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May 5, 2006
Weekly innovation memos from Edison's desk
The FORTUNE 500 blog recently pointed to a new global research blog from General Electric called From Edison's Desk. Each week, one person from a group of 16 contributors does a little show-and-tell about a particular area of research at GE. For example, on May 3 Jennifer Topinka discussed various ways to make GE's diesel locomotives run cleaner and more efficiently. A week earlier, Amit Kulkarni described the importance of nanotechnology at GE, highlighting a new nanotech initiative with potentially huge implications:
What does Nano mean for a company like GE? At GE, we think of Nano not as a product by itself, but as an enabling technology, the ultimate material science, the ability to control and exploit unique properties exhibited by materials at the nanometer length scales. Nano is the technology that will enable our light bulbs to be more efficient, our aircraft engines to be lighter, faster, and stronger, our plastics to be more conductive, our diagnostic imaging agents to be more sensitive and specific, and the list goes on and on… Nanotechnology gives GE the opportunity to create a revolutionary change in our existing materials to improve our products as well as create new products.
At Global Research, we have a significant effort in the area of nanotechnology led by Dr. Margaret Blohm. The nanotechnology program is comprised of five platforms, namely: nanotubes/nanorods, nanoparticles, nanoceramics, nano structured metals, and nano patterned surfaces. Every platform is focused on understanding material properties at the nano length scales and building structure-property relationships for various applications.
As an added bonus, there are videos of each new innovation at GE. Just click on the link at the top right-hand corner of the GE Global Research homepage. (NOTE: Be sure to save all your data before you click on the video link, though. My computer crashed and I ended up losing a few things I was working on when I attempted to watch the videos in my Firefox browser...)
Tags: GE innovation research R&D
[image: Nanotechnology at GE]
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Alternative energy innovation at MIT
With crude oil prices approaching $75 a barrel and gasoline prices at the pump escalating ever higher on a daily basis, MIT recently assembled a panel of energy experts to discuss the future of alternative energy sources at the MIT Energy Research Forum. The major focus of discussion was alternative energy innovation that can help America break its "addiction to oil," with an emphasis on biofuels (ethanol) and clean energy sources (solar and wind power). There are a lot of extra goodies available from MIT, including extensive video coverage of the event (via MIT World) and a 62-page report published by the Energy Research Council. I haven't had a chance to watch all of the videos, but MIT World provides fairly extensive show notes, so it should be relatively easy to find a particular panel session that's of interest. For example, here's an overview of opening remarks by MIT President Susan Hockfield:
"President Susan Hockfield unveils MIT’s grand-scale initiative to confront “the urgent challenge of our time: clean, affordable energy to power the world.” In much the same way that MIT “played a decisive role in the Allied victory in World War II,” she calls for the Institute to muster its formidable forces to speed a transformation of the global energy landscape. Hockfield explains how MIT arrived at this “defining moment in its history.”
An overwhelming consensus of faculty and students expressed passionate concern about energy, says Hockfield, and “when a community as brilliant and diverse converges on one issue, it’s a folly not to heed them.” And beyond MIT, for the first time in a generation, the public and politicians have turned to the subject. This may be one of those rare moments, says Hockfield, when society looks itself in the mirror and “admits the truth”: our “comfortable lives are due in large measure to cheap and abundant fossil fuels” for which we will pay a steep price.
The “hydra-headed,” intertwined challenges of energy supply and demand, security, and environmental concerns mean that MIT must pursue a set of solutions simultaneously. But there is no better institution than MIT, with its practical mindset and engineering know-how, says Hockfield, to be a “catalyst for this technological phase shift.”
