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Recall the old saying about all work and no play making Jack a dull boy? World-class companies today need play--serious play--if they want to make truly innovative products, argues Michael Schrage, an MIT Media Lab fellow and Fortune magazine columnist. In Serious Play he writes, "When talented innovators innovate, you don't listen to the specs they quote. You look at the models they've created." Whether it's a spreadsheet that tests a new financial model or a foam prototype of a calculator, what interests Schrage is not the model itself, but the behavior that play--be it modeling, prototyping, or simulation--inspires.
Schrage examines the approaches to successful prototyping at companies such as AT&T, Boeing, Microsoft, and DaimlerChrysler and describes the kind of culture that's needed for encouraging innovation. In the last chapter, he lays out the 10 rules of serious play, including: Be willing to fail early and often; know when the costs outweigh the benefits; know who wins and who loses from an innovation; build a prototype that engages customers, vendors, and colleagues; create markets around prototypes; and simulate the customer experience. Well-written and inspiring, Serious Play, is a first-rate user's guide for managers, project leaders, and other innovators. --Dan Ring
Book Description
Serious Play is about serious work: how the world's leading companies model, prototype, and simulate to innovate. Increasingly, prototypes are the key platforms and models are the core media for managing risk and creating value. They allow for cost-effective creativity, encourage profitable improvisation, and inspire organizations to collaborate in unexpected ways.
Serious Play is a crisply written handbook for product, process and project leaders who are determined to manage their innovation initiatives successfully.
As digital technologies for modeling and simulation offer more value for less money, they provoke fundamental challenges to organizational culture and design. MIT research associate Michael Schrage asserts that conventional wisdom surrounding innovation gets turned inside out: What innovative companies choose not to model often proves more important than what they do. Contrary to the popular assumption that innovative teams generate innovative prototypes, in fact innovative prototypes generate innovative teams. How innovators play with their models and simulations invariably matters far more than what they actually plan. In fact, Schrage shows why innovative firms cannot seriously plan unless they seriously play.
Drawing upon a range of companies as diverse as Walt Disney, Boeing, Merrill Lynch, General Electric, IBM, IDEO, Microsoft, Royal Dutch Shell, DaimlerChrysler and American Airlines, Schrage identifies the common patterns and practices that distinguish productive prototyping cultures from pathological ones. He explores the intimate connection between how leading innovators model reality and how they actually manage it. He examines prototyping failures as rigorously as he explains prototyping successes.
The essential message of
Serious Play is that tomorrow's innovations will increasingly be the byproduct of how companies and their customers behave-and misbehave-around this new generation of models, prototypes, and simulations. The distinction between serious play and serious work dissolves as technology gives innovators ever-increasing opportunities to simulate and prototype their ideas. As the media for modeling radically change, so will the organizations that use them.
With real-world examples and engaging anecdotes, Schrage argues that the future of prototyping is the future of innovation. A User's Guide included in the book helps readers quickly take away the innovation practices profiled throughout. A landmark book by one of the most perceptive voices in the field of innovation,
Serious Play will lay serious claim to the hearts and minds of forward-looking business managers.
Download Description
Successful innovation demands more than a good strategic plan; it requires creative improvisation. Much of the "serious play" that leads to breakthrough innovations is increasingly linked to experiments with models, prototypes, and simulations. As digital technology makes prototyping more cost-effective, serious play will soon lie at the heart of all innovation strategies, influencing how businesses define themselves and their markets. Author Michael Schrage is one of today's most widely recognized experts on the relationship between technology and work. In Serious Play, Schrage argues that the real value in building models comes less from the help they offer with troubleshooting and problem solving than from the insights they reveal about the organization itself. Technological models can actually change us--improving the way we communicate, collaborate, learn, and innovate. With real-world examples and engaging anecdotes, Schrage shows how companies such as Disney, Microsoft, Boeing, IDEO, and DaimlerChrysler use serious play with modeling technologies to facilitate the collaborative interactions that lead to innovation. A user's guide included with the book helps readers apply many of the innovation practices profiled throughout. A landmark book by one of the most perceptive voices in the field of innovation.
