It has been about one week since the publication of Making Ideas Happen by Behance founder/ceo Scott Belsky. The book became an immediate bestseller upon launch, debuting at #15 on Amazon and leading every business and creative category. The book was also included in the Wall Street Journal as a national bestseller in business. Design and business blogs around the web have since had a chance to read the book and weigh in with reviews.

Here is an ongoing collection of some notable reviews:

--->  In Bubble Wrap (800-CEO-READ)

--->  Web Designer Depot

--->  Anita Campbell, Small Business Trends

--->  Design Mafia

--->  Cool Hunting

--->  John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing

--->  The Lance Life

--->  Design Droplets

--->  Silicon Valley Watcher

--->  Flavorwire Daily Dose

--->  NetDiver

--->  Sean Womack, Confessions of an Idea Junkie

---> Sacramento Book Review

---> Abundance Blog

---> Sacramento Book Publication

---> Eventualism

---> PluginID

---> Joe Woolworth

---> An Idea Blog

---> Ross Hudgens: Authentic Marketing (Video Review)

---> Tim Schraeder

---> All Business Answers

---> Brad Ruggles

--> Abduzeedo: Abducted By Design

--> Rediscovering the Lovely

--> Relevant Media Solutions

With this book, our team wants to start more discussion around organization, execution, and sound leadership in the creative industries. For this reason, we're pleased to see so many thought leaders chime in.

We were also thrilled to learn that, just a week after launch, Making Ideas Happen is the 3rd bestseller in Apple's iBooks store for the iPad. Clearly, the creative community continues to be early adopters...

For the second year in a row, the Behance team was pleased to play a special sponsorship role and provide a limited edition 10th Anniversary "Action Book" for attendees at the National Design Awards. 

Pictured here, from left to right, are Behance team members Scott Belsky, Matias Corea, Alex Krug, Zach McCullough, and Oscar Ramos Orozco.

Apple has approved and posted version 2.0 of the iPhone application for Action Method Online. The new version is, in fact, an entirely redesigned application, resulting from over seven months of design and development.

As Scott Belsky, CEO of Behance, explained, "Our goal was simple: To make Action Method the absolute BEST collaborative task management application available for the iPhone. We wanted it to seamlessly sync (and back-up) with the online version of the application, enable the user to organize their Action Steps by Project, Due Date, Color, Who Delegated It, Priority, or any other keyword."

Unlike other task management applications for the iPhone, Action Method Mobile both (1) seamlessly syncs over the cellular network as well as a wireless internet connection, and (2) is collaborative, enabling users to delegate (and accept/reject) Action Steps (tasks) from each other.

 

Version 2.0 of the application includes:

(1) An entirely redesigned system for creating, organizing, and managing Action Steps.

(2) The addition of search and other filters for task management.

(3) Improved synchronization to back-up your tasks online (free!)

(4) The addition of the new "Focus Area," a sub-list of important Action Steps.

(5) Get real-time notifications when tasks are completed or delayed by your colleagues.

(6) Improved ability to accept or reject Action Steps from other users.

(6) Quickly "snooze" and edit Action Steps on the fly!

(7) Review analytics about your productivity with a new "Advisor" feature

Action Method continues to be the only "action management" tool we are aware of that acts as an ecosystem - with an analog paper product, a collaborative online productivity and project management application, and an advanced mobile solution that works off/online.

Enclosed are some screen shots, and we invite you to download and use Action Method Online for the iPhone, for free: Action Method Online 2.0 at Apple App Store

The Behance team is very grateful for the coverage and suggestions we have received from blogs around the world since the launch of AMO. A few blogger reviews we've come across (aside from the official ones at TechCrunch and Mashable): 1222North's review of Action Method - correctly pointing out that this IS more "action management" than "project management" (quite a philosophical difference we are proud of!  And then their is Plus63 - a showcase of Filipino Creativity. We'll keep a look-out for other interesting interpretations of Action Method Online and how it can help people and teams make ideas happen.

Our team was thrilled to further launch Action Method Online (AMO) today. We've been working for years on developing the methodology, the products, and the concepts, design, and technology behind this service. It feels good to finally share AMO with others (beyond the beta user program).

The application received reviews today in TechCrunch, Mashable, LifeDev, and (via TechCrunch) in the Washington Post. 

We want to thank our friends and willing beta testers for the incredible feedback and support over the past few months as we worked to fine tune things. A special shout-out to the team at Undercurrent that fully adopted AMO in the very early days and made critical suggestions along the way. We also want to thank Seed Gives Life, Flavorpill, and friends at places like Miramax, Apple, and others that have supported Action Method from the beginning...  All along the way, we have been inspired by the many thousands of participants in the Behance Network - all of whom we also wish to thank.

We are excited to now build upon the Behance Network and Action Method. Our team believes that these two platforms can help organize the creative world to make ideas happen. It is an honor to serve as stewards of this mission.

Behance Team

The Action Method Online (AMO) beta launch period has begun. The team is psyched and we invite you to read a bit about this new productivity application in the online magazine.

In the meantime, we have been busy gathering feedback, filming demos (some pictures below, taken by JB), and gradually inviting more and more people and teams to sign onto the application. We invite you to sign-up for the beta list at ActionMethod.com.

 

A few more thoughts from the annual TED Conference.

One great quote overheard from the designer of the Jawbone bluetooth headset and the OLPC $100 laptop (and he gave the quote as something he had heard before): "Advertising is the price companies pay for being unoriginal..."

Also, here's an Action Book spotted in the main hall at TED (courtesy of our friend Josh Spear's phone camera):

I (Scott) was psyched to share some of Behance's tips on running productive meetings as a guest on MSNBC in mid April. Our team has learned a lot from the Action Method. We practice it ourselves, and we have collected feedback from a bunch of creative teams at places like Apple and Miramax. We keep the insights organized (as reference items, of course), and we will share them whenever we get a chance!

Our Tip posting on the concept of "Action Areas," something we really swear by, got some nice coverage at LifeClever, LifeHack, and on Craig Child's blog. There were some interesting user comments left on the LifeClever post including one person who described the concept as a good way to "democratize the work place and creating a stronger sense of community amongst the work force." We're going to continue generating tips, or "behancers" as we like to call them, that are hopefully helpful to the creative professional community and beyond.