in Innovation, Strategy
General Assembly 2013 (Photo credit: Paradise Nazarene)
What business are you really in?
Most can’t answer this question. And if they do, it is a rather functional driven answer such as: we make vacuums.
How meaningful and memorable is that?
I was reading through a note about General Assembly, a co-working space, and how it is shutting down it’s co-working services for entrepreneurs and instead focus on education:…
in Innovation, Leadership, Strategy
Last week, South Korea announced that it will build the first ever invisible skyscraper. The proposed Tower Infinity will use cameras and LED screens to disappear. Think about that for a second…
We usually hear about countries building the next tallest skyscraper all the time, but this a break from that narrative. And that is really cool. Not only is this latest skyscraper aiming to use technology to create the appearance that it is invisible to the naked eye, it won’t even be one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world.
This is classic opposition strategy by GDS Architects:…
Scott Berkun has a great quote about resistance to ideas: The default state of an idea is non-adoption.
Reflecting on this quote, it useful to consider why that is so. For many reasons, people, in any arena, will resist change. That is just the way it is, so it is best to expect it.
While too many to list, there are commonalities between them. Here are five common sources of resistance to change:…
in Innovation, Leadership, Strategy
Nobody likes to be rejected. But, there are times when you know you’ve provided value by facilitating clarity. This happened to me recently…
Last week I had a meeting with a very public mexican CEO, where we talked about innovation and its various forms. He clearly wants to innovate in various areas, but was honest in expressing his understanding that his company is not prepared to do so.…
in Innovation, Strategy
By now, you should know that I don’t sugarcoat it. No recipes, frameworks, or any other method with promises of a silver bullet. No BS here about how easy it is. With that said, here is another anecdote for you…
Yesterday we visited a prospect, we talked about how we could help them make some improvements in they way they collaborate with their value chain. After our meeting was done, the CEO asked me why we needed to be so thorough to make a strategy. I simply said: Strategy isn’t supposed to be easy. There is no silver bullet that applies to everyone. Whoever tells you differently is not a strategist.…
in Innovation, Strategy
A couple of weeks ago I interviewed John Caswell and Hazel Tiffany of Group Partners on How Visualization Provides Strategic Ways To Solve Business Challenges. This is a guest post by John Caswell.
In 2001 few people understood our work nor why visualization was so important in the business of transformation, change and strategy.
A lot of smart people didn’t even think it was an idea worth listening to.
But we were stubborn because we were passionate about visualization’s power to create meaning…
We’ve learned a lot since then – and we’re still stubborn – but people are wiser and more clued into the power of it.
As you read the stories below please don’t think we’re against words, we’re only against them being used to deceive and mislead. Please don’t think we have it in for numbers, only their soporific effect on those who don’t use them to do anything.
And don’t misunderstand either our use of the word visual. In our book it means using all the visual weaponry at our disposal – everything symbolic, diagrammatic, immersive and viewable that increases the transfer of meaning and purpose between us humans. Used in ways that engage and enlighten us.…
in Innovation, Leadership, Strategy
A typical marketing and sales person recently asked me why I don’t place ads on my blog to generate additional revenue. Being that this blog gets between 6K – 9K visits/month, I’m in a very good position to do so (I have gotten requests from companies to place ads). But, I don’t want to place ads.
I simply don’t like advertising. And, generating revenue from ads is not a narrative I want to be a part of.
When he heard my response, he thought I was crazy. In his own words: that is not smart.…