Tags: MIT energy innovation biofuels cleanenergy
[image: MIT President Susan Hockfield]
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May 5 innovation linkage, A.M. edition
Behind the unlikely making of Dilbert [Worthwhile Magazine]
Strategies for managing your intellectual property [CIO Insight]
Research schools now mean business [Wall Street Journal]
Five thought leader interviews on the future of New Media [The Economist]
Milton Friedman vs. John Kenneth Galbraith [Harvard Business School]
The next bright idea [Federal Computer Week]
The business of healthcare innovation [Knowledge @ Wharton]
The Long-Distance Journey of a Fast-Food Order [New York Times]
Is offshoring the next industrial revolution? [Alan Blinder]
[image: Bokstavskex]
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Innovation at the edge of reason
Xeni Jardin of Boing Boing has posted an interesting item about the Japanese art of chindogu, defined loosely as "anarchic, whimsical design." The Japanese term chindogu literally means "a tool that exists on the edge of reason" or "unusual implement." For example, check out the "Noodle Eater's Hair Guard" or the "portable office tie."
Unusual? Yes. Whimsical? Most definitely. Xeni also points to an essay by John Lienhard that explains the principles of chindogu:
"[Chindogu] can't be intended for real use, but it must be meant for everyday life. It must actually exist. Its purpose cannot be humor, propaganda, or vulgarity, nor can it serve any religious or ethnic prejudice. One device allows a cat to step on an actuator for a fan that cools its food. Funny? Not really. Propagandistic or vulgar? Certainly not. And cats do live with people of any religion or race.
The remaining three guiding principles are the most interesting. One is that Chindogu must reveal the spirit of anarchy. It must challenge, and I quote, the suffocating historical dominance of conservative utility. Chindogu must represent freedom from true purpose. The fun of it is that, while it has apparent utility, it is, in the end, useless. The tee-shirt with the grid printed on the back is such a contrivance. The point is to be able to tell a friend, Scratch my back at the coordinates H-3. Doesn't that make perfect sense?
A Chindogu can never be sold. That, I suppose, is what sets these gadgets apart from those at Sharper Image. The items at Sharper Image are necessarily tainted with all kinds of plausible usefulness. You could never say that about the Chindogu butter-stick. It's something like a Chapstick but filled with butter for easy spreading on bread.
The last principle is that Chindogu cannot be patented. True Chindogu is a gift to the world. In the spirit of internationalism, the book adds the phrase, Mi Chindogu es tu Chindogu.
Tags: chindogu innovation invention
[image: Boing Boing]
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DuPont and the miracles of science
Apparently, DuPont has launched an innovation-themed marketing campaign that includes print ads in the Wall Street Journal. The centerpiece of the campaign is an innovation website highlighting the company's many patents and innovations, including a look at the DuPont innovation process:
"DuPont invests more than $1 billion a year on research and development (R&D) in multiple disciplines and is home to one of the world's largest industrial R&D facilities, the Experimental Station. The result of such sustained R&D efforts is discontinuous innovation, the sudden appearance of a major breakthrough in technology that can yield entirely new products, processes, or services. Results occur only after great difficulty and long perseverance, and involve the interaction of technological research and market development. Collaborative R&D with other companies, and the licensing of intellectual assets (property) are also increasingly playing a role in the process."
One of the most famous innovations from DuPont (what it refers to as "the miracles of science") is Kevlar. If you think Kevlar is only for body armor and bulletproof vests, you're mistaken. For example, the DuPont StormRoom with Kevlar can also offer protection from tornado- and hurricane-blown debris:
The storm's circulation begins to pick up and throw out all kinds of debris. Many common items and building materials can become dangerous flying missiles. A two-by-four building timber from a damaged or destroyed structure, accelerated at more than 100 miles an hour, is one of the most common and deadly threats.
Common stucco, siding or brick exteriors of houses are not designed to stop this kind of threat. The incredible strength of DuPontTM Kevlar® Sheathing, built inside reinforced wall panels, helps provide the stopping power needed for a tornado shelter. It literally acts as a safety net, helping to stop and deflect debris from a tornado.
