innovate big

get wired and innovate smarter

February 18, 2008 – 4:29 pm

The Developing Intelligence Blog has an excellent post on how to get “optimally wired”. It discusses in great detail the various cognitive advantages (memory enhancement for example) and disadvantages (addiction/withdrawal for example) of the world’s most popular psychoactive stimulant.

My experience has been mixed but I typically indulge most when the task at hand is tedious and/or boring; this is because I read a scientific study, similar to the ones outlined in the post above, that concluded caffeine enhances performance of tedious and repetitive tasks. In moderation however, I have also found caffeine to be a good catalyst to great conversations and, as a byproduct, creative thinking. Try it at home sometime with a cup of Cuban espresso, a personal favorite of mine…

Posted in innovation, personal | 2 Comments »

an honest business model innovation?

February 8, 2008 – 1:50 pm

I think we will probably see a lot more collaborative partnerships with purpose like the one recently announced between Coca-Cola and Honest Tea.

(Photo via Washington Post)

For more, check out their very candid blog post entitled “The Next Stage of Growth – An Honest Deal“ by Honest Tea co-founders Seth and Barry. Kudos to the Honest Tea team for structuring such a creative deal and I look forward to hearing how things work out after all is said and done.

Posted in business, entrepreneurship, innovation, social responsibility | No Comments »

disruptive innovations will drive “real good”

February 4, 2008 – 3:17 pm

not just “feel good”…according to The Economist’s Special Report on Corporate Social Responsibility [Thanks Daniel for keeping me posted on this]

Illustration by Ian Whadcock

The January 2008 report confirms that we are in the midst of a new and prosperous economic landscape. This rapidly changing competitive landscape requires that companies and business leaders take innovation and social responsibility more seriously than ever.

The Economist report also claims to have (with much regret apparently) totally dismissed its previous opinion that CSR is just a fad. Claiming instead that “CSR has arrived” with results from a recent survey indicating that 96% of people recognize CSR to be important (only 4% of respondents believed CSR was “a waste of time and money”). The stakes are just too high to ignore. Consumers, job seekers, employees, investors and even potential suppliers believe in corporate social responsibility.

In a surprising omission however, The Economist fails to give enough credit to those who are already building businesses using non-traditional and innovative approaches to do “real good”. Companies like Seventh Generation and people like Muhammed Yunus of Grameen Bank (who I recently had the pleasure of hearing speak here in San Francisco) for example, have already proven how effective disruptive innovation can be, not only in theory, but in action to make profits while at the same time making a positive social impact. And most recently among them is Mr. Bill Gates of Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Who is calling for “another level of innovation” in addition to “creative capitalism” to help drive future positive economic and social impact.

Here are 3 disruptions already well on their way:

1. As technologies better support our natural social interactions, traditional marketing and advertising will become less and less effective. The antiquated and impersonal methodologies will be replaced with direct, meaningful communications that aim to create relationships with people (as opposed to just searching for another transaction).
2. The world is flat and the long tail is real. We have the ability to create “real good” more quickly and easily than ever.
3. In addition to an increase in corporate transparency, people are and will continue to become directly involved in the co-creation of products and services. Customers and other stakeholders will actively help the companies they care about succeed.

Posted in business, entrepreneurship, innovation, social responsibility | No Comments »

what makes god laugh?

January 23, 2008 – 3:25 pm

People making plans.

I agree (without philosophical or religious leanings of any kind): plans can be really funny. So instead… experiment vigorously then… fail. fast. forward.

These are just a few things advocated by business “guru” and management thought leader Tom Peters. Over the course of this year, I have directly applied many of Tom Peters’ insights. Tom just gets it. More importantly, as an entrepreneur, I find Tom’s views truly inspirational.

He emphasizes (and again re-emphasizes) the obvious and subtle nuances of modern business. In my opinion, his blog isn’t as powerful as his raw presentations but it is worth a visit nonetheless if not only to find his other materials.

* Solid introduction to his ideas are available here
* More insights can be dug out of this somewhat lengthy presentation (MS Powerpoint required)

I think so much about doubling my failure rate to the point that it has now become a part of my daily “routine”. Getting over the hump of “failure” isn’t easy but it is an essential ingredient toward innovation, progress and other amazing outcomes.

Posted in business, entrepreneurship, innovation, personal | No Comments »

new year, new brain

January 3, 2008 – 12:59 pm

(picture of my brain; bored and anxious in an fMRI machine run by a graduate student researcher)

For as long as I can remember (no joke), I have been fascinated by people, consciousness and the brain. Why do people do the things they do and the critical role our brains play in making these experiences all possible. So, not surprising to those who know me well, I went on to study Cognitive Science. The decision scratched a personal itch but like many other things it has proven to be practical too.

