“I have two children. Dickens had ten -- I think Tolstoy did, too. Did anyone for one moment worry that those men were becoming too father-ish to be writer-esque? ... The idea that motherhood is inherently somehow a threat to creativity is just absurd." (Zadie Smith) "The key is not having one child, it is living in a place where there is excellent daycare and a social world that allows fathers to have the time and the motivation to fully share in raising kids." (Jane Smiley) "I think I have become a better writer since having children. It improves creativity, particularly because once you have children it makes you realise the story isn’t about you." (Louise Doughty) ”
—Acclaimed women writers respond to a recent opinion piece arguing that in order to be successful, female writers should have no more than one child.
Meanwhile, some female writers proudly choose to have none, while an infographic look at the data suggests a grim gender disparity.
Five Steps for Embracing Consumer Innovation
Using a GPS system and small tags to create a way to find things that get lost in a house. Creating a coat that’s easy to put on and take off while in a wheelchair. Coloring the two halves of a clock different colors to teach children the concepts of “past the hour” and “before the hour.”
Those are some of the consumer innovations that were found by Eric von Hippel, Susumu Ogawa and Jeroen P.J. de Jong in their research into the scope and frequency of how consumers modify existing products and create new ones. “The Age of the Consumer-Innovator,” their report on the first-ever national surveys on consumer innovation in the U.S., Japan and the United Kingdom, is the cover story of the new Fall 2011 issue of MIT Sloan Management Review.
How can companies best work with these “casual entrepreneurs”? Here are five steps, drawn from the article:
- Understand that “lead users” are key. “Some users — termed “lead users” — are much more likely to develop commercially promising innovations than the average consumer,” write von Hippel, Ogawa and de Jong. “Lead users are those who are both ahead of the majority of users with respect to an important market trend and have a high incentive to innovate.”
- ID those lead users. Co-author von Hippel, a professor of technological innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management, offers at his website free training materials to find lead users, including a lead user project handbook and videos.
- “Stop attacking your innovating users, whether intentionally or by mistake!” The authors are emphatic about this. It is counterproductive, they note, for companies to deter through criminal threat users who might simply be trying to inspect and alter a product to make it better. Ditto for consumer innovators who are using products in new ways that could lead to new markets.
- Actively support consumer innovation. “Create documented, open interfaces to support modifications to your products,” suggest the authors. Create “developers’ toolkits.” Create websites where users can share information and innovate together. Consider even providing special access to in-house developers.
- And about those in-house developers: Get them on board. The authors write: “Companies will have to help their own product developers look at consumer-developed innovations with new eyes — not just as poorly engineered amateurish efforts. Product engineering is not the value companies should look for in the consumer-developed prototype product and related usage. The consumer is showing a product prototype that performs a novel function that people have actually demonstrated that they want. That is the priceless information your companies must take on board.” via sloanreview.mit.edu and Leslie Brokaw
Consulting, Speaking & Coaching. Driving Growth through Innovation
Innothink Group is a strategic management and innovation consultancy. Where many consulting firms are reluctant to bear risks or tie their rewards to project outcomes, we decided to build a better model. We align our success with yours. We’re outcome obsessed, outcome paid, putting over a third of our fees at risk subject o hitting predetermined milestones. More than a guarantee we wanted from the outset to create true partnerships.
For speaking, coaching or consulting inquiries contact:
+1 719- 649-4118
Holidays 2013-04-21
Today’s for today are:
- Kindergarten Day
- National Chocolate Covered Cashews Day
- San Jacinto Day
- World Creativity and Innovation Day
After a very busy week of holidays (admittedly of varying importance), today is a little slower.
Though San Jacinto Day commemorates a key date in Texas seceding from Mexico, I’m going to take a shot at writing about World Creativity and Innovation Day instead.
First of all, I’m afraid you’re being alerted a little late about this since World Creativity and Innovation Day is the last day of World Creativity and Innovation Week. (At the risk of being creative, I’m wondering if it would be better if the first day of WCaIW was considered WCaID.)
The idea here is to try and get people to set aside some time to see if they can come up with something creative and/or innovative. On one hand, I can definitely see how the umpteen gazillion things a person needs/wants to get done on a daily basis can crowd out our more imaginative side. I’m sure we’d get more ideas - and get existing ideas earlier - if we were less tied down to everyday activities.
On the other hand, I don’t think most of us are good at scheduling being creative/innovative. There probably are people who are sufficiently creative/innovative that if they’re given X amount of time, they’ll have some interesting and plausible ideas (even though a subset of them will ultimately end in failure). But I think most of us are more likely to get our best ideas more erratically, perhaps when a chance conversation or event gets us thinking about a problem differently, maybe while our minds are just wandering during an idle moment.
In any event, I wish you luck in endeavoring to be creative/innovative, but don’t give up just because the clock strikes midnight and the holiday is over.
