Benchmarking is comparing one’s business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best practices from other companies (Wikipedia) The goal is to measure how well one is doing compared to the industry’s best, to discover why they are the best, and to copy. But in here lies the problem. When you copy a competitors…
If you look for help on how to be more creative, the standard advise is to combine existing knowledge, tools, programs – you name it – in a new way. That’s what Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee argue in The Second Machine Age. But the same message is taught by Frans Johnsson in The Medici…
Successful collaboration are not the result of random encounters. They are not. Encounters that appear like coincidences are in reality the workings of social network mechanisms. I don’t mean social networks as in social networks sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter), but as in the connection between individuals, connections that existed well before network sites visualized these connections…
1871, the business incubator in Chicago, ranks first business incubators in the US, up from 9th place last year. A tremendous achievement. Business incubators offer startups more than a place to grow, they give them the network and tools to grow. 1817 is especially good at this, excelling in value for Chicago, value for its clients,…
There are two types of experts: Routine and adaptive experts. Both require expertise in a field. The differences between them is how they are dealing with changs in their environment. Adaptive expertise: What is it? I have been studying adaptive expertise for the past five years, beginning with a summary of what other people have…
A startup is a bunch of people who run around like headless chicken trying to make sure that not everything burns down. Don’t like that image? It conveys the chaos that goes on in startups. Individuals who start a company have lots of energy; if you want to work there you need to be able…
There is a buzz in the air that workplaces are in the process of changing. Co-working spaces are flourishing. A vast array of tools promise to make work easier, more enjoyable, more collaborative. But it is more than just the work environment that is transforming. Work itself takes on new forms. Work is shaped by…
Changing Learning and Working 