Risky compared to what?

May 11, 2008

The risk management approaches typically employed by companies seem off base to me. (I think financial services companies usually do this well when not caught in the throes of the lunacy that overtakes them every few years.) The error is in the baseline assumption they make. That assumption is usually one of a risk-free world. […]

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We can change the world

April 9, 2008

The world is going to change. This is a certainty. And it will change in an unsentimental fashion with no concern for your deeply help beliefs or assumptions. Sitting astride history and shouting “stop” is simply childish. You have only two real options: 1) Let the change happen as it happens. Guided by randomness and/or […]

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How to inspire

April 8, 2008

I was at an innovation conference today and had a chance to attend a lunch hosted by Dan Pink. A question came up about how companies and their leaders can inspire their customers and employees. There was an answer given (with less than perfect confidence) but I found it, well, uninspired and thus, forgot it. […]

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The corrupt calculus of cannibalization

March 24, 2008

There is something seriously wrong about the way that new business opportunities are evaluated. We always look at cannibalization and incrementality. That is, how much of the new business is truly incremental to the existing business as opposed to simply replacing existing sales. The cannibalized portion is subtracted off of the total sales to yield […]

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So why do I stay?

February 20, 2008

Several people have read my previous posts regarding the nature of large organizations and have read through the lines to surmise that I am not entirely happy in my current job. They are wondering why I stay. Well here it is: Nobody is entirely happy. I’m not even sure that’s the point of it all. […]

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Talent and innovation at big organizations

February 5, 2008

I’ve been getting some interesting emails from friends about my posts regarding ideas/innovation in large organizations. http://adam-1001words.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-large-organizations-kill.html http://adam-1001words.blogspot.com/2008/02/nature-of-institutions.html One friend made an interesting point: that large organizations draw on an average talent pool “as opposed to the more chaotic and erratic nature of a creative culture.” I think he is right. Not in the sense […]

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The nature of institutions

February 4, 2008

I have received email from several folks regarding my earlier post about how large organizations eliminate anything interesting about an idea or vision. http://adam-1001words.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-large-organizations-kill.html There is quite a lot of social theory on this topic. As a psychologist, I do believe this phenomenon largely reduces to the cognitive systems and behaviors of individual members of […]

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The George Washington Bridge at night

February 3, 2008

Here are some pics I just took. It was pretty freaky walking along the path in the dark with nobody around. Anyway, most of my pictures didn’t come out well. I definitely need a proper tripod for the camera I have. And some talent wouldn’t hurt either.

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How large organizations kill interesting ideas

February 3, 2008

It seems to me that the nature of most big organizations compels them to destroy new and interesting ideas. We see this phenomenon at play in U.S. politics and in the output of our large corporations. Our politicians have to make sure to not say anything that will be too offensive to any group. And […]

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Some pictures I have taken recently

February 3, 2008

I enjoy taking photos – particularly of nature. But I can’t help feeling like it’s a bit inappropriate to do so. It seems very acquisitive – a way for man to exercise control and dominion over the universe rather than simply enjoying it. I do have a feeling when I see something beautiful that I […]

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