Smart Economy

Economist debate: Do governments boost or hinder innovation?

The Economist magazine hosts a series of debates on current questions and issues. The current debate expores the timely question-Do governments help or hinder innovation? As of today the public vote is split evenly 50% for PRO and 50% for CON. What do you think?

Here are the details:

Does government help or hinder innovation?

Live dates: March 22nd-28th

Current round: Opening

Dear Reader,

Does government intervention stifle creative thought or does it play a pivotal role in bringing new technologies to life? Our debate starts today and our speakers have posted their opening arguments. Now we want to hear what you have to say.

Moderator's comments
What is the right role for government in spurring innovation? One side often argues that governments inevitably get it wrong when they get too involved: picking the wrong technology winners, say, or ploughing subsidies into politically popular projects rather than the most deserving ones. The other rebuts that given the grave global challenges we face today, governments need to do much more to support innovation.

This time, both sides have some exciting new arguments that will breathe life into this age-old debate. So please don't sit on the fence—tell us which side you stand on and why.

Pro: Amar Bhidé
"Entrepreneurial leaps into the dark are best sustained by great caution in expanding the scope of government intervention." Read more

Con: David Sandalow
"Governments spur innovation. Governments shape innovation. Many of the most important innovations in recent decades grew from the work of governments." Read more
==========================================

Current round: Rebuttals

Dear Reader,

Our debate on innovation has got off to a fiery start. Our speakers have posted their rebuttal statements and now we want to hear what you've got to say. Get involved and tell us where you stand.

Moderator's comments
Despite minor gestures of conciliation, it is clear that neither debater is really willing to concede much ground. The battle lines are drawn. Our combatants are intellectually clear on their differences, and not afraid to attack the other side's weaknesses. Which side do you believe has the upper hand? Cast your vote now.

Pro: Amar Bhidé
"Revolutionary advances—Darwin's research on evolution, for example—occurred even when government funding for scientific research was minimal." Read more

Con: David Sandalow
"Government functions such as basic research, education and patent protection are central to innovation. Would innovation work best with less of such things? Quite the contrary." Read more

================================

Current round: Closing

Dear Reader,

Today our speakers have posted their closing statements in our debate on innovation, making this your last chance to have your say. Get involved and tell us which way you're voting and why.

Moderator's comments
Our debate is drawing to a close, and it is running neck and neck. The side in favour of the motion started off on the back foot, but has gained enough ground to keep this an unusually close affair. The side opposite has lost a bit of the initial starting advantage, but remains just as well positioned to pass the post first. Both debaters have ginned up their final arguments in the hopes of emerging the winner. Cast your vote now, as this debate promises to be a nail-biter. Read more

Pro: Amar Bhidé
"People must see their government play the role of an even-handed referee rather than be a dispenser of rewards or even a judge of economic merit or contribution. Picking winners—this technology or that developer—makes us all losers." Read more

Con: David Sandalow
"Government has unique capabilities and a full toolbox for helping spur the innovative process. There may be times when government should do less, but there will never be a time when it should do the 'least'." Read more

This is your final opportunity to post your comments and vote on The Economist online. You can also discuss the issue on our Facebook page, or stay updated via Twitter.

Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran
Debate Moderator
Correspondent
The Economist

Current voting

Pro 50%

Con 50%

Debate Schedule

March 26th
Closing statements

March 28th
Winner announcement

Nanoscale SiO2 liquid glass spray makes cleaning products obsolete

Turkish scientists have developed a smart nano-scale thick, spray-on liquid glass called "SiO2 ultra-thin layering". 

According to the German manufacturer Nanopool (marketing hype notwithstanding)  and Physorg.com:

It is transparent, non-toxic, and can protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections, making cleaning products unnecessary.  The invisible coating is also flexible and breathable, which makes it suitable for use on an enormous array of products.  According to the manufacturers, liquid glass has a long-lasting antibacterial effect because microbes landing on the surface cannot divide or replicate easily.

The liquid glass spray consists of almost pure silicon dioxide (silica, the normal compound in glass) extracted from quartz sand.  Water or ethanol is added, depending on the type of surface to be coated.  There are no additives, and the nanoscale glass coating bonds to the surface because of the quantum forces involved.

Liquid glass was invented in Turkey and the patent is held by Nanopool, a family-owned German company.  Research on the product was carried out at the Saarbrücken Institute for New Materials.  Nanopool is already in negotiations in the UK with a number of companies and with the National Health Service, with a view to its widespread adoption.

