Category Innovation

Taking on design thinking and business consulting

Broken pencil
Two articles in the last few days took on the world of consulting. Rebecca Ackermann in the MIT Technology Review wrote on how the shine of design thinking has worn off, while Henry Mance interviewed Mariana Mazzucato in the Financial Times on her new book The Big Con, where she lambasts business consultancies for having no expertise in the areas that they’re advising in.

Europe’s digital divide is far from gone (and what Italians are doing about it)

Overall digital skills in the EU-27, 2021
Dutch and European research highlights the struggles of Europeans (incl. the Dutch) in accessing financial services in an increasingly digital society. A new Italian initiative, the Polis Project, seeks to do something about it. But, besides the fairly low 54 percent EU average, a new study by the Dutch National Bank (reported on yesterday by De Volkskrant, a Dutch daily newspaper) highlights how the Dutch 80% number camouflages the real difficulties many Dutch have with financial services in an increasingly digital society.

[Book] Cloudmoney

Cloudmoney
In Cloudmoney, Brett Scott tells an urgent and revelatory story about how the fusion of Big Finance and Big Tech requires “cloudmoney”—digital money underpinned by the banking sector—to replace physical cash. Book is also available in German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese & Korean

Harvard Business Review discovers design fiction

Design fiction
By force of habit, most executives tune down their imagination when strategizing. This is counterproductive, the authors argue. Instead, they offer an alternative: Design fiction. A design technique that immerses executives and employees deeply in various possible futures, it uses artifacts such as short movies, fictitious newspaper articles and imaginary commercials to generate transformation roadmaps.