The Technology Strategy Board recently launched a new Grant for Research and Development programme designed specifically for individual small to medium enterprises.
Aimed at SME's engaged in technology-based R&D projects, three types of grant are available for proof of market projects, proof of concept and development of prototype - with funding levels ranging from £25k - £250k.
Grant for R&D is a successor to funding programmes previously available from Regional Development Agencies, however some of the qualification criteria are different and businesses need to ensure that applications are specifically aimed at the new scheme.
To apply see here:
http://www.innovateuk.org/deliveringinnovation/grant-for-research-and-development.ashx
To see how ApplyInnovation might help your business see here:
http://www.applyinnovation.com
Apply provides expert advice on business, project and product development to clients engaged with capital projects.
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Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Apply News: Sarah McCarthy appointed to the Parliamentary Liaison Team of The Heritage Alliance
In February, Apply's Sarah McCarthy was appointed to the Parliamentary Liaison Team of The Heritage Alliance, with specific focus on archaeology.
The Heritage Alliance is the biggest collaborative alliance of heritage interests in the UK and was set up to promote the central role of the non-Government movement in the heritage sector. The Heritage Alliance has 87 members; national and major regional organisations including The National Trust, the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) as well as many smaller and more specialised heritage groups.
Sarah's role is concerned with co-ordinating the Alliance members' activities in relation to the Localism Bill and the forthcoming National Planning Policy Framework consultation, and communicating their ideas and concerns to parliament and other opinion formers.
Dr Sarah McCarthy specialises in heritage tourism and conservation planning, as well as advising clients in visitor management, interpretive planning and delivery.
The Heritage Alliance is the biggest collaborative alliance of heritage interests in the UK and was set up to promote the central role of the non-Government movement in the heritage sector. The Heritage Alliance has 87 members; national and major regional organisations including The National Trust, the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) as well as many smaller and more specialised heritage groups.
Sarah's role is concerned with co-ordinating the Alliance members' activities in relation to the Localism Bill and the forthcoming National Planning Policy Framework consultation, and communicating their ideas and concerns to parliament and other opinion formers.
Dr Sarah McCarthy specialises in heritage tourism and conservation planning, as well as advising clients in visitor management, interpretive planning and delivery.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop’s “burning platform” memo to staff - February 2011, days before he announced the collaboration with Microsoft as the company’s strategy for recovery.
Hello there,
There is a pertinent story about a man who was working on an oil platform in the North Sea. He woke up one night from a loud explosion, which suddenly set his entire oil platform on fire. In mere moments, he was surrounded by flames. Through the smoke and heat, he barely made his way out of the chaos to the platform's edge. When he looked down over the edge, all he could see were the dark, cold, foreboding Atlantic waters.
As the fire approached him, the man had mere seconds to react. He could stand on the platform, and inevitably be consumed by the burning flames. Or, he could plunge 30 meters in to the freezing waters. The man was standing upon a "burning platform," and he needed to make a choice.
He decided to jump. It was unexpected. In ordinary circumstances, the man would never consider plunging into icy waters. But these were not ordinary times - his platform was on fire. The man survived the fall and the waters. After he was rescued, he noted that a "burning platform" caused a radical change in his behaviour.
We too, are standing on a "burning platform," and we must decide how we are going to change our behaviour.
Over the past few months, I've shared with you what I've heard from our shareholders, operators, developers, suppliers and from you. Today, I'm going to share what I've learned and what I have come to believe.
I have learned that we are standing on a burning platform.
And, we have more than one explosion - we have multiple points of scorching heat that are fuelling a blazing fire around us.
For example, there is intense heat coming from our competitors, more rapidly than we ever expected. Apple disrupted the market by redefining the smartphone and attracting developers to a closed, but very powerful ecosystem.
In 2008, Apple's market share in the $300+ price range was 25 percent; by 2010 it escalated to 61 percent. They are enjoying a tremendous growth trajectory with a 78 percent earnings growth year over year in Q4 2010. Apple demonstrated that if designed well, consumers would buy a high-priced phone with a great experience and developers would build applications. They changed the game, and today, Apple owns the high-end range.
And then, there is Android. In about two years, Android created a platform that attracts application developers, service providers and hardware manufacturers. Android came in at the high-end, they are now winning the mid-range, and quickly they are going downstream to phones under €100. Google has become a gravitational force, drawing much of the industry's innovation to its core.