The liquid glass spray produces a water-resistant coating only around 100 nanometers (15-30 molecules) thick.  On this nanoscale the glass is highly flexible and breathable.  The coating is environmentally harmless and non-toxic, and easy to clean using only water or a simple wipe with a damp cloth.  It repels bacteria, water and dirt, and resists heat, UV light and even acids.  UK project manager with Nanopool, Neil McClelland, said soon almost every product you purchase will be coated with liquid glass.

Other organizations, such as a train company and a hotel chain in the UK, and a hamburger chain in Germany, are also testing liquid glass for a wide range of uses.  A year-long trial of the spray in a Lancashire hospital also produced "very promising" results for a range of applications including coatings for equipment, medical implants, catheters, sutures and bandages.  The war graves association in the UK is investigating using the spray to treat stone monuments and grave stones, since trials have shown the coating protects against weathering and graffiti.  Trials in Turkey are testing the product on monuments such as the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara.

The liquid glass coating is breathable, which means it can be used on plants and seeds.  Trials in vineyards have found spraying vines increases their resistance to fungal diseases, while other tests have shown sprayed seeds germinate and grow faster than untreated seeds, and coated wood is not attacked by termites.  Other vineyard applications include coating corks with liquid glass to prevent "corking" and contamination of wine.  The spray cannot be seen by the naked eye, which means it could also be used to treat clothing and other materials to make them stain-resistant.  McClelland said you can "pour a bottle of wine over an expensive silk shirt and it will come right off".

In the home, spray-on glass would eliminate the need for scrubbing and make most cleaning products obsolete.  Since it is available in both water-based and alcohol-based solutions, it can be used in the oven, in bathrooms, tiles, sinks, and almost every other surface in the home, and one spray is said to last a year.

Liquid glass spray is perhaps the most important nanotechnology product to emerge to date.  It will be available in DIY stores in Britain soon, with prices starting at around £5 ($8 US).  Other outlets, such as many supermarkets, may be unwilling to stock the products because they make enormous profits from cleaning products that need to be replaced regularly, and liquid glass would make virtually all of them obsolete.

More information: Nanopool: http://www.nanopool.eu/couk/index.htm

N.B Do we really want nondestructive coatings on all our products which bacteria can't degrade in our waste dumps?  or to throw away chemical cleaners? Tough dilemma?--Walter Derzko

Deciding if the glass is half full or half empty ? Are you a optimist or pessimist?

 

A brand new issue, an uncertain ambiguous item or an unexpected discovery falls on your desk on Monday morning. You need to quickly decide if it’s an immediate threat or opportunity for your organization that requires some type of action or if it’s a non-issue that can be ignored for the time being.

How do managers or entrepreneurs decide  that? Are there tradeoffs? People often use the half full or half empty glass visual as a metaphor to distinguish between the optimists (opportunity seekers) and pessimists (threat-focused or threat  avoiders). But it’s not as easy as it may seem at first. To decide which side of the ledger you fall under, try the following three steps

 

1) Trust your gut feel

Trust you initial gut feel. You will find that you are usually right. How do you feel about issue X? What does your instinct tell you about this new or emerging  issue or situation? Is it an opportunity or threat? Or possibly both?  In the Opportunity Clinic we typically observe four different responses:

-I feel positive and optimistic about this issue

-I sense a queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. I’m  mostly negative and pessimistic about this. 

-or are you simply Indifferent or  passive?  I don’t see any current or future impacts on my business.

-or are you uncertain? It could be both a threat or challenge or an opportunity, depending on changing or uncertain circumstances

What’s your gut answer? __________________________

 

2) Try a more rational, critical analytical approach

Run through the list of 31 attributes and opposite matching pairs below in Table 1. On each line, circle an attribute (with a solid line) either on the left or right hand side of the table depending on how you view an issue. If you are unsure, draw a circle with a dotted line, to remind you to look for more information to reinforce your decision.

Count up the number of circles in each column to tell you if you view the issue as a threat or opportunity or possibly both.

Has you view changed from your gut feel decision in step 1 or has it been reinforced?

 

3) Repeat step 1 and 2 with others

Repeat step 1 and 2 with others in your department, division or other parts of the organization. What do external stakeholders say? What’s the general consensus on an emerging issue?

