Okay, “analysis” is probably too strong a word. I try to offer a reasoned and thoughtful point of view on topics of interest, usually as a layman or generalist. Sometimes it’s complete drivel — we’re open for comment.
Following my exploration of “systematic creativity,” I was pleased to take up sociologist David Stark’s new book, The Sense of Dissonance: Accounts of Worth in Economic Life (2009)
Continue reading How Dissonance Creates the Conditions for Innovation »
When a robot from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield (HBCBS) left my wife a message Monday, I was provoked first by the cheerful, familiar voice inflection in the greeting:
It’s the second call from the health insurance company in a week, so perhaps a familiar tone is warranted.
Continue reading Healthcare Solution: Insurance Company Says Peel Fresh Citrus »
With the announcement of today’s “jobs numbers” I thought I should publish some data I collected on how the mass media covers this ritual monthly release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ “Employment Situation” report, one of the most regular and widely consumed sources of information about U.S. jobs.
A couple potentially interesting findings are:
Continue reading Finding: Job Elimination Is More Newsworthy than Job Growth »
I’ve always felt that I should hate advertising. After all, shouldn’t I resent the TV spots and magazine blow-ins, the billboards and subway placards, the online banners and popups, all the devices the world’s media planners have devised to manipulate me and sell my “eyeballs”? Shouldn’t I resist being made to participate almost involuntarily in the economic conquests of corporate players whose interests I don’t share? And really, shouldn’t I be concerned for what all these commercial messages might be doing to me?
Continue reading Marketing That Makes the Product Better »
I recently joined Huffington Post co-founder Ken Lerer for his series of sessions at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism designed to instigate entrepreneurs among the current class of journalists who, mind you, have scant job prospects in traditional media. For one of the sessions, Lerer invited viral marketing whiz and founder of BuzzFeed Jonah Peretti to discuss growth models for Web start-ups.
Lerer and Peretti, both successful media entrepreneurs, agreed that there are two possible models:
Continue reading A Call for Writers to Renovate the Web »
My name is Jonathan C. Hall. I am a sometime designer, a one-time inventor, and an incurable generalist. I have been a beat reporter, a researcher for the smartest woman in the world, a technology consultant to the likes of Rob Jarvik and King Abdullah II of Jordan, and a student of science and the humanities. I've spent an obscene portion of my adult life drawing smiley faces. I hold a BA summa cum laude from Harvard University, where I studied languages and religion, and am currently pursuing a PhD in Communications from Columbia University. I'm easily distracted by problems and opportunities outside my limited expertise. "Creative Distraction" was born when I started writing about it. Read More »
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