The DuPont™ StormRoom™ with Kevlar® looks like a small room inside a house or garage. Both the inside and outside of the storm shelter can be finished to match the walls of a home. The room is ventilated, and electricity can be installed. It is ideal for new home construction built on a concrete slab foundation. Installed by an authorized installation professional, the room can also be added to a new or existing garage with a concrete slab floor. The DuPont™ StormRoom™ with Kevlar® helps provide an easily accessible safe room from tornadoes and the wind-borne missiles they generate.
Tags: DuPont innovation science Kevlar
[Top image: Eurekalert]
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May 4, 2006
The Kentucky Idea Derby
This weekend, all eyes will be on Louisville, Kentucky for the annual running of the Kentucky Derby. There's another reason, though, to think about Louisville this weekend. In preparation for the upcoming IdeaFestival in Louisville taking place this fall (October 12-14), the folks at the IdeaFestival blog have been sharing their musings and insights about the world of design & innovation. This week, for example, the IdeaFestival blog has pointed to a post by Luke Wroblewski on how to solve business problems with design concepts; a Website for the mobile mob movie movement; and a post by Adrian Hanft suggesting that bad design might really be good design.
Anyway, I also took a look at the list of confirmed speakers for the IdeaFestival event in October. There are some highly-recognizable names on the list like Burt Rutan and Ray Kurzweil, as well as some names that you may or may not recognize, like John Gaeta (a visual effects artist for "The Matrix" films) and Lynn Harper (the NASA leader for space exploration). There's also Viktor Sukhodrev, the "English-language voice of Soviet leaders." Is that a cool job description or what?
Tags: Kentucky IdeaFestival innovation
[image: Yahoo Sports]
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I'm a Mac, you're a PC
Apparently, Apple is really stepping up its "Mac vs. PC" marketing campaign with a number of new TV ads. As might be imagined, the Mac user is cool, dresses casually and seems to have it all together (he even knows a little Japanese). In contrast, the PC user wears glasses, appears to be socially uncomfortable, and is attired in a boring old suit. Adding insult to injury, the Mac user quotes from a glowing product review in a Walt Mossberg personal tech column in the Wall Street Journal (the presumed paper of choice for the boring PC crowd).
Anyway, Jack Cheng has posted video clips from the ad, complete with a thorough de-construction of the ads: "The ads anthropomorphize the two types of computers and by doing so, they also really nail the differences between (at least stereotypically) a PC user and a Mac user." Jack explains:
Get one thing clear: this is not your dad’s “Switch” campaign. Yes, it’s placing the Mac and PC side by side, and basically saying that the Mac is superior, but what it’s not saying is “trade in your pc for a Mac.” For instance, in the ad pictured here, it starts out with the Mac and the PC holding hands. “We’ve got a little network here, and it’s really easy to set up. We speak each others’ language.” Now, in walks miss brand new digital camera from Japan and surprise! Mac speaks her language too!...
The key difference is that the ad recognizes the two working together, seeing the Mac as one that’s likely to be an additional machine in the home, rather than a replacment for the PC. Even the tagline’s changed from “Switch” to “Get a Mac.” Not “get a mac and dump your PC” (even though that may be the ultimate goal) the message here is more along the lines of “get a Mac and you’ll see just what you’ve been missing out on."
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What is the link between creativity and innovation?
Jeffrey Phillips, who writes the consistently thought-provoking Innovate on Purpose blog, argues that creativity is only one subset of innovation. In addition to developing their "creative" capabilities, corporations need to focus on the innovation process if they hope to bring game-changing products and services to market on a consistent basis:
I hear these topics [creativity and innovation] talked about in a way that somehow equates them. I think they are both important, but I strongly believe that creativity is a subset of innovation, and firms that focus only on creativity will suffer over the long run.
In our thinking model of innovation, the first few steps have to do with creating new ideas. Creativity is a significant part of those steps. Without a good creative culture, most ideas get shot down or never even generated. Too many firms actively discourage creativity, thinking that it hampers "real" work. Those firms settle for incremental innovation if any innovation at all.
