MANAGEMENT /LEADERSHIP SPECIAL ...................12 Weak Habits Every Leader Must Break

12 Weak Habits Every Leader Must Break

Don't let these bad leadership habits damage your credibility for good.

Chances are, you're guilty of at least one of these bad habits. But as your startup grows, so must your competency as its leader. We asked 12 young founders from YEC what habits leaders should work on breaking now--before it's too late.

1. Always Giving the Answer

Many leaders walk into a room ready to dish out advice to the team, which sets the tone for a hierarchical relationship with little transparency and stunts the team's growth potential. The best leaders empower teams to uncover the answers on their own, coming alongside to support through questions and experience, but never just giving the answer.
--Emily Holdman, PeopleKit

2. Not Following Through

Leaders whose teams watch them continually drop the ball lose respect and credibility, especially when their teams are being "told" by the leader to do "so much work." When you promise your team you are going to have something done, have it done. The sense of urgency will suddenly go out the window for many other tasks if you lack execution on a regular basis. --Jon Cline, Rokit SEO

3. Lacking Accountability

It's important to hold yourself just as accountable as you hold your team. You will earn credibility with them by providing clear direction, checking in, and being their best cheerleader, no matter how small the task. Your team is motivated by your passion.
--Ashley Mady, Brandberry

4. Bottlenecking

I'm just as guilty as the next guy. I am slowly letting go, but for a while I needed to review every single piece of content, design, or even tweet that we sent out on behalf of my firm. No one can keep up with that, especially as a growing organization. I became a bottleneck at every turn, and eventually my workers stopped looping me in, cc'ing me, or updating me. Don't be a roadblock! --Maren Hogan, Red Branch Media

5. Managing by Butts in Seats

Your best employees get huge amounts of work done. Stop making them log hours.
--Wade Foster, Zapier

6. Inconsistency

Just like trust, credibility is something that is earned, not given. Being consistent in your instructions, viewpoint, and vision helps others on your team trust you and earns you credibility in their eyes. Constantly changing direction and instructions make you seem scattered and causes others to lose confidence in your credibility over time.
--Kim Kaupe, ZinePak

7. Micromanaging

It's hard to give up control as your organization grows. When you're a one-person startup, you have to have your hands in everything. When you're five people, you can get away with having your hands in everything. But once you start to have specialists, you have to trust others to do what you hired them to do. Employees will do better work if they feel empowered to use their best judgement.
--Jared Feldman, Mashwork

8. Yelling

Some people are intimidated by those who yell, but smart people know that those who yell are often trying to cover up a lack of internal confidence or insecurity. Yelling shows that your method of control is through overpowering and not garnering respect. If you have to yell to make your employees listen or do what you want, you've already lost the battle.
--Michael Costigan, Youth Leadership Specialist

9. Not Listening

Your team is in the trenches and may have access to an important perspective that you might not have considered. Your job is to build a team that offers the combined power of 10 minds, not that of just one know-it-all. Listen to your team, and make them feel appreciated. Otherwise, they won't respect your leadership. When they respect you, they'll be more likely to feed you important opinions. --Andy Karuza, Brandbuddee

10. Overpromising and Under-Delivering

As the leader, you are held accountable for every word said to your team. For that reason, it is critical to always be mindful of promises made. When outlining plans/goals to your team, always set mini-goals that are easily achievable. Hitting these goals consistently is easier, and the success of accomplishing these tasks will help your credibility and raise team morale.
--Anthony Saladino, Kitchen Cabinet Kings

11. Not Doing What You Say You Will

Leading a startup or a new company is exciting, and there are a lot of different offers and opportunities that will come your way. But until you are sure of something, be cautious about announcing it to the company. It's understandable that with new companies things will change, but the more you can stay true to your word and properly set expectations, the more credibility you will have with your employees. Do what you say, and say what you mean. Having credibility with your employees not only boosts morale but will increase overall productivity and camaraderie. --Zachary Yungst, Cater2.me

12. Defaulting to Secrecy and Vagueness

When communicating with your team, be as specific, clear and honest as possible to build trust and credibility. This will also make your team more efficient by eliminating productivity killers like distraction, concern, uneasiness, and gossip. --John Berkowitz, Yodle

BY YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR COUNCIL  

http://www.inc.com/young-entrepreneur-council/12-weak-habits-every-leader-must-break.html?cid=em01014week31b

PERSONAL SPECIAL ...............................Is Your Environment Hurting Your Chances for Success?

