Category Archives: Innovation

Why I Started Our Revolution

March 4, 2011 – 7:36 am
revolution social good

After a ton of planning, volunteers spending countless hours, and a ton of blood, sweat and tears, it begins. Today, is the first day of Our Revolution Road Trip. The number why question I get  is, “Why did you start such a thing?” Here’s a short video with the answer. Take a look: Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to make this happen: Topher, Anya, Ashley, Jeremy, Ron, Brandie, Geo, Stu,  Ken, Candace, Laurie, Andy, Russell, Jenni, John, Uncle Jerry and Wojtek A big thanks to our Sponsors and Partners: GreenVans, SnapGoods, Jeff Pulver and the 140 Conference, Engage Marketing and Design, Sony, Leica,  KIND Snacks, Pop Chips, Tripping, 33 Needs, and Rockethub. Come and join us in one of our 20+ cities this month. We’ll be waiting for you. If you’re interested in other areas of this project, here is a brief overall of the project ahead.

By Ja-Naé Duane | Also posted in Adventure, Creativity, Spirituality, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Revolution! Solutions: Your 5 Minute Spotlight

March 3, 2011 – 9:20 am
solution revolution

Revolution! Solutions Contest for March: Your 5 Minute Spotlight: People talk about change. They talk about how restless they are, how conditions are intolerable, how something must be done. They stamp their feet and holler and let anger, resentment, and disillusion fill their heads. And when the pressure has been building long enough and enough people are riled up, there is rebellion, revolution, dissent. This is usually the end result of something that’s been long overdue. But then what?  Most people don’t plan for the end. They get caught up in a wave of emotion or swept away in a tide of personal attachment. They know something must change, but they’ve no idea what to do if that change actually were to take place. They have nothing to fill the vacuum. So what about you? Imagine, for this exercise, that you actually got five minutes – before the President, a legislative committee, the mayor, the town council, the board of trustees – to convince them of the importance and validity of your project. Is there something in your town that’s an injustice? Is there a crisis that the locals are dealing with that you wish you could escalate to someone [...]

By Ja-Naé Duane | Also posted in Adventure, Creativity, Our Revolution! Project, Strategy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

How to be an Effective Risk-Taker

March 1, 2011 – 9:03 am
how to be a risk taker

As you may already know, I am a strong advocate for innovation and believe it to be the backbone of any successful endeavor – whether it applies to your business or your own life.  However, innovation is – by definition – risky.  New ideas do not always turn out to be good ideas.  And now with the economy the way it is, tightening budgets kill innovation because no one can afford any risks. Yet, without innovation, we end up stagnating – always playing it safe without ever advancing.  I’ve always looked for areas in my company or my life that could stand withstand a little risk in order to find better ways of doing things.  The trick is to manage your risks.  You can optimize innovation to gain great new ideas while minimizing the effects of bad new ideas by following these steps: Evaluate Risk-Taking:  How often do you or the people in your employment take risks?  Take an honest look at your business by holding interviews, skip-level meetings, or anonymous surveys to gauge risk aversion.  You may realize you have created an environment where people feel anxious and hold back ideas. Open a Dialogue:  Invite anyone into an open [...]

By Ja-Naé Duane | Also posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Revolution! Solutions: Apps Keep Heart Health in Your Hand

February 28, 2011 – 3:12 pm
fall of healthcare social good heart month

February is Heart Month. It was one of the reasons why I thought that the first month’s topic for Revolution! Solutions should be Healthcare.  So, how is the healthcare system utilizing application technology? Enter guest blogger, Carissa O’Brien: In an emergency, every minute counts. In the case of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), with every minute that passes, survival decreases by 10 percent. Do the math and you can see what the odds are after just 10 minutes. And yet, help can’t always arrive that quickly. But what if the first step to getting the help you need was as simple as reaching into your pocket for your smartphone? Fire and EMS have made great efforts over the last decade to reduce response times and get to victims quickly, and they’ve experienced some great successes. Moving public access defibrillator programs into communities, including in rural areas, also helped reach new milestones. But still, survival rates remain fairly low, and many feel engaging the public to help victims with immediate access to CPR and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are what’s needed to move the needle. Enter the app. You may have seen Techcrunch feature a new localized app called FireDepartment.org. The first [...]

