Why Innovation Dies. Faced with disruptive innovation, you can be sure any possibility for innovation dies when a company forms a committee for an “overarching strategy.” I was reminded how innovation dies when the email below arrived in my inbox. It was well written, thoughtful and had a clearly articulated sense of purpose. You may have seen one like it in your school or company. Skim it and take a guess why I first thought it was a parody. The Strategy Committee Faculty and Staff:We believe online education will become increasingly important at all levels of the educational experience. We Can Figure it Out in A Meeting The memo sounds thoughtful and helpful. One useful purpose a university committee could have had was figuring out what the goal of going online was. But the minute the memo started talking about a Policy Team developing detailed implementation plans, it was all over.
The problem is that the path to implementing online education is not known. If you can’t see the diagram above click here. Open Source Ecology. How QR Codes Make You Feel Like Part Of A Fair Trade Cooperative. This article titled “Liverpool goes nuts over ‘smart’ Fair Trade goods” was written by David Ward, for guardian.co.uk on Tuesday 3rd April 2012 14.00 UTC So you like a cup of Fair Trade coffee. But do you know where your coffee comes from? You might know that you prefer Kenyan to Costa Rican for your espresso but what do you know of the farmers across the world who grew the beans that went into the pack with the familiar Fair Trade logo? Pick up your smart phone, run it over the QR (Quick Response) code on the packet and the screen is filled instantly with a map showing the location of the cooperative that produced the coffee, plus detailed information about its growers, their beans and their work, its Fair Trade credentials and contribution to the local community.
It is like satnav for a Fair Trade destination. One of the main items on the agenda was to consider ways to bridge the gap between Fair Trade producers and the shoppers who pick up their goods in the supermarket. 5 Reasons to Build Platform Technology. These days, you can’t go five minutes without hearing someone talk about platforms. The term is almost a buzzword. As I explain in The Age of the Platform: How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Redefined Business, a platform is merely a structure made up of “planks,” or integrated features. For instance, Google in 1998 wasn’t a platform; it was a really neat search engine.
By adding planks such as Gmail, Maps, Docs, Voice, YouTube, and countless others, it became a true platform. By comparison, a traditional business based on a 20th-century model produces one or more closely related products or services, then uses marketing to try to attract customers. Wondering whether to investigate—and invest in—the platform as your company’s business model? Increased Innovation All companies face limits; not even Google has infinite resources. Think of Apple’s app tsunami. Quicker Response Times Platform companies move faster than their traditional counterparts. Think of Amazon. Reduced Risk. 6 Lessons From Millenials On How They Define Innovation. 6 Lessons From Millennials on Acting to Innovate Melissa Waggener Zorkin, CEO, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide The hive of creative thinkers, innovators, marketers, entrepreneurs and other collective brain power that “innovate” is mighty enough to give anyone a bit of pause when considering what insight could be offered up that can help frame thinking around the opportunity that exists when creativity, passion and inspiration converge.
I have witnessed the role communications and effective brand positioning should play in bringing an idea that becomes an invention and in turn transforms into an innovation once it reaches those who can benefit from it most. “… If you are an innovator you have some level of power because you change the way people live.” And they have strong points of view.
I’ve distilled down a few observations from reviewing these panel findings and would summarize them as follows: @melissawz. The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time - Tony Schwartz. By Tony Schwartz | 8:53 AM March 14, 2012 Why is it that between 25% and 50% of people report feeling overwhelmed or burned out at work? It’s not just the number of hours we’re working, but also the fact that we spend too many continuous hours juggling too many things at the same time. What we’ve lost, above all, are stopping points, finish lines and boundaries. Technology has blurred them beyond recognition. Wherever we go, our work follows us, on our digital devices, ever insistent and intrusive. It’s like an itch we can’t resist scratching, even though scratching invariably makes it worse.
Tell the truth: Do you answer email during conference calls (and sometimes even during calls with one other person)? The biggest cost — assuming you don’t crash — is to your productivity. I know this from my own experience. If you’re a manager, here are three policies worth promoting: 1. 2. 3. It’s also up to individuals to set their own boundaries. 1. 2. 3. Thefinktank. 3 Ways to Use Social Media for Product Research and Development.
Fast Company's 2011 China Project: An Introduction. Bike gardening = sock gardening. Bicycle gardening has made its official return for 2011, in a totally primped up green vehicle including tufts of wheat on the fender and handlebars, as well as a classic spinning garden in the center of the wheel. After bicycle gardening took first place in the chef category of Earth Day Canada's How did you do that? Contest, mobile microgreens were certainly bound for a second run this summer. Differences from last year's experiments in bicycle gardening? This time, I grew the gardens on my socks. My old socks. Last year when bicycle gardening was first developed, my bike and I lived alongside each other day and night, so I was able to water 15 times a day and let the garden grow slowly over the course of a 1000km ride.