Is Your Environment Hurting Your Chances for Success?

Don't overlook how important the environments in which you choose to work are to your success.

There is no doubt that environment influences how you think, believe, and live. In the field of psychology, there is an ongoing debate on nature versus nurture, both regarded as powerful influencers on confidence and the ability to succeed. But how do these factors shape entrepreneurs? I would argue that though the past plays a significant role in who you become, the choice of environment in which to work--especially as you're working your way up--is another important part of the success equation.

Buckminster Fuller, an American neo-futuristic architect, said it perfectly: "Everyone is born a genius, but the process of living de-geniuses them."

Whatever work environment you are in, a certain intelligence or talent is always valued. If you happen to have an intelligence that is aligned with that of the company, then you will rise to the top quickly. The problem is that it's a losing battle for those that don't have the valued intelligence--and that kills their confidence in the process.

One's environment--whether it is home, the community, a company, or a city--subtly dictates core values and intelligence. For example, I once worked at a bank where analytical marketing was the "genius" of the company. Therefore, the most-coveted skill was analytical ability. If you were a quantitative wiz, you felt as though you were the best. Project management, however, though seen as important, was not the most critical skill needed for the company's success. If you were a project manager, then you would have to think hard about your ability to maximize your performance in that specific environment.

The same thing happens in organizations, schools, and households--pretty much anywhere you operate.

For this reason, in order to truly cultivate your genius, you have to see yourself with nonjudgmental eyes, and then translate that picture into value separately. You then need to find the environment in which your genius is valued, cultivate it within that environment, and display it to the right audience.

More often than not, we unconsciously put ourselves in environments that don't fit, because of expectations from others. We then question why we aren't successful. While most of us tend to easily avoid the obviously bad fits, more often we end up choosing an environment that may be a partial fit. For example, you may have the makings of a successful CTO, but you may not be clear on what type of technology environment is the most optimal for you to cultivate your genius. Money and prestige can lead us astray from the right genius fit.

In order to avoid winding up in the wrong place for your particular strengths, here are three ways to identify whether you are in the right environment to maximize your success:

1. You see lots of opportunity beyond the work you are focused on in the present moment. 

You can clearly see how your talent could be used in multiple ways for the company that you are in. Others see it, too--and communicate the fact that your perspective and contribution is invaluable.

2. You feel confident about expressing your unique thoughts and perspective.

When you are in the right environment, you feel good about being yourself and being who you really are without any fear of rejection. You have the confidence to speak your mind and share your authentic and potentially innovative or controversial perspective.

3. You are making an impact that feels right. 

The impact you are creating for your organization or your audience motivates you and drives you to do more.

If you find you are not in the right environment, based on these criteria, it may be that you are in the wrong company or field, or a sign that you need to be more vocal about how your strength and genius can add value. The bottom line is that the environment you are in dictates the expectations and measures of success--and if it's not a good fit, it can keep you from paying attention to your unique gifts.

BY LAURA GARNETT  

http://www.inc.com/laura-garnett/is-your-environment-hurting-your-chances-at-success.html?cid=em01020week31e

MANAGEMENT SPECIAL..................... Why Mindful Individuals Make Better Decision

MANAGEMENT SPECIAL Why Mindful Individuals Make Better Decision

Mindfulness is practiced in board rooms from Silicon Valley to Wall Street. But just how much does it improve the quality of your decision-making?

Five years ago when I introduced mindfulness to my MBA decision-making class it was perceived as something completely esoteric; there were maybe two or three students who could relate to the concept. Today, not only have most of them heard about it, many are practicing it. More and more corporations are offering mindfulness training to their employees. It’s being incorporated into negotiation techniques and leadership manuals, in fact every area of business where strong decisions are required.

While it’s generally accepted that mindfulness helps decision-makers to reach conclusions, there’s growing evidence the positive influence goes much further, impacting the way decisions are identified, made, implemented and assessed.

Close analysis of the latest mindfulness research, with Jochen Reb, Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Singapore Management University, for a chapter in the upcoming book Mindfulness in Organisations, suggests that mindfulness techniques can have a positive effect on all our widely-recognised stages of the decision-making process.

