Can ROWE and 20% Time Help your Company Through the Recession?

This is not the time to freak out. It’s a time of reflection and introspection for companies as well as individuals. It’s a great time to ask, “why are we here?” Are we in the right market? Are our customers delighted with our products and services? Are we in the right market? It’s a great time to do research and design and it’s a great time to start something new.

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Monoculture is Death

If life is diversity, then monoculture is death, if not just dead boring. Can you say potato famine? Up to 1.5 million people dead, because of a monoculture! With crops, companies or cultures, lack of diversity is never a good idea. My girlfriend is a foodie and we were watching a Michael Pollan documentary, The Botany of Desire a few nights ago. I learned that 99.9 % of apple orchards, in the west, are monocultures, they don’t grow from seeds, they grow from cloning – watch the movie or read the book if you want to know more. We have similar issues with potatoes; most potatoes in the US are the same strain. Why is this bad?

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Innovation is a Virus

We have been told by patent holders, mostly large corporations, that intellectual property rights encourage innovation. Copyright laws have been extended from 14 years to up to life plus 70 years. Competition is said to accelerate creativity. Do these ideas serve innovation or corporate greed?

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