"Web 2.0" is the portion of the Internet that's interactively produced by many people; it includes Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, and prediction markets. In just a few years, Web 2.0 communities have demonstrated astonishing levels of innovation, knowledge accumulation, collaboration, and collective intelligence. Now, leading organizations are bringing the Web's novel tools and philosophies inside, creating Enterprise 2.0. In this book, Andrew McAfee shows how they're doing this, and why it's benefiting them. Enterprise 2.0 makes clear that the new technologies are good for much more than just socializing. When properly applied, they help businesses solve pressing problems, capture dispersed and fast-changing knowledge, highlight and leverage expertise, generate and refine ideas, and harness the wisdom of crowds. Most organizations, however, don't find it easy or natural to use these new tools initially. And executives see many possible pitfalls associated with them. Enterprise 2.0 explores these concerns and shows how business leaders can overcome them. McAfee brings together case studies and examples with key concepts from economics, sociology, computer science, consumer psychology, and management studies and presents them all in a clear, accessible, and entertaining style. Enterprise 2.0 is a must-have resource for all C-suite executives seeking to make technology decisions that are simultaneously powerful, popular, and pragmatic.
http://hbr.org/product/enterprise-2-0-new-collaborative-tools-for-your-or/an/2587-HBK-ENG?cm_mmc=press-_-listserv-_-December2009-_-BusBkshelf
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Clouds Everywhere
More I read about clouds, more convinced I am on the disruptive nature of the clouds. The advances made in this field are awesome. most of the known problems in terms of security, scalability, business viability are solved. The standards provided by many Cloud forums are pathbreaking.
While Cloud is based on the notion of lower cost, for me its more about doing whats right as per common sense. maintaining massive IT depts and massive resources with equal amount of outsourcing are going to be a thing of the past.
There are several who argue Clouds will be co-exist with IT depts. I dont subscribe to this view point as once the critical volumes start coming down for traditional IT, it will no longer be viable to run.
For Clouds, the ultimate point would be when the current B2B moves to B2B2C and finally B2C. That threshold would be the point of explosive growth for Clouds.
Finally, 3 years would be the time window for traditional IT to morph. else the waterfall is not far away.
While Cloud is based on the notion of lower cost, for me its more about doing whats right as per common sense. maintaining massive IT depts and massive resources with equal amount of outsourcing are going to be a thing of the past.
There are several who argue Clouds will be co-exist with IT depts. I dont subscribe to this view point as once the critical volumes start coming down for traditional IT, it will no longer be viable to run.
For Clouds, the ultimate point would be when the current B2B moves to B2B2C and finally B2C. That threshold would be the point of explosive growth for Clouds.
Finally, 3 years would be the time window for traditional IT to morph. else the waterfall is not far away.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Toothpaste Innovations
I never really thought much about toothpaste. But at the last two innovation conferences where I spoke, toothpaste was one of the hot topics.
At the FT Innovate conference in London, Unilever discussed their “Signal White Now” (and other brands) toothpaste. Instead of using harsh bleaches and abrasives, they borrowed an optical-effect technology from their laundry team. This toothpaste uses a blue pigment to make yellow teeth instantly appear whiter. This same ingredient is used to make white clothes look even whiter.
At the Open Innovation Summit in Orlando, GSK discussed how their “Aquafresh iso-active” toothpaste borrowed an idea from Edge shaving cream (now a division of Energizer Holdings, Inc). The toothpaste comes out like a gel, but foams in the mouth, much like the shaving cream. This formulation, according to the can I was given, removes 25% more bacteria than regular toothpaste – or 3x more according to the picture left.
This got me thinking. If toothpaste manufacturers can get ideas from shaving cream and laundry detergent, where else could they get ideas? Within 5 minutes, I thought up a few ideas of how to gain inspiration from other products:
1. Pop Rocks: As a kid, I loved how Pop Rocks, the carbonated candy, exploded in your mouth. What if you added Pop Rock-like crystals to toothpaste? Not only would the toothpaste foam, it would fizz and explode. Maybe this would blast the plaque off your teeth. Of course, it might blast off your teeth like Pop Rocks reputedly did a few times.
2. Shampoo: Shampoos are infused with vitamins and minerals to give your hair bounce and shine. What if you infused toothpaste with these ingredients? Or maybe you could add some homeopathic remedies – for those who believe in these alternative “medicines.” Sublingual administration (under the tongue) is a common and effective way of delivering drugs directly into the bloodstream.
