Author Archives: Julie Anixter
As this week wraps up on the tenth anniversary of 9-11 we are deluged and provoked by reflection and remembrance — especially here in New York and D.C. To quote Kurt Anderson quoting Freud — there are three ways to deal with loss: inebriating substances, satisfying activities, and deflection. This week’s mashup includes some of all of the above: Ben Bernanke, Fed Chief, in Friday’s New York Times said that U.S. consumers are “depressed beyond reason or expectation.” An innovation opportunity if there ever was one, though an Irish tourist told me in D.C. this week that “you just aren’t used to bad economies, like the rest of the world.” Reason not to be depressed: Innovation Excellence blogger discovery of the week: Venessa Miemis’s Emergent by Design where she welcomes “fellow travelers, visionaries, and agents of change” examining our global society in transition. Miemis has a poignant and fresh take: … Continue reading
The outpouring of commentary post-Jobs’ resignation has been daunting. You could feel the business world shudder, pause and reflect. Like a shot going off in an echo-chamber. One of the best of the best pieces to my taste is Umair Haque’s last HBR post “Steve’s Seven Insights for 21st Century Capitalists” because, well, he not only crisply summarizes Jobs’ impact like so many choice morsels, through his own words, but he inspired one interesting debate — 33 comments worth reading — that gets at the paradox that is Jobs’ leadership. “Steve took on the challenge of proving that the art of enterprise didn’t have to culminate in a stagnant pond of unenlightenment — and won. In doing so, he might just have built something approximating the modern world’s most dangerously enlightened company.” vs. (one of the commenter’s — who worked for Apple! — responses:) “I think we make … Continue reading
Here’s a new feature — a quirky list of news from around the blogosphere that entertained, inspired, and provoked us:
1. Seth Godin’s precise observational generosity: particularly his sharing of “a fascinating, generous and over-the-top-in-a-good-way article on infographics by Ed Fry.” We’d loved it too! Worth bookmarking! Continue reading
WIRED editor-in-chief Chris Anderson and Autodesk CEO Carl Bass discuss the future of 3D printing, and how amateur designers may soon be able to build resource-intensive products like furniture using remote but cost-effective tools. The New Industrial Revolution: How Web Innovation Models Are Transforming Manufacturing. Featuring Carl Bass, President & CEO, Autodesk, in conversation with Chris Anderson. Carl Bass is president and chief executive officer of Autodesk, the world’s leading maker of design software for the architecture, engineering, and entertainment industries. The company’s products range from its flagship AutoCAD program to digital modeling and prototyping tools for industry. Autodesk’s CG apps have been used on every movie that’s won the Academy Award for Visual Effects in the past 15 years, from Titanic to Avatar. Under Bass’ leadership the California-based firm has been repeatedly honored by Fast Company as one of the world’s most innovative companies. Chris Anderson is editor in … Continue reading
When the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibit closed on August 7 at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, it left a swath of unmet needs, unfulfilled consumer demand, and a transformation of the designer’s personal and corporate brand. The late McQueen was elevated from fashion rebel/outsider to Artist/household name in the exhibit’s wake, but for thousands of New Yorkers – it was only hearsay because they could not get in. The show opened with 5,100 visitors on its first day, more than popular shows like the Jacqueline Kennedy and Chanel exhibitions. When it closed, the final attendance count had reached 661,509 visitors, making it the eighth biggest show on record in the history of Metropolitan Museum of Art. Not bad for the son of Cockney cab driver, and the one of the six children that was always a “misfit.” Today, as the summer of our US debt ceiling debate … Continue reading
Sometimes life is like StumpleUpon. I was talking to Rowan Gibson today about Royal Dutch Shell and the work of Arie De Geus, memorialized in his book The Living Company and it turned out it had been important to both of us. Hearing Arie De Geus speak at a Senge Systems Thinking conference in Boston 20 years ago changed the way I viewed organizations. De Geus has had that effect on many people around the world. Including it seems, on Tom Peters. I clicked on Tom’s blog just now and found this: Gospel! I have about 3K slides in my “Master Presentation.” These are either “the most important,” or, surely, in the Top 1%: Arie De Geus, The Living Company (father of “scenario planning” at Royal Dutch Shell): “Rose gardeners face a choice every spring. The long-term fate of a rose garden depends on this decision. If you …
Adults, Would-Be Adults and Kids Weigh In… First, my favorite pot shot from the non-adult, the most adolescent of journalistic voices, The New York Post… “Tanks Alot” with a picture of our president. Blaming someone else, in this case BAM as they punk-call him, versus being accountable. The very definition of non-adulthood. “People are going to feel less rich and that will make them hold back on spending, which will be a further blow to the economy.” Beth Ann Bovino, Senior U.S. Economist, Standard & Poors, Wall Street Journal, 8-9-11 “I keep waiting for one wealthy, well-known figure to stand up and publicly say that he or she is willing to pay more in taxes as part of the shared sacrafice necessary to gain control of the country’s deficit. I know there are wealthy people who’ve had that thought — not just liberals like Warren Buffett, but old-fashioned, rocked-ribb …