Let's not forget about the low-end price range. In 2008, MediaTek supplied complete reference designs for phone chipsets, which enabled manufacturers in the Shenzhen region of China to produce phones at an unbelievable pace. By some accounts, this ecosystem now produces more than one third of the phones sold globally - taking share from us in emerging markets.
While competitors poured flames on our market share, what happened at Nokia? We fell behind, we missed big trends, and we lost time. At that time, we thought we were making the right decisions; but, with the benefit of hindsight, we now find ourselves years behind.
The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don't have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable.
We have some brilliant sources of innovation inside Nokia, but we are not bringing it to market fast enough. We thought MeeGo would be a platform for winning high-end smartphones. However, at this rate, by the end of 2011, we might have only one MeeGo product in the market.
At the midrange, we have Symbian. It has proven to be non-competitive in leading markets like North America. Additionally, Symbian is proving to be an increasingly difficult environment in which to develop to meet the continuously expanding consumer requirements, leading to slowness in product development and also creating a disadvantage when we seek to take advantage of new hardware platforms. As a result, if we continue like before, we will get further and further behind, while our competitors advance further and further ahead.
At the lower-end price range, Chinese OEMs are cranking out a device much faster than, as one Nokia employee said only partially in jest, "the time that it takes us to polish a PowerPoint presentation." They are fast, they are cheap, and they are challenging us.
And the truly perplexing aspect is that we're not even fighting with the right weapons. We are still too often trying to approach each price range on a device-to-device basis.
The battle of devices has now become a war of ecosystems, where ecosystems include not only the hardware and software of the device, but developers, applications, ecommerce, advertising, search, social applications, location-based services, unified communications and many other things. Our competitors aren't taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem. This means we're going to have to decide how we either build, catalyse or join an ecosystem.
This is one of the decisions we need to make. In the meantime, we've lost market share, we've lost mind share and we've lost time.
On Tuesday, Standard & Poor's informed that they will put our A long term and A-1 short term ratings on negative credit watch. This is a similar rating action to the one that Moody's took last week. Basically it means that during the next few weeks they will make an analysis of Nokia, and decide on a possible credit rating downgrade. Why are these credit agencies contemplating these changes? Because they are concerned about our competitiveness.
Consumer preference for Nokia declined worldwide. In the UK, our brand preference has slipped to 20 percent, which is 8 percent lower than last year. That means only 1 out of 5 people in the UK prefer Nokia to other brands. It's also down in the other markets, which are traditionally our strongholds: Russia, Germany, Indonesia, UAE, and on and on and on.
How did we get to this point? Why did we fall behind when the world around us evolved?
This is what I have been trying to understand. I believe at least some of it has been due to our attitude inside Nokia. We poured gasoline on our own burning platform. I believe we have lacked accountability and leadership to align and direct the company through these disruptive times. We had a series of misses. We haven't been delivering innovation fast enough. We're not collaborating internally.
Nokia, our platform is burning.
We are working on a path forward -- a path to rebuild our market leadership. When we share the new strategy on February 11, it will be a huge effort to transform our company. But, I believe that together, we can face the challenges ahead of us. Together, we can choose to define our future.
The burning platform, upon which the man found himself, caused the man to shift his behaviour, and take a bold and brave step into an uncertain future. He was able to tell his story. Now, we have a great opportunity to do the same.
Stephen.
There is a pertinent story about a man who was working on an oil platform in the North Sea. He woke up one night from a loud explosion, which suddenly set his entire oil platform on fire. In mere moments, he was surrounded by flames. Through the smoke and heat, he barely made his way out of the chaos to the platform's edge. When he looked down over the edge, all he could see were the dark, cold, foreboding Atlantic waters.
As the fire approached him, the man had mere seconds to react. He could stand on the platform, and inevitably be consumed by the burning flames. Or, he could plunge 30 meters in to the freezing waters. The man was standing upon a "burning platform," and he needed to make a choice.
He decided to jump. It was unexpected. In ordinary circumstances, the man would never consider plunging into icy waters. But these were not ordinary times - his platform was on fire. The man survived the fall and the waters. After he was rescued, he noted that a "burning platform" caused a radical change in his behaviour.
We too, are standing on a "burning platform," and we must decide how we are going to change our behaviour.
