business

I believe we will see a 10,000 to 100,000 increase in the number of computers, phones, devices and living things attached to the internet in the next 5-10 years — what many are calling “the internet of things“. We have probably already passed the point when there are more things to attached to the internet than people. All cars, many toys, most sick patients, lab equipment, cows with senors on their hoofs, you name it, will have the option to be connected to the network. 

You would have heard everyone’s jaw drop after I mentioned this on Twitter over the weekend.

A fellow designer and I were discussing this in detail and jointly came to this conclusion with much disappointment. It was quite a significant conclusion and likely to be correct, as not only are we both in positions in managing design processes and teams; we are also in positions to shape and influence design centric business strategies.

Saturday night brought one of the plum events of Copenhagen, at least for the business crowd assembled in this city: a conference held at Kronborg, also known as Hamlet's Castle, in Elsinore, about 50 kilometers from Copenhagen's city centre. The 250 or so well-coiffed business executives who made the trek here did so in large part by the efforts of Danish media magnate Erik Rasmussen, a Michael Bloomberg sort whose business publication, Monday Morning, is the hub of a influential think tank that has placed Rasmussen at the center of the Danish business world.

“The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage,” by Roger Martin. 2009: Harvard Business Press, 190pp.

When did you read it? November 2009.

We need more (and more innovative) social enterprises and I really want to see a top tier MBA programs with specialization in Social Enterprises. Call it B-school needs S-school. There are so many problems out there and sometimes we feel we are almost giving up. Our capitalist system is not adjusting well to these shocks. It is almost pointless for these endless debates on how things got to this point and who is to blame. The point remains: We've got to change it—and change it fast – and change it for the better.

I have been watching ”Design Thinking” very closely for a long time now, often amused on how it is unfolding in both the design and non-design industries. At this time I’m curious it is evolving, and having strong suspicions on how it can be an element to bridge the “language gap” between Design and the Business.

by: Karl Long

This is a wonderful diagram from Bud Caddel who writes WhatConsumesMe.com. I’ts a concept I believe in and one that I wished I had really understood a long time ago. Finding something that you really love to do is for some people is itself a lifetimes work. I think sometimes it takes a lot of courage to do what you love because often people don’t have the same vision as you.

by: Jennifer Rice

I was recently interviewed for Gennefer Snowfield’s Philanthropy In 5 series at TriplePundit.com on the subject of values-based business and aligning philanthropy with strategy. The article just ran today, and I’ll republish my responses here.

1. How do you define for-profit philanthropy?

Guest Post by: Helen Trim

I’m at the Communities 2.0 conference in San Francisco this week. It’s such a beautiful and diverse city and sadly not enough time to explore (sigh).