 

Table 1-How do you view an emerging issue? Attributes to tell you if the glass is half full or half empty?

	Opportunity	Threat
1	Positive	Negative
2	May gain, won’t lose	May lose,  won’t gain
3	Have means to resolve	Others constrain your actions
4	Qualified to act	Under-qualified to act
5	Have Autonomy	Resolution initiated by others
6	Resolution is likely	Resolution unlikely
7	Have choice whether to act	Must act, pressured
8	Future focused	Embedded in the past
9	Benefits come from acting vs inaction	Action brings no benefits
10	Stimulating
11	Can gain personal advantage	Personal loss from acting
12	Want association	Desire no association
13	Have responsibility	Not responsible
14	Issue is visible	Issue is visible
15	Many solutions vs one solution	One solution
16	Unique
17	Agree how to resolve	Conflict about  how to resolve; Resolution will be by chance
18	Easy to resolve	Difficult to resolve
19	Obvious Solution
20	Not crisis	Crisis
21	Urgent	Urgent; Not urgent
22		Neutral;  won’t loose or gain much
23	Future better if issue resolved	Future no better when resolved
24	Enduring vs Temporary
25	Pressure, vs No pressure
26	Stress-full	Stress-full
27	Success or failure visible	Success or failure visible
28	High priority	Ambiguous priorities
29	Consequences / implications for the future	Consequences / implications for the future
30	Challenge	Challenge
31	In direct competition with other opportunities

From the Opportunity Clinic © 1985-2009  (adapted from Discerning Threats and Opportunities from Jackson and Dutton 1988)

 

 

Walter Derzko,

Smart Economy, Toronto

 

 

 

 

 

Author of the soon-to-be published book- Opportunity 45 Scenarios to Drive Your Business in Challenging Times,  published by J. Wiley and Sons

ISBN13: 978-0-470-73761-3

ISBN10: 0-470-73761-1

Contact us about the Opportunity Clinic workshop and to invite Walter Derzko as a keynote speaker at your next event 

 

Why vaccines, antibiotics and antivirals are now obsolete- surpassed by hydrated fullerenes (C60 HYFN)

UPDATE: HYFNs have been approved for manufacturing as Fullerene Water Solution (FWS)  drink in Ukraine by Ministry of Health  as of Nov 2010. The first nanotech based health drink in the world. For information about availability  contact me by email.

 

When Buckyballs or Fullerenes (Carbon 60, which is a form of carbon, just like coal, activated charcoal, soot, diamonds or the lead in your pencil,) were first discovered several decades ago, they were lauded as a “silver bullet” in medicine. The hype quickly subsided when most researchers realized that both natural and synthetic fullerenes were not very water soluble, hence they only saw weak medical effects. But a team of Ukrainian researchers persisted and a decade ago, they discovered a way to make fullerenes water soluble without making them more toxic. Now, after undergoing clinical trials, they are launching a fullerene-based  water solution (FWS) drink shortly on the Ukrainian market as a natural food supplement, Fullerenes are found naturally in lightening discharges, in nano-quantities in molasses or in some natural spring. spa waters and in shungite rocks.

Governments around the world should fast-track the approval of hydrated fullerenes (C60 HyFNs) or Fullerene Water Solution (FWS) drinks, which are anti-microbial (both anti viral and anti bacterial) and can protect people from all colds and flu. WFS is about to be launched by Ukrainian scientists on the Ukrainian market as a natural food supplement

So why the Ukrainians and not another country-you might ask yourself? Well they all tried (UK, Americans, Germans, China, Japan, South Korea, etc)  to make safe nontoxic watersoluble fullernes but failed except for Ukrainian researchers.

So here are the benefits of FWS over conventional approaches

1) FWS are not viral specific like vaccines -they don't need several months lead time to be manufactured  for each new viral season. The turnaround for FWS is 2-3 days. FWS work on all viruses and bacteria year round, by suppressing the viral or bacterial spread from cell to cell. FWS don't kill microbes but block mobility from cell to cell, due to water clusters formed around the fullerene molecule. Your  immune system then decides which  microbes are invaders and which microbes  are beneficial for the body.

2) People and especially teenagers who have died due to swine flu (due to cytokine cascades or secondary bacterial infections) could have been saved if FWS was on the market today.