1.     Framing the decision

Mindfulness can assist in being proactive and identifying when a decision should be made: clarifying the objectives, generating options, avoiding irrational escalation of commitment to a previous bad decision (the sunk cost bias) as well as recognising the ethical dimension of the choice to be made. Research shows that people who are more mindful are also more aware of their ethical principles and make decisions aligned to those values. This links mindfulness with authenticity.

Before making any decision, mindful individuals take time to pause and reflect and listen to their inner selves assessing their own values and objectives.  Decision-makers who fail to link decisions with their major goals may find their choice takes them somewhere they don’t necessarily want to be.

In some cases, mindfulness can even help in identifying whether a decision is really necessary. Newly-hired managers, for example, are often under pressure to take action, make changes. By bending to social pressure without listening to their inner voice they may find themselves making decisions they are not comfortable with.

2.     Gathering information

Once the decision is identified, the decision-maker must set about identifying information necessary to make the right choice. The two important aspects of this stage relevant to mindfulness are the quantity and quality of information being collected and processed.

It’s been argued that mindfulness can narrow the decision-maker’s scope of focus, limiting the amount of information under their consideration.  While this could be true, and more studies have to be done in this area, we believe that given the heightened awareness of their own values and objectives, the information considered by a mindful individual is potentially more relevant to the decision at hand.

Mindful decision-makers are also more likely to recognise the limits of their knowledge and to objectively assess uncertainty. In fact, independent research taken as part of our study found people who are more mindful have a greater tolerance of uncertainty and are more decisive when faced with making a choice despite many unknowns.

3.     Coming to a conclusion

When choosing a course of action, good judgment requires both intuition and systematic analysis. Sometimes these differ, and this is when many decision-makers get stuck. Mindfulness can help individuals examine and quantify these discrepancies. Their heightened understanding of their own values and priorities means they are better able to identify which of the trade-offs are more important in a given situation.

By standing on a metaphorical “balcony” – that is, by distancing themselves from their emotions and thoughts, mindfulness has the potential to help decision-makers make clearer, better quality choices. Mindful individuals have a better ability to separate relevant from irrelevant information and are likely to rely less on stereotypes when making a decision.

Importantly, coming to conclusions also includes implementing the decision. Once the choice of action has been made, studies show more mindful individuals are less likely to fall victim to the intention-behaviour gap, that is, the disconnect between knowing what you need to do and actually doing it.

4.     Learning from feedback

This final stage of decision-making is arguably the most important for improving one’s decision-making prowess in the long run, but is often neglected by decision-makers. Because of heightened awareness, mindful individuals may be more likely to learn the right lessons from experience. They are more likely to recognise when feedback is missing and, importantly, they are able to disengage from ego-concerns making them more open to negative feedback.

Mindfulness helps decision-makers learn in an unbiased way. It’s a well-known phenomenon in psychology that we often attribute our past success to our own skill and our past failures to some external circumstance. This can lead to overconfidence; which can be quite disastrous in organisational or entrepreneurial situations. Accepting that you made a mistake is not easy. It takes courage, especially in the corporate context where you are being judged by others. Mindfulness, through its demonstrated link with lower cognitive defensiveness may help to sincerely appraise the outcome of a decision, even when this outcome is less positive than expected or desired.

Proceed with caution

While mindfulness may improve many aspects of decision-making, managers should be cautious and consider its potential adverse effects. As noted, while mindfulness is likely to increase the quality of information considered for making a decision, it may also reduce the quantity of information screened, and may lead to overlooking important considerations.

Focusing on personal values rather than socially desirable objectives can be a good thing, but taken to the extreme can lead to egotistical decisions which may be particularly dangerous if the decision-maker doesn’t have very ethical values.

There is also the potential danger that paying heightened attention to present long-term objectives may mean not enough weight is given to past or future factors.

Finally, making a mindful decision takes time, so if a decision has to be made quickly then the process may be less  advantageous. However, evidence suggests while the decision-making process is often slower, once a choice has been made then, because of the consideration already given, the implementation will be faster.

Savouring the decision-making experience

The extra time taken can also be seen as a benefit. It ensures decision-making is a more pleasant experience. Research shows that when you pay attention to things you are more capable of savouring the experience. The more focus given to making a decision, the more facets of it are exposed and the more surprising, rich, and revealing the experience will be.

Discovering the new and amazing in ordinary things is just one of the consequences of mindfulness.

