The Cranky Middle Manager Show #87 Innovation with Joel Barker
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #087 (MP3 12.1MB 35:32Min)
To Listen In Your Browser, Click the Icon Below
To Download For Later, Right Click Here
A bit of a longer show today, gang, but worth every minute of it. Our guest is futurist Joel Barker. Joel first hit the limelight back in the late 80s with “The Business of Paradigms” and basically changed my professional life. I’m thrilled to have him on the show. In response to some feedback I’ve gotten lately, i’m trying not to suck up too much, but I’m thrilled to introduce him to all of you.
Speaking of feedback, if you haven’t yet, please take our online listener survey. I’d appreciate it greatly. I’ll share the results with all of you in a few weeks.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to Episode 87. Never ceasing to be amazed about who will come on the show, we will talk to Joel Barker. Against his will he is an inspiration for this show and much of what passes for my career. That’s pretty much the unintended consequences Joel talks about in this interview.
The show is dedicated to Joseph, son of Jacob, pretty much the poster child for innovation and its unintended consequences- bad luck, quick promotion, sexual harassment suits, renaissance and slavery for his offspring. This is exactly why history matters brethren and sistren.
3:29 The wacky Samuel Taylor Coleridge has the quote of the week- short but powerful.
4:08 Welcome Joel Barker. I have to do a quick disclaimer. We couldn’t do the 85 magazines offer we talk about, but a healthy list comes under resources. Anyway, Joel Barker is here to talk about ideas. First, how does a guy get a gig like futurist? How high a percentage of the time do you have to be right to keep that job?
7:52 What is the difference between playing and planning? Why does strategic planning just go wrong? He gives us an example using faxes…..remember them? And Motorola- cause who would want a digital phone?
11:52 Where are the great new ideas coming from? How and why does technology change everything?
14:58 Who innovates- who even has the right to make innovations? It’s not tied to a person or job…it’s tied to lead events. How do you break that wall? Go to someone NOT in your field and ask how they’d solve the problem.
18:00 How does the iPod illustrate his point? Also, check out Blue Ocean Strategy for more…. Take a listen and find out why all the good stuff happens away from the industry in question. Joel takes us through some good examples, including a cool robot story- and who doesn’t like a good robot story? Check out the Robocoaster.
24:00 Innovation isn’t necessarily all great. Unintended consequences are something to be considered- what Joel calls “Cascade Thinking”. What are the long-term consequences before you invest. “the answer to the problem is only the beginning of the solution”. Check out www.implicationswheel.com.
How do you make sure that checking out the implications doesn’t turn into a reason not to innovate? The implications wheel is a tool you can use. You can identify and mitigate threats before you invest millions or kill off a species.
28:00 Believe it or not, jogging serves as an example of how to study implications- or so I’ve heard. There are nightmare examples too, including fish full of human female hormones. Sleep well.
31:00 Joel thinks someone named Tor Dahl will join the ranks of Drucker and Deming. His specialty is increasing productivity without having people lose their jobs. Yes, I’m working on getting him for the show….
As promised, Joel offers his list of his magazines. We didn’t get the full list, but here are the top 15 with their web links. He claims that between these 15 mags and the two websites, he gets over 50% of his most important stuff:
The Atlantic Monthly Mother Jones
and www.fiveregionsofthefuture.com and www.worldchanging.com
March 19th, 2007 at 2:45 am
[...] Wayne from the Cranky Middle Manager podcast scored a great interview with futurist Joel Barker - fascinating guy. I have seen his videos and books, too. [...]
April 2nd, 2007 at 2:53 pm
[...] Innovation with Joel Barker at the Cranky Middle Manager Show: Innovation isn’t necessarily all great. Unintended consequences are something to be considered- what Joel calls “Cascade Thinking”. What are the long-term consequences before you invest. “the answer to the problem is only the beginning of the solution”. Check out http://www.implicationswheel.com. [...]
April 4th, 2007 at 12:10 am
[...] Podcasts include: Norman Bodek: Building People - Innovation with Joel Barker - Kevin Meyer: Onshoring - more management podcasts [...]
April 24th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
[...] Back in Episode 87, we spoke to Joel Barker, and he talked about someone we needed to speak to- Dr. Tor Dahl. He put him up there with Demming and Drucker. Who could resist THAT conversation? So here we are. At the end of the show, Tor offers his white paper on productivity to anyone who drops me a line and asks for it. How cool is that? [...]
May 7th, 2007 at 10:06 am
[...] Back in Episode 87, we spoke to Joel Barker, and he talked about someone we needed to speak to- Dr. Tor Dahl. He put him up there with Demming and Drucker. Who could resist THAT conversation? So here we are. At the end of the show, Tor offers his white paper on productivity to anyone who drops me a line and asks for it. How cool is that? [...]