Serious Fun

Marseille open for innovation

Jim Myrick — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 22:45:14 +0000

SeriousFun has been busy in the south of France recently signing new partnerships and expanding our delivery platform for open innovation. We just signed on as members of Connectwave in Marseille an industry association devoted to advancing RFID technology. SeriousFun has been leveraging the expertise in antenna engineering in the Malmo – Lund area of Sweden for years now. Using the acknowledged expertise of the south of Sweden with the world class engineering capabilities found also in the south of France is an ideal combination. The ability to offer customers programs in San Francisco and now Europe has been in the works for sometime. Now we are proud to announce the addition of partners in southern Europe.

Why is the Marseille area open for innovation?

The second largest city in France is undergoing a dramatic and ambitious renewal to transform the region. Always a strong region for industry and transport the area surrounding Marseille is becoming an innovation center with a growing and vibrant startup community. SeriousFun gravitates towards the making space, fab labs and open innovation environments like ICI Make. We will be announcing a series of programs to be delivered in Marseille in the coming months. For SeriousFun being part of a strong geography for industry and traditional manufacturing is an important choice for selecting the city of Marseille for expansion.

Joining Connectwave to be part of the RFID community.

Connectwave, is the reference for Professional Connected Objects. With 10 years of expertise in digital technologies under the name of the National RFID Reference Center, Connectwave is a major player in the development of IoT solutions. It supports SMEs, startups and large groups in the implementation of digital solutions including the organization of Open Innovation days and training IoT / RFID, support for the protection of personal data, the realization of connected objects and business development. Recognized for its expertise and neutrality, it brings together 140 national and international actors involved in digital transformation. Reference of Connected Objects Connected, Connectwave is involved in the national standardization committees (AFNOR) and international (ISO, CEN, ETSI) as well as in the Intelligent Object solution of the New Industrial France. In collaboration with Euroméditerranée, Medinsoft and Aix-Marseille French Tech, Connectwave has created a space of immersion of Connected Objects within La Coque, the Center of Innovation and Digital Event located in the heart of the business district. from Marseille.

Philippe de MATTEIS Director Connective and Jim Myrick SeriousFun

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24th Annual Global Forum Paris June 10th – 12th 2019

Jim Myrick — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 22:35:44 +0000

Another great Global Forum this year in Paris. The annual Global Forum conference is a very unique gathering of amazing minds. It is in many ways an incredibly special network of generous, thoughtful and caring individuals. It’s a community of practice, by-invitation-only and not for profit. All the attendees are openly and informally sharing ideas and experiences. The attendees are also the presenters. I would not miss it.

SeriousFun and innovation

Jim Myrick from SeriousFun and Anders Ericsson from Seco Tools presenting

Going to Paris to innovate

What makes the Global Forum so exceptional is the open and unvarnished sharing of ideas and experiences from some of the top corporate practitioners of Action Learning. Everyone comes together each year in a different city because we really want to interact and exchange our lessons learned. The challenges facing big companies are not so different it seems. They all struggle to learn faster than the rate of change – the core principle of Action Learning. Big companies seem to be facing an increasingly difficult geo political environment balancing climate change with growth and managing a world of increasing risk and uncertainty. The need to include a digital strategy emerged this year in Paris along with the drive to innovate as top concerns for all.

Some of the highlights

It is hard to pick favorites when blessed with such riches. Everyone was inspiring and super well informed as always. This year covered some topics that I am particularly interested in like digital transformation and innovation so I found these presentations very compelling. One take away also was how many companies tried to foster innovative thinking and doing, many really expended considerable efforts to the process only to fall short when it came to long term impact. It was curious how many companies put forth the effort and committed to various programs often with little upfront KPI’s only to come up short with implementation. It seems that the transition from ideation and experimentation to implementation into a real business unit or a long-term change agent remains elusive.

