Social contact lists are being paired with intelligent algorithms to help workers better understand the people inside their existing networks and identify individuals with whom they should be doing business. Address book applications gather existing information from users’ social networks to provide cues on how workers are connected to others. Business minded services are also leveraging geo-location data to create timely connections between contacts based on their proximity to one another.

via Contextual Rolodex – A Future Of Work Trend – PSFK.

Social communication tools are being baked into business processes to provide more fluid workflows and enable data gathering to make better business decisions. Using the popular form factor of social networks and user-friendly graphic interfaces, these platforms help remove obstacles around effective use.

via Social Workflow – A Future Of Work Trend – PSFK.

We need creative leaders in business. The lifespan of large companies will continue to shrink unless they learn to reinvent themselves. The lack of creativity is a problem — a 2010 IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the number one leadership competency of the future – but what are we doing to address it? Unlike the Flynn effect, in which IQ rises with each successive generation, creativity scores among U.S. children have been falling since 1990.

via Steve Jobs Isn’t The Only Kind Of Artist Leader – Forbes.

In terms of creativity, it takes a positive outlier such as Apple, the technology company, to show what business is missing. Steve Jobs, the former chief executive, was explicit that Apple’s distinctiveness and success were in large part due to its conscious marrying of the liberal arts and the physical sciences.

via The Art of Leadership – FT.

Since Sinek is the leader of a movement aimed at challenging people to find their “why,” I was surprised and intrigued when I saw his recent video about a time when he lost his sense of purpose.

via Officers Eat Last: Simon Sinek’s Revelations on Purpose and Leadership – Forty.