Saturday, September 29, 2012
Persona Pain Map - Smart Parking Grid: Daily Commuter
The Daily Worker commuting to Boston has a bad day when they cannot find any parking and have to pay for an expensive parking spot in a parking garage. They are also afraid of being late to work or meetings because of the lack of available parking spots or having to find change to the pay the meter. The thought of driving around looking for a parking spot and being late for a meeting keeps them up at night. The Daily worker is responsible for getting to work or a meeting on time. Most of the time traffic and lack of parking or the main obstacles. The daily commuter wants to be able to drive into Boston and easily find an inexpensive parking spot. For the the daily commuter a successful commute is measured on the ease of finding a parking spot. We can offer the daily commuter an easy way to find and pay for parking spaces in Boston which will simplify the parking process.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Toyota's A3 Report
In reading the details of Toyota's A3 report process for introducing innovative solutions to company problems, I really like the simple template. The template helps focuses employees on not just identifying a problem, but truly understanding the entire problem and possible solutions. The template also requires the author to be able succinctly describe the problem and solution. This allows for uniformity across the organization and simple platform to share ideas. The template also creates a distinct way for attacking a problem. It is like the scientific method for attacking business problems.
In working for a Japanese company (Fujitsu), the A3 report process is very similar to some of the processes our company has in place and aligns with the Kaizen (continuous improvement) philosophy in Japan. This mindset and approach to manufacturing is at the heart of Japanese culture and is applied in many current business ideologies...Lean, Six Sigma etc. The A3 report is a great way to strengthen the continuous improvement culture within Toyota.
In working for a Japanese company (Fujitsu), the A3 report process is very similar to some of the processes our company has in place and aligns with the Kaizen (continuous improvement) philosophy in Japan. This mindset and approach to manufacturing is at the heart of Japanese culture and is applied in many current business ideologies...Lean, Six Sigma etc. The A3 report is a great way to strengthen the continuous improvement culture within Toyota.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
The Seven Sources of Innovation
The seven sources of innovation:
1. The unexpected: This would be the quintessential explosion in the laboratory scene and ultimately you would have some new product purely by mistake...at least that is what I envision. I think one of the most well known innovations of this type would be the invention of the post it note by 3M. One of their scientists was working on a super tacky adhesive and by mistake created an adhesive while not supper sticky, it did retain its tackiness over time.
2. The incongruity: This is the opposition of perception and reality. Innovation can take place because common perception of some things not being able to be changed. For example common perception was that fat free frozen deserts could not taste good and the invention of frozen yogurt changed the perception....yumm TCBY.
3. The process: In my opinion this source of innovation is endless...maybe because I am an analytical. So if a process is not efficient it provides an opportunity to innovate and change the process to become more efficient. Hello...TSA. The most important process innovation in the last hundred years was Henry Ford's invention of the assembly line for manufacturing automobiles. This process innovation allowed workers to focus on one task instead of having to know how to assemble and entire automobile. Truly amazing what it has led to in manufacturing....
4. The industry structure: Sometimes there are drivers in a market that force the change in overall structure in the industry. In the last 20 years technology and the Internet has been the catalyst for the majority of these changes. I think one of the most drastic changes has been in the music industry. The Internet literally turned the music business by surprise as consumers started to share music illegally via file sharing applications like Napster. The music industry saw huge loses until Apple capitalized with the launch of ITunes and the IPod.
5. Demographics: As certain parts of the population change it creates opportunities for innovation. For instance as baby boomers have reached retirement age, there are drugs that are developed and marketed for this demographic who have a strong desire to stay young and lead active lifestyles.... Viagra :-)
6. Perception, mood, meaning: As time passes and we evolve as a society we tend to look at things differently. With this perception change comes innovation. A good example is how over the last couple decades there has been an emphasis on protecting our environment and reducing the amount of greenhouse gases. While there is still some debate about the impact (Say it aint so Al Gore), there has been numerous innovations to help reduce green house gases. One of the primary innovations has been the hybrid or electric car which emit zero green house gases into the atmosphere.
7. New knowledge: Finally, as I see it, this is the "purist" source of innovation. I learned something new so let me innovate. Albert Einstein and E=MC2, Caveman and the round wheel....
