This Blog Has Moved…

If you’re looking for newer content, I’ve exported all of these posts and began blogging again over at Nexxgen Media.  Come check it out.

800-CEO-READ’s 5 Most Important Reads For Execs

While we are on the topic of “must-reads”, here is the top 5 books for executives according to Todd Sattersten, vice president of 800-CEO-READ:

1. “Competitive Strategy” by Michael Porter
2. “Execution” by Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, and Charles Burck
3. “In Search Of Excellence” by Tom Peters and Bob Waterman
4. “Good To Great” by Jim Collins
5. “The Effective Executive” by Peter Drucker

For some background on the picks, check out the original posting.

Free Antibiotics For Those Who Can Pay, Death For Those Who Can’t!

Read this CNNMoney article about Publix Super Market offering free antibiotics to any pharmacy customer with a prescription.  Amazing that we can give people antibiotics for free who have the financial means to pay for them, but charge people prices way beyond their means in developing countries.

Four Eyed Monsters Saga Continues

Back on June 11 I conducted an interview with creator and co-star of “Four Eyed Monsters” Arin Crumley.  Being preoccupied with the social startup planning, I haven’t been able to touch base with him to see where things are currently at.  I did take at look at the website tonight though and as of today, 26 days after its initial release on YouTube, the feature length film has been viewed 667, 480 times and has raised $33, 345 via its partnership with Spout.com.  Definitely impressive for a film that can be watched at no cost, but well below the $100, 000 credit card debt Crumley and co-star Susan Buice racked up producing the flick.  However, if you scroll down the webpage you can see that there have been 1, 068 DVD copies of the movie sold, with half of the $15 price tag going to the filmmakers in addition to the standalone downloads.  Of those, the filmmakers once again take 50% of the sales of 66 iPod quality downloads at $3 apiece and likewise with the 113 $8 max. quality downloads.

They have also received more press attention since the release from Wired News on June 25 and Netribution back on June 12.  Here is a video of Arin Crumley’s interview with Hugh Hart from Wired.com:

Moving Into The Conceptual Age will be sure to continue to follow the saga of Four Eyed Monsters as well as highlight other innovative models in film distribution in the near future.

Mother Nature Will Dictate Product And Inevitably Business Design

The first trend I proposed for Business Trends of the Future was the influence Mother Nature will have on product and business design.  This first became apparent to me when I began to read with some regularity Dwell magazine.  Interestingly, this was one of the magazines Daniel Pink proposed as a good read to develop a design component to the thinking process.  We all know that sustainability is a big trend right now and rightly so; in Dwell (which is an architectural design magazine basically) however, many homes are featured that when designed and built, were put up in way that not only minimized the environmental impact of the building, but also tended to blend into that environment.  Many of the buildings featured have the quality of actually becoming an extension of the surrounding environment; almost a living, organic entity.

One current example that comes to mind is Fab Tree Hab, a conceptual architectural design first put together by three MIT students and currently being moved beyond the conceptual stage by Mitchell Joachim (one of the original three) through his nonprofit, Terraform.  The idea is basically to allow the growth of a specific Israeli tree to determine the exterior design of the house as it grows.  Joachim uses a computer-designed plywood structure as a framework over which the tree will grow.  As it grows over the plywood, the plywood is removed and the interior walls are built out of clay and plaster.  Although there have been some kinks to work out in the areas of zoning and window installation, Joachim feels the concept will soon be ready for sale.  Interestingly, all the interior workings of the house are entirely sustainable.  Here are 9 characteristics of the structure put forth by the original three designers:

1. Composed with 100% living nutrients.
2. Harmonize & embrace growth.
3. Make effective contributions to the ecosystem.
4. Accountable removal of human impacts.
5. Involve arboreal farming & production.
6. Subsume technology within terrestrial environs.
7. Circulate water & metabolic flows symbiotically.
8. Consider the life cycle, from use to disposal.
9. Achieve a fitness with our earthen web of life. 

As you can see, this structure has moved beyond green and sustainable to ABSOLUTELY green!

Mitchell Joachim’s website has an excellent slideshow describing both the interior and exterior workings of the project in-depth.

