Revelnnovation

The simplicity of Pinterest and the ability to have many boards, I have 17, gives you a broader view of a lot, visually, in a little time.

Yesterday evening, at the social media #tweetea #annarbor meeting, I also learned about Percolate, tied specifically to brands and providing a definition of curation for business.  If you are dealing with a brand, certain things are implied by the choice you have to pick the brand.

I first learned of curation at the Detroit FutureMidwest 2011 conference that spotlighted PearlTrees, a more heavy-duty curation platform - video & photo:

If you are a creative that has found a way to live, counter-culture, in corporate society, in a corporate job, or in any bureacracy that is public or private, this might just validate some of that long-suffering vibe about the climate for your creativity and innovation. 

A rare few institutions have found ways to structure in ongoing creativity and innovation. Proctor & Gamble has innovation built into their plan for success. The Mayo Clinic holds a yearly innovation summit with 400 leaders and an social media infrastructure built in to share the summit with it's 50,000 organizational members.  3M and Google have famously built in "create" time into their work structures.  A curation source for these institutions and innovation stories is here.

via flickr.com

On the other side of the fence, many creatives & innovators leave organizations to work for themselves, unfettered by "silence and eye-rolls" for creative ideas and plans, as most institutions attract those who value safety, security, and longitivity ~ or at lease the perception of those qualities in an institutional setting.

Excerpted:

Excerpted:  ...in a world where the miraculous very quickly becomes common-place (light bulbs, refrigeration and penicillin), how can a company, especially one as big as Google, maintain a spirit of innovation year after year?

Nurturing a culture that allows for innovation is the key. As we’ve grown to over 26,000 employees in more than 60 offices, we’ve worked hard to maintain the unique spirit that characterized Google way back when I joined as employee #16.

[Google is facing] the classic innovator’s dilemma: should we invest in brand new products, or should we improve existing ones? We believe in doing both, and learning while we do it.

1.  Have_a_mission_that_matters

Work can be more than a job when it stands for something you care about.

...In times of crisis, they have helped by organizing life-saving information and making it readily available. The dedicated Googlers who launched our Person Finder tool (to learn more see Missions that Matter) within two hours of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan this March are a wonderful recent example of that commitment.

2.  Think_big_but_start_small

No matter how ambitious the plan, you have to roll up your sleeves and start somewhere. Google Books, which has brought the content of millions of books online, was an idea that our founder, Larry Page, had for a long time. People thought it was too crazy even to try...  He began scanning pages, timed how long it took with a metronome, ran the numbers and realized it would be possible to bring the world’s books online. Today, our Book Search index contains over 10 million books.

3.  Strive_for_continual_ innovation, not_instant_perfection

The best part of working on the web? We get do-overs. Lots of them.

Iterating has served us well. We weren’t first to Search, but we were able to make progress in the market by working quickly, learning faster and taking our next steps based on data.

4. Look_for_ideas_everywhere

As the leader of our Ads products, I want to hear ideas from everyone – and that includes our partners, advertisers and all of the people on my team. I also want to be a part of the conversations Googlers are having in the hallways.

....successful AdWords features like Automated Rules, are great examples of projects that started out in our ‘microkitchens.’ This is why we make sure Google is stocked with plenty of snacks at all times.

The Mayo Clinic is doing some amazing things in the innovation space, using service design. Mayo has a three year track record for holding an annual Innovation conference that engages the whole organization with social media tools. Features of the gathering that helps spur on energy, creativity and innovation include:

• Diversity, 400 or so executives & thought leaders in diverse disciplines of large enterprise innovation are invited mix & mingle at the conference

• Tools, using new engagement tools in social media, such as SocialText, (described on a business page on Facebook)

• Processes: Fostering "microsharing" - a process using the above two factors, in order to extend creative thinking to the whole organization, 50,000 people

• Engagement, Mayo staffers not at the conference appoint themselves as connectors and advocates of new ideas and innovations to carry ideas forward to further development and possible implementation

• Published, Mayo cited as a case study cited in ~ The New Social Learning, Tony Bingham and Marcia Conner, 2010

Check it out and see what you think:
http://blog.centerforinnovation.mayo.edu/

As for me, I'm including them in my presentation at the local OD Summit this week in Michigan (organization development) with the title: Social Media: Choosing Change Leadership & Strategic Agility over Chaos.

More about the local, Michigan OD Summit conference is available here: www.odsummit.com

PayPal…like a startup?

The Next Web: Looking at what you were doing before PayPal, I note you were involved in a lot of young startups? It sounds like you’re an entrepreneur at heart!

Holger Spielberg: Yes, that was a lot of fun.

