Recent press clippings:

‘Global talent’

>>Technology is speeding up and globalizing the talent-sourcing and
talent-development process," says Rowan Gibson, who runs the European consulting firm Rethinking Group. In soccer, instead of waiting for promising youngsters to work their way up, teams will use the Net to cherry-pick budding stars early. Tech research labs might find a high school math prodigy who posts some of his theories on a Web site. An unknown writer in Ozona, Texas, might start a blog that leads to a book deal with a New York publisher. "The Net means you don't have to wait around to be discovered anymore," Gibson says. "That goes for all of us - no matter what we might excel at.<<

USAToday

‘Future Office’

>>As noted by Rowan Gibson, founder and chairman of Rethinking Group, the business world is discovering office design as a tool for implementing strategy. “Office design could be the next big thing in business,” insists Gibson. “It’s not about aesthetics. It’s about office design as a change agent of corporate culture.” What Gibson is learning – and architects have long argued – is that office design encodes a company’s values or culture into its structure.<<

BusinessWeek

‘ Once-dominant AT&T name may fade away’

>>One analyst says AT&T is now a bankers' game, a competition to see who can sell the pieces for the most. Rowan Gibson, British author of Rethinking the Future, is a little harsher. "You're talking about scrap value," he says. As for whether it will get chopped up so much the name disappears, Gibson says, "Sooner or later, yep. Let's not forget, this is a company with the word 'telegraph' in its name." Gibson says the strategy was wrong. "They've been going full speed ahead in the wrong direction," he says. Armstrong bought cable systems so AT&T could have a direct, high-bandwidth line into millions of homes, giving it a solid consumer business. But, Gibson says, AT&T should have dumped consumers and aimed at big-business customers, becoming the IBM of communications.<<

USAToday