tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74514407489838659772024-02-18T20:23:59.312-08:00MOVED - new location is itcouldbedifferent.com/MOVED - new location is itcouldbedifferent.com/Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-33557615969404709682013-05-11T17:51:00.002-07:002013-05-11T17:52:04.348-07:00MOVED<br />
Outgrown this shell, please visit<br />
<br />
<a href="http://itcouldbedifferent.com/">http://itcouldbedifferent.com/</a><br />
<br />
where you will find all the old posts, plus lots of new stuff and much better organization.Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-30607263683999333582013-04-30T08:03:00.000-07:002013-04-30T08:03:52.008-07:00People, not Ideas<i>Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. </i>
John Wooden<br />
<br />
I attended a social gathering of the Innovation Working Group of the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission. Such happenings are reason in themselves for working at a university research park, always being invited to something out of the ordinary.<br />
<br />
I had no idea what was going on and grabbed the first person I could find to explain it to me. Fortunately, the first person I stumbled upon was with the State Department and was able to give me the 50,000 foot view. The larger Commission was looking to rebuild relationships between US and Russia by addressing dozens of different topics through Working Groups.<br />
<br />
Then I tried to get a little deeper into understanding just what an Innovation Working Group might be up to. I probably missed a few things, but the one item that was often repeated made me scratch my head. In fairness, I'm representing their idea based on a few five minute conversations, but the jest of the idea is so commonly wrong in policy circles that it merits discussion here.<br />
<br />
The idea was to help pave the way for intellectual property discovered in Russian laboratories to land in the US where it could attract financing and IP protection. In other words, do the science in Russia, start the business in the US. Or, more generically, do the science at a university and create a physical space for a company to locate somewhere else (like those research parks I actually love).<br />
<br />
Simple, well intentioned, and missing the only important element...people<br />
<br />
People who know how to take an idea, analyze it in a business context, modify the idea, perform some proof of concept and marketing, modify the idea and target market some more, raise some money, design a prototype, modify the idea and target market again, raise more money and eventually launch a product.<br />
<br />
People who know <i>it could <b>BE </b>different</i> are in short supply, not ideas.<br />
<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-15296425367079406202013-04-22T06:51:00.002-07:002013-04-22T06:51:49.633-07:00Everyone's Entrepreneur<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I've said. </i>Alan Greenspan</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">_________________________________________________________</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Most could, and many do:<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small; line-height: 20px;">organize, manage, and assume the risks of a business or enterprise <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entrepreneur" target="_blank">1</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: small;">employ</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: small;"> </span><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-size: small;">productive</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: small;"> </span><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-size: small;">labor<span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/entrepreneur" target="_blank">2</a></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-size: small;">suppl<span style="font-size: small;">y</span> risk capital as a risk taker and control the business activities...owns the majority of shares in an incorporated venture. <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/entrepreneur.html" target="_blank">3</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: small;">rather than work as an employee, run a small business and assume all the risk and reward of a given business venture</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/entrepreneur.asp" target="_blank">4</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">organize, operate, and assume the risk for a business venture. <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/entrepreneurship" target="_blank">5</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">_________________________________________________________</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">But <span style="font-size: large;">few choose<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span>:</span></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">to search for change, respond to it and exploit opportunities.<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: xx-small;">Drucker</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">be energetic and a moderate risk taker.<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 19.1875px;">McClelland</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">use a process of shattering the status quo<span style="font-size: small;">.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Schumpeter</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">start a new business where there was none before. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 19.1875px;">Gartner</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"><br /></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">pursue </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Stevenson</span> </span></span></span><br />
<span name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">_________________________________________________________<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>it could <b>BE </b>different</i></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span> </span></span></span></span>Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-4857981920028091742013-04-15T09:05:00.001-07:002013-04-15T13:29:02.666-07:00The Dantzig Fallacy<br />
<i>Some like to understand what they believe in. Others like to believe in what they understand.</i> Stanislaw Lec<br />
<br />
<br />
"George Dantzig arrived
late for a statistics class. He copied down the
two problems on the blackboard and turned them in a few days later. Apologizing for the delay, as he had found them much harder than usual, Professor Neyman threw it on a disheveled desk. Six weeks later, the professor banged on Dantzig’s door.
The problems that Dantzig had assumed were homework were actually
unproved statistical theorems and Dantzig had proved both of them." <br />
<br />
There are hundreds of <a href="http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/unsolvable.asp" target="_blank">variations </a>on this story. The names change, the places change, the nature of the problems change and there is a version that would became the movie Good Will Hunting. Regardless of the large variations in the details, the parable of each variation is the same:<br />
<br />
<u>It is amazing what you can do when you don't know it is hard.</u><br />
<br />
As a parable - it is nice, warm, fuzzy and <b>wrong</b>.<br />
<br />
It appears that the version I presented above is the most accurate and there are plenty of Dantzig and Neyman <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=ZpYca36h464C&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=george+dantzig+statistics+problems&source=bl&ots=0tlYOIVYHi&sig=TjB6lhdgi7Yaz9KPQiOGM-72ejg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pRxsUa6_IYvI0AHj1oFg&ved=0CGMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=george%20dantzig%20statistics%20problems&f=false" target="_blank">quotes </a>confirming this. So let's take a closer look at Dantzig.<br />
<br />
Dantzig's father held a PhD in math and <a href="http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Dantzig_George.html" target="_blank">challenged </a>him with thousands of geometry problems in high school. Dantzig would go on to become the 'father of linear programming'. Essentially creating the field of programming used to optimize production and logistics. It was the 'google' algorithm of his time.<br />
<br />
A famously decorated mathematician, Dantzig was more than likely to attempt a problem because no one else had solved it. Arguably, he would have proven the theorems that Neyman presented, even if he had known the circumstances.<br />
<br />
The implication of the parable is that you are better off with less knowledge and taking blind leaps of faith. The facts just don't match up with that. If you want to create change, if you know <i>it could <b>BE </b>different,</i> then knowledge is your friend.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-22823258763902484572013-04-09T16:43:00.000-07:002013-04-10T05:05:39.252-07:00A World Without Jobs<span class="st"><i>Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need. </i>Voltaire</span><br />
<br />
Imagine a world that has the
resources to provide for everyone's needs and most of their desires BUT
has a 75% unemployment rate. <br />
<br />
More important than imagining it - prepare for it.<br />
<br />
In some industrial sectors, it is already determined: Agricultural output will continue to increase while global ag jobs decrease. Manufacturing output will continue to increase while global manufacturing jobs decrease.<br />
<br />
Don't believe manufacturing decreased jobs? look at the Chinese employment below (btw, China, the EU and the USA all manufacture about the same value of stuff - it's just in the developed world we think we don't because it takes so few people to do so).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxZNLYD46AnuDCGnRE3dsDc0g26s8oinUww1VMdAHkG_S5usACtrDhupT-RPceaFVSHsxh5yjePMWlot8xGXHiMthOMP4xCT-p2o4ET7yt50pZ2UIcLJwazI7Io2hRCWI28Zuw1VKvnw/s1600/China-mfg-and-employ-650x447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxZNLYD46AnuDCGnRE3dsDc0g26s8oinUww1VMdAHkG_S5usACtrDhupT-RPceaFVSHsxh5yjePMWlot8xGXHiMthOMP4xCT-p2o4ET7yt50pZ2UIcLJwazI7Io2hRCWI28Zuw1VKvnw/s400/China-mfg-and-employ-650x447.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Other changes are almost upon us.<br />
