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