To help more of our readers with their crucial conversations, confrontations, and behavior change challenges, we recently introduced the Community Q&A column! Please share your answers to this reader’s question in the comments below. Dear Crucial Skills, What can we do as a company to optimize our cross-cultural performance? As a multi-national corporation, our employees live in different countries and time zones, have different cultural backgrounds, and speak different languages. The situation is further complicated because we usually don’t have the luxury of face-to-face contact. Can you share tips and examples for using Crucial Conversations to handle cultural differences? Cultural Balancing Act Related Material:Crucial Applications: Bridging the Cultural Communication Gap Crucial Conversations about Climate Change Crucial Applications: Overcoming the "Nasty versus Nice" Debate

Scott Lomond's blog post was featuredWhy WebRTC Will Drive the Next Billion Dollar CompanyWe all have a fascination with the billion dollar startups. Venture Capitalists try and identify them early, media laud them (or bring them down to earth), and early adopters claim discovery. One new technology innovation has the potential to spark the creation of more billion dollar companies, and markets are starting to pay attention. So what is WebRTC, and why is there so much interest?It begins with recognizing the emergence of two massive trends. The first is the increasing appetite for ‘on demand’. This is evident in everything from movies to car rides, hotels, relationships to groceries to well, everything. And communications is a core part of this, just look at Meerkat and Twitter’s latest acquisition, Periscope, bringing on demand video broadcasting to the social web.The second major trend is the contextualisation of communications. The desire and ability to talk and share outside of a walled garden environment. To date live communications have either been text/image-based, or video-based within a standalone application like Skype or FaceTime. But thanks to WebRTC, the ability to bring rich communications within the application or website is now possible. And that opens a world of opportunity.As a result, WebRTC represents the most meaningful breakthrough in communications and the construct of the web from the last 10 years - maybe more. Think of it this way. Remember the first time you encountered the Internet? I do - the firm I was working for had set up a secured room with connected machines for doing research. When I logged in the first time to find something for a project, I was struck by how much information was out there and how easy it was to sift through it. It was fun, and it made you wish that all of your work could be that that interesting and that easy.Most of the content on the web then was text - just numbers and letters. A lot of it was from universities or the government. But within a little bit of time, people figured out how to post images and pictures. A little after that you could view videos (and then HD videos!). Before much longer PCs connected to Internet could function more or less like phones and TVs.Underlying all of those functionality improvements were technology advancements, most notably HTML, which powers what most people think of as the modern Web. It’s been said that before HTML nobody had even thought about companies like Yahoo, Google, eBay or LinkedIn. The technology wasn’t in place to make them possible, so nobody spent too much time thinking about it. Today it feels like they’ve been around forever, but it took a steady stream of technology breakthroughs - starting with HTML - to make them reality.WebRTC adds another facet to our modern web: in-browser communications. Voice and video directly in the browser. No downloads, no plugins, no barriers. Consider the opportunity for the world as developers create and proliferate web apps leveraging this technology - how will we be communicating in ten years?So what does WebRTC bring to the table that can really change the way we use the web?It takes the functionality that was previously offered by a telco or cable provider - with the packaging and economics they determined - and puts it in the browser, for free, for any web developer to use. As a result, WebRTC is changing the way people can use something as intrinsic to humans as how we communicate. It turns what used to be locked-down functionality into a flexible ingredient for websites and apps. Developers and organizations big and small can now use all of their imagination and creativity to come up with new ways to use communications in their websites and mobile apps. This has huge implications across all sectors: banking, education, healthcare, entertainment, ecommerce - to name only a few.The multiplier effect in all of this is that we are doing so much more of everything online. We shop for cars, plan vacations, bank via mobile apps, take classes, and consult with our doctors. Somewhere out there are the next amazing companies that none of us have thought of yet. Their products, websites and applications will incorporate communications in ways that are limited only by the imaginations of their founders, engineers, and web developers, and with them will come the Googles and eBays and Amazons of tomorrow.That is what WebRTC is really about: unlocking creativity around something as fundamental as communicating with each other.Here are a few examples of how innovative companies are leveraging WebRTC in their respective industries:Banking - The UK’s