Sunday, May 22, 2011

Guest Blogger Samantha Snabes talks about the NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC)

As a former life sciences entrepreneur, I can sympathize with the difficulty of collaborating with government agencies.

Recognizing the need for new initiatives and the opportunity gained from aligning diverse skill sets with experts residing within multiple disciplines, the Johnson Space Center Space Life Sciences Director, Dr. Jeffrey Davis founded the NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC). Established in October 2010, the NHHPC is a global convener of 85+ member organizations from government agencies, industry, academia, and non-profits that support the advancement of human health and performance innovations. In short, it is a virtual forum aimed at connecting organizations interested in collaborating and advancing human health and performance on Earth and in space.

The member driven organization provides resources and knowledge sharing to foster projects relating to the Center’s themes: Education and Inspiration, Habitability and Human Factors, Research and Technology, Innovation, Performance, and Health. There is no fee or document to sign—the only requirement to be a member is having an interest in advancing the goals of the NHHPC, and a willingness to share information and consider collaborative projects to achieve these goals. Members have the opportunity to share contact information, participate in bi-annual workshops, monthly telecoms, and collaborate on a soon-to-launch member-restricted Wiki. These platforms provide a unique opportunity to facilitate idea sharing amongst established industry leaders as well as startups and academics.

As entrepreneurs, and more importantly, collaborative solution seekers, I invite you to learn more about the Center and explore the presentations from the inaugural January Workshop focused on collaborative strategies and best practices at this link:

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/NHHPC/index.html.

What Classic Literature Tells us about Modern Innovation

How to Create Products that Endure by Tyler Goodwin

Classic literature can tell us more about modern innovation than you might imagine. Seminal literary works, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses to Ginsberg’s Howl somehow manage to endure the test of time—a quality business leaders struggle to apply with predictability to new products in the marketplace. In this case, my goal is to understand the pattern of how literary innovations, in much the same way as product innovations, emerge from context, and how that concept can help you create strategic innovation opportunities with the endurance to stand the test of time.

To understand the historical pattern, we need not look further than the foreword of any perennial text. Successful literary innovators have one essential thing in common—the ability to capture the latent sentiment of their day, and thus free people to express themselves similarly within the new boundaries created. Followers subsequently echo these new sentiments and explore these new boundaries until others develop a latent desire to shift the conversation in a new direction. We have seen this with Howl, where Ginsberg captured and exploited society’s latent need for frank, even vile, self-expression. And, this effect is what seminal literary works have always achieved.

Further using both Howl and Metamorphoses as examples, let’s explore the product innovation implications that we can draw from this concept of capturing sentiment—specifically with regard to a company’s strategic position as an innovation leader or laggard. Click
Classic literature can tell us more about modern innovation than you might imagine. Seminal literary works, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses to Ginsberg’s Howl somehow manage to endure the test of time—a quality business leaders struggle to apply with predictability to new products in the marketplace. In this case, my goal is to understand the pattern of how literary innovations, in much the same way as product innovations, emerge from context, and how that concept can help you create strategic innovation opportunities with the endurance to stand the test of time.

To understand the historical pattern, we need not look further than the foreword of any perennial text. Successful literary innovators have one essential thing in common—the ability to capture the latent sentiment of their day, and thus free people to express themselves similarly within the new boundaries created. Followers subsequently echo these new sentiments and explore these new boundaries until others develop a latent desire to shift the conversation in a new direction. We have seen this with Howl, where Ginsberg captured and exploited society’s latent need for frank, even vile, self-expression. And, this effect is what seminal literary works have always achieved.

Further using both Howl and Metamorphoses as examples, let’s explore the product innovation implications that we can draw from this concept of capturing sentiment—specifically with regard to a company’s strategic position as an innovation leader or laggard. To read more go to this link:

http://tyleragoodwin.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/ovid-x-context-how-to-create-products-that-endure/