Dilbert Dilemma

Tuesday, 01 May 2012 10:26 Written by dnorman 1 Comment

Blog from Bryan Terrill, stratag.org

Long before the NBC debut of The Office, the world fell in love with the office humor of white collar mockery comic strip Dilbert. In Scott Adam’s comic series, Dilbert, a socially unstable engineer, navigates through a challenging corporate culture with peers Wally and Alice under management of Pointy-Haired Boss. Though the satirical office humor of this series seems to be a very simple concept, Dilbert has become global phenomenon, being embraced by 2000 newspapers in 65 countries and in 25 languages worldwide. Why the worldwide success? Dilbert addresses a very real problem that many of us can relate to: the chasm separating nerd and business manager.

How can we solve this problem with our own innovative ideas/technologies?

In the technology world we have a name for that chasm, we call it “technology transfer”. On April 19^th, I attended the 5^th Annual Tech Transfer Conference in Chattanooga, TN, to help launch new Strata-G spin off company (hyper link the last 3 words with SET url) as well as learn more about the tech transfer process. The biggest lesson learned at this gathering was an observation I made during one of the panel discussions. During this discussion a young entrepreneur discussed the challenges he was facing in his new web 2.0 startup. He was joined on stage with a business coach, legal expert, finance consultant, business incubator director, etc. He also referenced technical developers and field experts in his storytelling. This testimony clearly showed that the key to bringing a good idea/technology to market is having the right mix of experts to carry the innovation to the finish line. Dilbert will never be able to implement his ideas with his pointy-haired boss without market researchers, sales consultants, legal experts, finance wizards, and many other constructive supporters helping bridge the gap.

If we can create the right team, maybe Scott Adams won’t be the only one making a profit off the Dilbert’s dilemma.

Innovation and the Spirit of the Pioneer V.3

Tuesday, 13 March 2012 13:48 Written by dnorman 0 Comments

Blog from Danny Norman, stratag.org

Last week, Oak Ridge National Laboratory hosted entrepreneurs, researchers, and large and small businesses at the “Bridging the Gap” event to spotlight research with high commercialization potential. As I listened to the smartest researchers in the world talk about opportunities that lie ahead, I couldn’t help but think about Daniel Boone as he bravely explored the west and “bridged” the Cumberland Gap (please see two previous blogs about Daniel Boone). I wondered what it would be like to journey into new and sometimes mysterious areas like Daniel. I thought about how journeying into some of the areas that were proposed to him would require extreme determination, if not reckless abandon.

But then I thought about how Daniel knew where he was going because he had been there before. When he bridged the gap, as described in previous “Spirit of the Pioneer” blogs, his pioneering was not defined by what he didn’t know, but by his knowledge of Kentucky and Tennessee because he had been there before. The pioneering aspect of what Daniel did was settling his family and friends there. So, another great lesson and inspiration from Daniel Boone on innovation was learned: innovate in fertile areas that you know well.

Bridging the Gap covered very fertile ground: Data Analytics, Advanced Materials, and Clean Tech. Do you know these areas well?

Innovation and the Spirit of the Pioneer

Monday, 14 November 2011 12:24 Written by dnorman 0 Comments

Blog from Danny Norman, stratag.org

We all agree that Daniel Boone made a lasting impression on this country. He is revered for leading the way across the Cumberland Gap just 70 miles north of our office in Knoxville. Boone made his trek through Tennessee and North Carolina in hopes of a better life, but with little knowledge of what that life would be like. He chose to make the trek through the coldest part of winter hoping that he would be ready to plant his seeds in spring when he found a suitable place to live.

Boone’s pioneer spirit seems to live on today in more ways than just the land that we inhabit. Our country is still known throughout the world today for its pioneers. Today’s pioneers don’t trek through the snowy valleys of North Carolina, but they trek through uncharted development of technologies, products and services of tomorrow with the great courage, leadership, and hope that Daniel Boone gave us.

Deploying Technologies with People in Mind

Tuesday, 25 October 2011 11:04 Written by dnorman 0 Comments

Blog from Danny Norman

As we look for new technologies that will make the world a better place, we are also looking for sound incentive structures that uniquely compliment the product or service and enrich the lives of everyone involved. The following link proves that properly constructed incentive programs can increase performance by as much as 44 percent. http://theirf.org/research/content/6000065/incentives-motivation-and-workplace-performance-research-and-best-practices/

We also see that money is not the only incentive. For some people learning/experience, working with likeable people, future opportunities, and job security can be more important. Can you name some other motivators that need to be considered while creating an incentive structure?

Producing Success

Monday, 19 September 2011 16:39 Written by dnorman 0 Comments

Blog from Danny Norman

Seth Godin’s blog “Every successful case is a special case.” makes sense until the last paragraph: using parts of “your” enterprise that are common to a special case won’t yield special results, using those parts will yield common results. Special results can’t come from copying, they come from…help me make a list:

1. Investing in stuff that hasn’t worked before
2. Pursuing a grander vision
3. Raising the bar, somehow…