New perspective, new meaning; World's First Undersea Sculpture Park

Imagine diving down deep clear water to explore underwater sculpture park that sing the saga of the lost world. Is it hard to believe? Believe it, for the next few minutes you are going to explore this unique sculpture park by Jason de Caires Taylor. Some may find it eerie and some fantastic, but none can neglect them and pass away, for their tide of attraction is stronger to pull you back to the warmth of the sea underneath.

The underwater sculpture gallery is a project aiming to create a unique space which highlights environmental processes and explores the complex relationships between art and its environment. The project is a platform to promote the re-generation of marine life. It uses sculpture as a means of conveying hope and environmental awareness. It even helps us understand the need to protect the natural world. Jason Taylor was inspired by the works of Richard Long, Christo and Claus Oldenberg, who focused on the connection between the object and the environment.

Currently there are 65 sculptures in the park covering the area of 75 square meters. All the sculptures weigh around 20 tons. Jason started sculpting images from February 2006 and ended the whole project on June 2007. The sculptures, sited in clear shallow waters help the viewers to have an easy access to divers, snorkellers and those in glass-bottomed boats.
( source; www.underwatersculpture.com & http://living.oneindia.in )

Watch the movieclip to feel a new way in experiencing art..

( source; www.underwatersculpture.com & http://living.oneindia.in )

2008's best books on innovation

On businessweek.com i found a list of the 10 best books on innovation in 2008. I made a selection of three books, with a short introduction, that can be very inspiring for us Imagineers:


1. The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation
Authors: A.G. Lafley and Ram Charan
Publisher: Crown Business










Procter & Gamble (PG) CEO Lafley and management consultant Charan reveal how P&G and companies such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Nokia (NOK) have taken steps to create fresh products and new markets by making innovation a key corporate strategy. In addition, they look at such practical matters as how to best manage risk when pursuing goals that lack precedents inside a corporation.



2. Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
Authors: Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
Publisher: Harvard Business Press










Li and Bernoff, both analysts at Forrester Research, present a clearly written and refreshingly grown-up look at social media used by entire corporations, and not just Gen Y staff. They present real-world business narratives of how companies from Best Buy (BBY) to Ernst & Young use blogs, Wikis, and social networks to create, promote, and share new ideas, both within corporate walls and among consumers outside them.



3. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
Author: Clay Shirky
Publisher: Penguin Press










Author and New York University faculty member Clay Shirky describes the profound impact of social-technological tools on contemporary culture—from e-mail and blogs to Twitter and wikis. Shirky's book is an example-laden history of the development—and impact—of such tools. For instance, industries such as music and media writhe in a state of turmoil, with no clear strategies to deal with the rise of mass amateurization and cheap and easy distribution. In the author's view, we're living in the middle of a revolution as momentous as that which followed the invention of the printing press. Society and industry are being radically reshaped.

Also don't forget to look at the entire list which also includes 'the new age of innovation' by C.K. Prahalad and M.S. Krishnan.

Going to the barbershop.

Talking about digital entertainment, watch this movie. This is really playing with your brains isn't it?

Wii Music: Where is the love?

Consumers from all over the world don't seem to be blown away by the newest Wii game, Wii Music. According to an analysist of USB business bank, it is possible that Wii Music will turn out to be the first major disappointment of Wii.

Last November, an important present-shopping month, only 297,000 copies of the game were sold in the United States. Both Wii Play and Wii Fit sold twice as much copies.

A spokesperson of Nintendo Netherlands states that due to the new concept and the fact that people have to get used to it, Wii Music doesn't sell as fast as Wii Fit. He also claims that they didn't expect it would be a success right away.

Wii Music players (or musicians?) can either play instruments like tambourine, saxophone or drums alone or with others. Using the Wii remote in the right rhythm, it seems that the players are playing real instruments. Groovy!

The game doesn't contain any form of performance reward, unlike other music games (Guitar Hero!). Especially real gamers have to grow accustomed to this. They say in that way, it is not a real game. Also, the general public doesn't seem to get to concept right away.

Yes, it is all about extrinsic motivation when it comes to gaming!

Hereby a true classic game song! Enjoy! I think the drums sound pretty cool, but the other instruments...

Duracell energy drink

This is a great example of how a brand can extend their portfolio by thinking outside the box. Duracell introduced an energy drink with the looks of their battery lay-out.

I followed some blogs that also posted about this new product and the reactions/comments were very different. Some found it great and others thought that it was absolutely silly.

I think it is magnificent. The scope of Duracell, with their batteries, was extremely narrow and because of heavy competition they had to come up with something different. I see batteries as mobile energy suppliers. Therefore an energydrink, to my opinion, is a perfect combination. I am looking forward to also have Duracell coffee, fruit, energybars and maybe even sporting clothes/shoes. Why not? They all can supply the consumer with mobile energy. Direct or indirect.

What do you think of it?

