One of the most useful aspects of Microsoft Excel is its ability to quickly slice and dice customer data from live systems to identify important trends and behaviors which can inform strategy. In this article and screencast I share a 7-step plan, illustrated with a worked example, for Instant Customer Analytics using Excel.

I was part of a fascinating panel session "Mobility, Teams, The Cloud and Collaboration" at the recent Mobile Cloud Summit (London: 21 September). The summit and the session was chaired by Jeffrey Peel of Quadriga Consulting and my co-panelists were Brian Caulfield of DFJ Esprit and Chris Horn of Movirtu.

I thought it might be useful to provide a single page link to the full collection of videos and animations I have posted on Vimeo over the last year. I upgraded to Vimeo Plus which allows me to publish videos in HD and also to view the videos very effectively on the leading smart phones.

I spoke at the inaugural TEDx event in Belfast on March 23. My argument was that we have all experienced high-performing teams but mostly not at work (sports, music, adventures, holidays, family etc)! In the video The Lost Secrets of High-Performing Teams I remind us of what we may have forgotten about great teams and make a plea to bring these sensibilities back into our work teams.

I have collaborated with Jeff Peel and his Business Evidence Thought-Leadership blog to produce a new 4-minute video on Natural Teams - how we can use simple ideas from nature, sports teams and families to radically improve our work teams.

I spoke at the inaugural TEDx event in Belfast on March 23 on "The 7 secrets of High-Performing Teams". Here is a link to a nice blog post by Alan in Belfast on the whole Belfast TEDx event with a collection of short video interviews with all the speakers.

In a 12-minute video Michael Cavanagh discusses the difference between complicated and complex projects and describes the additional project management techniques needed to succeed in the latter. Michael also demonstrates an on-line assessment tool to allow the whole project team to quickly establish consensus on the issues and the options for addressing them.

In the second short video "Complex or merely complicated?" in his series on Project Management Michael Cavanagh explains the difference between "complicated" and "complex" and why you really need to know which of the two you are dealing with as a project manager

In this excellent 3-minute video Michael Cavanagh explains how familiar 'first order' project management tools are vital, and perform well up to a point; but as project complexity increases, less prescriptive '2nd order' techniques must be deployed. The difference in outcomes are as great as playing of basic scales on a piano versus the work of a great virtuoso such as Rachmaninov.

One of the most important things in any team, network or partnership is to define the rules of engagement (aka Ground Rules). The first step is to agree the major "trust destroyers" which would stop collaboration stone dead in its tracks. Enjoy this hilarious 3-minute video clip from Only Fools and Horses where Rodney tricks Del into a solo hang gliding flight to learn how NOT to build trust with somebody.

A serial bank robber was once asked why he robbed banks? He replied "because that's where the money is!" Why have I developed a new discipline called Process Physics? Same answer - because that's where the money is (in a process). "Process Physics" is the discipline of using mathematical process models in conjunction with simulation technology to spot the "money left on the table" in any business processes . My new screencast provides a short hands-on introduction.

In this new short audio/video I share 7 secrets on how teams can significantly improve performance by adopting simple techniques from Bioteams. These techniques are particularly relevant to large cross-functional teams and multi-enterprise teams whose members are not co-located and spend much of their working days on the road or on client site.

In the summer of 2009 I had the privilege of speaking to an audience of NASA scientists and researchers at the NASA Research Centre in Langley, Virginia on the topic of The Networked Enterprise and Bioteams in the context of major engineering and scientific enterprises. NASA have very kindly allowed me to publish the full video of my presentation here.

"What idiot designed this thing? You did sir!" One thing this web2.0/iphone era has taught us big time is the importance of useability design. Users simply will not tolerate making them think about how to do things in apps. Neither will they will invest any time in learning the basics of an app - it must be self-evident. Watch Monsters vs Aliens - button failure.

A short Bioteams video interview has been published by Bas de Baar on Project Shrink where Bas and I discuss some of the most common questions about bioteams projects such as team member alignment and is there a role for a project manager in a bioteam (Yes!).

NEWLY RELEASED 15-minute video of me (Ken Thompson) introducing the concepts of The Networked Enterprise (TNE) and Virtual Enterprise Network (VEN) at an event "Connecting Innovation" in Brighton (UK) organized by Use8 (The User Experience Society).

What do killer bees, locusts, field mice, mayflies, starlings, cicadas, cuban land crabs, driver ants, redflies, locust birds, silver carp and honey bees all have in common? The "Wisdom of Crowds" or in other words the ability to Swarm in huge groups.

Robin Good of MasterNewMedia.org has published a short video clip series where he interviews me (Ken Thompson) about the Bioteaming approach to virtual/mobile teams, networks and communities.

Is leadership superfluous in a self-managing team? Aren't self-managing teams supposed to be self-sustaining and self-sufficient? Associate Professor Paul Tesluk, writing for INSEAD Knowledge, wants to correct this misconception in a short article with supporting video clip.

Robin Good of MasterNewMedia.org has just published an excellent 6-part short video interview with me (Ken Thompson) talking about Swarmteams and its music derivative SwarmTribes. These are two bioteams-inspired technology ventures for interacting with mobile and virtual communities.