Coutts Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has launched video-enabled consultations for their customers and advisors around the globe. Financial institutions around the world are looking to bring live video assistance to branches, ATMs, and mobile apps this year.Education - Minerva’s Active Learning Forum™ technology platform enables educators to conduct each class via live video. Students benefit from in-context communication, including collaborative breakout clusters, debates, quizzes and polls as well as more traditional tutorial discussions.Health Services - BeMyEyes is an iOS app matching blind people who need assistance with a network of volunteers willing to help. The helpers can see and describe in words exactly what is in front of the visually impaired person.Field Services - Fluke created a mobile app to keep teams connected both in the office and out in the field, consulting in realtime to solve issues on site.Retail - Bridgestone Golf’s online video consultation kiosk "B-FIT" lets golfers talk live to product experts to learn which Bridgestone golf ball would be best for them.And perhaps the greatest example of WebRTC application to date, Mozilla, who recently introduced ‘Firefox Hello’, making it possible for users to have free video and voice calls directly from their Firefox browser without having to set up an account.So yes, WebRTC is pretty important, because of what it touches and who can use it to make the next wave of amazing things. That "who" is basically all of us. And, it is big! Faster than all other communications endpoints in history, WebRTC enabled endpoints achieved 1bn within the first 12 months of launch and is projected by the experts at Disruptive Analysis to exceed six billion by 2019.Now that the web can see and talk there is the opportunity to create the new waves of services and companies that change the way we engage on a global scale. It’s up to you, the innovators, to create this new future. As we sit here in the relatively early days of a WebRTC-enabled world we’re already seeing the innovation. But even now it’s difficult to predict who the Facebooks, eBays, and Yahoo!s will be, but you can bet they’re coming.Scott Lomond is CEO at TokBox.See More

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Al Switzler is coauthor of four New York Times bestsellers, Change Anything, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, and Influencer. READ MORE   Dear Crucial Skills, I have attended Crucial Conversations Training and try to practice the skills, but it’s difficult when the person I am trying to communicate with doesn’t "play along." For example, when I try to ask how he or she is feeling or why he or she feels a certain way, I receive a response such as, "I don’t know," or, "I don’t want to talk about this." This ends the conversation and I feel stifled and defeated. What do I do? Playing Along  Dear Playing Along, It is very frustrating when you want to talk something out with someone and the only response you get is, "I don’t know," or "I don’t want to talk about this," or worse, an icy-cold stare laced with a fake smile. I hear you. I’ve been there. So what should you do when the other person won’t play along? I think you have an advantage—you’re motivated and able because you’ve gone through the training and practiced your skills. Good job. Whether it’s at work or at home, you feel the need to hold a crucial conversation and the other person won’t talk to you. He or she won’t engage and won’t "play along." What I hope to provide here are tips that might give you some additional options for reaching dialogue with a stubborn companion. 1. Start with heart. I suggest you Start with Heart and ask yourself, "What nonverbal messages am I sending?" Sometimes we have behaviors—subtle or overt—that demonstrate our purpose or intent more loudly than our words. A common pattern is to start a conversation very pleasantly and nicely but then quickly let our emotions escalate as we press for the solution we want. Or sometimes before we even open our mouths, we enter a conversation with our eyes and gestures signaling, "I have held court in my head and found you guilty; let’s talk." When that happens, other people don’t want to play. These kinds of patterns cause people to disengage from the conversation. Here’s a personal example. Years ago, my third daughter found every excuse to avoid talking with me. She was fourteen years old and all I got was a cold shoulder. Finally, I asked her why she was acting that way around me, and in a tender moment, she opened up. She shared with me that no matter what I asked her—whether it was about school, friends, or something else entirely—I always, always got around to discussing just two topics, her grades and her messy room. Sometimes, we are so good at debating that the other person prefers to disengage or stonewall rather than argue. Make sure you get your emotions in control before you open your mouth. Make sure you build Mutual Purpose and Mutual Respect before you begin and work to maintain both throughout the conversation. The other person needs to know you have a mutual purpose rather than a selfish or opposing one. 2. Choose CPR. We often find that people choose the wrong topic to discuss. When having a crucial conversation, we tend to choose simple over complex; recent over distant; and easy over hard. In reality, we need to discuss the right issue instead of the most convenient one. We use the acronym CPR to help you determine what the right issue really is. C stands for content and deals with the