<br />
How long will the 4.2 million transportation jobs last with the Google Car now having logged more than 500,000 miles without an accident?<br />
<br />
How are the 14.4 million retail trade jobs going to grow with constant growth of online sales? sales that will eventually be filled by robotic warehouses and robotic trucks.<br />
<br />
Education job growth with a booming internet learning environment? Military job growth with robotics and a world that has become one large market? <br />
<br />
Go down the list and figure out where the jobs aren't going to decrease.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 464px;"><colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 12873; mso-width-source: userset; width: 264pt;" width="352"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 4096; mso-width-source: userset; width: 84pt;" width="112"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Sector</td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; width: 84pt;" width="112"> Employment</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">State and local government<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">19.5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Professional and business services<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16.7</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Health care and social assistance<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">16.4</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Retail trade<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">14.4</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Leisure and hospitality<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">13.0</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Manufacturing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">11.5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Nonagriculture self-employed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">8.9</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Financial activities<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">7.6</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Other services<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">6.0</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Construction<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">5.5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Wholesale trade<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">5.5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Transportation and warehousing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">4.2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Educational services<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">3.1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Federal government<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">3.0</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Information<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">2.7</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Agriculture wage and salary<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1.3</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Agriculture self-employed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">0.9</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Mining<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">0.7</td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl71" height="21" style="border-top: none; height: 15.75pt; width: 264pt;" width="352">Utilities<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">0.6</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Bureau of Labor Statistics - 2010 US Employment)</span><br />
<br />
Health care is the only obvious growth area for the next decade. But it is clear that technology will address that as well.<br />
<br />
Bring back the jobs?....<i>it could <b>BE </b>different</i>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-50592957474568804732013-04-02T09:14:00.000-07:002013-04-03T12:27:45.127-07:00Time<br />
<i>I didn't go to the moon, I went much further--for time is the longest distance between two places. </i>Tennessee Williams<br />
<br />
<br />
Let's put change into context, specifically the timescale of change. After all, we've heard it thousands of times: "small business adapt to change better than large, universities are slow to change, information technology changes rapidly...."<br />
<br />
By way of demonstration, let's take a popular topic of change - climate.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Global Warming:</b> This looks pretty bad. A close look at the
temperature scale makes it a little less terrifying. But the more
interesting information is in the time scale. Even compared to the rate
of change at universities, a time scale of almost 200 years seems
meaningfully large to a human.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn11639/dn11639-2_808.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11639-climate-myths-the-cooling-after-1940-shows-co2-does-not-cause-warming.html&h=620&w=808&sz=84&tbnid=IoDQF9vTEVg5HM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=117&zoom=1&usg=__CynuiYLHax_RLlqIEH5PRPIYLPs=&docid=mX1PS8p3nGOBIM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xvtaUZPQJ-Ki0AGd2oGQAg&sqi=2&ved=0CDIQ9QEwAA&dur=186" target="_blank">source</a></span><br />
<br />
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<b>No Global Warming:</b> But then on a timescale of a few hundred
thousand years, it seems that global temperatures just cycle. And notice
the temperature scale which is 10X the prior chart. <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ice_Age_Temperature.png" target="_blank">source</a></span><br />
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<b>Global Cooling:</b> and on a timescale of a few million years, our world is cooling down. We better light a few more fires! <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Five_Myr_Climate_Change.png" target="_blank">source</a></span><br />
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<br />
I'm not going to make any sweeping generalizations from global climate change to other types of change. But I am going to challenge you to consider the timescale you are looking at the next time you consider if <i>it could <b>BE </b>different.</i><br />
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<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-86278256766023049702013-03-27T14:00:00.000-07:002013-03-27T14:00:38.244-07:00Experience Required<em>When I finished school, i took my entire life savings, $5,000, and invested it in a business. I was young. I was inexperienced. But I was an entrepreneur and proud. And in six weeks I was broke. </em>Mark Warner<br />
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When I meet young people, especially college students, who are enthusiastic to become entrepreneurs, I'm reminded of a parable of unkown origin:<br />
<br />
A manufacturing plant has been experiencing trouble for weeks. Production is slow and off specification and none of the employees can figure out how to fix the problem. So the plant manager brings in a consultant that had worked in the industry for decades.<br />
<br />
The consultant walks around the plant, asks a few questions, turns a valve then picks up a hammer and hits the valve. The plant roars back to life, making in specification product again.<br />
<br />
The following week the plant manager receives a bill from the consultant for $10,000. After the shock wears off, the manager calls the consultant and asks him to justify the bill. The consultant offers to send an itemized billing as explanation. <br />
<br />
A few days later, the bill arrives. Item 1: Hitting stuck valve with hammer $10. Item 2: Forty years of experience to know what to hit $9,990.<br />
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So young folks who believe <em>it could <strong>BE </strong>different</em>, go make it happen, you're young and it's a great thing to try! You might get lucky with the next Facebook, but most of you will not get very far without the depth of experience that comes from working in an industry for a decade or two. If you can't wait that long, then at least add someone to your team who has.<br />
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Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-91612644729643435942013-03-21T09:15:00.000-07:002013-03-21T09:15:48.457-07:00He Went All the Way<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<i>When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are
challenged to change ourselves. </i>Viktor Frankl</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Howard Cosell would have been 95 today.<br />
<br />
Most memorable as the voice of Monday Night Football and professional boxing with "He could go all the way." and "Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!".<br />
<br />
He should be better recognized for transforming the profession of sports broadcasting and, in turn, changing sports. Prior to Cosell, the standard broadcaster showed unabashed flattery of the players, coaches and sport. Using the "tell it like it is" approach, he created controversy, which meant more people were talking about the sport and in turn watching it.<br />
<br />
But it is Cosell's actions during and after the Holmes-Cobb fight for which he should be most celebrated. By the sixth round, it was clear that Cobb was no match for Holmes. If you have a strong stomach read Cosell's call below in italics - if not, imagine the Rocky movie with Apollo Creed never being hit and skip the italics.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Round 6: Tex Cobb’s left eye is half-closed. His head must
have been carved out of Mount Rushmore and he certainly has a granite chin, but
is this a palatable match?</span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Round 7: Imagine the number of combinations against this man’s
head; the punishment he’s been taking.</span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Round 8: Cobb is heavy-legged, ponderous with a bravery
about him. However, we are not in the age of the Roman Coliseum and the lions.