3) High risk groups -like Canadian aboriginal Indians, could be saved from flu death by taking a combination of Vitamin D (to tune up the immune system in the winter) and FWS

4) With FWS you don't need annual immunization campaigns and 6 hour long lineups, like we have seen in Toronto this past week. Public health money could be used for other priorities.

5) With FWS, you don't need to distinguish between high and low risk groups like you do in rollouts for vaccines. If  FWS were available from Walmart to corner health food stores as a health drink , you'd have equal access

6) FWS are cheaper to produce then antibiotics and vaccines

7) FWS are safer then vaccines and antibiotics (see http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/and type in "fullerene" under Hazardous Substance Data Bank). FWS don' t build up resistance in bacteria the way antibiotics do.

8)FWS would reduce the work load on hospital ICU's and protect front line staff

9) Feeding fullerne laced water to animals would eliminate the need for conventional antibiotics

10) Dipping plant seeds in fullerene water solutions increases growth, health  and resilience of growing plants

 

For more information contact me from your corporate email

Walter Derzko

 

Other medical/biological effects of HyFN's see http://www.fullwater.com.ua/page6.html )

Water-soluble fullerenes (also known as buckyballs) or hydrated fullerenes (HyFN's) appear to possess an impressive list of in vivo and in vitro effects which have been researched by Ukrainian scientists and are summarized below:

The following table was reproduced with the permission of the authors:

Basic biological properties of aqueous solutions of the hydrated C60 fullerene (HyFn) detected to the present time (May 2005)

In vitro experiments revealed that HyFn with C60 concentrations up to 100mM/l:

1. Are non-toxic for cells including hepatocytes;

2. Do not suppress, but promote the growth of isolated micro-organisms (microbes, fungi, etc.) and improve the survival rate and viability of cells (e.g., spermatozoa) and of frozen-thawed cells;

3. Do not inhibit cell respiration;

4. Do not suppress membrane-bonded ATP-ase activity;

5. Possess greater anti-oxidant properties then vitamin E, b-carotene and BHT (2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-kresol);

6. Stabilize cellular membranes and enhance their resistance under adverse conditions;

7. Do not affect blood coagulation;

8. Increase by 5-10 degrees C the temperature of biomolecules denaturation (DNA, albumin, collagen and etc.);

9. Increase catalytic activity of isolated enzymes (e.g., serine proteases).

In vivo experiments revealed that HyFn with C60 total doses up to 25mg/kg of b.w.:

1. Are non-toxic, not immunogenic, none allergenic;

2. Increase resistance of plasma membranes to damaging factors;

3. Positively influence anti-oxidant and energetic systems of organisms;

4. Possess radioprotective properties due to suppression of excess level of free radicals;

5. Possess antihistaminic and allergy-suppressing abilities, i.e., act as anti-inflammatory agents,

6. Positively influence activity of adrenergic, GABA-, hystaminic- and, especially, serotoninergic systems and, as a consequence, enhance adaptogenic functions of organisms; adaptive homeostasis

7. Show positive neuroprotecting effects (e.g., in Alzheimer's disease) and non-specific analgesic effects;

8. Do not kill tumor cells, inhibition of development of cancer pathologies, cancer metastasis,

9. Possess anti-atherosclerotic (anti-atherogenic) properties;

10. Are able to protect against viral infection (e.g., influenza, etc.): (HyFn do not kill viruses and microbes, but do not allow them to incorporate into cells)....(HYFNs plus Vitamin D supplements  could make antibiotics and vaccines obsolete in the future)

Source: Fullerenes, Nanotubes, and Carbon Nanostructures, 13: 363-376, 2005;Is the C60 Fullerene Molecule Toxic?!

 

Walter Derzko,

 Smart Economy, Toronto

 

  

  

  

  

Author of the soon-to-be published book- Opportunity 45 Scenarios to Drive Your Business in Challenging Times,  published by J. Wiley and Sons

ISBN13: 978-0-470-73761-3

ISBN10: 0-470-73761-1

 

Contact us about the Opportunity Clinic workshop and to invite Walter Derzko as a keynote speaker at your next event 

 

The Opportunity Clinic-28 Tactics for managing your Business in a Recession; Part 15 of 28 Drop problem-solving and adopt opportunity surfing

Why problem-solving, Total Quality Management (TQM), Continuous Improvement (CI), Value Network Analysis (VNA) etc is not good enough in a recession…..you  need to be totally focused on designing and /or finding novel  opportunities. These tools have their place, but it's usually in the upswing part of the business cycle to improve efficiencies of existing operations, but not now.

