The Future of IoT

When it comes to organization planning and innovation, there are more aspects than technical planning that must be taken into consideration. Social structures, roles, rights, cognitive systems, and systems theory are all parts of innovative design. This is exactly what sociotechnical planning is. A socio-technical system applies a combination of perspectives to “inform the design of systems that involve communities of people and technology” (Interaction Design, 2021).  One organization that has proven to be impacted by the changes in sociotechnical plan is Blockbusters. The video-rental company was one of the most famous chains in the United States. The company had undergone multiple transitions, like that of VHS to DVD. However, as new technologies were rapidly introduced, such as online video-streaming websites, Blockbuster was no longer able to remain on the top of the entertainment chain. Websites like Netflix and Hulu quickly dominated this industry by offering more convenient...

Innovative ideas have stemmed from many different directions and in different ways. Scientists, researchers, engineers, doctors, and even bikers, have introduced new ideas out in the world that expanded beyond predictable measures. Some of these innovations were discovered accidentally, like we’ve seen with x-rays and post-it notes. Some were very much developed for a specific purpose, and some were done out of inspiration.  Serendipity is one of those ways that we’ve seen innovative thinking come to life. From day-to-day, one can experience serendipitous events, like finding 10 dollars in your jeans pocket, or coming across a quote or stranger that answers a question you’ve had on your mind for a while. Similarly, in the world of innovation, when inspiration or a manifestation for creativity and developing something new comes unexpectedly, it is considered serendipity innovation. Discoveries that “occur at the intersection of chance and wisdom”, such as the discovery of gravity by...

  More than 100 years ago, a Serbian-American engineer and futurist predicted a wireless future in the communications industry. Best known for his contributions and inventions in the electrical supply system, Nikola Tesla told the New York Times in 1909 that “it will soon be possible to transmit wireless messages all over the world so simple that any individual can carry and operate his own apparatus” (Windsor, 1909). At the time, his predictions on the future of telecommunications simply baffled people as it was way beyond one’s comprehension. How someone would be able to dictate words through a small device and be heard on the opposite side of the world was something no one can wrap their heads around. Tesla continued to explain how speeches, songs, sermons, lectures, and more will be delivered to people around the world with no wires and no physical presence. Sure enough, around 30 years later, mobile phones were introduced, and soon after the world’s first cellular network was ...

Scenario Planning Focused heavily on the current trends, possible destructions, and past events, scenario planning allows an organization to visualize potential solutions or conditions, how they would evolve over time, how to respond to such changes, and what the potential advantages are. Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches, this method of planning “allows for a top-down/bottom-up approach, as well as looking forward to the future and seeing how a portfolio might react to certain market citations” (Schultz, 2021). This diverse approach allows organizations and individuals to develop dynamic solutions that are meant to adapt to future changes that are not necessarily accounted for. In addition, based on the identified uncertainties that step for current citations, scenario planning allows for the development of multiple scenarios that may be followed.  Traditional Forecasting Following a more rigid analysis process, traditional forecasting focuses on the quantitat...

“Failure is a learning experiment, and the guy who has never failed has never done anything” - Wilson Greatbatch Every day, hundreds of thousands of people are put through some sort of medical scanning equipment. From minimal bone fractures to fluid in the lungs and cancerous cells, X-rays have quickly changed the world of medicine. But how many of these hundreds of thousands of patients, and even medical professionals, wonder how X-rays came to be, or even what the ‘X’ stands for? I am willing to bet it's close to zero.  X-rays were one of the inventions that were not meant to be established, or at least that was the case at the time of its discovery. In 1897, scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, was performing his daily research to understand if cathode rays, which were later developed into Television, could pass through glass. This is when “he noticed a glow coming from a nearby chemically coated screen” (Harrah, 2014). Through further experimentation, Rontgen realized that the ra...

  An important role of company leaders is to make group-based decisions. Engaging the opinions and perspectives of others, as part of the decision-making process, is most beneficial. However, as group sizes increase, opinions will vary, which may in result complicate the decision-making process. Hence, there are several techniques that, if followed, can provide a much-needed structure that will help make effective and meaningful decisions.  When choosing a group decision-making technique, the group must identify the technique that best fits their culture and the situation to be resolved. Following an inclusive technique will also ensure that all opinions are heard and will in return increase engagement and overall productivity within an organization (Dagher, 2021).   One of the most known techniques is the Delphi technique. In the case that a group of experts can provide a more valid consensus on a complex idea than an individual expert can, the Delphi technique help...