QUBE in 3D: a new dimension for social media

QUBE is now officially enterprise social media!  This month the newest version of QUBE will give you the powers of a tractor beam ... or at least a huge magnet!  You can download it from the QUBE website at http://QUBE.cc

By clicking on the "Come Here" button, you will find your colleagues will be powerless to resist your call. QUBE will fire up, create a qubot for them, and drag it round to whichever qubicle you happen to be in.

We're hoping that this will improve our ability to deliver real time coaching on QUBE, and also to make it much easier for busy (disorganised?) leaders and managers to meet up with each other to learn collaboratively.

We've also added most of the changes you asked for, plus some fun things, in the latest version, such as 'clever' sizing sticky notes, and a quick shortcut to the Lobby so you can hang out there or easily switch organisations.

Here's a list of the changes you asked for:

Welcome Message

The welcome message can be cleared in a simpler way by selecting 'Clear welcome message' from the display drop down menu. You can restart the welcome message at any time by right clicking the documents icon (in the tray at the bottom-left) to return to the welcome panel.

Managing Hopes & Fears, and Brainstorms by Post-it

Hovering over a Post-it no longer shows who wrote it. (Remember how the little yellow messages used to get in the way?) You need to click on the Post-it to show the original author. However, if you hold down the Control key, it will revert to the previous mouseover  behaviour.

Using Slates

Drag-and-drop posters on slates are automatically resized and Post-its placed on these posters are also sized to fit.

Working on WorkPads

WorkPad posters adjust to the size of the background when drag and dropped.  Posters will resize themselves relative to the background (for example, if you are placing a WorkPad on a slate).
    Also WorkPad posters can set the size of Post-its – use the right-click "properties" window.

    Make it easy for people to find the WorkPad by listing it in the Places Menu (check the WorkPad name is meaningful and not duplicated).

You can download the latest version from http://QUBE.cc

QUBE - saving the world from global warming, one workshop at a time ...

Inspiration Monthly August has just finished, and I think we may have set a new record for ourselves ...

That map is showing that we saved 25,168 miles of travel by meeting on QUBE instead of meeting up in real life. Participants came from Canada, Brazil, Taiwan and the Netherlands, among other places, and yet they were able to work shoulder-to-shoulder as if they were in the same room.

If you'd like to learn how you could save time, money and the planet by working and learning together on QUBE, then you can get in touch here. To find out how you can take part in the next Inspiration Monthly, go here.

Pencil this date in your diary ... NOW! 17th October 2013

For now it's secret, but more will be revealed shortly...

There's a sneaky peak here.

STOP THE PRESSES: Curious Biker Learns to Read

The mystery is so intense that one biker has learned to read just so that he can find out Who Killed The Sparq?

How about you?  Have you downloaded your free copy of the 'whodunnit' book on what stops
innovation dead?

Who do you think did it?  Was it the CFO?  The Customer?  Perhaps the Leader themself?

Please send us a photo of you reading the book in an unusual or interesting place, on your holidays, sitting on the water cooler - the email address is WKS@PentacleTheVBS.com. We will add your picture to the growing album of pictures, which you can view here.

Oh, and drop us a note or a message by email or on the WhoKilledTheSparq website to tell us how you found the book and the concept of a free book in exchange for interaction.  If we get enough messages, we are thinking about releasing the entire New World series of 10 books in the same way.

Italian Sparq

At a secret villa between Tuscany, Florence and Pisa, Bruno Colomb is working hard on his holiday job of tasting all of the region's red wines and inventing other possible uses for them.  Searching for innovative inspiration he has turned to Who Killed the Sparq?, the new book from Prof Eddie Obeng, which he downloaded for free from http://PentacleTheVBS.com/WKS_FreeDownload.htm.  "Free?" I hear you ask. YES! But to restore the balance of the universe, in return you have to send us a picture of yourself enjoying the book on holiday, or give us a comment - tweet, Facebook, send it by email to Admin@PentacleTheVBS.com, or leave a comment at WhoKilledTheSparq.com.

You can download your copy of Who Killed the Sparq from http://PentacleTheVBS.com/WKS_FreeDownload.htm. You can link to your pictures in the comments, or email them to Admin@PentacleTheVBS.com

Keep them coming ...

Why do so many projects fail?

The BBC’s Digital Media Initiative running £100m over budget. The UK Department for Transport having to reverse the sale of the West Coast rail franchise. G4S not providing enough trained security guards for the Olympics. Why did these high-profile projects fail?

Prof Eddie Obeng with a real-life qubot, a
QUBE avatar. Eddie is the one on the left.

“Despite having all the resources behind them, projects can still go wrong if you have the wrong mindset,” says Prof Eddie Obeng of Pentacle the Virtual Business School, winner of the Association for Project Management’s lifetime achievement award. “One reason is that if things go wrong, you look like a hero for fixing them. Conversely, if you deal with a problem before it happens, you get no credit. So often there’s little incentive to make sure in advance that everything goes smoothly.

“Another reason is that there are different types of project. Some times you know right from the start how the whole thing is going to unfold, but modern projects are often very unclear and a lot can change over the course of implementation. If the project manager doesn't know the right tricks, leadership and tools to use, then the whole venture can very easily go off the rails.”

To combat this, Prof Obeng and the APM are joining forces to host Conference: Zero, a one-day event promoting a zero tolerance approach to failure. Speakers will include people who have delivered perfect projects in global sporting events, digital broadcasting, banking and academia.

A crowd gathered on QUBE

Zero is being held entirely on QUBE, Pentacle’s virtual learning environment, so anyone anywhere in the world can join without having to worry about travel or accommodation. The conference is on Thursday 17^th October, and runs from 07.00 to 19.00 (UK time - click here to see when this will be in your time zone), so participants can choose when to attend. Anyone interested can find out more and register at http://PentacleTheVBS.com/Zero.htm