What can we learn from the dabbawallahs delivery network – particularly in terms of ‘eating well’?

- 175,000 lunches are delivered in a 2 hour time frame…
- 1 error in every 8 million deliveries…

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson.

Nesta have recently published an interesting report Measuring user innovation in the UK. The report was written by Stephen Flowers, Eric von Hippel, Jeroen de Jong and Tanja Sinozic.

Stanford University are running a new event the Innovation Masters Series (June 16 – 18 2010).  The hands on programme will help organisations to gain a competitive edge in today’s increasingly competitive and challenging market place.  Find out more about the Innovation Master Series.

A six year research project by INSEAD, Brigham Young University and Harvard University has helped to identify key skills that innovative and creative entrepreneurs need to develop.  The research project involved some 3,500 executives.   The five discovery skills include:

Associating – making the unexpected connections.

Observing – to discover solutions to everyday problems.

Experimenting – trying out different approaches to find a solution.

Questioning – ask questions.

Networking – connecting with different people to get different view points

Read the press release ‘The innovator’s DNA’.

There’s an interview on Havard Business Review’s blog with John Seely Brown.  I think one of the most telling comments is:  “Said more simply — the greatest risk today is not taking any risks.”  Read the interview here.