immediate incident or concern. P stands for pattern and references the fact that the immediate incident has actually occurred more than once and probably frequently enough to make you upset. R stands for relationship and is a conversation you hold when you realize that the pattern is so pervasive and unwanted that it is now affecting your thoughts, feelings, and interactions with that person. You need to hold a conversation not about the content, but about the pattern you’re experiencing—the way in which you two talk, or don’t talk. You need to explain the pattern you’ve noticed and how it’s affecting your relationship. I can see the conversation going like this: "Bob, every once in a while, I feel the need to talk about an issue here at work. The last two times I have tried to talk to you, you said, ‘I don’t know,’ and ‘I don’t want to talk about that.’ I know having conversations about issues like budget or deadlines can be tough. I don’t want to make it tough. I want to be able to talk about these issues so we can work together in the most effective way. Why do you think it’s difficult for us to have these talks? What’s going on?" If the person still refuses to talk, I’d ask, "Will you please think about it? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I do want to deal with some of these issues so we can work well together. Can we schedule a time tomorrow to meet and talk about our working relationship?" 3. Explore natural consequences. In Crucial Confrontations, we teach the difference between imposed and natural consequences. So far, I’ve only introduced the natural consequences of being unable to communicate. Helping people understand what will happen naturally if you don’t deal with the issues is an educational step that motivates them to comply. For example, you could explain how the lack of talking about issues is affecting colleagues, deadlines, budgets, and customers. If your colleague still won’t comply, then you’d impose a consequence. In this case, you’d probably ask someone else to help or communicate the situation to your boss and ask her to convene a meeting. 4. Use your skills; keep your cool. When you have situations like the one you’ve described, it’s easy to slip into less than helpful behaviors. Make sure you avoid gossiping about the other person, getting angry and flying off the handle, or withholding information or avoiding the other person. What you do when it matters most will determine the results you achieve, the relationships you build, and how you feel about yourself when you look in the mirror. Inviting people to dialogue, being persistent and patient, and maintaining your professionalism will eventually pay big dividends. While I believe you can make progress and there is great potential in your relationship, I will close by saying that not all conversations work. You can’t always get into them and you can’t always get the things you want out of them. However, crucial conversations skills improve your chances of getting results and building and preserving valuable relationships. Best wishes,Al

Jean-Christophe Zufferey's blog post was featuredSaving the Planet, One Drone Flight at a TimeTechnology and environmentalism aren’t two terms that you normally see in the same sentence. However, when used in the right way, technology could be the key to preserving the planet for generations to come.Recent developments in technology are helping scientists achieve things which would have been thought impossible just a few years ago. One of the key challenges faced by scientists, for example, is establishing a benchmark of what the world looks like now compared to in the past, so that we can better understand why and how changes are taking place. But tracking these changes, particularly in remote areas, is a time consuming, difficult, and at times a dangerous process.Drones for example, whilst seen by some as merely toys, are already allowing environmentalists to work more effectively. These aerial imaging aircraft can provide high-resolution geographic data, on demand, and can be launched remotely — allowing scientific researchers to reach regions that were previously considered out of bounds, due to their remoteness or the harshness of the terrain.Professional drones are already being used in the Himalayas for example, to monitor the rate at which glaciers melt, and to track where and how animals migrate.As such, the data being gathered by drones is giving us an unprecedented insight into the workings and complexities of our ecosystem, such as how the water cycle - from glaciers to rivers - really works. Insights based on data that in the past was either too low resolution for our needs, or too difficult to capture.However drones are useful for more than just passively tracking changes in the environment. They are valuable tools for aiding conservation work in real time.The Australian founder of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF), Damien Mander, has spoken about using drone technology to combat the issue of elephant poachers in Africa. During his recent Ted talk, he spoke of his journey from the Iraq war to conservation. "With drone technology… we are battling each day to bring military solutions to conservation’s thin green line," he comments. Indeed several African governments, such as that in Kenya, have already consented to drone technology being used in trials across several national parks.Drones (also called unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs) can also play a valuable role when responding to environmental