By Ja-Naé Duane | Also posted in Business Tools, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments (6)

Why You Should be Power Napping for Productivity

February 16, 2011 – 7:40 am
power nap and productivity

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead!” It’s the rallying cry of the overwhelmed, the busy go-getters who haven’t the time for sleep.  I recently proposed how a to-do list can save your life in this article.   But if your plate is too full for a little shut eye, like mine, then you may be missing out on the productive benefits of power napping and a good night’s sleep.  Productivity never stops with me, and I am always looking for new ways to improve my productivity.  But don’t doubt the power of the power nap – it has proven to actually increase your overall productivity in the long run.  I have been power napping since college and it has allowed me to work four jobs and take double the course load while at Northeastern and New England Conservatory. Joe Spring reminds us in “How to Take a Nap at Work” that a lack of sleep increases stress and compromises the immune system.  If you’re worried about productivity, think of how much time you’ll waste sick in bed!  Meanwhile, a power nap can reduce stress, lead to quicker reaction times, and improve overall fitness – all of the things that make us [...]

By Ja-Naé Duane | Also posted in Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Revolution! Solutions: The Fall of Healthcare

February 1, 2011 – 12:40 pm
the revolution love revolution

As I mention in my post a few weeks ago, this month launches Revolution!,  an interactive transmedia project that will empower each and every one of us to help facilitate change in some way, no matter how small. Whether its change at home, in your community, globally or just within you- you will have the tools you need to be the change you wish to see in the world. Part of this project is Revolution! Solutions, a 30 day collaborative exchange of ideas around a specific storyline. We are all in this together and the more we brainstorm solutions, the more likely we will be to find solutions that work! So, let the game begin. What if….. <2011 – the first of the Baby Boomers becomes eligible for MediCare and begins the cycle Gerontologist’s coined, “The Silver Tsunami”. <2015 – the hospital and emergency medical systems in the major cities feel the strain and suffer under a critical shortage of competent staff and teachers to train them. <2019 – the pharmaceutical industry reels from prescription drug benefits in the MediCare package. Their answer is a rate hike that leads to a 40% increase for all medications sold across the board. <2021 [...]

By Ja-Naé Duane | Also posted in Adventure, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (7)

The Revolution: How You can Help!

January 12, 2011 – 4:33 pm
children of the revolution

Life has a funny way of teaching us the lessons we are supposed to learn. As I strolled through the silent snowy streets today, I realized that these lessons I have learned over the passed few months were always there waiting for me. I had to laugh out loud (and then looked around to see if anyone saw this woman walking in the middle of the street laughing to herself), because life is so simple that sometimes we forget. We forget what we are suppose to learn, but also what we’re meant to teach others. So, it’s time. Each of us have the power to change the world. Everything you do sets the course for a series of events. Some will directly impact you and some will not. But they still come from you. And that is why I need your help. Starting in February, I’m launching Revolution! Revolution! is an interactive transmedia project that will empower each and every one of us to help facilitate change in some way, no matter how small. Whether its change at home, in your community, globally or just within you- you will have the tools you need to be the change you wish [...]

By Ja-Naé Duane | Also posted in Adventure, Philosophy, Spirituality, Strategy, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

The Art of Managing Wild Teams

January 11, 2011 – 10:52 am
creative problem solving team building

The reason for their success is that teams that do not agree on everything are able to challenge each other to come up with better and better solutions. If everyone always agrees, then the team isn’t producing anything that an individual member could not. Wild teams are forced to think outside the box and come up with innovative new ideas to solve age old problems. These teams are best at creative problem solving.

By Ja-Naé Duane | Also posted in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

The Power of the Epic Win and Taking Online Gaming Offline

January 3, 2011 – 12:12 pm
epic win jane mcgongal online gaming

With epic wins comes a rush of positivity; a glowing feeling of victory that washes over those able to succeed in something they thought was not possible. This feeling is addictive, and perhaps why gamers stay in these worlds rather than attempt such feats in the real world. Gamers, and most people in general, feel that the real world does not give us epic wins and real world problems are truly insurmountable – no matter how well you play.

By Ja-Naé Duane | Also posted in Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

How Foursquare Will Win the Battle Against Facebook

August 20, 2010 – 10:35 am
social media influence-social media team-your social media

We all like a challenge. When you’re starting a business it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the competition. When you are a VC funded startup who happens to be dominating the scene, there can be a tendency to sit back and allow yourself to breathe for a moment. That is, until a mega brand such as Facebook joins the the game. Then the fun begins. Foursquare, who has been dominating the location-based services arena now has some heavy competition since Facebook launched Places. As ReadWriteWeb writes, the day after Facebook launched Places, Foursquare reported record signups. However, with such steep competition, everyone is wondering: How can Foursquare even stay in the game, yet alone win? Sounds like the typical David and Goliath, right? In Malcolm Gladwell’s “How David Beat Goliath,” Gladwell asks the question:  How do underdogs beat superior opponents? Within the article, he attributes the underdog’s success to two basic principles: Operate in real time, much faster than the established powers; and Replace ability with effort — especially effort targeted at the overdogs’ weakest points. He goes on to write,  “We tell ourselves that skill is the precious resource and effort is the commodity. It’s the other way [...]

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