Enter my socks. The bicycle has also been my main tool of transportation this spring for gardening in the city with our neighborhood urban ecology collective. Fender sticker that reads "One Less Car" is now becoming outdated. The biggest challenge? Organically yours, Greenslinging: Recycled Shoemaker Not Perfect, Says Newspaper. As the rising buzz around "green" easily gives way to the static of "greenwash," a report in London’s middlebrow The Mail on Sunday last month slamming recycled footwear maker Worn Again has raised some eyebrows around these parts.
The piece claims that the shoes—made out of recycled materials and lately made famous by eagerly green Tory leader David Cameron—are “actually made in a vast shoe factory in China where workers, who live in grim dormitories, are so unhappy with their pay and conditions that nearly one-tenth of them walked out on their jobs in February. " The shoes are made out of recycled materials shipped from the UK to China's Guangdong province at a high CO2 cost.
More locally, a nearby river "has turned black from industrial pollution, and massive landfill sites are overflowing because of a proliferation of shoe factories. " The materials aren't always locally-sourced, but as managing director of Terra Plana Galahad Clark explains, North Face Steps Up To Responsibly Manage an Invisible Waste Stream. Photo credit: Jason Cartwright/Creative Commons If you're like a lot of people these days, you know that avoiding plastic use is a good idea. You ditch the single serving water bottles for a good steel one. You choose paper rather than plastic. But did you know that many of your clothing purchases, use plastic that you never see - Even from the greenest of companies, like The North Face? Yes, so called "poly bags" (thin clear plastic bags) are frequently used, and often required by law, to protect apparel through distribution and transit.
The result is the North Face Polybag Brigade. So what happens to these bags after we get them? They're turned into, among other things plastic lumber, park benches, kitchen utensils and would you believe, bike racks? In the first month of the launch of the The North Face Polybag Brigade, over 100,000 have been collected. Readers: Where else have you seen unexpected opportunities for positive impact in business?
Modern Rugs and Doormats. Category Archives - Case Studies. Google, Cadbury, New York Giants and Coca-Cola / Google + Safe Haven Library / TYIN Tegnestue. Architects: TYIN Tegnestue Location: Ban Tha Song Yang, Thailand Project team Professors: Hans Skotte & Sami Rintala Project team Students: Pasi Aalto. Jan Kristian Borgen, Mari Folven, Ragnhild Førde, Sunniva Vold Huus, Olav Fåsetbru Kildal, Lene M. N. Kværness, Oda Moen Møst, Ørjan Nyheim, Karoline Salomonsen, Anne Sandnes, Ola Sendstad, Kristoffer B. Thørud, Caroline Tjernås, Anders Sellevold Aaseth Client: Safe Haven Orphanage Budget: 29.000 NOK (Approx. 4,650 USD) Project year: January 2009 Sponsors: Norsk Betongforening, Bygg uten grenser, Minera Norge, Spenncon, Norwegian University of Technology and Science (NTNU) Photographs: Pasi Aalto In January 2009 TYIN invited 15 norwegian architect students from NTNU to participate in a workshop at the Safe Haven Orphanage.
The concrete base of the library is cast on a bed of large rocks gathered on-site. The most important thing to Tasanee is that her children are provided food and education. Projects - spaces | Drooglab.com. Projects - collaborations | Drooglab.com. UP | value from dead stock. 'De Chinese staats-tv wilde ons ineens als klant' - Internationaal | NL in buitenland - Internationaal - Mijn bedrijf. Toen Bikker als 20-jarige nog student was aan de Hogeschool Rotterdam, gaf hij al zijn spaargeld uit aan een Chinatrip waar zo'n veertig ondernemers aan deelnamen. "Ik ontmoette toen de oprichter van Energize, managing director Klaas Weima en Bas Bergmans, investeerder via Battersea-park Investment Group.
Er was een klik tussen mij en hen en toen ontstond het idee om een vestiging in China op te zetten. Ik had twee jaar eerder Chinees gestudeerd in Beijing, dus de taal en cultuur waren mij al bekend. " Bikker onderzocht, eerst als stagiair, of er potentie was voor Energize op de Chinese markt. Waarom was deze stap de moeite waard? "We zagen een mooie kans om onze succesvolle propositie uit Nederland ook in China op de markt te brengen. Hoe onderscheidt Energize zich op de Chinese markt? "We zijn het enige Nederland interactieve merkcommunicatiebureau op de Chinese markt. Hoe vergaat het jullie? "We merken dat het twee jaar duurt om echt een voet aan de grond te krijgen in China. Afrika: Print custom fabric on-demand. Strawberry Earth - Slow Wood. Hey you, with the foamy cappuccino.
Did you know only 0,2% of every coffee bean ends up in your cup? The other 99,8% could become... MUSHROOMS! We’re not hallucinating. The gents from RotterZwam are growing your favorite pizza topping on the waste of your coffee. And you can support this magical initiative by crowdfunding their project.There are only five days left to help these fellas reach their goal. RotterZwam wants to produce more of these delicious oyster mushrooms. Donate, help reduce the waste of your cappuccinos AND get rewarded with...a mushroom sandwich at LEBKOV & Sons, a guided tour through the seed-beds or a 3 course mushroom dinner at Memory Lane.