Natalia Karelaia is an Assistant Professor of Decision Sciences at INSEAD

Read more at http://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-management/why-mindful-individuals-make-better-decisions-3479?utm_source=INSEAD+Knowledge&utm_campaign=04cfe90be8-31_July_mailer7_31_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e079141ebb-04cfe90be8-249840429&nopaging=1#T5uSxufm4JGofYm3.99

GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL.......................... Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Has One Of The Best Displays Yet

GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Has One Of The Best Displays Yet

The key element for a great tablet has always been a truly innovative and top performing display, and the best leading edge tablets have always flaunted their beautiful high tech displays.

With its third-generation Surface Pro 3, Microsoft has produced an excellent professional-grade high-performance display for Windows. In fact, based on our extensive lab tests and measurements, the Surface Pro 3 has one of the very best and most accurate displays available on any mobile platform and OS. It joins near the top of a small set of tablets that have excellent top tier displays -for professionals that need a very accurate and high performance display for their work, and for consumers that want and appreciate a really nice and beautiful display. We'll cover these issues and much more, with in-depth comprehensive display tests, measurements and analysis that you will find nowhere else.

Microsoft provided DisplayMate Technologies with a production unit of the Surface Pro 3 so that we could perform our well known objective and comprehensive display Lab tests, measurements, and analysis, explaining the in-depth display performance results for consumers, reviewers, and journalists.

The display shoot-out

To examine the performance of the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Display we ran our in-depth series of Mobile Display Technology Shoot-Out Lab tests and measurements in order to determine how it performs compared to other leading tablets. We take display quality very seriously and provide in-depth objective analysis based on detailed laboratory tests and measurements and extensive viewing tests with both test patterns, test images and test photos. To see how far LCD and OLED mobile displays have progressed in just four years see our 2010 Smartphone Display Shoot-Out, and for a real history lesson see our original 2006 Smartphone Display Shoot-Out.

Results highlights

In this Results section we provide Highlights of the comprehensive DisplayMate Lab tests and measurements and extensive visual comparisons using test photos, test images, and test patterns that are covered in the advanced sections. The Display Shoot-Out Comparison Table summarizes the lab measurements in the following categories: Screen Reflections, Brightness and Contrast,Colors and Intensities, Viewing Angles, LCD Spectra, Display Power. You can also skip these highlights and go directly to the Conclusions.

12-inch display with 3:2 aspect ratio

The Surface Pro 3 is unusual in that it is designed to perform both as a large tablet and a small laptop. With a 12-inch screen diagonal it is considerably larger most tablets, with a screen area that is 87 percent larger than the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, 47 percent larger than the Apple iPad Air, and 34 percent larger than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5. With its adjustable kickstand, the angle of the display can be adjusted in the same way as a laptop, an important viewing and working advantage.

The Screen's 3:2 (1.50) aspect ratio is an excellent compromise between the 4:3 (1.33) aspect ratio for most documents (the same as 8.5x11 inch paper with 0.5 inch borders, and also the iPad's 4:3 (1.33) aspect ratio) and 16:9 (1.78) aspect ratio for widescreen video content (and similar to Android tablets that have a 16:10 (1.60) aspect ratio).

Display sharpness and sub-pixel rendering

The display's 2160x1440 pixel resolution has 3.1 megapixels, 50 percent more than an HDTV, but on a 12-inch screen. The screen's 216 pixels per inch (ppi) is very good but somewhat lower than on other full size tablets, like the Apple iPad Air with 264 ppi and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 with 287 ppi. However, because its 12-inch screen is larger it is also typically held further away. At typical viewing distances of 16 inches or more the pixels are not resolved with normal 20/20 vision, so the display appears perfectly sharp. In addition, the Surface Pro 3 uses sub-pixel rendering (called ClearType in Microsoft's implementation) that significantly improves the visual sharpness of text over standard pixel rendering that is used in most mobile displays. For black and white and gray images with sub-pixel rendering, there is up to a factor of three improvement in image sharpness.

Color gamut and absolute color accuracy

The Surface Pro 3 also has the most accurate on-screen colors of any tablet or smartphone display that we have ever measured for the sRGB/Rec.709 standard that is used in virtually all current consumer content for digital cameras, HDTVs, the internet, and computers, including photos, videos, and movies. Its Color Gamut is 97 percent, very close to the standard gamut.. The Absolute Color Accuracy for the Surface Pro 3 is an excellent 2.1 JNCD, the most color accurate display that we have ever measured for a tablet or smartphone.

