Blog
Occasional posts and views on psychology, technology, markets and innovation
At war with our well-being
I have just been reflecting on the trajectory of unsustainability our species is on, and looking at it though the lens of sub-optimisation. Suboptimisation means focusing on one component of a system and making changes intended to improve that one component and...
Choose again
Man is not fully conditioned and determined but rather determines himself whether he gives in to conditions or stands up to them. In other words, man is ultimately self-determining. Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will...
Share your eyes
This week I said goodbye to SmallWorlds.com; a venture I have invested more of my time in than any other single project in my life. It’s a timely moment to reflect on where I am in my life now, and how my priorities have changed in the last 10 years. I think it is...
Getting better
"Nothing works better than just improving your product”Joel Spolsky Staying relevant is a challenge Technology is evolving faster and faster. This is placing demands on individuals and organisations to get better at learning how to adapt to a dynamic...
The purpose of strategy
“The value is in what gets used, not in what gets built.”Kris Gale Digital tools only create potential One of the key indicators that strategy is working is a change in the behaviour of our customers. Strategy influences products, and products can influence people,...
There is no such thing as digital strategy
There is no "digital strategy" anymore, just strategy in a digital worldBud Caddell Digital is more than digital The word "ubiquitous" means everywhere, and aptly describes our experience with digital technology these days. The inventions of the internet and...
The business that mistook its IT for a Digital
Evolution is a process that uses yesterday’s innovations as building blocks to create tomorrow’s even-more sophisticated innovations. One the consequences of these ever-increasing new levels of complexity is that we sometimes lose sight of critical characteristics...
Why product-person fit trumps product-market fit
Where the product ends, the market begins Imagine your team have just finished building what you arguably consider the best product of its type in the world. Sure you are biased but this product is absolutely phenomenal and everyone in the team agrees that you have...
Persuasion matters
Persuasion and its importance to your digital technology The power of digital technologies is often unrealised The rise of digital technology is transforming our lives. Digital products and programs to improve our lives are being generated at an incredible rate, and...
Digital is not just Digital
One of the many wonderful facets of the digital age is that information is so readily shared. As a society, this accelerates our rate of a learning as we stand on one anothers shoulders. So last week when the Sunshine Coast...
Why God is digital
(This speech was given at The Project : Digital Disruption conference in Auckland, New Zealand). Good morning everyone. Welcome to the first sermon of the conference. Today we will be exploring "Why god is digital". So, please, extract your favourite digital...
Innovation only makes a difference if it satisfies a customer
The question of how to shape strongly performing Innovation and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems is a very hot topic at the moment, and there are a growing number of programs and events that are addressing the practice. Two years ago MIT started the first cohort...
In the beginning
I have been meaning to revisit my so-called “manifesto”, to expand on the thinking behind each of its 5 elements. In particular, I have found the first element - “Self Authorship” - to be somewhat problematic. First of all in terms of my capacity to clearly articulate...
Innovating New Zealand
You can't move three or four paragraphs in business or technology news these days, without someone mentioning "innovation". Innovation, it seems, is a messianic cure to all of our economic and social woes. Get yourself some good ole innovation and everything will be...
On becoming an internet millionaire
Last week, I happened to come across Wired Magazine's coverage of Ev William's speech at the XOXO Conference in Portland last month. Ev Williams is most famous as one of the co-founders of Twitter, but prior to that he was behind the blogging platform Blogger,...
People, pairing and platforms
I have long held a fascination with technology platforms. I think of them as a kind of “super-product”, that brings together people to meet coinciding needs. Michael Cusumano of the MIT Sloan School of Management has been writing about technology platforms for many...
Hello world
In computer programming, a "Hello world" program is one of the first and most elementary possible, simply outputting "Hello world" on a screen. This post is my "Hello World" program. Pride is one of the 5 values of my personal manifesto, and yet in launching my Hello...
Ice ideas conference talk
This talk was given at the Ice Ideas conference. You can view a view of it here. I'm Mitch Olson & I'm the Co-founder of SmallWorlds.com which is an online game targeted at anyone & everyone aged 13 & above. Gaming is the largest sector of the...