Look at their website for more information about the Duracell Energy Drink.

Left or right thinker?

Because we were so busy with the theory about how our brain works and in particular the difference between the left and the right part i have an easy test for you.

Look at the dancer. Is she moving clockwise or counter clockwise?

Most people see the dancer moving counter clockwise. But when you focus on something else next to the dancer you can see a change in the movement.

If you see her moving counter clockwise you are using your leftbrain and if you see her moving clockwise you are using your rightbrain.



Nice and simple example. Let me know what you observe!

Function of left brain (e.g.):

- Logic
- Focussing on details
- Facts rule
- Words and language
- Mathematics en science
- Recognize patterns
- Practical

Function of right brain (e.g.):

- Uses sense
- Bigger picture (vs. details)
- Imagination
- Symbols and pictures
- Fantasy
- Dares to take risk
- Philosophy and religion

Inspiration, anyone?

Remember the movieclip of the advertiser and the consumer, sitting in a restaurant and talking about their relationship? The makers of the commercial 'Bring the love back - The Break Up' won already four awards for this creative, inspiring, but most of all funny movie. Right now their second movie is presented on the Internet. He is still an advertiser, she is no longer a consumer. Does he have a plan? And will she buy it? I would invite you all to see this 'Inspiration, anyone?'.

Inspiration, anyone?
Geüpload door geertdesager

Bringtheloveback.com

Innovation for Hard Times

On businessweek.com i just read the text beneath. To make sure that i will not invalidate or take the edge of the text i shamelesly copied it. I want to stimulate you to read the rest of the text on Businessweek.com

The article is written by John Hagel and John Seely Brown. They are co-chairman and independent co-chairman, respectively, of Deloitte LLP's Center for Edge Innovation. John Hagel writes a blog at Edge Perspectives. Their monthly column, Innovation on the Edge, explores what executives can learn from innovation emerging on various forms of edges, including the edges of institutions, markets, geographies and generations.

(I added the link of his blog in our blogroll)

The intro of the article:

Innovation for Hard Times

"Cutting staff or programs while demanding more of your workers will yield diminishing returns. Executives should seek leverage to create economic value

By John Hagel and John Seely Brown

Everyone is familiar with financial leverage. It is a powerful way to improve performance when times are good. The danger, of course, is that financial leverage magnifies the impact of downturns in demand as well. It can literally kill a company, as we are witnessing in the financial-services industry.

But there are other forms of leverage. And executives should be searching for them in order to navigate the current crisis and allow firms to continue to create economic value, rather than becoming a victim of the destruction in value unfolding around us."

...

Effectively harnessing capability and learning leverage requires another form of innovation—institutional innovation. Companies will have to redefine governance structures as well as the roles and relationships required to effectively mobilize and coordinate activities of large numbers of firms. There's significant complexity in trying to scale the number of participants in networks and conventional rules might not apply.

This institutional innovation should be pursued in rapid increments. Rather than reimagining from the ground up a fundamentally different way of organizing activities across thousands of participants, companies need to find pragmatic ways to move from where they are today in ways that generate near-term financial returns. The well-known case of Procter & Gamble's (PG) "Connect and Develop" program illustrates some of the opportunities that can be reaped by building broader networks to source promising product ideas. Nearly 50% of P&G's products today have benefited from some form of external collaboration. Other companies might follow this example to position themselves to pursue even more powerful forms of capability and learning leverage, especially once the economy recovers.

Business model innovation

With great pleasure i read the blog of Bas van Oosterhout (basvanoosterhout.com). Earlier this year he presented his thoughts about business model 2.0; manage your value chain. I found this particulary interesting because Bas is a consultant at capgemini and i was very pleased to read that they adopt these kind of thoughts which are closely related to imagineering.

Hereby, the presentation he made about this topic.

| View | Upload your own

Google.org; searching for solutions

Companies nowadays include the wellbeing of the (global) environment in their objectives to spread positivism around their brand(s). Today i read an article about how Google (via google.org) tries to prevent people from getting the flu by letting them know when the risk of being 'infected' is the highest. They are actually not measuring how much people have the flu, but they make conclusions based on the searches that have been done on topics related to the flu and the outcomes are strikingly accurate.

This flu-initiative is one of the outcomes within their overall 'global challenge' aspirations via five major initiaves which are mentioned in the text below.

They state:

Google.org aspires to use the power of information and technology to address the global challenges of our age: climate change, poverty and emerging disease. In collaboration with experienced partners working in each of these fields, we will invest our resources and tap the strengths of Google’s employees and global operations to advance five major initiatives: Develop Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, RechargeIT, Predict and Prevent, Inform and Empower to Improve Public Services, and Fuel the Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.