Color Accuracy is especially important for professional imaging applications when you must be sure of the on-screen image colors, when viewing photos from family and friends (because you often know exactly what they actually should look like), for some TV shows, movies, and sporting events with image content and colors that you are familiar with, and also for viewing online merchandise, so you have a very good idea of exactly what colors you are buying and are less likely to return them.

Intensity scale and accurate image contrast

The intensity scale (sometimes called the gray scale) not only controls the contrast within all displayed images but it also controls how the red, green, and blue primary colors mix to produce all of the on-screen colors. So if the intensity scale doesn't follow the standard that is used to produce virtually all consumer content then the colors and intensities will be wrong everywhere in all images. Unfortunately, many manufacturers are quite sloppy with the intensity scale on their displays because it has to be set and measured logarithmically (to a precise mathematical power-law). Fortunately, the intensity scale on Surface Pro 3 is very good, although somewhat variable at low signal levels under 25 percent..

Display brightness

The Surface Pro 3 has a peak brightness of 371 cd/m² (nits), which is very good, but somewhat lower than other tablets like the Apple iPad Air with 449 nits and the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 with 527 nits. High screen brightness is only needed when working in high ambient light, but since the Surface Pro 3 is larger it is less likely to be opened outdoors in unshielded high ambient light environments like smartphones and smaller tablets, so its somewhat lower (but still very good) peak brightness should not be an issue for most users and applications.

Screen reflectance and performance in ambient lighting

Displays are seldom used in absolute darkness, so their screen reflectance and performance in ambient lighting is very important. For the Surface Pro 3 it's not as critical as with smartphones and smaller Tablets because its larger 12-inch screen is less likely to be opened outdoors in unshielded high ambient light environments. The adjustable kickstand is particularly useful for adjusting the display angle in order to minimize reflections.

The screen reflectance for the Surface Pro 3 is 5.9 percent, which is very good and much better than most tablets and smartphones. It is in between the 6.5 percent for the iPad Air and 5.0 percent for the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, but 26 percent higher than the record low 4.7 percent for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5. The display's contrast rating for high ambient light measures the screen's readability in ambient light and depends on both the screen reflectance and maximum brightness. For the Surface Pro 3 it is 63, which is again very good and better than most tablets and smartphones. It is again in between the 61 for the iPad Air and 78 for the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, but significantly lower than a number of Tablets that have values over 100. Again, this is less critical for the Surface Pro 3 because its larger 12 inch screen it is less likely to be opened outdoors in unshielded high ambient light environments.

Viewing angle performance

While tablets are primarily single viewer devices, the variation in display performance with viewing angle is still very important because single viewers frequently hold the display at a variety of viewing angles, plus they are large enough for sharing the screen with others. The viewing angle can be very large if the display is lying flat on a table or desk. One important advantage of the Surface Pro 3 is its adjustable kickstand, which makes it possible to adjust the viewing angle of the display in the same way as a laptop. That is not only convenient but also reduces any viewing angle effects.

The Surface Pro 3 has a high performance IPS/PLS LCD display, so we expected it to show very small color shifts with viewing angle, and our lab measurements confirmed its excellent viewing angle performance, with no visually noticeable color shifts. However, all LCDs, do have a strong decrease in brightness (luminance) with viewing angle, and the Surface Pro 3 showed (as expected) slightly more than a 50 percent decrease in brightness at a modest 30 degree viewing angle.

Viewing tests

With its relatively accurate intensity scale and very accurate colors the Surface Pro 3 provides very nice, pleasing and accurate colors, and picture quality. The very challenging set of DisplayMate test and calibration photos that we use to evaluate picture quality looked beautiful, even to my experienced hyper-critical eyes. However, viewers that like vivid or exaggerated colors and image contrast may find the accurate Surface Pro 3 images to appear somewhat subdued.

Display power efficiency

While the Surface Pro 3 display is considerably larger in area than the other top tier tablets and would normally be expected to require considerably more power, its display is more power efficient and it actually uses less power than many smaller tablets. For example, for an equivalent area and display brightness the Apple iPad Air display uses 66 percent more display power than the Surface Pro 3. This is due in part to its lower pixels per inch, which affects the display's power efficiency, but it is also the result of using higher efficiency white LEDs and optical stack in the Surface Pro 3 display.

