<p>Scotty Baragwanath is the founder of ?Blue Frog Breakfast, a New Zealand breakfast company with all natural ingredients that creates breakfast cereals in food-grade concrete mixers, as well as the first-ever probiotic porridge. Here's how he gets through the day, how he organises his time and how he handles being in the breakfast business. </p>
<p>Businesses across the board are now laser focused on how to create the best possible customer experience, but how do companies big and small ensure they’re placing people first? At the CX Conference 2019, Microsoft global industry marketing director of retail and consumer goods Catherine Brands shared her unique New Zealand insights from working at Amazon and Microsoft, including what it was like to be one of the founding team members to launch Amazon Go, the world’s first grocery store with no checkout. </p>
<p>Following <a href="https://www.isobar.com/new-zealand/en/about-us/">Little Giant</a>'s rebrand to Isobar, CEO Ian Howard talks us through how the new identity has lifted the agency’s expectations of itself and opened up access to access the network’s world-class capabilities.</p> <p></p>
<p>Claire Amos is the principal of Albany Senior High School, helped establish and facilitate DisruptED (an online community for educators interested in leading change) and is on the board of NetsafeNZ and 21C Skills Lab. Here's how she gets through the day, how she organises her time and how she handles the madness of the education sector. </p> <p></p> <p></p>
<p>Jodie King is chief people officer at Air New Zealand. She joined the company as an HR general manager in 2012 after 16 years of living and working in the UK, including a role as the director of talent management at KPMG across nine European countries. She was appointed to her current role at Air New Zealand in 2016. Here’s how she gets through the day, organises her time and manages a busy executive role. </p>
<p>Trade Me’s Mike O’Donnell recently wrote a <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/107625041/here-are-some-dumb-questions-to-ask-smart-people-before-you-give-them-your-money?cid=app-iPhone">piece</a> outlining ‘dumb’ questions to ask smart people before you give them your money. This is a common conundrum for investors, as while it's all very well to be lured in by an exciting idea for a business, what are the considerations you should think about before investment? Tech investor and board member at NZRise Rahul Watson-Govindan shares the nine questions he asks businesses before handing over the cash. </p>
<p>Wrestler founder Ben Forman attends the Forbes 30 under 30 summit in Hong Kong, and comes back with a new dream for New Zealand. </p> <p></p>
<p>Idealog editor Elly Strang recently spoke at the Magazine Publishers Association conference about the importance of wellbeing in the workplace, and the key takeaways from <a href="https://wellbeing-month.idealog.co.nz/">Wellness Month</a>. She shares why it shouldn't be thought of as a luxury nice-to-have, like yoga classes, as research is showing it impacts on your bottom line, as well as some tips on how to create change in the workplace. </p> <p></p>
<p>We gave Melissa Firth a little longer than an elevator ride to pitch Again Again, a sustainable coffee cups on-demand system which has recently been introduced in Auckland, following its Wellington launch. Here, Firth talks about how the social enterprise is improving the way we go about reducing waste, while still maintaining our high coffee intake.</p>
<p>Troy Coyle is the CEO of Hera, an organisation that looks after all heavy engineering, metals and steel in New Zealand. She shares how she gets through the day, how she organises her time and how she handles the madness of business.</p>
<p>New Zealand’s tech sector is slowly becoming more inclusive, says a new report from MYOB – but there’s much work to be done before true equality is achieved. AUT lecturer and She# founder Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh, University of Auckland engineering student Mikayla Stokes, and MYOB country manager Ingrid Cronin-Knight discuss the achievements, and how we can continue striving forward.</p>
<p>Analysts have predicted that by 2020, there will be as many as <a href="https://www.emc.com/leadership/digital-universe/2014iview/internet-of-things.htm">20 billion </a>connected digital devices in use, with each of these devices providing a gateway to an online world full of UX design. But with great power comes great responsibility, and as key industries such as transport, banking, media and education deploy digital services, ensuring their designs are not only functional, but efficient, enjoyable and ethical for users – while simultaneously pinning their profits to design – makes matters increasingly complex. Meanwhile, other areas in the private and public sector which could benefit greatly by reconsidered design based on users and their experience are being left behind. We talk with Optimal Workshop CEO Andrew Mayfield about what constitutes good UX design, harnessing new-age design practice and the potential for better UX design in the public sector.</p>
