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How to Discover Innovative Opportunities

By: The Un-Comfort Zone With Robert Wilson 09/26/2019

In a previous column (“Why Innovate? To Make Money, of Course!”), I wrote that in order to make money from innovation, you need to find a good problem to solve. I suggested that a good way to find such a problem is to look at some of your daily tasks and identify the ones you detest. I then suggested that if you hate doing it, then there are probably countless other people who hate it as well, which means that you have identified a problem that needs solving. And, your solution might become a million-dollar idea.

By: The Conference Board 09/19/2019

(Conference Board: New York) -- A nationwide survey reveals that Americans are feeling better about their jobs than they have in years, according to a recent poll conducted by the Conference Board.

The survey shows that about 54 percent of U.S. workers are satisfied with their employment. Satisfaction climbed by almost three percent from the prior year, which marks a near-record increase in the survey’s history. Workers also report being much more at ease about their job security. And Millennials have experienced a surge in confidence regarding their wages.

The results, however, include some cautionary signs for management. Amid a strong jobs market where individuals can more easily find new work, survey participants gave weak marks to the most important driver of job satisfaction: their current job’s potential for future growth. In addition, over 60 percent feel dissatisfied with their organization’s recognition practices, performance review process, and communication channels. Also noteworthy, men generally feel better than women about multiple financial components of their work, including wages and bonus plans.

By: David Mitchell 09/18/2019

Using a novel capability to reason about shape, function, and attachment of unrelated parts, researchers have for the first time successfully trained an intelligent agent to create basic tools by combining objects.

The breakthrough comes from Georgia Tech’s Robot Autonomy and Interactive Learning (RAIL) research lab and is a significant step toward enabling intelligent agents to devise more advanced tools that could prove useful in hazardous—and potentially life-threatening—environments.

The concept may sound familiar. It’s called “MacGyvering,” based off the name of a 1980s—and recently rebooted—television series. In the series, the title character is known for his unconventional problem-solving ability using differing resources available to him.

For years, computer scientists and others have been working to provide robots with similar capabilities. In their new robot-MacGyvering work, RAIL lab researchers led by associate professor Sonia Chernova used as a starting point a robotics technique previously developed by former Georgia Tech professor Mike Stilman.

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When Is Cool Office Design More Than Window Dressing?

By: Phanish Puranam, Agustin Chevez 09/18/2019

Flying sharks, waterfalls in the lobby, in-house top chefs, and dogs in the workplace. These are just a few tangible examples of experience design reimagining organizations beyond the traditional scope of organization design.

Organization design is concerned with how to shape interactions among members to further certain strategic goals. It typically involves decisions about authority and incentives, selection and recruitment processes, leadership, and culture. But the physical space within which an organization’s members interact has not historically been a part of the design palette. That’s changing rapidly today.

The concept of experience design (introduced by Pine and Gilmore) has been influential in the world of customer interactions. Principles traditionally used to attract, captivate, and retain customers are now being used by organizations to win talent in highly competitive labor markets. The idea, though new to office culture, is basically intuitive: Make work a fun, rewarding place to be, and employees will want to come on board, stay put, and work hard. Hence, the proliferation of foosball tables, bean bag chairs, and other rec-room-style touches in offices aspiring to hipness.

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Starrett Expands Hardness Testing Line

By: L.S. Starrett Co. 09/18/2019

(Starrett: Athol, MA) -- The L.S. Starrett Co., a leading global manufacturer of precision measuring tools and gages, metrology systems, and more, has significantly expanded its line of Benchtop Hardness Testers, adding seven Rockwell systems, eight Vickers systems and one Brinell system, a total of 16 new testers. “From basic analog and manual control, to advanced digital and fully automated systems, our new Hardness lineup offers customers a complete and comprehensive range of solutions for any or all of their hardness testing needs,” says Emerson Leme, vice president of Industrial Products—North America.

The new Starrett Rockwell Hardness Systems include two regular Rockwell Digital Testers, two Superficial Rockwell Testers, (one dial and one digital), two Twin Rockwell-Superficial Rockwell Testers (one dial and one digital), and two Twin Rockwell-Superficial testers with a Dolphin Nose design that are fully automated digital systems with output to PC and capable of measuring 30 different Rockwell scales.

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Are you Prepared for an Active Shooter Situation?

By: DNV GL 09/16/2019

Workplace safety is a complex issue, addressing everything from rules for operating heavy machinery to guidelines for respecting your fellow employees. For many of these issues we, as a business community, have developed and applied a variety of best practices and global standards—such as ISO 45001—to help establish and preserve a safe and healthy working environment for everyone.

The U.S. Dept. of Labor estimates that two million employees are victims of workplace violence annually, resulting in a loss of 1.2 million workdays and an estimated $55 million in lost wages. The long-term costs to business continuity and the human capital that supports it are almost staggering.

As a society, we work toward the prevention of accidents that result in personal injuries; we have policies about professional behavior and decorum, and plans to deal with emergencies by natural causes such as fires, floods, and electrical outages. What we must now develop are the operational plans and policies to deal with targeted violence such as active shooter events.

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