Unexpected Business Leaders
What Business can Learn from Avatar
Over the last couple of days the Avatar movie has broken a Billion dollars in sales just 3 weeks after its release. I saw Avatar a couple of nights ago and was blown away. While I see a few people criticising aspects of the movie, it is difficult to deny the power of the totally immersive entertainment experience [...]
Business – the Decade for Making a Difference
I’ve been reflecting on something Seth Godin wrote in his New Year’s day post welcome to the frustration decade:
…And, to top it off, savings are thin and resource availability isn’t what it used to be. A lot of people ate their emergency rations during the last decade. Look for this frustration to be acted out [...]
When Lighting your House is Unexpected
In this blog we have looked at various unexpected ideas, and often these are big ideas or innovations from organisations, such as electric bikes, worm poop plant food, and plans to mine the moon for rocket fuel.
But unexpected ideas may also be things you and I take for granted – like lighting and water.
William Kamkwamba [...]
Lemonade – what does it tell us about ourselves?
I would be very keen to see the Lemonade movie when it comes out (see trailer below). The 30 minute documentary tells the story of 15 advertising professionals made redundant during the recession and how they they turned this lemon of a situation into lemonade by finding a new creative calling in their lives. The [...]
One for One – TOMS Shoes
You’ve got to love TOMS Shoes‘ business model: “with every pair of shoes you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need – One for One“. Since starting in 2006, TOMS Shoes has given away more than 300,000 pairs of shoes to needy children in the United States, Argentina, [...]
Interface Looking after Tomorrow’s Child
We have a choice to make during our brief brief visit to this beautiful green and blue living planet – to hurt it or to help it.
Ray Anderson, Founder of Interface, 2009
I watched the below presentation from Ray Anderson on www.ted.com a couple of days ago and it was an unexpected inspiration. From the above [...]
Willy Wonka Differentiation
This blog is about business differentiation, but not just small points of differentiation – I’m interested in differentiation that is unexpected. Differentiation that re-defines the game, violates expectations, and grabs attention. We have already seen some great examples of this – Terracycle who built a business on worm poop and waste, Moller who is working [...]
The Pursuit of Life and Rocket Fuel on Two Moons
“There was a time when people did bold things to open new frontiers. We have collectively forgotten that. Now we are at a time when boldness is required again.”
Bill Stone, 2007
Unexpected ideas come from inspired leaders driven to achieve the unachievable. Bill Stone is one of those leaders.
Stone has a fascinating background. He has led [...]
Skycar – Dream or Reality?
Dr Paul Moller has spent 5 decades trying to perfect his unexpected idea of a ‘flying car’. He believes in the future people will not travel in road cars, but in sky cars – freeing up road congestion and allowing quick commutes from greater distances.
Moller’s company Moller International has been developing the M400 Skycar for many [...]