One of the many fascinating facts about your brain is that it is extremely “plastic”. This neuro-plasticity has nothing to do with the human brain’s jello-like consistency and everything to do with how our brains learn and behave. I am proud of my plastic brain and you should be proud of yours too. Size may matter for some things but number of connections matter a whole lot more when it comes to all things brain-related. Train your brain as much as possible in order to take advantage of this unique property of the brain.

This means your brain can adapt and grow (not exactly literal) on-demand. Babies brains for example, can recover from significant physical trauma through re-wiring by way of this kind of neuro-plasticity. Children who are born with a physical disability like blindness are often more capable than average in their hearing or other senses because of this re-wiring. Ahhhw, the amazing brain…

Recent findings from scientific research sponsored in part by the Mind and Life Institute and Santa Barbara Institute of Consciousness Studies has found that your thoughts can physically re-wire your brain too. This isn’t the “think happy thoughts” kind of research. The team of scientists are rigorously exploring the effects of meditation on the brain to alleviate ADHD, depression and other conditions. Check out their year in review for 2007.

Here are 3 ways I will train my brain in 2008:
1. Read about and practice things I know nothing about and have little current interest in – one good way I have found of breaking out of my current thinking is to explore them from a totally different perspective. Art and design is another arena I have not yet had an opportunity to explore further. This technique is also a great way to innovate.
2. Meditate – alone time with my thoughts is a scary and difficult task, more so even than strenuous physical activity. But with a week-long retreat planned this upcoming year, I hope to make meditation a regular part of my day.
3. Listen to new genres of music – the current theme songs playing in my mind are getting old, any suggestions?

Happy new year.

Posted in innovation, personal | 1 Comment »

what your company shouldn’t do

November 19, 2007 – 3:20 pm

In a surprising response to news of CEO John Mackey’s recent “less than ideal activities” online, Whole Foods has reacted in a rather extreme way by banning all executive, director and board level team members from engaging in discussions about the company online. This is contrary thinking for a company that is often considered to be a role model for its high standards. Unfortunately, this recent announcement exemplifies the exact opposite. This sets the progressive company back at least 100 years in terms of communication with customers and other stakeholders. If your company’s leaders can’t be trusted to openly and honestly discuss the company, then who should be responsible for this kind of communication? How does this move make sense for a company who wants to maintain lasting, loyal relationships with its most important stakeholders?

I have to say, in a world where information is king and transparency is the new gold standard, I’m not surprised that Mr. Mackey’s activities were discovered. Having engaged with the company not too long ago on dotherightthing, it’s a bit of an extreme reaction on their behalf and sends the wrong message.

All companies make mistakes, the answer isn’t less conversation online but more (a lot more) conversation online.

The former Director of National Marketing at Whole Foods Market has more on this.

Posted in business, social responsibility, technology | No Comments »

startup transparency goodness

November 4, 2007 – 9:07 pm

Fred Wilson of “A VC” recently posted a story about Path 101 whose team is attempting to “liveblog” their startup (NOTE: it’s not really live). I think this concept is brilliant. It’s not about starting a blog but rather engaging in genuine dialogue with others; talking with your customers rather than at them and understanding them rather than trying to guess what they want or need. Customers know a lot more than you probably give them credit for, this I guarantee. But as you know I’m a huge fan of open, direct corporate communications and, as you may also know, I’m a passionate advocate of transparency in general. Listening and learning is that first step too many skip altogether or do not taken seriously enough; they’ve nailed that part. Although their team audaciously proclaims to be anti-stealth, their isn’t too much detail on the site regarding “what” and “how”. Alas, it is only the beginning…kudos and congratulations to their team for making the plunge by getting started.

I wish them the best of luck here with respect to opening things up in a public way online. It is hard enough to take a company from concept to launch but providing a play-by-play of the process at the same time makes it that much more of a challenge. Reminds me of a recent lecture by the innovative thinker and businessman Ricardo Semler (thanks for the link Ankur). In his talk, Ricardo compares the traditional “ways of doing business” as militaristic and simply out of date. It’s worth checking out either way.

I look forward to their upcoming wiki and wonder if they will double down by opening up their books, equity, compensation and other traditionally confidential “business stuff”. Also, including recordings of their meetings (not just agendas) and some video would be nice too. What do you think?

Please help them out if you’re interested, there is a lot of work ahead but the increased transparency seems to be paying off already.

Posted in business, entrepreneurship, innovation, social responsibility, technology | No Comments »

voices that matter say eyetracking is useful

November 3, 2007 – 3:33 pm

Several weeks ago I spent a couple days at the Voices That Matter: Web Design conference here in San Francisco.