Over the past few months, I've shared with you what I've heard from our shareholders, operators, developers, suppliers and from you. Today, I'm going to share what I've learned and what I have come to believe.
I have learned that we are standing on a burning platform.
And, we have more than one explosion - we have multiple points of scorching heat that are fuelling a blazing fire around us.
For example, there is intense heat coming from our competitors, more rapidly than we ever expected. Apple disrupted the market by redefining the smartphone and attracting developers to a closed, but very powerful ecosystem.
In 2008, Apple's market share in the $300+ price range was 25 percent; by 2010 it escalated to 61 percent. They are enjoying a tremendous growth trajectory with a 78 percent earnings growth year over year in Q4 2010. Apple demonstrated that if designed well, consumers would buy a high-priced phone with a great experience and developers would build applications. They changed the game, and today, Apple owns the high-end range.
And then, there is Android. In about two years, Android created a platform that attracts application developers, service providers and hardware manufacturers. Android came in at the high-end, they are now winning the mid-range, and quickly they are going downstream to phones under €100. Google has become a gravitational force, drawing much of the industry's innovation to its core.
Let's not forget about the low-end price range. In 2008, MediaTek supplied complete reference designs for phone chipsets, which enabled manufacturers in the Shenzhen region of China to produce phones at an unbelievable pace. By some accounts, this ecosystem now produces more than one third of the phones sold globally - taking share from us in emerging markets.
While competitors poured flames on our market share, what happened at Nokia? We fell behind, we missed big trends, and we lost time. At that time, we thought we were making the right decisions; but, with the benefit of hindsight, we now find ourselves years behind.
The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don't have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable.
We have some brilliant sources of innovation inside Nokia, but we are not bringing it to market fast enough. We thought MeeGo would be a platform for winning high-end smartphones. However, at this rate, by the end of 2011, we might have only one MeeGo product in the market.
At the midrange, we have Symbian. It has proven to be non-competitive in leading markets like North America. Additionally, Symbian is proving to be an increasingly difficult environment in which to develop to meet the continuously expanding consumer requirements, leading to slowness in product development and also creating a disadvantage when we seek to take advantage of new hardware platforms. As a result, if we continue like before, we will get further and further behind, while our competitors advance further and further ahead.
At the lower-end price range, Chinese OEMs are cranking out a device much faster than, as one Nokia employee said only partially in jest, "the time that it takes us to polish a PowerPoint presentation." They are fast, they are cheap, and they are challenging us.
And the truly perplexing aspect is that we're not even fighting with the right weapons. We are still too often trying to approach each price range on a device-to-device basis.
The battle of devices has now become a war of ecosystems, where ecosystems include not only the hardware and software of the device, but developers, applications, ecommerce, advertising, search, social applications, location-based services, unified communications and many other things. Our competitors aren't taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem. This means we're going to have to decide how we either build, catalyse or join an ecosystem.
This is one of the decisions we need to make. In the meantime, we've lost market share, we've lost mind share and we've lost time.
On Tuesday, Standard & Poor's informed that they will put our A long term and A-1 short term ratings on negative credit watch. This is a similar rating action to the one that Moody's took last week. Basically it means that during the next few weeks they will make an analysis of Nokia, and decide on a possible credit rating downgrade. Why are these credit agencies contemplating these changes? Because they are concerned about our competitiveness.
Consumer preference for Nokia declined worldwide. In the UK, our brand preference has slipped to 20 percent, which is 8 percent lower than last year. That means only 1 out of 5 people in the UK prefer Nokia to other brands. It's also down in the other markets, which are traditionally our strongholds: Russia, Germany, Indonesia, UAE, and on and on and on.
How did we get to this point? Why did we fall behind when the world around us evolved?
This is what I have been trying to understand. I believe at least some of it has been due to our attitude inside Nokia. We poured gasoline on our own burning platform. I believe we have lacked accountability and leadership to align and direct the company through these disruptive times. We had a series of misses. We haven't been delivering innovation fast enough. We're not collaborating internally.
Nokia, our platform is burning.
We are working on a path forward -- a path to rebuild our market leadership. When we share the new strategy on February 11, it will be a huge effort to transform our company. But, I believe that together, we can face the challenges ahead of us. Together, we can choose to define our future.
