Imagine for a moment that your college senior is a computer science wiz at MIT and is currently deciding between three job offers. The first is Facebook. The second is a leading video gaming company. The final one is less familiar – a start-up in Seattle. It’s called Convoy. The company reduces the percent of time trucks spend on the road with an empty load. Which job would you want your child to take? I know, “Whatever makes my child happy,” is the emotionally correct answer. “What are the career trajectories?” is another question that you might suggest your child explore. Listen for a second to your inner voice, and ask your child to do the same. Where do you think he or she would make the most difference to the world? Markets value current and future financial returns. By building a social media…
Healthcare Industry Disruption
If you are in the healthcare industry, or are curious about where it is headed, be sure not to miss WTN’s June 24-25 upcoming conference focused on the industry’s disruption. Mike Klein was one of the early voices predicting dramatic change; once again he brings a stellar set of speakers to help participants anticipate the future. As a nation we pay more for healthcare than other nations yet achieve worse health outcomes. The three to six extra GDP percentage points we pay in healthcare costs are needed for infrastructure, education, federal R&D investments and our pocketbooks. We pay more because payers exert too little pressure on providers relative to other nations; and we’ve historically paid providers to do procedures versus improve health. In addition, many consumers are sheltered from cost and do not know the relative cost or quality of providers. Capitalism’s competitive…
WTN Fusion 2014: It’s all about disruption of business models and IT
Last week, WTN Media’s Fusion 2014 conference in Madison, WI captured information technology-driven external business challenges and IT leaders’ responses. Small or large, government or private, non-profit or for-profit, the challenges are shared. Here are my take-away thoughts. IT’s Role IT leaders now largely accept a distributed model. “Shadow IT” is here to stay. The shift is correct from my perspective now that insight is one of remaining sources of advantage. Data is abundant and its interpretation must be real-time, predictive and prescriptive. As Greg Pfluger, VP for Information Systems at American Family Insurance, commented, “Marketing … better understands technology than IT people understand marketing. Treat them with respect.” Despite the complicating issues, Software as a Service (SaaS) is a winning business model; the benefits far outweigh the cons for customers and suppliers. A primary IT role is to ensure integration and security…
Innovation Makes Google a Leader
Innovation is to this century what quality and efficiency were to the second half of the last century – the dominant focus organizations adopted to improve business results. From a macroeconomic perspective, the shift is welcomed. We need new-to-market industries and jobs to replace those lost to the decades-long, relentless, job-destroying drive for reducing waste and increasing efficiency. But a commitment to innovation and successful innovation can be miles apart. How can leaders best bridge the divide? Marissa Mayer, senior leader of Google’s search business and one of the company’s longest tenured employees, shared her company’s innovation formula at the University of Wisconsin Madison’s E-Business Consortium’s 2010 Business Best Practices & Emerging Technologies Conference. Founded in 1998, the UWEBC brings together leading Wisconsin companies to focus on thought leadership, business best practices and emerging technologies related to E-commerce. Each year, the UWEBC provides…