TIMnovate

Innovation Blog

The Internet of Things:  The Next Big Things?

By Shlomo Maital

 A fascinating article in the latest McKinsey Quarterly, The Internet of Things, [1]  by Michael Chui, Markus Loffler and Roger Roberts,   makes a key point:

 “In what’s called the Internet of Things, sensors and actuators embedded in physical objects—from roadways to pacemakers—are linked through wired and wireless networks, often using the same Internet Protocol (IP) that connects the Internet. These networks churn out huge volumes of data that flow to computers for analysis. When objects can both sense the environment and communicate, they become tools for understanding complexity and responding to it swiftly. What’s revolutionary in all this is that these physical information systems are now beginning to be deployed, and some of them even work largely without human intervention.”

A few examples?

1. Tracking behavior

When products are embedded with sensors, companies can track the movements of these products and even monitor interactions with them. Business models can be fine-tuned to take advantage of this behavioral data.

2. Enhanced situational awareness

Data from large numbers of sensors, deployed in infrastructure (such as roads and buildings) or to report on environmental conditions (including soil moisture, ocean currents, or weather), can give decision makers a heightened awareness of real-time events, particularly when the sensors are used with advanced display or visualization technologies.

3.  Process optimization

The Internet of Things is opening new frontiers for improving processes. Some industries, such as chemical production, are installing legions of sensors to bring much greater granularity to monitoring. These sensors feed data to computers, which in turn analyze them and then send signals to actuators that adjust processes—for example, by modifying ingredient mixtures, temperatures, or pressures.

  Think about your innovative product or service idea.  How can you enhance it, by adding “Internet of Things” technology?  Chances are, your competitors are doing just that, at this very moment. 

   The authors conclude:

   Companies can begin taking steps now to position themselves for these changes by using the new technologies to optimize business processes in which traditional approaches have not brought satisfactory returns. Energy consumption efficiency and process optimization are good early targets. Experiments with the emerging technologies should be conducted in development labs and in small-scale pilot trials, and established companies can seek partnerships with innovative technology suppliers creating Internet-of-Things capabilities for target industries.”

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[1]  McKinsey Quarterly March 2010.

Innovation Blog

Five Minutes on 60 Minutes:   Six Lessons Innovators Can Learn from Don Hewitt

By Shlomo Maital

 

   The inventor, and long-time producer, of the leading CBS News program 60 Minutes, Don Hewitt, passed away last summer.  He was 86.  He invented this documentary program, and brought it to the air in 1968,  nearly 42 years ago.  He was its producer until he retired at age 81, in 2004. 

    Innovators can learn many key lessons from his life and work. Here are a few of them.  Reading this takes less than five minutes.

  * 1.  “Tell me a story”. 

     Hewitt, when asked to define good journalism, said, “Four words!  Tell me a story!”.   He insisted on a good story, not on dry facts.   TV news tends to be very dull.  Hewitt showed how to make it interesting.    Strong innovations tell a story too.  They create meaning, by creating a narrative, and context, for their users.   If you, innovator, want to communicate a strategic direction to your people — tell them a great story, and vividly portray, with details, where you expect to arrive if everyone fulfills their mission.

    Hewitt once used this principle to explain the success of the Bible.  The people who wrote the Bible, he said, wrote stories about evil in the world.   “And I latched on to this idea. “

* 2.  Foster controlled chaos: 

    Hewitt was a dictator, contentious, argumentative, fierce-tempered, who fought bitterly and continually with his journalists — an all-star cast, including Ed Bradley, Morley Safer, Mike Wallace, Lesley Stahl, Steve Croft.  His battles with Mike Wallace were legendary.   He did not use focus groups, panels, surveys, or anything else, to tell him what people wanted to watch.  Out of this controlled chaos, came great TV journalism.  The arguments ended in fast friendships, because the people who worked for him realized how deep his passion for TV news was, and how everything he did was driven not by his own ego, but by his passion for telling great stories.   Most people who worked for him did so for many many years, despite the constant conflict.  The situation at 60 Minutes was controlled chaos — little formal organization or process.  But it worked well, for creative people. 

 *  3.  The “Mildred” principle —  the common touch:

     Hewitt knew who his viewers are.  They are “firemen, policemen, hardhats”, he once said.  When accused in a Fox TV interview of being “elitist” (the very worst word Fox can think of),  Hewitt said that he uses the “Mildred” principle.  

   “Hey, Mildred!   Do you know what these guys are talking about?  Let’s shut it off or watch the basketball game.”   Hewitt knew he had to catch Mildred’s interest, that 60 Minutes pieces had to be clear, simple, gripping, interesting, telling a great story that you just HAD to watch.  

    Innovators — be sure you always remain in close touch with your clients, as Hewitt did; never forget who they are, how you are serving them, and what they need and want.   If your innovation succeeds, it is the fastest and easiest thing in the world for you to lose touch with your clients, because you are busy, wealthy, bored, or simply neglectful.

