I knew picking up this book that the author, Sarah Caldicott, is the grand niece of Thomas Edison so I fully expected a love letter of sorts. What I found appealing was the immediate and direct application of Edison’s practices to current day collaborative innovation efforts. Caldicott is passionate about her distant relative because she
This year while the online world fretted over patent law, wrestled with SOPA, developed a love affair with crowd funding, and rode the Facebook IPO, Main Street retail experimented with and embraced the intersection between the physical and the virtual. Here are just a few of the experiments that took place: Peapod developed virtual stores
Many years ago, in a galaxy far, far away…My apologies; the recent purchase of Lucas Film by Disney has given me Star Wars nostalgia. I remember a time when stop motion photography and the destruction of meticulously crafted models were considered the pinnacle of movie special effects. It was also a time when I was
Due to another unfortunate weather system making a guest appearance on the East Coast of the USA this week I was unable to successfully get into and out of Orlando for Dassault Systèmes, 3D Experience Forum. Which is a shame because it looks like the range of innovations shared that are using 3D visualization to drive
I don’t know about you, but I have fairly divergent interests. One of which is architecture. Recently I had the good fortune to be in Venice for Biennale, an annual arts festival that focuses on either contemporary art or architecture in alternating years. The focus this year was architecture and the person selected to curate
One of the clearest benefits of introducing tangible design factors to customers and stakeholders is the increase in the rapidity of useful feedback. As a critical ingredient in any innovation’s success, feedback response and its frequency greatly influence the ability of a design team to capture enough attention to move from innovation diffusion to accelerated
Each year the editors at MIT Sloan Management Review (SMR) announce the winners of the Richard Beckhard Memorial Prize. The Prize is awarded annually to the authors of the most outstanding MIT SMR article on planned change and organizational development from the previous academic year. This year’s winner is The Collaborative Organization: How to Make Employee Networks Really
A challenge for those who are heavily invested in innovation is the absence of common language. Before wrestling with the complexities of innovation as a practice expressing the inner working of this process in a clear and compelling manner may be elusive. Even those who pride themselves on their facility with innovation, through their output
As a not-so-secret aviation fan the recent Farnborough Air Show was crammed with all sorts of delights. The shape of the wings of the Qatar Air Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking off for a demonstration flight over the airfield were a marvel of industrial engineering and a truly beautiful design. The behemoth Airbus A380, now an
Recently the book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Sop Talking by Susan Cain, has been causing quite a stir in the innovation community. This book is a groundbreaker in terms of starting a conversation about the often-overlooked 30-40% of our society who are introverts. While many people focused on innovation