I’m convinced that people who have fun at work are more innovative, as well as happier. I don’t have any big scientific studies to prove this, but in my considerable business experience, I haven’t seen many successes come out of a group of fearful pessimists or unhappy people.

As I was looking through the literature, I did find evidence that many strong business leaders, like John D. Rockefeller, knew how to laugh at themselves. Humble leaders with this trait seem to create cultures that don't take themselves too seriously; cultures willing to take risks; cultures capable of creating and supporting a greater number of ideas.

I can postulate several reasons why laughing and having fun at work might be linked with creativity and innovation. Here are a few:

* Escape the inhibitions. Laughing tends to remove inhibitions. Under the spell of inhibition, people feel limited and stuck. This is what we refer to when we say “thinking outside the box”. Encourage everyone to be open to new ideas and solutions without setting limiting beliefs. Innovation is more about psychology than intellect.

I’ve been using the metaphor of “throwing pebbles in a stream” to describe the effect of regulation on innovation. No single regulation or regulatory activity is going to deter innovation by itself, just like no single pebble is going to affect a stream. But if you throw in enough small pebbles, you can dam up the stream. Similarly, add enough rules, regulations, and requirements, and suddenly innovation begins to look a lot less attractive.

A new study entitled ”FDA Impact on U.S. Medical Technology Innovation: A Survey of Over 200 Medical Technology Companies“ makes this point very well. The study, supported by the Medical Device Manufacturers Association and the National Venture Capital Association, found lots of ‘pebbles’–inefficiencies and lags in the system of approval that added up to a big problem. Survey respondents viewed

current U.S. regulatory processes for making products available to patients (the premarket process) as unpredictable and characterized by disruptions and delays…..[as well as ] inefficient and resource intensive

The end of 2010 is fast approaching, and with that have come a flurry of State of the Cleantech Union-type reports and forecasts.

What’s clear so far is this: American wind installations last quarter hit a three-year low, although there’s over 4,000 gigawatts of potential for offshore wind development, and the government is streamlining the permitting process to help spur growth. Solar appears to be healthy and poised to rise in the U.S., with large-scale solar installations for utilities expected to double each year between now and 2015. And a recent report by the Boston Consulting Group predicted that solar and biofuels would be the first renewable energies to become competitive with traditional energy sources like coal — possibly within the next five to 10 years.

Ask a child if there is a shortage of ice cream in the world, and no doubt, the response will be an emphatic yes—there certainly is. And ask a tech CEO if there is a shortage of engineers, and you will get the exact same answer.

That’s the story I used to tell, based on my research on engineering graduation rates and outsourcing trends. In 2005, my team shattered the myths about India and China graduating 12 times the numbers of engineers as the U.S. (we found that the U.S. graduated more than India did in 2004, and the quality of Indian and Chinese graduates was not comparable to that of American schools). And our survey of 78 executives from companies that Lou Dobbs (remember him?) harangued for “Exporting America” revealed that they weren’t going offshore because of shortages of U.S. talent or deficiencies in the skills of Americans, but because it was cheaper and these companies needed to be closer to growth markets.

Nine Windows is a technique that helps you examine the innovation opportunity across the dimensions of time (past, current, future) and space (super-system, system, sub-system). For instance, say you’re designing metal utensils that can be used on an airplane to eat, but not to use as a weapon. Instead of innovating the utensils themselves, you could focus your efforts on the raw materials that make up the utensils (sub-system), or even on the surrounding environment (super-system).

The core of Nine Windows is a simple grid consisting of nine boxes, or windows. Filling in the boxes provides eight additional perspectives on the problem you’ve identified, and helps you decide how and at what level to apply innovation. As such, you should leverage Nine Windows early in your project to better scope the innovation opportunity.

A Few Factoids from Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5 from the National Academy of Sciences:

• Thirty years ago, ten percent of California’s general fund went to higher education and three percent to prisons. Today, nearly eleven percent goes to prisons and eight percent to higher education.¹ 
• China is now second in the world in its publication of biomedical research articles, having recently surpassed Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Canada and Spain.²
• The United States now ranks 22nd among the world’s nations in the density of broadband Internet penetration and 72nd in the density of mobile telephony subscriptions.³
• In 2009, 51 percent of United States patents were awarded to non-United States companies.⁴

Think your decision to own your own business is all yours? Maybe not. New research finds that your parents had a lot more to do with your career choice than you thought.

