We cannot predict the future, but we can prepare in advance. So how do you develop early warning signs that things are about to change in an industry? One technique for identifying leading indicators is envisioning time zero events—concrete events that represent things that could have a big impact on a business. As an example,…
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Hello Tokyo!
I’m looking forward to visiting Japan next week with @Fujitsu_Global! In the meantime, here is an article about coming trends in autonomous vehicles that might be of interest to my Japanese friends.
Fear of self-cannibalization, Facebook early warning
In this insightful article, Kara Swisher notes that one big reason that Instagram’s co-founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, decided to leave was that the popular site was pulling users away from the “big blue” platform that is the core Facebook product. Clanging sounds of early warnings of early-stage fading of advantage! Leaders can respond two ways when…
How Digital is Changing the Business of Getting Stuff from A to B
There are trillions up for grabs in the business of delivering things right to you, no matter where you are. A sector reeling from the cumulative effects of digitization is the global logistics business. In what our colleague, Michael Sikorsky, calls “the second half of the chessboard,” we can anticipate some significant inflection points in the…
Privacy and Property Rights – an emerging inflection point in the use of personal information?
Dear Colleagues, When I was young, the go-to source for important information was a reference book, like the Encyclopedia Brittanica. It kept its secrets about who I was, what I read, which sections got attention, and which didn’t. Those who watch over reference books, the librarians, are the custodians of human knowledge embedded in the…
Discovery Driven Growth: An Idea Whose Time Has Come! Free Webinar Tomorrow
In this 30-minute FREE webinar, which includes a live Q&A, you’ll learn: • Why the techniques you use to run business as usual can be fatal to your growth efforts, and what approaches to use instead • How to design experiments into your business planning process • How options reasoning can help you escape the…
BREAKING UP THE DEGREE STRANGLEHOLD | Disruption in Higher Ed – Credentials by skills learned not degrees
By now, education was supposed to have been thoroughly disrupted. While digital platforms are great for disseminating knowledge, they are terrible at demonstrating what knowledge you have to others. For that, a credential from a respected institution can’t be beat. But, what if we could have credentials without a college degree? Think of the music…
Advertising vs. ad-blocking – who knew it would become an arms race?
In the heady early days of the World Wide Web, before the dot-coms and even before most organizations realized that having a web page was not going to be optional, far-seeing pundits observed that information wants to be free. Be that as it may, someone has to pay for all the tech surrounding information, not…
Bundled, Unbundled, than bundled again – Business Models and Strategic Inflection Points
A strategic inflection point, a term first coined by Andy Grove in his landmark book Only the Paranoid Survive, represents a turning point for your business. In this lively Google Hangout with myself and Robots & Pencils CEO Michael J. Sikorsky, we explore a number of topics related to strategic inflection points, including: * What…
Open Access to Sloan Management Review Articles – Today and Tomorrow Only
On March 20 and 21, the Sloan Management Review is offering open access to those interested in my work for your reading and downloading pleasure. This is a great time to re-acquaint yourself with material that I’ve published or introduce new colleagues to some of that work. In this piece, “Is Your Company Ready to…