Successful innovators approach innovation holistically. They understand that to keep their businesses competent, they need to innovate at scale and work on various types of innovations across all parts and levels of the organisation.

However, operating and innovating in a highly complex and ever-changing environment isn’t always easy. Because relying on the traditional, single process and R&D-focused approach to innovation just doesn't cut it anymore, companies need to build flexible but well-organised networks of teams and people.

If we were to go back 50 years in time and demonstrate modern technology to someone, it might appear indistinguishable from magic. Consider the smartphone. To have within the palm of your hand one device that you can use to send instant messages, read books, pay bills, make movies, and even find love would seem unimaginable. Yet this reality has all been made possible by key breakthrough technologies that were revolutionary -- and, some might argue, inevitable.

As the role of data in business expands beyond anything the world has seen, the workforce is not keeping up.

For four years in a row, one survey has found that “big data and analytics are top of the skills shortage critical list.” But amid the focus on high-level data skills, there’s another gap in workforce preparation: Brookings reports by the time they enter the workforce, students haven’t had enough exposure even to simpler data tools such as spreadsheets and enterprise management platforms. It’s time to “expand digital literacy across the board,” CityLab declares.

Worried its employees aren’t getting good enough care from doctors in their insurance networks, Walmart next year will test pointing workers in northwestern Arkansas, central Florida and the Dallas-Fort Worth area toward physicians it has found provide better service.

If the employees use these “featured providers,” they will pay less out of pocket, Walmart officials said Thursday.

Humans were not around to see Antarctica in the good times, tens of millions of years ago, when it was home to palms and baobab trees, reptiles and marsupials. It had some of the same mountains it has today, some of the same valleys and inlets. But it didn’t have the same address.

Long ago, Antarctica was located in the mid- latitudes, once part of the super continent Gondwana, until it slowly broke away, leaving continental kin like Africa and South America behind. It then went its own way, carried off by continental drift at just 1 to 2 in. per year, until it wound up where it is today, banished by tectonics to the bottom of the world.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Silicon Valley Bank (SVB Financial Group,NASDAQ: SIVB), the bank of the world's most innovative companies and their investors, today announced its Access to Innovation program, which is designed to increase opportunities for underrepresented individuals in the innovation economy. SVB seeks to provide educational and workforce opportunities for emerging talent, increase the connections and funding available for female- and minority-founded startups, and encourage gender parity and diversity in leadership in the innovation economy.

Big coastal cities, such as New York and San Francisco, feature notoriously high rent prices and an expensive cost of living. But in their smaller Midwestern counterparts, like Indianapolis and Toledo, Ohio, things prove much, much cheaper.

Warren Buffett is famous for his wit, and will likely go down in history as one of the most quotable and influential investors of all time.

With this week marking his 89th birthday, we thought it was a good time to highlight the 25 best Warren Buffett quotes accumulated through his lengthy and prestigious career.

Image: https://www.visualcapitalist.com

Local business accelerators, co-creative spaces and incubator hubs, offering support for entrepreneurs and fledgling companies, have been sprouting over the past few years.

This is not only because of the realisation that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are critical to the economy and job creation, but also because of an important change in the broad-based black economic empowerment codes. Companies can get up to 40 points on the B-BBEE scorecard if they invest in the enterprise and supplier development of qualifying small businesses.

The Census Bureau released data from the 2018 American Community Survey last week, and the big news is its finding that income inequality has worsened. America's transit agencies contributed to that problem as they continue to build expensive transit systems into wealthy suburbs while they cut service to low-income neighborhoods.

Image: http://www.newgeography.com

SANTA CRUZ — When space and funding is hard to come by, bioscience start-ups can develop their ideas and research at Startup Sandbox Inc. in Santa Cruz.

Startup Sandbox, 250 Natural Bridges Drive, is a nonprofit bioscience incubator that provides start-up science companies with rentable lab and office space to grow their business and develop a commercial product. It targets companies researching molecular RNA, genomics, chemistry and more in the science field.

Image: UC Santa Cruz grad student Alexandra Turmon uses a pipette to transport a measured amount of fluid at the Startup Sandbox lab in her work for Unnatural Products, a biotech company working to design molecules that will become drugs. (Dan Coyro — Santa Cruz Sentinel)

It is time to put the myth of the sleepless founder to bed. Too many entrepreneurs think skipping on sleep is the heroic path to success, and a badge of honor. But in a recent series of studies, we found several specific deficits among exhausted entrepreneurs that demonstrate that even the most dedicated founders could best serve their fledgling venture by resting up.

Struck Capital is a next generation Seed Venture Firm based in Los Angeles which leads seed rounds in Los Angeles, with early investments in companies such as ScratchPay, Joymode, Aquabyte and Brainbase. Struck seeks founders who truly want to tackle the world’s largest problems. I caught up with founder Adam B. Struck to find out more.

Image: Adam B. Struck, Founder and Managing Partner at Struck CapitalSTRUCK CAPITAL

Executives at medtech companies may be leery of Apple and other consumer-technology companies, especially as the latter tout ever-more-sophisticated healthcare applications. But as healthcare evolves, those potential competitors may turn out to be good partners, according to a new report by accounting and consulting firm Deloitte.

Aristotle once compared the human memory to a wax tablet that starts out hot and pliable, but cools down to something hard and difficult to impress. For a long time, this was the prevailing view of our ability to learn, i.e. when we’re young, our brains are in prime learning condition, but as we age, we find it increasingly difficult to acquire new skills. In layman’s terms: You can’t teach an old dog new tricks … or can you?

As an entrepreneur, you put too much time and energy into your venture not to make massive amounts of cash. Bringing in money is vital for you and your team members, who depend on you for their livelihoods.

But some things are more important than money and ignoring them will make your money worthless. Here are the top five things that should take priority over the dollar in your day-to-day.

When it comes to startup ecosystems in the Midwest, Chicago is king. But the region is establishing a clear second-best city for startups, and many other cities are rising in the ranks as they work to attract and retain top tech talent, according to a new report.

For the third year in a row, Chicago ran away with the No. 1 ranking in a list of best startup cities in the Midwest, according to an analysis from Chicago VC firm M25. However, Minneapolis has firmly established itself as the next-best tech hub, and it would “commandingly take first place” if Chicago wasn’t included, the report said.

Massachusetts remained the most energy-efficient state for the ninth year running, Maryland jumped in the efficiency rankings on the back of its new electricity savings programs, and Kentucky tumbled after regulators there slashed demand management programs for the power sector.

Those are among the highlights in an annual scorecard released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

I once attended a meeting of student entrepreneurs at a top American university. A professor of entrepreneurship showed a slide illustrating all the steps a startup must take, from hiring people and raising money to developing a product and going to market. His slide showed the business on a predictable, upwardly curving trajectory hitting various milestones. If only, I thought to myself. My experience of entrepreneurship was anything but a smooth, upward curve. It was so grueling that I have never understood the idea of people wanting to be “serial entrepreneurs.” Doing it once is hard enough.

If you’re a nature and animal lover, we’ve found the best of both worlds. You can swim and snorkel with Leopard Sharks in La Jolla at this beautiful San Diego beach.

While many people are afraid of sharks, there’s no need to fear leopard sharks. These gentle giants may get up to six feet long, but humans aren’t on their menu. In fact, they’re quite docile and their diet consists mostly of shellfish.

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