Posts Tagged ‘Innovation’

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The other kind of Easter Egg

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

I suppose they are based on the idea that Easter eggs contained secret surprises, like Faberge’s fabulous creations  which contained miniature carriage’s etc, however, the other kind of Easter egg is a hidden message or feature in a piece of software or a DVD.  These will usually bring up a list of credits, or access to hidden features such as games.  It is a little secret for those ‘in the know’.   One you can try is if you open a new Word document and paste in =rand (200,99) you may be surprised what comes up.  Or for a more fun example try typing in ‘Google Easter Eggs’ in to the Google homepage search bar, then click ‘I’m feeling lucky’ button.

Life is full of little unexpected surprises, particularly if you keep your peepers peeled!  Being open to being surprised is not only something that makes life much more fun, it also lets  innovation take root in your workplace.  People are full of surprises if you give them a chance.   Why not allow a few surprises into your life today?

“Don’t tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”   General George S. Patton

“The road of life can only reveal itself as it is travelled; each turn in the road reveals a surprise. Man’s future is hidden.”

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Posted in Business Change, Hints, Tips & Techniques, Innovation, Leadership, Personal Change | 2 Comments »

A different way of working?

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

I had a really interesting experience of 21st century business today.  Over the weekend I had come across an interesting blog about change and sent the owner an email suggesting that we might explore the scope for co-operation and learning.  I got a response and we agreed to talk over Skype.  If you haven’t used it recently, the latest version (v4) is much improved and we had a very clear video conference (he was in Germany and I am in the UK).  We shared a number of ideas and tools and learnt a couple new things there and then.

We booked a follow-up call via Outlook appointment scheduling and email and we will see where this leads.  It is a brilliant little example of what one can do easily using the web today. 

How are you changing what you do to allow in new possibilities?  I’d love to hear!

“You can’t expect to meet the challenges of today with yesterday’s tools and expect to be in business tomorrow.”

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Posted in Business Change, Communication, Innovation | No Comments »

Even junk mail has its use

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

I woke up this morning and looked at my blackberry, and something seemed wrong… no flashing led, no email icon.  It wasn’t that I was expecting deluges of interesting and important mail, but usually I have to start the day by deleting the few spam mails that crawl through my filters.  The interesting thing was my reaction; my first thought was my blackberry must be faulty.  I even resorted to sending a test mail.  It was thus I realised that these annoying spams did serve one useful purpose, they do prove daily that my connections are working.

It is interesting how, if we change how we look at things, rather than just trying to change the things we look at we can find all sorts of value.  Take a fresh look around you and see if you can’t find some value in apparent  ‘rubbish’….  You might also enjoy this story of the Fields of Diamonds. 

“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.”   Albert Einstein 

 

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Posted in Business Change, Hints, Tips & Techniques, Innovation, Personal Change, Values & Philosophy | 2 Comments »

G20, Gordon Brown & Themba

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Today Gordon Brown stood up in St Paul’s and gave a speech urging the world’s financial institutions to follow the kind of basic, simple guidance we would give our children about being honest, straight forward, sensible etc.  He was suggesting that rather than follow the current US catch phrase of There is No Alternative (T.I.N.A), we should be guided by the African response to the this The.M.B.A, There Must Be Another way.  He pointed out a lovely coincidence, themba means ‘hope’ in Zulu. 

On this, I’m with Mr Brown, there is always another way, you just have to shift your perspective, seek other views, look beneath, behind and to the side of the issue.  It is all too easy to  say “I had no choice.  There was no other option..”   If something is unacceptable, we shouldn’t accept it, that in itself is another choice.

Creativity and innovation don’t usually come easily; it took Edison thousands of experiments to perfect his light bulb. The fact is, he had a number of key criteria that he needed his light bulb to fulfil for it to be acceptable.  If we set the right criteria, then we are more likely to come up with an acceptable solution.  Well done Mr Brown… Themba!!

“History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.”    Abba Eban

“Man has no choice but to love. For when he does not, he finds his alternatives lie in loneliness, destruction and despair.”

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Posted in General, Innovation, Leadership | No Comments »

A brand new car for £1300!

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

Tata, the Indian car maker who brought Land Rover, have come up with a car for the Indian market in the 21st century, the Nano, costing only ?1,300 new.  A team of 500 engineers spent 5 years designing this and it is sufficiently innovative that they are applying for 34 patents.

This is what you get for ?1,300 . . .

Top speed 65mph
Engine rear-mounted 623cc, 33bhp multipoint fuel injection engine
Transmission continuous variable transmission
Fuel consumption 50mpg
Body sheet metal with crumple zones
Extras air conditioning and airbag optional. No radio, no power steering, one windscreen wiper

I think this a great example of innovation for the current situation.  I bet if they were to make it available in the UK there would be a queue of people wanting a brand new car for little Johnny rather than a banger.

Now is the time to change the game to suit you and your situation.  Now is the time to offer something radical to your customers.  Do you have any good examples of this you could share?

“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity – not a threat”

“Innovation is the central issue in economic prosperity”   Michael Porter

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Why the best jokes are harder to remember…

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

The thing is our brains are better at remembering the predictable, and the general rather than the specific & the original; which is why old jokes are easy to hang on to. Jokes like:-

 “My dog’s got no nose”. 

“Oh dear, how does he smell? “

“Terrible.”

We have all heard it, and once heard, it’s never forgotten…

However the truly clever joke has an unexpected twist. It takes our brains off their typical and predictable paths and that is why it works. This is why we we find it hard to remeber a more original, clever joke, such as:-

Two men are in the woods when one collapses. He’s not breathing, his eyes are blank, so his friend calls 999.

