Editor’s Choices for Week Ending Jul 13, 2012

Article of the Week
Why Millennials Don’t Want To Buy Stuff (Fast Company)
Big Idea: People aren’t shopping to “own” things in the traditional sense anymore. Here are the real reasons people are purchasing things now–and what we can do to tap into this new power.

Editor’s Choice Articles
Act Fast, but Not Necessarily First (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: The faster we can execute a decision, the more time we free up to understand the task, gather information, and analyze the issues. If we require too much time to decide or act, we are forced to finish observing and orienting earlier. And if we act too quickly, we might respond to a problem that changes or even goes away before the deadline. The four-step OODA framework works for decisions of all types, small and large.

Bring Back the General Manager (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: Obviously we can’t reverse the structural trends of the past two decades. However, companies can take steps to give their people more general management experience, which may help them avoid the narrowness of functional specialization. Here are several ideas.

When the Crowd Isn’t Wise (NYTimes)
Big Idea: The answer, I think, is to take the best of what both experts and markets have to offer, realizing that the combination of the two offers a better window onto the future than either alone. Markets are at their best when they can synthesize large amounts of disparate information, as on an election night. Experts are most useful when a system exists to identify the most truly knowledgeable — a system that often resembles a market.

Keep Your Sarbanes-Oxley Off My CFO (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: Certainly, let the board, and the audit committee, spend all the time they need, in whatever setting they choose, getting whatever reports they request and asking whatever questions they need to ask. Let them continue to expect nothing but straightforward, honest answers, and let all CFOs know that their jobs depend on being candid and honest…But let CFOs do their jobs. Let them continue to report to, and support, their CEO bosses. Asking executives other than the CEO to report directly to the board will set a foolish and dangerous precedent.

Q: What’s Info-Finding Site Mancx’s Big Idea? A: Charging Money For Facts (Fast Company)
Big Idea: Mattias had read a book by Charlie Stross called Accelerando, where the main character, Manford Mancx, is an information broker in the future. We realized how hard it was to get a hold of good, solid information online. We decided to create a marketplace for information. Say you need to know where your competitor is buying or sourcing their material, for example. Mancx enables people to buy and sell this information.

5 Tips for Managing a Decentralized Workforce (Inc.)
Big Idea: When an entire team works under the same roof challenges exist; but their proximity allows them to quickly address any issue and deal with it directly. It’s much more complicated when you have a team spread across multiple offices. The following five- step program will help you manage a decentralized workforce.