30 April 08
I don’t say this often and usually look at things with a healthy dose of skepticism. However, this is a such a wonderful idea. It’s called the “HealthCare Innovations Exchange” - a government website that offers visitors a compendium of tried and tested innovations across the healthcare sector. Think of them as case studies in innovation written by the innovators themselves.
Complete with a keyword search, and categorized into section like “Stage of Care”, “Setting of Care”, and “Organizational Process”, it’s an easy-to-use site that is filled with real life examples of innovations that have worked.
We’ve always been trained to think that innovation has to be something completely new, but this endeavor is a great reminder that a “fast-follower” strategy can work just as well. So, why reinvent the wheel when you can learn from others? Perhaps this is the beginning of many industry and trade associations to take a leadership role in shaping and mainstreaming how innovation can spread within their sectors. Think about powerful a similar “innovation exchange” can work especially in those industries that are ripe for innovation - airlines, insurance, financial services and more.
Of course, this would mean that contributors have an agenda to push forward a common good, but perhaps associations can play the netural, unbiased role in showcasing innovations that can take an entire industry forward.
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Healthcare, New Business Model, New Business Process, Non-Profit | Tagged: best practices, collaboration, Healthcare, open innovation | 
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Posted by Chetan Chandavarkar
31 January 08
TV studios are in a really bad crunch. The writer’s strike continues unabated. New media is eating into their advertising revenue. TiVo fans conveniently skip commercial breaks. It’s becoming increasingly hard to predict audience taste, and hit TV shows are rarer than ever.
So, when push comes to shove, companies begin desperately to look for new ways to innovate and cut costs. NBC recently announced that it is spending too much money on high-budget pilots of new shows. Pilots - 2-3 fully scripted and produced episodes - used to cost $2-$3 million per episode. Now, it starts at $8 million. It doesn’t help that pilots rarely succeed and few go on to become full series.
NBC says they plan on looking at more fully written “first episode” scripts, and approve the ones they like directly into full-length series. It’s a radical change in the way studios operate.
This change, of course, has a number of implications on how NBC will fill and manage their pipelines (these are, after all, the studio’s products). Ans there are innovation lessons for all of us -
First, it forces NBC to look and evaluate many more scripts because they’ll be making significant investments in just a few. That’s an invaluable lesson in innovation - pick your best ideas, and focus your resources on them. Don’t spread your resources over too many projects - you’ll only do a half-baked job across all of them.
Second, because NBC is committing to a longer-term series at the get-go, it has to let all the episodes run before pulling the plug. This actually forces NBC to be a little more patient, and watch how a series plays out. Experts say that this is a good thing. Historically, studios have been known to make harsh and quick judgments and pull shows off the air after just a couple of episodes. Now, some shows can afford to gain ground a little slowly, rather than be instant hits. The moral when it comes to innovation? Don’t be quick to suffocate an idea. A little patience can go a long way. Give it some breathing room, and you might have a big winner.
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Media & Entertainment, New Business Process | Tagged: balancing portfolio, innovation lessons, NBC, Television | 
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Posted by Chetan Chandavarkar
29 January 08
The Institute for Innovation & Information Productivity (IIIP) has released the results of its latest study called the “IIIP Innovation Confidence 2007″ Index. It looks at what consumers from around the world think about the ability of innovative products and services to improve their lives. The more open and welcoming you are to advanced technology, the “more confident” you are about innovation. The Institute measured the innovation confidence in 12 different countries.
The findings are surprising. Apparently, people who live in growing economies like Asia are much more confident about innovation than their counterparts in the developed world. The top 5 “most confident about innovation” countries are: The United Arab Emirates, India, Brazil, Ireland, and China. The US and UK find themselves in the middle of the group. Countries like Finland and the Netherlands are right at the bottom of the list.
The study suggests that the developing world not only provides an environment that better promotes entrepreneurship, but also that emerging economies have a ready sea of consumers that is willing to experiment with new innovations. Here’s a link to the IIIP website.
Ah. But wait a minute. There have also been a slew of studies measuring happiness around the world. There are many such “happiness indices” - they look at how people in different parts of the planet are satisfied with their lives. One of the more popular ones is called the “World Database of Happiness”. It lists the happiest countries from 1995 to 2005.
Guess what? It’s almost like someone reversed the Innovation Index.
