MIS4596 CAPSTONE COURSE

MIS 4596 Section 3 Hohne

Google says Fi is not intended to disrupt wireless carriers. No one believes it.

 

Google has just launched Google Fi a wireless service that switches between a carrier network and WiFi depending on signal strength. The launch Google says is not intended to disrupt phone carriers. Which maybe true it is only being rolled out on the Nexus 6 device for now. Yet if this launch is successful it will be easy to see how this can set Google up to enter the carrier market. Priced at $20 a month with a charge of $10 per gb used this would be one of the best priced carrier services especially when you consider the refunds that a consumer would get for unused Data.

As google is already a major player in the phone industry with Android, is this the next major step?

Here is the article. 

Disruptive IoT Innovation

 

In this UX Magazine article, author Avi Itzkovitch disucusses how the Internet of Things can be used to create disruptive innovations. The main point of this article talks about how connecting a device or sensors to a network is just not enough to create a new disruptive technology, but how we use the connection to our advantage to disrupt current technologies. One example he uses is under his titled section “A Lock on Added Value”. There are already technologies that allow a user to unlock one’s front door via smartphone. However, he talks about a company called August Smart Lock who added an extra functionality to their smart lock that allows the user to share a virtual key to household members or other houseguests who are visiting your home. This gives the smart lock an added value by providing a virtual network around monitoring and providing access to your house. Now this idea certainly seems to have its flaws, but it is a creative idea that could disrupt the old technology that has secured our houses for hunsdreds of years. He also states a few other examples in the article of how utilizing connected devices can disrupt current product markets. Can you think of any examples of how using already exisitng technologies that have the ability to connect to a network can disrupt current markets?

Integrative Thinking

In this article entitled Integrative Thinking, author Graham Douglas explores the differences between critical thinking and integrative thinking and addresses how we are programmed to think critically because of our education and gives us tips about ways of breaking that hard coding. He begins by talking about how our education conditioned us to fix problems by breaking the problem down into parts, look for past data about the parts, analyze trends for the data, and settle on a course for action. He discusses how this gives us a disadvantage in our lives and work. He then discusses the steps to integrative thinking and gives us tips on how to become integrative thinkers. These tips include:

1.   Memorize some general categories to help trigger connections in your mind; for example, people, market, product, money, physical, social and cultural environment.

2. Think integratively more often so you habitually make connections to create a whole new picture rather than habitually break down an old picture into its parts and put it together again with a “facelift.”

3 Wonder, from many angles, about what you have and what you want. Problem solving is simply the negotiating of change from what you have to what you want.

4. Create a sensible narrative connecting your wonderings.

5. Manage your experiences in acting out the narrative.

 

Would you agree with Douglas when he says that our way of thinking has been manipulated by the education we receive? Do you believe that every person has the potential to become an integrative thinker?

What Makes an Integrative Thinker a Successful Leader?

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The main focus of this article is to deconstruct and describe a capability that comes naturally to successful leaders.  Roger Martin discovers that most leaders share an unusual trait. “They have the predisposition and the capacity to hold in their heads two opposing ideas at once. And then, without panicking or simply settling for one alternative or the other, they’re able to creatively resolve the tension between those two ideas by generating a new one that contains elements of the others but is superior to both.” This is the process of consideration and synthesis, integrative thinking, that we talked about in class.  Great integrative thinkers tend to be rare because people don’t really exercise this capability.  Martin then explains that this type of work makes most people anxious. Most people tend to avoid complex and ambiguous problems. Most people seek out the comfort of simple and clear issues. People’s first impulse is to determine which of the two models is right and wrong, and sides may even be taken to justify their decision. People must resist their natural leaning toward simplicity and certainty to take advantage of the opposable mind. Martin says that it more of discipline rather than strategy.  He then states “not every good leader exhibits this capability, nor is it the sole source of success for those who do.” But he does believe  that integrative thinking greatly improves people’s odds of becoming a great leader. Martin finally discusses how an integrative thinker’s approach differs from a conventional thinker’s approach in the four stages of decision-making salience, causality, sequencing, and resolution. The conventional thinker would rather accept the world just as it is while the Integrative thinker welcomes the challenge of shaping the world for the better.

 

Can you become an integrative thinker?

Is this skill being taught in any of your classes?

Have you been exposed to this skill outside of your classes?

Five Apps bringing billions of people online around the world.

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Five Apps Bringing the Next Billion People Online – Digits – WSJ

This short article gives us in-site in some new emerging markets around the world. Seeing that there will still be 4 billion people in 2017 still offline should really get everything thinking how we could take advantage of this huge market place. If we do not then I fear this huge market will be a problem for us.  As Arran’s article stats “The most disruptive technology is the internet.” This disruptive innovation is something that should be a concern to us as graduates. One ramification of this global disruption is loss of job security.

How does everyone view this “Bringing the Next Billion People Online?”

 

 

Most Disruptive Technology Over the Next 5 Years

Hackathon Held In Miami With Goal Of Improving Communications And Information Access In Cuba

In this TIME.com article, author Tim Bajarin explains that the most disruptive technology that we will experience over the next five years is not a new technology. The most disruptive technology is the Internet. He begins to talk about how the Internet will have massive disruptive global implications. He bases his argument on the fact that when you are connected to the internet, you have access to information. He then talks about how smartphone sales are projected to be about 1.5 billion in 2015 and nearly every cell phone will be a smart phone by 2018. At the same time, new wireless infrastructure being built in developing countries and the decreasing costs of cell phones will give more people access to the Internet and that this could result in major political, economical and educational ramifications. Can you think of any examples of disruptions/ramifications that can be caused in developing countries or countries with oppressive governments?

Disruptive Innovation and Education

 

Disruptive Innovation and Education

In this Forbes article, author Michael Horn talks about his interaction with Clay Christensen and how they used disruptive innovation to suggest ways for public schools to innovate. Horn states that the education system that we have today is, in many ways, built as a sorting system. “Those students who can’t keep up with the pace are sorted out at various intervals – an arrangement that worked fine for many in the past, but in today’s knowledge economy is no longer OK.” Horn suggested that online education is a way for public schools to cater to the individual needs that each student has instead of treating them all as if they are exactly the same. Horn also states that online education could also disrupt higher education. He states that it could severely affect some institutes a lot more than others but the ones that aren’t affected that much could adopt it as sustained innovation. Do you think that online education is more disruptive towards k-12 learning or higher education? Do you think that this could be the future of learning? Will it affect any other industries?

Four Unconventional Ways To Tell If Your Workplace Culture Is Toxic

1023089_98499593With graduation around the corner, many students are willing to take any job they can get. Many are ignoring the important factor of culture in the workplace. If you do not mesh well with the culture of your company, it is going to make your attitude towards work suffer. In this Forbes article, author Maureen Henderson shares some tips on how to tell if the culture you dove into is actually toxic.

– Employees spending time with each other outside of the workplace to bond is a great sign that it is easy to get along with your co-workers.

– Noticing people’s reactions to entering and leaving the office will determine weather or not they enjoy spending 40 hours a week there.

– If co-workers support each other with non-work context. For example, do other co-workers buy Girl Scout cookies to help out a co-workers daughter? (I’m not sure if anyone, toxic or not, could turn down Girl Scout cookies)

While looking for jobs are you interested in the companies culture to make sure you’ll fit in?

Do you feel as though it is imperative you fit into your companies culture? Or is clocking in, working, and clocking out enough for you?

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jmaureenhenderson/2015/04/21/four-unconventional-ways-to-tell-if-your-workplace-culture-is-toxic/2/

The Top 5 Disruptive Technologies of 2014

An Investor’s Guide to Disruptive Innovation

In this article, Jason Stutman talks about the 5 most disruptive technologies of last year and touches on some of the industries that they will disrupt. Some of which we have discussed in class. He lists that Additive Manufacturing, The Automated World, The Internet of Things, Next Generation Interface, and Next Generation Genomics are the five most disruptive technologies. Additive Manufacturing is the process of buiilding three-dimensional objects with machines using CAD software (3D Printing). This is disrupting manufacturing as a whole because it can literally make anything and results in less waste, faster output, and lower operational costs. Automated World is what its title suggests, automation. This technology could disrupt the job market and affect areas such as automated retail, advanced robotics, and artificial intelligence. The Internet of Things is the concept of everyday objects becoming connected to the web. This disruptive technology is directly tied to the automated world. Next Generation Interface refers to the fact that our devices become smaller and smaller that we will need a new means on interaction with them. Lastly, Next Generation Genomics refers to treatment based on genetic sequencing rather than symptoms. All of these are disruptive based on facts sited in the article. What technologies will be considered the most disruptive for 2015?

Making An Effective Presentation

Making An Effective Presentation

In this Forbes article, author Bill Rosenthal explains the three main components to delivering a successful and effective presentation. He first highlights that the three most important parts to any presentation is: (1) making an emotional connection with the audience, (2) present with energy, and (3) spell out the payoff for the audience. Rosenthal states that conciously or not, an audience forms a bias for or against a presenter within seconds. The key to this step is ensuring that you come across as likale and trustworthy. He says that the key to being likable is simple: show you like the audience and they will reciprocate, and once that is acheived, the trust will come. The next step is to present with energy. Rosenthal states that the way to get the audience excited about your presentation is by showing them your own excitement. The last step is spelling out the payoff for the audience. Rosenthal states that you should never assume that the audience will understand the take away as quickly as you, the presenter, has. He says that you need to state your key facts and then reiterate them in different ways so that they can sink in. Seeing as how we are all going to be giving presentations on our projects, I felt that this article could be helpful. Can you think of any other techniques that you can use to incorporate Rosenthal’s three key components within your own presentations?

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