<p>PHD business director ?Amber Conroy asks, how do we continue to evolve our creativity and ideas at the same rate as the industry we work in? The answer, as vulnerability and shame researcher and TEDX speaker Brené Brown says, is vulnerability – the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change. </p>
<p>After an eventful week, the government finally debuted what <em>The New York Times </em> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/world/asia/new-zealand-wellbeing-budget.html">has called</a> 'New Zealand's next liberal milestone': the 2019 Wellbeing Budget, the first of its kind where spending is guided by what best encourages the wellbeing of the country's citizens, rather than just economic prosperity. We reached out to a range of industry players and asked them what the most important issue the budget tackled was, as well as where there was room for improvement. Here's what The Icehouse's Andy Hamilton, The Ground Breaking Podcast's Eli Smit, Swaytech's Bob Pinchin, education futurist Claire Amos, The Workshop's Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw and more had to say.</p> <p></p>
<p>New Zealand retail tech company Vend is well-known among Kiwi SMEs for its point of sale product, but as it widens its scope and pushes into the North American market, it’s supporting rapid growth with a hiring spree of 125 staff.</p>
<p>Julia McPherson, principal and workplace design specialist at Warren and Mahoney’s Wellington studio, shares her view on how architects and designers can help their clients foster a more inclusive working environment, and explains the challenges that exist in ensuring all voices are heard throughout the process.</p>
<p>When the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction report was released in December last year, it painted a grim picture. “New Zealand is experiencing a rising tide of mental distress and addiction,” it said. “The cost of poor mental wellbeing and addiction is high. It is a high cost to individuals, families and wh?nau, businesses and organisations, communities, government and the country as a whole.” While the spotlight has been shone on specific demographics, one sector that is also toiling under pressure is our creative industries. We all know the squeeze of creative work well: late nights, long hours, client demands, unrealistic deadlines, impostor syndrome, self-criticism. This, coupled with the sensitive disposition creative people tend to have, often creates an environment where mental health issues can flourish. In part one of a series, Elly Strang looks at the scale of the mental health problem in New Zealand's creative industries.</p>
<p></p> <p>Much of our and our planet’s unwellness stems from living in a political, economic and societal framework that hasn’t factored human beings, their needs and their rights into it, cultural strategist at TRA Antonia Mann says. She examines how we can shift this 'othering' of wellness into something that's holistic and integrated into our societies, businesses and economy. </p> <p></p>
<p>After widespread <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/20/mark-zuckerberg-four-days-on-your-silence-on-christchurch-is-deafening">condemnation</a> for Facebook’s role in the Christchurch terror attacks – along with Mark Zuckerberg’s placid response – the social media giant has finally responded to public scrutiny. It has banned users from its live streaming services if they “violate our most serious policies”, plus it has put 7.5 million into research to improve video analysis technology. To make sense of the new changes, we ask local social media experts and technologists whether the world’s most powerful company could have done more to prevent social media hate crimes, featuring The Warehouse Group's Cassie Roma, Springload's Bron Thomson, Spacetime's Alex Bartley Catt and social and digital media communication strategist Troy Rawhiti-Connell.</p>
<p>There may be good reason to be concerned about our young entrepreneurs. Millennials and Generation Z have been labelled generation burn-out, generation snowflake and described as narcissistic, entitled, tech-dependent and fragile. They’re also oversaturated with headlines about the raft of issues like climate change they have to tackle, plus concerns about the impact of technology and social media on their mental health. Jennifer Young explores possible reasons why the younger generation is so anxious, as well as what young founders can do to avoid burn-out.</p>
