Seriously! the MOMA has acquired the "@" symbol - that is their Department of Architecture and Design.   This is a fascinating acquisition - how do you acquire a character? what does that mean? The article not only explains that, but also the history of this unique character.  What I find intriguing is the continually evolving and morphing definition of design, art, architecture.    From the article: 

While installations have for decades provided museums with interesting challenges involving acquisition, storage, reproducibility, authorship, maintenance, manufacture, context-even questions about the essence of a work of art in itself-MoMA curators have recently ventured further... The acquisition of @ takes one more step. It relies on the assumption that physical possession of an object as a requirement for an acquisition is no longer necessary, and therefore it sets curators free to tag the world and acknowledge things that "cannot be had"-because they are too big (buildings, Boeing 747's, satellites), or because they are in the air and belong to everybody and to no one, like the @-as art objects befitting MoMA's collection. The same criteria of quality, relevance, and overall excellence shared by all objects in MoMA's collection also apply to these entities.

 The symbol, used in 1536 by an Italian merchant is believed to go back to the 6th or 7th century, meaning 'at' or 'toward' - so amazingly, it's retained some of its original meaning.  The history of the symbol is great reading. 

We are watching evolution, revolution, transformation before our very eyes - exciting times to live - perplexing, exciting, confusing, and rewarding - all depends on your outlook, no? 

 

 

Entrepreneur Magazine reviews Business Model Generation (and of course it's favorable if I'm blogging on it right?).  While this may seem self-serving (and it is to a degree), it's more an acknowledgment to Alex and Yves for their vision, perseverance and application of a new business model to create a book on business models.  You can get the deluxe edition here or the portable edition here . Below is the review from Entrepreneur Mag: 

The new Business Model Generation book uses creative visuals to break down business models into nine building blocks.

By Jennifer Wang   |   Entrepreneur Magazine - April 2010

 

Don't let the title fool you. Business Model Generation is worthy of a place on your coffee table. The 288-page "handbook for visionaries, game changers and challengers" is filled with photography, artwork and trendy design.

Authors Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur use the creative visuals to explain how to break down business models into nine building blocks--elements such as partnerships, revenue streams and key resources--and how to re-imagine them to reflect the changing times.

"The lines between industries are blurring, and a lot of new models are emerging," says Osterwalder, an expert on business model design and innovation. "It's time for a better unit of analysis and a joint language to describe a process that every company goes through."

Business Model Generation doesn't just preach innovation, it puts it into practice: Osterwalder and Pigneur elicited insight for the book from more than 470 "co-creators" from 45 countries. Each paid a small sum--$24 to $243--to participate in the idea exchange, which partially financed the initial print run of 5,000 copies. The books sold out in eight weeks, and the project now funds itself.

The lesson? Says Osterwalder, "We demonstrated that even for an independently published book, you can think of an innovative business model to make it work."

 

Given what's going on in DC this week, this TED (TEDMED) talk on healthcare - mostly for the aging - is not just innovative in terms of applications of technology to improve quality of life, but the whole innovative mindset and thought process to address healthcare - very very exciting and worth watching!  It is refreshing to know that Intel still invests in their 'fellows' and does some cool research.

Why is it so hard to Execute?

Ok, we all that, compared to execution, creating the strategic plan is cake.  So why is executing so darn hard?  I've decided to focus on this because it's such a huge issue and given our economic situation, it's even more critical (remember the adage, I'd rather have a B plan with A execution than an A plan with B execution?)

So why is this so hard - well, not sure how wired our brains are for execution in the first place.  As humans, we tend to focus on the here and now - the present - the crisis du jour, what's in front of us, the day to day.  It's harder to focus on the longer-term that is a bit less ‘tangible' and more ‘abstract'.  Let's face it, how many of us keep New Year's resolutions?  Perhaps it's just how we are.  But, that's no excuse is it!

In my experience at AT&T, a few startups I was involved in, and of course my terrific clients, lack of execution boils down to, yup, CULTURE! In looking back, there usually wasn't an Execution-Oriented Culture.  Why? There are lots of reasons but one I see a lot, as strange as this may sound, is a underlying lack of confidence that they can really execute - the rationale includes the lack of certain skills, lack of more information, lack of confidence the plan is right in the first place - second-guessing - mostly themselves vs. the outside world.  The "We don't have what it takes to make this happen" is usually based on no history or habit of execution.  Senior management doesn't have a good track record; there's no budget, money, resources (by the way, budget follows the strategy; now economic situations may change, and if so, then you need to revisit the strategies and tactics and change them for the changed world)

So how does cultural ‘deficit' happen? The usual ways.  There isn't clear ownership for execution overall and pieces and parts - and I'd bet that there isn't a clear sense of accountability in lots of areas in the organization, so why should this be different? Also, let's face it, people's natural tendancy is to resistance change (lots of research in this area).  In order to overcome this, get people involved, get their buy in - by participating in the planning, by management communicating (over and over and over) the need for the strategic direction and showing employees how they can help and support the plan and what it means for them.

What happens if you don't execute? Well, you know the rest.  The point is, while execution is hard, it's not impossible, it's not insurmountable and in fact it can become a habit that creates collaboration, increases teamwork, and in fact, increases innovation (no, that's not an oxymoron).  

What have you seen as the biggest obstacles to execution?

Some interesting resources on ideas for 'fixing' education vis-a-vis the future of work.  The first, which shows the issues facing Europe (very similar) can be found at The Future of Education: Realizing Learner's Potential Across Europe.  Click on Download to peruse the report which is very informative both in style and substance.

The second resource is the recently published Brookings Institute/Brown University report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning ? 

I don't know if I'm just seeing more or if I'm just more aware, hence seeing more, on education, but these are worthwhile to review -