Boredom. Fatigue. Loneliness. Uncertainty. Anxiety. What’s the thing that links all of these uncomfortable sensations? They start from within. And that’s important to note because all distraction comes from a deeper desire to escape these unpleasant feelings. What do you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed at work? You take out your phone and scroll down your Facebook timeline. What do you do when you’re uncertain about something? You open up Google and do some research. What do you do when you’re feeling lonely? You check Instagram to see what your friends are up to. And this brings us to why understanding the root of distraction is important: too often, people try to address distraction by only looking at the external triggers -- the social media apps. They don’t look at the uncomfortable sensations that drive us to distraction. I appeared on the Have The Conversation Podcast with Calla Walshe where we talked about: The roots of distraction Why schedules are better than to-do lists And more! I’ve included a link to the episode below! What’s distracted you lately? And how have you been addressing it? #Indistractable #Growth #Opportunity …see more

In my latest LinkedIn column, I cover the evolution of Insurance from being a grudge purpose to disruptive insurance businesses and their business models that seek to become the center of the customers universe. My point of view covers some ideas for driving relevance amidst the growing competitiveness landscape and changing needs of customers #nextgeninsurance #informationforgood #solvingproblemsthatmatter #customerfirst #cx #ux #bigdata #digitalfirst …see more

TransUnion ’s Tim Collins talking at the ITWeb #ITWebAI2018 summit about how TransUnion Africa is driving financial inclusion using big data powered by next generational technologies and proven IP #InformationForGood #CreditVision #digital …see more

Some people call me a futurist. I'd say I'm a present-ist. It's just that the other politicians are stuck in the past.

Will be debating Harvard Economist, Jeff Miron, on Universal Basic Income in a few weeks at LibertyCon in D.C. So fun!

Do you know what suck? Life without 🍗 Okay, you know what really sucks... People who send 💩 messages. It’s... 💩 as they try to sell something irrelevant 💩 as they come across as a salesy sleazy snake 💩 as it’s only about them. It’s selfish. 💩 as they send bot-like with their automated responses to genetically connect and not really add value. 💩 is it me? There seems to be lots of poooooooo on LinkedIn. It’s like they forgot to be human and playing a numbers game. I’m not a number. I’m here to grow. I’m here to help others grow. Real talk... I’ve started to get annoyed by superficial conversations. I also take ownership, my emotions is one thing I can control. When I get frustrated, I take the time to reflect. But what I don’t control is outside forces who chose to be 💩-like. Think about the energy you want to be known in your messages. While one messages sounds simple. That simple act sends a ripple impact. It impacts your brand. It impacts the start of a relationship. Be strategic. Don’t go 💩 on me. Agree? What’s your experience like on LinkedIn? String Nguyen on #personalbranding …see more

When you think of fried chicken. You think of me. It's part of the #7Vs of personal branding and influence. Particularly, it sits under V for Visuals. Visual is how you seed the memories. Whether it be your beard. Your green hair. The big black hat. That blue glasses. A red apple. When they see these little visuals, it triggers a memorable association. And your face is recognised as a visual. It's why I suggest videos. It accelerates your trust factor. You want your face to be associated with your words. Your authority. Your personality. Your expertise. It's why YouTubers rock up and show their faces on their video covers. Fried chicken gives people permission to connect with me. Every day, I receive a fried chicken story. That's my KPI. When you build your brand. What visual associated do you want to be connected with? Level up your branding with intentional visuals. Follow String Nguyen for more #personalbranding tips. #stringtheory …see more

A rare, exclusive interview with Amita Paul , head of user experience of the #LinkedInAds platform. We discuss LinkedIn's move to objective-based advertising. Check it out! https://lnkd.in/dQZ2mKc …see more

Here are seven* proven road trip-inspired rules to help you navigate your career and ensure that your professional journey is one to remember: 4. Sometimes you have to drive through uninspiring terrain to get to the scenic view—use that time wisely. Even the most celebrated careers in the world contain long, boring stretches where we feel like we’re merely coasting. Instead of complaining and going through the motions, use that precious time to evaluate where you’ve been, where you are now and where you’d like to be. Use grit to keep going through the uninspiring terrain of your current situation to get to a more scenic vista. 5. A fantastic playlist is essential. Your “music,” that is, what and whom you listen to during your career journey can make all the difference. To that end, surround yourself with those friends and mentors who lift you up and support you, who challenge you to be the best version of you, and who encourage the highest and best use of your talents. Make sure that they also hold you accountable, and that they, too, are practicing what they preach. And augment these people with habits and behaviors that support your growth. *Part 2 of 3 (Link in to Part 1 in comments) #career #leadership #emotionalintellgence #softskills …see more