“My friend is dead. What should I do?”

“Stay calm,” says the operator. “First, let’s make sure he’s dead.”   There is silence, then  ….. a  shot.

“OK,” says the caller. “What now?”

It is the job of a leader to be able to take his team to a different way of thinking and acting (see yesterday’s blog comments for a practical example of this need.)  Our familiar paths and methods serve us well, but can lead us into traps too.  Let’s make our lives a bit more like the good jokes than the bad ones shall we?

So I’ll leave you on a better one…

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are camping at night when Holmes nudges his colleague and says: “Tell me what you see.”

Watson ponders: “I see millions of stars.”

“What does that tell you?” says Holmes.

“That there are billions of galaxies and planets; that God is all powerful and that we are insignificant. Why, what does it tell you?”

“Watson, you idiot. Our tent has been stolen!”

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Posted in Business Change, Innovation, Leadership | No Comments »

Free Willy

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

We have a couple of ponds in our garden, and we are always replenishing the fish stock.  I have no idea how many survivors we have, but thanks to regular visits from our friendly, neighbourhood heron, I suspect it is a lot less than I paid for!  We were at a garden centre the other day and I saw a lovely pond and said “Oh, I must buy some more fish soon.”  

The for reasons I can not explain, it occurred to me rather than just going through the same loop yet again, of me buying fish to feed the heron, perhaps I could just find some.  So I googled “free fish Guildford” and came across an advert from someone wanting to rehome their fish.  I called up and was told for the princely sum of ?12 I could have a dozen or so.  To put this into context even a 3″ fish costs around ?5 from a garden centre and these were rather bigger than this.   Not only that but they had a neighbour who needed to empty their pond too and would I be interested in offering a watery home to their fish.  These were much larger and completely free!  An absolute victory for win:win, innovative thinking! 

I’m wondering how often we could try this kind of more innovative approach to solving problems in our workplaces and in our homes?  Do you have any good examples.  If ever there was a time for innovative solutions it is now!

“If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite”  William Blake

“When the way comes to an end, then change – having changed, you pass through.”  I-Ching

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Posted in General, Innovation | 2 Comments »

Do you want more Beaver?

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

South West Water are keen to reintroduce the beaver as an innovative way of helping manage their water system.  Apparently beaver are Nature’s way of purifying the water and preventing flooding and are considered to be an eco-friendly, cost effective way alternative to expensive flood defences & water treatment plants.  They do face resistance from landowners & farmers who are worried about damage the might cause.

Beaver were native to this country till the 16th century, although a few hung on for another 300 years. 

This represents another example of looking ‘outside the box’ for solutions and recognising that there are other solutions than the merely technological.  At times like these, every company needs to be looking for innovative, ecological, harmonious solutions to its problems.  How could you find a ‘beaver’ solution to the problems you face today?

“Impossible only means that you haven’t found the solution yet.”

“When the solution is simple, God is answering.”   Albert Einstein

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Night shift and Breast cancer

Monday, March 16th, 2009

The Danish government has begun paying compensation to women who have developed breast cancer after long spells of working nights.  This follows the ruling by the UN agency, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which ranks night working just one level below working with known carcinogens such as asbestos.

This is a nasty shock for the women who have selflessly sacrificed their night’s sleep to work in this way and must be very frightening.  Apparently disrupted sleep patterns interfere with the production of melatonin, which helps suppress cancer.

So often we seem to find that when we interfere with our natural patterns, drives and rhythms there is a price to pay.  It is important that wherever possible, that business systems honour and utilise these more natural forces rather than trampling over them.  I think that the 21st century workplace needs to get much cleverer about creating more harmony and more sensitivity.  This is one of the more demanding challenges for today’s leaders, because it isn’t covered anywhere in the current tomes and tracts on how to do management!

I’d love to hear of any examples of people or businesses doing this.

“Everything has rhythm. everything dances.”   Maya Angelou

“Rhythm is the basis of life, not steady forward progress. The forces of creation, destruction, and preservation have a whirling, dynamic interaction.”   Kabbalah

PS>> Following this blog I was called by the BBC and invited to discuss this on air, on the World Service program, World Have Your Say.  Listen to the podcast here.  I’m on twice once after about 34 min

Resources:  BBC Story  

 

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Posted in Business Change, Leadership | 3 Comments »

Don’t think outside the box!

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

We are so often exhorted to think “outside the box” and there are all manner of clever gurus like Mr de Bono who offer us tools to help us do so. The benefits are clear and have become almost axiomatic, so why don’t we do so more often? The thing is, not only is it a skill to leave behind our familiar patterns of thought but it is a challenge. A challenge not just to our capability and our intellect but also to the primitive part of us that is scared by the new. If I come up with a new way of thinking, then where will that lead me? Will it mean I have to do something different? What might that lead to? The primitive part of our brain that is programmed to help us survive will do all it can to protect us from this terra incognita. It will throw up a million reasons why there is no point, why it won’t work, why tomorrow would be better etc

Maybe today you are a little worried about what is going on in the global economy and how you can / should respond. You might be witnessing doors closing and opportunities slipping away and yet this bit of you will try to prevent you from trying something new. Being aware of this flight/fight mechanism, will help you fight its pull.

Maybe today is a good day to begin thinking outside the box!

PS>> I’ll shortly be posting a follow-up article to help you work though some of these issues

“I’ll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there’s evidence of any thinking going on inside it.” – Terry Pratchett

 

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Posted in Business Change, Flight / Fight, Personal Change | 11 Comments »

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