Customer Reviews:
Readable User-Friendly Book on Innovation.......2005-04-30
I am enjoying this book. I like the title "Serious Play", but I dislike the sub-title "How the World's Best Companies Simulate to Innovate". Companies don't innovate people do is my thought. I think the author could have taken this concept one step further. That is tie in the concepts of how innovation relates to chaos theory and fractals and larger concepts. The author's ideas are not that new to me because I am a project manager in a software engineering environment where prototyping and iterations is the name of the game. We have at most 3 months to make a difference, to deliver and then we are swept into the ocean of change. You have a small window of opportunity before both the game and the players change.
I think that the world may be on the verge of moving so fast that we begin to see things like the wiki, open source culture in that it takes all of us innovating collectively in serious play. Long term I wonder if you are not free, workable and now, you are not in the game.
Some concepts for me are:
1) Importance of being able to improvise in the moment
2) Prototyping both reveals the underlying power cutural structures and changes them.
3) Human beings are relationship morphing entities.
4) the importance of shared collaboration space that invite clever interactions between people.
5) Treating prototypes as conversation pieces
6) Watch for the underlying feeling of geniune fun
7) The importance of the challenge or obstacles to the game
8) We shape our models, our models shape us
9) "In order to have actionable meaning, the fuzzy mental models ... must be externalized in representations in ways... that can be grasped"
10) Prototypes force individuals to confront the tyranny of tradeoffs (i.e. difficult decisions)
11) "All models are attempt to manage the complexity by making it simpler and more accessible"
While the text is very readable I had trouble pulling out the underlying structure of the book. But I felt redeemed when I read the User's Guide at the end of the book. Interesting you would think a User's Guide would go at the beginning. Fortunately I do not read sequentially so I found that chapter fairly quickly.
Three years on, still a great book.......2002-09-16
Here's the best review I can give Michael Schrage's "Serious Play": Three years on, it's consistently the first book I pull out of my bookshelf when I'm looking for ideas for presentations, thoughts on introducing new products or services, etc. His commentary on "mean-time-to-payback" is something that will stick with you for years. It's brilliant stuff, written in clear, concise terms. And, surprisingly, very little of it is dated. Unlike many books from that era, there's no .com or Enron fixation for the author to be embarrassed about. Schrage's examples are pulled from health care technology, animation, theater...in short, an eye-opening spectrum of ideas. I consider "Serious Play" one of my best purchases ever.
Preaching to the choir.......2002-08-22
This is a good book for someone to read if they are skeptical of the benefits of prototypes. However, since I already know the value of interactive prototypes I became quickly tired with the book.
Other critiques: it felt like the author had a bunch of cool little examples lying around and finally got the idea to put it together, surrounded by some fluffy text to make it thick enough to sell as a book, and put it on the market. Lots of space is taken up by these excerpts, as well as big text in the margins summing up "important points," which I would usually find useful but instead gave the impression of just taking up space.
Also, the author makes repeated use of similes to the point that it got annoying; "Just like a is to b, c is to d."
At one point, the author brings up the difference between a "simulation" and a "prototype," and just when you think the core of the matter is going to be distinguished the author backs out, leaving you wondering why they brought it up in the first place if they weren't going to take a stab at defining and differentiating them.
Sorry, but given the hype I was sorely disappointed. Read the first chapter or so in a bookstore before actually buying this.
Enlightening.......2002-07-11
This book gave me a very good and new insight of how to manage prototyping. It is enlightening for not only it explains and lists the topics that are important. It also gives us lots of practical examples of implementations.
I kept refering it, and i DON't usually do that.........2001-03-14
The most significant aspect of this book is that it provides a vocabulary and a language to discuss the nature of creative prototyping and modeling behaviors. The first thing you do is take off the cover, otherwise people think you're reading a really cheesy book. It's everything but that. It's been 4 weeks, and i'm on my 3rd time through it. I reference it and re-use it over and over. I've since recommended it to a genetic scientist friend of mine that works for a major drug company, a software engineer, and a broadcast designer. The thinking in this book has an epidemic effect with those that read it, and the excitement that it carries into their work and mine is the most influential and direct I have ever experienced. Some books are relevant once, but this will be accessed for years to come. This is my first book recommendation i have ever made. that is all...