The burning platform, upon which the man found himself, caused the man to shift his behaviour, and take a bold and brave step into an uncertain future. He was able to tell his story. Now, we have a great opportunity to do the same.
Stephen.
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Funding for innovation available now...
News arrives from the Technology Strategy Board that funding for feasibility studies is available in four innovation areas.
"Could your company benefit from bringing an idea closer to market? Four new competitions, with £6.4m of funding, are dedicated to speeding up the development of innovative technologies. The four separate competitions are in the areas of:
- Digital services
- Innovation in Space
- Responsible development of nanoscale technologies
- Technology inspired innovation.
But interested companies will need to act quickly. The competitions open on 10th January 2011 and close on 10th February 2011."
Click here to find out more: innovateuk.org/competitions.ashx
Contact us here for help and advice on applying innovation in your company: applyinnovation.com
Monday, 25 October 2010
Government pledges to put Britain back at the top table for innovation.
The Prime Minister today announced plans for greater collaboration between universities and business.
Speaking at the CBI conference, David Cameron promised a 'relentless' push for growth with government investment of more than £200m over the next four years in technology and innovation centres.
Announcing what he claimed to be the "first ever national infrastructure plan", the prime minister said that the UK has sometimes been "complacent about our competitive advantage" and said the innovation centres would help new companies break into existing markets.
Outlining plans to create a "new economic dynamism", the prime minister listed his three point plan:
"First, using all available policy levers to create the right framework for enterprise and business investment.
"Second, using our resources to get behind those industries where Britain enjoys competitive advantages.
"Third, using our power and muscle to make it easier for new companies and innovations to flourish."
Prime Minister's CBI speech in full: http://bit.ly/cOhAfz
Speaking at the CBI conference, David Cameron promised a 'relentless' push for growth with government investment of more than £200m over the next four years in technology and innovation centres.
Announcing what he claimed to be the "first ever national infrastructure plan", the prime minister said that the UK has sometimes been "complacent about our competitive advantage" and said the innovation centres would help new companies break into existing markets.
Outlining plans to create a "new economic dynamism", the prime minister listed his three point plan:
"First, using all available policy levers to create the right framework for enterprise and business investment.
"Second, using our resources to get behind those industries where Britain enjoys competitive advantages.
"Third, using our power and muscle to make it easier for new companies and innovations to flourish."
Prime Minister's CBI speech in full: http://bit.ly/cOhAfz
Monday, 18 October 2010
Innovation Future Zone at ecobuild 2011
The Technology Strategy Board, Modern Built Environment KTN and EPSRC are joining forces to deliver the Innovation Future Zone at ecobuild2011 from 1-3 March 2011. The Innovation Future Zone will demonstrate exemplars of leading-edge innovation as a prominent part of the UK’s leading built environment exhibition.
If your organisation has a suitable innovation and you have a prototype or demonstrator piece which will fit on to a 40cm by 40cm plinth you are invited to submit an entry to the competition.
All competition entries will be judged by an expert panel consisting of zone partners and other independent industry experts with the winning submissions being notified in January 2011.
Leading up to ecobuild details of the winning entries will be displayed on partner websites to allow visitors to vote for the innovation that they think makes the biggest overall contribution and potential business impact for industry. Visitors to the zone during Ecobuild will also be able to cast their votes leading to the overall winning innovation being announced on the final day of the exhibition.
Ecobuild 2010
In 2010 the Innovation Future Zone demonstrated 22 new or near to market technologies with visitors to the zone invited to vote for their favourite innovation. Pavegen systems won the competition with their innovative energy harvesting floor slab.The 2011 Competition
The partners are now inviting competition entries for new or near to market technologies relevant to the priority areas of energy efficiency, refurbishment, climate change adaptation and process efficiency to participate in the zone.If your organisation has a suitable innovation and you have a prototype or demonstrator piece which will fit on to a 40cm by 40cm plinth you are invited to submit an entry to the competition.
All competition entries will be judged by an expert panel consisting of zone partners and other independent industry experts with the winning submissions being notified in January 2011.
Leading up to ecobuild details of the winning entries will be displayed on partner websites to allow visitors to vote for the innovation that they think makes the biggest overall contribution and potential business impact for industry. Visitors to the zone during Ecobuild will also be able to cast their votes leading to the overall winning innovation being announced on the final day of the exhibition.
