September 03, 2003
I'd like to work there
In my Managing and Leading Organizations class today we watched a video about IDEO, the famous industrial design firm. The point of the case was to illustrate their ability to "institutionalize innovation" - to continually create innovate products for a variety of industries.
The video followed them throughout a five-day project to redesign the shopping cart. On the last day they took the prototype cart to - you guessed it - Whole Foods Market in Palo Alto, my former grocery store. The employees were very impressed.
Here's a few of my takeaways from their process:
- No titles or hierarchies for the duration of the project. One project leader was selected for his ability to work with teams (not seniority, technical skill, etc.).
- Separate brainstorming from criticism. During the brainstorm session there are no bad ideas.
- Vote for ideas by placing a post-it with your name next to a written description of the idea on the wall. The few ideas with the most votes are chosen for follow-up.
- The importance of play. Employees at IDEO are encouraged to bring in toys and to keep the environment light.
- Actively search out conflicting views. Management claims to hire people that do not listen to their boss.
The bubble is back baby!
Techdirt says that friendster recently secured more than $1 million in funding without even a hint of a business model.
From Wired News: Saving Trees Saves Water: "Big cities can conserve both money and water by protecting forests, a new study shows. Forests reduce erosion, filter pollutants and store water -- and they do so more cost-effectively than water treatment plants."