Brutal competition. A stock going nowhere. Microsoft is in crisis, so Bill Gates has unleashed his new hire, software genius Ray Ozzie, to remake the company - and conquer the Web.

FORTUNE: Microsoft's new brain - May 1, 2006

Business literature is packed with advice about worker motivation—but sometimes managers are the problem, not the inspiration. Here are practices to fire up the troops.

1. Instill an inspiring purpose.
2. Provide recognition.
3. Be an expediter for your employees.
4. Coach your employees for improvement.
5. Communicate fully.
6. Face up to poor performance.
7. Promote teamwork.
8. Listen and involve.

Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation

At the 2006 O'Reilly Media Emerging Telephony Conference, David Isenberg recited a hilarious Dr. Seuss-style poem, a call to arms against a proposed U.S. telecom bill. The new law would create a tiered, prioritized telecommunications industry, where ISPs would have the right to provide preferential access to their own VOIP and IPTV services for customers on their networks. Isenberg has organized the Freedom to Connect conference to educate and advocate for "net neutrality," an open internet that doesn't favor one kind of information or source of information over others.

[Due to language, this program is not family/work safe.]

David Isenberg - Freedom To Connect

For Thomas Malone, organization is something that sits on top of what we normally think of as the technology stack. Organizations are changing and this change mimics how human social groups have changed from bands through kingdoms and into democracies. These organizational changes will see a great deal of innovation in the future.

In this presentation Malone shows how new organizational structures can be invented. He provides examples in current companies, both large and small. Malone explains how new materials have always provided opportunities for new inventions. He illustrates how the availability of cheap communication as a material can give rise to new organizational approaches that will transform how we work in the future.

By relating the change in organizational structure to the change in human society, Malone makes a compelling case for the availability of lower cost communications as the catalyst for this change in both our societies and our organizations. He demonstrates how this single factor can allow groups to work together in ways that could not have happened before the rise of the Internet, e-mail, and other communication technologies.

Malone finishes by challenging listeners to think about using our values to create the types of organizations we want to see in the future, and the future world we will live in.

Thomas W. Malone - The Future of Work

General Memetics Corporation, baby. Don't you know it.

Word-of-mouth marketing has become a new trend in efforts to reach young consumers. Thousands of unpaid volunteers create a "buzz" about certain products, which they get for free. Corporations trying to use word-of-mouth marketing pay six figures to companies that provide these "buzz agents."

Word-of-Mouth Marketing Creates a Buzz

Interscope Records has struck a deal with Hasbro, the toy maker, to create a line of fashion dolls modeled on the six members of the Pussycat Dolls. The toy line — which aims to mimic the act's playfully risqué style — is expected to be on sale by this year's holiday season. Hasbro executives estimate the dolls, intended for children aged 6 to 9, will be priced around $15, with the label receiving a royalty on sales.

Managing to score at toy retailers would illustrate how elastic the aura of a manufactured pop act can be, as the Pussycat Dolls straddle the image of late-night lounge dancers and child-friendly pop singers at the same time.

Music executives have been eager to appeal to fans who are (they hope) too young to download music illegally.

"Once it's branded as a tween thing, it's very hard to flip it up. But what the older sister and older brother like definitely trickles down to the kids. That's what's happening to the Pussycat Dolls."

As Pop Music Seeks New Sales, the Pussycat Dolls Head to Toyland

Along the way, he also developed a reputation for directness that could be a little rough. Mr. Riccitiello said that Mr. Ward "can run certain people over" with his big voice and strong point of view.

"My sense is if you took the average executive with a 50- to 80-hour workweek, they spend about 50 percent of their time just being nice," said Mr. Riccitiello. "Jim doesn't deal with that. He picks up half a week right there."

At LucasArts, No Playing Around in Quest to Be No. 1

As a veteran of the marketing business, Mike O'Neill figured that some people would question the slogan he chose to promote the first product he created himself. The product is called the Jimi, and the slogan is "The Wallet for People Who Hate Wallets." And in fact a lot of people — even a guy at the factory where Jimis are made — suggested to him that it was a bad idea to associate a consumer good with, you know, hatred.

Does Hate Sell?

In a highly competitive era, independent tinkerers who are convinced they have a big idea can face big problems getting the idea to market.

But a television news anchor and the owner of a volleyball league spawned Zunafish, a singularly simple-to-use media trading site.

"We have no background in technology. I think we always thought from the start that it was a big idea. There are hundreds of billions of dollars of idle media materials sitting in people's homes."

Who *Can't* Get VC Funding These Days?

Without bundling, programmers like Disney and Viacom might no longer be able to afford shows with smaller but loyal followings. Under the current system, they can produce niche channels like ESPN Classic because they are bundled with ESPN and other channels, the programmers say.

When asked whether they want total choice, especially from historically monopolistic quasi-utilities, it's no shock that most people say: heck, yes. Yet, as the author and psychology professor Barry Schwartz and two of his colleagues pointed out a few weeks ago in The New York Times Magazine, Americans have this funny habit of confusing freedom, which they cherish, with choice, which can give them headaches.

Why Can't I Have Just the Cable Channels I Want?