Category: innovation
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First order change, second order change, and double loop learning
We talk so much about the need to respond to changing environments in business and yet there is often little attention paid to differentiating the different types of change that can so adeptly frame how we should respond. I’m a big fan of situational awareness and the importance of understanding the contexts of the challenges…
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The Social Context for New Technologies
There was an interesting example of how the social and anthropological context shapes the use and evolution of technology in Mark Allen Peterson’s book ‘Anthropology & Mass Communication: Media and Myth in the New Millennium‘. Referencing Naomi Baron, Peterson describes how we have a tendency to think of the modes of how we use technology…
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Not as Simple as Pushing a Button
One of Tom Whitwell’s ’52 Things I Learned’ (another excellent list this year as always) related to how the push button was a somewhat controversial interface when it was first introduced in the 1880s. Digging a bit further there’s some interesting parallels with more current concerns about contemporary technologies and interfaces. Prior to the new…
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Death Circles
What teams can learn from Army Ants, and how to avoid ‘death spirals’
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How Knowledge Access Drives Innovation
In the late 19th Century Andrew Carnegie was the richest man in the world. From being a poor Scottish immigrant to the US he went on to build a steel empire which he sold to JP Morgan for almost half a billion dollars. He then proceeded to give most of his self-made fortune away, including…
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On Brainstorming
The under-recognised but proven ways to improve the outputs of brainstorming sessions.
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Google Firestarters Episode 18: Rachel Mercer
An insightful episode of Google Firestarters with Rache Mercer, co-founder and CXO of Proto and ex VP, Head of Strategy at R/GA New York
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Dick Fosbury and Breakthrough Ideas
In the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games a twenty one year old American University student Dick Fosbury won the high-jump gold medal using a revolutionary jumping technique that he had called the ‘Fosbury Flop’. The practice changed the sport forever and quickly became the dominant high-jump technique. By the 1972 Olympics 28 out of 40…
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On Technology Disappearing as it Matures
There's an idea that has been around for a while about how as significant new technologies mature the more they disappear – as in they become less obvious or we simply stop noticing that they are there. I remember the concept being talked about in the planning blogging community back in the day. Back in…
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The Danger of Blindly Following Machines
This episode of Tim Harford's podcast series Cautionary Tales has some brilliant stories about the dangers of blindly following technology. Tim talks about the phenomenon of what rangers in Death Valley California have termed death by GPS – genuine examples of where people have ended up in perilous situations by uncritically following the step-by-step turns…