disasters.When the Philippines was struck by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, response groups were hindered by the remote nature of the affected communities and the lack of accurate maps of the region. They turned to Drone Adventures to help them fill in the gaps.Over 6 days and dozens of flights, Drone Adventures were able to provide aid groups with highly accurate images of the region, allowing them to create up-to-date maps and determine where reconstruction work was most needed.Forest fires are a major issue for conservationists and a great example of how drones can help us tackle challenges. Rather than risk human life assessing the damage, drones can be used to assess the situation safely from the air - an ability that we at senseFly expect to grow in value over time as forest fires and other extreme weather events occur more frequently due to climate change.With the information gathered by the drones, human teams can put into place precautionary measures, evacuate at risk areas and help map out the clean-up and re-planting campaigns after disaster has been averted.There’s a great opportunity for technology to become a massive part of global conservation efforts. We’re only just scratching the surface of how drones can aid such efforts and I’m excited to see the ways different groups will harness the possibilities they offer.Jean-Christophe is CEO and co-founder at senseFly.See More

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kerry Patterson is coauthor of four New York Times bestsellers, Change Anything, Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, and Influencer. READ MORE   Dear Crucial Skills, I’m tired of attending meetings where there’s no agenda, the wrong people are in attendance, and people carry on side conversations and otherwise violate good meeting etiquette. How can we use our Crucial Conversations skills to get our meetings back on track? Miffed by Meetings  Dear Miffed, One of the first training sessions we designed was aimed at just this problem. We gathered people and taught them about the importance of developing and following an agenda, the need to avoid being critical when brainstorming, and other such standard meeting fare. We thought we were done. Then trainees went back into their meetings, saw things go wrong, and said things such as, "Hey bozo, we’re trying to brainstorm here and you’re being critical. That’s not allowed!" Or, "Wait a second, you don’t have an agenda. What were you thinking?" "What have we created?" we wondered as we watched people "fix" problems they observed in their meetings by verbally attacking anyone who strayed from strict meeting protocol. The cure they were administering to the flailing meetings was often worse than the original ailment. From this, we learned that you can’t merely teach what should happen in meetings, you also have to teach what to do should the meeting turn south. This all took place before we had learned the ins and outs of crucial conversations, so we got no help from that research. But it wasn’t before we had learned the technique of watching effective people in action and learning to see what can actually work with real people in real organizations. So, we watched all kinds of people in all kinds of meetings. Most individuals sat quietly as the meeting staggered from topic to topic like a mad dog on its last walk. An angry few, after they could take it no longer, made harsh comments to the "loud mouth who carried on a side conversation." Others directed ugly stares at the offending party—followed by the ever-popular eye-roll. These were some of our first glimpses into silence and violence. But then there were a few people who spoke up in a way that wasn’t offensive. They said and did things that helped get the meeting on track without looking like they wanted to take over or blast people who didn’t stick to the right agenda. And best of all, they followed a pattern that worked for most meeting problems—from dozing off to arriving late to straying from the agenda. You didn’t have to apply ten different techniques to ten different problems. The most notable part of every effective response was that they all reflected the same philosophy and feeling. They noticed something that wasn’t working very well (at least for them), realized it was probably best to talk about it rather than simply let it continue, and decided to check with the group to see if it made sense to change what was currently happening. In summary, the pattern looks like this: (1) here’s what I see; (2) here’s what I think we might want to do instead; (3) what do others think? This three-part response was always delivered tentatively (after all, not all deviations are mistakes), respectfully (there’s no reason to assume others are purposely causing problems), and inclusively (asking others for input turns the solution into a shared plan rather than your plan). At the scripting level, here’s what the three steps sound like. A group moves through an agenda and nears the end of their meeting, but one of the people present keeps referring to a previously put-to-bed agenda item. The person is mostly ignored until eventually someone hints that the group is now talking about another issue so please get on board. Finally, someone deals with the deviation by stating, "Tim, I notice that you keep returning to the budget discussion we had earlier. We’ve moved on, thinking it was a closed issue and now I’m wondering if you want to return to it and re-open the discussion. Is that what you want, and if so, what do others