The board of Utah DMC (formerly SLC|SEM) has been working very hard to put together this year’s annual conference. It’s been exhausting, but worth it! We’ve got an amazing lineup which includes folks like Larry Kim   Rand Fishkin   Amy Bishop   Carrie Albright  and Joel Klettke  to name a few. We’ve also got people from BrightEdge (CEO  Jim Yu ), HubSpot, and STAT Search Analytics. Get your tickets here!  https://lnkd.in/eeQgzJj The first 300 people to arrive will get a copy of Rand Fishkin’s new book, Lost and Founder; a great read about startups, his journey with Moz, and advice on starting your own business. The event will be on August 24th and we’re bringing back the track system so you can see what you’re most interested in! Check out the agenda for more info. Big thanks to the Utah DMC board for helping put this conference together! Darin Berntson   Bryant Garvin   Bryan Phelps   Paxton Gray   Alisa Gammon   April Nuttall   Kevin W. Phelps   Tiffany Rhodes   Jake Hoopes You guys rock! …see more

I found this comparative analysis of Chinese and American consumers super interesting. It was refreshing to not only read about the differences between the two demographics, but also the similarities when it comes to their definitions of creativity. …see more

How many friends, colleagues, and folks in your network you've reached out to during these challenging times to see how they've been doing? I've done a lot of that during this past month and I've been surprised how much everyone appreciated the outreach and opened up to share a lot of their feelings and fears with me. We are in one of the toughest part of the history and these days are gloomy, filled with challenges, and anxiety. The genuine interest in connecting with others and taking care of them are the best way to strengthen your relationships. Make sure during these trying times, reach out and take care of people in your network and community! #communitybuilding #supporteachother #humanfirts #humanityfirst #friends #colleagues …see more

Happy Monday! Don’t forget that as employees, leaders, executives, board members, and investors we all have responsibilities to advocate for “what’s right” for the company. I encourage everyone to face your fears, use data and research, and stand for what’s right for the success of your company(s) every single day. The most controversial the topic, the higher its impact (most likely), and the more important it is to stand for what’s right! Are you doing that every day? This is very difficult in practice, as what’s right could mean different thing to various people, and what the outcome of certain decisions typically hazy. But this is were you can have “game changing” impact! The key to do this right is to remove your biases as well as personal interests and really focus on the outcome of your decisions and behaviors on the success of the company. If the company your associated with succeed you will succeed. #mondaymotivaton #leadership #leadershipgoals #dowhatmatters …see more

“Never mind the bollocks. Don't let others define you. Keep working for what you believe in. And do not give up.” - Richard Branson.

A gentle reminder to everyone working in Healthcare—quality improvement and patient safety must remain the central governing principle to our work. While we’ve made improvements in reducing harm and suffering, we’ve not gone far enough. According to public reporting agencies, medical errors are the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S. Selected Excerpt: But quality, safety, care coordination, user-friendliness and patient satisfaction remain major challenges. …see more

Dog Owners Live Longer! Is this a surprise to anyone? I've got four big rescued dogs and they lite up my days every day!! Selected Excerpt: Owning a dog was associated with a 20 percent lower risk of all-cause death and a 23 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. The study is in Scientific Reports. …see more

Do not breath a sigh of relief if your hospital has The Joint Commission Seal of Approval...as many of us in healthcare know, this accreditation standard represents 'the floor (or basement)' of performance, not the ceiling . Want to really know if your hospital is safe? Ask the doctors and nurses--privately and "off the record"--and you might get the truth. One key question to ask them:'Would you go here for your surgery ?' Selected excerpt : "The Wall Street Journal dug into Joint Commission inspection reports from 2014 through 2016. In 2014, about 350 hospitals with Joint Commission accreditation were in violation of Medicare requirements that year, and about a third of those facilities went on to have additional violations in 2014, 2015 and 2016. About 80% of U.S. hospitals are accredited by the commission." …see more

Either a dystopia or the inevitable future of health insurance. #digitalhealth #insurance #health #technology #data

Which is the most useful digital health device? Is a portable ultrasound more available than an EEG headband? Which takes it all? Find out from our new score cards: we rated 6 devices based on usefulness, uniqueness, availability, and an overall TMF score. If we can once come out with a full 32-piece playable set just like supercar trumps cards, it will be a dream come true. Once. #DigitalHealth #DigitalHealthDevices #PortableDiagnostics #PortableDevices #TheMedicalFuturist …see more

A fantastic review came out in the British Medical Journal. Nagendran et al. analyzed the design, reporting standards, risk of bias and claims of studies comparing the performance of diagnostic deep learning algorithms for medical imaging with that of expert physicians. There is a line in their paper that should be on the wall of every company involved with medical A.I.: "The danger is that public and commercial appetite for healthcare AI outpaces the development of a rigorous evidence base to support this comparatively young field." They could only find about a dozen studies and pointed out how many studies are not prospective and have not been validated on real world data. Their results stand as a proof that while the field is new and just started to skyrocket, the same rules must apply to them as to any other medical technologies, no matter how exciting A.I. results sound. There is a long path ahead and we plan to support this mission with two new papers at The Medical Futurist Institute, I hope I can share those with you in no time. Paper: https://lnkd.in/g8Qx-4D #themedicalfuturist #digitalhealth #future #healthcare #medicine #technology #AI #artificialintelligence #deeplearning #machinelearning #study #research …see more