The 100 Year Start-Up: Lessons from @plibin & @evernote at SxSW 2012

http://storify.com/LesMcP/the-100-year-company


Les
@LesMcP

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

TEDMED 2012

http://storify.com/LesMcP/tedmed

Imagination, inspiration, innovation + the intersection of science, technology, government, business, art, and education. 

TEDMED is a "great gathering of innovators and leaders who are passionate about the future of health and medicine." 

Imagination - an amazing cast of great thinkers, scientists, clinicians. There remains a sizable gap between the research/study/theoretical and effective practical applications, exceptions including Rebecca Onie, Mark Hyman, Bud Frazier/Billy Cohn, among others. What can we as industry do to close the gap between the theoretical to the practical, especially those of us in the health solutions industry where we have such an opportunity to positively impact people's lives?

Innovation - it may be difficult to look for immediate applicability from an amazing experience like TEDMED back to a company, but the 2 biggest opportunities I saw were in how we think and an indirect application on our organizational behavior. When you see the invention of aircraft with fixed wings despite almost universal evidence of moveable wings in nature, you can see remarkable evidence of people who thought about solutions differently. Or look at Bud Frazier & Billy Cohn - the durability of a man made pump has proven inadequate in the long term for heart replacements, so they have been working on continuous flow replacements. And their patients come in without a clinical pulse. It's about moving from "why didn't I think of that" to "why didn't I think like that?" 

Organizations can learn much from design & systems thinking, as well as other behaviors. For example, in the powerful talk given by Virginia Breen & Elizabeth Bonker, we see Elizabeth demonstrate the amazing power of listening. Profoundly autistic and unable to speak, Elizabeth portrays how it's not all about what we have to say that is important to learning and communication, but what we do with the ideas of others and what is happening in our surroundings. 

 We also see the enormity of the challenges created by researchers when they are unwilling to share their data, research, and findings. Having worked in large corporations my entire professional life, I have witnessed (and unfortunately practiced) the "knowledge is power" mentality. Silos are erected, barriers and obstacles are created, competition can arise, and the greater good suffers. This is evident in corporate cultures and organizational behaviors and disappointingly in clinical research, where the ultimate good can be jeopardized - our health & well-being. One example of brazenly knocking down these kinds of barriers is seen through Katie Couric's Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) foundation, where no one is eligible to receive funding unless they will commit to sharing their data and research findings. Forced collaboration, yes, but unfortunately necessary. 

Perhaps the most pervasive theme at TEDMED was that of inspiration. To witness first hand Ed Gavagan's near death story, to sense the energy among thousands noticeably rise as Todd Park speaks, to hurt as only a parent can when Virgina Breen speaks is to be inspired that we can indeed change the world. Working together for good of individual & societal health and well-being is noble, necessary, and achievable. Hopefully, none of us exposed to the wonder that was TEDMED 2012 will ever again succumb to the challenges, obstacles, or barriers that are thrown in front of us.

Les
@LesMcP

My Notes From Parables of Jesus Sermon @southpointcc

The Unjust Steward - Southpoint Community Church

Luke 19:11 -27 - The Parabel of the Minas.
Different but similar parable to parable of the talents. Both talent and mina were weight measurements. Talent - about 8-10 years wages; mina - about 4 months wages. Parable of the talents is about God's generosity; parable of the minas is about our faithfulness.
We serve an extravagantly good God. God gives me things I don't deserve. Never take for granted what God has blessed us with. If I'm not grateful, I won't invest my life properly.
We are expected to make more of what we've been given. Simply holding on is not an option. Jesus does not present the Gospel without a commission. With the message of salvation comes a commission. I don't need salvation, I need a Savior.
We live in the time of the now and the not-yet (the Kingdom is here, but not yet fully. 1 Peter 1:6-8). Absence is an important part of both parables. John 20:29.
God is not a severe or hard man.
How am I investing my testimony?
What am I doing to grow my faith?
What am I doing with His children?
Am using my money to leave a legacy?
What am I doing to strengthen my marriage?
Am I ministering to God's saints?
God has given me great gifts. Don't give Him back what He gave me. Give Him back more.

@LesMcP



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Well, I Made It

My wallet is safe. Last month I wrote about a challenge our group at work created to make health improvements during the month of January (ixn-ay on the esolutionr-ay). In addition to group encouragement, accountability, good-natured sabotage, and a risk to our personal fortunes, we also tried to look at adding things to our lives rather than taking away.

Me? I committed to eating 2 or more servings of fruits or vegetables at least 5 days a week. Well, my feelings on fruits and vegetables are well documented (short version, I'm not a fan). But it's something I know I need to improve.January got off to a great start and I was rocking through the first week, fell slightly behind due to an out of town wedding, got back on the horse and was tracking nicely until I was almost completely derailed during an out-and-back trip to San Francisco last week. But I buckled down and I made it with a day to spare.

