Tag Archives: transformation

CEOs don’t really want a new business model

Jorge in entrepreneurship, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy

Find the revolution before it finds you There are various reasons why established businesses fail at innovation, but one stands above all: CEOs don’t really want a new business model.

True innovation, not the incremental type, brings forth new approaches and business models. If you are an upstart, that means you are probably creating a new business model. For an established company, it means coming to grips with the reality that your existing business model is going to become irrelevant; if you don’t act first.

But, no matter how many times we see an established business drop rock bottom because its leaders failed anticipate and change with the times, CEOs of other businesses are content with maintaining the status quo. Seems like learning from others doesn’t fit their mindset.…

From the Industrial Age to the Connection Age

Jorge in entrepreneurship, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy

This is a guest post by my friend and fellow Generalist, Arnold Beekes.

WTF! What is happening?

It is clear that we are in a period of time, which is called ‘transition’, the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another. We are coming out of the Industrial Age (characterized by efficiency, repetition and thus standardization – building a ‘system of sameness’ in every aspect of life) into a new age, which some people call the Information Age. I am not sure about that name, Information Age, as I see information as, the enabler, rather than the purpose and intention in itself. I would like to call it the Age of Connection (characterized by creation, contribution and thus participation – building a ‘universe of uniqueness’), to be truly connected with ourselves, with others, animals and with nature.

But we are not there yet; we are really in this no man’s land, this limbo.…

How do you know when it’s time to innovate?

Jorge in Innovation, Leadership, Question-To-Innovate, Questions

This is the third of a series of weekly posts where I will answer a few common questions about innovation. Please feel free to add your own response. Also, if you have any questions you think we should discuss, let me know.

All the time.

The best and most productive activity and organization can do, is to always be thinking about how they will become irrelevant. Think about how you will be disrupted, and disrupt your success.

And, it all starts with the individual:…

Innovation must reads of the week: Achieving Successful Strategic Transformation

Jorge in Must reads of the week

Want Breakthrough Ideas? First, Listen To The Freaks And Geeks – Fast Co Design
Eureka moment: Does man or machine drive innovation? – BBC
The Dangers of the Minimal Viable Product – HBR
Compete on Know-Why, Not Know-How by @richardsona
Adapting to Survive: The Key to Jugaad (and Other Styles of) Innovation by @frogdesign
Achieving Successful Strategic Transformation – MIT Sloan Management Review

Disassemble and Re-Imagine!

Jorge in Innovation

The 7-yr-old is bored. So I set fire to all her Xmas presents and said, “Reassemble!”

— Heather B. Armstrong (@dooce) December 27, 2011

While the above quote is funny and makes sense for the average Joe, if you’re an innovator and is bored with the status-quo there’s only one solution: Disassemble and Reimagine.

For example, last weekend I went to the movie theater to see Mission Impossible 4. It’s a good movie, but I’m not going to talk about that. What I want to tell you is what I noticed about this particular movie theater. First, the screen. It was sharp. No bubbles. Just sharp. Beyond that, apart from basic styling, nothing else is different about it. It looks like every other movie theater. Heck, it sounds the same way too. And it’s basic function remains the same: To go watch movies.

And this is where it gets interesting: Something that remains un-changed and boring for a long time is an opportunity for an innovator.…

Change will happen whether you like it or not

Jorge in Innovation

Companies are still scrambling with the rise of social networks like Twitter. If people think you suck they’ll gladly express themselves and let everyone else who listens to them. Oh and by the way, this happens in real-time.

This is the type of change most companies have not embraced.

But you know what, this change in communications was going to happen eventually the moment we had access to the internet. Social networks simply accelerated the process. All change tends to break with existing convention and social networking is no different.

There are other changes happening because of the internet, that of ‘easy access to information’. As content creation and information sharing accelerates, knowledge creation is accelerating.…

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