in Psychology
Just over a year ago I became CEO of Netek, where we developed emotion recognition technology through cameras and EEG. In just over a year, I’ve learned many things about this exciting technology and how the field of affective computing, emotion recognition technology, is in the beginning stages. We need to get the science right for this industry to become interesting and take off; specifically the theory of emotions that underpins the technology.
One of the reasons people and organizations will never transform themselves is because they’re afraid of making mistakes. Either they never take risks, or they back out on the first sign something doesn’t work if they do make mistakes.
I’ve had many meetings with principals in large organizations and companies who say, “I am worried my business will be completely replaced by some Silicon Valley startup. How can I build something to counter that?”
Do you or your organization lead its customers? Yes, lead. Not just serve them, but lead them. In other words: Do you look out for them? Do you demand of them when they don’t demand more of themselves? Do you transform them?
in Creativity, Innovation
My friend Rachel Christensen gave an insightful talk at TEDxTijuana titled Beyond Your Border, the story of borderlanders: those people whose lives exist in two countries and prepare us for the future!
Why do organizations fail? There are many reasons, mostly because they become irrelevant by failing to evolve and adapt to a changing world. The reasons this happens are many, but one thing is certain: organizations where everyone agrees with each other, where no friction exists, and where no one challenges the status-quo is certain to miss the future and eventually fail.
Whenever I get asked by executives about how their companies can innovate they expect me to respond with a prescriptive 3 to 5 point checklist of things that will solve all of their problems. Instead, I respond with a question: what are you doing to impede it?