However, no matter how creative a firm may be, if the ideas are generated but never evaluated or converted to new products or services, they are merely interesting artifacts. Value is generated by taking a creative new idea and moving it through a series of gates or stages to produce a new product or service or business model and launch that new "thing" into the market. How many people have said they "invented" the latest new gadget or fad, only they never found the time to actually develop the product. They had the idea, but never took the idea to fruition. That's the difference between creativity and innovation.
Tags: innovation creativity
[image: Idea to Innovation]
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The developing world, with Intel Inside
Intel plans to spend $1 billion over the next five years as part of its World Ahead initiative to promote Internet use and computer training in the poorest nations of the world. According to analysts, this new growth opportunity is "the latest move in the No. 1 chip maker's effort to break into new markets." While Intel prefers to use the term "bridging the global digital divide," it's clear that the chipmaker views the developing nations of the world as a potential multi-billion-dollar growth opportunity:
The program, which Intel has dubbed "World Ahead," aims to bring high-speed wireless Internet access to 1 billion people who can't now get online, while training 10 million teachers to use technology in education. "Decades of providing technology in growing volume and at decreasing costs have driven great gains for developing nations, communities and people worldwide, but there is still much to do," Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini said in a statement.
The program includes Intel's ongoing effort to promote cheap PCs that it hopes will find enthusiastic buyers among schools and villages in developing countries, where most people cannot afford to buy their own personal computers. It also extends Intel's push to popularize a new wireless technology called WiMax. WiMax's fast speed and long range has led many companies and industry groups to think it is ideal for poorer regions.
On Wednesday, the company also announced the launch of a new $400 laptop PC at the World Congress on Information Technology in Austin, Texas. The low-cost PC will become the centerpiece of the company's efforts to penetrate the emerging markets of the world. It's not just Intel, though, that has its eyes on the developing world: tech companies like Microsoft, Google and AMD have also announced plans to speed the uptake of Internet technology in some of the poorest, most neglected corners of the globe.
Tags: Intel WorldAhead emergingmarkets
[image: Reuters]
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Consumer-generated content in Taiwan
Trendwatching site Springwise points to Taiwan's Timestudio (Hua Shi Dai), which offers studio recording sessions for everyone, as an example of the trend toward consumer-generated content:
"Located in the busiest pedestrian areas in Taipei, Timestudio's two mini-recording studios let consumers record a professional CD for around USD 30. The studio features a sound booth and a control room manned by a professional audio engineer. A glass wall facing the street means that the 'artists' can be seen by passing shoppers, adding an element of momentary fame. With speakers installed outside the studio, performances can also be heard by passersby, luring both audiences and more customers (singing being a wide-spread passion in Taiwan).
When they've finished recording, the artists have their picture taken for the CD's cover art, the CD is burned, and that's it! Timestudio is a fun concept that could take off in shopping malls around the world, and is yet another example of professional grade services becoming available to mass audiences..."
If this thing ever takes off in the States, can you imagine what it would do for the popularity of American Idol?
Other innovations recently seen on Springwise: Pop-up drive-in movies, mobile libraries, story-driven fashion and on-demand air service.
Tags: timestudio consumer content DIY
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May 3, 2006
Podcast of the week: The Invisible Hand
I recently checked out the featured business podcasts on Apple iTunes and loaded up on a handful of podcasts that sounded interesting. One of the best podcasts that I found was called The Invisible Hand Podcast. Every week, the 30-40 minute show features an interview with a well-known business author or business thinker. In past weeks, for example, the podcast has featured Yochai Benkler of Yale Law School (The Wealth of Networks), Linda Sanford of IBM (Let Go To Grow) and Michael Mauboussin of Legg Mason Capital Management and Columbia Business School (More Than You Know).
