New Florence. New Renaissance.

Technology Innovation and Organization Charts

W. Edwards Deming, the famous management philosopher used to say that the organization chart was a flow chart.  It depicted a flow of blame. He helped the Japenese think about customer driven flows which mattered a lot more.

The reality is there are social networks within companies and they represent how most important work gets done - and innovation happens. BusinessWeek (subscription required) has a neat article on how companies are - quietly - mapping such networks within organizations. I say quietly because we persist in having formal organization charts even 50 years after Deming made his famous observation. If anything with Microsoft Visio and other tools we have glamorized the traditional organization chart even more - when we should be using them to map social network charts - "corporate X-Rays" as the article describes.

Also, see  here how SAP is innovating with its own internal social networks.

Technology Innovation and Mardi Gras

New Orleans - great gumbo, etouffe - but not much high-tech. Except that the last few times I have been there have been for tech conferences - last time for Sapphire in 2004,  So, it is good to see New Orleans back - even at half pace - celebrating Mardi Gras

While Mardi Gras and New Orleans are steeped in traditions, technology keeps making them more contemporary - Hot beads, the jazz the city is famous for, the webcams of Bourbon Street the technology and animation which goes in to various Krewe in the parades, the wikis set up to help in the post Katrina chaos. In this year's Mardi Gras, a multi-media production Olf's Immolation highlights the city's anger and frustration post-Katrina.

As the Marlon Brando character says in the Tennessee Williams classic set in the city A Streetcar Named Desire  "Luck is believing you're lucky, that's all".

New Orleans - keep believing!

M Life - the Nokia Vision

Technology Review magazine has an interview with a Nokia executive which describes coming mobile applications, convergence of VoIP and mobile and the phones of the future. The Future: The Internet in your pocket. And your wallet made redundant.

".. For example, on this device [a Nokia 9300 smartphone], I happen to have both GPRS and Bluetooth capability. When I move from the full coverage to the Bluetooth coverage -- when I get to my desk, for example -- it automatically switches and my e-mails are downloaded through that. I don't have wireless LAN capability on this one, but the newer version has that capability. You can imagine the applications in business -- e-mail, my task list, my calendar, my sales reports, my latest presentation, and anything else on my device could be updated or backed up automatically. When I get home it switches my calls automatically to voice mail, and it might download the latest music I gathered earlier from my DSL connection"

Ten Types of Innovation

Doblin is an "Innovation Strategy" firm headquartered in Chicago. I like their classification of 10 innovation areas and landscapes. They provide areas where companies can innovate and examples in each area (click on each). I like the fact that they talk about innovation not just in product design, or just in premium priced products.

Argue about Google not being on any of the lists or snicker about Martha Stewart considered a channel innovator, but it is, well, an innovative way to look at innovation.

Business Model e.g Businessweek.com
Networks and Alliances  - Sara Lee
Enabling Process - Starbucks
Core Processes - Wal-Mart
Product Performance - VW Beetle
Product System - Steelcase
Service - Lenscrafters
Channel - Niketown
Brand - Ben and Jerry's
Customer Experience - Disney Cruises

Technology Innovation and Knowledge Networks

I have written before about IBM's innovative Electronic Workplace.  SAP has been investing heavily in its own knowledge and collaboration networks as Jeff Nolan writes using more contemporary blogs and wikis. It is good to see these tech vendors innovate internally - as we know quite often the shoemaker's children get the torn shoes.

Technology Innovation and Law Firms

They come up with the maddening language that is influencing open source licensing, privacy and compliance debates, intellectual property protection. But lawyers themselves can be pretty conservative when it comes to using technology.

Or are they? I spent some time this weekend with Walter Aye, who runs a small law firm in Tampa. His son plays chess with my kids. And he was complaining about laptop batteries running out during court. Hard drives not being fast enough. His customizing his PCs with specific hard drive brands. Heat generated by chips. Failure rate of motherboards. I had to double check he had not taken up a part time job as a service technician. 

This survey shows law firms have been investing heavily in technology - the dramatic shift from WordPerfect to MS Word to the leverage of electronic document management.

The survey does not even cover law firm blogging (as this San Francisco firm is), podcasting for lawyers, web based depositions.

Of course, this ABA web site on technology for law firms appears to mostly have articles pre-2002. Yellow pads will continue to still be very popular.

They come up with the maddening language that is influencing open source licensing, privacy and compliance debates, intellectual property protection. But lawyers themselves can be pretty conservative when it comes to using technology.

Or are they? I spent some time this weekend with Walter Aye, who runs a small law firm in Tampa. His son plays chess with my kids. And he was complaining about laptop batteries running out during court. Hard drives not being fast enough. His customizing his PCs with specific hard drive brands. Heat generated by chips. Failure rate of motherboards. I had to double check he had not taken up a part time job as a service technician. 

This survey shows law firms have been investing heavily in technology - the dramatic shift from WordPerfect to MS Word to the leverage of electronic document management.

The survey does not even cover law firm blogging (as this San Francisco firm is), podcasting for lawyers, web based depositions.

Of course, this ABA web site on technology for law firms appears to mostly have articles pre-2002. Yellow pads will continue to still be very popular.

Technology Innovation and Daytona 500

The Daytona 500. 3,400 pound monsters. 200 miles-per-hour around a track that is 2.5 miles long - a lap every 45 seconds.  Incredible G forces.  Cars within inches of each other. Lots of decisions and adjustments  real-time.  Non-stop for 4 hours. No commercial breaks for the drivers.

NASCAR stock car racing has always been about the driver, not as much the car. NASCAR bans  high-tech wizardry during the race.  But as the 48th Daytona 500 kicks off, it is impressive to see the way technology has changed the way drivers and crews prepare  for the race. And how the race is tracked. And broadcast. Of course, the best in automobile technology gets rolled out each year.

Gentlemen - start your laptops, GPS, HDTV....

Web 2.0 in Enterprise

Jeff Nolan reports on a panel on the convergence - and related confusion. Zoli Erdos has a minute by minute here.

Lots of people and the audience talking across each other. But since people are involved probably leads to conversation and collaboration technologies - let's see that will affect employees, customers, vendors, partners...

Jeff Nolan reports on a panel on the convergence - and related confusion. Zoli Erdos has a minute by minute here.

Lots of people and the audience talking across each other. But since people are involved probably leads to conversation and collaboration technologies - let's see that will affect employees, customers, vendors, partners...

Is Innovation Dying?

may be of too fast a heart beat if you see these stats from the US Patent Office

It took 75 years to get from patent No.1 to patent 1 million. It has taken less than one tenth of that time to go from 6 million to 7 million patents.

In a related story, when it comes to patents, plan to take to trip to  Luckenbach Marshall, TX  as this article lays out. Willie and Waylon and the boys will be waiting.

may be of too fast a heart beat if you see these stats from the US Patent Office

It took 75 years to get from patent No.1 to patent 1 million. It has taken less than one tenth of that time to go from 6 million to 7 million patents.

In a related story, when it comes to patents, plan to take to trip to  Luckenbach Marshall, TX  as this article lays out. Willie and Waylon and the boys will be waiting.

Future City

Courtesy of Charlie Bess of EDS I saw that the Finals of the National Engineers Week Future City Competition are on this weekend.

Future City asks middle school students to create cities of the future, first on computers and then in large tabletop models. Nice way to encourage budding engineers and scientists...

Courtesy of Charlie Bess of EDS I saw that the Finals of the National Engineers Week Future City Competition are on this weekend.

Future City asks middle school students to create cities of the future, first on computers and then in large tabletop models. Nice way to encourage budding engineers and scientists...