*  4. Don’t be afraid! 

     Hewitt was fearless.  He employed people who were fearless too.  Just after the American hostages were released, in Iran, Mike Wallace interviewed  the Ayatollah Khomeini for 60 Minutes.  Wallace said, quote:  “Sir,  forgive me, but, President Mubarak thinks you are a “lunatic”.  Forgive me — those are his words.  How do you respond to this?”…  He told President Clinton, interviewed after the Monica Levinsky affair:  Tell us the truth!  Then when they keep asking you, tell them you said it all on 60 Minutes!   Hewitt was fiercely competitive, and constantly checked 60 Minutes’ ratings.  He once stole an NBC TV truck and hid it in a cornfield (during the Khruschev visit to an American farm), to gain an advantage. 

*  5. Never hire people who always agree with you.

    Hewitt told ABC interviewer Barbara Walters: “Everyone who works for me is smarter than me.  No one is afraid to argue with me.  And they always do.”

*  6.  Turn your failings, your problems, into levers for success, not excuses for failure.

    Today, Hewitt would be diagnosed by child psychologists as “ADHD” (attention deficit hyperactive disorder).  He could not sit still for 15 minutes.  He flunked out of college.  He was endlessly restless and hyperactive.  He brought this quality to 60 Minutes. Each segment was no more than 15 minutes long, because he felt that was the maximum attention span of the viewer, no matter how gripping the story.  He made sure that every minute of the 15 minutes was gripping and interesting, part of the story, because if he lost interest, so would his viewers.

   Hewitt said that he did not understand the 21st C.  He was still living in the 20th C. But perhaps that was an advantage.  Perhaps many of his viewers were puzzled too by the 21st C.  Hewitt helped them understand it. 

Innovation Blog

Reinventing the Sandwich — How to Get Free R&D

By Shlomo Maital

  Visit the  Parish Café  in downtown Boston, on Boylston St. [1]  You’ll have the best sandwich you’ve ever tasted.       And to boot, you’ll learn a small lesson in innovation — the process, not the product.

   The owners of the  Parish Café  came up with a simple innovation.

  They asked the leading chefs of Boston’s top restaurants each to ‘design’ a sandwich.  The sandwich was named after the chef.

    The Paris Café menu is comprised of those ‘designer’ sandwiches.

    When a new star chef arrives,  he or she too gets their own designer sandwich.

    This is free R&D.  It employs the combined knowledge and experience of top chefs, gratis.  And it is win-win.  It gives each chef some publicity, builds business for their restaurant (“if you liked the sandwich, go eat at the authentic source”), and tickles some ego.  

     The idea cannot be patented or copyrighted.  Anyone can do the same. Tomorrow someone could open the London Café next door and do the same. 

     The only way to protect this idea is to implement or executive it flawlessly, and to broadcast “authenticity” — we are the source, the original, the authentic.

    Can this model be applied to products other than food?  I’m pretty sure it can.   Name a model of your product after a top designer — after he/she designs it for free…. 

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* The Zuni Roll / $11.50   Created by: Cottonwood Café, Boston

Smoked turkey breast, crisp bacon, chopped scallions, dill havarti cheese, and cranberry-chipotle sauce wrapped in a flour tortilla and served warm with a side of homemade potato salad or cole slaw.

* Rowdy’s Famous Chicken Sandwich / $11.50  Created by: Rowdy Bessey, Chef-Flash’s, Boston

A baked, breaded chicken cutlet served on a deluxe roll with melted Swiss and cheddar cheeses, applewood smoked bacon,romaine lettuce and tomato. Sided with a homemade chipotle aioli and your choice of homemade potato salad or cole slaw.

* The Regal Regis / $12.50 Created by: Susan Regis, Chef-Upstairs on the Square, Cambridge

Sliced flank steak and portobello mushrooms in a soy, scallion and balsamic marinade. Served on Romano cheese crusted French bread with a side of homemade potato salad or coleslaw.

*  Elephant Walking on Eggs “Sandwich from the Mountain” / $11.25  Created by: Gerard Lopez, Chef/Owner-The Elephant Walk, Cambridge

An assortment of julienned vegetables sautéed with fresh goat cheese and New England eggs. Served omelette style on a French baguette. Sided with mixed greens, tomatoes and cucumbers with an herb vinaigrette.

* Sean’s Meatloaf Club / $12.75  Created by: Sean Simmons, Chef/Owner-Parish Cafe, Boston

Homemade chipotle meatloaf on Texas toast with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, applewood smoked bacon and chipotle-mayo. Served with garlic mashed potatoes and gravy.

