Random thoughts on innovation
I've been thinking about writing for some time, but was never sure of the right topic or what stories I could share. Innovation happens all around us, and as I continue to research, it has become paramount to share my thoughts on innovation. Random thoughts on innovation, as I call it isn't like every normal blog. The intent is to share insight on my findings on innovation and spur others to see innovation from a different light.
Monday, 25 March 2013
the five W´s
The first typical question of the day is what am I going to do which develops into what have I done, and oh oh where is that appointment by the way when is it taking place or when did it take place and who is going to be there. yet we forget that three letter word WHY?
That questions that creates the core value to any foundation, but don´t forget the other four, always moving hand in hand. The five W´s. First find out WHY and the rest follows : find purpose in your work! Increase value!
why are you reading this? just kidding :D :D :D
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Social Media Secrets Revealed: More than just the "Likes"
Your likes and actions online can predict and reveal the type of person you are. The Financial Times (FT) highlights that the personal information available online can help reveal behavioural patterns, actions, and characteristics of individuals. However, should this be encouraging or discouraging to online users?
A study also carried out by a team of scientists funded by Microsoft-research centre shows that user likes on Facebook, for example, predict traits and other characteristics that were not provided in their profile. Therefore supporting the claim by the FT that online information and actions on social media reveal more than what we think it does. Furthermore, according to Michael Kosinski, a computational psychologist at the University of Cambridge’s Psychometrics Centre, similar techniques were used by companies to tailor advertising or services to consumers. But he said online behaviour could also be used to accurately predict deeply personal details. These deductions were made through analyses of data collected from Facebook users that participated in the research.
What does this mean for you an everyday social media and online user:
1. Your level of intelligence can be predicted by how you use social media and the pages you like
2. Your sexuality can be identified
3. Your interests can be predicted
4. Your needs can be better identified by companies as their advertising would be better targeted
5. You can make new "suggested" friends, associations and networks of like minds
Do you think your actions can be predicted by your "likes" on online, and if so is this a good thing?
If you like the idea of your likes and actions online predicting user profile and information, on which this article is based, I am happy to show you how to use a system to do that and welcome your comments.
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
How do leading firms manage change? They’re strategic.
H
|
ow
do leading firms manage change? They’re strategic says Professor Robert
Macintosh of Glasgow University. If two words sums up the Professor’s idea, its got to be crucial
insights. Or plainly expressed, firms with strategists that reason productively
diagnose the right problem. There is no question that managers need help to
understand issues from multiple perspectives. Especially if emphasis is made on
the need to diagnose the right problem. For instance, on the introduction of
the Dyson as a bag-less vacuum cleaner which changed the nature of that
industry. Many of the incumbent firms began to struggle to compete, losing both
market share and money. It was clear that the problem was being defined
differently by different groups within well-know vacuum cleaner firms. Those in
marketing and product development felt sure that consumers wanted a more
powerful machine because the power rating of the motor implied greater suction
and greater suction meant higher cleaning efficiency. The design engineers didn’t see the problem
in the same way at all.
“they
[the marketing people] keep asking for more power. We’re building cleaners with bigger and
bigger motors but that just means that the machines get more expensive and
heavier. Worse still, my team is now
designing systems to dissipate some of the suction produced because if it was
all directed at the carpet the machine would suck so hard you wouldn’t be able
to push it along.”
Senior Design
Engineer
For
the engineers, the problem was one of improving product reliability and
reducing the costs of production by standardizing components and streamlining
assembly processes. The senior
management of the firm were however, thinking at a different level of
abstraction and were concerned about the cost base of their operations. This led to a decision to close UK-based
factories and move production to eastern Europe where wage costs were
lower. Each group had framed the problem
in its own terms. Everyone saw the same
symptoms, lower revenues and declining market share, but each group diagnosed different
causal mechanisms and therefore arrived at divergent conclusions on how best to
move forward. Could all this change if managers are equipped with tools that
enable them think critically. Perhaps, an
enquiry-action learning approach could help enhance performance. But
first, firms have to set out a course today, and dynamically prepare on how
they might set out to explore these tomorrow.
(Snippet from the book “Managing Change: Enquiry and Action by Robert Macintosh
and Nic Beech”, Cambridge University Press).
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Social Media
Social
Media:
The
clock ticks, its 4:30pm on a wet Tuesday evening in Vienna. I just finished
discussing with representatives from Mckinsey, and Deutsche bank on how to boost
investor confidence and sustain competitive advantage in organisations. I got
into a taxi heading for the airport to catch my flight back to London, and started
reading the Financial Times online. While in transit I checked into the plane,
selected my seat and downloaded an e-boarding pass. I also made changes to
dinner reservations in London, and responded to emails that needed quick
attention.