Countries like Finland and Denmark rank as among the happiest nations on the planet. India hugs the middle. And the creators of the index did not include a country like the United Arab Emirates in their study.
So, what are we supposed to take away from this? Is innovation supposed to make you sad?
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Uncategorized | Tagged: innovation, reports, studies | 
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Posted by Chetan Chandavarkar
24 January 08
The buzz right now is about the dreaded “R” word (you know what I mean - it rhymes with “concession”.) And I know what you’re thinking: is it time to tighten your belt and focus on the short-term? Is innovation - in these uncertain times - an unrealistic fantasy and an irresponsible business practice?
You know what I’m going to say: we’ve been through this before. These times will pass. That shortchanging innovation right now would be a dangerous thing. That when the economy does pick up again, the last thing you want to do is play catch-up. But, that’s just my opinion.
Or I could point to some compelling and hard evidence like earnings announcements. Sure, certain companies have announced some staggering and shocking losses. But, take a look at some of these recent headlines:
“Nokia Profit Soars 44%”
“Nintendo Earnings Nearly Doubles on Wii”
“Netflix Gains Members and Sales”
“Xerox Profit Up 79%”
Is it surprising that companies that have had impressive results also have had excellent track records in innovation? Not to us at futurethink.
It may be tempting to look for short-term answers, but we reckon that having a long-term view is what true leadership is all about. The choice is yours.
No Comments » | Uncategorized | Tagged: hard times, innovation, leadership | Permalink
Posted by Chetan Chandavarkar
23 January 08
And in other space travel news: Virgin Galactic has just released its final designs for the vehicle that will take ordinary customers like you and me quite literally beyond the stratosphere.
The company plans to launch scheduled space flights in 2010, and will carry 8 passengers at a time. Virgin says that more than 200 people have already booked their tickets, and an impressive 85,000 have expressed an interest in taking this leap into space. CEO Richard Branson unveiled the designs today in New York at the American Museum of Natural History.
This inarguably represents the biggest leap in aviation history since the Sputnik. Space travel isn’t the stuff of wild dreams anymore - it is now a very real possibility.
Check out the article on the BBC here.
No Comments » | Automotive & Transportation, New Product or Service | Tagged: virgin, space travel, groundbreaking | Permalink
Posted by Chetan Chandavarkar
17 January 08
Innovation is all about looking outside your industry to find new opportunities. At futurethink, we try and live that adage. From a personal standpoint, I try to read a new book every week - books that have nothing to do with innovation or the business world. It’s always refreshing. And there are always lessons to be learned.
Here’s a great example, I just got done with a book called “Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science“, by Atul Gawande. Gawande, a doctor, writes for the New Yorker, and focuses on subjects in the medical world.
Most of us think of medicine as a perfect science with precise tools and technologies. We fall ill, we trust doctors to know exactly what’s wrong with us, and expect them to provide precise care and advice. But, in “Complications”, Gawande offers a fascinating look at the human side of medicine. He reminds us that ultimately, doctors are human beings, and there is always a margin of error, unpredictability, and chaos that we simply haven’t come to terms with.
What’s the innovation lesson here? Well, I learned about “Mortality and Morbidity” sessions that are part of the way large hospitals function. Every week, residents and doctors meet to discuss mistakes made in the care of patients. The goal is to learn from failure, adjust behavior, and prevent similar instances from happening again. What a noble effort.
Apparently, M&M meetings (or so they’re called) have long been the tradition in medicine going back to the early 1900s. They’ve been cited as a major reason why the world of medicine has been so good at adapting, evolving, and minimizing the danger faced by patients. They’re so successful that the CDC (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) publishes a weekly magazine called the MMWR (Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report) that is free to download for the global medical community.
Failure is such a dirty word in business. More often than not, we’re far too busy covering up our mistakes. Just imagine what we in the business world could learn from something like this. Imagine a monthly M&M meeting in your offices where you talk about project failures, and what you learned from them. Imagine how this could substantially improve your innovation efforts.
No Comments » | Government, Services (Other) | Tagged: books, failure, innovation, lessons, medicine | Permalink
Posted by Chetan Chandavarkar
16 January 08
So many organizations today seem to be so inept at innovating.
And then there’s Apple.
