The Office Of The Future Will Be Natural, Chair-less, And Designed For Collaboration. Plusnet, a U.K. Internet service provider, interviewed a dozen futurists and office design experts about the office circa 2030. The consensus is that workspaces generally will become more flexible (to accommodate different types of employees), more collaborative (this is the way work is going), and more natural. There’s a ton of research showing that employees are happier and more productive when exposed to nature. So, organizations will increasingly look to incorporate natural light whenever possible. “I would guess that in 10 years what is currently in the office will look much more like what is outside the office,” says Scott Lesizza, founding principal of Workwell Partners, a New York furniture supplier.
As you would expect, offices will become increasingly tech-enabled. William Higham, another futurist, forecasts that traditional corporate hierarchies and department structures will break down. 4 resources for fighting fake news. We’ve been hearing a lot lately about the problem of fake news stories and how they might impact our impressions of the world. Imagine: if it’s hard for adults to spot fake news stories, then how hard is it for students? Turns out: VERY HARD. Let’s look at some resources for helping students determine when a source is truly credible or not. What’s the problem? A recent study from Stanford University (pdf) indicates that middle, high school and college students are easily misled about news and information coming in through various social media channels.
According to the study authors, “When it comes to evaluating information that flows through social media channels, [students] are easily duped.” And according to this NPR article, more than 80 percent of middle schoolers believe that ‘sponsored content’ are real news stories. Why is this a problem? It’s that second part that’s concerning to many teachers. 4 Resources for teaching about fake news 1. 2. 3 from the New York Times 4. Save Related. Are We Smart Enough To Understand What Technology Is Doing To Us? — The Awl. Are We Smart Enough To Understand What Technology Is Doing To Us? Wait, did you just get a new text? You should check. Do you ever get the feeling that we have somehow outpaced ourselves evolutionarily?
That we’ve skipped a couple of steps and now we’re too far ahead to turn back and we won’t be able to catch up before we manage to destroy ourselves and the other species who are unfortunate enough to share the planet with us? Well, guess what? [T]he same technological advances that have improved our lives are also making the world harder and harder to comprehend. There is apparently something we can do to make things better, but I got distracted by another tab I had open and then I forgot to go back and see what it was. The Disruptive Innovation Behind Pokémon Go. In an explosive combination of creativity, cutting-edge technology, and brilliant marketing, Pokemon GO has become a global craze in less than a week. The new portable game from Nintendo uses a technology called augmented reality, which allows a player to interact with the real world instead of just their screen. Game play involves discovering and interactive far away from the basement - in parks, museums, airports, and public squares.
The software interacts with actual, physical things to take game playing to a completely different level. Nintendo shares are up over 90% in one week, creating over $14 billion of shareholder value and vaulting the company into the top 20 corporations in Japan. What was the thinking that created such a breathtaking performance boost, capturing the hearts and minds of millions? Nintendo employed four key innovation philosophies to create success, and each can be put to use to drive your own company to new heights: Ready.
9 Biggest Myths About Creativity You Should Never Believe. The following beliefs are held firmly throughout corporate America, and I hear them all the time. They simply make sense to people, but they are not true. Here is why. 1. Innovation = creativity Those two words are often used interchangeably. Reality: although related, those are two different terms. Innovation is the organizational function of introducing new, useful, and feasible products, services, processes, or business models by an organization. 2. Myth: Innovation cannot be achieved by mature, large companies. Reality: while most innovation comes from startup companies, some of the top innovative companies are mature and large (Apple was founded in 1976 and generates $228b. 3.
Myth: Creativity cannot be learned or exercised. Reality: this common belief, as well, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, this time at the personal level, causing some to believe they are not creative, will never be, and shouldn't even try. 4. 5. Myth: Innovation will not happen by itself. 6. 7. 8. 9. A Canadian man invented a wheel that can make cars move sideways. The age of parallel parking may soon be over thanks to a literal reinvention of the wheel by Canadian man William Liddiard.
“True all-way drive for anything with wheels,” Liddiard says in an online writeup for his successful prototype of “omni-directional” wheels, a specialized rim and tire that can allow any car the ability to move sideways. The tire is rounded like a donut and sits within a specialized roller-equipped rim that can move the tire horizontally. The result is a wheel that can allow any car to “crab” side to side. Derek Ruttan/Postmedia NetworkWilliam Liddiard with his omnidirectional wheel. “This is a world first bolt-on application for anything with wheels,” wrote Liddiard.
The London, Ont., inventor exhibited the technology in a YouTube video that has since captured the attention of auto aficionados the world over, garnering more than 1.1 million views. One source described the car as “moonwalking” across the pavement. How connectivity and tradition co-exist in Bhutan. Connectivity can be ensured in regions without having to lose out on a country’s ethos, language and tradition When one visits Bhutan, a country with 75% green cover, one expects to see a lot of flora, varying terrain and hardly any links with the modern, developed world.
