World Innovation Forum Recap: Day 2
The following is an account of the second day of the World Innovation Forum. For a review of the first day please see here. Speakers for Day 2 included: Seth Godin, Brian Shawn Cohen, Wendy Kopp, Ursula Burns, Joel Makower, Jeffrey Hollender, and Robert Brunner. It must be said that one of the bigger disappointments during the event was something over which HSM, the event organizer, had no control. Twitter, for whatever reason, decided to embrace its inner FAIL Whale and choked for much of the proceedings. This was a disappointment to many for whom Twitter is a great way to keep in touch with the themes of a conference as they arise. Not too sure if that feedback made its way back to Biz Stone (final speaker at the conference on Day 1) but we can only hope so. That said, for those in attendance the World Innovation Forum itself became a backdrop to a whole lot of innovative happenings and the following is a rapid journey through some highlights.
Day 2
Remember when I said that the widely read may sometimes be disappointed by seeing authors of their favorite books at conferences? The same can be said for Seth Godin’s presentation. I love his work. He is also a formidable presenter; he is engaging, funny, thought-provoking. If you know his books, you know the subject matter. His most recent effort is the book, Linchpin. Of the presenters, it was obvious that Godin not only knows what is expected of him, he knows how to over-deliver. While no new information was shared, the power of his story-telling is wonderful. He was a great way to wake up and be energized for the day. Favorite Godin quote: “A genius is someone who shows up as their authentic self, ready to change the world.”
Brian Shawn Cohen, the current Vice Chairman of the New York Angels (an investment group), came to the stage with the intent of trying to engage, via his shiny new iPad and Twitter, with the audience. His presentation was a dense mix of history lessons and personal asides. While I understand that innovation attempts sometimes result in failure, that understanding didn’t make it any easier to witness it live and in-person.
Another personal highlight was the presentation of Wendy Kopp, founder and CEO of Teach for America. There are few people who I admire in education as much as Kopp and what she has created in bringing the best and brightest into the neediest rural and inner-city schools in the USA. She is an inspiration and didn’t disappoint in her presentation as she talked about how her personal innovation has led to so many alumni of Teach for America creating their own education innovations in schools, districts and communities both as teachers and as administrators. Her key ingredients for innovating successfully in education were: create a culture of achievement; maximize engagement at all levels both inside and outside the school; and, maximize accountability.
Ursula Burns, the CEO of Xerox, was interviewed by yet another Bloomberg TV anchor and she was phenomenal. Here is someone who helped save one of the most iconic technology brands in the world and she was self-effacing, focused and has the levers of her business down cold. She shared the way she has expanded the view of the business so that the problems that Xerox solves are now broader. Burns also was blunt in her assessment of the current economy, “crisis is a great motivator. If everything is ok there is resistance to change.” Her take is that the best time to mix things up and innovate is when everything is uncertain, because you have permission to try to make things right. Burns was a pleasure to see and her perspective was galvanizing.
At this point the event took a turn to the Green. Joel Makower, the Executive Editor of GreenBiz.com, took the stage and talked about the ways consumer products companies are responding to the need to be more sustainable. He provided a great overview of types of product innovation and how we need to rethink packaging and delivery. To those in attendance he also suggested that the light bulb as a meme for innovation seems old: what image will represent ideas in another 100 years? He also highlighted the fact that the stories we tell have a weight to them. For example, green stories are hard to tell because they reveal how bad a product may be for the environment, even thought it might be better than all the rest. Very nice setup for rethinking what we are doing and should do in the innovation space.
Also presenting on the topic of green was Jeffrey Hollender, the Executive Chairperson of Seventh Generation. Like Makower, Hollender felt that the storytelling about green products (stories that aren’t green washing) is difficult because so much of what we consume has a deleterious effect on the environment. He talked about the express need for leaders to drive innovation from a humble perspective. His perspective: they cannot lead anything; leaders need to facilitate and create a path for the resources of the organization to innovate and develop the answers to our most pressing problems.
The final presenter of the Forum was Robert Brunner. Brunner is one of the partners in the firm Ammunition Group and apart from being one of the premier industrial designers of the age (see his work at Apple and Pentagram for evidence of this) he is today leading the charge on strategic innovation through product design. Giving by far the most audio-visually rich presentation of the event, Brunner also delivered the goods. One of the highlights of his presentation was his examination of the value of great products not lying in object design (which is important) but in the complete user experience. The ecosystem in which the product resides is what makes (or breaks) the product regardless of whether or not the object design is good.
If you were going to spend time connecting with people who want to understand, teach, or explore innovation as a practice and a way of deriving more value from innovation in their enterprises there were many worse places you could have been this week. HSM created an event that was big enough for everyone to explore their passions. If you didn’t find something that you could connect to, take home, or make your own – your weren’t looking hard enough.
Photo Credit: Aweigend
