Given my numerous postings from the airport, I can definitely identify with some of the findings in Seth Godin's recent posting on learnings from the airport for organisations.
That said, having spent a reasonable amount of time around airline/travel professionals I do have to say that Mr Godin is perhaps stretching the negativity of the airport experience a little bit... at least until I next visit spend some time at Heathrow Terminal 1.
Here is the link.
Showing posts with label business models. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business models. Show all posts
Monday, 28 January 2013
Saturday, 18 December 2010
Twinstan's interesting links roundup on Diigo (weekly)
-
In-Store Signs Get Smart - Technology Review
I know this stuff is coming no matter what we think of it, but ad-signs that recognise you as you walk by and react is pretty mind-boggling.
-
Peter Measures Blog : Business Process Management Suites – the future for business analysts?
I am not convinced by the tools, but really want to be.
-
LinkedIn 2010 Overused Buzzwords: Extensive Experience, Innovative And Motivated
-
Virtualisierung und Cloud Computing: 7 Ratschläge für die IT der Zukunft - computerwoche.de
Saturday, 4 December 2010
Twinstan's interesting links roundup on Diigo (weekly)
-
Business Model Canvas – Facilitator Cards | the architecture of everything
Looks like the Osterwaelder business model canvas is gaining traction...
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Twinstan's interesting links roundup on Diigo (weekly)
-
» UX Book Reviews: October 2010 Johnny Holland – It's all about interaction » Blog Archive
-
ECOMOD - Referenzgeschäftsprozesse und Strategien im E-Commerce
-
6 Free Sites for Creating Your Own Comics
-
Adding Sanity to Your Agility | Agile Software Development Videos Directory
-
Blowing up the 20th Century Business Model | Management Innovation eXchange
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Saturday, 25 September 2010
"Thinking in Systems" - my favourite book this year
As some of you may have noticed, my reading this year has largely been around systems thinking (see here and here for earlier book reviews and thoughts on the topic).
This is largely a result of my ignorance regarding this approach to analysis and modeling, combined with a gut feeling that it is a "must-have" capability for a really good business architect or consultant.
Having been disappointed thus far by the competition, Donella H. Meadows' (sadly deceased) introductory book, "Thinking in Systems - a primer" has really impressed me.
Her book starts as a relatively dry introduction into some of the key concepts in systems thinking (she calls it the "systems zoo" - stock and flows, stabilising vs reinforcing feedback loops, response delays), but then moves on to describe some typical system archetypes in the real world (from business to government to the environment and back again) that really show how the thinking can and should be applied.
Even more interestingly, she then moves on to describe typical system traps and then defines her personal list of "leverage points" to address them.
As a consultant, this initially feels like it could be the holy grail of business architecture; it provides a lexicon to think about problems in complex environments, recurring patterns to look for and a process for identifying a solution. But, before you all run out and buy the book, let me bring you back from your euphoria; Meadows is smart enough to drag expectations back down - understanding is just the start, enacting the change necessary to move forward is the next challenge.. and enacting the change without building in more counterproductive issues to boot. On this topic, Meadows has little to say.
This notwithstanding, let me be very clear - this is the best book I have read on systems thinking (please note, there are still a load of books on my list, including the seminal work, "The Fifth Discipline", so this could change ;-). It is short, well structured and keeps you interested throughout.
So impressed was I that I actually ended up reading it twice. Indeed, this is the first book in a long time that I have added to my Amazon must-read list for business analysis and architecture.
As I have already talked about in a previous posting, I am convinced that the combination of systems thinking and visual thinking is a winning recipe for the consulting industry and this book has already gotten me thinking about how that might look in practice (hopefully more to follow on this soon, time permitting!).
Now go and buy it.
This is largely a result of my ignorance regarding this approach to analysis and modeling, combined with a gut feeling that it is a "must-have" capability for a really good business architect or consultant.
Having been disappointed thus far by the competition, Donella H. Meadows' (sadly deceased) introductory book, "Thinking in Systems - a primer" has really impressed me.
Her book starts as a relatively dry introduction into some of the key concepts in systems thinking (she calls it the "systems zoo" - stock and flows, stabilising vs reinforcing feedback loops, response delays), but then moves on to describe some typical system archetypes in the real world (from business to government to the environment and back again) that really show how the thinking can and should be applied.
Even more interestingly, she then moves on to describe typical system traps and then defines her personal list of "leverage points" to address them.
As a consultant, this initially feels like it could be the holy grail of business architecture; it provides a lexicon to think about problems in complex environments, recurring patterns to look for and a process for identifying a solution. But, before you all run out and buy the book, let me bring you back from your euphoria; Meadows is smart enough to drag expectations back down - understanding is just the start, enacting the change necessary to move forward is the next challenge.. and enacting the change without building in more counterproductive issues to boot. On this topic, Meadows has little to say.
