It seems like everything we read these days has to do with the financial bail out. Everyone seems to be bickering over who should get a “rescue package” and why. But we’re not going to talk about that. Instead, we’re going reiterate the message we’ve been telling our readers and clients for the past few months: Don’t bail on innovation.
Sure, it’s easy to push innovation to the back burner (or even take it off the burner completely) when times get tough and resources are tight. But now, more than ever, it’s critical that you remember the importance innovation will play in helping revive our struggling economy. Innovation will help smart companies tap new streams of revenue. Innovation will build new business models. Innovation will eliminate wastefulness and inefficiency. Innovation will not only help you survive this economic downturn; it will help you come out on top. Read the rest of this entry »
A few months ago, we wrote a post about the future of Web search. Specifically, we talked about a new feature that Google was experimenting with at the time. Well, that experiment has now hit prime time and Google has announced its “Search Wiki” offering officially.
Today we’re launching SearchWiki, a way for you to customize search by re-ranking, deleting, adding, and commenting on search results. With just a single click you can move the results you like to the top or add a new site. You can also write notes attached to a particular site and remove results that you don’t feel belong. These modifications will be shown to you every time you do the same search in the future. SearchWiki is available to signed-in Google users. We store your changes in your Google Account. If you are wondering if you are signed in, you can always check by noting if your username appears in the upper right-hand side of the page.
Last week, the New York Times published a great article on innovation in the current (depressing) economic climate. The main point of the article is what we’ve been telling our clients for months: don’t let a shaky economy kill your innovation efforts.
A particularly interesting point in the article focuses on how imporant it is maintain a widespread climate of innovation in your organization.
There are important things managers can do to ensure that creative forward-thinking doesn’t go out the door with each round of layoffs. Fostering a companywide atmosphere of innovation — encouraging everyone to take risks and to think about novel solutions, from receptionists to corner-suite executives — helps ensure that the loss of any particular set of minds needn’t spell trouble for the entire company.
“It’s like ‘Music to My Eyes.’” So begins the FAQ on MTV’s recently launched MTV Music site.
The site is an easy-to-navigate trove of nearly every music video ever to play on the network. Unlike MTV’s main Website, MTV Music isn’t cluttered with reality-TV updates, and celebrity gossip. The site is dedicated to allowing visitors to easily search for high-quality music videos from nearly any artist or band. Read the rest of this entry »
What did we find this year? Simply put, organizations are approaching innovation efforts without first taking the time to lay down the proper foundation. They’re blindly engaging in innovation activities such as idea-generation and culture-building while avoiding discussions around innovation strategy and processes. The problems with this are many. Read the rest of this entry »
At the Convergence 2008 conference on automotive electronics yesterday, BMW announced that it is looking for partners with which to collaborate on an open-source car computing platform. No other auto companies have officially signed on to collaborate, though Chrysler, Ford, GM, and Honda have reportedly expressed interest. BMW’s goal, with or without partners, is to have an open-source operating system in a vehicle selling 200,000 or more units over the next five to seven years. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s fall cleaning time. Time to take out the air condtioners and put the summer clothes into storage for a few months. In preparation, I headed to the store to pick up some supplies. Walking down the cleaning aisle, I was immediately struck by a new line of Arm & Hammer Essentials cleaning products.
The concept isn’t new, nor is Arm & Hammer’s presence in the cleaning aisle; but the execution deserves admiration. Arm & Hammer Essentials is a line of eco-friendly, all-natural cleaning products in little refill containers with empty spray-bottles attached. Your first time, you’d purchase the bottle (which stands out because it’s empty on the shelf) and one included cleaning concentrate ‘refill’ (though I don’t think one can consider the first use a refill). You simply fill the spray bottle with tap water, add the concentrated cleaning formula (they have all-purpose, glass cleaner, and a de-greaser). You then purchase packages of two concentrated refills every time you run out of the product. Read the rest of this entry »
Google released a beta version of its new browser, Google Chrome, a few weeks ago. Some of us here at futurethink have been using it since its launch, so we thought we’d put together some first impressions and thoughts.
But first, some background. Chrome launched at the beginning of September, and was publicized with the launch of a little comic book that details its birth and development. The comic is an entertaining read, if, of course, you have any interest in how a Web browser works. If not, here’s the abridged version (and an overview of some of Chrome’s key features): Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks in the business world. Our current economic climate and everything that’s happening on Wall Street may seem apocalyptic, but remember: this too shall pass.
It almost seems ironic that we’re in the midst of strategic planning season when no one seems quite sure what it is they should be planning for. The way we see it, you have two options. You can stand still and wait to see what happens, or you can charge ahead with an eye on the future. (Hint: You can’t afford to stand still)
We were inspired this month by a blog post by James Gardner of Bankervision. In The role of innovators in future thinking, Gardner discusses the importance of thinking about (and planning for) the future, and poses an interesting exercise. Think up a seemingly far-fetched future scenario that would impact your business or industry ($500 oil? Carbon taxes?). Play out the implications in two ways: one in which your organization stays the course and ignores this scenario, and one in which you’ve taken it into account throughout your regular planning process. How do you fare in each scenario? Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Josh Kutticherry
Posted by Josh Kutticherry
Posted by Josh Kutticherry
Josh Kutticherry
Chetan Chandavarkar
Lisa Bodell
Andrew Der