This week’s show (April 29) features Albert Madansky, a business professor at the University of Chicago, who explains How to Read a Business Book with numerous examples from bestselling books such as Built to Last, Good to Great and In Search of Excellence. Even if you don't buy into the "Great Books" argument, it's interesting to hear Madansky describe the common flaws of most business books (hint: he's not a fan of Tom Peters) and explain the critical reading process. (Since I couldn't find a transcript of the podcast, you might want to check out Madansky's article in the University of Chicago alumni magazine for more details)
After explaining the “Great Books” tradition at the University of Chicago, Madansky dives into a critical analysis of Good to Great to show how a reading of any business book can proceed on several different levels. The first level, of course, is simply a superficial overview of the book. The second level of interpretation is a critical reflection on the ideas and methodologies employed within the book. This is where it gets interesting, as Madansky systematically picks apart some of the ideas and notions in Good to Great. As Madansky points out, it’s very easy to find a group of companies that share a number of important characteristics. However, it’s harder to explain causality (i.e. why a certain management style leads to greatness) and harder still to explain why some companies that share some or all of these characteristics somehow do not make the final cut when it comes to determining greatness.
The third level of critical analysis involves an understanding of how the book fits into a certain tradition or genre. For example, before there was Good to Great, there was Built to Last. And before there was Built to Last, there was In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters. But, as Madansky points out, that’s only part of the story. Good to Great was actually based on seminal research that was performed by Jerry Porras (one of the co-authors, along with Jim Collins, of Built to Last) and captured in a little-noticed book called Stream Analysis. Not only that, but the “Barron’s Best CEOs of the World” and “Fortune’s Most Admired Companies” studies are also part of this tradition in which outside observers select certain criteria, employ a certain methodology and anoint certain companies as "best of breed."
Putting it all together, it’s interesting to see which companies that are “built to last” did not wind up on the “good to great” list or on the list of "Fortune’s Most Admired companies." One of Madansky's final points is a bit controversial - he argues that only a handful of business books are truly "great." Most business books that propose to tell a "business Truth" (with a capital T) are nothing more than a bunch of fuzzy anecdotes that have not been rigorously tested or analyzed. (Madansky refers to this as "armchair induction") Moreover, Madansky hints that the nascent field of business history is destined to fade away into obscurity since the empirical study of business performance actually contributes very little to our knowledge of why some businesses are merely good, while others are great.
Anyway, if you're looking for a way to update your Apple iTunes playlist, it's worth giving the Invisible Hand Podcast a listen.
Tags: podcast business invisiblehand goodtogreat
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The Overlap of business and design
Victor Lombardi, an innovation consultant who writes the Noise Between Stations blog, is organizing an "un-conference" on design and innovation that will take place in Southern California from May 26-28. The basic theme of the Overlap conference is the intersection of design and business innovation:
"Overlap is an un-conference for anyone who wants to learn more about merging business practices with design-centric problem solving and customer understanding... Overlap aims for an experience that is multidisciplinary, collaborative, pragmatic and ultimately human. Participants will convene on California's Monterey Peninsula to explore past experiences and future possibilities, to experiment with new ways of thinking and create new tools that can support and enhance business innovation. [...]
In contrast to large conferences full of one-way presentations, this gathering will be a small event that uses discussion and group work to focus on real-world cases, methods, examples, and tools, shared in a casual forum that encourages honesty, openness, and healthy argument and agreement. All participants can engage and contribute through discussion and group work. We expect great things to emerge in this overlap of disciplines, mindsets, and viewpoints. We hope you'll feel the same, and join us for an amazing weekend."
Judging from material on the Overlap Website, it looks like there will be a number of interesting conversations taking place (e.g. "The Practical Uses of Design in Business" and "Creative Production") at the event. For more on the Overlap conference, stay tuned to the Overlap blog.