I also came across an interesting article at CNNMoney.com which was originally written by Ethan Watters in Business 2.0 magazine.  Entitled “Product Design, Nature’s Way“, the article provides some insight into the relatively new field of biomimicry.  The Biomimicry Institute defines biomimicry as “a design discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems”.  Proponents believe that many of the problems mankind is currently attempting to solve already have a solution available in the natural environment.  Our job is just to find it.  Ethan Watters article aptly begins, “for all their skill and technological prowess, human engineers still can’t match Mother Nature’s best designs”.  Knowing this, it would make sense that the next move in product design and development and eventually business design itself would be to look to Mother Nature for inspiration.  Furthermore, biomimics, as practitioners of the emerging science are known, believe that by applying nature’s example, we will be doing the best we can to combat enviromental destruction by humans and that natural designs tend to be the most efficient. 

As a result of this development we see SYMPHONY, as a Conceptual Age aptitude, in action.  John Pietrzyk, president of Biomimetic Connections, a California-based consulting firm states,  “The biologists who know their species and the engineers who solve specific problems are finally talking to each other.  When universities fully integrate research teams, they’re going to produce wonders”.  Who would of thought biologists and engineers would one day be working in tandem to produce tangible products incorporating natural design principles?

Back in 2004, Wired magazine published an article titled “Ideas Stolen Right From Nature“.  While much of the article tried to shed light on the re-emerging science of biomimetics which hadn’t at that time had much success since the invention of Velcro, there was one quotation that illuminated for me the potential of biomimicry in business in the years to come:

“At present there is only a 10 percent overlap between biology and technology in terms of the mechanisms used,” said Julian Vincent, professor of biomimetics at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom. “So I feel that there is huge potential.”

That spells out the future potential right there.  There is only a 10% overlap between biology and tech in mechanisms used.  That leaves 90% of natural solutions to be applied to technology in order to solve problems and make a profit.

While this posting is in no way an extensive and all-encompassing explanation and argument for biomimicry, I feel that the science will play a large part in future business and design trends.  Explore the subject for yourself and let me know what you think!

Let’s Just Sit On The Couch And Outsource Everything!

I had bookmarked this article in the Wall Street Journal last weekend, written by Ellen Gamerman entitled, “Outsourcing Your Life“, and then quickly forgot about it.  I must address it, however, because I find it kind of bizarre.  Outsourcing of work to countries like India and China is commonplace in large corporations, and a growing trend in small business as well.  Outsourcing tasks from our personal lives is the next logical step apparently.  It really just seems like a lot of extra work to me!  Yes, I suppose that in some cases there is money to be saved.  But rather than look solely at the monetary costs involved, look at the opportunity cost.  Add in the time required to locate individuals or companies willing to do your various personal tasks and you’re probably not gaining a whole heck of alot.  Maybe in the future, if this becomes a larger trend and there are platforms developed solely for this type of business exchange, it could possibly become efficient enough to warrant doing.  It remains to be seen I guess!

A Marketing Experiment…

This blog is a marketing experiment.  It is one man’s attempt to develop the aptitudes required to be an innovator in the approaching Conceptual Age.  It stems from the ideas put forth by Daniel Pink in his book, “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future“.  I found his book very relevant to our time and believe that his ideas (specifically the six aptitudes he believes will be required for success in the Conceptual Age) will drive innovations in all types of industries in the years to come.  I should mention the six right-brain aptitudes he delves into are:

1. design
2. story
3. symphony
4. empathy
5. play
6. and, meaning

While I still believe we are definitely in the Information Age, we are seeing an increasing amount of innovation in so-called left-brain jobs coming from right-brain thinking orientations.  I believe, as does Pink, that as we move into the next age, what he calls the Conceptual Age, a whole-brain type of thinking (meaning both left and right brain in symphony) will be required for not only success in business, but also in life.

Currently, I am a Business Administration student at Red River College in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  I’m majoring in marketing, but am of the belief that traditional education in itself does not cut it in the current marketplace.  As such, this blog will track my attempt to move out of the traditional bounds of business education and develop the skills required for success in the future marketplace.  In some ways, it could be said to be an experiment in personal branding or forging a branded online reputation.  Ultimately, I suppose that is the goal, consciously or subconsciously, of every user of Web 2.0 technologies.  If that is the case, I hope I am able to convey to the reader a personal brand that is new, out-of-the-box, and malleable enough to cross the boundaries of different industries.  A Conceptual Age brand, prepared for release into the market, before we even fully enter this new age.