Contemplating

“It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere. ”

— Agnes Repplier

Reading

A perspective on why innovation cultures are so often misunderstood. • New methods of talent assessment. • Kyoto, Japan’s emergence as the home to global high-tech companies and the tech companies’ roots in traditional craft industries such as ceramics, Buddhist altar fixtures, and hanafuda playing cards. • The town of Struer, Denmark with a population of only 10,000 and, yet, home since 1925 to celebrated electronics brand Bang & Olufsen — its small size and relative geographic isolation are seen as a global innovation strengths. • The opportunities and challenges for African countries as they consider new waves of foreign investment interest. • Always love the Dense Discovery newsletter, (recommended by Uppercase Magazine’s editor, Janine Vangool) including this week’s link to a nifty laptop cover whiteboard. •

Listening to Adam Grant’s latest Work Life podcast, “The Perils of Following Your Career Passion,” it strikes me how the model suggested of developing your passion over time through experimentation and learning, mirrors the entrepreneurial innovation process of effectuation. • As a Flickr photosharing community member since 2005, I’m always impressed by how much innovation has emerged from the platform over the years that, today, has a future thanks to new owner SmugMug. • Heartened at how the folks at marketing agency TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles held firm on first testing veracity the Theranos claims that would underpin the (ultimately abandoned) campaign they were producing for the (now known to be fraudulent) company. • Watch the Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft land on an asteroid and take a material sample! •

Always inspired at our local art & design university students’ Spring Show + Sale. • Wrapping up the intake phase of the brightspots innovation competition we run annually for the national electrical utility in Cameroon. • Going to Podcast Summit III in Calgary in June. • Attended an Alberta Party Q&A this week in the lead up to our spring provincial election. • Planning a summer roadtrip to visit the national historic site of the Medalta Potteries. •

Diving into deeper understanding of the latest research on sentiment analysis and values-in-action systems this week. • Pondering the changes in media, technology, family life, social norms and values that have contributed to an increase in violence in elementary schools. • Reinforcing the importance of gaining an historical perspective and knowledge when examining current technology trends and their impact on society, including a more nuanced understanding of the Luddite movement, beyond our current pejorative use of the term. • More than 1,000 new animal species discovered in a Cambrian explosion 518 million-year-old fossil site in China! •