Tags: Overlap design innovation
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The 100 most influential people in the world
TIME Magazine has published a list of the 100 most influential people in the world: the TIME 100. While many of the movers and shakers on the list are from the world of arts and entertainment (Angelina Jolie and Howard Stern, among others), there were also a good number of business thinkers and "captains of industry" on the list. In no particular order, here are 10 business innovators from the TIME 100:
(1) Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia
(2) Vikram Akula, who has pioneered the use of smart cards for microlending
(3) The two co-founders of Flickr: Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield
(4) Jamie Dimon, the head of J.P. Morgan Chase
(5) Tom Freston of Viacom
(6) Omid Kordestani of Google ("the other Google guy")
(7) Anne Mulcahy of Xerox
(8) Nandan Nilekani of India's Infosys
(9) Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis of Skype
(10) Dieter Zetsche of DaimlerChrysler
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In New York, a different way to wake up with a cup of coffee
Some may see this as another sign of the impending apocalypse, while others may see it as innovation in advertising... The New York Post has pics of a new "alternative advertising" campaign created by Saatchi & Saatchi New York for Folgers Coffee:
"What looks like a steaming cup of coffee is actually a Manhattan manhole cover - capped by a vinyl photo of the top of a cup o' joe. It's pretty realistic - except for the unjava-like aroma wafting through steam holes in the vinyl from the sewer below. The attention-getting coverup was part of an experiment in alternative advertising created by Saatchi & Saatchi New York for Folgers Coffee. To make sure people realize what it's all about, a message alongside the manhole coffee cup says, "Hey, City That Never Sleeps. Wake Up. Folgers" - a Big Apple version of the company's slogan, "The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup."
Tags: Folgers coffee manhole innovation
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"The monthly tapped-out class"
Thanks to an overheating economy, American-style consumerism is starting to run amok in China. According to the Wall Street Journal, there's even a new buzzword (yue guang zu) making the rounds to describe this rampant consumerism in China:
American policy makers often complain that the Chinese save too much. They should meet the Su family... The Sus are part of a growing consumer culture taking hold among China's burgeoning middle class. Enough young urban professionals are blowing their whole salary these days that the Chinese media have coined a nickname for them: yue guang zu, roughly translated as the "monthly tapped-out class."
For American consumer goods companies, this must be a welcome development. They've already convinced the average American that it's OK to pay $4 for a coffee, $200 for a pair of jeans and $30 for a bottle of vodka. Now, it's on to China!
yueguangzu China consumer savings
[graphic: Wall Street Journal]
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May 2, 2006
Scott Cook on game-changing innovations
Luke Wroblewski of the Functioning Form blog has posted extensive links to the presentations and conversations that took place at last week's CHI 2006 (Computer-Human Interaction) event in Montreal. Highlights include a keynote presentation by Scott Cook of Intuit (also a speaker at last winter's FORTUNE Innovation Forum); a review of the role of comics during the innovation and design process; and a workshop on the design of social sytems that support trust and cooperation.
In addition, Antonella Pavese has posted a thorough "reconstruction" of Scott Cook's comments on creating game-changing innovations. As Cook suggests, "Innovation happens at the junction between business and customer needs, not from executive ideas or lonely geniuses within the company. Indeed, innovation bottlenecks are often at the top. Creating a culture of innovation is about nurturing customer observation, incubating new ideas, celebrating failure, and staying out of the way."
At Intuit, the goal is to change lives so profoundly that people can't imagine going back to the old way. With that in mind, Cook gave some examples of game-changing business ideas (i.e. Le Cirque du Soleil) and showed how they were born by the understanding of an unmet customer need and really good innovative solutions. He also highlighted the five principles of corporate innovation and outlined the five basic models of innovation:
1. The lone genius
2. The boss is a genius
3. Copy competitors' inventions
4. Cloister the geniuses in a lab
5. Make your people the geniuses
Not surprisingly, Scott Cook prefers model #5: "This is what really works. None of the other models are sustainable or effective in creating a culture of innovation in the long term. Models 1-4 tend to create pockets of innovation that are limited and isolated from the rest of the company. The source of invention is unlikely to be the big executive: innovation comes from where the business connects to customers. It scales, because it allows the company to create many "contact" groups between the company and the customers."
Anyway, if you're interested, the full text of Scott Cook's presentation at CHI 2006 has also been posted by Sébastien Paquet.