Many companies are still applying the pre-recession, boom-time mentality to today’s totally changed and novel business environment. Driven by existing business models, mindsets and existing ongoing relationships with  consultants, experts, suppliers and vendors, who are desperately trying to maintain their sales numbers and quotas, companies are continuing to do more of the same…what seemed to worked for them in good  times..lets' work in the same box. What we need is not "out of the box thinking" [I hate that expressionm becuase it shows that you don't understand cognition and how the brain patterns information], but to design brand new "boxes".  

 

The recession is not a problem to be solved, it’s a crisis to be avoided. And you  can only do that in one way. NOW, you need to be totally opportunity-focused and opportunity-receptive and less problem-focused and preoccupied with incremental change. Radical ideas and concepts, (and not accruemental solutions to old problems, unless they lead to novel opportunity spaces) are in order, along with resulting new business models (which we often forget to explore and redesign ), that will help companies thrive and not just survive in a recession.

 

See the cartoon in this week's New Yorker....We're still the same great company we've always been, only we've ceased to exist.  I bet they were great problem-solvers at the tactical, operational level, but poor opportunity surfers at the strategic level.

 

Walter Derzko

Smart Economy,

Toronto;

Author of the soon-to-be-released book: Hard Times Golden Opportunities.. about opportunity recognition in a recession/ depression features 45 opportunity scenarios.

 

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business in a Recession Part 8 of 28 Industry Architecture Opportunities

Most entrepreneurs regardless of whether they are struggling novel start-ups, seasoned serial entrepreneurs or veteran industry incumbents don’t pay enough attention to their own business models or evolutionary shifts in their sector or industry structure, (or what some are calling industry architecture), as an opportunity space to exploit.. When I mention the two terms and ask: Is your business model aligned to the downturn or is your industry architecture changing and are you taking advantage of the shift or driving the shift? I often get a blank stare.  Their eyes usually glaze over, until I provide them with one or two examples. Then the usual response is…(pause) ….(wheels turning in their head, followed by tacit acknowledgment )…good point…..(another pause) …well frankly, I never even thought of that.”

Michael G. Jacobides, who is associate professor of strategic and international management at London Business School, illustrates my point succinctly in a recent Financial Times story.

"Over the past few decades, economic theories have become increasingly sophisticated, borrowing analytical tools from theoretical physics and mathematics. Financial tools have become vastly more complex. Regulators have created sophisticated rules to govern the economy, particularly banks.

So why did we not see this coming?  [some did, but most economists were in denial or played their role as cheer leaders and not objective analysts—Walter Derzko]

And how did last year’s “strong incentives” and “profit-driven behavior” become today’s “reckless profiteering” and “abuse of the system”? [Natural evolution according to one of the effects of Marsal McLuhan's Tetrad model -- "flip or reversal"--Walter Derzko]

The reason is that we neglected basic economic facts and failed to appreciate the evolving structure of arand sectors. In the past decade, what I term the “industry architecture” – the rules and roles that govern how participants do business – in financial services changed the financial world dramatically, but almost nobody noticed. Most economists did not bother – for them, industry structure (in particular, the business models operating in the sector) is of secondary interest – and they stuck to the mantra that “markets regulate themselves”. Regulators ignored the monumental changes in how money was made, concentrating instead on fine-tuning rules that focused on an ever-decreasing part of the business world. Academics busied themselves with models that had less and less to do with reality, helping to create structures so complicated that they were bound to implode. And management gurus did not want to spoil the party by suggesting that there were no solid foundations for this brave new world.”

Industry architecture will change dramatically in many sectors during this re / depression, and business that can anticipate this or drive the change in the direction that favors their products, platforms or services will be the big winners, leaving others behind in their dust.

 

Walter Derzko

Smart Economy

Toronto

Author of the soon-to-be-released book: Hard Times Golden Opportunities.. about opportunity recognition in a recession/ depression features 45 opportunity scenarios.

Related posts in this series:

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for managing your business in a recession Part 7 of 28  Geopolitical Opportunities;

The Opportunity Clinic; 28 Tactics for managing your Business in a recession Part 6 of 28 What's in your Recession Playbook?