Book Description
How did the fact become modernity's most favored unit of knowledge? How did description come to seem separable from theory in the precursors of economics and the social sciences?
Mary Poovey explores these questions in A History of the Modern Fact, ranging across an astonishing array of texts and ideas from the publication of the first British manual on double-entry bookkeeping in 1588 to the institutionalization of statistics in the 1830s. She shows how the production of systematic knowledge from descriptions of observed particulars influenced government, how numerical representation became the privileged vehicle for generating useful facts, and how belief—whether figured as credit, credibility, or credulity—remained essential to the production of knowledge.
Illuminating the epistemological conditions that have made modern social and economic knowledge possible, A History of the Modern Fact provides important contributions to the history of political thought, economics, science, and philosophy, as well as to literary and cultural criticism.
Book Description
A comprehensive introduction to a powerful new approach for planning organizational change and community action. You'll discover a simple framework for understanding the process and clear step-by-step instructions to guide you in conducting your own Search Conferences.
Customer Reviews:
Searching for Participation and Community.......2001-12-03
The Search Conference: A Powerful Method for Planning Organizational Change and Community Action
By Merrelyn Emery and Ronald Purser
Copyright 1996 by Jossey Bass, Inc. Publishers, San Francisco, CA
As we look more and more to encourage participative processes for creating community plans and improving business strategies, the Search Conference offers a design developed to maximize common ground and community building. The book written by Merrelyn Emery and Ronald Purser, The Search Conference: A Powerful Method for Planning Organizational Change and Community Action, provides an easy to comprehend, outline of the psychological theory and background that are the basis for the design of the process and reasons for its effectiveness. This isn't just a book about theory, however. It is a step by step assistant to managing successful Search Conferences and generating participative democracy. When managed correctly, participants in a Search Conference agree to take on the responsibility of committing to be a part of the collaborative solution.
Purser and Emery use real examples of Search Conference designs and results to illustrate the necessity for certain elements of the process and where others can be readily adapted as needed. The "Pointers" and "Pitfalls" section reinforces specific elements that effect the outcomes of the Search Conference event. The section, "Some Rules of Thumb for Search Conference Managers" (Page 233) is especially helpful. Having experienced a Search Conference with an improperly trained process manager, I would hope that more managers would read this book and stop sliding into the "pitfalls" that can easily be avoided if you guide the process according to the documented suggestions.
The book is published in hard cover with easy to read text. 306 Pages. Interesting insight and epilogue by Fred Emery.
How-To for Professionals.......2000-06-30
This is a good book if you are planning or facilitating a strategic change effort. The Search Conference is a very specific way to plan change. It brings together a cross-section about 25 to 40 people from inside the organization (or community) for an intense two-night, three-day meeting, usually in a remote setting.
Fred Emery, who wrote the epilogue, is best known as the Australian who helped pioneer the concept of self-managed work teams in the 1950s and 1960s. His wife Merrelyn is a co-author of the book.
I have used a Search Conference to help a major food manufacturer optimize its supply chain. Governor Roy Romer of Colorado used the technique to help resolve a regional conflict over water resources, and Microsoft used it for planning in a very creative product development group.
This approach is especially well-suited to more introverted, analytical types of people (engineers, software developers, etc.)
For those who have strong experience as facilitators of interactive meetings, this book is all you need to plan a good conference. If in doubt, it would be a good idea to use an outside resource, because this is far different than the typical conference where people stand up and give speeches.
The book tells you what to do and why to do it.
For larger groups (up to 1,000 or more) it would be advisable to use a technique like Real Time Strategic Change. For more creative groups, a Future Search might make more sense.
Book Description
Global competition requires a global approach to sourcing activities and China now constitutes one of the most attractive sourcing regions. This book highlights the inducements, advantages and obstacles faced by the enterprises in the development of a sourcing channel in China. A taxonomy of the various sourcing typologies is proposed and a normative model is described that, on the basis of some discriminating variables, suggests the most suitable sourcing choice. The book examines the paths leading to an effective sourcing channel and International Purchasing Office in China, providing concrete examples of successful sourcing experiences.
