Spring clean your mind

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an example of what happens if you do not spring clean your mind. The ugliness becomes so important that it takes physical shape.

It is time to spring clean your mind. I believe that we have a duty to use our lives and minds for the better. That we are here to make at least a little bit of the world a better place. We will not be able to be innovative and…

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Jobs to be done innovation

The jobs to be done innovation is a little bit like the difference between listening to radio signals from humans instead of listening to presumed aliens in space.

Jobs to be done innovation is a very powerful process for innovation. In fact, it is so powerful that you don’t even have to innovate to be innovative with it. You might not have to change your organization that much, you can be innovating anyway.

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Effective requirements engineering

A traditional view of requirements from systems engineering.

Everyone should have effective requirements engineering. Everyone should have efficient requirements management. It would be nice to have a way to know that your work with requirements is well spent. The question is more easily asked than answered.

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Innovation arenas and outsourcing

Sometimes, innovation arenas are need - fast

Innovation arenas — where innovators, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs collaborate across boundaries to create magic — have become an important ingredient for successful innovation. All enterprises are part of complex value chains. There is only so much improvement and innovation that can be done by a single actor. These innovation arenas…

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Cargo cult innovation, play buzzword bingo to spot it

This is not a picture of cargo cult innovation, but it feels appropriate anyway.

What if simulating innovation was an option? What if you could just fake it until you make it in innovation? I am talking about cargo cult innovation. You know, the kind of innovationism where everything is called innovation, digital or disruptive. The kind of innovationism where you go through all…

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Heraclitus was wrong about innovation

Democritus laughing and Heraclitus weeping, with a globe

Heraclitus was wrong when he declared that “the only thing that is constant is change“. Change is no longer a constant, because the rate of change has changed. More importantly, change is not a constant because we have renewed our view of change and innovation. 

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Privacy lost can never be regained

Inside one of the prison buildings at Presidio Modelo, Isla de la Juventud, Cuba - no privacy here

Recent events have reminded us that privacy lost cannot be regained. After the hacks of the Democratic party, with the GDPR coming up as one of the biggest challenges in our industry privacy has become a hot topic. The surveillance society keeps gaining momentum. Both little brother and big brother…

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Big bet innovation and other types of innovation

Fail fast innovators tend to meet in cafés, far away from any hint of big bet innovation, right?

Big bet innovation or fail fast innovation — what do you prefer? Innovation is both an outcome and a process. Innovation is a change, but not all change is innovation. It is introducing something new, but it does not have to be “new under the Sun”. It is better than what…

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Digital snow over Stockholm

People walking in a single file due to the snow at Helenelund Station

Yesterday, Stockholm had the heaviest November snowfall since 1905 — over 40 cms in one day. The result was a city in frozen motion. Buses and cars with summer tires got stuck on the roads. They blocked traffic for all the other vehicles including the snow plows. In the news…

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Tech debt and duct tape

Tech debt cannot be fixed with duct tape. Fixing your technical debt with duct tape only makes it worse. I’ve written earlier that tech debt needs to be managed carefully or it will overwhelm you. Below, you will find a video where I and Joakim Lindbom discuss tech debt with Casimir Artmann.
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