Yet, the country boasts of a mobile penetration of 85% and Internet penetration of 36.9%. After landing in Paro and travelling to Thimphu, I found there was hardly anybody in the city who didn’t own a mobile phone. There was good mobile and Internet connectivity everywhere. I was in Bhutan to mentor some youngsters who are venturing into the world of start-ups. Bhutan actually has a good approach towards grooming innovators. After six months, if the innovation seems promising, the innovators can register and start paying for the cost of space. During one of these interactions, I met the people associated with Housing.bt, Bhutan’s first online real estate portal and home-based utility service provider. Charles Duhigg Explains the Science of Productivity and Innovation | Heleo. Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Power of Habit, discussed his latest book, Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business with Heleo’s CEO, Rufus Griscom.
Duhigg offers illuminating answers to our questions about why self-improvement is such a high-demand topic, what the most productive people do with their time, and how to stay on task to create something innovative. Rufus Griscom: You can imagine someone writing a book with the title, Smarter, Faster, Better, maybe as “Skinnier, Cuter, etc.” with the subtitle, “Americans’ Obsession with Self-Improvement.” Is this national obsession with self improvement a good thing? What do you think about the genre and how it’s evolved over time? Charles Duhigg: These are fantastic books. First, we’re in a period of economic and social change which most economists agree is going to be as profound as the Agrarian Revolution and the Industrial Revolution.
Disrupting the Everyday: How Enterprises Use Digital to Innovate. 6 ways to ensure that things don’t change | Dennis Sparks on Leading and Learning. 6 ways to ensure that things don’t change Over the years I’ve written countless articles and posts on how administrators and teacher leaders can affect positive change through school culture, professional development, and the application of emotional intelligence, just to mention a few possible sources of influence.
But I have never approached that challenge from the flip side—what school leaders must stop doing if they want to create a ceaseless flow of positive energy that improves teaching and learning for all students. So here are 6 ways to ensure low staff motivation: 1. Tell people what to do. Make demands: “I am the boss. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. What would you add to my list? Is ‘grit’ overrated in explaining student success? Harvard researchers have a new theory. Members of the U.S. Naval Academy 2019 class (plebes) form a human pyramid and climb the 21-foot Herndon Monument covered in vegetable shortening at the U.S. Naval Academy on May 23, 2016 in Annapolis, Md. While educators have embraced the idea of “grit” as playing a role in individual success, new research points to something else: An individual pathway for each student. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) The concept of “grit” is perhaps the hottest trend in education circles these days, the idea that students who have a certain fire in their belly outperform those with high IQ or natural talent.
Angela Duckworth’s research has found that the most successful people are those not only with self-discipline but also with a singular determination to accomplish a task, no matter the obstacles. The cover of Angela Duckworth’s “Grit”. To measure grit, Duckworth developed a simple 12-question test that is increasingly used by companies and the military in assessing candidates. Innovation Is About Culture Not Technology - Digital Doughnut. In all this talk of digital disruption and innovation, existing IT organizations might feel left out. They are wondering whether the competencies they’ve been developing through years and even decades are now obsolete. These departments are built around efficiency and focus on reliability and robustness. However, these are not the words that would describe the digital transformation processes that require organizations to be flexible and agile to be able to innovative.
This innovation might be hard to unlock. Innovation requires taking risks and trying new approaches, which is the exact opposite of what IT departments have been doing for years. However, without IT departments developing their creative and innovation chops, digital transformation is simply not possible. It does require support and leadership from top management but it also needs support from the people in IT, who will make it happen. Original Article.
Five lessons Walt Disney and Steve Jobs can teach us about innovation. Steamboat Willie was essentially a tech demo for synchronized sound. At the time of his death, Apple founder Steve Jobs was the largest shareholder of the Walt Disney Company. When Jobs sold Pixar to Disney, he received 7.7 percent of Disney in return for his share of Pixar. But what most people don't realize is just how similar in personality and style Steve Jobs was to Walt Disney. Both were visionaries, founders, and innovators. In fact, as Larry Dignan reported when Jobs died, there are numerous similarities, ranging from early failure to leaving physical monuments to their innovation. Because of those similarities, Walt and Steve can teach us some valuable lessons about innovation. #1 Don't give up Most of us are familiar with the Steve Jobs resurrection story.
Walt Disney, too, had his share of failure. Laugh-O-Gram produced animation shorts, including a series of break-even cartoons for a local theater. . #2 Finding the right creative partner can be a force multiplier Read More.