Tags: CHI2006 ScottCook innovation
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The Best Buy buy-in
What do you do when your customers start using your products in strange and wondrous ways that you never imagined? If you're a company like LEGO, the answer is simple: tap into the customer co-creation process. But what happens when your customers start acting in strange and wondrous ways that you never imagined? Take a look at what happened to Best Buy at one of its Manhattan stores. The improvisational comedy troupe Improv Everywhere planned an extensive improv event at a Best Buy super store in Chelsea, in which approximately 80 people dressed up like Best Buy sales associates and proceeded to cause havoc:
"We met at Union Square North at 3:30 PM. Around 80 agents showed up, most them looking like wonderful Best Buy employees. More than a few came dressed in navy or teal, but with the belt and the khakis they still looked employee-like. After everyone arrived I explained the mission. The first step was for everyone to throw their newspapers away. The instruction to bring a newspaper was a red herring meant to throw people off the scent of the mission's true nature. I then revealed the plan, "We're heading up to the Best Buy on 23rd Street. We'll enter the store one by one. Once inside, spread out and stand near the end of an aisle, facing away from the merchandise. Don't shop, but don't work either. If a customer comes up to you and asks you a question, be polite and help them if you know the answer. If anyone asks you if you work there, say no. If an employee asks you what you're doing, respond 'I'm waiting for my girlfriend/boyfriend who is shopping elsewhere in the store.' If they question you about your clothing, just explain that it's what you put on when you woke up this morning and you don't know any of the other people dressed like you."
Anyway, Improv Everywhere has posted extensive photos and videoclips of the event. It was actually an elaborate plan - stashing hidden cameras in cut-out sections of Xbox360 boxes, hiding cameras in duffle bags, you get the idea. What really struck me, though, was the way that Best Buy employees reacted to the event: "The lower level employees laughed and got a kick out of it while the managers and security guards freaked out. Some employees speculated that we were a cult, or maybe protesters..." Without giving away too much of what happens, let's just say that the event involved a few frantic calls to 911, the arrival of the cops, and misplaced worries of a Thomas Crown Affair.
There has to be an innovation lesson in there somewhere about the customer co-creation process. If nothing else, it would make for an interesting anecdote during a ho-hum PowerPoint presentation about innovation.
Tags: BestBuy ImprovEverywhere
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Success built to last: passionate business leaders
Knowledge @ Wharton has posted an interview with two of the co-authors of Success Built to Last, a follow-up to the 1994 business bestseller Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. That first book by James C. Collins and Jerry Porras, of course, took a closer look at 18 visionary companies ("the crown jewels of their industries") and analyzed what made them extraordinary. The new book builds on many of those ideas to analyze which traits successful individuals have in common. Is it possible for individuals to build lasting success in their careers the same way that companies do?
According to Mark Thompson and Stewart Emery, the idea for the new book has been under development for some time now, prompted by the realization that many business leaders were adapting principles from Built to Last to their own careers. After a number of interviews with remarkable people (so-called "builders"), Thompson and Emery were able to focus on three key traits that pave the way for lasting success:
We found that three fundamental principles drive lasting success; these need to interact with one another and also to be integrated and aligned. We describe them in our first chapter in a diagram with three intersecting circles -- meaning, thought and action -- and the bull's eye is where they all come together. We found that individuals across the spectrum of professions were striving to find something that mattered to them in a very fundamental way. This prompted them to drive their thoughts to frame a way of producing those results -- and then acting on those results.
If you take any one of those principles away -- for example, if you take meaning away from thought and action -- you might be successful in the short term. This is because you have a plan in your head and execute against it. But if your plan is disassociated from meaning, it might not matter. And it wouldn't have the meaning which sustains you through the inevitable challenges and difficulties of trying to create a career. That fundamental step of finding meaning, finding the passion that matters to you and that drives your behavior, is often skipped.
When we interviewed people for our book, we learned that whether you are Jack Welch or the Dalai Lama, it is dangerous not to do what you love. If you don't have a level of passion that drives your thinking about what you're doing day in and day out, there will be others out there who are passionate who will overtake and outrun you. People who care will take the initiative away from those who are half-hearted. So loving what you do is a competitive imperative, not simply a nice thing to have.
