The OctopOSS needs innovation and evolution to become all that it can be
“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” Winston Churchill. Did that title grab your attention? I’m not some crazy who’s advocating the death of democracy by the way, but I do have an interesting question to pose today. Interesting to me at least… Given that there is a race […]
“The Delphi method is a structured communication technique, originally developed as a systematic, interactive forecasting method which relies on a panel of experts. The experts answer questionnaires in two or more rounds. After each round, a facilitator provides an anonymous summary of the experts’ forecasts from the previous round as well as the reasons they […]
“In 1900, Smithsonian Institution curator John Elfreth Watkins wrote an article for The Ladies’ Home Journal, entitled “What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years,” filled with predictions that many of his readers probably scoffed at as ridiculously improbable… But what’s more impressive is the extent to which Watkins’ vision of the future actually has […]
“…the greatest shortage in our society is an instinct to produce. To create solutions and hustle them out the door. To touch the humanity inside and connect to the humans in the marketplace.” Seth Godin, in his book “Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?” Let’s say that the best in the business, what Seth Godin calls Linchpins, […]
“..you’ve got to challenge yourself to produce. Produce more ideas than you need for yourself so you can share and give your ideas away. That is called fruitfulness and abundance.” Jim Rohn. The more ideas you share, the more you have to develop, forcing you to produce and grow. This site exists to share ideas […]
“The very essence of the creative is its novelty, and hence we have no standard by which to judge it.” Carl Rogers. If everyone is standardised, then nobody is exceptional. Nobody stands out. Everyone is consistent. Everyone is commoditised since there are no differentiating features. Not sure about you, but I want to differentiate. I […]
“1. What percentage of your time is spent creating something new, as opposed to working out operational details or protecting the past? 2. List five ways that you can beat your competition. How could they beat you? 3. If you were entering your industry as a startup, how would you break the mold to beat […]
“Above all, remember to challenge everything. Challenge assumptions. Challenge the status quo. Challenge the “complacent incumbents.” Challenge the rules. Challenge yourself.” Josh Linkner in his book “Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity.” In my mind, creativity within an OSS framework comes from being able to make connections that nobody else has made […]
“Companies that have “innovation processes” often stifle the creativity of their organization by making those processes too rule-driven, formal and restrictive.” Josh Linkner in his book “Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity.” As you’ll see in the side-bar, innovation is a common theme in my blog posts. There is so much innovation […]
“One thing at a time, all things in succession. That which grows fast withers as rapidly; and that which grows slow endures.” J. G. Holland. When it comes to building an OSS team, having a diverse team of linchpins who have specific knowledge of your OSS is essential. It’s definitely helpful to promote from within […]
“You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety.” Abraham Maslow. B/OSS started out servicing only the biggest of telcos, starting with AT&T. Then they migrated to the smaller carriers, then ISPs and the march continues. As electronic business and related digital communications are increasingly built into the business models […]
“Research into the decline of creativity has led to some startling conclusions. In a sample of 1500 children aged 3–5, 98 percent ranked as “geniuses” in divergent thinking; in children aged 8–10 the figure fell to just 32 percent; and by age 13–15 it had declined further to a mere 10 percent. In other words, […]
“You have just got to constantly focus on innovation. And more competitors. You’ve got to constantly produce more for less through intellectual capital. Shun the incremental, and look for the quantum leap.” Jack Welch. In the second last day of Welch-week, this quote has an interesting contradiction to the Six Sigma approach to incremental improvements that […]
“The operative assumption today is that someone, somewhere, has a better idea; and the operative compulsion is to find out who has that better idea, learn it, and put it into action – fast.” Jack Welch (again). The message in today’s blog is that OSS has so much scope to learn better ideas from other […]
“When you become a leader success is all about growing others.” Jack Welch. Another Welch quote today… perhaps this is Jack Welch week here on Passionate About OSS. Loud and clear, being a successful leader in OSS comes through learning, teaching and ultimately growing others. The OctopOSS has too many tentacles for a lone genius […]
“You can’t grow long-term if you can’t eat short-term. Anybody can manage short. Anybody can manage long. Balancing those two things is what management is.” Jack Welch. When it comes to developing an OSS product, the balance of these two mindsets is always a challenge. Does a particular customer requirement today make sense for the […]
“Gamification enables you to drive, measure, and reward high-value behaviors by customers or employees. Game mechanics leverage design and behavioral psychology principles inherent in today’s social games to drive and reward specific user behaviors in business environments. Smart gamification elements—such as points, achievements, levels, leaderboards, missions, and contests—can be employed to drive desired behaviors on […]
“The marriage of high-speed IP-based network infrastructure and the new generation of IT support systems will ultimately lead to a greater focus on areas such as customer experience, business intelligence and innovative ways of dealing with network congestion.” Peter Dykes. Peter has hit the nail on the head in his quote above, from a post […]
“People are very reluctant to talk about their private lives but then you go to the internet and they’re much more open.” Paulo Coelho. In this article, the insight from Cisco’s Chief Futurist, David Evans provides a view of the future of personal health monitoring. In the future of IoE, the device count will be […]
“An online consumer survey of more than 2,000 smartphone users in the UK and Germany, carried out by billing firm Mach and research agency Opinium in April, found significant demand for direct operator billing, suggesting it could be the preferred payment method of choice for apps and in-app purchases.” James Middleton. Carrier billing is an […]
