Democratising Innovation
To download a free e-book from MIT on Innovation goto this link Democratizing Innovation by Eric von Hippel Chapters are as follows 1 Introduction and Overview 2 Development of Products by Lead Users 3 Why Many Users Want Custom Products 4 Users Innovate-or-Buy...
Riding on the Information Super Highway
To Google or not to Google To Google or not to Google? That is the question. Did you know that Google shares are currently trading on the NASDAQ at $180.77 ($US) per share? Now, I’m not much of an expert on the stock exchange, but I did a little checking around and...
Why you should read our blog
As you probably know, there are blogs and there are blogs. Some blogs are nothing more than gossip, while others simply chronicle the life and times of the blogger (which may or may not be interesting). Our blog is a tool we use to capture the intellectual capital...
Learning from a Savvy CEO
As I walked in it felt as though I had come home! The CEO’s office could not by any stretch of the imagination be described as ostentatious but the large desk was well ordered and adorned with some impressive looking gadgetry. As it was a Boomer boss I was dealing...
Would You Work for Halliburton?
The Devastating Effect of not Taking "Bright Young Things" Seriously. Halliburton History In the midst of all the corporate scandals and alleged shenanigans across the globe in the past few years, the name of Halliburton features quite prominently. This is due to some...
Developing people for the future (II): Attention all leaders, trainers and coaches!
If the world is changing faster than ever before, and if we are rapidly moving towards a world where your competitive advantage increasingly depends on your ability to attract, retain and get the most out of the talented individuals in your industry, leaders cannot...
Triple Bottom Line in the Rainbow Nation
The Rainbow Nation Most of us who are resident in South Africa are proud of the fact that we live in the Rainbow Nation. To the world we are a ‚miracle nation‛ because we went through simultaneous social, political and economic change, and surprisingly came out...
50 Facts That Should Change the World
The book by this name, by Jessica Williams, (Buy it at Amazon.com) was published in 2004 (Sep) - you should not be able to read these facts and stay the same. How you choose to respond is up to you - but you can bet that there are people responding. 1 THE average...
Lessons from where you least expect them
I spent 8 hours driving yesterday, to have a 90 minute meeting. Well an interview actually. I met with Thomas Schmuck. He manages a building supply store that is part of the Build It franchise (Click here for their web site). The store can be found in Vryheid....
Mobile phones on planes
Contrary to most airline announcements, it is not unsafe to use a mobile phone on an aeroplane. On most flights, a few cellphones are left on by mistake, and the avionics systems on modern aircraft are hardened against radio interference anywhere. The real reason that...
Predictable Surprises
The Futurist in February reviewed the book, "Predictable Surprises" (2004) by Max H. Bazerman and Michael D. Watkins (buy it at Amazon.com or Kalahari.net). It is designed to help us see when we should be able to expect unpleasant surprises, and how to be organised to...
So, we think we know everything
We live in the 21st century. By now, we feel, we should have solved life's mysteries, understood the functioning of the universe and made sure that the only surprises we face are those created for us by other human beings. But that is not so. The promise of modernism...
New ways to attract top talent
How do you get noticed as a company attempting to hire this year's crop of bright young graduates? L'Oreal has gone for an interesting strategy. Following the extraordinary success of business based reality TV game shows (we're not fans of the business advice these...
Why you shouldn't be too worried about India and China
OK, so make sure you don't read what I didn't say. You still need to be worried about India and China -- the matter what country or industry you're in, if you're not thinking about the effects that these two countries will have on you, you're already in trouble. But...
Blogging 101 (or Blogging for Boomers)
Blogs are the new big thing in communication - and now companies are getting on board, too. What is a blog? Very simply, its a "web log". Do you remember Captain Kirk's "Captain's log, stardate xyz"? Well, that's kind of what blogs are. They're websites that record...
Cool Job Titles: Chief Blogger
Is this a world first? Stonyfield Farm has a Chief Blogger - mainly charged with connecting with clients. Read the BusinessWeek story on her, here. Blogs are coming - no doubt. BusinessWeek's current edition has blogs as the front cover. "As big as the printing...
3G – not the solution to everything
If you have been frustrated at the pricing and service of any of South Africa's telecomms providers, you might enjoy Clive Simkins' rant about Vodacom's recent hassles with 3G (and the warning not to use their option-only Vodafone 3G card): get it here.
Cyber-grounded: Parenting for the 21st century
I had a wonderful phrase the other day. A14-year-old was complaining that he had been "cyber grounded". I believe this meant that he had no access to his digital TV, which meant no access to the Internet either. I wasn't able to ask him about the implications for a...
Universities no longer favouring the “sausage factories”
In the past decade, a number of chains of private schools have sprung up around South Africa. They provide a quality education, of course, but one of their primary focuses and certainly one of their primary marketing tools is to churn out matriculants with a fist full...
“Is it good for you?”
Yesterday Frank and I facilitated a three-hour experience with Sportron's top sales leaders in the Drakensberg. What a great company this is! During dinner I told Dr. T (Sportron's head) of a specific nougat brand and the only question he had was: "Is it good for...