Tecnológico de Monterrey | Maestría en Innovación Empresarial » Innovation is…

Happiness is a choice (is it?)

Katy Flores — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:44:11 +0000

Our program Director shared with us some time ago a video from Dan Gilbert about how happiness is nothing but a constant and what we do is to synthesize it so we can feel happier or sadder when something happens. Gilbert demonstrate us in his video how different circumstances in which you have the opportunity to reversible actions (and we normally want all things to be reversible), automatically you end up feeling sad about decisions. In contrast, when you are facing with irreversible decisions, you force yourself to feel happy with what you decide because there is no way back, incredible!

Since we seem to handle happiness so well, we as entrepreneurs should be able to use that ability and bring out our strongest feeling of happiness whenever some obstacle comes between us and our business goals.

Entrepreneurs should use this power for sure, since the road is a non-stop crusade of ups and downs, and it’s the persistence, the constant motivation, and the wish of fulfilling your own dreams what keeps you going.

A final video I leave you so you can use it whenever you feel down and the situation does not seem to get any better. It’s about some men about to be killed by crucifixion and how they sing to always look “on the bright side of life”!! If they can sing it in such a crucial and threatening situation, so can we if some problem comes ahead!

What Will Happen in 2020?

JorgeR — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:51 +0000

And I’m not talking about a sequel of the Hollywood’s film. But, have you ever stopped to think how will the world be in 2020?

Nature Journal, one of the most prestigious scientific journals, published in its first edition of the year a document with projections to year 2020 given by experts of different areas.

I’ve separated each of the parts into individual pdf files, so you can read the ones you are most interested in.

General Topics

Specific Topics

Th New, Paradigm-Shifting Paper “Laptop”

Cristina Viehmann — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:53:44 +0000

“Machines are cheaper, but people are sweeter.
Someday, only the rich will be privileged enough to deal with human beings. The poor will be forced to use technology.”

This week in class we gave this quotation a thought. It is the title of an article written by Megan Santosus (CIO. Framingham: Apr 1, 2005. Vol. 18, Iss. 12; pg. 1).

Pranav Mistry made me think that the same quote could be reformulated, so that it refers to the physical world.

“Computers are faster, but objects are more real.
Someday, the privileged will be able to integrate technology into their real world environment. The poor will be forced to use technology only.”

I think that many of the future technology and business trends will definitely bring not only the human, but also the physical element back in.

The iPad’s Lack of Category

Cristina Viehmann — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:31:49 +0000

A name very similar to the one of its smaller brother, the iPod. Names that will surely make us pronounce and type the O in Pod and the A in Pad more carefully.

It’s not only the name that makes us refer to the smaller Apple brother. It’s also the shape and, of course, the functionalities.

And we wonder:
How will this brotherly relation influence the development of the new born iPad?

Room for yet another gadget in your purse? (Photo: Gizmondo.com)

Simplicity reflected by yet another jewel of advanced technology. Simplicity reflected by a perfectly directed speech. “Magical. Revolutionary. Unbelievable.” These are just three of Steve’s words that frame the Apple discourse on the new iPad.

But what are the words we are using to explain what the iPad is?

Here are some samples of home-made explanations:
“It is a like an iPod Touch, but with a bigger screen.”
“It replaces my ugly notebook.”
“It is the smartest e-book reader on the market.”
“It is a notebook…but one without a text processor, unfortunately.”
“It’s this amazing browsing experience…but it lacks Flash support.”

These explanations and rudimentary definitions reflect our primordial need of defining objects by their function. It’s this cognitive process we fall for: we desperately want to arrange the objects that surround us into classes or categories.

When it comes to the iPad, is it really a product without category?
Or is it the only product of its category (e-book readers?) worth using?
Is it itself launching a new category we do not know the name of yet?
How will we – the market – react?

Here is just one of the possible answers. An anthropologist answer, according to which the iPad’s lack of category will cause a stir.
Time will tell.

The key word is responsibility

Flavio Marín Flores — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:11:50 +0000

For a 54 year old… this is a scary event – my first blog contribution!

Innovation, photo: theonlyone/flickr

Last week we had the visit of Dr. David E. Goldberg, from iFoundry and of Dr. Lynn Stein, from Olin Engineering. The occasion was the launch of our new undergraduate program on Innovation Project Leadership. The conversations led me to realize that we need to add a key dimension to this program. Specifically, far more than fostering people who know about innovation, and who can use this knowledge to generate a real project…. we need to center on an environment where the leadership of and the practice of Innovation can be enjoyed and expressed.

I capture the above through the following statement:
“Innovation is the expression, the evidence of personal responsibility – a responsible person acts to generate, and contribute to the future of the institution it serves. This gives meaning to the tasks, the risks, the aspirational acts of assertiveness, the leadership, etc. An Innovative culture = a culture of responsible individuals shaping the future.”

The key word is responsibility. One is responsible for the future of oneself, of the organization or institution one serves, of one’s community, society, and so on. If one simply follows, one fails to express the “creative gene” that each and all of us have and must use so that each and every one of us prospers.