This notwithstanding, let me be very clear - this is the best book I have read on systems thinking (please note, there are still a load of books on my list, including the seminal work, "The Fifth Discipline", so this could change ;-). It is short, well structured and keeps you interested throughout.
So impressed was I that I actually ended up reading it twice. Indeed, this is the first book in a long time that I have added to my Amazon must-read list for business analysis and architecture.
As I have already talked about in a previous posting, I am convinced that the combination of systems thinking and visual thinking is a winning recipe for the consulting industry and this book has already gotten me thinking about how that might look in practice (hopefully more to follow on this soon, time permitting!).
Now go and buy it.
Monday, 20 September 2010
Driving User Behavior with Game Dynamics
It seems that this behaviour-changing gaming movement really is building momentum - here is another interesting lecture from Stanford's HCI programme:
Scary, but definitely effective!
Scary, but definitely effective!
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Systems thinking - book review
Another short post. As mentioned earlier this year, I am merrily working my way through the enormous backlog of books that I built up over the Christmas holidays.
The latest book was "Systems thinking - managing chaos and complexity: a platform for designing business architecture". Just from the name, I had high expectations. Add to this the author, Jamshid Gharajedaghi, a protege of Russell Ackoff (Mr Systems Thinking) and I was really looking forward to this book.
I was disappointed. Now, the difficult thing is that I am not sure whether to be disappointed with the book, or myself; I did not understand half of the thinking in the book. Every time I thought I had a grip on a concept and how it related to the other parts of the frameworks presented, Gharajedaghi applied it in a way that I could not follow.
I am intuitively drawn to systems thinking (with its emphasis on the whole, on the interdependence of working parts in a system, organisation or problem and the analysis of their relationships with one another) and am sure that this book does provide lots of good material for those that have truly understood the basics, but as a primer, I have been defeated.
Next on the list: "Thinking in systems" - perhaps I will have more luck with this one - post to follow later this year.
The latest book was "Systems thinking - managing chaos and complexity: a platform for designing business architecture". Just from the name, I had high expectations. Add to this the author, Jamshid Gharajedaghi, a protege of Russell Ackoff (Mr Systems Thinking) and I was really looking forward to this book.
I was disappointed. Now, the difficult thing is that I am not sure whether to be disappointed with the book, or myself; I did not understand half of the thinking in the book. Every time I thought I had a grip on a concept and how it related to the other parts of the frameworks presented, Gharajedaghi applied it in a way that I could not follow.
I am intuitively drawn to systems thinking (with its emphasis on the whole, on the interdependence of working parts in a system, organisation or problem and the analysis of their relationships with one another) and am sure that this book does provide lots of good material for those that have truly understood the basics, but as a primer, I have been defeated.
Next on the list: "Thinking in systems" - perhaps I will have more luck with this one - post to follow later this year.
Monday, 24 May 2010
Blue ocean strategy in 8 slides
Another short posting today.
When I first read "Blue Ocean Strategy" a few years back, I was not so impressed - it was a good synthesis of thinking that had preceded it, but I failed to see what is new...
Several years on, I haven't really changed my mind about the content - it isn't new - but I guess I have gained an appreciation for what a professor during my undergraduate days used to call "masterful synthesis" ("there are no new ideas, just new configurations of old ideas", paraphrasing Audre Lorde) and I suspect I am a good deal more open to the fact that even small changes and innovations in business can be truly difficult to achieve.
BlueOceanStrategy.com is a really nice website that covers the core tools and techniques from the book; the strategy canvas,the "four actions" framework and others. If you haven't read the book, go here first!
And even "better", there is an 8-page summary deck. Now all that I have to do is work out where the blue ocean is in the IT consulting space.. which turns out to actually be quite difficult even with the nice tools.
Darn!
When I first read "Blue Ocean Strategy" a few years back, I was not so impressed - it was a good synthesis of thinking that had preceded it, but I failed to see what is new...
Several years on, I haven't really changed my mind about the content - it isn't new - but I guess I have gained an appreciation for what a professor during my undergraduate days used to call "masterful synthesis" ("there are no new ideas, just new configurations of old ideas", paraphrasing Audre Lorde) and I suspect I am a good deal more open to the fact that even small changes and innovations in business can be truly difficult to achieve.
BlueOceanStrategy.com is a really nice website that covers the core tools and techniques from the book; the strategy canvas,the "four actions" framework and others. If you haven't read the book, go here first!
And even "better", there is an 8-page summary deck. Now all that I have to do is work out where the blue ocean is in the IT consulting space.. which turns out to actually be quite difficult even with the nice tools.
Darn!
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Design thinking & strategy - a book review
As threatened in an earlier post, this entry is another book review.