The Next Web: So, how does working in that sort of entrepreneurial environment differ to working at a huge company such as PayPal?

Holger Spielberg: PayPal Germany feels like the biggest startup I’ve ever worked in.

via flickr.com

The Next Web: Ha, that was going to be one of my next questions…

Holger Spielberg: It’s very dynamic, great people, a good roadmap and it’s all based on a viable business model.

The Next Web: You mentioned earlier that you’re “hiring, hiring, hiring” – how big is your hub at the moment and how are you growing?

Holger Spielberg: We currently have about 95 people in Germany, and will add another 40 by the end of 2011.

The Next Web: How many are in innovation?

Holger Spielberg: I just started that department in January. We are 3 people full-time now, plus we have direct access to virtual organisations in ‘product’. Oh, and I’m also hiring a Developer Evangelist, someone skilled in developing SW, but also able to communicate, present and ignite innovation in the developer community.

The Next Web: That sounds very cool. I’m particularly interested in the issue of innovation, and how big companies can stay innovative. My question is – how do you feel PayPal stays innovative, and how does the culture promote that?

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 We also have an internal innovation platform. Every employee can enter ideas, which is then voted on internally. This can be related to …anything. ~ Holger Spielberg

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 Holger Spielberg: Well, the biggest engine is internal product development. That is mostly focused on the payment side of things and strategic developments. We also have x.com, which is an open developer platform to engage external innovation, especially in mobile, couponing etc. You might have also heard we are active in mergers and acquisitions to create a field of innovation gravity around us. We also have an internal innovation platform. Every employee can enter ideas, which is then voted on internally. This can be related to payments, internal processes…anything.

The Next Web: So are you open to acquiring younger startups in your field? I note that Visa invested in Square recently?

Holger Spielberg: We just acquired BillSafe in Germany, Where in the US and there are others in the pipeline. BillSafe will continue to sell under its own brand and will gradually be integrated into full PayPal offering.

The Next Web: Would you agree that acquisitions can kill off innovation? And if so, what do you actively do to ensure this doesn’t happen in companies you buy?

Holger Spielberg: Innovation is the realization of an idea. So you have to bring ideas into business reality. That sometimes is not innovative, but pure execution. It basically comes down to what field of thought and innovation you offer the talent in the companies. In the EU context, I believe PayPal has an excellent innovation culture. The markets here push us to innovate.

The Next Web: Ah, so because your industry is so fast-paced and evolving all the time, you really can’t stand still?

Holger Spielberg: Correct.

On to Apple, as originally posted to Reveln Consulting:  

There's BUZZ out via a new Fortune 500 article revealing "Inside Apple" insights. Those who have access to the physical magazine can see a circular organization chart that revolves around Steve Jobs, and why Apple acts like a start-up on purpose! (Only paid versions of the full article are available currently.)

Fortune has a great article titled ‘Inside Apple’ in its May 23 issue [featuring] the inner workings of the massively successful company, the unique Apple company culture and philosophies, and...some great anecdotes about Steve Jobs.

– Thinking Different:

There aren’t any committees at Apple, the concept of general management is frowned on, and only one person, the chief financial officer, has a “P&L’, or responsibility for costs and expenses that lead to profits or losses. Most companies view the P&L as the ultimate proof of a manager’s accountability; Apple turns that dictum on its head by labeling P&L a distraction only the finance chief needs to consider.

“Steve would say the general manager structure is bullshit”, says Mike Janes, the former Apple executive.

– Knowing when to say No:

One of Apple’s greatest strengths is its ability to focus on just a few things at a time … Saying no at Apple is as important as saying yes. “Over and over Steve talks about the power of picking the things you don’t do.”

– The difference between Apple and Microsoft:

From an executive who’s been at MS and Apple – I think this one is maybe one of the single biggest contributors to Apple’s greatness in the consumer electronics arena:

“Microsoft tries to find pockets of unrealized revenue and then figure out what to make. Apple is just the opposite: it thinks of great products, then sells them. Prototypes and demos always come before spreadsheets.”

 

– The enormous impact of Steve Jobs on Apple:

Jobs himself is the glue that holds this unique approach together. Yet his methods have produced an organization that mirrors his thoughts when – and this is important – Jobs isn’t specifically involved. Says one former insider: “You can ask anyone in the company what Steve wants and you’ll get answer, even if 90% of them have never met Steve.”

The whole Fortune article is a fantastic read if you’re interested in Apple and what drives their phenomenal success. You can read the May 23 issue in the Fortune iPad app ($4.99 per issue) or in the print edition.  