While previous researchers have determined that your career inclination may be inherited genetically and others say the driving force is our upbringing and the nurturing we get from our parents, a new child-development theory bridges those two models. The research indicates that the way a child turns out can be determined in large part by the day-to-day decisions made by the parents who guide that child's growth.

"This model helps to resolve the nature-nurture debate," said psychologist George Holden at Southern Methodist University in Dallas who conducted the research.

Twitter is contemplating raising a new round of funding that could bring the company’s overall value to $3 billion.

The potential investors include the venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. In addition Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian investment company, could be involved.

This news comes after other stories make it appear that Web 2.0 is still on the rise. Google is trying to buy the online coupon service Groupon, and Facebook now has over 500 million members and is valued at 12 to 14 billion dollars.

MANHATTAN — Kansas State University’s goal of being recognized nationally as a top 50 public research university by 2025 is getting a boost.

A recently formed partnership between the National Institute for Strategic Technology Acquisition and Commercialization, or NISTAC, and the Midwest Research Institute, or MRI, will use many of the processes in the marketing and commercialization of K-State technologies to help deliver technologies to the market on behalf of MRI.

“This partnership with MRI is key to achieving the K-State 2025 plan,” said Kirk Schulz, K-State president. “Since NISTAC works closely with research generated though K-State, we consider the organization to be an extension of the university.”

NISTAC was created to help grow the economy of the city of Manhattan, the state of Kansas and the region through the commercialization of K-State intellectual property, either by licensing or facilitation of technology-based business start-ups.

Hans Rosling, a professor of global health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, focuses on ‘dispelling common myths about the so-called developing world’ (as his TED bio well notes). And he has established a reputation for presenting data in extremely imaginative ways. Just watch the video above, an outtake from the BBC show “The Joy of Stats”). In four minutes, Rosling visually traces the health of 200 countries over 200 years, using 120,000 data points, and we end up with a little reason for optimism. Great stuff… Thanks to @Sheerly for flagging this.

For most entrepreneurs these days, funding is nearly impossible to come by. According to the report titled, “Important Things for Entrepreneurs to Know about Angel Investors” which is distributed by the Angel Capital Education Foundation, only 1 to 4% of angel investment applicants successfully raise angel investment capital. So before you ruin your chance at securing investors, please make sure you have not committed any of the following deadly mistakes.

1. Wait Until you Need It - So many entrepreneurs make the mistake of waiting until they need the capital “tomorrow” to begin the process of seeking funding. Make no mistake about it, the process of raising capital can take months and months. Even a simple loan will require enough paperwork to kill a small tree. Ironically bankers and investors are more likely to provide you with additional capital when you don’t need it! So don’t wait until you have an immediate need to begin the funding process.

The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp. on Friday announced that it has invested $4.7 million in Sedgwick County from Fiscal Years 2008-2010.

It has also created or retained 643 jobs and helped 139 companies during that time.

The group announced the statistics at Friday’s Innovation Breakfast Fair at the National Center for Aviation Training.

Here is part of a what KTEC said about its local impact:

Topeka, Kan. (Dec. 3, 2010) – Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) announced today its cumulative impacts on Sedgwick County in terms of dollars injected into the economy, jobs created and companies that received assistance from the KTEC network.

At the Innovation Breakfast Fair, held at the National Center for Aviation Training (NCAT), Kevin Carr, CEO, noted that from Fiscal Years 2008-2010, KTEC has invested $4.7 million in Sedgwick County. In addition, the KTEC network has created or retained 643 jobs and assisted 139 companies. Six KTEC PIPELINE entrepreneurs are from Sedgwick County as well.

Michigan’s angel, venture capital and entrepreneur communities are hailing this week’s passage by the state Legislature of tax breaks for angel investors. The bill, passed by both houses and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, gives angel investors a 25 percent tax credit over two years, with a maximum of $250,000 per year and per investment.

The legislation was pushed heavily by angel investors in the state and by the Michigan Venture Capital Association. Longtime Michigan angel investor Terry Cross says that while he has not read the final bill yet, he is optimistic about it.