At the airport waiting to board,
I posted messages on Twitter, checked Linkedin, and responded to comments on
Facebook. I’m sitting on the flight listening to the cabin crew give
instructions, and then the message came “Please
turn off all personal electronic devices, including laptops and cell phones.
Smoking is prohibited for the duration of the flight. Thank you for choosing
this airline”. At that moment it seemed like the time stopped, everything
stopped moving, no smartphones or tablets, no internet, facebook, pinterest,
instagram or twitter, it was a moment of silence, then we took off.
From
newspapers and magazines, to TV, and the internet, social media has changed the
ways we think, consume, and communicate. Organisations also haven’t been left
out, as they seek to take adapt and take advantage of the new social media
revolution. Caroline Firstbrook and Robert Wollan of Accenture called social
media the “genuine game changer” for business, while Chris Barry et al. of Bain
& Company recommends that organisations should put social media to work in
order to gain real value, whereas Roxane Divol et al. of Mckinsey teaches
organisations on how to harness social media to drive sales, profitability and
brand loyalty. Researchers like Prahalad and Ramaswamy, fargo and Lusch,
highlights that consumers have become more empowered, and the empowerment would
result in value co-creation with organisation, which would help promote
competitive advantage. However, others like Zwick, Bonsu and Damordy argue that
the consumers are being exploited and have been put to work only for the
benefit of organisations.
Examples of multiple social media platforms |
As
the plane landed in London, we all came back to life, switching on our smart
phones, receiving updates and message prompts, listening to voice mails and
making calls. Then came the questions: Can we truly harness the power of social
media? Who are the winners and losers? How do we innovate to ensure survival
for the future?
Friday, 15 June 2012
CORPORATE NINJAS
COMPETENCE IN THE INNOVATION ECONOMY
GM
Chief Dan Akerson mentions in a fortune interview, that in managing complex global
business environments, his company is required to dance as fast as it can. Choreography
experts will tell you that every dance, no matter what style, has something in
common. It not only involves flexibility and body movement, but also physics.
If the proper physics are not taken into consideration, injuries may occur. Same
with Ninjutsu - The skills required of the Ninja.
Ninjutsu is an art that
requires movement and precision. Skills, acquired by total training of the
warrior in various fighting techniques. This
Ninjutsu type survival environment
is what modern managers are faced with today. So, just as the Ninja is expected
to possess in addition to knowledge of the martial arts, an understanding of common
professions in-case they were expected to take a form of disguise, workers in a
more productive economy need to have a mastery of skills and depth of expertise
in whatever job they do and at what ever level, says Singapore Finance
Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam. As a result, there is a growing need for
T-shaped competences, possessing deep skills in an area of expertise as well as
broad knowledge of horizontal skills such as management, finance and business
operations. Managers with these competences will determine the ability of the organisations
that they support, and their success in the marketplace.
Institutions
are also trying to position themselves to win the war on talent. UK policy
makers begun the Modern Workplace consultation that the Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills published in 2011. As part of this is the Enterprise
and Regulatory Reform Bill, which managers and business leaders hope will
provide them with the framework to create the modern workplace that the
economic environment requires. Will employees become more engaged as a result, and will this
help drive UK economic growth? It does not create the right legislative
environment, as there have been little support for employees establishing a
mutual to ensure they have the management skills to develop successfully says Chartered Management Institute
policy and research director Petra Wilson. But there is a mention that if
implemented effectively, the modern workplace consultation could transform
management attitudes and achieve lasting change to the benefit of employers and
employees alike.
There
is a contrasting feel in corporate environments where its not a matter of if a strategy
will work but when. With decades of experience of the foods business, and an
MBA, Indra Nooyi Pepsico CEO could be seen as a T-shaped personality. Since she
took the helm of Pepsico six years ago, the company has done pretty well, says
Geoff Colvin. But today, she is taking a lot of heat from investors because the
environment is rapidly changing, and so has return on capital which has plunged
from 22% to 11%. Although, the company is undergoing transformation, there is
indication that Nooyi has enabled the company respond to changing trends by
investing in emerging markets, and a new R&D lab which is already yielding
results. But analysts comment that Nooyi’s strategy lacks precision. Whether
this is the case or not, until Pepsico’s transformation shows signs of payoff, Colvin
says, Nooyi will endure more doubts from wall street and the press.
In spite of their best efforts, Havard Business School
professor Morten Hansen and colleague Bolko Von Oetinger say that most
companies continue to squander their greatest assets – knowledge scattered and
embedded within and outside organisations. It seems that as companies continue to take a hit in the current economic climate, they are becoming aware
of this disconnect. Which points to the obvious, there is demand for business leadership
with movement and precision of the Ninja. But will this ideal become reality?