think about the idea?" It turns out that the person did want to return—feeling that the topic wasn’t fully discussed—and, given time constraints, the team agrees to schedule the item for further discussion in the next meeting. Now, most people are uncomfortable intervening in any way for fear that they might be the only one who is concerned. Plus they want to avoid the appearance of hijacking the meeting. Notice how the three steps indicated above solve both problems. You check with the group to see if the problem is not merely yours and you also involve others in the potential solution. For instance, someone has violated the primary tenet of brainstorming by criticizing suggestions that cost money, and someone else in the meeting remarks, "Kim, it looks like you’re concerned about solutions that cost money. Do we want to put cost in as a constraint right now so we don’t spend time recommending financial solutions, or should we continue coming up with any solution that might work? What do others think?" Another example: a meeting rolls along with lots of ideas flowing and nobody takes notes. It’s not your meeting but you’re worried about forgetting ideas, so you say, "A lot of ideas are being recommended here and I’m worried we might lose some of the ideas unless we record them. What do others think?" One more example: a couple of people are talking on their cell phones and someone says, "It looks like others have some urgent issues they need to deal with. Should we take a break to handle the calls that are coming in?" Notice that the person bringing up the issue isn’t criticizing others for taking calls. It could well be that they are handling an emergency and do need to break. If they aren’t, they’re likely to get right back to the meeting. Either way, you’re simply describing what you’re observing, passing no judgment, offering no criticism, and then checking with the group. Again, the process of stating what you see, what you think the group might want to do instead, and asking what others think can be applied to almost any problem, in almost any meeting, and from anywhere in the room. Try it in your next derailed meeting and let me know how it goes. Kerry Related Material:Wasting Time in Meetings Outbursts During Church Meetings How do you balance discussion with staying on track?

Warren Barkley's blog post was featuredThe Professional Skills Gap Narrows2015 is shaping up to be a year of accelerated change in the ways we learn, communicate and collaborate; driven by necessity, changing demographics and new ways to use old technology. As a follow up to my earlier post on Millennials and their influence on the face of corporate IT, I’ll now lay out another emerging, major trend that dovetails with the first, and that will affect us all. This post and my next will look at the "Skills Gap," and then at something we’ve dubbed "Device-olation." The professional thorn in our nation’s side - the fact that many grads enter the workforce without the real-world experience needed to succeed in business - will see a marked improvement as educators incorporate classroom technology and practices that help teach the soft skills needed for workforce preparedness. In today’s connected world, all our information is readily available through our laptops, PCs, tablets and smartphones. At work, we spend hours in meetings or small groups coming up with better ways of doing things, learning from others, and ultimately, innovating. But when you look at schools today - at least most schools - we’re still educating our children based on a 200-year-old pedagogical system. We walk out of school with a degree in our hand, and yet we have done little to develop the skills that are most important in today’s workplace. Why is that? In 2010, Dr. Sugata Mitra presented his findings on student-driven learning in a TED talk, and the results are astounding. Children learn much better when they are allowed to explore, share and collaborate than when they are sitting classroom-style and being lectured to. He shared this research four years ago, and yet many students are still being taught the "old-fashioned" way. The good news is a number of organizations and schools are thinking outside the box, and we’re seeing student-driven and project-based learning gain momentum throughout North America and Europe. I’m fortunate to be personally involved with a number of these organizations, including TAF, which offers a program to address barriers to students of color in STEM fields.TAF benefits not only the students in the program by teaching them real-world skills like needs identification, coding, and field research - it also benefits those whose lives are enriched by these students’ work. For example, Special Ed students in a nearby Tacoma school use software applications developed by TAF students. The stories are heartwarming - you can see the difference these software applications make in these students’ lives. You can watch a video about one of these students here. In other schools, like Preston Middle School in Colorado, San Elijo Middle School in California, and Bishop Kearney High School in New York, we’re seeing great traction with collaborative classrooms that are designed with project-based, highly collaborative learning in mind. And it’s working. Kids are some of the biggest advocates of this approach. Fortunately, there are many thought leaders who agree that this skills gap needs to be addressed, and they’re sharing their vision with others. We recently spoke to Innovative Educator blogger Lisa Nielsen about