You can see Cobb’s face all bruised and swollen.</span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Round 9: This is a strong decent man, Randy Tex Cobb, and I
hate to see anybody take this kind of punishment. This is brutalization. The
referee should think about stopping this fight fast. This is not right. You can’t
measure the aftermath of a fight like this, with this kind of punishment. He
won’t do down; the courage of a lion; but why?</span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Round 10: Why don’t they stop it? The punishment inflicted
is simply enormous. This is just terrible.</span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Round 11: Look at that head snap back from the Holmes left,
again and again. Lord knows, maybe this man can stand up and take this for
fifteen round. What does that prove? Who knows what the aftereffects will be?</span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Round 12: This kind of savagery doesn’t deserve
commentation. I’ll tell you something; this is as brutal a mismatch as I think
I’ve ever seen.</span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Round 13: This fellow, the referee Steve Crosson. I don’t
understand his judgment or thinking. What is achieved by letting this man take
this kind of beating? From the point of view of boxing, which is under fire and
deservedly so, this fight could not have come at a worse time</span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Round 14: Obviously this referee has no intention of
stopping this fight. The blood is all over Cobb’s face now. I wonder if that
referee understands that he’s constructing an advertisement for the abolition
of the very sport that he’s a part of</span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Round 15: Look at how swollen the poor man’s face is. I can’t
believe this referee. It’s outrageous.</span></i></div>
<br />
Cosell was so disgusted he vowed during the fight to never call another boxing match if the referee didn't stop the fight. It went fifteen rounds and Cosell never called another pro fight.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here's his explanation "Boxing once had appeal to me. It was the romantic appeal of
a way out of the ghetto, and I’ve always had great unwavering respect for men
who fight for a living....But, professional
boxing is no longer worthy of civilized society. It’s run by self-serving
crooks, who are called promoters. They are buttressed with the look of nicety
about them by the television networks, which are in fact corrupt and
unprincipled in putting up the front money that continues boxing in its present
form. Quite frankly, I now find the whole subject of professional boxing
disgusting. Except for the fighters, you’re<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>talking about human scum, nothing more. Professional boxing is immoral.
It’s not capable of reformation. I now favor the abolition of professional boxing.
You’ll never clean it up. Mud can never be clean."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Happy Birthday to the sportscaster who knew <i>it could <b>BE </b>different</i>. </div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=ADhdN8sfa8kC&pg=PA108&lpg=PA108&dq=%22I+wonder+if+that+referee+%28Steve+Crosson%29+is+[conducting]+an+advertisement+for+the+abolition+of+the+very+sport+that+he+is+a+part+of?%22&source=bl&ots=z_oqjCyPe3&sig=Bdnha5Yl99qM_FbPkzkcYs317og&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sSJLUdPYO7a24APKlYHABg&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22I%20wonder%20if%20that%20referee%20%28Steve%20Crosson%29%20is%20[conducting]%20an%20advertisement%20for%20the%20abolition%20of%20the%20very%20sport%20that%20he%20is%20a%20part%20of%3F%22&f=false" target="_blank">source link</a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-81136385369229924082013-03-06T13:28:00.000-08:002013-03-06T13:28:06.628-08:00Data is not Optional<i><span class="st">A man of <i>genius</i> makes no <i>mistakes</i>. His <i>errors</i> are volitional and are the portals to discovery. </span></i><span class="st">James Joyce</span><i><span class="st"><br /></span></i><br />
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I just listened to a a <a href="http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2013/mar/05/heimlich/" target="_blank">Radiolab interview</a> with Henry Heimlich.<br />
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It was quaint to hear Heimlich describe the invention of the Heimlich maneuver, testing it on an anesthetized dog using a chunk of meat tied to a string, jammed down the dogs throat. And his earlier invention, the Heimlich valve, developed for the battlefield to stop chest injuries from collapsing lungs.<br />
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Less quaint was Heimlich's advocacy of using his maneuver to treat asthma, cardiac arrest and drownings. And horrifying was his theory that infecting AIDS patients with malaria could cure them of AIDS. OK, the theory wasn't so horrifying, but his repeated human trials in Mexico and Africa certainly were.<br />
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Most interesting, however, is the lack of structure, science and regulation on any of these Heimlich 'discoveries/inventions'.<br />
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The Red Cross science advisory panel still debates the efficacy of slapping someone on the back (their primary recommended action) over the Heimlich maneuver. Their debate goes unresolved because there are no studies supporting either method.<br />
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With a little research, one discovers that the Heimlich valve (then called a flutter valve) was around in the <a href="http://www.mactheknife.org/Chest_Trauma/History.html" target="_blank">Civil War</a>. It seems Heimlich, in 1963, managed to find a flutter valve at a hardware store that didn't clog as easily. Employing an off the shelf solution with no data to back it up.<br />
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As for the Heimlich treatment for asthma, cardiac arrest and drownings - no FDA clearance on that!<br />
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And the human trials of malaria therapy for AIDS (and advocacy of it for cancer)? well, he left the US for that.<br />
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I celebrate the creativity of people like Heimlich, defend their right to be wrong and encourage their pursuit of atrocious ideas<b><i>. </i></b>But we still need to put rigor into our analysis, so that <i>it could <b>BE </b>different</i>.Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-4715563385474279742013-02-26T07:10:00.001-08:002013-03-04T11:34:01.802-08:00Koop<i>The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.</i> Isaac Asimov<br />
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The recent passing of C. Everett Koop is an appropriate time to reflect on the impacts of public health policy on the welfare of the people. However, before getting into the thicket of his political life, his transformational impact as a pediatric surgery must be acknowledged. Anyone who has had the misfortune of watching their child undergo surgery owes, ultimately, a debt of gratitude to this trail blazer in surgical techniques.<br />
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It was outside of the operating room where Koop would rise to global fame. He took strong positions on AIDS, turning panic of a plague like outbreak with demands for mandatory testing and quarantine, into thoughtful discourse on behavior modifications and long term care. He infuriated both extremes of the debate on abortion by demonstrating that abortion was not a public health concern while at the same time calling it morally abominable. He challenged our basic prejudices and misunderstandings on the rights of infants with birth defects, providing the scientific basis for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Doe_Law" target="_blank">Baby Doe legislation</a>.<br />
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Koop was also an aggressive critic of the tobacco industry. Perhaps in this role he is often over credited with driving change, as by the early 1980's when he became Surgeon General, there was already a clear downward trend. That trend was started by then Surgeon General Luther Terry in 1964 who first declared definitive causality of lung cancer and the probable causality of heart disease from smoking.<br />
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<img alt="Trends in Current Cigarette Smoking Among High School Students and Adults, United States, 1965–2011" class="counter shadow" src="http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/tables/trends/cig_smoking/images/trends_2011b.jpg" width="500" /><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/tables/trends/cig_smoking/index.htm" target="_blank">CDC graph</a></span><br />
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Koop understood that through a balance of scientific thought and moral conscience, <i>it could <b>BE </b>different.</i><br />
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<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-74046150657700550132013-02-22T11:26:00.002-08:002013-02-22T11:26:56.413-08:00Home Alone<i>The only place you see a free market is in the speeches of politicians. </i>Dwayne Andreas<br />
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Thanks to my friend Erik Pages, I'm going to be lazy this week and send you to his <a href="http://entreworks.net/blog/production-and-the-innovation-economy/" target="_blank">post</a>. <br />
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The key quote is "....when it comes to innovation, US firms are 'home alone.' If they develop
a new innovation, it’s solely up to them to scale it up and bring it to
market. In contrast, foreign manufacturers can tap into a diverse
network of resources...."<br />
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We can keep to a failed philosophy, or we can recognize that with a bit of pragmatic policy that<i> it could <b>BE</b> different</i> for US Manufacturing.Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-43870899491074771972013-02-15T13:24:00.000-08:002013-02-15T13:24:12.891-08:00Good is Not Good Enough<i>There is no country in the world where it's as easy to find venture capital in the stock market as the United States.</i> Ron Chernow<br />
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You don't have to read many of my posts to know I am not a fan of the metaphor. (<a href="http://itcouldbedifferent.blogspot.com/2012/09/copyball.html" target="_blank">Copyball</a>, <a href="http://itcouldbedifferent.blogspot.com/2012/09/dont-skin-turkey.html" target="_blank">Don't Skin the Turkey</a>, <a href="http://itcouldbedifferent.blogspot.com/2011/05/moldy-cheese.html" target="_blank">Moldy Cheese</a>, and <a href="http://itcouldbedifferent.blogspot.com/2011/03/dont-spend-billions-on-metaphor.html" target="_blank">Don't Spend Billions on a Metaphor</a>). So it is with much hypocrisy that I publish this post about the investor and the entrepreneur.<br />
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"An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.<br />
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A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'<br />
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The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'<br />
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So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. Suddenly, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.<br />
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The moral: If you are going to sit and do nothing, it is best to do so very high up." author unknown<br />
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As an entrepreneur, don't forget that the investor is perfectly fine doing nothing. Showing an investor a deal that is good is not good enough. Even showing an investor a great deal isn't good enough, if someone else has a greater deal.<br />
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This is perhaps the biggest mistake I see from people (and me) looking for money. They have good deals, but they don't have great deals. And for an investor, who already has a big pocket full of cash, why would they risk moving for anything other than a deal which clearly screams<i> it could <b>BE </b>different</i>.<br />
<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-92162488651827548492013-02-02T14:37:00.000-08:002013-02-02T14:38:00.937-08:00What the Customer Always Wants<i>They didn't want it good, they wanted it Wednesday.</i> Robert Heinlein<br />
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The following is a rather popular <a href="http://www.sonnyradio.com/what-the-customer-actually-wanted.jpg" target="_blank">cartoon</a>.<br />
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On first read, I think anyone whose been involved in the development of a new product would chuckle with a sense of familiarity. <br />
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<a href="http://www.sonnyradio.com/what-the-customer-actually-wanted.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.sonnyradio.com/what-the-customer-actually-wanted.jpg" class="decoded" height="640" src="http://www.sonnyradio.com/what-the-customer-actually-wanted.jpg" width="396" /></a><br />
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But the last frame is wrong.<br />
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The reality is that customers want a product which will make them money (or have a lot of fun, or eat a great meal, or whatever)......for <u>free </u>(or better yet, get money)......It's not enough to ask customers what they want, because that will always be what they want.<br />
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To develop and sell a new product, ask how you will make money in a way that engineering can design, that manufacturing can make, that marketing can distribute, that meets regulatory requirements AND that provides the customer improved value. And expect a few hundred iterations until you get it right.<br />
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It's not easy, but it is the only way <i>it could <b>BE </b>different</i>.<br />
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<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-49491770655922589322013-01-23T08:11:00.000-08:002013-01-23T08:11:35.698-08:00Vision and a Plan<i>Everyone has a plan, 'til they get punched in the mouth.</i> Mike Tyson<br />
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It was Martin Luther King, Jr. day and it seemed rather appropriate to blog on a man whose name is synonymous with change. This post is late because it took me some time to find what I was looking for. <br />
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It's relatively easy to find his speeches. They are, after all, amazing oratory that are both visionary and inspirational, but also superficial. Now I've heard thousands of visionary, inspirational speakers in my life. Most of whom failed to actually create change. In the end, they had no plan and no reasoning, just imagery and emotion.<br />
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I knew that King had to have a deeper understanding of the issues and a real sense of how to implement change - as I believe the speeches and leadership would have failed without it.<br />
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I found rather quickly that this was the opinion of many of the King scholars; however, I didn't want to read what others thought of King, but wanted it in his own words. <br />
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I found what I was looking for in a <a href="http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html" target="_blank">Letter from a Birmingham Jail</a>. A thought filled, logical, persuasive work that explained his tactics and reasons to his fellow clergymen who were critical of King's methods. While not exactly a tome of wisdom at about six pages in length, it was concise and pragmatic.<br />