1. The unexpected: This would be the quintessential explosion in the laboratory scene and ultimately you would have some new product purely by mistake...at least that is what I envision. I think one of the most well known innovations of this type would be the invention of the post it note by 3M. One of their scientists was working on a super tacky adhesive and by mistake created an adhesive while not supper sticky, it did retain its tackiness over time.
2. The incongruity: This is the opposition of perception and reality. Innovation can take place because common perception of some things not being able to be changed. For example common perception was that fat free frozen deserts could not taste good and the invention of frozen yogurt changed the perception....yumm TCBY.
3. The process: In my opinion this source of innovation is endless...maybe because I am an analytical. So if a process is not efficient it provides an opportunity to innovate and change the process to become more efficient. Hello...TSA. The most important process innovation in the last hundred years was Henry Ford's invention of the assembly line for manufacturing automobiles. This process innovation allowed workers to focus on one task instead of having to know how to assemble and entire automobile. Truly amazing what it has led to in manufacturing....
4. The industry structure: Sometimes there are drivers in a market that force the change in overall structure in the industry. In the last 20 years technology and the Internet has been the catalyst for the majority of these changes. I think one of the most drastic changes has been in the music industry. The Internet literally turned the music business by surprise as consumers started to share music illegally via file sharing applications like Napster. The music industry saw huge loses until Apple capitalized with the launch of ITunes and the IPod.
5. Demographics: As certain parts of the population change it creates opportunities for innovation. For instance as baby boomers have reached retirement age, there are drugs that are developed and marketed for this demographic who have a strong desire to stay young and lead active lifestyles.... Viagra :-)
6. Perception, mood, meaning: As time passes and we evolve as a society we tend to look at things differently. With this perception change comes innovation. A good example is how over the last couple decades there has been an emphasis on protecting our environment and reducing the amount of greenhouse gases. While there is still some debate about the impact (Say it aint so Al Gore), there has been numerous innovations to help reduce green house gases. One of the primary innovations has been the hybrid or electric car which emit zero green house gases into the atmosphere.
7. New knowledge: Finally, as I see it, this is the "purist" source of innovation. I learned something new so let me innovate. Albert Einstein and E=MC2, Caveman and the round wheel....
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Can a Succesfull Entrepreneur be a Family Person?
In reading Milton Chang's Toward Entrepreneurship and reading other articles and books about successful innovators, entrepreneurs and visionaries, the one common theme seems to be that in order to be truly successful, you need to dedicate every waking minute to your endeavors, sacrificing time spent with family. So my question is: can a successful innovator, entrepreneur or visionary balance their family life their entrepreneurial endeavors?
For instance, in reading the Steve Jobs biography, he rarely spent time with his children until he was diagnosed with cancer. The biography also highlighted the fact that Steve Jobs was very poor at maintaining any relationships. I am sure a lot had to do with his personality and the fact that he was abandoned as a child, but could Steve Jobs been able to do the things he did if he spent more time at home? Are the same personality traits that make someone a successful entrepreneur make them bad at maintaining relationships?
I think that it is possible to be both a successful entrepreneur and have a healthy relationship with your family. I think it is hard to balance both things and requires understanding from both family members and colleagues. However, if both things are important to you, you will find a way to balance them in your life.
For instance, in reading the Steve Jobs biography, he rarely spent time with his children until he was diagnosed with cancer. The biography also highlighted the fact that Steve Jobs was very poor at maintaining any relationships. I am sure a lot had to do with his personality and the fact that he was abandoned as a child, but could Steve Jobs been able to do the things he did if he spent more time at home? Are the same personality traits that make someone a successful entrepreneur make them bad at maintaining relationships?
I think that it is possible to be both a successful entrepreneur and have a healthy relationship with your family. I think it is hard to balance both things and requires understanding from both family members and colleagues. However, if both things are important to you, you will find a way to balance them in your life.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Group F: Links to Other Blogs
Carton Viaz: http://carltonvaz.wordpress.com/
Rosana Hutchins: http://rhutchinsetr500.blog.com
Steve Rose: http://stephenrose88.blogspot.com/
Rosana Hutchins: http://rhutchinsetr500.blog.com
Steve Rose: http://stephenrose88.blogspot.com/
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