Tags: BuilttoLast success
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Ten years of the Wall Street Journal Online
Over the next 10 days, the Wall Street Journal Online is taking time to celebrate its 10-year anniversary with a number of special features. For example, the Evolution of the Wall Street Journal looks at how the home page of the Wall Street Journal has changed over the past 10 years. The first screen shot is from June 1996, while the second screen shot is from March 2006. Obviously, the homepage looks a lot different now than it did then. In 1996, the homepage basically looked like a photocopy of the morning paper. After a series of revamps, the WSJ has added a whole host of features (i.e. portfolio customization tools, enhanced search capabilities, online exclusives) and a better, more attractive layout and design. Oh, yeah, and did I mention color and graphics?
However, how much has really changed in 10 years? At a time when media companies like the BBC and the New York Times are experimenting with the idea of a complete Web 2.0 makeover, the Wall Street Journal seems very content to continue to protect nearly all of its content behind paid subscription walls. Moreover, where are the RSS feeds? The user-generated content? The blogs? The quirky YouTube.com videos? For coverage of business and finance, there is no equal to the Wall Street Journal. The content is first-class and a must-read in the morning. But that doesn't mean that the Wall Street Journal Online is perfect.
What do you think? What changes (if any) should the Wall Street Journal Online make?
Tags: WallStreetJournal newspaper innovation
Posted by dominic at 6:06 AM | Comments (1) | Recommend this! | +dlc | +dig | TrackBack
Secrets of the agile corporation
According to innovation guru Jim Carroll, agility is one of the most critical capabilities of any organization: "Organizations must presume that the rate of change today is so fast that product lifecycles are collapsing, business models are relentlessly shifting, and customers are unforgiving and fleeting. Agility implies that we must innovate and adapt based on rapidly changing circumstances, on a continuous basis."
With that as backdrop, Jim suggests seven guiding principles that can form the basis of the agile corporation:
(1) Plan for short term longevity
(2) Presume lack of rigidity
(3) Design for flexibility
(4) Build with extensibility
(5) Harness external creativity
(6) Plan for supportability
(7) Revisit with regularity
Tags: innovation agility strategy
Posted by dominic at 5:44 AM | Recommend this! | +dlc | +dig | TrackBack
May 1, 2006
How Hollywood portrays the Internet
In celebration of its 10th anniversary online, the Wall Street Journal is running a free online open house throughout the week. Anyway, I happened to stumble on this - a collection of movie clips and an article by Andrew Lavallee showing how Hollywood's portrayal of computers and the Internet has changed over the past 10 years or so. As the Wall Street Journal points out, "Hollywood's depictions of the Internet range from overwrought to just plain goofy."
Check out clips from classic movies like War Games as well as not-so-classic B-movies like Swordfish (starring John Travolta and Halle Berry) and Fear Dot Com. Just keep in mind that what you see on the silver screen may bear little or no resemblance to what you see everyday on your computer screen:
One of the first ways Hollywood portrayed the Internet – or something resembling it -- was by featuring computer hackers who used their geeky skills to run amok. In 1983's "WarGames," for instance, a baby-faced Matthew Broderick found himself in control of nuclear missiles after accessing a military computer system using the suspiciously hackable password "Joshua." Countless hacker movies since then have similarly stretched belief in the name of drama.
Indeed, filmmakers have been particularly interested in the notion of computers as powerful tools for wreaking havoc, though have often been less interested in portraying reality. The geek crowd has weighed in on the movies that got it right and those that didn't. The makers of the sci-fi "Matrix" trilogy got kudos, for instance, for shots of real programming code in 2003's "Matrix Reloaded." On the flipside are films like 1995's "Hackers," which depict the Internet controlling everything, including high-school sprinkler systems. In film after film, hacking scenes involve a conspicuously large, blinking password prompt, then a few "access d