Enter the Competition
To enter your innovation into the competition https://ktn.innovateuk.org/web/innovation-future-zone/ifz-at-ecobuild-2011 by Friday 10th December 2010Friday, 8 October 2010
Innovate 10: Connect for Growth
Led by the Technology Strategy Board, Innovate 10 takes place next week at the Business Design Centre in Islington. With a keynote address from Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts, it will be interesting to gauge the mood among innovators faced with significant challenges to research funding.
However, the Technology Strategy Board's online presence _connect https://ktn.innovateuk.org/web/guest/home has details of upcoming competitions for innovative project funding.
Worryingly, not many seem to date beyond the Comprehensive Spending Review scheduled for 20th October!
With 1800 attendees already registered for the event, why not add your support to the drive for innovation in UK.
Innovate 10
12 October 2010
Business Design Centre
London N1 0QH
www.innovate10.co.uk
However, the Technology Strategy Board's online presence _connect https://ktn.innovateuk.org/web/guest/home has details of upcoming competitions for innovative project funding.
Worryingly, not many seem to date beyond the Comprehensive Spending Review scheduled for 20th October!
With 1800 attendees already registered for the event, why not add your support to the drive for innovation in UK.
Innovate 10
12 October 2010
Business Design Centre
London N1 0QH
www.innovate10.co.uk
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson
I really enjoyed this engaging mind map, delightfully presented.
(More from Steven Johnson from TEDGlobal 2010 here: http://bit.ly/bs8u99 )
(More from Steven Johnson from TEDGlobal 2010 here: http://bit.ly/bs8u99 )
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Engineering as a Driving Force Behind the Design Thinking Movement
Great article by Bob Sutton at Work Matters - (Good Boss Bad Boss and The No Asshole Rule) - on Design Thinking, and reminding us (if it were needed), that David Kelley is an engineer.
http://bit.ly/9QmUqb
http://bit.ly/9QmUqb
Sunday, 25 July 2010
Liquid networks.
Steven Johnson on liquid networks - from London's coffee houses to Darwin's long, slow hunch to today's high velocity web - at TEDGlobal Oxford July 2010.
I particularly like the neonatal incubator made essentially from Toyota Landcruiser parts, as sustainable technology for emerging markets.
At 18 minutes long you might want to get yourself a coffee to feel at home.
I particularly like the neonatal incubator made essentially from Toyota Landcruiser parts, as sustainable technology for emerging markets.
At 18 minutes long you might want to get yourself a coffee to feel at home.
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Cumulative evolution and why nobody knows how to make a pencil.
Inspiring thoughts from Matt Ridley at TEDGlobal 2010 Oxford earlier this month, showing how human progress is driven by the meeting and mating of ideas and why nobody knows how to make a pencil.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Design for Growth
As organisations watch their traditional markets wilt, the need to build new revenue streams becomes more urgent. Perhaps not suprisingly, sticking with good management practices - even in tough times, is helping high performing co's to stand out.
Inside Microsoft's Envisioning Lab, Herman Miller's Convia system makes the building hardware as modular as the software display. Photograph by Lara Swimmer
Herman Miller's continued investment in innovation to identify and access new markets, is a great example of backing your team and its core competences to look for new problems that need great solutions. Click the link to strategy+business to find out what they are doing. http://bit.ly/a33qAP
Herman Miller's continued investment in innovation to identify and access new markets, is a great example of backing your team and its core competences to look for new problems that need great solutions. Click the link to strategy+business to find out what they are doing. http://bit.ly/a33qAP
Sunday, 28 March 2010
McLaren Technology Centre
Foster's fine five year old factory - a fitting face for the future of manufacturing in the UK.
It's even better up close...
It's even better up close...
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Stick and Carrot
At the Road to Zero Carbon seminar last week, there was much debate about why ‘green homes’ are not valued more highly. “They don’t get it” was a phrase I heard more than once from the floor. “They” of course, are the people who want to buy a home and the banks that lend them the money to do so.
So it’s good to see the Zero Carbon Hub championing “A Marketing Strategy for New Homes” http://bit.ly/9T1EzS
“Develop a national new homes marketing campaign to stimulate customer demand for low and zero carbon homes and move them from the ‘exemplar’ to the ‘mainstream’”.