The Opportunity Clinic; 28 Tactics for Managing your Business in a Recession Part 5 of 28 Category Killer Innovation-India's $10 laptop

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business in a Recession Part 4 of 28 “Left Behind “Opportunities- Go Green & Go Slow

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business in a Recession Part 3 of 28 Design Opportunities- Hope or Nostalgia

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business in a Recession Part 2 of 28 Innovation or Efficiency?

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business (& surviving and thriving) in a Recession Part 1of 28

Related Posts over that past year:

·         Opportunity Recognition in Difficult Times

·         Recession - Proofing your Business - Spotting & Designing Opportunities in a Downturn

·         Recession - Proofing your Business - Spotting & Designing Opportunities in a Downturn – June 25, 2008, Ontario College of Art Design, Toronto, ON

·         Recession-Proofing your Business-Strategies and Tactics for smoother sailing in turbulent seas

·         Master Class in Opportunity Recognition for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs> May 30th 2008> University of Toronto

·         Turning Misery into Opportunity

·         Vacuum leaves pullout opportunities;

·         How will baby boomers handle the recession? Zoomers, Doomers, Gloomers, Opportuneurs

·         Recession, Depression and Shortages as Opportunities

·         Restructuring of American Business-A New Business Model?

·         Using New Yorker Cartoons for Opportunity Recognition /Sense-making & Pattern Recognition

·         Text Mining for S&T Scouting, Foresight and Opportunity Recognition

·         The Opportunity Clinic-swapping opportunity scenarios 08-002

© 2005-2009

Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"©

Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !!

To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together

• ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb
• ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones
• ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein
• ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko

• ".......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead

• ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Towards a Science of Innovation- Unfinished Business Lecture Series , Toronto

Towards a Science of Innovation- Unfinished Business Lecture Series

Wednesday, February 11, 2009 from 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM (ET), OCAD, Toronto, Ontario

LECTURE: TOWARDS A SCIENCE OF INNOVATION

While many have advocated approaches to innovation that highlight creativity and imagination, brainstorming and "outside the box" thinking, there has been a quiet minority who have argued that innovation must be crafted into a legitimate discipline. Successful innovation, they argue, can not only be measured, it can be scientific. Are there a set of proven methods for creating the future? With high stakes and higher rates of failure, how do innovation efforts improve their odds? What are the core problems of innovation and who is most competent to solve them?

ABOUT UNFINISHED BUSINESS

The Unfinished Lecture is a monthly event hosted by the Strategic Innovation Lab at OCAD and sponsored by Torch Partnership. Part of the Unfinished Business initiative, the lectures are intended to generate an open conversation about strategic innovation in the business and design of commercial enterprises and public organizations.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Larry Keeley is an innovation strategist who often wonders why people bother to listen to innovation "experts" at all. After all, since innovation fails about 96% of the time, it seems self-evident that the field has advanced to about the same state as medicine when leeches, liniments and mystery potions were the sophisticated treatments of the day. On occasions when Larry can get someone to listen, he is inclined to reveal pieces of the emerging science of innovation that is at the heart of Doblin's practice. By being obsessive about identifying the root causes of innovation failure and injecting better methods, it is now possible to systematically boost innovation 'hit rates' to between 35% and 70%. That still isn't perfect but it is an improvement of 10-15 times over the pathetic results people try to convince themselves is "normal."

Larry is a co-founder of Doblin and was lucky enough to have Jay Doblin as a mentor for a decade. He is the current president of Doblin, and a frequent lecturer and teacher about frontiers of innovation and strategy. Larry has worked with a wide variety of pioneering enterprises since 1979. He is a board member for the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology, where he also teaches graduate level innovation strategy classes. He is a lecturer in innovation at Kellogg and University of Chicago

and at many executive education programs. He is also a board member for WBEZ-FM in Chicago, where he has been instrumental in charting strategies that have made it the nation's most innovative public radio station.

REGISTRATION

http://unfinishedlectures.eventbrite.com/

 

© 2005-2009

Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"©

Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !!

To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together

• ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb
• ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones
• ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein
• ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko

• ".......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead

• ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Opportunity Spotting Lecture at Ryerson University, Toronto tonight--FREE

My colleague, Neil Wolf, Associate  Dean and the former Chair of the Entrepreneurship program at Ryerson University is speaking tonight on the timely topic of Opportunity Spotting; at Ryerson University; Business School;  55 Dundas St West ( between Yonge and Bay St); Toronto; 6pm tonight  

Room 1-003 7^th floor

 

See you there

 

© 2005-2009

Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"©

Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !!

