June 2008 - Posts

• Bill Gates: An innovator for the ages

  Friday, June 27, 2008 12:40 PM

  The whole world seems to be writing about Bill Gates's final day at Microsoft right now, and I'm going to add to the chorus. It's well known that Waggener Edstrom represents Microsoft, and I had the privilege of working with Microsoft for 15 years, and Read More... 0 Comments

• Q. What do the two US presidential candidates think about innovation?

  Thursday, June 26, 2008 4:35 PM

  A. It seems they're for it. It's a sign of the times that you can type in "XX US Presidential candidate and innovation" in a search engine and find a trove of information. I'm not taking a position (OK, I'm for Obama) but will note the following: Barack Read More... 0 Comments

• Communicating the problem

  Wednesday, June 18, 2008 12:19 PM

  I came across this clock from somewhere or other and it made me ponder how clocks (this is really more of a counter, actually) can be a useful communications device for communicating the scale of a problem, or its urgency. It's striking to note the statistics Read More... 0 Comments

• Social innovation is the lead dog

  Monday, June 16, 2008 11:11 AM

  Here is something I discovered that I confess I hadn’t been so conscious of, and stumbled across in doing research for a thought piece on microfinance, specifically microcredit. It shouldn't be surprising that this paradigm-shifting concept, borne out Read More... 0 Comments Tags: Innovation, microcredit, microfinance

• Social innovation--whose role is it?

  Friday, June 13, 2008 6:56 PM

  This speech by Bob Geldof at NESTA's Innovation Edge Conference in the UK last month was thought provoking. It's a call to action for UK entrepreneurs to shake off their paralysis and risk aversion and begin to apply their best thinking to where the real Read More... 0 Comments Tags: Social Innovation, Conference, Gates Foundation, Bob Geldof

• The urge to smear

  Tuesday, June 10, 2008 4:43 PM

  Catching up on reading, I came across this story in BusinessWeek about the unrealized potential of microfiber as a way to clean and remove germs. Why aren't we using these? I actually am pretty sure I have a few of these miracle cloths somewhere around Read More... 0 Comments Tags: communications, marketing, micro fiber

• Reverse innovation, Italian style

  Friday, June 06, 2008 9:58 AM

  Back from multiple weeks in Italy. Wow. Having been in many places in Europe over the years, but not in Italy since I was in college, way before European Union, it's very clear the last couple of decades have been very good to Italy. Maybe it's because Read More... 0 Comments Tags: Italy, Spannocchia, traditional agriculture, globalization