<p>Auckland is in the midst of a metamorphosis. The city is standing on the same precipice as many other cities around the world, where it’s considering how to balance social, economic, and environmental welfare alongside a growing population set to reach 2.4 million by 2050. It presents a huge challenge for local urbanists, who are tasked with building a livable city without resorting to untenable sprawl or futile slums. However, there is light streaming onto Auckland’s urban posterity. New forms of density are being erected, diverse transport modes are mobbing the streets, and a new culture is running through the currents of the Waitemat?. But, are Auckland’s past pains too broken to remedy? Findlay Buchanan talks to the architects, the planners, and the urban progressives, who are helping to reshape Auckland city. In part one of a series, Ludo Campbell-Reid speaks of increased mobility in the city space. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nzstartupbootcamp.co.nz/">NZ Startup Bootcamp</a>, formerly known as Innes 48, is taking place this weekend and is a place where entrepreneurs gather, validate their ideas and see if they make it through to the final hurdle: pitching in front of the crowd, all to win $20,000. We caught up with the MC for the event, who’s a founder of two companies, a leadership coach and a general lightening rod of a human: Sacha Coburn. She shares some of her top tips for entrepreneurs to get an idea to market successfully, based off her many years’ experience in business.</p>
<p>When the Christchurch attacks unfolded earlier this year, prime minister Jacinda Ardern was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/18/jacinda-ardern-is-showing-the-world-what-real-leadership-is-sympathy-love-and-integrity">praised around the world </a>for her empathetic leadership style. But how can business leaders emulate this same style of leadership? Leadership expert and keynote speaker ?Daniel Murray discusses how businesses can discover the concept of strategic empathy so their companies and employees can become healthier, and in turn, realign their commercial objectives and develop a culture that contributes to a more inclusive world. </p>
<p><em>Idealog </em>is of the view that with diversity of experience and thought comes greater creativity – but don't just take our word for it. Design consultant, inaugural head of Better by Design and former head of design at NZTE <a href="http://www.judiththompson.co/about/">Judith Thompson</a> and design consultant, lecturer and strategist <a href="https://www.tangtaylor.com/">Jade Tang-Taylor</a> take a look at why diversity in design is important, and highlight some great initiatives making Aotearoa New Zealand more diverse and inclusive. </p> <p></p>
<p>Cities are systems in which the people are meant to thrive, but Isthmus creative director David Irwin says the design of them is instead accentuating many of the human ailments, such as stress, anxiety and depression. Here, he outlines how using a human-centric approach in urban design can support the needs of a modern world.</p>
<p>More and more businesses are considering going down the road of electric vehicles. While it’s a good way to show business leadership on climate change, reduce emissions, and help create the critical mass of demand necessary to truly launch the EV market in New Zealand, it’s not quite as simple as replacing your company fleet with EVs and installing a few plugs. Here, some of New Zealand's biggest corporates and members of the Climate Leaders Coalition, such as Meridian, Spark, Orion and Westpac, share what they've learnt when it comes to transitioning their corporate fleets into EVs. </p> <p></p> <p></p>
<p>In the technology world, everything moves pretty fast. A simple website should now support multiple browsers, hundreds of devices and sometimes hardware which was released last century. How do you keep up with the ever changing technology landscape? Should you keep up with keeping up? Chief technology officer at digital agency Little Giant Linked by Isobar Stevie Mayhew shares his thoughts. </p> <p></p>
<p>Chia Sisters' products have long been a popular option in our New Zealand food and beverage market. New Zealand’s growing importance placed on health and wellbeing has allowed the products to nestle easily into our conscious purchases. We caught up with founders and sisters Chloe and Florence Van Dyke about their solar powered juicery being named a top five female-lead venture in the 2019 SheEO NZ Summit, and their recent addition to the Forbes 30 under 30 list.</p>
<p>Innovation and creativity are two terms that can tend to get muddled when it comes to talking about business. Advertising guru Mike Hutcheson explores the difference between the two. </p>
<p>If Friday's attacks on two mosques proved anything, it's that one senseless act can leave a nation in despair. But what does the data tell us about human's ability to commit acts of love, versus acts of hate? AUT professor Mike Hutcheson reflects on a Twitter experiment carried out years ago that measured just this – and says there's hope for us yet.</p>