However, the need to cut through the ‘green wash’ and provide clear information on performance, cost in use and durability must not be lost in some sort of manifesto. People do ‘get’ good design and lenders value it appropriately.
“The report also recommends a change of language in how the industry communicates low and zero carbon homes. Consumers are switched off by zero carbon homes but switched on by homes that are built to better performance standards and are therefore cheaper to run.”
The challenge for the industry is to continue to innovate and deliver that performance in a consistent, reliable and affordable way. But we need creative lenders too (a worrying concept on recent form). Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) are a positive indicator of value. Might lenders place greater emphasis on EPC’s when considering the loan to value ratio?
From a marketing perspective, strong brands will no doubt win. It will be interesting to see whether the more brand savvy, customer focussed lenders - Virgin Money, TESCO Bank, et al, take up the challenge. And how they connect with their potential supply chain, the volume house builders. And where are the good old Mutual Building Societies and Cooperative Societies in all this?
Great design is collaborative and the challenges we face need innovative solutions.
Particularly while the politicos play ‘wiff waff’ with science.
So it’s good to see the Zero Carbon Hub championing “A Marketing Strategy for New Homes” http://bit.ly/9T1EzS
“Develop a national new homes marketing campaign to stimulate customer demand for low and zero carbon homes and move them from the ‘exemplar’ to the ‘mainstream’”.
However, the need to cut through the ‘green wash’ and provide clear information on performance, cost in use and durability must not be lost in some sort of manifesto. People do ‘get’ good design and lenders value it appropriately.
“The report also recommends a change of language in how the industry communicates low and zero carbon homes. Consumers are switched off by zero carbon homes but switched on by homes that are built to better performance standards and are therefore cheaper to run.”
The challenge for the industry is to continue to innovate and deliver that performance in a consistent, reliable and affordable way. But we need creative lenders too (a worrying concept on recent form). Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) are a positive indicator of value. Might lenders place greater emphasis on EPC’s when considering the loan to value ratio?
From a marketing perspective, strong brands will no doubt win. It will be interesting to see whether the more brand savvy, customer focussed lenders - Virgin Money, TESCO Bank, et al, take up the challenge. And how they connect with their potential supply chain, the volume house builders. And where are the good old Mutual Building Societies and Cooperative Societies in all this?
Great design is collaborative and the challenges we face need innovative solutions.
Particularly while the politicos play ‘wiff waff’ with science.
Monday, 1 February 2010
From fundi to jugaad: Indian innovation
Working in Kenya last year, I became aware of the significant role of the fundi in African engineering. Rather like Scotty on the Enterprise, the fundi's role is to improvise and to squeeze performance from materials or mechanical processes whose original function may be long past, yet with imagination, skill and dexterity can be modified for current needs.
A Swahili word, it is also used in South Africa to mean an expert, umfindisi in Nguni and meaning a teacher.
So I was interested to read in Business Week http://bit.ly/6qEw1M of an Indian concept of inexpensive invention that is finding favour in American boardrooms. Navi Radjou from Cambridge University's Centre for India & Global Business, uses a Hindi slang word, jugaad (pronounced "joo-gaardh"), to describe "an improvisational style of innovation that's driven by scarce resources and attention to a customer's immediate needs, not their lifestyle wants."
Held up as a new management fad that resonates with our times, jugaad nevertheless has potential pitfalls if quality and durability are sacrificed in pursuit of a quick fix - particularly in the context of the built environment. The process of innovation need not be complex, but for real value to be added it must generate products that are robust and enduring to be truly sustainable.
"More speed Scotty", but less haste...
A Swahili word, it is also used in South Africa to mean an expert, umfindisi in Nguni and meaning a teacher.
So I was interested to read in Business Week http://bit.ly/6qEw1M of an Indian concept of inexpensive invention that is finding favour in American boardrooms. Navi Radjou from Cambridge University's Centre for India & Global Business, uses a Hindi slang word, jugaad (pronounced "joo-gaardh"), to describe "an improvisational style of innovation that's driven by scarce resources and attention to a customer's immediate needs, not their lifestyle wants."
Held up as a new management fad that resonates with our times, jugaad nevertheless has potential pitfalls if quality and durability are sacrificed in pursuit of a quick fix - particularly in the context of the built environment. The process of innovation need not be complex, but for real value to be added it must generate products that are robust and enduring to be truly sustainable.