* Veggie Wrap / $9.00  Created by: Jorge Ramos, Sous Chef- Parish Cafe, Boston

White bean hummus, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and crumbled feta cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla.  Served with a side of dill-yogurt spread and your choice of homemade potato salad or cole slaw.

* The Nebo / $11.25   Created by: The Pallotta Sisters, Executive Chefs-Nebo, Boston

Italian tuna on a crunchy baguette with an olive tapenade, Mediterranean aioli, lettuce, tomato, sliced hard boiled eggs, fresh basiland red onions. Served with a string bean-tomato salad.

* Mexican Meatball Sub / $13.00  Created by: Brian Poe, Executive Chef – Rattlesnake Bar and Grill, Boston

Cilantro infused Mexican meatball sandwich with a chipotle and jalepeno au jus, pepperjack cheese,red onions,lettuce and tomatoes on a toasted baquette. Served with an aguas fresca salad.

* The dbar / $13.50  Created by: Chris Coombs, Executive Chef- dbar, Dorchester

A pan-fried veal cutlet sandwich on a toasted baguette, topped with applewood smoked bacon, gruyere cheese, tomato-caper relish and tarragon-mustard aioli. Served with your choice of homemade potato salad or cole slaw.

* Egg Sandwich Lyonnaise/ $9.75   Created by: Tony Maws,Executive Chef/ Owner- Craigie on Main, Cambridge

Two eggs fried over easy and served on toasted white bread with applewood smoked bacon, sliced tomatoes, sliced red onions, frisee and dijon mustard aioli. Served with homemade potato salad.

* Steak and Blue / $15.75  Created by: Lydia Shire, Chef/ Owner- Locke-Ober, Boston

A sumptuous RARE tenderloin sandwich on blue cheese bread with roquefort butter and topped with marinated red onions. Served with mixed greens, pickled ginger cabbage and marinated red onions.

* Spicy Tuna Burger** / Market Price   Created by: Tim Cushman, Chef/Owner- o ya, Boston

Sashimi grade yellowfin tuna, finely chopped and formed into a patty and grilled to medium-rare. Served on a classic seeded burger bun with homemade spicey mayo, thinly sliced pickled ginger, scallions, mixed greens, roma tomatoes, toasted sesame seeds and a drizzle of kabayaki sauce. Sided with potato chips.

 

* Roasted Chicken Salad / $11.50 Created by: Mark Sapienza,Executive Chef- The Langham Hotel, Boston

Roasted chicken breast mixed with sweet garlic aioli, red onions, scallions, thyme and tarragon served on an Italian sub roll with sliced tomatoes and romaine and topped with crisp fried onions. Served with homemade potato salad.

   

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[1] 361 Boylston St., downtown Boston.

 

Innovation Blog: Oh, Say Can You See?  How Innovators Can (and Must) Practice Sharpening Their Senses  By Shlomo Maital  Joshua Bell     “Oh, say, can you see…” go the words of America’s national anthem, “in the dawn’s early light…”       The answer for most of us is, frankly, No!   We cannot see.  Even in the bright sunshine of mid-day, let alone at dawn.  We cannot, do not, see.       We do not see, hear, smell, taste or feel most of what goes on around us.  As a result, the spark for many great innovative ideas is utterly lost.  And much of the joy of daily life is lost.          Here is some vivid proof.           In a curious experiment initiated by Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten, [famed concert violinist Joshua]  Bell donned a baseball cap and played as an incognito street busker at the Metro subway station L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C. on a cold winter morning,  on January 12, 2007.     What was the result of the experiment?  Weingarten wrote, in his article:[1]       It was 7:51 a.m. on Friday, January 12, the middle of the morning rush hour. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. Almost all of them were on the way to work, which meant, for almost all of them, a government job. L’Enfant Plaza is at the nucleus of federal Washington, and these were mostly mid-level bureaucrats with those indeterminate, oddly fungible titles: policy analyst, project manager, budget officer, specialist, facilitator, consultant.        Each passerby had a quick choice to make, one familiar to commuters in any urban area where the occasional street performer is part of the cityscape: Do you stop and listen? Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed by the unbidden demand on your time and your wallet? Do you throw in a buck, just to be polite? Does your decision change if he’s really bad? What if he’s really good? Do you have time for beauty? Shouldn’t you? What’s the moral mathematics of the moment?      The experiment was videotaped on hidden camera; among 1,097 people who passed by, only seven stopped to listen to him, and only one recognized him.  For his nearly 45-minute performance, Bell collected $32.17 from 27 passersby (excluding $20 from the passerby who recognized him).   (Weingarten won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for his article on the experiment.)      Gene Weingarten concludes:    A onetime child prodigy, at 39 Joshua Bell has arrived as an internationally acclaimed virtuoso. Three days before he appeared at the Metro station, Bell had filled the house at Boston’s stately Symphony Hall, where merely pretty good seats went for $100. Two weeks later, at the Music Center at Strathmore, in North Bethesda, he would play to a standing-room-only audience so respectful of his artistry that they stifled their coughs until the silence between movements. But on that Friday in January, Joshua Bell was just another mendicant, competing for the attention of busy people on their way to work.   There is a powerful lesson here.         Many wonderful things happen around us.  Most of them are seemingly small — a child playing a game, a puppy, a senior-citizen couple holding hands, a strange cloud — and most of the time, we are too busy, and in too much of a hurry to do “important” things, to take notice.   So when a world famous concert violinist plays in a subway station, few take notice.  They assume that a street musician is inferior,  otherwise, why in the world would he or she be a street musician?       Let us vow to do the following, for the coming seven days:       Seek to notice small unusual things or events.  When you find them, be aware of them.  Sharpen your vision.  Practice makes perfect.  As you take note of these things, you will find that spotting them becomes much easier.  No matter how hurried you are, stop and take notice.  Take time to delight in the small things the world offers.        In his book How to Think Like Da Vinci, Michael Gelb notes how da Vinci, perhaps the most creative person in the history of the world, exercised his creativity muscles constantly by sharpening all his senses:   sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell.         We may not become da Vinci.  But we can become far more observant of the wonders that unfold around us.   We can hear a street violinist,  and stop for a moment to listen, and put some money into his/her cap.       We can, with practice, answer the rhetorical question in The Star Spangled Banner:  Yes!  I can see.

