Sunday, September 29, 2002

TO MAKE EXTINCT: Early last week I was in a really interesting meeting with some financial services folks who were asking straightforward questions about Groove.  It's the curveballs that are the most fun in these types of interactions, and these guys delivered.  "If we were to look back, five years from now, what class of technology would Groove have made extinct?" came the first question.  What came next was even more interesting: "What would the technology look like that replaces Groove as we know it today?"  I REALLY liked the latter and can appreciate it, especially coming from an executive in the capital markets.  I'll be talking a lot about innovation in upcoming posts, and his last question reinforces a core tenet of how organizations should think of innovation, especially when it comes to products and services.  "Planned obsolescence" should be one cornerstone for how an organization thinks about evolving/morphing products and services.  Always have an eye aimed ahead and think about how YOU would change your product, before a competitor arises that does it for you.    11:00:24 PM

HEARTBURN AND NEW TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION: I sure do hope that Nicholas Evans is wrong.  In his new book "Business Innovation and Disruptive Technology", Evans muses that the internet, with its global reach and ability to provide rapid communications, is skewing traditional new technology adoption, pushing back the much talked about "chasm" (see Crossing the Chasm) between the Late Majority and Laggards rather then between the Early Adopters and Early Majority.  If true, this could spell trouble for innovation in the overall technology marketplace.  It's difficult to imagine an innovative marketplace where the promise of financial returns is moved so far down the adoption continuum.  While potentially more manageable for the IT manager, it smells like a slowdown for true product and category innovations. 10:07:51 PM

RADIO SILENCE.  Sorry for the radio silence.  I can't believe it's been three weeks since my last post!  Prior to Groove, I was in product development at Lotus where March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31 were days like all the rest.  Now, these REALLY mean something: end of the quarter!  Lots to talk about, standby. 9:43:53 PM