Surface Pro 3 conclusions: An excellent top tier display

An excellent top tier display

Based on our extensive lab tests and measurements on the display for the Surface Pro 3, Microsoft has produced an excellent professional-grade high-performance display for Windows. In fact, the Surface Pro 3 has one of the very best and most accurate displays available on any mobile platform and OS. It joins near the top of a small set of Tablets that have excellent top tier displays -ideal for professionals that need a very accurate high performance display for their work, and for consumers that want and appreciate a really nice and beautiful display.

The Surface Pro 3 delivers uniformly consistent all around top tier display performance: it is only the second display to ever to get all green (very good to excellent) ratings in all test and measurement categories (except for brightness variation with viewing angle, which is the case for all LCDs) since we started the Display Technology shoot-out article series in 2006, an impressive achievement for a display.

Most accurate colors

The Surface Pro 3 also has the most accurate on-screen colors of any tablet or smartphone display that we have ever measured for all standard consumer content (sRGB/Rec.709). That is another impressive achievement because everything in the display has to perform just right in order to produce very accurate colors -it is the single most challenging and important performance characteristic for a display. The absolute color accuracy for the Surface Pro 3 is an excellent 2.1 JNCD.

Color accuracy is especially important for professional imaging applications when you must be sure of the on-screen image colors, when viewing photos from family and friends (because you often know exactly what they actually should look like), for some TV shows, movies, and sporting events with image content and colors that you are familiar with, and also for viewing online merchandise, so you have a very good idea of exactly what colors you are buying and are less likely to return them.

Comparisons with the Amazon Kindle Fire, Apple iPad Air, and Samsung Galaxy Tab S

First of all, the Surface Pro 3 is considerably larger in screen area than the other tablets: 87 percent larger than the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, 47 percent larger than the Apple iPad Air, and 34 percent larger than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5. The other tablets have somewhat higher peak brightness, but since the Surface Pro 3 is larger it is less likely to be opened outdoors in unshielded high ambient light environments like smartphones and smaller tablets, its somewhat lower (but still very good) peak brightness of 371 cd/m² (nits) should not be an issue for most users and applications. With its adjustable kickstand, the angle of the display can be adjusted in the same way as a laptop, an important viewing and working advantage.

In 2013 the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 became the top performing tablet display in our Display Technology Shoot-Out series. It was the very first display to ever to get all green (very good to excellent) ratings in all categories (except for brightness variation with viewing angle, which is the case for all LCDs) since we started the Display Technology shoot-out article series in 2006. The Surface Pro 3 is the only other display to ever accomplish this, an impressive achievement for a display. Both are excellent top tier tablets, however, the Surface Pro 3 is more accurately calibrated than the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, with the best absolute color accuracy that we have ever measured, so it scores higher in overall display performance.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 remains the top performing mobile display in our Display Technology shoot-out series, however, the Surface Pro 3 is neck-to-neck with the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 in most performance categories. Both are tied for first place with the best absolute color accuracy that we have ever measured, which is the single most challenging and important performance characteristic for a display. Where the Galaxy S leads is in providing color management for differently calibrated screen modes, and for records in several categories for tablet display performance.

The Apple iPad Air, which came in second after the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, remains a very good tablet display, however, the Surface Pro 3 is more accurately calibrated than the Apple iPad Air, with the best absolute color accuracy that we have ever measured. The iPad Air now moves into fourth place behind the three other top tier tablets.

The next generation of mobile displays-better performance in ambient light

What is really impressive is that we are continuing to see visually significant improvements in display performance in periods of under one year. With display technology advancing rapidly on many different fronts this is likely to continue and even accelerate in the near future as the result of multiple improvements that are combined to work together, so expect many more major display improvements in the near future.

The most important developments for the upcoming generations of both LCD and OLED mobile displays will come from improvements in their image and picture quality in real world ambient light, which washes out the on-screen images, resulting in reduced readability, image contrast, and color saturation and accuracy. The key will be in enlarging the native color gamut and then dynamically changing the display's color management and intensity scales with the measured ambient light level in order to automatically compensate for reflected glare and image wash out from Ambient Light .

