An additional link to Roger Martin

Radio interview with Roger Martin on his ideas about Design Thinking

http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2009/10/full-interview-roger-martin-on-design-thinking-in-the-workplace/

The Design of Business

Interesting book about how business strategists need to get away the emphasis on analytical business thinking and move to design centric thinking. Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Business at U of T writes:

"Most companies today have innovation envy. They yearn to come up with a game-changing innovation like Apple’s iPod, or create an entirely new category like Facebook. Many make genuine efforts to be innovative-they spend on R&D, bring in creative designers, hire innovation consultants. But they get disappointing results. Why? In The Design of Business, Roger Martin offers a compelling and provocative answer: we rely far too exclusively on analytical thinking, which merely refines current knowledge, producing small improvements to the status quo.To innovate and win, companies need design thinking. This form of thinking is rooted in how knowledge advances from one stage to another-from mystery (something we can’t explain) to heuristic (a rule of thumb that guides us toward solution) to algorithm (a predictable formula for producing an answer)."

I was commenting a few weeks back on Blue Ocean Strategy, and how despite it being a breakthrough strategy book, it would largely be underutilized because the people who are tasked to read and implement it are too analysis driven to make the leaps of faith necessary to make great products and services that make the competition irrelevant. Roger Martin's book supports my argument. Roger is a leading strategic thinker, it will be interesting to see if his book makes any waves.

http://rogerlmartin.com/library/books/the-design-of-business/

Everyday a new article or editorial.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/the-overburdened-army/article1438502/

Grad@Loblaw Program

I'm pleased to announce that the Grad@Loblaw Management Training Program is now advertising their positions on civiside.com. They hire 200 new grads annually to be future managers of the stores and corporate operations. I think that this is a great opportunity for Loblaw to find extraordinary candidates and for Reservists to find a great organization to grow in. I'm looking forward to the success stories.

For more information visit civiside.com and look under the retail industry category.

Globe and Mail Article

There's an article in today's Globe and Mail about how Reservists are being shortchanged and how that is destroying the fabric of our organization.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/only-thing-canadas-reservists-need-cut-is-some-slack/article1435628/

As you know, I met with some key personnel in the CF last week, and frankly, I don't have high hopes for the situation getting better. The people in that room last week are the best barometer for the state of thinking about the Reserves from within the CF, and that thinking is at best detached from reality, and at worst indifferent. Some of the things that I heard were so self-serving that I was personally disappointed that they were our leaders. Not to say they were all detached, of the four people in the room, two acknowledged a problem with how we retain people in the organization, unfortunately, neither of them will carry the torch further.

Expect things to get worse before they get better.

Want to be a Business Owner?

Ever wanted to be your own boss but didn't know where to start? Civi-Side Inc. is looking for 1-2 additional partners to commercialize the business. We have a unique concept in connecting Junior Military Officers with Management Training Programs at large companies. Our financial projections for Canada are in the millions and our projections for the U.S. market are exponentially higher. The skills needed to drive the business further are Web Development, Sales, and CFO type aptitude. If you possess any of these skills let's talk. Just send your resume and a brief description of why you would like to be part of the civiside team. All who submit will be responded to.

If you, or someone you know, is ex/military, wants to be part of a military-space technology startup, and has the will to push beyond all obstacles, get in touch: ken.seville@civiside.com. The right partners will earn equity ownership in the business and can draw a salary as the business ramps up.

A good idea cannot be caged forever.

Yesterday I met with the Chief of the Reserves to discuss civiside.com and how we could help them solve some pressing problems. Frankly, the meeting didn't go so well. We had a misunderstanding about the purpose of the meeting, I thought that I was briefing them on a problem they were aware of and pitching them civiside technology as a solution, they thought it was a briefing on what civiside.com was doing. The long and short of it was that there was very little movement.

With that said, after my meeting I became aware of a similar service to civiside in the U.S. In fact I learned of it from two independent people in the space of twelve hours and from two entirely different sources. It's amazing how a good idea can't be caged forever. When its time has come it will happen. My confidence in the decision makers actively engaging in either licencing the civiside technology, or building a similar service that connects Reservists with Reserve-Friendly employers is much higher. I think that it will be difficult for our military leaders to say it's not a good idea when our neighbours to the south are working so diligently on the same kind of service to benefit their troops.

The link to the CNBC article: http://www.cnbc.com/id/34823212/

"You are probably not wrong, but you are probably not right"

Just had a long and interesting conversation with the web developer who created civiside.com. We talked about everything under the sun, including the dangers of not protecting one's digital footprint, and the purpose of entrepreneurship. The conversation wasn't interesting because we think anything alike, in fact, it's exactly the opposite. You probably couldn't find two people who were more diametrically opposed. Yet, the conclusion that I drew from the conversation can be summed up in a short maxim that I will now carry with me everywhere "You are probably not wrong, but you are probably not right". The reason that I think that this is an important finding is that debate tends to lead to polarization and hardening of one's position, without necessarily arriving at a reasonable truth. By concluding that the other person is probably right in some respects and being open to changing your own position to integrate some of the ideas; you arrive at a much stronger final position. This finding may not be revelatory for most, but by integrating the statement into my debates I think I will come much closer to the truth.