So I feel good about the accomplishment, didn't notice any obvious health benefits (but that's kinda the point - we rarely see the costs or benefits of our health decisions immediately), and don't have to buy lunch for a bunch of over-achieving braggarts. I stuck to my stalwarts - apples, melons, broccoli, salads, carrots, and pineapple. And most importantly, I didn't snap and have to kill someone.

Next month - replace diet Cokes with a full complement of water.

Now where did I put those Reese's Cups?


@LesMcP
www.facebook.com/lesmcphearson

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Small Steps to Improvement

Ok, I've never been big in New Year's resolutions and 2012 is no exception. It seems so cliche' to commit to making major changes to your life based on the calendar. A new year does of course provide an appropriate time for reflection and looking ahead, but it seems to be a hollow reason to resolve to make wholesale changes, especially when most resolutions are too generic (be a better parent, be more organized) or are overly burdensome (lose 50 pounds, work-out every day, and read a book a week).

We've been doing some research at work on why we do some of the things we do (and why we don't do some of the things we should do), especially when it comes to our health. We have spent a lot of time on behavioral economics, gamification, competitions, and individual motivators. So in the spirit of a new year and making small, sustainable improvements to our health behaviors, we have created a group challenge where we each have set small, individual goals for January in areas of our personal health.

My goal is to eat 2 or more servings of fruits and/or vegetables 5 times a week. I will admit - I could go the rest of my life and not eat another fruit or vegetable. I've never liked them and it feels like a chore almost every time I eat them. So while adding 2 more servings is not huge, it is a sizable step for me but it will not get me to the recommended daily amounts.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this is how our group dynamic impacts our individual goals. I found it interesting that for most of the commitments people made, they felt confident that they could meet their goal because they usually succeeded when they put their minds to it. It's interesting because people are trying to address habits they haven't been able to affect, but are confident that they will be successful. I am that way also, but believe the group competition will be important for me (I don't like to lose and I'm cheap - we do have lunch riding on the outcome).

I'll keep you posted on my progress and more importantly, how trying to make incremental improvements in a group setting impacts our success.

Les


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Trying Something New - Empire Avenue

{EAV_BLOG_VER:11f89579938a88aa}

While somewhat of a traditionalist, I do enjoy exploring new things and I ran across a new social media toy today that is fascinating. Empire Avenue (www.empireavenue.com @empireave @dups) is a "social stock market, where you can grow your social capital online." Empire Avenue combines the qualities of social media, gaming theory, and incentives/rewards into an integrated experience.

How it works - when you are communicating, listening, and following people throughout the day on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, and writing blog posts, you will earn Eaves, their virtual currency as well as earn dividends for those who have invested in you. The greater your social media presence and influence, the greater your stock price. Empire Avenue states their objective is to help "create 'value-based' relationships, a deeper relationship than simply 'following' someone, in a completely less intrusive context than becoming 'friends.'"

I was on a call today with Ric (@Fishmammal), Empire Avenue's VP of Strategy & Business Development, who walked us through the site and capabilities. Sign-up and getting started are a little more complicated than Facebook and Twitter, but like most web 2.0 tools, you have to get past the initial apprehensions and jump in with both feet. Buying and selling social stock and watching your bank rise (and fall) can be addicting.

There is also an interesting brand play as you can access what Empire calls social media mavens who can be leveraged to help promote your brand. According to their web site, AT&T, Ford, Oreo, Dell, and Toyota have all used Empire Avenue for business.

While you are there, buy as much LESMCP as you can afford. I am up almost 17 eaves today already.

@LesMcP


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Don't Try to Go At It Alone

Caroline Lu of the Mayo Clinic's Center for Innovation wrote a brilliant blog this week laying out the results of a study where people made positive health behavior changes by working with health coaches. The truly fascinating part of the project is that progress was shown when coaches helped individuals identify their strengths, and in determining their strengths, help build confidence and small success.

Rather than back the dump truck up and tell people "Here are the 45 things you need to do by tomorrow to improve your health" (which inevitably leads to accomplishing zero), this observed research supports design thinking that building on what we do well (for me, it is regular exercise) as a springboard to improve where we need it (nutrition, until Reese's Cups makes it as a basic food group).

Health coaching is a great thing to help facilitate health behavior change, but it is also time consuming and expensive. I wonder if technology, social networking, and asynchronous coaching (content, e-mail, text, message posting) could provide anything close to a similar level of benefit without direct, face-to-face health coaching, which is out of the reach of most people? How can we as health innovators help consumers benefit from the results of this study any time, any where?

Link to Caroline's blog: http://dev.blog.centerforinnovation.mayo.edu/?p=549

@LesMcP

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad