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July 7, 2006
July 7 innovation linkage
Cultures of repair, innovation [Future Perfect]
Wikipedia founder launches political site [ZDNet]
A conversation about design and ethnography with Steve Portigal [Functioning Form]
MuslimSpace: MySpace for Muslims [Mashable]
Design and innovation from an Indian perspective [Design for All Institute]
Short-term thinking kills [BusinessPundit.com]
Inside the Googleplex [MetropolisMag.com]
Diagrams of a Theory of Cognitivity [Brain-Mind: Know Thyself]
The Netflix Rolling Roadshow [Netflix]
The white hat hackers of Hewlett-Packard [CNET]
[image: Wind turbine flower bouquet via We Make Money Not Art]
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The rise of the junior creative class
Creativity is quickly becoming a major buzzword on college campuses. As Inside Higher Ed points out, Tufts University made waves yesterday with the announcement that it would be considering creativity as a factor in its decision of whether or not to admit undergraduates. With this in mind, Tufts is working on developing an various additions to the standard college application that would attempt to measure creativity:
"This year, applicants to Tufts will also have the option of answering very different kinds of questions. They might be asked to write a short story to fit the title “Confessions of a Middle School Bully” or “The End of MTV.” They might be asked to write an essay imagining what the world would have been like had Rosa Parks given up her seat on the bus or had John Paul I lived longer than a month as pope. Or they could create an advertisement or ad campaign for a product that doesn’t exist. Other exercises might be timed and prompted by videos. They could watch a film about a situation they might face in college — such as going to a professor to ask for a recommendation only to realize that the professor doesn’t know you — and write a short piece about what they would do."
For Tufts, the "creativity experiment" is a way to focus more attention on creativity, innovation and other intangibles that can not be measured by high board scores and a stellar GPA. What's cool is that the creativity experiment at Tufts enjoys a lot of buy-in at the highest ranks (in other words, this isn't the work of some low-level admissions administrator who got a bit jazzed up after reading a book by Richard Florida on the Rise of the Creative Class):
"The approach is based on the work of Robert Sternberg, a psychologist who specializes in measuring intelligence and promoting creativity. Sternberg left Yale University last year to become dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts. “If we are interested in developing future leaders, we need to expand the way we think about student abilities,” Sternberg said. The college admissions process to date focuses “on a sliver of what we need to know” and completely ignores “skills that are important for success in college and life.”
Tags: creativity Tufts admissions creative class
[image: Tufts University]
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Does Microsoft have an iPod killer waiting in the wings?
As the New York Times (via CNET) points out, Microsoft has been developing its own handheld music and video player to challenge Apple Computer's iPod and expects to have it in stores in time for the holiday season. It's not just that Microsoft is working on a hip new MP3 player - the company is also working on an online music store similar to iTunes, in partnership with MTV. Just as Apple used the combination of the iPod and the iTunes music store to win a commanding market share in the digital music market, Microsoft hopes to combine hardware and software to win market share away from Apple. Moreover, Microsoft's digital device would be equipped with at least one feature the iPod lacks: wireless Internet capability that would allow users to download music without being connected to a PC. In addition, the rumored Microsoft device would have a more advanced video screen capable of playing, say, movies and video clips.
The strategy of building from scratch its own MP3 player marks a sharp departure in strategy for Microsoft:
Until now, Microsoft has largely bet that hardware manufacturers like Samsung could come up with a device that would use Microsoft's software and cut into Apple's lead. But the company's plans to develop its own device are an indication that it may no longer be satisfied with that strategy. "If this is true, then this is them trying to take more control over the situation," said Mike McGuire, vice president for research on mobile devices at Gartner, which tracks the electronics market. "In effect, they're basically saying, 'We think we can do something better'" than the existing hardware makers.
Anyway, while other bloggers have commented extensively about the "Microsoft iPod," Paid Content has an interesting snippet about the (rumored) Microsoft Music Store. What's interesting is that while many content companies may not like the idea of partnering with big bad Microsoft, they also realize that the entry of Microsoft into the digital music market is a great way to erode some of Apple's pricing power. (i.e the best way to deal with a monopolist might very well be inviting in another monopolist)
[image: Microsoft iPod Pro 2005 XP]
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The accidental entrepreneurs
If you buy into the whole "accidental innovation" argument, check out the feature from Information Week about the "accidental entrepreneur." It turns out that some of the biggest names in the world of Internet start-ups never really intended to be entrepreneurs:
"Many of them truly were accidental entrepreneurs; others at least had an inkling they could make a go of it. All were helped along by a business-fertile Internet environment, their raw ambition, supportive spouses, and a little luck. They haven't all become rich, but they're all making a living at what they used to do for fun."
Among the accidentals: the husband-wife team of Ben and Mena Trott (pictured here), who founded the blog publishing company Six Apart; Joshua Schachter of Del.icio.us; and Kevin Rose, co-founder and CTO of online news site Digg.com.