collaboration. She shared some great insights on how kids not only want to change the world; they are changing the world. And they can only do so when they have access to the tools we use in everyday life, and she also has the real-world examples that prove her theory. I’m encouraged by the examples mentioned above (and countless other programs in place) that we’re moving the in the right direction. As a former teacher and as the CTO of a leading ed-tech company, I welcome this trend, and I look forward to the positive effects it will have on our children and in the business world as well. But we’re not there yet. Dan Schawbel states that 50% of Generation Z learners are participating in internships before they graduate from high school - it’s not in others. Higher education needs to more fully embrace co-ops for Millennials and the generation on its heels as indicated in this Fortune article.The good news is that the conversation is happening, and I think we’ll continue to see the skills gap narrow.Warren Barkley is Chief Technology Officer of SMART Technologies.See More

Tim Vasko posted a blog postArtificial Intelligence, the Economy, and the Need for Re-EducationI read an interesting article recently titled, "Why AI Could Destroy More Jobs than it Creates, and How to Save Them" Tech Republic's Nick Heath. The article discussed a new book co-authored by two economists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee. The book is called The Second Machine Age, and as explained on the book’s website:"…Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee—two thinkers at the forefront of their field— make the case that we should be optimistic about the future because technological progress, 'the only free lunch that economists believe in,' is accelerating quickly past our intuitions and expectations. But we should also be mindful of our values and our choices: as technology races ahead, it may leave a lot of people, organizations and institutions behind."Building off of this, Heath’s article presents a new iteration of a familiar theory. Heath asserts that with today’s rapidly expanding technological landscape, more and more jobs are being automated, while the population steadily increases.He notes the following statistic to back up his claim:"For most of the second half of the twentieth century the economic value generated in the US - the country's productivity - grew hand-in-hand with the number of workers. But in 2000 the two measures began to diverge. From the turn of the century a gap opened up between productivity and total employment. By 2011, that delta had widened significantly, reflecting continued economic growth but no associated increase in job creation."All the way back in 1965, Moore’s Law stated that the computing power of a microprocessor would double every 18 months. This fact is still true today. But with an ever increasing population seemingly permanently on the horizon, Moore's Law gains new meaning.Heath's article provides some great insight into the role computerization is playing in today’s economy. And it certainly makes one thing clear: if you want to stay in business, have a promising career, and avoid becoming "obsolete", you have to be creative and make A.I. work for you.We take it for granted that that thing we use as a watch, camera, phone, calculator, and calendar, in actual fact gives us the computing power to manage an entire enterprise from our pocket. Now it's time to use that power effectively, before someone else figures out how to use it to replace you.The impact of technology literally stares some of us right in the face, every waking moment. However, too many people are still not effectively capitalizing on it to run their careers and companies. From paper to email, to spreadsheets, to word processors, too many business owners still believe a spreadsheet or PDF and email is sufficient to keep pace in today’s competitive climate. Unfortunately, most people don’t even realize how outdated this kind of thinking is.The simple fact is, we take advantage of mobile and technical cloud advances, without thinking about it all the time. We only think about it when something goes wrong, like it did with Apple's iCloud this past weekend. Are you going to wait until your industry is massively disrupted, or your job is usurped by an iPhone app before you take technology seriously?Increasingly, we’re seeing start-ups like Uber or AirBnB emerge only to rapidly displace long established industries, and the giants that run them. Unfortunately, these giants also employ thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of people. So for every "Growth Hacking" start-up, there are potentially be thousands of unemployed workers.Every business and every profession which fails to adopt new technologies to operate their back office, and interact with their customer market, is headed down the same path the industrial revolution started us on long ago. But more, or better machines means doesn't have to mean less people.So, what can we do?The Second Machine Age leaves readers with a strong message, and lucky for us, it's not all bad news. As the authors state in their conclusion, "'technology is not destiny, we shape our destiny." Brynjolfsson continues, "[If] we do take an active role I think we can come out on the other side much wealthier and with more shared prosperity than ever before..."What this really means: "We have to reinvent education and reskilling, and people are going to have to take it upon themselves to more aggressively learn these skills. