See how the students at Stanford implement the Design Thinking Process.
Archive for December, 2007
Whitespace: “The large but mostly unoccupied territory in every company where rules are vague, authority is fuzzy, budgets are nonexistent, and strategy is unclear – and where, as a consequence, entrepreneurial activity that helps reinvent and renew an organization takes place.” Maletz and Nohria (2001), Managing in the Whitespace
Last night I was reading about technology management strategies, most of the comments were centred around organisations that provide products and not services. It got me thinking about the service sector (the biggest sector in Ireland and in many other “developed” countries) and how technology can be used as an innovation tool within the sector and in particular the professional service sector e.g. healthcare, education, finance, legal, etc. As with all innovations the focus should be on improving customer value. One characteristic of the professional service sector in general which differs from the industrial sector is the time required to “transfer” the service to the customer. I can purchase an iPod (once I have decided that’s what I want) in minutes, but to purchase the service of a doctor, solicitor or teacher can take anything from hours to years. That increases the cost of the service (the cost of time) for the customer. Surely technology can be better used in innovative ways to reduce this cost? Do I have to visit my solicitor in person to discuss the purchase of my new house? Do I have to sit with my mortgage provider for an hour as she “transfers” her service to me? Do I have to go to class to learn how to do my business accounts?
There are many arguments for and against outsourcing IT functions. Many believe that if it is not part of your core business then you should outsource. I tend to agree. But one thing is for sure - if you can’t do it in-house don’t try. If you have problems managing your email (or are simply fed up with it) then you should seriously consider moving to Google Domain Apps.
I teach programming to 3rd level students. I have 10 years experience as a programmer and feel both my knowledge and experience allow me to effectively teach the topic. However, I am somewhat haunted by the saying “Those who can do, those who can’t teach”. While I disagree with the saying, I do feel my teachings are negatively impacted on by the lack of experience I have in many of my teaching topics. As a successful programmer in industry, I knew all the latest and greatest technologies and techniques. When I joined academia these technologies and techniques advanced and, while I kept myself up-to-date in those that are relevant to my teachings, I lacked real world experience. Ideally I should work in industry for a period every year so that I can ensure my level of experience in these matters keeps apace with my level of reading. Unfortunately this is not possible. So I do the next best thing, I read the blogs of practitioners. This allows me to incorporate the “voice of the practitioner” in my teachings. I am lucky because there are a lot of bloggers out there that, as practitioners, blog about topics I teach. It allows me to critique my teaching material based, not on my own experience but, on the experience of others. Invaluable.