Economic downturns and "I"

National Academies Press book, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, provides insight into challenges, facts and recommendations on how United States must react to downturns and challenges, particularly from globalization. The book paints a picture of how we should engage new flatter world forces of demographics, strategies of multinational corporations and policies of other countries, particularly BRIC nations and other emerging markets. In a section, 'The disturbing mosaic' the authors identify a wide variety of clusters for improvement such as education, corporate research, export controls, balancing security and openness, creation of new industries etc with recommendations of incentives for innovation.

Downturn as we are experiencing now has multi-dimensional impacts. Organizations in response to melting revenues and profit opportunities are following conventional wisdom by cutting costs, being over cautious, sticking to what they have done in the past and shying away from promoting innovative ideas.

Are we loosing opportunities for game changers by following conventional wisdom?

Should we take baby steps in innovation, popularly called the little "i" or do we take calculated risks with big ideas (big "I") that create ripple effects for positive economic and social changes? How do we promote "I"?

Innovation and its promotion must be a congruence of an inquisitive mind, trust, ability to take risks, openness to learn something new, being creative and the desire to try and try again. Each of us have a responsibility to either create or support communities that express, promote, nurture and practice innovation.

Tenacity and faith in our capabilities is equally important. We must dig deep into our strengths, acknowledge areas of excellence, find areas of improvement and avoid inertia at all costs. World class athletes, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, have raised their games repeatedly to new levels when confronted with challenges and difficult situations.

Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point calls out "When it comes to epidemics, though, this disproportionalilty becomes even more extreme; a tiny percentage of people do the majority of the work. What must underlie successful epidemics, in the end, is a bedrock belief that change is possible, that people can radically transform their behavior or beliefs in the face of the right kind of impetus"

I like the following quotes by D. Rodrigues on Innovation. It is simple and credible.

"Live life at the intersection"
"See and hear with the mind of a child"
"Everyone needs time to innovate"


The current environment of economic crisis offers multiple windows of opportunity. It is up to us to harness the knowledge and create next big idea(s). The downturn may be the best impetus we have been waiting for all this time to plant the seeds of the future!




Interesting reads on Innovation:

Prophet of Innovation (by Thomas McCraw)

Closing the Innovation Gap (by Judy Estrin)

Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Peter Drucker series)

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

Innovation in turbulent times (a Bain publication)

Change by Design (by Tim Brown)

Opposable Mind (by Roger Martin)

The Game-Changer by A. J. Lafley

Lessons from the Usain Bolt phenomenon

Running 100m in 9.58 seconds. The Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt, with his signature lightning bolt sign is a legend on the track. He has earned the names of "Insane Bolt", "Lightning Bolt". Handy foam constructions called "Bolt Arms" have literally taken over the world's track fans.

Bolt's win in record time has left the competition far behind. Take a closer look and you see the single reason for that explosive performance. It is shooting out of the starting blocks with a record reaction time.




Usain's career has had many speed bumps. His coaches abandoned him for lack of dedication earlier in his career. His practical jokes alienated him from friends and family. Vehicle accidents slowed his training schedules. An injury laden last finish at 2005 Helsinki games triggered a comeback.

"Anything is possible if I put my mind to it" Bolt insisted at his first major success after setting realistic goals for upcoming competitions.

His key to success? Planning, preparation and attention to nuances.

He slows down as he gets closer to the finish line just to check on his competition. Something unheard of in 100 meter sprints. At times it appears as if he has enough time to text his friend, have a bagel and complete the race. Amazing, thinking his competitors are world class runners who have set records themselves.

He repeatedly says "I can go faster". The results have been impressive thus far.

Gold in 200m at World Youth championships.
Gold in 200m at World Junior championships.
Gold in 100m, 200m, 4X100m relay at Beijing Olympics.
Gold in 100m, 200m, 4X100m relay at Berlin World championships.

"I just blew my mind and blew the world's mind".

All interactions, both in business and personal life, with high rate of success are those which have had a solid beginning. Personally, I have achieved significant success with good starts. I have worked twice or thrice as hard when the beginnings were not as stellar. Preparation is key on how we react to an event, how we compartmentalize our actions and how we plan & for the next event.

