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The Inversion Factor
HOW TO THRIVE IN THE IoT ECONOMY
Linda Bernardi, Sanjay Sarma, and Kenneth Traub
In the past, companies found success with a product-first orientation; they made a thing that did a thing. The Inversion Factor explains why the companies of today and tomorrow will have to abandon the product-first orientation. Rather than asking “How do the products we make meet customer needs?” companies should ask “How can technology help us reimagine and fill a need?” Zipcar, for example, instead of developing another vehicle for moving people from point A to point B, reimagined how people interacted with vehicles. Zipcar inverted the traditional innovation paradigm.
The authors explain how the introduction of “smart” objects connected by the Internet of Things signals fundamental changes for business. The IoT, where real and digital coexist, is powering new ways to meet human needs. Companies that know this include giants like Amazon, Airbnb, Uber, Google, Tesla, and Apple, as well as less famous companies like Tile, Visenti, and Augury. The Inversion Factor offers a roadmap for businesses who want to follow in their footsteps.
The authors chart the evolution of three IoTs—the Internet of Things (devices connected to the Internet), the Intelligence of Things (devices collaborating with each other), and the Innovation of Things (devices that become experiences). Finally, they offer a blueprint for businesses making the transition to inversion and interviews with leaders of major companies and game-changing startups.
Praise for The Inversion Factor
PROVOKE
Why the Global Culture of Disruption is the Only Hope for Innovation
by Linda Bernardi
“Smart” devices, big data, predictive analytics, cloud computing, the social enterprise—none of these world-changing innovations would have come to pass without a Culture of Disruption that allowed fertile minds to challenge conventional wisdom, take risks and boldly bring new technologies to light.
In Provoke, “innovation provocateur”, entrepreneur and strategist Linda Bernardi reveals the discomfort with which corporations, boards of directors, investors and academics regard disruptive ideas—and why embracing this discomfort to create a Culture of Disruption is the only way that business can innovate and revitalize the global economy. In this candid, insightful book, Linda—a pioneer in fields like data analytics, digital marketing and the social enterprise—pulls back the curtain on the “innovation ecosystem” to take the major players to task.
Among the issues that fall into her sights:
- Why companies utterly deny the disruptive impact of new technologies until their business model is on life support…
- How venture investors are playing Las Vegas roulette by throwing huge money at companies that can’t justify it…
- The myth that companies can become innovators through acquisitions…
- How the arrogance of many entrepreneurs dooms their companies before they even launch…
- Why Innovation-Based Leadership™ is the key to everything… In Provoke, Linda asserts that only by creating a deliberate collaborative, global Culture of Disruption, in which all the players support unconventional thinking and the work of passionate innovators, can we lay the groundwork for our economic future.