Only time will tell.
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Innovation @ speed of Thought
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world” - Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955
The future, this is where it all began, planes, pc, internet, Apple, Microsoft, Disney, Google, Facebook and so many more started with a spark, brainwave or eureka moments as some would term it. Innovation @ speed of thought is a creative new means of transforming your ideas into reality, starting with the very first step, to think. The thinking process may seem so little yet so big, imagine the “power of you”, yes you, transforming your ideas, those thoughts and creative solutions into reality. From science, it is said that the speed of light is 3x108 m/s, which is approximately 300,000 km/s, 1.3seconds from the earth to the moon, and 8.3minutes from the earth to the sun; if light is said to be so fast, pause and imagine the speed of thought. Innovation in this context refers to the ability to apply creative solutions to problems and opportunities to enhance or enrich lives; and innovation @speed of thought is to Think, Imagine and Create Now.
Imagine for a moment, if individual entrepreneurs, organisations and governments could innovate @ the speed of thought. The world would be a lot different from what it is today. Be the change, start the change and propel the change you want to see, Innovate @ speed of thought.
Thursday, 5 April 2012
New Buzz
new buzz
technology is going to greater heights every second, with every new purchase you make , be sure there is a man spending sleepless nights on how to make it better. So We have all been frustrated by the mobile typing at one time or another , but guess what G-mail tap, says taping is going to take messaging to greater heights. Some are really excited to see where taping takes us. Like most , some cant keep up anymore with this ever-changing technology.
thinking of just five words | we have a naked future
observe, create, inspire, experience, share
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
The POKE
Alert . STOP imagining the impossible. |
You are at high speed , and yes the inevitable happens. Yes , you might have heard it coming and you saw it coming but have you ever actually kept clutching on to that so called "cliche phrase ", believed in it and guess what, it caved you in | like the David and Goliath story. well I have . And will continue to hold on to that stories life lesson. But we have learnt quite quickly that when gravity pulls, it does it with an enormous force. After investing time, some sleepless nights, sometimes all in vain has led to some disappointment and sometimes disgrace, hasn´t it? Its funny, its that awkward moment you don´t know whether to keep lying on the ground, call the life saviors, or just keep banging your self against the head. So you actually thought you could wrestle gravity. one, two , three GO! Fall again!? Next time work with gravity.
Now what exactly am I talking about. I am talking about that moment you have taken in all the air you can handle and taken that step to go beyond the norm and speak for something you were passionate about , but failed to execute that passion. I am talking about that second you topple on a hurdle after you have mastered a book on theoretical concepts of engineering and figured it is not actually functional in the real world. I am talking about the days you have felt you have failed because you cant see the impact or results of your actions. I am talking about the mornings that Monday gives you a slap in the face because you are resilient and over ambitious. I am talking about.... breathe.... yes ... I am talking about that moment you realise you have hit hard rock bottom because you think differently than the world thinks. Can you hear that echoe : we need more educated people in this world. Yes Bam , I am talking about that puzzled look as to what exactly is the definition of education in this century.I am talking about that choking feeling when you are startled that even science is incomplete and that knowledge is not and can never be a constant.
That feeling of failure |
Breathe... Bam , bam , bam, that final poke That feeling of failure. That pressure that everything better you do has to be different | innovative. But today scratch that and allow me to give credit to the man who takes the energy to try, try and try try again. yes be that man. It is in the joy of never giving up that great things were born . There is far more beauty in the man who learns from his falls, than the man who never dares to walk. Let that fall, be a reflection of things to come. | but don´t keep stumbling in the same pit more than twice. Now that´s a different kind of innovation , don´t you think | transforming the destination of your failures .
My friend wrote recently | “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt
Thanks Tayo, always wise words.
This one is to all those who have done, to those in the arena, whose faces are marred by dust and sweat and blood, well not literally, hahaha. Cheers.
Thursday, 22 March 2012
new era | innovative culture
That simple retrace into the past can reveal the hidden traces of
a journey and ignite the birth of a new connecion between past , present and that
link to the future. I could swear I have never had a love for raisins in my
entire life. That held true till today. I
ate that raisin cake like there was no tomorrow. To be honest it triggered a lot of my
suspicion towards this sudden era. No pun intended. Judging from the situation,
this raisin cake was the top hit on the menu, everybody was talking about it. Leaving
every sentence to be coated by the lovely tease of how the raisin cake is and
would be the best cake of all time. This
experience got me questioning the word innovation itself. Like the raisin cake I
had today , it has become the hype of the society. Things are starting to
revolve around the word innovative. Through its
widespread effect, innovation has become an important topic in various areas
such as business, design, economics, entrepreneurship, engineering , technology and sociology. Yet today I circled this sociology
part. I thought of my roots, my values , my beliefs and my experiences which
have shaped my personality and character, including this new found love for raisins. I pictured the globalised world today
, and how it has managed to create what we now call the globalized citizen. Immediately
the idea of my initial beliefs is shattered. Shattered not because my roots
have been derooted, but the tree has been truly modified, taking into account experiences and encounters with different
cultures, indeed a new sort of innovation. Now can we call that innovation of
culture or what? Innovation of societies , through creating better individuals
who are ready to embrace difference and diversity and not shun it. Innovation
of self by breaking old traditions useless to humanity and shattering those walls to build a greater self. Turning lemons into oranges, is the riddle.