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So take a few seconds to read his 'I have a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/i-have-a-dream-speech-text_n_809993.html" target="_blank">Dream Speech</a>,' but then read the Letter. And consider whether <i>it could <b>BE </b>different</i> without the depth of thought contained in the latter.<br />
<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-53276133724339709532013-01-16T15:48:00.000-08:002013-01-16T15:48:16.359-08:00Dreams and Teeth<i>You take unacceptable risk, you have to be prepared to face the consequence. </i>Carly Fiorina<br />
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The next time you jump on a plane, remember that there is more new technology in your toothbrush.<br />
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Patents issued for the toothbrush: 1,937<br />
Patents issued for the airplane: 1,505<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(since 1976)</span><br />
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Before you start wondering why there are so many toothbrush patents, let me cite some other patent counts: laser 63k, computer 125k, automobile 12k, television 15k, boat 7k - since 1976.<br />
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So the big question is not why are there so many toothbrush patents? (although, honestly, it would still be an interesting question) but rather, why are there so FEW airplane patents?<br />
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Look no further than today's New York Times headlines <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/business/global/deepening-crisis-for-the-dreamliner.html?_r=0" target="_blank">Deepening Crisis for the Dreamliner</a>.<br />
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In Boeing's words "The Boeing 787 program has consciously designed in new, state-of-the-art
features and performance that reduce cost and increase airplane
availability. These features will lead to additional savings and greater
revenue for Boeing customers. The 787 reflects a new life-cycle design
philosophy that has dictated some significant changes in the way the
airplane will be built. These changes include extensive use of
composites in the airframe and primary structure, an electric systems
architecture, a reliable and maintainable design, and an improved
maintenance program. Taken together, these changes will offer customers a
guaranteed reduction in maintenance costs."<br />
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Consider the billions of dollars that Boeing invested in the design, development and retooling of manufacturing facilities. And after all that investment, they were three years late in their first deliveries. Then, on top of all that, the DOUBT over the new technologies has resulted in the planes being grounded.<br />
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On top of that, there are still huge long term risks that Boeing has taken on. For example, the airplane wasn't made with aluminum, but with composites. No one really knows how those materials will perform in real flight operations over twenty years. <br />
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So when you consider if<i> it could <b>BE </b>different</i>, keep in mind that in some markets the cost of change is astronomical and the risk of failure is huge.<br />
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<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-25469014292281322372013-01-10T13:06:00.004-08:002013-01-10T13:21:08.888-08:00Early Charm Ventures<i>You must be the change you wish to see in the world.</i> Mahatma Gandhi<br />
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I'm pleased to announce the creation of Early Charm Ventures, LLC. (<a href="http://www.earlycharm.com/">www.earlycharm.com</a>)<br />
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Actually, it's a renaming of an old company, MBM Technology, LLC - but there is a lot more to it than a name change. Our new name, Early Charm for short, has its roots in our home, Baltimore, "The Charm City".<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But to understand why we like the name so much, it would help to understand a bit about how The Charm City got its name.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">In mid-70's Baltimore (before Harborplace, Maryland Science Center, the National Aquarium, and the prominence of Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland Medicine) was perhaps best described by native son Mark Kram who wrote in Sports Illustrated at the
time, "is an anonymous city even to those who live there, a city that
draws a laugh even from Philadelphia, a sneer from Washington, with a
hundred tag lines that draw neither smile nor sneer from the city:
Nickel Town, Washington's Brooklyn. A Loser's Town."</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">So the mayor, in 1975, asked Baltimore's leading advertising executives to re-brand the city. One of those execs, Bill Evans, wrote 'Baltimore has more history and unspoiled charm tucked away in quiet corners than most American cities out in the spotlight.'</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Soon the ad execs began calling
Baltimore "Charm City." Indeed, a charm bracelet was displayed at the
bottom of each ad; there were only about five of them. But "Charm City"
had been born, and set into Baltimore legend. The ads ran in The
Sun, and featured the charm of Charm City: White steps, steamed crabs,
beer, Mount Vernon, the Preakness, Mencken, museums, quiet neighborhood
streets, Ba<span style="font-family: inherit;">be Ruth, row houses and raw bars.</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Local disk jockeys
created music to promote the slogan. They gave it their best. But it
was an idea whose time had not come. The city did
not have the money [or, yet the attractions] to sustain the program and
it died.</i> </span>abbreviated from a Baltimore Sun <a href="http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-07-18/news/1995199190_1_charm-city-bill-evans-loden" target="_blank">article</a>.<br />
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Well, it really didn't die. It just took a lot longer for the name to match the reality than the Mayor wanted. Today, that vision of a few and commitment from the many has transformed Baltimore into the Charm City.<br />
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And, so, at Early Charm, we celebrate those who know that creating change is hard, but want to do it anyway. We support those who see the opportunity and are willing to carry it through the grime. And most importantly, we share their spirit that <i>it could <b>BE </b>different</i>.Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-75986928009252760182012-12-23T04:32:00.001-08:002012-12-23T04:32:58.944-08:00The Myth of Change<i>For the myth is the foundation of life.</i> Thomas Mann<br />
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Today, as anyone from Pittsburgh can (and will) tell you, marks the 40 year anniversary of the Immaculate Reception.<br />
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You don't have to be from Pittsburgh or even like American football to appreciate the event that marked the transformation of a losing organization into a winner. Prior to the event, the Pittsburgh Steelers had made the playoffs one time in forty years. After the event, they made the playoffs 26 times and won a remarkable 6 league championships.<br />
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The Immaculate Reception was just a football play, except that it occurred in the last seconds of a game, in the Steelers first playoff in 35 years, in a game dominated by defense, in a score or lose situation...and, most importantly, to this date, no one knows for certain if the play was successful.<br />
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If you're a football aficionado, then you already know the details. If you're not, then all you need to know is that the play involved a bizarre ball bounce, an incredibly difficult catch and an equally improbable run that all may or may not have actually occurred.<br />
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But the details of the play are unimportant to this article. What is important is that this play was so highly controversial that it was (and still is) constantly being discussed, that patrons of a Pittsburgh bar coined the term Immaculate Reception in direct and obvious reference to the birth of Jesus and that the play became a great myth.<br />
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That myth became the basis of a cultural change of the organization and defined it for decades to come.<br />
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Yes, there were many things that went into transforming the organization from perennial losers into dominant winners. But the power of the myth to motivate, define and set expectations should not be dismissed.<br />
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Create a myth and <i>it could <b>BE </b>different</i>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">PS - if you're a fan of that team that lost forty years ago, yes, the myth defined your team too. But that's about all the acknowledgment you're going to get from this Pittsburgh kid.</span><br />
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<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-42626957334387991722012-12-17T12:49:00.000-08:002012-12-17T12:49:14.696-08:00The Time is Now<br />
<i>I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.</i> Georg Lichtenberg<br />
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For our children and theirs, <i>it could <b>BE </b>different</i>. <br />
<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-25901556353795594792012-12-12T14:40:00.000-08:002012-12-12T14:40:22.369-08:00Sheremetyevo-3<i>I'd love to change the world; But I don't know what to do; So I'll leave it up to you.</i> Alvin Lee
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At 18 I wanted to change the world. Heck, at 48 I still do. Only today, my idea of change is having you think and act differently after reading this article. As a kid, it was world peace, ending poverty, eliminating disease and the like.<br />
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It's been too long now to remember if I didn't take action at 18 because I didn't know what to do, or if doing it was just too much effort. It was probably both.<br />
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Yet, at almost the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean from me, another 18 year old decided he knew what to do. And then did it. <br />
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Mathias Rust decided that the US-Soviet Union peace talks were not progressing and a sign of support and trust was needed. He would create that sign by flying his rented Cessna aircraft from Helsinki to Moscow. The fact that he was an inexperienced pilot and that the Soviets had impregnable air defenses was to be ignored. It was a mission that had to be flown.<br />
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As it turns out, Mathias was pretty lucky. A series of embarrassing miscues by the Soviet Military resulted in his plane being tagged as friendly. These miscues ranged from breakdowns in command and control structure to confusion caused by a concurrent search and rescue mission from a crashed plane earlier in the day.<br />
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While the long story is worth the read, the short story is that Mathias landed his plane in Red Square (for my younger readers - think the equivalent of landing the plane on the White House lawn) and was greeted by many astonished people. The Moscow populace soon referred to Red Square as Sheremetyevo-3 - the third runway of the two runway Moscow International Airport.<br />
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The Soviet embarrassment continued as it took a rather long time before someone realized what had happened and the state police arrested Mathias. He would eventually be sentenced to four years of prison.<br />
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Mathias was successful at creating change but probably not the change he had envisioned. The reform minded Soviet leader, Gorbachev, at the time was embroiled in a life and death battle with a recalcitrant Soviet military establishment. The global embarrassment of letting a kid fly through their air defenses made it easier for Gorbachev to dispose of hundreds of his military rivals.<br />
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After serving his jail time, Mathias returned to to his German homeland and soon found himself in jail again. This time for attempted murder. Later in life he was convicted of theft and then later of fraud.<br />
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So, while not exactly a role model, there is something a bit heroic about Mathias Rust. He didn't just want change, he knew that with the right actions, <i>it could <b>BE </b>different.</i><br />
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<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-45190445221025325052012-12-05T12:17:00.001-08:002012-12-05T12:17:22.866-08:00Take Five<br />
<i>I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.</i> Elvis<br />
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Dave Brubeck. I love his music, but don't have the intellectual training to define or describe it. What I do have is knowledge that he changed the world's perception of jazz from a fringe art form into a commercial product.<br />
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Brubeck isn't recognized as an inventor in jazz. He didn't commit his life to
experimenting and looking for the new forms. He borrowed from the artists
who did. Their work was not gaining popular appeal (and for many of them, it was exactly the avoidance of popular appeal they sought).<br />
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But Brubeck knew how to transform it. <br />
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<b>"</b>He had a sense of being able to take a very almost
popular listenable melody and bring it into jazz. And that was maybe
the most remarkable of all and the ones people haven't really given him
much credit for. But in fact you could sort of hum or sing a Dave
Brubeck melody in the way that you wouldn't have been able to hum
something from Dizzy Gillespie or Charlie Parker. And I think this
contributed to his great success - the fact that he could bring all this
modernism into the music but never lose the thread of the melody." <a href="http://www.pbs.org/brubeck/theMusic/criticTedGioia.htm" target="_blank">Ted Gioia</a><br />
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Perhaps Brubeck contributed to the experiment of jazz, but without a doubt, he knew that<i> it could <b>BE</b> different</i> if he brought jazz to the people rather than people to jazz.<br />
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<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-61658910612528447952012-11-20T13:21:00.001-08:002012-11-20T13:21:24.019-08:00Be QUIET<i>And the vision that was planted in my brain; still remains; within the sound of silence.</i> Paul Simon<br />
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Before you hold your next brainstorming session, keep in mind that these people would <u><b><i>NOT </i></b></u>have been enthusiastic participants<br />
<br />
Albert Einstein<br />
Warren Buffet<br />
Frederic Chopin<br />
Charles Darwin<br />
Mahatma Gandhi<br />
Al Gore<br />
Isaac Newton<br />
Larry Page<br />
Rosa Parks<br />
Eleanor Roosevelt<br />
JK Rowling<br />
Steven Spielberg<br />
Steve Wozniak<br />
George Orwell<br />
Marcel Proust<br />
Charles Schulz<br />
WB Yeats<br />
Dale Carnegie<br />
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They are among the long list of inventors, creators and leaders of change who are introverts. Learn more about them through Susan Cain at <a href="http://www.thepowerofintroverts.com/" target="_blank">Quiet</a><br />
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And consider the next time you are assembling a creative team that<i> it could <b>BE </b>different</i> if some of your most powerful minds gather information from the group but are allowed to do their thinking alone.<br />
Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-71254103238106527152012-11-16T07:51:00.003-08:002012-11-16T07:51:17.059-08:00Government Directed Innovation<i>The final weapon is the brain, all else is supplemental.</i> John Steinbeck<br />
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On Veterans Day our family recognized the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 with a visit to Fort McHenry. I assumed, correctly, that I'd learn a lot about the writing of the US National Anthem and found, happily, that it would keep the kids engaged for many hours. What I had not expected was to uncover the dawn of the invention of the industrial revolution.<br />
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In a corner of a display case tucked behind a pile of cannon balls were a few rifles with a yellowed index card stating unceremoniously that these rifles were made with interchangeable parts. At the time, I understood interchangeable parts fueled the industrial revolution. What I didn't realize without some research was that the War of 1812 accelerated the commercialization of interchangeable parts.<br />
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While the idea of interchangeable parts can be traced back thousands of years, the invention is generally granted to Eli Whitney. In 1801, Whitney presented to the US Congress ten rifles, disassembled them, mixed up the parts and reassembled them.<br />
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Like many inventors, Whitney failed to commercialize the invention as he was never able to organize an economic manufacturing operation. The research costs to do so were prohibitively large, intellectual property protection was questionable, venture capital was scarce and the narrow rifle market was unlikely to create large returns on capital.<br />
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Congress, however, learned their lessons from Whitney and ordered a standardization of parts for weapons. There was a large lag in the mandate for interchangeability and the manufacturing processes to provide it. But the War of 1812 brought an urgency and Congress tasked and, more importantly, funded the Springfield Armory (a federal facility) with developing the needed processes.<br />
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"The Springfield Armory set out to solve this problem, and in the process
of doing so invented the system of mass production that was to revolutionize
American and world industry. By employing precise gauging and measuring of parts,
breaking up complex tasks into simple steps, and devising machines to carry out
repetitive operations, the Armory was able to make muskets with interchangeable
part and to produce them more quickly. This achievement owes credit to the Armory's
administrators and officers, but also to its shop floor workers, who contributed
many important innovations, and to a network of independent contractors in the
surrounding region who exchanged ideas and inventions freely with the government
facility" <a href="http://www.forgeofinnovation.org/" target="_blank">Forge of Innovation</a>.<br />
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While it is likely that interchangeable parts would eventually have been commercialized by capitalists, it is clear that government greatly accelerated the process by seeing the need and determining that<i> it could <b>BE</b> different</i>.<br />
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<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-17683708809443232272012-11-07T08:55:00.000-08:002012-11-07T08:55:06.202-08:00Winds of Change"Until the Northeast gets hit hard, Congress will not pass hurricane insurance reform" then Rep. Gene Taylor of Mississippi, post-Katrina<br />
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FEMA's response to hurricane Sandy has received largely positive <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/11/03/164224394/lessons-from-katrina-boost-femas-sandy-response" target="_blank">reviews</a>. While not without its critics, it appears that the agency has come a long way from its inglorious hurricane Katrina performance.<br />
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I spent some time trying to figure out why and discovered a detailed report which successfully put me to sleep several times in its reading. <a href="http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/docs/Federal%20EM%20Policy%20Changes%20After%20Katrina.pdf" target="_blank">Federal Emergency Management Policy Changes After Hurricane Katrina </a>prepared by the highly regarded Congressional Research Service is a heartening read for anyone wanting to understand how systemic change can occur in government agencies.<br />
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The short version of the report goes something like this:<br />
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After 9/11, a large portion of FEMA's preparedness responsibilities were removed from the agency and distributed to the Border and Transportation Security Directorate and FEMA was shuffled into the rapidly growing Homeland Security Administration monster where it lost the type of autonomy needed for rapid response and was bled of its financial resources.<br />
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Through what many of us would find a slow and painful committee process, congress determined the cause of FEMA's failures and passed legislation returning FEMA to much of its post 9/11 stature and added a few bells and whistles about one year after Katrina. <br />
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It's easy to be skeptical of government, but there's substantial evidence that<i> it could <b>BE </b>different</i>.<br />
<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-72713085656167698242012-10-19T11:25:00.003-07:002012-10-19T11:25:33.760-07:00400 Patents and a Big Bankruptcy"I'll be broke by then" Stan Ovshinsky<br />
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Stan Ovshinsky passed away this week. With over 400 patents to his name, he transformed and enabled the markets for solar panels, flat panel TVs, CDs, computer batteries, electric cars and so much more.<br />
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His incredible inventions provide us with another window into the great challenges of converting early stage research into profit.<br />
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I've provided much detail below, but the short version: he built a company that for 50 years lost money and was liquidated in July after failing to meet its obligations to over $250 million in convertible debt.<br />
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My take on all this is that translational research is a public good and financing it through equity markets will continue to prove problematic. But read on and decide for yourself if <i>it could </i><b>BE </b><i>different</i>.<br />
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"In 1944, Ovshinsky opened his own machine shop and soon had his first invention, a high-speed automated lathe.</div>
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<span>In 1952, he moved to Detroit to become director of research for the Hupp Corp.</span><span>, an automotive and defense supplier.</span><span> During the day, he worked on automatic tracking systems for tanks; at night, he studied the physiology of the human brain.</span></div>