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Applying Maximum Entropy to Econometric Problems (Advances in Econometrics)
Manufacturer: JAI Press
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ASIN: 0762301872 |
Book Description
The entropy concept was developed and used by Shannon in 1940 as a measure of uncertainty in the context of information theory. In 1957 Jaynes made use of Shannon's entropy concept as a basis for estimation and inference in problems that are ill-suited for traditional statistical procedures. This volume consists of two sections. The first section contains papers developing econometric methods based on the entropy principle. An interesting array of applications is presented in the second section of the volume.
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Flood Problem and Management in South Asia
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1402010680 |
Book Description
Flood Problem and Management in South Asia focuses on both the hazard and the vulnerability aspects of floods. This book addresses floods in South Asia from a multidisciplinary approach. The characteristics and nature of the flood problem and its management aspects are examined. It is suggested that flood control and management focused on structural solutions using embankments and reservoirs are insufficient. Effective solutions must go beyond structural measures and require major restructuring of both legal systems and institutions responsible for management. For those people living in the vast flood plains of South Asia to be able to overcome social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities, an adaptive approach to management of flood risks that identifies specific strategies is needed. This book will be of interest to water resources managers and policy makers, natural management planners, hydrologists, research scientists, academics and students of water resources, geography and natural hazards, international donor agencies, NGOs and media people.
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The Problems and Methods of Economic History
Witold Kula
Manufacturer: Ashgate Pub Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0754617696 |
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The U.S. Constitution: rules of the game.(LESSON): An article from: Social Education
Gale Reference Team
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
General
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ASIN: B000RGZYV2
Release Date: 2007-05-30 |
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This digital document is an article from Social Education, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2007. The length of the article is 3192 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The U.S. Constitution: rules of the game.(LESSON)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication:
Social Education (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 71
Issue: 2
Page: 82(5)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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Como vender en internet/Selling on the Net: Guia de Mercadotecnia / The Complete Guide
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Manufacturer: Trillas
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 9682460395 |
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- Easily Become An Online Global Business Participant!
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Selling on the Net: The Complete Guide
Herschell Gordon Lewis , and
Robert D. Lewis
Manufacturer: NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Management & Leadership
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| Business Ethics
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| Distribution & Warehouse Management
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| Information Management
| Leadership
| Management
| Management Science
| Motivational
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| Operations Research
| Planning & Forecasting
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ASIN: 0844232335 |
Customer Reviews:
Easily Become An Online Global Business Participant!.......1998-09-27
Members of the online community have many fine books available to them to help sell their products and services online. Many of these books, however, are either too technical or packed with an incredible amount of material too much for the average person to take in. Herschell Gordon Lewis and Robert Lewis have teamed up to write Selling on the Net to offer a reader-friendly guide on selling online that doesn't require a college degree to understand!
The book covers a wide range issues that online business people must take seriously if they want to successfully market what they have to offer. Factors to consider include establishing an effective online presence, understanding and putting to use effective Website design principles, effectively promoting yourself online, grabbing and keeping attention, tailoring your presentation for the online community, and knowing how to conduct online business.
The team of Lewis and Lewis provide readers with plenty of instructions for getting the ball rolling, including helpful information about the Internet and goal-setting to achieve favorable results. Chapters on Website design, tailoring content for online use, and promotion stand out from the rest. Effective transmission and reception of a good sales pitch are definitely necessary to succeed online. Plenty of examples, both good and bad, are provided to aid readers to determine what options and techniques are best for them.
The authors contribute much in the way of setting up shop online for the average reader. They encourage innovation rather than clinging to a rigid set of rules, growth rather than remaining content. The easy-to-read flowing style, the frequent injection of humor, and a deep sense of personal involvement in the lives of others makes this a good resource to consider. Supplement it with several good HTML and creative Website design books and you'll soon be ready to become an online global business participant!
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Bringing Design to Software
Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for Innovation
The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO's Strategies for Defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization
No More Teams
