According to John Kao , there are a few major connections between playing Jazz and doing innovation. First and foremost, it is the objectivity of Jazz and that it is the capability which is developed as a result of investment in self over a period of time. That way it becomes ingrained in self, and is something that is very hard to lose. Just as innovation, playing Jazz is not something along the lines of a mathematical formula, which you can learn in a short period of time. Like innovation, it is that deep capability that you build over time. Another of the similarity is what in Jazz is called the “sweet spot”. This involves following the established framework, and building something on top of it. It is like striking a balance between structure and the freedom of doing something new. It is like connecting with what you already know, and where you want to go. For example, in organization, when leaders try to innovate, they listen to themselves and to their organizations. It is something they learn intuitively over a period of time. Finally, when you strive for operational excellence, whether in Jazz or in an organization, you need flexibility besides the structure. Jazz is both innate and can be taught. It is a skill you need to build over time.
Was listening to that Leadership Jazz at Columbia video clip , about how team-building skills in Jazz band. Like in any team, the members of Jazz band want to be comfortable with the people they are working with. That makes creating a band equally challenging as putting a together a team in an organization. Like any other team, they have to make sure there is fair balance of passion and professionalism. There is need for both individual excellence and for working together, and to create space for fellow team members. As for diversity, there is realization that contradictions do lead to creativity. As one of the jazz said, “you need dancing mind in thinking body”.
Innovation Act of 2013 Impacts Patents: For the Good or the Bad?
The legislation, called the “Innovation Act of 2013”, was introduced in the House of Representatives on Oct 23rd, 2013 by Representative Bob Goodlatte. This patent reform bill has a number of provisions that plan to change patient procurement, ownership, and their enforcement .
In particular, it plans to safeguard against what is popularly known as “patent troll”. These are certain people or companies that gather large portfolio of patents, which they don’t use to produce any goods or deliver services. They then go about suing business and people for possible patent infringement . This law is particularly beneficial for organizations such as small businesses, non-profits, and independent developers who cannot fight the litigations in the court . They are therefore tempted to settle it out of court, even if they would have one had they gone to court.
There are some aspects of the act that will have noticeable impact on the business that are affected by litigation: the provision for heightened pleading will require to plaintiff to specify the case in greater detail, and also much less specificity is required, which will prevent those dealing with complex technologies requiring for settling out of court to just move on. It also has provision for fee-shifting, where the losing party pays for the legal fees of winning side. This will deter the false litigators and “patent troll”. This will positively impact across the spectrum of industry, including inventors, corporations, business and universities equally.
However, reservations about the bill have been expressed by some established journals . Some feel that the bill is not suitably tailored as it does not define what it means by “patent troll”. In that sense, it does not clearly “differentiate between practicing and non-practicing entities”. Others feel that the provision for fee-shifting may deter legitimate patent lawsuits. Some feel that it may “inadvertently undermine many valid patents by giving infringers a new procedural loophole to delay enforcement”
This act has come just in time when this phenomenon of “patent troll” has potential to become a global phenomenon . It states that patient litigation has become a business model of some companies, which is an unhealthy business practice. In addition to that various foreign countries have adopted this model are creating their own patent assertion entities (PAEs). What is even more alarming is that these PAEs have a nationalistic fervor.
USPS Innovation: Special Delivery?
In September of 2013, the United States Postal Services (USPS) proposed price changes to its services . These changes are intended to be effective from January 2014, and are expected to generate additional $2 billion in revenue from its postal service alone. Increasing fare is considered to be a tactical move, which is quick and easy, and certainly not strategic. USPS has to contend with changing market scenario, new economic realities and advancement in technologies. At the same time, customer preferences are changing, which could have significant impact on the future revenues. In order to generate ideas from the consumers, USPC, regularly seeks ideas on how they can improve their services . To understand why USPS incurred a staggering loss of $5.1 billion, we need read consumer behavior. The major reason is technology, for example, people prefer to send email instead of posting a greeting card. The other reason, which is quite internal, is its very generous employee benefit plan. And cutting down jobs is not a long-term solution either. The only strategic way out is to be innovative and efficient. USPS is also restricted due to the fact that it is protected by the government. This creates disincentives for innovation and the ability to rapidly adapting to change. In sharp comparison, its private close competitors like FedEx and USPS are profitable because they have no option but to innovate.
As a user, I would recommend their going in for postal banking. It is a model that has been successfully adopted in several parts of the world. It will be beneficial for people in remote areas who need simple banking solutions, and where branches of major banks do not exist.
Bibliography
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