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Articles in innovation

The Quantified Self – Health and Well-Being Become Personal
June 12, 2011 – 9:42 pm | View Comments
The Quantified Self – Health and Well-Being Become Personal

The past 150 years have seen an enormous consolidation of power in the hands of professionalized medicine.   What if we are at the turn of the tide – where increasingly our health (typically the domain …

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Are You a Heritage Company or a Visionary Company?
February 8, 2011 – 3:00 pm | View Comments
Are You a Heritage Company or a Visionary Company?

If one cannot make the case for the future it is natural to cling to the past. But in business past is never prologue. Making claims on the future by citing your past is a sure giveaway that something is missing at present.

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To Do Something Remarkable – First Invert the Question
October 18, 2010 – 2:06 am | View Comments
To Do Something Remarkable – First Invert the Question

I am always struck by how powerful it can be to be driven by a single, counterintuitive question.
Consider this one: In early 2007 the Spanish bank BBVA asked IDEO to re-think their self-service channel …

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Skills Focus vs. Customer Focus
August 16, 2009 – 11:50 pm | View Comments

I was reviewing some notes for an upcoming presentation and found this gem of a quote from a BusinessWeek interview with Jeff Bezos.
Q: Every company claims to be customer-focused. Why do you think so few …

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The Lean Startup – Interview with Eric Ries
May 28, 2009 – 4:14 pm | View Comments
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I have had the privilege to do some work recently with Eric, author of the Lessons Learned blog — Eric’s basic premise is that a startup needs to maximize its resources and have a relentless focus on creating tight, iterative decision loops. A lean startup is defined by
1. Leveraging already-existing software and services whenever possible
2. Using Agile development to quickly prototype, test and deploy functional code
3. Aggressively testing reality every chance they get with REAL customers

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Seeing New Possibilities in Old Technologies: An Interview with April Allderdice of MicroEnergy Credits
January 11, 2009 – 5:26 pm | View Comments
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This interview is with April Allderdice, CEO and cofounder of MicroEnergy Credits. MicroEnergy Credits has developed a mechanism using microfinance institutions and GPS cell phones to allow carbon credits to reach small households in the developing world. Until now the relatively high transaction costs involved in set up and verification of a carbon trade has made the market available only to large companies.

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