10 Inspiring Ted Talks for Business Builders.

TED ISN’T JUST A STONED BEAR!

TED Talks are a circuit of very popular conferences which present “ideas worth spreading”.

TED has attracted some very notable presenters including Larry Page, Jane Goodall, Bill Clinton and a number of Nobel Prize Winners. Many of these talks are particularly useful for inspiring business growth, success and innovation.

Over time there has been a lot of stand outs, however these are some of our favourites.

1) HOW TO GET YOUR IDEAS TO SPREAD BY SETH GODIN

Author and marketing guru, Seth Godin explores the concept of why bizarre or bad ideas are more successful at gaining our attention than boring ones. This talk turns established ideas on their head with the concept that being very good can actually be very detrimental and encourages businesses and entrepreneurs to take risks and be remarkable. Godin has published a number of bestselling titles including “All Marketers Are Liars” and “Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable”.

2) LIFE LESSONS FROM AN AD MAN BY RORY SUTHERLAND

Entrepreneurs and business owners can learn a great deal from studying behavioral economics. Sutherland is the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy and Mather, one of the largest advertising and marketing agencies in the world. This talk discusses that changing the perceived value can strongly influence opinions and purchase decisions. Sutherland provides a presentation, which is not only deeply insightful but humorously filled with essential information for every business owner and entrepreneur.

3) ARE WE IN CONTROL OF OUR OWN DECISIONS BY DAN ARIELY

Ariely is a professor, author and behavioural economist. In this talk, he uses his astonishing research findings to illustrate that the decisions we make are not only inevitable but predictable. Harnessing the power of this concept can not only help with your marketing campaigns but could assist you in optimising your business performance. Ariely has written a number of books on this subject including “Predictably Irrational” and “The Honest Truth About Dishonesty”.

4) HOW GREAT LEADERS INSPIRE ACTION BY SIMON SINEK

Sinek is a Columbia University strategic communications professor, motivational speaker and author. His simple but powerful inspirational leadership model begins with the “golden circle of motivation” and questions why you do what you do rather than what you actually do. He has written a book exploring this subject further called “Start With Why”,

5) WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM BY STEVEN JOHNSON

Often ideas are credited to a “Eureka” moment but Johnson doesn’t believe that the process is this simple and shows how history agrees with him. Johnson is a best selling author of books which show the intersection of technology and science woven with his personal experience. His book “Where Good Ideas Come From” not only introduces this TED topic but explores the issue even further into the history of innovation.

6) THE PUZZLE OF MOTIVATION BY DANIEL PINK

Conventional rewards may not be as effective as you thought and using money to motivate your staff may actually be more harmful than beneficial. Pink is a journalist, author and former speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore. In this talk, he explores the possibility that people will actually perform worse when motivated with money or cash rewards.

7) THE 8 SECRETS OF SUCCESS BY RICHARD ST. JOHN

Is success a result of luck or intelligence? According to St.John, author and success analyst, the answer is neither. St. John has asked in excess of five hundred very successful people what helped them to succeed. The analysis of the answers revealed eight traits common to successful people. This is further detailed in St. John’s book “The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common”.

8) WHAT PHYSICS TAUGHT ME ABOUT MARKETING BY DAN COBLEY

Although marketing and physics don’t appear to have a great deal in common, Cobley, one of the marketing directors of Google has a passion for both. Cobley used Newton’s second law of motion, the scientific method of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and the second law for thermodynamics to explain fundamental theories of branding.

9) WHY WORK DOESN’T HAPPEN AT WORK BY JASON FRIED

Fried is the president and co-founder of 37Signals, a company specialising in building web based tools for productivity. He asserts that the office is not a good place to work with meetings and the concept of ASAP being toxic. He has three suggestions to fix your broken office, which are detailed in this talk. There is also further help and guidance in the book “REWORK” which was co-authored with David Heinemeier Hansson, providing new ways to conceptualize creating and working.

10) LET’S RAISE KIDS TO BE ENTREPRENEURS BY CAMERON HEROLD

Herold believes that the weekly allowance teaches children the wrong habits and nurtures the expectation of a regular paycheck. Herold doesn’t provide his children with an allowance, but has taught them to look for work in the yard which needs to be done and negotiate a price, developing their entrepreneurial spirit. In this TED Talk Herold details his case for a new form of education and parenting which would encourage would be entrepreneurs to flourish. Herold has been building businesses all this life and coaches CEO’s globally, He has also written “Double Double” to help businesses double their profits and revenues in three years or less.