Week 3

Brief overview

This week we had quite an interesting lesson about two topics:

· Technology and Industrial Development: Toward Sustainability

· Technology and Innovation Management

It was interesting that every class started with a new quotation concerning to the issues that we were going to discuss. Here is the quote for the class:

"Sustainability requires a shift from linear to circular thinking

Old industrial mode: Economic Development vs Environment Well-being

Sustainable industrial mode: Economic Development AND Environment Well-being"

-Gurinder Shahi-

What does it mean by "linear" and "circular thinking"? Prof gave us the answer by showing a motivating clip named "The Story of Stuff". From this clip, we learned about our "system in crisis", about what we human are doing with the Earth, with our future and its consequence. It is amazed to know that the U.S, containing only 5% of the world's population, are using up to 30% of the world's resources; and our lifestyle - working hard to earn money for shopping - is the root of the problem. Get back to the class, we got to know that the world is now in the transition between old and new industrial model, trying to replace the traditional linear system with the environmentally friendly circular system.

The 1st part of our class provided us information about the trend of industrial development towards sustainability. The tradition linear production has exploited 70% of our natural resources, and if this continues, the resources will run out sooner than we can imagine. To solve this problem, the most effective and feasible solution so far is to change into circular production, which allows maximizing value creation without reducing options for future generations. To help us understand how far people has gone in circular production, 2 fellows gave 2 presentations relating to the issue: Bernadette Ho Yining about "Urban Aquaculture" and Ng Yu Hui about "Clean Tech in Israel". These presentations appealed me as they raised the question: where are we now and where are we going to be in the process of saving life in the world.

The 2nd part, we dealt with "Innovation Management", which was really interesting with the Shahi's landscape model for Technology. According to this model, there are 3 kinds of opportunities: Valley opportunities - to deal with almost solved issues; Summiting opportunities - to deal with ongoing issues, with highly potential; and Cloud opportunities - to deal with "future issues". Obviously, the Summiting opportunities are the focus of every business, as it brings people what they need, i.e. in high demand. The Valley and Cloud opportunities, in the other hand, can also be exploited if we know how to turn them into Summiting opportunities. Through the process of RDA, aka Research - Development - Application, only a small part of new ideas are turned into realize. Our friend Leon Leo told us the story of Google's success with his presentation “How Google Grows… Grows… and Grows”. According to Leon, Google's achievement is based on the company's policy of innovation, in other words, fast and continuous innovation helped Google to meet market's need, satisfy them and stand on top of the market.

Interesting observation and ideas

1. Significant change starts from small actions:

Have you thought of changing some of your behaviours/habits to change the whole systematical consequence? Saving the Earth may sound substantial, but if we can control our action, we can make a significant change. It may come from the habit of using plastic bags, using paper, electricity or water, and even the habit of watching TV. As explained in the clip "The story of Stuff", the more time you spend with your TV, the more ad you watch; and advertisements give rise to a need of shopping - the more you shop, the more products are consumes, meaning the more material is gotten out of nature. One people may not affect considerably, but 6.8 billion of people in the world is a huge amount to take into consideration. Change your daily lifestyle, then the Earth may be saved.

2. In business, standing still means getting backward

With support from the fast pace of technology development, there is no such thing as holiday or break for business, it moves forwards for every second. Everyone now perceives the importance of innovation, they try to strain every nerve to create something new, to stand out and gain some market share. Taking Microsoft as an example, this company has dominated the computing products for over a decade, but Microsoft's golden age may not last for long, since its young but dynamic rivals Google and Apple are stretching their capacity to take over Microsoft's market share. Google and Apple share the similarity in their inventive culture, though in different aspects: Google focuses on developing Internet tools while Apple compete against Microsoft in field of Operating System and computing devices. If Microsoft does not take good care of these rivals, it will lose its leading position soon.

Key takeaways:

1. Cyclical model is sustainable

Sustainable development is not a new issue; however, how to achieve it is a big question. After the lesson, I have learned the importance of cyclical model - the friendly environmental model that can ensure the balance between economic achievement and environmental preservation. If we can use

2. Innovation is the source of human revolution, for the past, present and future

“Life is pretty simple:

You do some stuff.

Most fails. Some works.

You do more of what works.

If it works big, others quickly copy it.

Then you do something else.

The trick is the doing something else.”

- Tom Peters -

What we learn from this quote? Innovation is the only way for you to differentiate from others, to stand out and success. New ideas never last long, simply because of the rapid copying process of people, with support from modern communications and technology.

Issues for further discussion

How far are people going in the process of saving our Earth? Is there any absolute solution for the environmental problem that we are facing? How can we change people's perception of our issues to get everybody involve in the process of saving our planet?

Personal ratings

I like the topics of this week, all the current issues that people are still seeking for solutions. The 3 presentations were informative and well-prepared, too. I would like to rank this class for 9/10.