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Disruption as the Norm? – Part 2
Part 1 Recap Part 1 of this series introduced the struggle companies face as they try to ensure today’s success while keeping an eye on tomorrow’s survival, as referenced in the FT’s Corporate Longevity Series (#ftlongevity) by Michael Skapinker. It built upon ideas...
Disruption as the Norm? – Part 1
“Why can’t I see the picture now Daddy?” According to the famous legend, this was Edwin Land’s inspiration to create a product and company that became one of the world’s most recognizable brands – Polaroid. It’s an old example, but it’s one of the best examples of a...
What is an Insight? Example
In my last post I discussed the difference between an insight and an observation, how each required different work, and led to different results. Now I’ll use my journey as a mobile phone consumer over the last several years as an example. Way back in the early...
What is an Insight?
The topic of market insights has come up quite a lot lately. I have repeatedly been hearing the word insight as something to be observed, as in "We observed several insights on that consumer interview." This is not an uncommon way to speak about insights, however,...
Research Kit is Awesome – But is More Data Always Better?
Let me start by saying that I think Apple’s Research Kit is great, and can enable us to do great things. However, a lot of the hype I’m hearing has me a little concerned, because it is mainly centered around the idea that getting more data is the key to transforming...
The Value of Applying a Consumer Mindset to the Healthcare Industry
Companies listed in Fast Company's "World's Most Innovative Companies in 2015 in Health Care" If the medical industry doesnt figure out how to make products that fit consumer lifestyles, the consumer companies will figure out how to make healthcare products! That...
Learning Consumer Insights through English Literature
The Value of Humanities in Technology In my last post I talked about how my job waiting tables at a TGI Fridays enabled me to hone the problem finding skills that are more directly relevant to my career than any of the real jobs Ive had. In similar fashion, the...
What I learned about Work and Real Life from TGI Fridays
Growing up, we often played the popular board game, The Game of Life. The object of the game is to end with the most money. This is accomplished through a series of various decisions and circumstances, and one thing the game made clear was that higher paying jobs...
Respect the Nuance
Its easy to take the given data at face value and the face value is readily available to everyone, competitors and collaborators alike. If we have the discipline to examine the nuances of why the data is what it is, then we can go in directions our competitors may never think of, and thats where we can create our unique value.
Design Thinking and the Integrative Mindset
Source: Slide deck on Design Thinking1 Design Thinking The Term as Prototype Design Thinking is a term most often used to describe the work done by companies such as IDEO, Continuum, and most other design firms. According to Jess McMullen, it was coined in 1987 by...