The book is divided into four sections:
A) how our social structures are all created from, and consist of, virally transmitted ideas;
B) how national and corporate cultures interact, what makes up our corporations, and why (and how) businesses create immune systems;
C) The mathematics behind the spread of ideas, how to hack the human brain, and how memes can be used to build and retain a customer base;
D) the use of memes to deliver business change, and how memetic engineering should be an essential part of merger planning, and finally how to change the ways that you view the world using memes.
A) how our social structures are all created from, and consist of, virally transmitted ideas;
B) how national and corporate cultures interact, what makes up our corporations, and why (and how) businesses create immune systems;
C) The mathematics behind the spread of ideas, how to hack the human brain, and how memes can be used to build and retain a customer base;
D) the use of memes to deliver business change, and how memetic engineering should be an essential part of merger planning, and finally how to change the ways that you view the world using memes.
1 The meme meme
• Why genetics only explains part of our behaviour
• How to spot a meme
• The origin of memes
• How ideas are transmitted
• Directed vs accidental evolution of ideas
• Memeplexes - ideas working together
• The multiplying effect of modern media
• Why genetics only explains part of our behaviour
• How to spot a meme
• The origin of memes
• How ideas are transmitted
• Directed vs accidental evolution of ideas
• Memeplexes - ideas working together
• The multiplying effect of modern media
2 How memes built our civilisation
• The origin of politics
• Economic and legal systems
• The origins of early corporate structures
• What we can learn from the evolution of religions
• The origin of politics
• Economic and legal systems
• The origins of early corporate structures
• What we can learn from the evolution of religions
3 One Planet, Different Worlds
• The existence of national culture
• Why we think and react the way we do
• What are the differences between societies?
• How leadership memes vary between cultures
• How management memes vary between cultures
• How organisation structures vary between cultures
• Culture shock and modern nomads
• Tailoring communications to culture
• The existence of national culture
• Why we think and react the way we do
• What are the differences between societies?
• How leadership memes vary between cultures
• How management memes vary between cultures
• How organisation structures vary between cultures
• Culture shock and modern nomads
• Tailoring communications to culture
4 How memes built our businesses
• The rise of the modern corporation
• Strategic memes - what businesses do
• Tactical memes - how they do it
• Identifying the memes in your business
• Dysfunctional corporations and how to fix them
• The rise of the modern corporation
• Strategic memes - what businesses do
• Tactical memes - how they do it
• Identifying the memes in your business
• Dysfunctional corporations and how to fix them
5 Businesses have immune systems too!
• Immune systems in corporations
• What your corporate immune consists of
• The need for a strong immune systems
• Why you sometimes need to weaken immune systems
• Organisational forgetting
• Immune systems in corporations
• What your corporate immune consists of
• The need for a strong immune systems
• Why you sometimes need to weaken immune systems
• Organisational forgetting
6 The Arithmetic of Belief
• How ideas and products spread in unsaturated markets
• How markets (and brains) get saturated with ideas
• How to make your ideas more easily adopted
• How beliefs stabilise in a saturated population
• How ideas and products spread in unsaturated markets
• How markets (and brains) get saturated with ideas
• How to make your ideas more easily adopted
• How beliefs stabilise in a saturated population
7 Building a Better Meme
• How Ideas Take Hold
• What the Ancient Greeks knew about marketing
• A x B x C x D = Belief
• Hacking the brain
• Making your ideas stick
• Building a success virus
• How Ideas Take Hold
• What the Ancient Greeks knew about marketing
• A x B x C x D = Belief
• Hacking the brain
• Making your ideas stick
• Building a success virus
8 Building markets using memes
• A brand is nothing more than a meme
• Getting the marketing message across
• The relative uselessness of ‘social connectors’
• Sneezers, social connectors and castrated sheep
• Turning a cult into the mainstream
• One-off Sales – it’s the infection rate that matters
• Building a better advert
• Advertising saturation
• Repeat Sales – it’s the defection rate that matters
• Keeping the customer loyal
• A brand is nothing more than a meme
• Getting the marketing message across
• The relative uselessness of ‘social connectors’
• Sneezers, social connectors and castrated sheep
• Turning a cult into the mainstream
• One-off Sales – it’s the infection rate that matters
• Building a better advert
• Advertising saturation
• Repeat Sales – it’s the defection rate that matters
• Keeping the customer loyal
9 Delivering change
• Role of the leader in an ideas-based organisation
• Why use must use memes to change the organisation
• Analysing the current memes
• Weakening the Immune system
• Designing an antimeme meme
• Making the change and making it stick
• Role of the leader in an ideas-based organisation
• Why use must use memes to change the organisation
• Analysing the current memes
• Weakening the Immune system
• Designing an antimeme meme
• Making the change and making it stick
10 Of memes and mergers
• The madness of mergers and demergers
• A memetic explanation of the madness
• Causes of merger failure
• “Tread softly, for you tread on my dreams”
• ‘Hearts and minds’ or ‘blood in the streets’ ?
• Synthesizing a new corporate culture
• The madness of mergers and demergers
• A memetic explanation of the madness
• Causes of merger failure
• “Tread softly, for you tread on my dreams”
• ‘Hearts and minds’ or ‘blood in the streets’ ?
• Synthesizing a new corporate culture
11 You
• Why nurses have more friend than lawyers
• Do memes do our thinking for us?
• Personal meme poisoning
• Dememing yourself
• Becoming a good corporate citizen
• Why nurses have more friend than lawyers
• Do memes do our thinking for us?
• Personal meme poisoning
• Dememing yourself
• Becoming a good corporate citizen
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