I recently read Javier Blas and Jack Farchy’s The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources (Oxford University Press, 2021). This fascinating book reads like a novel, almost a page turner. What will the traders do next? They chronicle the history of commodity traders of oil, grain, metals, and […]
During the Era of Colonialism (late 1400s to the mid- to late 1900s), European powers colonized most of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania, the Middle East and the Arctic, excluding Antarctica. This typically involved oppression and exploitation of indigenous ethnic and racial groups inside the geographical area colonized. This oppression and exploitation often is […]
I recently read Robertson and Breen’s Brick by Brick: How Lego Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry (Crown Business, 2013). As my children, grandchildren, and I have been long-time Lego fans, this book was fascinating. It led me to think about innovation more broadly. But first, let’s consider the Lego […]
Here is my recent reading/watching list: Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America by Kurt Anderson (Random House, 2020) The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket by Benjamin Lorr (Avery, 2020) Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell (Little Brown, 2019) The Social […]
Joseph Tainter’s The Collapse of Complex Societies (Cambridge University Press, 1988) presaged Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Viking Press, 2004). Both books provide vivid explanations of how societies fail and why. Societies create mechanisms to deal with new challenges. Walls are built to thwart Mongol hoards. Regulations are created to […]
How can innovation be cultivated in the public sector? Consider defense, education, and healthcare. These three primarily public sector systems are ripe for disruption and innovation. Enormous improvements of services and decreased costs are undoubtedly achievable. The key question is how to disrupt the status quo. Let’s first consider how a direct approach might work, […]
We expect that the pandemic will lead to a new normal that will be significantly different than the old normal. Perhaps there will be opportunities for innovations in the marketplace. What changes deserve our bets? We can assume that people will always want pasta, potatoes or rice, as well as beans, broccoli or mushrooms. But […]
When do organizations fail? It is typically when their financials go south. Their deficits are unsustainable. Cash is draining from the enterprise. Their strategies for stemming the tide are too little, too late. Why do organizations fail? What causes these financial outcomes? The story that led to these consequences almost always started playing out much […]
A university chief executive has come to realize that competitive forces are closing in. Fortunately, the president has an AI based cognitive assistant to help formulate plans for addressing this new reality. This assistant is named George. “How can these projections be correct, George? We keep on raising enrollment and tuition to generate surplus revenue […]
In my last post, I noted how Kodak, Motorola, and Xerox delayed introducing new market offerings in order to avoid cannibalizing their existing offerings – film, analog cell phones, and paper copiers. They wanted to milk their cash cows as long as possible. Now these companies are shadows of their former selves. Their cash cows […]
All enterprises face a fundamental tradeoff. Do you invest in getting better and better at the products and services you already offer? Or, do you invest in creating innovative new products and services? The obvious answer would seem to be some mix of both. However, getting the mix right is rather difficult. This difficulty is […]
A recent issue of The Economist projected when humans will become obsolete, fully replaced by machines. Some AI researchers projected 125 years, with AI researchers being the last folks replaced. Other projections ranged from 30 years to 200. How might this happen? I assume that humans will design machines that progressively take over human jobs. […]
I have spent much time in recent years studying the possibility of transformation, fundamental change, of healthcare and higher education. For many years, healthcare was the poster child for runaway costs. That is still an issue, but cost control has received quite a bit of attention. Higher education is now the poster child for runaway […]
Academia has become rather frustrating. Out of control costs have been leading to spiraling students debts, exceeding the total US credit card debt. Increasingly narrow and unreasonable criteria for tenure have led to people spending endless years in servitude. The overall academic value proposition has been completely eroded for all but the administrative leadership and […]
I have been researching Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), compiling best practices and other good ideas that I sought from a variety of colleagues. I recently completed the first lessons of three courses on the best-known MOOC sites: Coursera course: “Chicken Behavior & Welfare” edX course: “Dinosaur Ecosystems” Udacity course: “Design of Everyday Things” All […]
Many pundits argue that driverless cars will soon be here. You can argue with the timelines they articulate, but it is difficult to disagree with the distinct possibility of the technology eventually maturing and becoming an increasing portion of the vehicles on the road. This technology will be truly disruptive. There will be the benefits […]
Various pundits are projecting that by 2020 – just four years – the driving of cars and trucks will be completely automated. Vehicle services, whether for consumers or businesses, will be readily available for very reasonable prices. I will not need to own a personal vehicle and my business can dispense with its fleet of […]
New York — In reaction to a flurry of consumer complaints about major airlines’ new “zero fare” model, one airline has unveiled a new marketing pitch, with the following tag line. “We don’t need you — take the bus!” Responding to pundits’ criticisms of this being ridiculously “over the top,” an airline spokesperson responded, “We […]
Invention or ideas lead to innovation and change, often championed by someone other than the originator – think of Carnegie, Morgan, Rockefeller and Vanderbilt. The change agent builds an empire around the innovation, typically aspiring to monopolize the commercial value of the innovation. The empire becomes exploitive of customers, employees, and the environment. Eventually, the […]
I have recently been involved with an enterprise that has somehow managed to embrace just about the worst transformation practices possible. It all started with the vocabulary the leaders chose to employ. They managed to paint a transformation picture that they apparently had no intention of pursuing. While they portrayed fundamental change, their actions totally […]
