilizing the economy. It must reassure businesses and investors, bring budget and current account deficits under control, shore up the country's financial system and bring down high unemployment. 

Gutsche’s book defines chaos by the uncertainty sparked by uncharted territory, economic recession, and bubbles of opportunity. And it suggests that the next wave of management theory will be the science of adaptation. Accordingly, this book approaches adaptation using four equally important tactics: Culture of Revolution, Trend Hunting, Adaptive Innovation, and Infectious Messaging.

Personally I think that the government and the companies should stop complaining about the lack of resources and must learn not to create structure and stability, but rather, to adapt quickly. According to Jeremy Gutsche the culture is more important than strategy; Culture underlies the organization’s ability to adapt, and times of dramatic change magnify this importance. By creating an organizational culture of revolution, you can spark a new paradigm for creative change.

Exploiting Chaos(TM)

  •  Trend Hunting : Innovation and strategic advantage hinge on your ability to anticipate
    trends and identify the next big thing.
  • Adaptive Innovation : Engineers, designers, and scientists have invested billions of dollars to perfect human creativity. By applying the best of their proven practices to
    your own field, you can think big while acting small. You can rapidly identify
    and evaluate new opportunities.
  • Infectious Messaging: The Internet has created a world cluttered with chaos, but it has also created the world’s first viral platform for ideas. Well-packaged stories travel
    faster than ever before. Unfortunately, most marketers are stuck in a world dominated by traditional advertising and cliché. By cultivating infection, your ideas will resonate, helping you to leapfrog ahead of the competition.
I tried to present a compressed review but I highly recommend to read the book, the main idea and the cutting-edge framework in it can help solving the economic situation of some companies and inspire the new entrepreneur and why not the new government ;)
you can find the eBook here 
Act crazy*