Not sure if it was reassuring to hear from Drew Boyd Associate Professor at University of Cincinnati and Author that in his experience resistance is expected and perhaps a welcome signal that one is being truly disruptive. He explained that many people will visualize the benefits of change and disruption while inevitability some will harbor feelings of resistance. This is completely normal and should be expected according to Drew. If no one feels uncomfortable with your proposal then this is a clear sign you are not actually being too disruptive after all. The take away for the true innovators is to look for and expect some resistance from stakeholders if you are doing your job.

Michael Diebold’s session was very interesting to hear about his experience teasing new products out of traditional and established companies. It was fascinating to hear about how he has been able as an outsider to get employees to open up with their innovative ideas. He explained that from his experience many engineers inside of big companies actually have in their back pocket very interesting new product and business ideas. The trick in his experience is giving these inventors a safe place to bring their ideas to life and see them become real. The challenge he has seen for big companies is how to liberate all of this creative energy in a productive and rewarding fashion.

Kenneth Rhee Professor and Dean, School of Business and Leadership, Nazareth Collage led us all through a fascinating discussion on the Lessons Learned and Issues in Designing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Business and Leadership Programs at the Collage. The consensus in my group was that AI was near at hand with far ranging implications raised by Kenneth. This was a great session with many mind-boggling concepts, possibilities, and risks debated by the very engaged group. While general purpose AI is years off or may never become a reality current AI technology is already bringing forth important challenges in business touching on issues such as how to properly prepare our next generation of business leaders to implement AI with a moral and ethical compass.

Michellana Jester, Lecturer, Global Economics and Management, MIT Sloan School of Management delivered a session of keen interest for me on “How trends in learning may help businesses advance their employees’ development”. She started off challenging our group on our false beliefs about how the brain actually works. Seems we have all bought into the concept of a right brain person or a left brained person or the notion that we only use 10% of our brains capacity. Come to find out most of the things we hold as true about our brains is actually false. What I find so fascinating about her work is the novel intersection of AI and neuroscience she is addressing.

In conclusion it was another not to be missed Global Forum reconnecting with friends, making new connections and learning a lot from all the attendees. The only negative is the pace that Yury puts us all though. It was a jam packed few days with no time for anything other than learning faster than the rate of change.

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Zenit Talks

Jim Myrick — Thu, 30 May 2019 17:09:03 +0000

A big thank you to all our friends and partners who turned up last week at Zenit Design in Malmö to hear about the Seco Innovation Journey. We all were very fortunate to have Anders Ericsson head of Innovation from Seco join us to hear firsthand about their experiences. Our partners Sigma shot a video of the event we hope to publish soon for those who were unable to join us in person – stay tuned.

Between a breakfast and lunch presentation we were able to talk with dozens of thought leaders in the country where the future may have arrived first. The discussions before and after the formal presentation were the highlight of the day. Our meetings at Zenit Design on Open Innovation were just one of the many events in a much larger regional theme last week celebrating all things innovation in south Sweden.

Why is Sweden so competitive?

Perhaps Sweden ranks so high in global competitiveness because Swedes are so curious about innovation – this was certainly the case last Monday. The dialog with the audience was well informed and very insightful. Everyone seemed to find benefit in the openness and sharing not only the good stories but also the defeats and setbacks. It seems that we all concluded that there is a not single right or wrong way for a company to innovate. Rather than a one size fits all model the perfect innovation solution seems to be a unique methodology and tailored process that fits your specific organization.

Going to San Francisco to innovate

Going West seeking fame and fortune is not new. Maybe things have changed just a little? While I was there to promote San Francisco as the center of innovation I also pointed out the dark side of too much traffic, no place to live and the difficulty breaking into the networks. We explored how firms can foster innovation including starting up an innovation outpost in Silicon Valley. We tried to challenge the conventional wisdom that going all in with your own innovation outpost is the only way to tap into the ecosystem. The Seco story of sending a small team to San Francisco in a shared facility offered a different lower risk approach while still producing amazing results. Seco’s creation of a new digital product and business line called IDEM in less than six months stood as evidence that the model can work.