"Design thinking; integrating innovation, customer experience and brand value", edited by Thomas Lockwood (of course, available via amazon), brings together a bunch of big names in design management and provides a nicely balanced overview of current ideas about the role of design in innovation, service delivery, but in particular in developing brands.
I especially liked the contributions by Kevin Clark & Ron Smith from IBM Corporate Markting (on the value of leveraging design professionals and skills to provide insights in all aspects of the business), Erik Abbing & Christa van Gessel (who provide a 4-step method for brand-driven innovation) and Mark Jones & Fran Samalionis from IDEO (who have put together a nice framework to design new service innvoations).
Despite the many interesting essays, I was underwhelmed by the book as a whole. I guess it is my nature (or background, or both), but I was looking for a more complete answer, showing how design thinking can be applied / integrated into the business - beyond the straightforward application of ideation and visualisation techniques to the product and brand development process.
Using design thinking (and at the very least design techniques) combined with more analytical/structured methods in the business strategy space to bring the "outside-in approach" into an organisation and to give those ideas traction feels like an idea on the brink of maturity - in a couple of years this is going to be entirely mainstream.
Nevertheless, if this book was anything to go on, there is a lot of work to be done before then. The tools need to mature to be applied in the broader business strategy arena (ie. outside of the product development space where they are most at home). It feels like progress is being made quickly (with new blogs and companies popping up daily) - it is a fun time to dig into this space!
Given my own more analytical background, I personally find it rather frustrating trying to create rather than deduce, but also all the more rewarding when it pays off - I hope to be posting later this year on the topic of design thinking in the context of business architecture as my ideas mature.
As such any help that can be found in books like this on methods and approaches are thoroughly welcome!
"Design thinking; integrating innovation, customer experience and brand value", edited by Thomas Lockwood (of course, available via amazon), brings together a bunch of big names in design management and provides a nicely balanced overview of current ideas about the role of design in innovation, service delivery, but in particular in developing brands.
I especially liked the contributions by Kevin Clark & Ron Smith from IBM Corporate Markting (on the value of leveraging design professionals and skills to provide insights in all aspects of the business), Erik Abbing & Christa van Gessel (who provide a 4-step method for brand-driven innovation) and Mark Jones & Fran Samalionis from IDEO (who have put together a nice framework to design new service innvoations).
Despite the many interesting essays, I was underwhelmed by the book as a whole. I guess it is my nature (or background, or both), but I was looking for a more complete answer, showing how design thinking can be applied / integrated into the business - beyond the straightforward application of ideation and visualisation techniques to the product and brand development process.
Using design thinking (and at the very least design techniques) combined with more analytical/structured methods in the business strategy space to bring the "outside-in approach" into an organisation and to give those ideas traction feels like an idea on the brink of maturity - in a couple of years this is going to be entirely mainstream.
Nevertheless, if this book was anything to go on, there is a lot of work to be done before then. The tools need to mature to be applied in the broader business strategy arena (ie. outside of the product development space where they are most at home). It feels like progress is being made quickly (with new blogs and companies popping up daily) - it is a fun time to dig into this space!
Given my own more analytical background, I personally find it rather frustrating trying to create rather than deduce, but also all the more rewarding when it pays off - I hope to be posting later this year on the topic of design thinking in the context of business architecture as my ideas mature.
As such any help that can be found in books like this on methods and approaches are thoroughly welcome!
Saturday, 8 November 2008
Business model design & another disrupted flight
Predictably enough, I had another problem with flights today (see previous posts for the saga of my experiences on a weekly basis on flights between Germany and the UK). Today's installment was the diversion of my flight from Duesseldorf to London Heathrow to Amsterdam. In fairness this was due to a medical emergency and I was really impressed with the way the staff on board handled it, but nevertheless I do begin to feel ever so slightly unlucky with my air travel!
I am now at Heathrow slowly getting into holiday mode and was just checking through the latest feeds on netvibes when Osterwalder's busines-model-design blog jumped out at me again. I already wrote a little bit about this blog a while back (see here) and I have been really impressed with the clarity of his approach of using a simple framework to inspire business model innovation. His latest blog entry is on google book search (which is in general a really cool and interesting thing!) - he does a really good job of simplifying down the motivation to this new product and what it could mean in a highly competitive industry. Take a look here.
My flight out has just been called, so wish me luck.
I am now at Heathrow slowly getting into holiday mode and was just checking through the latest feeds on netvibes when Osterwalder's busines-model-design blog jumped out at me again. I already wrote a little bit about this blog a while back (see here) and I have been really impressed with the clarity of his approach of using a simple framework to inspire business model innovation. His latest blog entry is on google book search (which is in general a really cool and interesting thing!) - he does a really good job of simplifying down the motivation to this new product and what it could mean in a highly competitive industry. Take a look here.