So often we lose sight of what really matters in organizations when fostering creativity.  I've seen & experienced many organizational conditions that  in the way: too many rules, too much control, unnecessary complexity, too much worry, and complacency.

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"Freedom is actually a bigger game than power. Power is about what you can control.   Freedom is about what you can unleash.“  ~  Harriet Rubin

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What I've experienced fosters innovation: the right tension of trust and risk.  See:

Why Too Much Trust & the Wrong Tension Is Death to Innovation | MIT Sloan Mgmt. Review

A sense of breadth of wonder & play, along with experience and depth also helps.  See:

Classic John Cleese - Teachers, Space & Time Boundaries for Creativity, Video | Ewan McIntosh

What makes a difference where you are?   What has and does foster innovation and creativity?

--Deb

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via flickr.com

Digital New York Times PAID subscription:  OK - I'm NOW, just now, ready for this.

• iPad √ check. 
•  iPhone √ check. (The iPhone is my 3G workhorse - I can't live without it work-wise...)

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You get what you pay for...or someone pays for...

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The light tablets are all ready for PRIME TIME, sez I.  Whether it is an iPad, a Samsung big pocket size or Motorola Xoom, whatever, this is truely the year of tablet content delivery.  Baby boomers are doing it.  Your grandmother might even be doing it. 

Ever since I saw tablet sized readers via some part of the Star Trek franchise, I was hoping. I think I can finally let go of my HandSpring Visor component system jones, as the tablets are really doing it for me.

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Photos:  by Deb, Mohan and his Samsung pocket tablet this January, 2011.

Shoop, shoop, shoop, finger touch:
1) Light, agile tablet: It's less wieldy than flipping through all that newsprint on Sundays.

2) Cleaner too! No newsprint inky fingers. Pecan rolls sticky fingers with breakfast are another story.

Reasonable price - high end subsidies:
3) The Times is a fairly expensive paper for good reason, to pay for the level of in-depth trained journalism.  (Fox News arguements aside.) This English major never ceases to enjoy the wonderful quality of writing in this paper.

4) Daily paper subscriptions, on one count, are .99 a month rising to 8.99 a week for digital for iPad and smartphone. There are other deals out there.

5) Subsidies: Depending on who you are and what you do, Lincoln and other companies courting you might subsidize your subscription for one year. Sounds like a smart move to me.  You get what you pay for, or what someone out there pays for.

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 Your grandmother might even be doing it. 

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Rich content:
6) Movies, slide shows, audio narration, citizen journalism are all value adds in the digital platforms. I love hearing about fashion on the street from the cool guy with a New York Accent:

7) Personalization & customization: I agree it is cool, not creepy. I'm more ready for it now in 2011. In 2010, it was still a bit creepy.

Ann Arbor News R.I.P. - AnnArbor.com is still finding its way.  I just discontinued my New York Times Sunday only paper version this past January.  (The soy ink based papers get recycled in my garden.)  The guy on the phone was really good about it and let me know what was in the works for the iPad.

Via iPad, I look forward to my daily read every day, and we have, in this household, one subsidized subscription and one that I've already paid for.  For quality journalism, I'm glad to do it.   I want it.  It backs up my twitter, Facebook, citizen journalism mania and restores balance to the force.  

--Deb

Excerpted from Brian's blog post on Innovation and Change: 

If necessity is the mother of invention, then perhaps imagination is the source of innovation.

In December 2010, I [wrote the] cover story for Entrepreneur Magazine. The article, “Change: Lessons on What’s Next,” explored the innovation behind three companies — Foursquare, Square, and Zappos. Throughout the years, I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with Dennis Crowley, Jack Dorsey and Tony Hsieh. And over that time, I’ve observed inherent traits that I believe represent the future of business and how companies engage with customers to create a more adaptive and connected infrastructure to compete for the future.

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....perhaps imagination is the source of innovation.

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[Their] stories place greater emphasis on innovation and a quest to deliver a more meaningful experience that in the end, reveal that technology represents enablers while you and your passion represent the capacity to lead change.

The Spirit of Innovation and Entrepreneurialism is Recession Proof

....Innovation is the proverbial yo-yo on an escalator and while economies may ascend and descend, they are always going up.

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 ...technology represents enablers while you and your passion represent the capacity to lead change.

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In September 2010, the National Bureau of Economic Research...announced that the recession behind curbed consumer spending and confidence officially ended in June 2009. What wasn’t constrained during these last few years however, was innovation. Entrepreneurs were the beneficiaries of a constant source of funding to materialize new products, services and technologies. ...in Q2 2010, 612 deals were closed to the sum of just under $6 billion.