Illustration: Amy Blackwell. Environmental Twist | Science of the Time. [slideshow custom=1 auto="on thumbs="on"] What it isWitnessing first-hand the incredible amount of plastic waste he and his co-workers were using every day for their packed lunches, designer Nick Burrows was inspired to take matters into his own hands and develop an alternative solution that doesn’t just reduce plastic waste but eliminates it altogether. Twist allows you to seal/unseal your meal, microwave and eat it, all with one piece of reusable silicone. Major kudos to that because prevention is the most environmentally preferable means of reducing any kind of waste. Why is it CoolBecause it shows an amazing alternative to the ordinary Tupperware or wrapping/foil paper, thus enhancing a more sustainable way to transport and conserve any type of food. Furthermore, because it is made of silicone it can be put in the microwave as well as being used as a bowl or plate, becoming a multi-functional and more efficient alternative.
Amerikaan ruikt aan Hollands afval - Internationaal | Buitenland in NL - Internationaal - Mijn bedrijf. Duurzame ondernemer Tom Szaky (29) heeft van het inzamelen van klein afval een miljoenenbedrijf gemaakt. De Amerikaan richt zijn pijlen nu op Nederland. Dinsdag sprak hij met de marketingmensen van Douwe Egberts over het inzamelen van gebruikte coffeecups van de koffieproducent die nu na gebruik bij het huisafval terecht komen. Wat de bestemming zal zijn voor de cups, blijft nog koffiedik kijken. Wolfram Schnelle, hoofd van het Europese businessdevelopmentteam van TerraCycle.
"We kunnen er nog niets inhoudelijks over zeggen. " Szaky, een Princeton-drop out die van het inzamelen van oude pakjes drinken en sigarettenpeuken een miljoenenbedrijf heeft gemaakt, was voor een dag in Nederland om er klanten binnen te halen voor zijn duurzame afvalverwerkingsconcept. Het bedrijf richt zich op het inzamelen van afval voor bedrijven dat nu nog in de verbrandingsoven verdwijnt of op een afvalberg. Europa veroveren Teenslippers De ondernemer heeft in enkele jaren een slimme logistieke keten opgezet.
Running a business. Creatieve sales- en marketingtips - Creative - Mijn bedrijf. De vier ondernemers in dit artikel waren spreker op het Indie Brands Event Time je media-aandacht Case: OAT Shoes Dat storytelling je kan helpen, bewijst sneakermerk OAT Shoes. Binnenkomen bij retailers is ontzettend lastig als nieuw merk, maar het feit dat de sneakers van OAT een bijzonder verhaal hebben - ze zijn 100% niet-giftig, biologisch afbreekbaar en de zolen bevatten bloemzaadjes - hielp bij het overtuigen van de eerste zes retailers, waaronder Bijenkorf. Om verder aandacht te krijgen voor het merk, deed OAT mee aan de Green Fashion Awards eind 2010, waarbij twee modellen ‘verkleed’ als Adam en Eva de catwalk op gingen met kruiwagens waarin de schoenen lagen. Daarmee won OAT Shoes de tweede prijs, en vooral heel veel media-aandacht.
Terwijl het sitebezoek van Oat.com de ene maand nog minimaal was, steeg het op dat moment naar 44.000 bezoekers, uit 134 landen. Conclusie: bij sales gaat het om exposure èn timing. Denk simpel Case: Fritz-Kola Pas aan indien nodig Case: John Altman. Carrotmob | Vote with your money. Stichting « Repair Café. Stichting Repair Café Nederland is opgericht op 2 maart 2010 en is gevestigd in Amsterdam.
Doelstellingen Stichting Repair Café Nederland wil repareren op een moderne manier terugbrengen in de lokale samenleving. Ze stelt zich ten doel om reparatiekennis te behouden en te verspreiden, en de sociale cohesie te bevorderen door buurtgenoten met heel verschillende achtergronden en drijfveren met elkaar in contact te brengen in het kader van inspirerende en laagdrempelige bijeenkomsten. Organisatie Het bestuur bestaat uit: Leonie Reinders (directeur Branchevereniging Kringloopbedrijven Nederland) – voorzitterPeter van Vliet (voorzitter Stichting iNSnet) – secretarisTim Stok (penningmeester The Hunger Project Nederland) – penningmeester Adviseur van Stichting Repair Café Nederland is Kees Noorman.
Jaarverslagen Stichting Repair Café Nederland beschrijft haar activiteiten en ontwikkeling jaarlijks in een jaarverslag, met bijbehorende jaarrekening. ANBI-status Kamer van Koophandel. Clover geveerde viltnaaldhouder | meervilt! Platform 21 - Platform21 = Repairing. Unconsumption / The Unconsumption Wiki. Recycling vs. Upcycling: What is the difference? | Intercon. INSPIRE / NEWS & ARTICLES.