Author of popular SSIR feature to speak at 2010 Nonprofit Management Institute
Since it was published in the Winter 2010 issue, Design Thinking for Social Innovation has received more hits than any other article on the SSIR website. This feature, authored by IDEO's Tim Brown and Jocelyn Wyatt, discusses how design tools—which have traditionally focused on enhancing the look and functionality of products—are now being used by nonprofits to tackle more complex problems, such as finding ways to provide low-cost healthcare throughout the world.
This October, Jocelyn Wyatt, head of IDEO's Social Innovation group, will expound upon this concept of design thinking at the annual Nonprofit Management Institute, sponsored by SSIR and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Drawing from her work at IDEO, a design and innovation consulting firm, Wyatt will discuss the importance of innovation in the social sector and share the process and tools of design thinking. She will provide fresh examples of innovations from the developing world that have a positive impact on communities globally. Attendees will have an opportunity to discuss how they have applied elements of design thinking within their own organizations and what the effects have been.
這所即將座落於馬拉威首都利隆威(Lilongwe)的女子學校Raising Malawi Academy for Girls，預計在2012年會完工，屆時可容納450位學生，在這裡學習環境保護、生態復育的相關課程。 這所學校是由紐約建築事務所Studio MDA所設計規劃，將是一座充滿永續概念的校園建築。不僅利用建築物屋頂的太陽能面板，提供校園內所有的能源所需，雙屋頂的設計，更利用了空氣 力學，讓每間教室都擁有良好的通風，而無需使用空調設備。當然，大部分的建材，也都將就地取材，充分運用馬拉威當地的資源與環境特色。
Massachusetts ranked first in the nation per capita for the total number of patents produced by higher education institutions - with a rate nearly twice as high as the next closest state, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce said.
That was one headline of Competitiveness Scorecard issued by the chamber. The scorecard aims to be a barometer of cost and competitiveness issues facing the Massachusetts economy and a comparison of how the commonwealth fares against the 49 other states. This iteration of the scorecard focuses on the role that colleges and universities in the state play on promoting and sustaining innovation.
Another scorecard finding: Massachusetts ranked third in the country in the total number of start-up companies created from university research and development; that suggests that the high patent numbers translated into a robust entrepreneurial market for the state, the chamber said.
The recession has hurt local colleges and universities, and a statement from chamber president and chief executive Paul Guzzi stressed the need to take action to protect this all-important engine of local economic growth.
"Massachusetts is clearly an innovation leader, and that strength is a testament to our colleges and universities," Guzzi said. "But the threats to our innovation engine are significant, and we must do everything we can to sustain our advantage." (Guzzi is shown at right in a Globe file photo.)
Among the measures the chamber recommends are sustaining the strong commitment to federally sponsored R&D and not taxing institutional endowments that continue to fuel research; promoting capital in Massachusetts start-ups; and strengthening higher education-business connections for talent development to keep college and university talent in the region. (Globe Staff)
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — IBM on Thursday opened a Global Rail Innovation Center in China where industry leaders, researchers, and universities can collaborate on new railroad technologies.
IBM said the Beijing-based center's goal is to make "smarter" rail systems that are faster, safer, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly than those that exist today.
The US technology giant has been banking on the future of efficient, high-speed rail systems and China's growth makes it a lucrative market.
"Population growth and urbanization are driving an unprecedented demand for modernized rail systems," said IBM center director Keith Dierkx.
"Governments and businesses worldwide recognize that railroads play a critical role in supporting economic growth."
The center will be connected "virtually and physically" to IBM and the US technology titan's consultants and industry partners to create a "global virtual rail community" that can collectively address challenges, IBM said.
Innovations being eyed include electronic ticketing and computerized, flexible commuter train schedules that adapt to holiday or heavy commuter demands.
IBM said China is at "the epicenter of revolutionizing rail infrastructure and operations for the 21st century" and is introducing high speed trains and expanding its rail network at an unprecedented pace.
"As China's railway industry rapidly enters its golden era, it is expected to take the lead in new rounds of economic development," said Tsinghua University information technology research institute dean Jun Li.
"Building advanced railroad systems is a priority that demands a unique set of products, skills and services."
Tsinghua University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are part of the center's advisory board, according to IBM.
When we talk about measuring impact, evaluating nonprofits or how to compensate nonprofit executives, we are implicitly talking about setting goals. Unless you have a goal, you cannot measure your progress towards reaching it. Right?
But it seems that setting goals can be dangerous. In a recent Harvard Business School working paper titled Goals Gone Wild (hat tip Phil Cubeta) the authors make the case that setting goals can be counterproductive.
“In this article, we argue that the beneficial effects of goal setting have been overstated and that systematic harm caused by goal setting has been largely ignored. We identify specific side effects associated with goal setting, including a narrow focus that neglects non-goal areas, a rise in unethical behavior, distorted risk preferences, corrosion of organizational culture, and reduced intrinsic motivation. Rather than dispensing goal setting as a benign, over-the-counter treatment for motivation, managers and scholars need to conceptualize goal setting as a prescription-strength medication that requires careful dosing, consideration of harmful side effects, and close supervision. We offer a warning label to accompany the practice of setting goals.”
The gist of the article is that when you set a goal, you tend to pursue it at the expense of everything else. This can be a good thing if the goal is very well defined and captures the core of what you are trying to achieve. But it can also literally blind you to other important things that are going on. Don’t believe me? Check out this video to see how dramatic your blindness can be.
So here’s the thing, when we try and achieve impact and measure it, we need to be very careful in how we define impact. For instance, defining a “good nonprofit” by looking at the ratio of overhead costs to program costs ends up systematically starving nonprofits of the resources they need to grow. Oops. Incentivizing bankers to make mortgage loans without regard to the borrowers ability to pay it off broke our economy. Oops.
Does this mean goals are bad? No, but it does mean that, as the HBS paper states, goals are “prescription-strength medication that requires careful dosing, consideration of harmful side effects, and close supervision.”
Powerful tools are usually dangerous if used incorrectly, so this should be no surprise. But when we incentivize people to achieve certain goals, we better make sure they are the right ones. Otherwise we might just accomplish the wrong thing.
Malaysia Higher Education Ministry is studying how to develop a creative and innovative Malaysian society through human capital development.
The ministry is planning to work with Microsoft in unearthing creative and innovative students of tertiary institutions in the area of ICT and with Shell Malaysia in energy saving.
Its minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the study to produce creative, innovative human capital was started last year by the Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS), Universiti Teknologi Mara and Malaysian Design Council. This study will be looking at programmes by government agencies that could contribute to the creation of “innovative human capital”.
“We hope when the study is completed, expected this year, we will be able to draw up a national blueprint in this context,” he said. “Malaysia wants to move away from a resource-based economy to one generated by innovations with the existence of an innovative society, which will indicate that the country has reached developed-nation status,” he said.
Nordin said creativity and innovations were vital for a country and studies had shown that technological innovations contributed to higher productivity, Gross Domestic Product, economic growth and improved standard of living.
You don't have to be a genius to understand the work of the Nobel Laureates. These games and simulations, based on Nobel Prize-awarded achievements, will teach and inspire you while you're having FUN!
A move to greatly increase the number of Americans who participate in national-service programs — championed by a wide variety of nonprofit groups — cleared its final major hurdle today, when the Senate adopted the Serve America Act.
Senators approved the legislation — which would more than triple the number of participants in AmeriCorps and create an array of new volunteer programs for people of all ages — with a bipartisan vote of 79 to 19.
U.S. President Barack Obama said he will seek $50 million for the Social Innovation Fund, which would identify and expand effective, creative non-profits.
The fund would identify what works in the nation's communities, provide growth capital for the programs and improve use of data and evaluation to raise the level and quality of programs the government would fund, the White House said Tuesday in a release.
The Social Innovation Fund, authorized in the recently signed Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, will focus on priority policy areas such as education, healthcare and economic opportunity, the White House said. It will partner with foundations, philanthropists and corporations that will commit resources, funding, and technical assistance.