To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together

• ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb
• ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones
• ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein
• ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko

• ".......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead

• ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

When will the recession end? Part 12 Bad times are good times for startups

Guess which city in the province of Ontario, Canada has the best record of entrepreneurial start ups over the recent period? Toronto? Wrong! Waterloo. Off the mark! Give up? Well its Oshawa, the city that has been hard hit by auto sector layoffs [hat tip to Andrew Maxwell for the stats]

Unemployed workers now face a critical life decision. Do I continue to look for a job in a shrinking economy for jobs, or do I take the plunge and start the business that I've always been dreaming of? Armed with startup cash from severence or retirement packages, hopeful entrepreneurs are bootstrappng new business ventures.

So the key question to ask now -- Is the recesion / depression a good time to start at business? It appears so, according to many academic studies.

The current issue of Business Week (Jan 19^th 2009) states: “History has shown that crisis breeds opportunity…[…]…”in times of turmoil, opportunities abound. But taking advantage of them will require [a new mindset], fast reflexes, an aggressive attitude, and serious changes [challenges] to the status quo….bold moves in bad times can pay off big.”  

Wharton Business School professor Mauro Guillen observes: “a recession creates winners and losers just like a boom.”

Most entrepreneurs intuitively recognize this however, they do not have a rigorous and systematic process for spotting or designing opportunities. Many technology entrepreneurs also tend to be more technology savvy then business savvy. They are overly enamored by their own technology and consequently pay less attention to or ignore equally important business and strategic issues, which are critical to business survival, especially in a recession.

Walter Derzko, Smart Economy, Toronto

Author of the soon-to-be-released book: Hard Times Golden Opportunities.. about opportunity recognition in a recession/ depression featuring 45 opportunity scenarios.

 

Related posts in this series:

 

The Opportunity Clinic; 28 Tactics for managing your Business in a recession Part 6 of 28 What's in your Recession Playbook?

The Opportunity Clinic; 28 Tactics for Managing your Business in a Recession Part 5 of 28 Category Killer Innovation-India's $10 laptop

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business in a Recession Part 4 of 28 “Left Behind “Opportunities- Go Green & Go Slow

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business in a Recession Part 3 of 28 Design Opportunities- Hope or Nostalgia

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business in a Recession Part 2 of 28 Innovation or Efficiency?

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business (& surviving and thriving) in a Recession Part 1of 28

Related Recession Posts

When will the recession end? Part 15 Year-end predictions for 2009 starting to come true

When will the recession end? Part 14 Four options for America's race to the bottom

When will the recession end? Part 13 Thirteen economic questions that economists can't answer

When will the recession end? Part 12 Bad times are good times for startups

When will the recession end? Part 11 Bank of Canada optimism

When will the recession end? Part 10, The Conformity Trap or Don't count on your economist for advise

When will the recession end? Part 9 Humor will signal recession /depression bottom

When will the recession end? Part 8 Lessons Learned from the last Post 9/11 recession; designing brilliant winning business models

When will the recession end? Part 7 False signals of recovery

When will this recession end? Part 6 The USA Paradox; Cheer vs Fear vs Transformation

When will the recession end? Part 5 Stop Auto Industry Bailouts, start buying Electric

When will the recession end? Part 4 The double dip housing crash in the USA

When will the recession end? Part 3 The coming collapse of the American Middle Class into an Underclass

When will this recession end ? Part 2 Do you listen to the Optimists or the Pessimists in 2009?

When will this recession end?

82 Signposts to the current Recession Depression Summary from 2008

 

Related Smart Economy blog Posts over that past year:

• Opportunity Recognition in Difficult Times
• Recession - Proofing your Business - Spotting & Designing Opportunities in a Downturn
• Recession - Proofing your Business - Spotting & Designing Opportunities in a Downturn – June 25, 2008, Ontario College of Art Design, Toronto, ON
• Recession-Proofing your Business-Strategies and Tactics for smoother sailing in turbulent seas
• Master Class in Opportunity Recognition for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs> May 30th 2008> University of Toronto
• Turning Misery into Opportunity
• Vacuum leaves pullout opportunities;
• How will baby boomers handle the recession? Zoomers, Doomers, Gloomers, Opportuneurs
• Recession, Depression and Shortages as Opportunities
• Restructuring of American Business-A New Business Model?
• Using New Yorker Cartoons for Opportunity Recognition /Sense-making & Pattern Recognition
• Text Mining for S&T Scouting, Foresight and Opportunity Recognition
• The Opportunity Clinic-swapping opportunity scenarios 08-002
• Do you know how to spot or design new business opportunities? 07-053

Example of an OpportunityClinic Workshop Outline

Do you know how to spot or design new business opportunities? 07-053

© 2005-2009

Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"©

Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !!