 

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[1]  Gene Weingarten, Pearls Before Breakfast:  Washington Post, Sunday April 8 2007.

 Innovation Blog

The Devil Wears Prada — but  Innovators Win Oscars:  Charisma, Leadership and Innovation

By Shlomo Maital        Steve Jobs again took center stage on Jan. 27, announcing Apple’s $499 iPad.  His performance, as seen on YouTube, was theatrical, worthy of an Oscar.   Bouncing around the stage, effusing superlatives for a product whose innovativeness is minimal  (“phenomenal, an incredible experience!   a dream to type on!”…”),  Jobs’ hysteria raised a question in my mind.

     What in the world is he up to?  Is it all about him, Steve Jobs?  Has ego captured Steve Jobs, as Allied forces captured the beaches of Normandy in 1944?  Does his overpriced iPad enable us to do things easily that we do not really need to do at all?

     According to Harvard Business School Professor John Kao, a leadership guru, “Apple represents the ‘auteur model of innovation’.  There is a tight connection between the personality of the project leader and what is created.” [1]   Kao cites movies as a metaphor — Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” or Cameron’s “Avatar”, both bearing the powerful stamp of the director.   

     With due respect to Kao, I think he errs.  Movies are a team effort.  So is iPad.  Here is my defense of Steve Jobs’ behavior. 

     In my Dec. 20, 2009 blog,  “Avatar and Titanic: Innovation 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea — James Cameron and Robert Ballard”,  I noted the Jekyll & Hyde schizophrenic quality of large-scale innovators (like Cameron, who raised $400 m. to make Avatar) and Ballard (who constantly raises funds to support his expensive exploration vessel and laboratory).  Cameron and Ballard are willing to act like egomaniacs, make extravagant claims, excite their audience on TV and get them to whip out their checkbooks.  This is Mr. Hyde.  He is essential to large-scale innovations.  He is King of over-the-top charisma.

     But when they work behind the scenes, with their team, they are Dr. Jekyll — amiable, modest team players, willing to listen to wild ideas, able to attract creative people and keep them happy.  He is the Prince of collaboration, sharing, understatement.    Mr Hyde is equally essential.  And Jekyll & Hyde must co-exist, without one dominating the other.  This is very difficult, and few leaders can manage to excel in both roles. 

     Steve Jobs is great at both.  He can win an Oscar on stage, and wins smiles  and super-creativity backstage.  Implementing “Think Different!” takes more than one Steve Jobs.

      But there is one major caveat.  The histrionics of innovation leaders on-stage can be ruinous, if these leaders insist of surrounding themselves with the trappings of their position: sumptuous offices,  $10,000 wastebaskets, and so on.  In their Harvard Business School study,  “The Devil Wears Prada?  Effects of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Cognition and Decision Making”,   Roy Chua and Xi Zou report that “…mere exposure to luxury goods increasesindividuals’ propensity to prioritize self-interests over others’ interests, influencing the decisions they make.”  

     In other words:  As an innovation leader, go ahead and win that Oscar on stage, to create buzz for your product.  But if you surround yourself with luxury, sooner or later it will corrupt you, and you will begin to believe your own hype.  

     The Devil wears Prada.  Innovators pitch, hype and exaggerate, but wear jeans and drive Fords and give maximum credit to their team-mates.

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[1] Quoted in Steve Lohr, “At Apple, Innovation with a Personal Twist”, IHT Monday Feb. 1, 2010, p. 15.