[image: Information Week]
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July 6, 2006
The 40 most innovative companies in the world
Wired magazine recently released its list of the 40 most innovative companies in the world. As might be expected, the list is heavily tilted in favor of U.S. tech companies (Google is #1, followed by Apple at #2), but there are a few Old Economy stalwarts on the list as well. For example, GE comes in at #8 for its work on alternative energy innovation: "Is there a big clean business GE hasn’t jumped on? Windmills, hybrid railroad engines, water systems, coal gasification – with six divisions, from GE Healthcare to NBC Universal, the megaconglomerate could start a new green revolution." Other than that, it's basically your usual suspects - companies like Yahoo, Amazon, Cisco, eBay and Netflix all crack the Top 15. Among foreign innovators, Samsung, Toyota, News Corp. and Infosys all are ranked in the Top 15.
What's interesting is that Wired includes a sidebar called "Who's Out" - a list of former innovators who, well, stopped innovating. The list includes Dell, Nokia, Pixar, TD Ameritrade and Vodaphone.
Tags: innovation ecomagination
[image: GE Ecomagination]
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Richard Branson's 10 secrets to success
Pointing to the Wikipedia entry for Virgin Group, Dimitar Vesselinov of The World 2 Come blog explains how celebrity business tycoon Richard Branson has managed to tie together a bewildering array of businesses (including my personal favorite - Virgin Galactic) under the Virgin brand by following 10 simple rules. In contrast to blustery, self-promoting billionaires like Donald Trump, Branson believes in keeping it casual and having fun working:
1. Challenge the big ones.
2. Keep it casual.
3. Haggle: everything is negotiable.
4. Have fun working.
5. Do the right things for the brand.
6. Smile for the cameras!
7. Don't lead "sheep" - herd "cats".
8. Move like a bullet.
9. Size does matter.
10. Be a common, regular person
While most of the items on this list ring true, some of them, such as "do the right things for the brand," are a lot harder to carry out in practice than one might assume. Which of these items, for example, is considered "doing the right thing for the brand" -- (A) cavorting with scantily-clad bikini girls to promote an airline (B) posing with a figleaf to promote a new book (C) reading naked in bed with another employee and (D) dressing up as a can of Virgin Cola? The answer, as you might have guessed, is "all of the above."
Tags: Richard Branson Virgin entrepreneur
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Welcome to the imagination economy
In the July 10 issue of FORTUNE magazine (the one with Warren Buffett on the cover), senior editor-at-large Geoffrey Colvin explains why creativity and imagination are becoming the basis for the next wave of economic growth and development. As Colvin explains, "focusing on science and technology is fighting the last war... the very basis of value creation is shifting from the disciplines of logic and linear thinking to the intuitive, nonlinear processes of creativity and imagination." As an example, consider the Apple iPod, which has almost singlehandedly made creativity and design synonymous with "hipness," or Target, which now employs a phalanx of designers to churn out cool designs for mundane household items. The bottom line, argues Colvin, is that "ingenuity" - not technology - will be the leading value creator of the next decade. In short, "The future will bring industries we can't imagine and jobs which we lack the vocabulary to describe."
Tags: innovation imagination
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Accidental innovation
While a growing number of innovation practitioners believe that innovation can be taught and understood as a formal process that is capable of being repeated and optimized, Robert Austin, an associate professor in the Technology, Operations and Management department at Harvard Business School, argues that there's a lot to be said for accidental innovation. In a working paper called "Accident, Innovation, and Expectation in Innovation Process," Austin and co-author Lee Devin (a professor at Swarthmore) explore the concept of accidental innovation, how it works, and how "good accidents" (i.e. stainless steel, Teflon, the smallpox vaccine) can be encouraged. According to Austin, companies need to think about how to encourage "accidental innovation" during the innovation process.
In a Q&A with Sarah Jane Gilbert of HBS, Austin explains in greater detail what he means by the concept of accidental innovation and why it can be a powerful driver of breakthrough change within an organization. What's interesting is that Austin actually developed this notion of "accidental innovation" while interviewing a number of artists about the creative process:
"I was interviewing artists as part of a larger study of the principles, processes, and practices that lead to reliable innovation. (I'm working on a book on reliable innovation.) I found that many artists are very upfront about the importance of accident in their processes. Some artists see accident as a good way to produce something that they would not have been able to think of in advance and that is, therefore, quite new—something they wouldn't have even thought to try to create. One artist showed me how one of his important pieces came out of some experiments with unusual tools; he wasn't trying to do a piece of work, he was just trying out the unfamiliar tools, and something interesting happened. Another, a potter, showed me how he would create beautiful pots and then, while they were drying, whack them with a stick. Sometimes they just broke, but other times he'd get an interesting shape that he'd never seen before. Then he'd make a whole series based on that new shape. He was trying to get outside of what we would call his "cone of expectations and intentions" to create something truly new."