3. Conditioner: We use shampoo to clean and conditioner to protect. Maybe they can create a tooth conditioner; a special toothpaste that you use after your regular toothpaste. It could coat your teeth to prevent staining, bad breath, or split ends. Even better, they could borrow the “technology” used by shampoos like “Pearl” that combine shampoo and conditioner into one formulation.
4. Moisturizers: Several moisturizers have an AM and a PM formulation. One is used in the morning and the other at night before you go to sleep. The AM formula of toothpaste could be infused with caffeine that would be absorbed into the bloodstream sublingually (see idea #2 above). And the PM formulation could be infused with melatonin to help you sleep better at night.
5. Weight Loss Products: I’m not sure how this would work, but what if you could create a toothpaste that somehow made certain foods taste bad? This might cause you to reduce the amount of food you eat. Or maybe there is another way to make toothpaste a weight loss product. OK, this one is a stretch, but there might be a kernel of an idea there!
In a breakout at the Open Innovation Summit, an innovation leader from Johnson & Johnson, when asked to name the most important word for their business right now, answered “Convergence.” By this, he meant the sharing of ideas across business units and brands.
Ideas can indeed come from anywhere. And quite often, the best ideas will come from inside your own organization- just from a different product, function, division, or brand. Where will your next big idea come from?
http://www.steveshapiro.com/2009/12/06/toothpaste-innovations/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+steveshapiro+%28Steve+Shapiro%29&utm_content=Twitter
At the FT Innovate conference in London, Unilever discussed their “Signal White Now” (and other brands) toothpaste. Instead of using harsh bleaches and abrasives, they borrowed an optical-effect technology from their laundry team. This toothpaste uses a blue pigment to make yellow teeth instantly appear whiter. This same ingredient is used to make white clothes look even whiter.
At the Open Innovation Summit in Orlando, GSK discussed how their “Aquafresh iso-active” toothpaste borrowed an idea from Edge shaving cream (now a division of Energizer Holdings, Inc). The toothpaste comes out like a gel, but foams in the mouth, much like the shaving cream. This formulation, according to the can I was given, removes 25% more bacteria than regular toothpaste – or 3x more according to the picture left.
This got me thinking. If toothpaste manufacturers can get ideas from shaving cream and laundry detergent, where else could they get ideas? Within 5 minutes, I thought up a few ideas of how to gain inspiration from other products:
1. Pop Rocks: As a kid, I loved how Pop Rocks, the carbonated candy, exploded in your mouth. What if you added Pop Rock-like crystals to toothpaste? Not only would the toothpaste foam, it would fizz and explode. Maybe this would blast the plaque off your teeth. Of course, it might blast off your teeth like Pop Rocks reputedly did a few times.
2. Shampoo: Shampoos are infused with vitamins and minerals to give your hair bounce and shine. What if you infused toothpaste with these ingredients? Or maybe you could add some homeopathic remedies – for those who believe in these alternative “medicines.” Sublingual administration (under the tongue) is a common and effective way of delivering drugs directly into the bloodstream.
3. Conditioner: We use shampoo to clean and conditioner to protect. Maybe they can create a tooth conditioner; a special toothpaste that you use after your regular toothpaste. It could coat your teeth to prevent staining, bad breath, or split ends. Even better, they could borrow the “technology” used by shampoos like “Pearl” that combine shampoo and conditioner into one formulation.
4. Moisturizers: Several moisturizers have an AM and a PM formulation. One is used in the morning and the other at night before you go to sleep. The AM formula of toothpaste could be infused with caffeine that would be absorbed into the bloodstream sublingually (see idea #2 above). And the PM formulation could be infused with melatonin to help you sleep better at night.
5. Weight Loss Products: I’m not sure how this would work, but what if you could create a toothpaste that somehow made certain foods taste bad? This might cause you to reduce the amount of food you eat. Or maybe there is another way to make toothpaste a weight loss product. OK, this one is a stretch, but there might be a kernel of an idea there!
In a breakout at the Open Innovation Summit, an innovation leader from Johnson & Johnson, when asked to name the most important word for their business right now, answered “Convergence.” By this, he meant the sharing of ideas across business units and brands.
Ideas can indeed come from anywhere. And quite often, the best ideas will come from inside your own organization- just from a different product, function, division, or brand. Where will your next big idea come from?
http://www.steveshapiro.com/2009/12/06/toothpaste-innovations/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+steveshapiro+%28Steve+Shapiro%29&utm_content=Twitter
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