Dr. Raymond Soneira - DisplayMate Technologies, Gawker Media

MEETING SPECIAL................................ BRAINSTORMING DOESN'T WORK; TRY THIS TECHNIQUE INSTEAD

MEETING SPECIAL BRAINSTORMING DOESN'T WORK; TRY THIS TECHNIQUE INSTEAD

EVER BEEN IN A MEETING WHERE ONE LOUDMOUTH'S MEDIOCRE IDEA DOMINATES? THEN YOU KNOW BRAINSTORMING NEEDS AN OVERHAUL.

Brainstorming, in its current form and by many metrics, doesn't work as well as the frequency of "team brainstorming meetings" would suggests it does.

EARLY IDEAS TEND TO HAVE DISPROPORTIONATE INFLUENCE OVER THE REST OF THE CONVERSATION.

Sharing ideas in groups isn't the problem, it's the "out-loud" part that, ironically, leads to groupthink, instead of unique ideas. "As sexy as brainstorming is, with people popping like champagne with ideas, what actually happens is when one person is talking you're not thinking of your own ideas," Leigh Thompson, a management professor at the Kellogg School, told Fast Company. "Sub-consciously you're already assimilating to my ideas."

That process is called "anchoring," and it crushes originality. "Early ideas tend to have disproportionate influence over the rest of the conversation," Loran Nordgren, also a professor at Kellogg, explained. "They establish the kinds of norms, or cement the idea of what are appropriate examples or potential solutions for the problem."

Because brainstorming favors the first ideas, it also breeds the least creative ideas, a phenomenon called conformity pressure. People hoping to look smart and productive will blurt out low-hanging fruit first. Everyone else then rallies around that idea both internally and externally. Unfortunately, that takes up time and energy, leaving a lot the best thinking undeveloped. We've all been in meetings like this: Some jerk says the obvious thing before anyone else, taking all of the glory; everyone else harrumphs. Brainstorm session over.

To avoid these problems, both Thompson and Nordgren suggest another, quieter process: brainwriting. (The phrase, now used by Thompson, was coined by UT Arlington professor Paul Paulus.) The general principle is that idea generation should exist separate from discussion. Although the two professors have slightly different systems, they both offer the same general solution: write first, talk second.

Brainstorming works best if before or at the beginning of the meeting, people write down their ideas. Then everyone comes together to share those ideas out loud in a systematic way. Thompson has her participants post all the ideas on a wall, without anyone's name attached and then everyone votes on the best ones. "It should be a meritocracy of ideas," she said. "It's not a popularity contest." Only after that do people talk.

Nordgren, via an app he developed called Candor, has people record their thoughts before the meeting. Then, everyone goes around in a circle saying each idea.

This write first, discuss later system eliminates the anchoring problem because people think in a vacuum, unbiased by anyone else. Of course, people still jot down the most obvious ideas, which aren't necessarily bad ideas. But in brainstorming the goal is quantity, not quality. To avoid spending too much time on repetitive suggestions, people using Candor only present ideas someone else hasn't already said.

IN MOST MEETINGS WITH TRADITIONAL BRAINSTORMING, A FEW PEOPLE DO 60-75% OF THE TALKING. WITH BRAINWRITING, EVERYONE GETS A CHANCE.

In her studies, Thompson found that brainwriting groups generated 20% more ideas and 42% more original ideas as compared to traditional brainstorming groups, she writes in her book Creative Conspiracy. "I was shocked to find there's not a single published study in which a face-to-face brainstorming group outperforms a brainwriting group," she said. In Nordgren's research he has found that the process leads to more diverse and candid ideas.

Discussion still has its merits, but should only take place after the group has generated a variety of distinct ideas with which to work. Raw ideas rarely work. It's the permutation and combination of the outlandish and banal that lead to the best proposals. "Usually the best idea that is selected at the end isn't exactly what anyone came up with at the beginning; the idea has been edited," Nordgren added.

The best part of introverted thinking, however, is that it cuts down on what I'll call the "loudmouth meeting-hog phenomenon." You know the type: the person who, along with one or two other people, dominate the conversation. (Here Fast Company's Baratunde Thurston acts out this very scenario with Behance Co-Founder Scott Belsky.) Thompson's studies have found that in most meetings with traditional brainstorming, a few people do 60-75% of the talking. With brainwriting, everyone gets a chance.

BY REBECCA GREENFIELD

http://www.fastcompany.com/3033567/agendas/brainstorming-doesnt-work-try-this-technique-instead?partner=newsletter