My flight out has just been called, so wish me luck.
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Killer innovations blog
Another weekend, another wedding. This time near Cambridge in a beautiful castle / private school a la Hogwarts. And guess what, the flight to and from the UK was delayed (as I have already warned here and here, this is definitely going to be an underlying theme of many of my blog entries!).
And once again, this gave me an opportunity to catch up on a view podcasts. I really enjoyed a recording of a livecast given by Phil McKinney (www.killerinnovations.com) about the creative economy. His message was simple; creativity is not innate, it is a skill and can be learnt. He provided a couple of ideas on how to do this in the presentation, but on his website he provides loads more.
I rather liked his "FIRE" approach to innovation (Focus innovation search, Ideation, Rank ideas, Execute), having failed frequently to get the most out of "creative" sessions with both colleagues and clients. In particular, the "Ideation" step (basically asking sufficiently difficult questions to force a more challenging discourse) got me thinking. It is so easy for "innovation" to become "trial and error" or "change for change's sake".
Phil McKinney has been doing Killer Innovations for quite some time now (though I have only really followed it for the last year or so, since a colleague recommended it to me). What I like about the cast is McKinney's enthusiasm and his passionate belief in what he is saying; I don't always agree with everything he says, but it is consistently thought-provoking! Give him a try!
And once again, this gave me an opportunity to catch up on a view podcasts. I really enjoyed a recording of a livecast given by Phil McKinney (www.killerinnovations.com) about the creative economy. His message was simple; creativity is not innate, it is a skill and can be learnt. He provided a couple of ideas on how to do this in the presentation, but on his website he provides loads more.
I rather liked his "FIRE" approach to innovation (Focus innovation search, Ideation, Rank ideas, Execute), having failed frequently to get the most out of "creative" sessions with both colleagues and clients. In particular, the "Ideation" step (basically asking sufficiently difficult questions to force a more challenging discourse) got me thinking. It is so easy for "innovation" to become "trial and error" or "change for change's sake".
Phil McKinney has been doing Killer Innovations for quite some time now (though I have only really followed it for the last year or so, since a colleague recommended it to me). What I like about the cast is McKinney's enthusiasm and his passionate belief in what he is saying; I don't always agree with everything he says, but it is consistently thought-provoking! Give him a try!
Saturday, 4 October 2008
Latest postings from Telco 2.0
"2.0". Just reading the phrase already puts me on edge. There is so much 2.0 rubbish out there. That said, the guys from Telco 2.0 really do seem to have a good grip on what could happen in the telecommunications industry. They just posted another article on their "two-sided" business model thinking - basically the telco-provider as intermediary offering network services.
Although much of it feels a little like wishful thinking, the story they tell is definitely well structured and understandable. Here is the summary version:
Although much of it feels a little like wishful thinking, the story they tell is definitely well structured and understandable. Here is the summary version:
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Blyk - advertising driven MVNO or media hybrid?
There was an interesting post on MEX (www.mobileuserexperience.com) today. The author argues that Blyk is in fact more than an interesting mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). He sees it as a true media communications hybrid, because they have succeeded in making the (highly targeted) advertising that makes the service free to most customers a selling feature in itself and not simply a unpleasant side-effect of getting the free service.
I am not really convinced of the semantic difference, though I have to confess that I have not yet experienced Blyk myself (I look forward to them entering the German market next year!), but there is certainly much for other MVNOs and operators in general to be worrying about from the Blyk model ;-).
I am not really convinced of the semantic difference, though I have to confess that I have not yet experienced Blyk myself (I look forward to them entering the German market next year!), but there is certainly much for other MVNOs and operators in general to be worrying about from the Blyk model ;-).
Sunday, 7 September 2008
Documenting a business model
I am always interested in finding good ways of documenting/ explaining/modeling/translating business models (delete as appropriate, depending on your understanding of the role of the business analyst ;-)). A colleague pointed me in the direction of Alex Osterwalder. He has created a nice framework for thinking about business model, with a focus on identifying areas for innovation.
I have to be honest; I haven't really got to grips with the details of his approach, but from first examination it feels like it is a good baseline. Hopefully, I will get a chance in the coming months to try it out myself - more to follow on that here!
Here is a taster, but there is loads more available at Osterwalder's own blog, or on www.slideshare.net (a wonderful source of interesting presentations!):
I have to be honest; I haven't really got to grips with the details of his approach, but from first examination it feels like it is a good baseline. Hopefully, I will get a chance in the coming months to try it out myself - more to follow on that here!
Here is a taster, but there is loads more available at Osterwalder's own blog, or on www.slideshare.net (a wonderful source of interesting presentations!):
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)