In another forum—specifically InformationWeek’s Global CIO—I recently wrote about the no-win Catch 22 situation facing the IT outsourcing sector. The catch occurs when service providers meet contractual obligations but find themselves limited in their ability to invest in the kinds of innovations that would make their customers loyal for the long haul. In addition, they [...]
I-5 Skagit Bridge Rebuild an Opportunity to Apply Vested Principles
May 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment
When I heard about the I-5 bridge collapse on the Skagit River in Mount Vernon, WA I thought about a lot of things—injuries, safety, infrastructure. But with everyone safe, I turned my attention to how Gov. Jay Inslee and the Washington State Department of Transportation now have a real opportunity to show effective leadership by using [...]
Gaming with Game Theory
May 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
What happens when a behavioral ecologist uses a game theory exam to test his students’ proficiency at cheating? Even better, what happens when the same UCLA professor, Peter Nonacs, then confronts his students with a version of the Prisoner’s Dilemma to decide their final grades? Both Nonacs and the students learned important lessons about Game [...]
Christensen: Capitalism Needs Work (Pt. 2)
May 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Last time I talked about Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen’s disruptive innovation as described in his book, The Innovator’s Dilemma. Being a fan for several years now, I can’t wait for his new book, The Capitalist’s Dilemma to come out, which basically calls for a large dose of disruptive innovation for macro-economics and the free market [...]
Christensen: Transforming Innovation and Capitalism
April 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I can’t believe it has been 16 years since Clayton Christensen rocked the business world with his groundbreaking book, The Innovator’s Dilemma. The subtitle of the book is revealing: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. His book was a bestseller in 1997 and received the Global Business Book Award for the best business [...]
Billable Hours and Perverse Incentives
April 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Those who know me or the Vested business model know the importance of Rule #1 – an Outcome vs. Transaction Based Business Model. Transaction-based business models create perverse incentives because they encourage an ailment I call the activity trap. In my speeches and classes I use the example of a rat on a treadmill when [...]
Getting to a Shared Purpose Partnership
March 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Mark Bonchek, chief catalyst of ORBIT+Co., writes in a post for the HBR Blog Network about the benefits of having a corporate purpose. Many are starting to profess the importance of purpose—for instance Simon Sinek, who has a powerful model for inspirational leadership that starts with with a golden circle and the question, “Why?” (His [...]