You should definetely take a look at their website if you want to learn/know more about it, because they have a lot of initiatives that can boost the wellbeing of the earth (people as well as the environment)

The American Human

This is not a rant or rave about the shortcomings or greatness of the United States. It is actually a post made because I have found some interesting things on the country and it's position in the modern era and I would like to "spread the wealth around" (little campaign humor) with you all.

I will present you with contrasting views on different subjects and leave things free for interpretation:

First, I would like to present to you a magazine: Adbusters. Written with a, sometimes nauseating, pessimistic editorial line, it likes to critique modern western (mainly American) culture, sub-culture and counter-culture.

The first article has been much talked about and is quite interesting. I highly recommend reading the comments as well.

Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html


Other interesting articles are:

America’s Slippery Slope
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/78/america_slippery_slope.html

and

Quit Facebook
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/80/quit_facebook.html

I recommend you surf around and I'm sure you will find interesting things, you may not necessarily agree on, but will give you a different perspective on a couple of things.


_____________

In contrast, I would like to leave you with a couple of articles about the election that recently took place. Find the links to imagineering, you will undoubtedly see obvious cross-over themes.

What Have We Created?!
http://www.newsweek.com/id/165658

How He Did It
http://www.newsweek.com/id/167582

An excerpt from an article:

Obama’s Third Way
http://www.newsweek.com/id/167607/page/1

"If he truly wants to mold the future, Obama will have to demonstrate similar leadership. His favorite thinker, Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote in 1841 that "the party of Conservatism and that of Innovation ... have disputed the possession of the world ever since it was made … Innovation is the salient energy, Conservatism the pause on the last moment." To create a new governing majority, Obama must now embody the idea of innovation."


And finally the video of the speech, a great speech, where the tone themes of co-creation, dialogue, innovation, the view of others not as competition or rivals, a great purpose, "big hairy audacious goals", etc. are played in to really connect and get people behind you.

Make the world better through cookies...

The clip from the movie I spoke of in my literature review:

Hi, I'm a MAC..

I really am not going to elaborate too much, just wanted to show you some videos I found, that shows how relationships between "competitors" can evolve... as the leaders themselves evolve...

Please look at them in order.

This is the world we know now:



And mainly it is due to this attitude:



What you may not know is:



And:



But why I choose Mac:





To sum up:

' Whereas once I was blind, now I can see. '

As we start this blog in an inspiring way with a great Ima movie example (thank you for that Mr. Romirez), I would also like to contribute to this kick-off of online co-creation.

In atmosphere of linking Imagineering to the white screen, I would like to recommend you guys also a great movie that has many great touch points with the New Economy we are exploring. I don't consider it as one of the greatest movies ever made, but with eye on service experience & transformation...it really is one of a kind.

The movie is called: The Game ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119174/ )
Synopsis: The main character of The Game, Nicholas Van Orton (M. Douglas) is a successful businessman, but his success has come at the cost of his family life; when the movie opens, he is divorced, distant from his caring ex-wife and cold toward his relatives and social environment. On Nicholas's 48th birthday, his little brother presents him an unusual gift, a game offered by a company called Consumer Recreation Services promising that it will change Nicholas' life.
During the movie the Game takes over Nicholas life, challenging all his norms & values by putting him in situations as being chased, saving people, and give up his material goods. At a certain point of the movie Nicholas (and you as a viewer) comes to the believe that The Game is a scam to expropriate his capital. At the end of the adventure of chasing the people scamming him, he accidentally shoots his little brother. At that moment Nicholas realized that everything he stands for in life, all his core values and principles weren't the ones making him ,or the people that were important to him, happy. But everything was too late now....he killed his little brother and life was no good for him anymore, he decides to commit suicide and jumps off a skyscraper.....

What happened next....check the last 8 minutes of the movie, and you will understand why this is a movie about an ultimate and intense staged experience that leads to a transformation companies in the New Economy can only (wet) dream of...

"In this room all of my dreams become realities...

...and some of my realities become dreams".

Gene Wilder's interpretation of Willy Wonka states this phrase right before he opens the door to the heart of the Wonka Chocolate Factory, in the original version of the movie.

This, I believe is a truth that mirrors our aspiration in the upcoming year. A truth that should not only manifest itself in the constraints of a university classroom or an application company, but in as many places (physical or otherwise) as we can.

For this reason, I applaud the initiative of our classmates in creating this nook for the free exchange of information, entertainment, sources and other things we deem fit for sharing with each other. After all, we speak so much about communities and co-creation, let's put it to practice: let's customize the learning experience we will go through in this upcoming year.

In this spirit, I will carry on the theme of my post, and share with you one of my favorite movies... of course, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

The story of a man who manages his factory as a kid would, yet with a knack for constant experiments of innovation, a motivated work force (although a uniformed, nameless one) and resulting in the capture of children's dream. The magic that glued this together, as Willy Wonka, says in his song, is Imagination.

Once again, congratulations to the trailblazers, and I'm looking foward to reading everyone's contributions. I leave you with something I hope you enjoy.