I recall a discussion about rising unemployment which I had with the late Peter Drucker shortly after 9/11 in which he told me that throughout modern history people have been haunted by the specter of unemployment as an apocalyptic event when in fact employment was not only cyclical but a steadily rising tide for all.
It’s a comforting thought in today’s market place when unemployment is at 10% and along with partial employment closer to 30%. Yet, Drucker’s reassurance is in stark contrast with a discussion I just had with a major financial institution which told me, point blank, that they were going to double in size by 2015 without adding a single employee. (more…)
Five Quotes from The Innovation Zone on how we limit creativity, without even knowing it!
1) “We like the arrogance of placing ourselves, our generation, our technology, our time and our place in history at the end of the story. History should teach us that we are always in the middle of the story, always stumbling over new chapters that make obsolete so much of what has already been written.”
2) “It’s human nature that we desperately want to believe that we’ve cracked the code. It raises our esteem, it fuels our egos and it squelches our creativity.”
3) “Arrogance diminishes our ability to think outside of what we know and limits our ability to think creatively beyond, and out of, our current circumstances.”
4) “Every test you ever took measured how you understand the past not how well you could create the future.”
5) “Success breeds complexity, leading to a momentum that reduces the flexibility to change and the willingness to fail.”
I rarely find opinions so objectionable and have to believe that Casey wrote this as satire or to inspire contrary views. If so it’s wonderful and he accomplished both. But just to be sure this isn’t taken seriously I had to log my response - see it on the NYT web site above or below: Your thoughts?
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So let me get this right: If we have more victims of disease, more carbon emissions, and more people starving in underdeveloped countries, then we are more likely to find solutions to our increase in suffering. Right?
Come on Casey, you can’t really believe that there are no limits to population growth on this planet or that somehow subjecting more people to suffering justifies your roll of the innovation probability dice. One could as easily claim that larger populations are just as likely to produce more criminals, terrorists, and ruthless dictators.
The bottom line is that we can choose to take an active role in managing our impact on the planet, its people, and our childrens’ future or we can just sit back and hope for solutions from some brilliant yet to come savior whose genius will untangle the mess we’ve made. I for one chose to take control and believe that the genius already exists among us. - tk
Weekly top Ten post - so how many of these have you seen?
1. Believing that innovation will just happen
Innovation will “just happen” like a garden will sprout without planting, watering, and weeding. In today’s marketplace, deliberate and dedicated attention to innovation is a prerequisite for success.
2. Asking people to “think outside the box”—and calling it a day
Ideas are the seeds of innovation—not innovation itself. Companies that get innovation right take a holistic approach and create a culture and process for nurturing ideas. (more…)
Which are you most like - Boomer, GenX, GenY, or GenZ? - take the QUIZ and find out.
It’s not just your age that determines which generation’s attitudes you adopt and how you embrace and use technology. Much of it has to do with the degree to which you try to keep up with all of the changes around you. That can be a painful thing to do at today’s crazy pace of technology.
So where do you rank when it comes to the attitudes and behaviors of the multiple generations who are using and defining technology today?
Take a few minutes to take the QUIZ and we’ll tell you exactly where you rank. But be honest - because we certainly will be!
We promise not to share your name or e-mail in any way and we will not divulge the identity of any survey respondent in any manner. Data will only be used in the aggregate and your results will ONLY be viewable by you.
As a kid in high school I wanted to be a football quarterback. (US football) I could throw a pretty good spiral. It just wasn’t a great spiral. My coaches had other plans. At 225lbs my the place was on the defensive line - where I actually found out I was much better suited for success - go figure!
I soon realized that there was a huge difference between. Good enough and Great! Although, it still didn’t do much for my football career, I took away the lesson that no matter how much we may be good at, or want to be good at, we are each built to be great at something.
So what are you GREAT at? What’s your core competency? Think about it for a minute. I’m not asking what you’re good at. Instead I want to know what you are best at. In fact, better at than just about anyone else you know. Not in an arrogant way but based on your experiences and what you have accomplished in your life. Think about it in terms of what others might say about you. Understandably, it’s a tough question for many people.
Now let’s elevate that same question to countries. What is the core competency of your country? Is that an easier or harder question to answer? Is Japan’s core competency manufacturing, electronics, miniturization? Is Switzerland’s core competency watchmaking, finance? Is Germany’s core competency engineering, quality cars? (more…)
For those of you old enough to remember (I certainly am), this was the world of the future according to AT&T from the vantage point of 1993. Hard to believe that this was far fetched just 16 years ago. I used to joke that the “You Will” slogan was more of a threat than a promise, forever tethering us to our work. Little did I know how prophetic that statement was! What would your You Will add for the next 16 years look like?
BusinessWeek selected The Innovation Zone as one of its “20 Great Summer Reads” - I never thought of it as a “toes in the sand” sort of book when I was writing it, btu who am I to argue?! Check it out along with other Great Summer Reads at http://bit.ly/Zjkoy
http://bit.ly/Zjkoy