A few angel investors have slipped or fallen from their lofty perch, so entrepreneurs must take great care to validate the character and reputation of every prospective investor. The entrepreneur’s tendency to be in a huge hurry to obtain the funding can end up being disastrous, and play into the hands of these less scrupulous investors.

Many entrepreneurs believe all money is created equal. As long as somebody recognizes their million dollar idea and writes them a check, the source really doesn't matter. In fact, most angels are pure, but there are some exceptions that may cost you more than an investment:

1. Shark angels. This is the ultimate bad guy whose sole intention of getting involved in early-stage investing is to take advantage of what they believe is the entrepreneur’s lack of financial and deal-making experience. If the term sheet process turns to pure torture, it may be time to respectfully bow out.

In a memorable scene in the movie “The Social Network,” Sean Parker, the investor played by Justin Timberlake, leans over the table and tells the founders of Facebook in a conspiratorial tone: “A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars.”

These days in Silicon Valley, a billion dollars seems downright quaint. The enthusiasm for social networking and mobile apps has venture capitalists clamoring to give money to young companies.

The exuberance has given rise to an elite club of start-ups — all younger than seven years and all worth billions. Successive investments in Twitter have reportedly increased its value 33 percent, to $4 billion, while Zynga, creator of the popular Facebook game FarmVille, is worth more than $5 billion.

The International Institute for Analytics this week released nine predictions for business analytics in 2011 — including a prediction that it won't take much economic growth next year to spark huge growth for analytics.

IIA, founded by analytics researcher Tom Davenport and sponsored by the likes of SAS, Intel, Accenture and Teradata, unveiled the list on a conference call this week.

The group is predicting strong growth for analytics, with a growing competitive edge for companies using analytics. Here's IIA's predictions for the year ahead.

1. With even modest economic growth in 2011, the use of analytics as a competitive differentiator in selected industries will explode. IIA says the biggest industries for analytics will be banking, insurance, healthcare, telecom, retail, energy, media and transportation. "IIA expects 2011 to mark the beginning of a multi-year cycle where the sparks of economic growth ignite a tinderbox of technology and business forces that are set to drive mainstream adoption of business analytics across commercial and government sectors," the group said.

The burn: Come the end of the day, little can be shown for hours of “work” at the office.

The diagnosis: When asked the question, “Where do you go when you really need to get something done?” people do not respond in ways businesses expect. For a boss or company owner, the ideal answer would likely be “work.” But it seldom is.

This is a fascinating and important observation. There is no doubt about it: The world is changing and it is impacting all arenas of life – especially the way we approach one of our most consuming activities: Our occupation, career, and working life.

A survey in English universities has found record levels of enterprise and entrepreneurship among students who look to setting up their own businesses as an alternative career path.
The bi-annual survey by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) shows that (comparisons are with the previous survey in 2007):

* Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have become more enterprising with most institutions now committed to it through their mission statements
* The student engagement rate in enterprise and entrepreneurship has risen by nearly 50 per cent
* The level of start-ups has increased to an average of 28 per HEI, representing an increase of 27 per cent.

Qualcomm Ventures is promoting QPrize, a global competition for entrepreneurs and start-ups that are seeking their first “seed” round of funding. We are looking for entrepreneurs who have business ideas based on innovative technology and need a little capital to get them off the ground. We are hosting six regional competitions and selecting eight finalists from within each region. The winners from each region will receive $100,000 in convertible note funding and will be invited to compete in our Grand Prize final for an additional $150,000.

How does QPrize benefit entrepreneurs?
Last year, Qualcomm Ventures hosted four regional QPrize competitions and funded them with $550,000 in convertible note seed capital. All four winners went on to secure Series A investments from institutional investors.

How many times have you participated in a brainstorming session, only to be underwhelmed by the utter lack of follow up?

Unfortunately, in most businesses, this is often the norm.

Here's why:

1. The output of the session is underwhelming.

2. No one has taken the time, pre-brainstorm, to consider follow-up.

3. No criteria is established to evaluate the output.

4. No next steps are established at the end of the session.
5. No champions (i.e. process owners) are identified.
6. The champions are not really committed.
7. The champions are committed, but under-estimate the effort.

8. The ideas are too threatening to key stakeholders.
9. No one is accountable for results.

10. The project leader doesn't stay in contact with key players and "out of sight, out of mind" takes over.