User Centered Design

Jonas from Zenit helped to remove some of the mystery around “Design Thinking” a term very much in vogue today. Explaining how we all first met in a small town in northwest France Jonas shared the journey’s humble beginnings with a series of onsite workshops and trainings. While enjoying the local menu the team came together for the first time in preparation for their 6-month stay in San Francisco with SeriousFun. Beginning to end we tried to capture both the seriousness of the mission and also the occasions for some fun.

Horizon Three today

Who doesn’t want to be disruptive and innovative? It is the “How” that is the big challenge for most. With a shared desire to balance the investment portfolio of innovation and bring the Horizon Three disruption home today the audience agreed to a common shared dilemma. The universal challenge is not just coming up with the good ideas but also implementing them and building profitable new lines of business. At the end of the day the audience saw firsthand how Anders sponsored a bold experiment in open innovation sending a team away for 6 months to San Francisco. We shared honestly what worked well and what we would have done differently. The audience had their own innovation journey stories to share as well making for a lively interchange of experiences.

I really enjoyed making new connections and reconnecting with friends. Sweden is such an amazing place to do business and invent the future. People are always open and interested in new ideas. Traveling from San Francisco one feels a kinship with a country of early adopters. The Silicon Valley connection to Sweden seems so strong and vibrant because pioneering new technology seems like second nature in both locations.

Jet powered electric surfboard

Also got a chance to visit Radinn and see their most excellent new office space. Located in the up and coming dock industrial space in Malmö they have the perfect blend of high tech loft vibe with get stuff done maker space. Love the job this team is doing pioneering an entirely new segment in mobility and green extreme sports. They can’t build them fast enough to meet demand – a good problem to have as investors. Go team go!

https://www.radinn.com/

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Welcome to the world of SeriousFun

Jim Myrick — Thu, 30 May 2019 16:57:15 +0000

We know like “Jumbo Shrimp” our name is something of an oxymoron. We like the juxtaposition, the balancing act between creativity and practicality between work and play. This is our comfort zone the area where the magic happens when experts come together to invent. We like this intersection of art and science where the mind can break out and define new boundaries and reach new vistas.

We are here to celebrate the spirit of human creativity. We want to explore with the makers and inventors, the risk taker and the rule breakers. We are charting a course together to do something meaningful. Join with us as we playfully invent the future as a team sport and do things of consequence.

In short let’s have some SeriousFun

Let’s start by talking about innovation. We are looking to share some stories, news, ideas and things of interest and we want to hear from you. We are here to honor and chronicle the people bold enough to try and make a difference and build something important and long lasting.

2019 is a year of transition for SeriousFun as we are expanding. We have always been about connected objects but now we also represent a global network of open innovation. Our mission is to foster a digital transformation story with our partners and clients. Together with our stakeholders we are interested in new ideas and the unique path forward for every organization.

Our forte is assisting companies in the early stages of their formulation of an IoT strategy and its implementation. When a firm embarks on a new Industry 4.0 strategy we are there to guide the first formative steps in crafting the roadmap.

Building Your Innovation Methodology

We help create a bespoke Open Innovation methodology that fits your company and its current capabilities and practices for R&D and innovation. Our Open Innovation approach complements a firm’s existing structure by addressing the entire organization. SeriousFun aims to drive change for the whole company. Your enterprise will take four crucial steps during a SeriousFun innovation journey.

Build strong external partner networks
Learn how to run IoT projects
Be accomplished practitioners of the Agile Way of working
Learn and practice advanced rapid creation of minimum viable products

Ingredients for your success

One of the core tenants of all successful innovation programs is the use of external partners. Trusted and talented partners like SeriousFun can infuse new thinking into a company searching for disruptive opportunities. SeriousFun is a catalyst to help your organization build broader networks and partner ecosystems. All of our programs are designed with the underlying purpose of fostering outside in thinking.

Let’s learn from each other, share stories and ideas. Please join us in an open innovation journey. Together we can build a bright future and make a difference.

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