Nugget #1 is a beautiful article on medium. John Elkington and Richard Johnson wrote it for the business magazine Fast Company. The thesis they put forward is: “Business models are what connects a technology’s potential with real market needs and consumer demand”. I very often observe that companies put a lot of effort and money into disruptive technologies and innovation, but completely ignore the business model. Based on a video of the UN project Breakthrough, they develop three key takeaways. First, groundbreaking business models meet unmet customer needs. Secondly, these business models beat the established business models. The last point is a little vague. But I fully agree with him. Instead of owning goods, sharing will be the new normal.
We Need Breakthrough Business Models, Not Breakthrough Technology (6 min, text, English)
Nugget #2 is a new addition to my reading list: Conny Dethloff. The article is over two years old, but I find it more relevant than ever. Conny takes up the cudgels for pattern breaking, because this is the only way to create innovation. But what do we do in companies and projects? We try to plan, control and apply existing methods (keyword: best practices). The article deals several times with complicacy and complexity. I think this is a good thing, because these two terms are often mistakenly used synonymously. Someone who is not yet familiar with the subject will certainly have to chew a bit on the article. But I promise it’ll be worth it. In my opinion, the following quotation from the article hits the nail on the head: “However, it is not taken into consideration to some extent that the real framework of thinking on which the functioning of companies is based, namely that processes in companies are 100% controllable and controllable, is the evil”.
Breaking patterns means loving contradictions (7 min, text, German)
Nugget #3 comes from my blogger colleague Gregor Ilg. He has published a “long read” on the subject of the future. He shares his very personal view of how he wants to live in 10 years. Gregor shares with us what his working world will look like and gives concrete suggestions what can be done today to prepare for the future. He fully got me with his arguments on education. I’m a big fan of Maria Montessori, by the way. We have slightly different ideas about life. But I fully agree with him on the subject of sustainability. At the end of the article you will find the link to a future dialogue. This is a questionnaire that is extremely fun and got me thinking too. I would be pleased if you participate and we will shortly receive an evaluation of the dialogue from Gregor.
Work, education, life – why you should think about the future now (10 min, text, German)
Have a nice weekend. If you have no plans, how about contributing to our blog parade What if…? Whether as article, video, podcast, tweet, WhatsApp voice message or drawing on the beer mat. I am curious what will come to your mind!