by admin | May 5, 2014 | Innovation
Jim Manzi is the founder and chairman of Applied Predictive Technologies, and one of the originators of cloud computing. He is also a well-known libertarian/conservative thinker, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and a contributing editor to the National Review. Between his tech background and his politics, he’s about the last person you’d expect to praise the historic role government has played in the critical business of innovation — or to call for that role to be stepped up in the here and now. But that’s exactly what Manzi has done in a new and important essay in the spring issue of National Affairs — an essay that is getting widespread attention. Titled “The New American System,” Manzi’s essential point is that American innovation — the key to our prosperity — has always relied, to some extent, on government support. In the early days of the republic, he writes, Alexander Hamilton proposed government help for the developing manufacturing industries — “the high-tech sector of its day.” Hamilton’s basic insight, he adds, was “that the enormous economic value that innovative industries could offer the nation merited public efforts to enable their success.” Read more about how government nurtures innovation...
by admin | May 5, 2014 | Innovation
“The cure for Apple AAPL +0.03% is not cost-cutting; the cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.” Steve Jobs made that bold statement when he returned to Apple after a 12-year absence. Apple was close to bankruptcy. We all know what happened next. Steve Jobs launched one innovation after another after another, revolutionizing computers, entertainment, music, retail, mobile, and telecommunications. It’s no wonder that CNBC named Steve Jobs the #1 most innovative and transformative business leader of the past 25 years. Read more about these innovation secrets of Steve Jobs...
by admin | May 2, 2014 | Innovation
If this egg scrambling tool works as promised, your egg can come out of its shell with the yolk and egg already mixed. You could hard or soft boil, fry, scramble or devil them into what creator Geraint Krumpe calls “golden eggs,” named for the eggs’ creamy, soft yellow color when they come out. “I was laid off from a company I worked for for 11 years,” Krumpe says, when asked how this all started. “So I had to get creative.” Krumpe started a product design company and sometime last Easter, he was surfing YouTube videos and found inspiration. “I found a video with a science guy spinning an egg inside a shirtsleeve. So I said, I have to try this. I stayed up late and broke a bunch of eggs trying to get one to work,” he says. You can read more about this delicious innovation idea for scrambling eggs inside the shell...
by admin | May 2, 2014 | Innovation
Even after almost 10 years of unveiling the latest consumer technology at the International CES, innovation and the ways it keeps us connected — no matter where we are — continues to amaze me. But innovation can also produce what economists refer to as negative externalities: an incessant urge to stay connected, even while we’re driving. And that connection can come at the expense of safety — for us, our families riding in our cars, the strangers with whom we’re sharing the road and everyone who’s hoofing it along sidewalks and crosswalks. The legacy of technology in the vehicle is one driven by safety. From John Hetrick’s invention of the automotive airbag, to Saab’s decision in 1968 to make safety belts standard, to Richard Kearn’s invention of the intermittent windshield wiper. The long list of vehicle innovation has contributed significantly to safer driving. Early figures suggest the number of traffic fatalities fell in 2013 to the lowest level in 64 years. In more ways, consumer technology we bring into the vehicle also contributes to safer driving, from navigation systems to Bluetooth hands-free capabilities. But where should we draw the line in deciding which technologies truly make driving safer and which can potentially put us at greater risk on the road? Read more about how innovation holds the key to driver safety...
by admin | May 1, 2014 | Innovation
Leading an innovation culture can be a messy business. Or, maybe that should be: Leading an innovation business can be a messy culture. However the notion is phrased, the point is the same. Innovation is not a tidy process. By its very nature, innovation is unpredictable, even though your business requires predictability. It is full of surprises, even when you believe your biggest enemy is surprise. And, frequently, innovation delivers more failure than success, even when your future (both your organization’s and yours as an individual!) demands a track record of success. Innovation is intrinsically a contradiction, offering significant improvement to your business, just as it offers up disruption and change. It can dramatically enhance your competitive advantage, while at the same time putting your existing market advantage at risk. It can create sustainable growth, while at the same time threatening known, existing growth elements. It seems axiomatic that positioning innovation as a core value or business model is a high-reward, high-risk proposition. And that means that creating an innovation culture may very well require a different approach to leadership, a different way of thinking about yourself, and a different way of being mindful of your own development as a leader. Read more about leading an innovation culture...