Last day of my Disney Class!
I’m going to have nothing to get up for on my days off next week. >w>;; oh dear
But hey! Prefect attendance in my Entertainment and I got my Mouseters degree in both! Yay! Pictures to come soon!
But today will be lunch at Epcot with Daniel and Ai and then the Starlit Splash at Typhoon tonight! So excited that my first time at Typhoon will be at night!!
Review : Business News Diary Trend Forecast for 2011
Terkadang kita harus bertindak seperti ketapel. Mundur beberapa langkah untuk melesat jauh kedepan. Sama halnya seperti melakukan studi futuristik dan trend forecasting,. Sejarah menjadi penting untuk dipelajari. Karena kita bisa mempelajari pola di masa lalu. Dan menjadikan pola tersebut sebagai dasar prediksi yang komprehensif di masa depan.
Membaca “45 Business Ideas We Loved in 2011″ versi Business News Diary memberikan kita insight bagaiamana dunia telah berubah dalam dua tahun ini dan bagaimana. Empat hal yang menarik bagi saya, yaitu:
- Personal social media consultant. Saat ini pekerjaan ternyata tidak lagi dicari menggunakan kertas aplikasi. Saat ini bisa menggunakan sosial media. Oleh karena itu,personal social media consultant membantu customer dalam memanfaatkan social media untuk menampakkan nilai jual bagi customer.
- Specialty foods provider. Ternyata industri makanan sudah berubah. Orang-orang di US lebih memilih makanan sesuai kebutuhan dan kesehatan. Hal ini menarik untuk dicoba di Indonesia.
- Personal concierge. Banyak orang merasa kurang dengan waktu dibanding uang. Investasi untuk mengurus hal-hal yang ‘kecil’ kalau bisa dialihkan kepada orang lain dibandingkan harus menelantarkan pekerjaan yang menghasilkan uang lebih banyak. Pekerjaan ini menarik untuk dicoba.
- Taxy service. Mempunyai kendaraan pribadi adalah hal yang mewah. Ide taksi bisa digunakan untuk orang yang ingin berpindah tempat dengan murah.
Masih ada 44 ide lainnya yang bisa dibaca di link ini.
Seat back, and have a blast!
Review : Trendstop
Trendstop merupakan saudara dari Sparks&Hiney dan JWT. Ya, trend forecaster. Hanya saja trendstop memiliki spesialisasi dalam bidang fashion. Trendstop membantu kliennya untuk memprediksi tren fashion dan gaya hidup agar klien dapat meningkatkan penjualan produknya dengan menyesuaikan pada tren.
Saya tidak terlalu mengerti tentang fashion, saya jadi tidak bisa berkata banyak. Namun sebagai orang awam saya bisa mengatakan bahwa tampilan situs ini sangat baik. Saya mendpatkan kesan bahwa trendstop adalah sebuah agensi yang profesional dan berkualitas. Branding yang dilakukan dengan sempurna.
Beberapa informasi yang bisa kita dapatkan di situs ini antara lain:
- Trendstop Live, adalah event-event terkait tren fashion dan lifestyle yang diadakan oleh trendstop. Setiap event memiliki temanya sendiri yang masing-masing unik.
- Trend report, adalah report yang disediakan oleh trendstop mengenai hal-hal khusus seperti pemilihan warna, catwalks, denim, dll.
- Trend consultancy, dapat dilakukan dengan menghubungi trendstop terlebih dahulu melalui situs ini.
Review : JWT Intelligence Trend Reports
JWT adalah salah satu situs favorit saya. Setidaknya dalam satu semester terakhir ini. Saat saya mengambil mata kuliah dari jurusan planologi bernama Studi Futuristik. Di kuliah saya belajar tentang masa lalu, mempelajari polanya, dan menggunakan pola tersebut untuk membuat analsisi prediktif tentang masa depan. Selama kuliah ini saya jadi banyak membaca hal-hal yang berhubungan dengan masa depan, termasuk Trend Reports.
JWT Intelligence adalah salah satu perusahaan yang membuat Trend Reports dalam bentuk riset, presentasi, dan berupa paper, mulai dari Desember 2008 hingga sekarang. Banyak hal yang dibahas oleh mereka dan telah dipublikasikan, salah satu yang menarik minat saya adalah publikasi mereka yang berjudul “100 Things to Watch in 2013″.
Trend Report yang disajikan menurut saya cukup baik, karena cukup komprehensif dan tak hanya berbasis opini saja. Bahkan banyak diantaranya dilengkapi dengan grafik yang menunjukkan data pendukung dari report tersebut. Untuk memberi gambaran lebih jelas, berikut adalah tiga dari banyak report yang tersedia dalam situs tersebut :
1. Embracing Analog: Why Physical is Hot