UPDATE: For those who don’t know, I am officially living in the city again. Be sure to let me know if you make it out for a visit. And no the recent earthquake didn’t take us off the map…

The conference was a great event put on by the editorial teams of New Riders, Addison-Wesley Professional and others. Robert, author of New Riders book Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Web Application Design, had asked if I could help him and his new company while they were tied up with the myriad of conference-related activities. It was a blast.

The conference included talks from a variety of web-related design authors and thought leaders including Dan Brown, Eric Meyer, Dan Saffer, Jakob Nielsen and Robert Hoekman Jr. just to name a few. Check out the conference line-up for more details.

Of the sessions I was able to attend, I particularly enjoyed exploring the world of eyetracking research with usability guru (or “the king of usability”) Jakob Nielsen. Who is, according to attendees of the conference, the thought leader designers love to hate. Interestingly enough, I was quite surprised to see how advanced his research in this area has become and how much he emphasized eyetracking techniques as useful in addressing web usability issues.

Personally, I think the research is useful but its use is extremely limited and does not account for the context in which users are engaging with a site. I think the way in which users engage with a site depends, like anything else, on context: why they are there, how they got there, what emotions are evoked, etc. That said, I do think eyetracking is useful when trying to get insight into how people read newsletters or articles online but when it comes to emotionally salient online experiences its usefulness is limited. Maybe Adaptive Path’s Todd Wilkens is right on with his post: “Why usability is a path to failure“? All in all, I think eyetracking and other “hardcore” usability methodologies provide only a piece of the puzzle when it comes to creating awesome online experiences, of which the social context is become increasingly critical.

Posted in business, innovation, technology | 1 Comment »

product smoduct, stick to selling passion

September 23, 2007 – 6:07 pm

The human mind is slave to the human heart. It makes a lot of sense, passions and emotions are the ultimate human experiences.

In a world where transparency is the new golden standard for all human interactions, passion will always trump product. If it doesn’t get you excited and make you want to tell all your friends, it’s probably not going to engage others either. A great product is really just bottled passion anyway, right? In college I remember being struck by passion and inspired with Howard Schultz and the whole Starbucks story. This emotional appeal turned me into that loyal customer and evangelist every company wants more of. In this case, emotion definitely trumped my reason, which is exactly what makes it possible for me to spend $4 dollars for a coffee drink at the ‘Bucks.

My good friend and colleague Robert Hoekman Jr. recently put his passion for design and social responsibility to work with the launch of Miskeeto. Their team’s passion: maximizing their positive social impact while changing the world through design. This was the foundation for which Miskeeto was built. Robert and his team wear their passions, alongside their hearts, on their sleeves. An activity that’s worth taking note of.

The world’s most admired companies embody this passion for what they do, who they are and what they stand for. It leaks from every pore and you can “feel it”. Remember, your customers (or users) are always smarter than you give them credit for.

Posted in business, entrepreneurship, innovation, personal | No Comments »

why transparency = social responsibility

September 22, 2007 – 2:27 pm

When asked, I often don’t know how to define social responsibility in general or corporate social responsibility (CSR) in particular. It’s one of those philosophical discussions that never really make much sense after all is said and done. I have a feeling however, that the idea of social responsibility can be easier to understand than we think. Particularly if we boil it down to transparency or simply: a policy where clear and honest communication with others is standard practice. Transparency = social responsibility.

In the case of CSR, there exist the usual suspects in terms of academic and industry definitions. Frankly, I don’t think it matters what the agreed upon definition is or ends up being. A good functional definition is useful insofar as everyone believes the concept to be real and worth their time. And luckily, today most people already agree that social responsibility is a real and very important concept particularly within the corporate world.

Just as science begins with inadequate models and theories knowing that they will be replaced with more accurate ones in the future, ideas of social responsibility are in their early infancy. Although there are plenty of examples for what social responsibility could be in practice outside of these existing models and theories. Extreme transparency as practiced by Timberland, Google’s foundation and kiva.org come to mind off the cuff (there exist many, many more). This idea of corporate social responsibility, in my humble opinion, extends our notions of personal social responsibility, where people who are open and honest with others about who they are and what they do are considered by most as socially responsible human beings (people like the Dalai Lama or Ghandi come to mind). To me, social responsibility in practice is really as simple as that.

Today, information about you and your company are easily accessible regardless of how much control you may think or would prefer to have over it. If people want to find it, they will one way or another.

Transparency, through open and honest communication, is the future.

Posted in business, personal, social responsibility, technology | 2 Comments »