Whoever said an lemons tree cant grow anything else but lemons,
must have lied |That I swear is innovation of societies | breaking new ground |
creating more value | shaping a new culture|
Sunday, 18 March 2012
The kinetic effect
Remember that feeling when you saw your mothers first mobile, that vivid image of the puzzled look coupled with the outrageous outburst of horrific chuckles. I will give you a high five if you remained unshaken by the picture at the left. The nineties camera phone. It is true the quality and measure of Innovation yesterday, is not necessarily the same measure of innovation today. It hit me that no matter what sort of innovative technology is created, it has to resonate with an every day simple task like communication or movement.
I would like to bring some focus to the heat wave of technology today. Innovative technology they call it because it is true nowadays they always want to spice it up. Imagine how many people have tables tallying apples gadgets because there is always a better one in a span of less than a year. If you are the unlucky buyer of the iphone first generation you know what I mean. But nomatter how bitter the iphone first generation buyer can be they still agree that technology has revolutionalised our lives.
I am immedietely reminded of my first experience with the Xbox 360 plus kinect effect. Its in the way your body is in motion with real time and this box. Its that split second you jump in unison with the projection in that game. It is kinetic motion, this kinect effect: it’s the beginning of something revolutionary. Its beyond games, its not the technology that’s impressive , but the application, impact and its potential to be better. Some people ask:and what about our real lives, are we cramping ourselves into a virtual world?
Kinect might not be as accurate, but it will be better and better.I will tell you it is not about the technology that makes it innovative, it is the integration into out every day lives through its application capable to improve our living that makes it innovative. Thus it is completely incorrect to say that our real lives depend on technology but rather vice versa would hold true. Intergrating this technology into our real lifes is only the beginning.
The Open Business
Its dusk in London and as most people prepare to finish from
work, Beijing is about to open for business. Whether its James Kim of the
Pyongyang University of Science and Technology helping the North Korean youth,
or companies looking for ways through social
gaming in making employees healthier and more productive, in between all these
are people. There is a link between learning, motivation, creativity, and
performance, and although different views exist as to whether how we feel can
impact our behaviour, Ron Johnson the retail radical says people just want to
belong to something deeper which explains his arithmetic of success as - mindshare.
Yet companies are fazed about how to create the right environment to foster
innovation. When it comes to innovation ecosystems, business leaders ask
employees what they desire and support high performers, but products still
fail, and some processes result in decline and there is still little
understanding of measures that impact outcome of outsourced research and
development activities. Is this because we are unable to understand the little
things or we have become too smart and fall into a circle of unproductive
reasoning. A food for thought is Stanley Bing’s article on business school
students – He mentions that they now posses the natural qualities for corporate
leadership but are sometimes unequipped with natural genius. Will they be able
to drive the open future that institutions aspire to? Some may doubt, but think
facebook, twitter, linkedin and how sharing becomes the norm. Is this a
reason to hope? Because whatever our divergent opinions may be and
whether we admit to it or not, we are becoming open to innovation .
Monday, 12 March 2012
Innovation: The Human DNA
Innovation: The Human DNA
Innovation isn't as strange as the world makes it seem, in reality it is as simple as ABC. Every human on earth is born an innovator, and strange as it may seem the following lines would give a clearer picture. How does a child learn to talk, walk, speak or even eat? how come children when put together in the same space find a way to communicate? how come a child cries when they notice a strange face around? All these questions point to the direction that something inside everyone of us seeks for new ways of doing things. Some people might argue that children learn and adapt to the changing environment, yes but how do they learn to adapt? Innovation is simply the ability to develop creative solutions to problems, and every child operates at a genius level until 4. However, by 30 only 2% of humans still have it. If we were at one point all geniuses, how come our lives have different outcomes? and how come we still have problems left unsolved?
My random thoughts on innovation, though still at an early stage,I believe it would be extremely useful for individuals, organisations and even governments of nations to understand the innovation DNA, and look for means of adopting it as part of their strategy.
The future is in our hands. Think, Imagine and Create .... TIC
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