Chameleon PR

A report from The Future Labratory claims we are more happy because we are blending our work and home lives using new technology.

Commenting on the survey, The Independent implies that as a result of working-life blending we are happier with “almost half of us (46.8 per cent, to be exact) throwing off the chains that bind us to our desks and taking jobs that involve working away from the office, on our own terms”.

Sorry but mobile technology for work just means working longer/harder, no matter how you dress it up. I’m comparing the number of laptops on trains today with how many people you would you see consciously scribbling work notes before mobile computing? The survey points out 77 per cent of people felt new technology had improved productivity.

For me, technology can certainly help us work smarter. Guess it depends what you are doing but does working longer or harder make people happy?

Yesterday the UK’s media heavyweights met at The Guardian’s Changing Media Summit 2007 and I was lucky enough to attend. I’m going to write up some thoughts but for a taster visit Kevin Anderson’s blog here for transcripts of the roundtable debates.

The central theme of the summit was social media and its effect on old media and how the two are/will integrate. The comforting thing I took away from the conference was that everyone’s in the same boat. We are all trying to get our heads around how social media will continue to develop, touching our business and home lives, including the Guardian’s editor! Just when we begin to understand one new technology along comes another application of it that changes the media landscape again. Anway I’m twittering now. More soon…

A new silicon.com survey has found that leadership skill is the key trait for CIOs who aspire to become CEOs.

43 per cent of those surveyed said leadership was the most important quality for an ambitious CIO, while 15 percent cited commercial awareness.

A greater focus on innovation and creativity has overtaken sales and marketing skills which have fallen again in the annual survey.

Commenting on the results, Phil Young, head of IT, said that often the CIO is viewed as a technologist, which is a perception they need to overcome to be in with a chance for the top job.

For me though the Silicon Valley saying that “the geek shall inherit the earth” rings true here. If you look around, the most successful companies of the moment are technology-driven and have CEOs who have a deep understanding of technology and the competitive advantage it offers now and for the future. What do you think makes a good CEO?