So, what do you think: is it better to innovate on purpose or innovate on accident?
Tags: innovation creativity accidental innovation
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Are creativity books ready to crack the bestseller list?
In a weekly wrap-up of new business books for the New York Times, Paul B. Brown points out that innovation and creativity are emerging as the new buzzwords of the publishing industry. Given that more companies than ever before are exploring strategies based around design and innovation, it's not surprising that books intended to help managers and executives "institutionalize creativity within an organization" are also gaining in popularity. According to Paul Brown, the best of the recent crop of books about creativity and innovation is Juicing the Orange.
The book, published by Harvard Business School Press, uses the advertising industry as its source material for rules and examples, which is not too surprising, given that the two authors (Pat Fallon and Fred Senn) are also the founding partners of ad agency Fallon Worldwide. According to Fallon and Senn, "creativity can be not just harnessed, but also leveraged," and with that in mind, they offer a seven-step framework for leveraging creativity, along with numerous examples of how advertisers have used these principles to help their clients increase revenue and earnings.
Tags: creativity innovation advertising
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July 5, 2006
Ask DaimlerChrysler about design and creativity
DaimlerChrysler is piggybacking on the early success of using its chairman (Dieter Zetsche) as a TV pitchman with a new Internet site called Ask Dr. Z, which gives Dieter Zetsche (actually, an animated cartoon icon of Dieter Zetsche) an opportunity to answer consumer questions about DaimlerChrysler. For example, some consumers have asked Dr. Z about the company's new concept cars, while others have asked more mundane questions about miles per gallon performance. According to the sitemeter statistics flashing in red when I stopped by, over 280,000 Internet users have already checked out Dr. Z. Presumably, more will be on the way, thanks to a new full-page ad ("The doctor is in at AskDrZ.com") that appeared in the Wall Street Journal today. To get a flavor of the TV commercials, check out Jalopnik's review of Dr. Z's television performance:
"Not since Lee Iacocca dared TV viewers to find a better-built car than a Chrysler and buy it (they did, it was called a Toyota) has a CEO type stepped in front of a camera to pitch the company’s wares. Now, finding itself in a lack-of-image crisis, Chrysler’s turning Dieter Zetsche’s natural blend of goofy avuncularity and stoic Germanness into what they hope is TV (and sales) gold — in a persona they’re calling “Dr. Z.” A Web site launch preceeds a spate of new spots that feature Zetsche answering mail from fictional consumers. In the first one, a Jalopnik exclusive ad premiere, Dr. Z takes apart a 300C to demonstrate how its suspension is the product of German (and American) engineering. It’s not as outright bat**** mad as Volkswagen’s “Un-pimp My Ride” spots, but we’d imagine they’ll work just as well, if convincing the public that Chryslers are really Mercedes is really a sound branding strategy."
Tags: DaimlerChrysler DieterZetsche Dr. Z
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Chinese innovation at the top of the world
The new Himalayan railway that links Beijing with Tibet is now the world's highest rail line. It's also an "engineering marvel" and a testament to the spirit of the human imagination - it took nearly five years and more than $4 billion to build, and its 1,200 miles of tracks traverse 342 miles of permafrost, much of it at altitudes exceeding 13,000 feet. In order to overcome these conditions, engineers used sunshades and high-tech cooling columns plunged into embankments to help ensure the ground stays frozen. Moreover, China reached out to Western companies such as Bombardier, GE, and Nortel for the communications network and locomotives capable of hauling at high altitudes. During the inaugural journey that began on July 1, it was impossible to forget the harsh conditions of the high-altitude Himalayan permafrost: "Pens spit ink and packaged foods burst in the low pressure as the Sky Train climbed the 16,640-foot Tanggula Pass. Laptop computers and digital music players failed... Some passengers threw up. Others took Tibetan herbs or breathed oxygen from tubes..."
Certainly, the Chinese innovation is not without its problems. Many Tibetans view the railway as a "Chinese invasion" that will encourage Chinese immigrants to displace the native Tibetan culture. While Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has thus far avoided criticizing the railway, it's easy to understand the fears of the native Tibetan population. (How would some remote areas of Texas feel about the prospect of new high-speed trains from Mexico crossing the Rio Grande?) Moreover, there are environmental concerns about the train. For example, during the maiden voyage, passengers noticed plastic bags, bottles and cardboard boxes scattered along the tracks.
Anyway, there are great photos of the railway over at Wired magazine as well as a great account of the building of the railway at Fortune magazine. There's also a brief one-minute video of the railway from Reuters.
