“The challenge we face is nothing less than transforming our schools from assembly-line factories into centers of innovation.” Those are the words of Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City where the iZone project is transforming education. Clearly, the 19th style classroom and methods are not cutting it for the challenges of today. The iZone […]
Archives for October 2011
Science = Innovation?
Today’s blog post is by Intelligent Management team member Dr. Giovanni Siepe, a theoretical physicist by training and an expert in statistical methods for management. The scientific community is still looking for confirmation of a seemingly revolutionary scientific discovery: neutrinos travel at a speed faster than light. An experiment was conducted where neutrinos were “shot” […]
While Greece sinks, Canada launches a thousand ships
In the past few days we have read about two starkly contrasting scenarios. In one, the Canadian government awarded three decades of shipbuilding work (33 billion dollars) to two private shipbuilding yards in Halifax and Vancouver. Reports from Greece, instead, speak of entrepreneurs sacking workers who earn 1200 Euros per month to replace them with […]
Destroying the markets with flawed assumptions
Today’s blog post is by team member Dr. Giovanni Siepe, a theoretical physicist by training and an expert in statistical methods for management. The Nobel Prize in Economics for 2011 went to Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims. The reason for assigning the Prize to Prof. Sargent is his model on cause and effects as applied […]
Donating is not just good, it’s smart
In a recent post, Seth Godin underlines the lack of common sense behind charity galas: “…the gala is actually corrupting. Attendees are usually driven by social and selfish motivations to attend, and thus the philanthropic element of giving–just to give–is removed.” Charity bashes may be fun for the attendees, and they may in certain cases […]
Do we really want to be free of our constraints?
On a client’s website, they rightfully explain that their technology frees their customers of certain constraints. What exactly do we mean by constraints and are they a totally bad thing? We all want more freedom. A constraint would seem, by definition, to be something that robs us of freedom. But what we need to do […]
Are we really just creatures of media hype?
Today we continue our journey into systemic solutions for sustainable innovation with a piece by Larry Dries, JD a team member who is not a Mac user and who therefore has the necessary emotional detachment to write this piece. I am neither an owner of an iPhone, nor a shareholder in Apple. (I use a […]
Think different, and develop and execute different: the pattern of sustainable innovation
There is a unique human ability to conceive an idea. Ideas are born every minute, but only some of them actually make it into the world, and even fewer survive as a sustainable innovation, something that brings benefits to all involved. Apple products are some of the most satisfying innovations in our lives. There is […]
Beyond the Brooklyn Bridge – the new economics
The NYC General Assembly are angry. Hundreds of them were recently arrested on Brooklyn Bridge as they protested on behalf of all those who feel that “corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments.” It’s not surprising they are protesting. We live in in a world where financial […]