"More speed Scotty", but less haste...
Sunday, 31 January 2010
More good news for OSM
Following the (leaked?) news of Laing O'Rourke's significant investment in its off-site manufacturing (OSM) capability http://bit.ly/6zbV1p to Building earlier this month, comes encouraging news from Jenny Davey in the Sunday Times http://bit.ly/bVKl7C that Persimmon is dusting off its own factory at Space4.
Mike Farley, CEO at Persimmon claims "Higher energy standards and the ability to turn the construction tap on and off at a faster rate mean the pendulum has now swung firmly in its (Space4) direction." Hopeful signs that the tap is being turned on.
Evolving legislation - the government stick to deliver zero carbon homes by 2016 - makes it increasingly difficult to cost effectively build high performing homes through conventional means. The challenge remains for Persimmon and its rivals, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey, to better inform their customers of the cost-in-use benefits of owning a smarter home.
Perhaps the market can provide the carrot that the government seems incapable of doing.
Mike Farley, CEO at Persimmon claims "Higher energy standards and the ability to turn the construction tap on and off at a faster rate mean the pendulum has now swung firmly in its (Space4) direction." Hopeful signs that the tap is being turned on.
Evolving legislation - the government stick to deliver zero carbon homes by 2016 - makes it increasingly difficult to cost effectively build high performing homes through conventional means. The challenge remains for Persimmon and its rivals, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey, to better inform their customers of the cost-in-use benefits of owning a smarter home.
Perhaps the market can provide the carrot that the government seems incapable of doing.
Sunday, 17 January 2010
The Future of Work
Richard Donkin's The Future of Work (Palgrave Macmillan), is a timely sequel to Blood Sweat and Tears: The Evolution of Work. The rapid rate of change in technologies, living patterns and social attitudes has the potential to transform the way we work, and therefore the nature of the workplace.
"The history of the way we live and work is more evolutionary than revolutionary in nature, but there have been discernible watersheds and milestones in the past. The one we are experiencing today is multifaceted, drawing influences from a series of trends that cumulatively add up to shift in attitudes, straining to find a more comfortable environment."
The final chapter pulls together the implications for a broader society and argues "for people in work to have more discretion and latitude to do their work as they know it should be done." The key imperatives for employers and policymakers that Donkin proposes as an agenda for a better society, are positive, pragmatic and focused on performance.
A must read for all who are interested in the evolving relationship between people, processes and high performing teams.
"The history of the way we live and work is more evolutionary than revolutionary in nature, but there have been discernible watersheds and milestones in the past. The one we are experiencing today is multifaceted, drawing influences from a series of trends that cumulatively add up to shift in attitudes, straining to find a more comfortable environment."
The final chapter pulls together the implications for a broader society and argues "for people in work to have more discretion and latitude to do their work as they know it should be done." The key imperatives for employers and policymakers that Donkin proposes as an agenda for a better society, are positive, pragmatic and focused on performance.
A must read for all who are interested in the evolving relationship between people, processes and high performing teams.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Innovation in Tough Times
Most companies identify innovation as a strategic priority, but many struggle to execute because of the organisational barriers and outdated paradigms that exist.
In tough times it can seem even harder, with the focus on cutting cost just to survive. But innovation and efficiency are not mutually exclusive - thinking creatively in tough times can control costs.
We set up this design led consultancy in February 2009 to promote innovation in the built environment. Nearly a year on, I’m pleased to say that we seem to have found an appetite among developers, architects and builders for better ways to deliver smarter buildings.
It’s also been encouraging to see interest from closer to home, with UK developers keen to distinguish their product from the competition and deliver it more quickly into the market, as more favourable economic conditions prevail.
Looking forward, design problems in 2010 will continue to become more complex as the social, economic and environmental conditions converge to demand higher performing buildings. We will continue to champion off-site manufacturing and on-site assembly, so that more people may enjoy the benefits of sustainable living.
Incidentally, it was great to see Nick Whitehouse recognised in the New Years Honours List for services to the building industry - well deserved Nick, congratulations!
My good mate Ash has been badgering me to share some of this, so now we are...
Friday, 1 January 2010
Key words for 2010
Reflecting on opportunities for the year ahead, certain key words seem relevant:
- resourcefulness
- collaboration
- durability
- scarcity
- change
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