Tags: China Tibet railway innovation
[image: Wired]
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The two types of creativity
Chuck Frey of the Innovation Weblog points to the July issue of Wired magazine, which includes a fascinating article about cutting-edge research on creativity from David Galenson of the University of Chicago. According to Galenson, creative people come in two types: "quick and dramatic" and "careful and quiet." Moreover, these two types of creative profiles can be found in nearly every type of creative pursuit:
To reach this conclusion, [Galenson] studied the auction prices of art, and charted the value of the artists' work versus their age at the time each work was painted. He discovered two distinct curves: For some artists, the curve peaked early, followed by a gradual decline. These artists - which Galenson christened "conceptual innovators" - created their most valuable masterpieces in their 20s and 30s. Think Pablo Picasso, who created his groundbreaking cubist style of painting at the ripe young age of 26.
The other type of curve rose gradually over time, peaking at a much later age. This type of creative genius Galenson calls "experimentalists." Artists in this group spend a lifetime tinkering and perfecting their style, and creatively bloom later in life. Artists in this group painted their masterworks later in life. Think Cezanne, who produced his most valuable works at age 67, the year he died.
When Galenson expanded his work to include book authors, musical composers, filmmakers and other artistic pursuits, amazingly he found the same two types of creative curves, and numerous examples of both archetypes. For example, conceptual genius Orson Welles created his breakthrough film, Citizen Kane at age 26, while experimentalist Alfred Hitchcock produced Vertigo at age 59. And Wolfgang Mozart produced The Marriage of Figaro at age 30, while Ludwig von Beethoven wrote Symphony No. 9 at age 54.
Tags: creativity Galenson innovation
[image: The Painter's Triumph]
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What is the size of your innovation footprint?
If you've watched Al Gore's new documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, you're probably familiar with the notion of a "carbon footprint" and the idea that each individual should take responsibility for how much carbon he or she consumes and releases into the atmosphere. In other words, the "carbon footprint" concept takes a global problem (i.e. global warming) and transforms it into a local problem that can be solved through individual action. As Jeffrey Phillips of the Innovate on Purpose blog points out, this notion of a "carbon footprint" can also be used to think about innovation. Below, Phillips describes his notion of an innovation footprint:
"That got me thinking about innovation and the "innovation footprint". If together we can think about pollution and how we, each of us, can contribute to reducing our carbon footprint through simple actions, then certainly each of us can think about our "innovation footprint" at work. What actions or projects are you working on that could have an "innovation footprint"?
In this regard, it seems to me that the "carbon footprint" concept works because each of us has a stake in maintaining and improving the environment. The goal behind the program is that if each of us recognizes our involvement in the problem and takes small steps to reduce our carbon emissions, we'll take a large step towards improving the problem. This means that there is some shared goals across a large number of people to improve the living conditions on the planet.
That sounds a lot like a corporate culture to me. A large number of people with shared goals who seek to improve the conditions within a structure - just in this case, improving the margins or profits or services of a business. I think a great new program in many businesses should be to encourage the "innovation footprint" thinking within the teams and business functions within organizations. What can you personally do to help our organization become more innovative? What can your working team do? Do you have ideas that can improve our margins or cut our costs? How can those ideas get implemented?
Tags: innovation innovation footprint
[image: footprints on Flickr]
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Inside America's DIY movement
In Sunday's edition of New York Times Magazine, Rob Walker takes a closer look at the growth of the "craft economy" in the United States. As an example of the DIY craft movement within the U.S., Walker points to a 28-year-old housewife who makes and sells a variety of stuffed, anthropomorphized objects as part of a "one-woman brand" called My Paper Crane. As Walker explains, My Paper Crane is "part of a wave of independent businesses selling handmade toys, clothing, soap, jewelry, housewares and other items." Many of these businesses are run by housewives who are tired of a life of "domesticity." There's also a DIY Network on cable TV and a new Craft magazine due out in the fall, so it's clear that the DIY craft movement has really struck a chord with a critical mass of Americans. Interestingly, it's not so much for the artistic and creative reasons you might suppose. As it turns out, there are social as well as political elements involved:
"Many craft consumers have borderline sociopolitical motives, seeking in these alternatives to mass-produced, corporate-made goods not just something unique but also a product with no murky labor or environmental-impact back story. Still, the more popular crafting becomes, the more crafters see mass goods in mainstream retailers that mimic the handmade look. This is part of the reason that Faythe Levine, who runs Paper Boat Boutique and Gallery in Milwaukee and coordinates that city's Art vs. Craft fair, has begun filming a documentary that frames the contemporary craft movement as being partly descended from the indie-driven culture of zines and punk rock. Levine views the story of D.I.Y. crafting as one of building an alternative to mainstream consumption — not as a lifestyle trend. She also points out that this is an "art movement" that is dominated by female artist-entrepreneurs. "We're talking thousands of women," she says. "It's really impressive, and powerful."
[image: New York Times Magazine]
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