To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together

• ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb
• ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones
• ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein
• ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko

• ".......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead

• ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business in a Recession Part 2 of 28 Innovation or Efficiency?

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for  Managing Your Business (& surviving and thriving) in a Recession Part 2 of 28 Innovation or  Efficiency?

Entreperneurs must make many strategi choices. "Are we going to be innovative or efficient or possibly both vs our competition." is one of them. Firms that simultaneously engage in a high degree of both innovation and efficiency follow an approach that is often referred to in the academic business literature as an ambidextrous strategy.  Surprisingly, relatively few firms are able to balance these two approaches. Internal battles for resources often tip the scales in favor of efficiency over innovation, or vice versa. Management gurus frequently warn that simultaneously pursuing both can set the firm up for mediocre performance, yet the turbulent nature of today’s markets, cut-throat competition and despiration and anxiety from the recession create a renewed need for firms to reconsider this dual approach for longer-term success. Unfortunately, practical insights from empirical studies regarding performance benefits and implementation issues are still scant.  Perhaps this is one reason why few firms are successful in both efficiency and innovation.

 A paper called Innovation and efficiency: It is possible to have it all; this month in Business Horizons (2009) 52, 45—55 discusses the issue of an ambidextrous strategy.

From the Abstract

"In this article, the authors provide evidence—using a cross-industry survey of senior marketing managers in publicly-traded U.S. firms—that firms which successfully employ an ambidextrous strategy outperform those which overemphasize either efficiency or innovation. Furthermore, they highlight marketing’s role as an example of the often overlooked need for successful functional implementation. Finally, they provide useful methods for managers to answer three key questions: (1) Is my firm ambidextrous?; (2) Should my firm be ambidextrous?; and, if so (3) How can my firm become ambidextrous?"

 From the body of the article we find:

"Some management experts are now renewing the call for firms to break with tradition and become ambidextrous—leaders in both efficiency and innovation—to achieve competitive advantage. Two top academic management journals, Academy of Management Journal and Organization Science, recently dedicated special issues to the examination of ambidextrous organizations and how firms manage the balance between efficiency and innovation. Both special issues cite the importance for managers of understanding issues surrounding ambidextrous strategies.

Organizational inertia pushes firms down a particular path, making it harder to adapt to market changes, while short  term thinking crowds out longer-term goals. Home Depot, Dell, Airbus, Kodak, and Ford are just a few examples of companies that have recently found themselves falling behind competitors as a result of overemphasizing one goal over the other."

I wrote to the authors of the article to find out who these ambidextrous firms are and how they are fairing in the recession, compared to their non-ambidextrous competition. When I get a reply, I’ll let Smart Economy blog readers know

Source: Innovation and efficiency: It is possible to have it all; Business Horizons (2009) 52, 45—55 by Matthew Sarkees  and John Hulland

Walter Derzko, Smart Economy, Toronto

Author of the soon-to-be-released book: Hard Times Golden Opportunities.. about opportunity recognition in a recession/ depression featuring 45 opportunity scenarios.

Related posts in this series:

The Opportunity Clinic; 28 Tactics for managing your Business in a recession Part 6 of 28 What's in your Recession Playbook?

The Opportunity Clinic; 28 Tactics for Managing your Business in a Recession Part 5 of 28 Category Killer Innovation-India's $10 laptop

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business in a Recession Part 4 of 28 “Left Behind “Opportunities- Go Green & Go Slow

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business in a Recession Part 3 of 28 Design Opportunities- Hope or Nostalgia

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business in a Recession Part 2 of 28 Innovation or Efficiency?

The Opportunity Clinic - 28 Tactics for Managing Your Business (& surviving and thriving) in a Recession Part 1of 28

© 2005-2009

Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"©

Author of the soon-to-be-released book: Hard Times Golden Opportunities.. about opportunity recognition in a recession/ depression featuring 45 opportunity scenarios.

Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !!

To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together

• ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb
• ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones
• ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein
• ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko

• ".......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead

• ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page