Blog Odyssée

Conférence de Jérôme Pesenti, vice-président Core Technology chez IBM Watson, le 23 septembre à Télécom ParisTech.

These boats look obviously small (6.5 meters) to cross the ocean from Douarnenez to Pointe-à-Pitre (via a pit stop in Lanzarote).

Small but actually amazing when you think that most innovations now common in large racing boats were live tested there first, on the sailing equivalents of Minimum Viable Products.

The race can be followed from the race official site thanks to a Géovoile cartography.

Via Twitter: follow @MiniTransat2015 and hashtag #MiniTransat2015

Having spent a good part of last week at the Dpharm Disruptive Innovations to Advance Clinical Trials Conference, in Boston, we came away with some insights about innovation – a subject that we’ve given a lot of thought to over the years but is endlessly fascinating.

More than ever, we believe that true innovation is first and foremost a cultural issue. Most big organizations are so invested in minimizing risk, that truly disruptive ideas can never take hold.

Strategically, pharma should build completely separate incubator type functions that are independent from the structure and cultural baggage of the parent. Then, integrate the success of those businesses back into the mother ship. Probably with the entrepreneurs as leaders (an idea certain to make most execs not want to innovate).

Like the image above says, Innovation is really about leadership. An acceptance of risk, and the personalities that are actually disruptive to the status quo. Learning to live with the idea that if you aren’t feeling uncomfortable, then innovation isn’t happening.

Which leads to a related thought. I couldn’t help but compare this to some work that we’re doing for Peter Lee, Head of Microsoft Research who spoke eloquently about the role of research and innovators in this video. Peter’s ideas about innovation apply to all industries, but pharma seems to be so risk adverse that it feels like innovation will only come in the vanilla, good tasting variety.

We also published a mini-book called "Disrupting R&D, 20 Ideas to Foster Innovation and Disruption in Drug Development" for the conference attendees. The book was written for the pharma industry, but it applies to all businesses. It’s a ten minute read. Feel free to download and share.

Image and text by @gapingvoid

Work is solving problems. The industrial approach was detached from customers and there are many problems without a mass-market solution

— Esko Kilpi (@EskoKilpi) September 1, 2015

The new rules

1. Work in the future is still going to be solving problems, but in interaction with customers
2. The solutions to problems are more contextual
3. Work, then, cannot be based on preconceived competences, but work is learning
4. Work should be understood as interaction between interdependent people
5. The basic unit of work is not a task or a role, but interaction