"I can have all the fun I want before the race. When the starter says, ‘On your mark’, I refocus, and then it’s time to go. I know what I have to do, so there’s no worries".

Bolt's story is a lesson to learn from both our success and missteps, remain optimistic and passionate about what we do, plan well and get quickly off the blocks to shred the next challenge and, most importantly, have fun doing it.

What's in a name? It is more than you know

Name changing is on the rise again.

Couple of weeks ago Starbucks announced the opening of their new stores under a brand new name "15th avenue coffee and tea". No Starbucks logo! No espresso machines!!

Chicago landmark Sears Tower became Willis Tower.

Wal-Mart introduced "Mas Club", a clever play on words with its Sam's Club.

Over 70,000 people changed names last year in the United Kingdom to avoid mispronunciation of ethnic names and also to blend in. I have always wondered how long it would take for an adult to adjust to a newly adopted first name.

We know Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu as Mother Theresa. Friends and acquaintances alike must have sighed in relief of Gheyas od-Din Abu Ol-Fash Umar ebn Ebrahim ol-Khayyami becoming Omar Khayyam.

Some name changes are legendary.

Haloid became Xerox. "I need to make a Xerox of this document" was way before Google became a verb. Relational Software became the now mighty Oracle. Galvin manufacturing evolved into Motorola.

Then there were the glued names to demonstrate the combined prowess of two or more businesses. ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, DaimlerChrysler, PriceWaterhouseCoopers etc.

Some names did not receive the warm welcome. New Coke.

Changing names is not new. People and businesses have been experimenting with name changes for a long time. Reasons for doing it, however, have been intriguing.

Name changes to create a new beginning or to distance from a not so pleasant past (and payments for being profitable!) include Anderson Consulting becoming Accenture. Phillip Morris transformation into Altria.

Much of this is in response to evolution of products and markets at unprecedented speed. Buying patterns in a shrinking economy and amidst global competition has forced companies to try newer avenues to position for significant growth. Distancing from a successful past to explore the possibilities of tomorrow is bold. Courage to reject what we know to learn something new is refreshing.

Name changing now seems to have a whole new meaning. On surface it appears business as usual.

Deep under the covers it is a new movement in the works to present a trusting and friendly face to gain further traction and .. new relationships. It has also given high equity brands an opportunity to offer comparable products at significantly lower prices under a new name.

Shakespeare said "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet". Today, his wall on Facebook would be riddled by the prophets of brand architecture telling otherwise!

Name changing is not simple. Add to this the etymology and suddenly it becomes a delicate act.

Would changing names gain proximity and help solidify an existing brand or would it result in irreversible brand dilution and eventually alienation?

I plan to follow this trend while enjoying a fresh brew at 15th Ave coffee and tea.

Can you "hear" me now ?

We all remember Verizon wireless commercial "Can you hear me now ?" introduced in 2004. Though some found it annoying, I liked Verizons' message that the actor in the commercial was personification of their crew driving many miles to ensure the reliability of the network.

Can you hear me now? takes on a new avatar thanks to SoundSense technology. Check out how our cell phones can listen and learn for more details.

Cenceme technology currently available in iPhones is a version of SoundSense. I am sure you are familiar with another implementation of Cenceme ... in Second Life.

Concept of reality mining is intriguing with the changes in human perception and behavior from social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and others. Would technology augment and improve human interactions and organizational behavior or will it raise another barrier in effective communications ?

The story is beginning to unfold !

Are Bar Codes multitasking ?

Bar Codes have been evolving since the 18 month test by Kroger in 1972 at their store in Cincinnati. With the new GS1 data bars supporting the Sunrise 2010 initiative, bar codes have begun a new journey.

Check out this New York Times article http://tinyurl.com/kth45h

Benefits include additional data capture (tracking expiration date for example), increased speed, cost avoidance, traceability, no price limitations, more visibility and accuracy.

I particularly like the support for better category management, shrink reduction and component linking.