How The US Patent System Crushes Innovation
Forbes Magazine recently interviewed Michael Meurer and James Besson, authors of Patent Failure: How Judges, Bureaucrats and Lawyers Put Innovators at Risk, a massive study on the costs and benefits of holding patents. Their chilling conclusion:
Sphere: Related ContentMeurer and Bessen concluded that in every industry, except pharmaceuticals and biotech, publicly traded companies spend more money litigating to protect existing patents and paying fees to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office than they earn from the same patents. (Bessen and Meurer evaluated patents issued by all publicly traded companies between 1984 and 1999.)
7 Things Innovators Do That You Don’t
What prevents you from being a great innovator? Not much. Innovators by and large aren’t creative geniuses gifted with da Vinci-like talent. It’s not what they ARE - it’s what they DO. They do these seven things you most likely do not.
Sphere: Related ContentThe Organizational Character Index
After an overly long transition, we’ve set up shop in our new home. To celebrate I’m giving everyone a gift. I’ve coded William Bridges’s “Organizational Character Index” (OCI) into a survey-style page. Now anyone can apply the principles pioneered by Myers and Briggs to their organizations. The OCI is not an adaptation of the MBTI® - it is an experimental tool based on the same type research and using the same dimensions:
- Energy - how your organization gets energy (Extroversion or Introversion)
- Perception - how your organization gets information, what it pays attention to (Sensing and iNtuition)
- Judgment - how your organization uses information to make decisions (Thinking and Feeling)
- Orientation - how your organization shows itself to, and deals with, the external world (Judging or Perceiving)
Organizational Character Index
Organizational Character Index (OCI)
The OCI was developed by William Bridges (in his book The Character of Organizations) to apply the principles of Myers-Briggs® to organizations. Using the OCI you can determine the character of your organization in terms of how it gets energy, how it gathers information, how it makes decisions, and how it shows itself to the outside world.
Here are a few instructions for taking the OCI:
a. Answer the question in terms of how your organization ACTUALLY operates, as opposed to how you THINK it SHOULD operate.
b. The OCI lets you express a ‘degree of strength’ between two choices. The choices will be indicated by (a) and (b) in the questions. Select your response as follows:
1 = Distinctly or usually (a)
2 = Somewhat (a)
3 = Somewhat (b)
4 = Distinctly or usually (b)
c. Don’t agonize too much over your answers - select what you think is the best fit. Be sure and answer all questions.
d. Include your name and email address and the results will be sent to you in a day or so. You will be sent your organization’s four letter type and a brief discussion on how to interpret it.
OCI For Groups - the form I’ve encoded below is optimized for individuals. If you have a group that you’d like to have take the OCI, I have another version optimized for groups. Email me from my About page and I’ll send you a link.
Note - A lot of visitors are filling out the survey but not submitting the data. As a result, I have no way to view and interpret it. Remember, when you are done entering data you must hit the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the survey. Please and thank you.
Sphere: Related ContentGoogle’s Innovation Methodology
Douglas Merrill on Google’s innovation methodology:
Doblin’s “Ten Types of Innovation”
Larry Keeley of Doblin Inc. lectures on the Ten Types of Innovation at UCSB in 2005:
Sphere: Related ContentThree Amazing Reports On The State Of Innovation - Part II
Table of contents for State of Innovation
- Three Amazing Reports On The State Of Innovation - Part I
- Three Amazing Reports On The State Of Innovation - Part II
In our first installment, the Boston Consultancy Group identified innovation trends via a survey of over 2400 senior level executives. In this installment, Booz-Allen-Hamilton studies the world’s largest R&D investors to determine what innovation strategies succeed.
Sphere: Related ContentThree Amazing Reports On The State Of Innovation - Part I
Table of contents for State of Innovation
- Three Amazing Reports On The State Of Innovation - Part I
- Three Amazing Reports On The State Of Innovation - Part II
In December, three international consultants published the results of their research on the current state of innovation. This four-part series will cover each in turn, then I’ll add a conclusion that ties them together. First on the block - Innovation 2007 from the Boston Consultancy Group.
Sphere: Related ContentUnlimited Free Broadband Downloads!!
That sounds a lot better than “Up to 17 hours of broadband downloads per month!” And when you can do it for the same price, you’ve entered The Long Tail. That’s what Netflix has discovered.
Sphere: Related ContentThe End Of Tesla Motors??
Tesla Motors. Everyone has been writing and posting nothing but glowing, positive articles about the present, and future, of this maverick automotive company. So naturally I’m a little shocked to relay this information:
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