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<span>Three years later,
Ovshinsky presented a paper he wrote to Ernest Gardner, the chairman of
the department of anatomy at Wayne State University, on how the way the
brain processes and stores memory could be mimicked to make better
automated machinery.</span><span> Though Ovshinsky had no college schooling, Gardner asked him to join his research team; he did so and stayed until 1964.</span></div>
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In 1960, Ovshinsky founded Energy Conversion Laboratory in
Detroit with $50,000 in savings to develop more efficient ways of
creating energy and to make better batteries and electronic switches.</div>
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<span>That soon morphed into a
wide variety of research projects, including solar photovoltaics,
hydrogen storage, batteries for electric vehicles, better small
batteries for consumer products and computer memory storage.</span><span> ECD ended up with some 400 patents, with nearly every battery maker in the world now licensing one or another.</span></div>
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<span>After Bob Stempel left General Motors Corp.</span><span> as chairman in 1993, Walter McCarthy, the former CEO at Detroit Edison Co.</span><span> and a longtime ECD board member, helped recruit him to ECD.</span><span> He would eventually assume the position of CEO and chairman.</span></div>
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<span>Ovshinsky had a history of
big-name members of his board, including James Birkenstock, a vice
president at IBM generally credited with making IBM a computer company;
Jack Conway, a Cabinet member of both the Johnson and Kennedy
administrations; Ralph Leach, former chairman of the executive committee
at J.P. Morgan and Co.</span><span> and one of the
architects of post-World War II economic policy in the U.S.; Nobel
laureate Isadore Rabi, former head of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission;
and Edwin Reischauer, former U.S. ambassador to Japan.</span></div>
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ECD critics said that while the board members
had impressive résumés, they were enamored of Ovshinsky and too often
served as a rubber stamp for his varied endeavors.</div>
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<span>By the mid-2000s, a more independent board was in place, one determined to end years of red ink.</span><span>
The company had only a few profitable years in nearly half a century,
its first coming in 1992 and then only because a lawsuit by disgruntled
shareholders forced the company to sell a profitable business unit,
Ovonics Imaging Systems, to Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson.</span></div>
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<span>On Sept.</span><span>
1 2007, Mark Morelli, took over
as CEO with a mandate to focus ECD on marketplace realities and figure
out something the company could make and sell at a profit.</span></div>
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<span>Morelli concentrated on the solar roofing materials made by the United Solar Ovonic LLC subsidiary.</span><span>
The plan was to sell huge volumes of flexible roofing material to large
construction projects in Europe that were subsidized by governments
eager to support green projects, particularly in France and Italy.</span></div>
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<span>For a few months, it seemed as if ECD’s much vaunted potential had become reality.</span><span>
Orders soared, the company began turning a profit and the stock, which
traded at $25.91 when Morelli took office, soared to a high of $83.33 on
June 23, 2008.</span><span> The company built new plants in Greenville and Battle Creek to keep up with demand.</span></div>
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<span>And then the recession hit, government subsidies ended, orders plummeted and red ink began flowing.</span><span> Morelli was terminated last May; in November, ECD suspended manufacturing and cut its workforce by 900.</span><span> It was trading last week at less than 25 cents a share."</span></div>
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Paraphrased from Crain's Detroit Business<span>, 1/2/2012, Vol.</span><span> 28 Issue 1, p0016-0016, 1p:</span><br />
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Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7451440748983865977.post-47832897760979014852012-10-16T12:10:00.000-07:002012-10-16T12:11:55.587-07:00In Defense of Gurdon's Teacher<i>Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how
they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really
do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.</i> Steve Jobs<br />
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In a mindless flurry of newspaper reporting and viral internet flubber, the former teacher of then 15 year old John Gurdon (now Nobel Laureate Gurdon) is being portrayed in a most unflattering manner. <br />
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The teacher posted the following report on Gurdon:<br />
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<img height="205" id="il_fi" src="http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/images/gurdon/gurdon_report.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="400" /><br />
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It is possible that the teacher was cruel or inadequate, and that this reflects poorly on 'our' system of education. It is also possible, and to the knowledge of anyone that has ever been a 15 year old boy, most probable, that Gurdon wasn't doing his work. <br />
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In defense of the teacher, it was not written that Gurdon would fail as a scientist. Rather, that if he kept up the poor effort he would fail.<br />
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We don't know of that teacher's interactions with Gurdon beyond a single report and should thus be somewhat cautious in assuming intent. We do know that Gurdon framed the report and, if various news services are to be believed, it is the only thing he has ever framed. Such an action is an "I will show you" thing, or maybe it was an ever present reminder of what happens when effort is inappropriate to the task.<br />
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To the many who criticize the teacher for crushing creativity, I provide this alternative. Creativity without discipline does not lead to Noble Prizes. It is not enough to be creative. One must conform to the accepted protocols of science, to publish, to interact with peers (Gurdon shared the prize after all), to present ideas in a standardized fashion, to communicate to the community in a manner understood. Creativity without that discipline would no more result in a Noble Prize than discipline without creativity.<br />
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Now, I'm a fan of incorporating creativity into the classroom and have even taken on the perilous task of teaching a course in creativity many times. However, as I have <a href="http://itcouldbedifferent.blogspot.com/2011/08/bureaucratic-creativity.html" target="_blank">previously written</a>, creativity untethered is little more than insanity.<br />
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Perhaps Gurden's teacher should have written "John does everything his own way. I don't understand what he is doing and, therefore, can not determine if he has in fact learned anything about biology. He may one day win a Nobel Prize, or not." Had he done so, <i>it could</i> <b>BE </b><i>different</i>, but maybe not better.<br />
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<br />Ken Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08352521696267780854noreply@blogger.com1