...The pervasiveness of Internet-savvy consumers is undergoing a pivotal transformation. As such, the typical digital consumer is now giving way to the rise of a more discerning, informed, and connected social consumer. These consumers are surrounding themselves with the people and information that helps them make better decisions thanks to social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Their attention is focused ...away from traditional media that served as a means for branding and demand creation.  ...new or adaptive business models are mandatory. ...In the attention economy, businesses must manually connect with customers and prospects where their attention and interest is focused.

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 ...In the attention economy, businesses must manually connect with customers and prospects where their attention and interest is focused.

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In Brian's series, he will be looking at three innovators who are changing the game:

Part 1: Jack Dorsey, Twitter + Square
Part 2: Tony Hsieh, Zappos

Part 3: Dennis Crowley, FourSquare

 
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Get The Conversation Prism:

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Image Credit: Shutterstock

RevelnCoaches Mar 10, 2:12pm via Twitter for iPad

“@RevelnConsults: It's about authenticity. Be real. #b2bexpo Social Media Panel @AstralRoad1”. #SMCC1

dnrevel Mar 10, 4:11pm via Twitter for iPad

Rich Fahle Formerly of Borders. #b2bexpo @AstralRoad1” #SMCC1 video-commerce.org Also E-books, disruption. Sourcebooks is small & nimble.

3. My business persona is @RevelnConsults.   I use the @RevelnConsults feed on my Reveln Consulting Wordpress website.   RC had a bit to say about my video experience with @AstralRoad1 's presentation yesterday.  I was so glad I stayed & attended Rich's late afternoon session.  It was very worthwhile!

RevelnConsults 11:04am via Facebook

This YouTube video hits 4 EMERGING TRENDS right on the nose: Custom experience, integration, video and YouTube... http://fb.me/IK909uf8

 

RevelnConsults Mar 10, 4:19pm via Twitter for iPad

Video is premium delivery for authenticity. SEO loves video. Tell your story, naturally. 65% recall rate. #b2bexpo @AstralRoad1 #SMCC1

Note the different sources I use for my tweeting above, Facebook and my iPad.   I'm actually tweeting this blog post from Facebook and integrating it onto my front page website at the same time.

4.  My special niche for my business consulting is Change Management.  Therefore I tweet from @ChangeTools.   Ron is a business partner who tweets from @ChangeResults.    I like his title better.  Too bad I can't steal it.  :-)

changetools Deb, Ron

USING MULTIPLE TWITTER accounts:

I will sometimes retweet myself, attempting to do it at different times, per @CharlieCurve's good recommendations.  I've posted his video below about using multiple twitter accounts well.  Lesson learned!!  Charlie's videos are a GREAT example of how to use video well!

And here's @CharlieCurve's video on using multiple twitter accounts:  

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Benevolent hacking is the duct tape of the work world.  - the Hacking Work Manifesto

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There is a reason I generally like to hang around techie types, and am married to a particular brand of one.  For some, there's a lovely, dry sense of humor, a particular type of irreverence and "fight the system" and "fight working for the man" that enriches and adds proper balance to my anti-corporate (I'm not the Borg*) side. Yet, I do and will continue to choose  to work with and for corporations.  They are filled with lovely human beings that, like all of us I hope, desire to feel fully human and not herded into mechanistic silos and tunnels in order to make their numbers and pay the rent.  They have families, children, dreams.   Hackers provide great insights into this aspect of productivity when the bureaucracy turns sour, does not serve the masses, and just plain gets in the way.

God bless 'em (many agnostics and atheists and alternatives to my mainline religious views, out there, I'm glad to say.)  I'm glad they are out there to make work do-able when the normal ways of doing work just DON'T work.

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 That all said, I'm actually one of them. 

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Also:  Some of them make enough money that their salaries rival that of bank V.Ps.  There's a certain delight in that.  Especially when seeing their videos and reading their blogs, where they say anything they want.

That all said, I'm actually one of them.  I'm a shallow nerd type.  I love technology & gadgets.  I can do basic html and embed stuff.  I can create social media empire structures.  I can figure stuff out, with a little help from my deep techie friends including smartie pants, socially adept types.  I can see where technology accelerates human capabilities and builds relationships.  More power to we all in building our techie side, with every smart phone and iPad we buy.

--Deb

PS:  The Borg are race of 1/2 robot - 1/2 human hive-oriented creatures from the iconic show, Star Trek.   The Borg are also a symbol in popular culture for any type of juggernaut against which "resistance is futile".  I am a Trekker from way back.  Seen all the movies.  Have opinions of the spin offs.  Love sci fi.  Even love Babylon 5 but not BattleStar Galactica.  Convinced I belong to the club?