When most people think of the term “computer,” an image of a cell phone does not come to mind. However, today’s smart phones (such as the iPhone, Blackberry, and Droid) are indeed computers. Not only do they have an operating system and storage capabilities, but they also have their own software applications – called “apps” for short. Once users understand that smart phones are actually mini computers, those who are charged with keeping corporate computers safe have some serious planning to do.
Posts Tagged ‘Future’
Follow Trends To Decommoditize Your Product
Pay close attention to the trends going on in your industry and with your customers. Based on current trends happening, what future trends can you identify? If you can accurately pinpoint where your industry or customers will be in the next few months or years (or what your customers will want), you can de-commoditize your offering and get that business.
Continue reading ‘Follow Trends To Decommoditize Your Product’ »
The Power of Human Thought
Honda’s Asimo humanoid robot is now taking orders from a human brain using technology that allows a user to control its movements by thought alone.
Continue reading ‘The Power of Human Thought’ »
Fiber Optics For Your Home
As consumer electronics (including televisions, computers, audio systems, and other peripherals) become more interconnected, the amount of data being transferred over home networks is increasing dramatically, especially in the form of high resolution images and video.
Continue reading ‘Fiber Optics For Your Home’ »
Smart Drug Dispensing Pill
A new medical device, which is scheduled to enter clinical trials later this year, will make it possible for doctors to more accurately dispense drugs that treat gastrointestinal (GI) disorders such as colon cancer, colitis, and Crohn’s Disease.
Continue reading ‘Smart Drug Dispensing Pill’ »
An Energy Alternative From E. Coli?
The same bug that can cause upset stomachs in humans is now being used to produce a biofuel that could someday replace gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The process uses a genetically modified version of E. coli
Continue reading ‘An Energy Alternative From E. Coli?’ »
The Both/And Principal
The ability to accurately anticipate the future provides organizations and individuals with a major competitive advantage. In the mid-1980s, I began to notice that top executives, managers, business publications, and the popular press were all making the same false assumptions about the future of technological change. Every time a new product category was introduced, they assumed that the older category would quickly vanish. Notice I said product category. The reason I use that term is because individual products do come and go, based on decisions made by management in each company. For example, in the late-’80s, many futurists made the mistake of predicting that by the late-1990s, our offices would be paperless. As of 2006, we are still waiting! I have developed a series of guiding principles based on my research that have helped me to avoid such mistakes. One of the most powerful I call the Both/And Principle.
Both/And thinking is a powerful corrective to either/or thinking, meaning that the future will be either one way or the other. Both/And recognizes the folly of assuming that the new will totally supplant the old. Both/And recognizes that they can be integrated. The hottest breakthrough technologies tend to coexist and integrate to create new value with their predecessors rather than completely co-opting them. Why? The old tech has its own unique profile of functional strengths.
A key success strategy is to integrate the old and the new based on the strengths of each. The important point here is that in a Both/And world there isn’t the horrendous pressure to place all or nothing bets on emerging technology. By all means, keep looking into the visible future and acting on what you see. To see the future- and to profit from it- think Both/And.
How Motivated are We?
At a recent conference in Singapore, I had the opportunity to listen to several speakers from Asia. A common theme in all of their presentations was the tremendous “hunger” that their people have to shape their future, grow their economy, and enhance their standard of living. This “hunger” for a better future is a major factor driving growth throughout Asia today.
As I listened, I asked myself, “How hard are Americans willing to work to learn new things, change and grow to secure a better tomorrow for themselves and the nation?” The majority of Americans have always enjoyed the amazing opportunities that freedom and democracy bring. As a result, all too often we spend our time defending and protecting the status quo instead of leading change from the inside out. History has shown that it is only after we can clearly see opportunity on a personal level that we develop the “hunger” and drive to shape the future. Often, it takes a tragic event – such as 9/11 or massive layoffs – to mobilize us.
The good news is that we don’t have to wait. We can cultivate a “hunger” for something better by giving people a clearer picture of the tremendous personal opportunity the future has to offer. Yes, I said personal. We should strive to create a vision that individuals can relate and aspire to. Then change will be viewed as positive, and the result will be action!
Leveraging Intellectual Capital
Working with executives at the Mayo Clinic in the early ’90s, I asked them to do what I ask many of my clients to do today – and that is to look at what I call the Visible Future®. At that time, this was not something they wanted to do. Why? Because to them it was depressing. Indeed, their visible future included decreasing Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements and increasing losses in their emergency rooms. So my suggestion to them was this: “Why don’t you sell your knowledge?”
The result was a CD which could be used by people any time, day or night, to determine, for example, whether their child’s rash and fever required a trip to the emergency room or could be treated with aspirin. The Mayo Clinic put a $100 price tag on the product, and in the first year it sold 670,000 copies.
A side benefit was that, by expanding their services to offer a knowledge-based product, they began to develop a new and powerful 21st century brand in the marketplace. They not only created new value and new revenue, but with the subsequent advent of the Internet, their name recognition became international.
Are you leveraging the intellectual capital in your organization?