Steve Jobs’ keynotes at MacWorld are always preceded with a sense of mystery (”What are they going to come out with now?”). But Jobs, to his credit, manages to meet or go beyond most expectations. That’s an admirable feat, when you take into consideration that the cult of Mac has *extremely* high expectations (I know a few devout Apple fans. I’m sure you do too, and you know what I mean.)
Which brings me to the point of this post.
Am I the only person who’s just a little cheesed off that my video iPod (that I bought late last year) in a matter of weeks got replaced by the iPod Touch and then got condescendingly titled the “iPod Classic”? Are you one of those poor souls who, giddy with excitement, bought an iPod Nano (the rectangle, not the credit card), only to see the new version that’s smaller, lighter and also plays video?
Don’t get me wrong - advances in technology are fast and furious, and the old quickly replaces the new. But, there’s something about Apple’s cockiness, uber-confidence, and audacity that makes me wonder: Does Apple go too far? Are they creating a segment of disgruntled customers? Are they over-innovating?
Meanwhile, I’m already beginning to think about my next post - it’s my prediction for the new medical condition of this century. Akin to Tennis Elbow…I’m talking about iPod-Thumb. Ouch.
No Comments » | Technology | Tagged: apple | Permalink
Posted by Chetan Chandavarkar
11 January 08
What a laudable achievement. The U.K. government in 2007 set up a “Department of Innovation, Universities, and Skills” and is responsible for adult learning, further and higher education, skills, science and innovation across the country.
The goals of the department are to spur research across the economy, provide those in schools and universities the skills they need to be better creative and innovative thinkers, and have more people involved in basic scientific research like math, and engineering.
Besides setting policy, running workshops, providing advice, and delivering funding to schools, businesses and universities, the department also publishes a wide variety of research publications on the topic of innovation.
Just yesterday, the department and the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, honored the UK team who attended “WorldSkills 2007″, the largest and most prestigious skills competition in the world.
We all know that we need leadership, not lip service, to make innovation truly effective. Here’s a shining example of how the UK government’s top brass is standing by their commitment to make innovation part of the domestic agenda.
Visit the Department’s homepage here. You’ll find some useful research that’s free to download.
No Comments » | Government | Tagged: best practices, Government, leadership | Permalink
Posted by Chetan Chandavarkar
10 January 08
I know there’s a tremendous amount of press about the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. We had raging debates in the futurethink office about whether we should add to the buzz by blogging about it. I’ll be honest: I leaned towards a no, guessing that if you’re reading this blog, you probably know all about the largest technology showcase in the world.
Today, however, I’m a changed man. It feels disingenuous for the show to be on our minds and we deliberately avoid it. So, blog about the CES I will. To calm nerves with my co-workers, I promise this will be the only post about the event that we’ll make.
We look at the CES from an innovation point of view. There’s hundreds of exhibitors and it’s hard to sort through them and find the real innovations. So, I took a shortcut, and if you’re time-starved (as most of us are), I suggest you do the same.
If you want to see some of the hottest products on display at this year’s CES, just look at the awards that the event is giving out. Here are two useful links:
There’s the CES Innovations 2008 Awards Honorees list: I like this list because its broken down by category.
There’s the “CNET’s Best of CES” awards: They feature videos of the products that made it to their list.
Enjoy.
No Comments » | New Product or Service, Technology | Tagged: Awards, CES, electronics, Technology | Permalink
Posted by Chetan Chandavarkar
7 January 08
Bill Gates just got done with an interview with the BBC. In an interesting twist, the questions asked were
actually submitted by the readers of the BBC.
In it, Gates speaks at length about the future of computing. Apparently, it’s all about “natural user interfaces.” Think touch-sensitive interfaces like the iPhone on every electronic gadget you use. What does this mean? The keyboard and mouse as we know it today will gradually disappear.
There are also some funny moments in the interview when he assesses his competitors. He says of Google: “Google has done a good job”.
File that away as understatement of the year.
And this choice quote when he says he doesn’t use any of his competitors’ products:
“There are no Macs in my house”
I bet that makes him really popular with his kids.
You can read excerpts and watch the interview here.
No Comments » | Technology, Uncategorized | Tagged: electronics, future, Gates, Microsoft | Permalink
Posted by Chetan Chandavarkar
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Chetan Chandavarkar
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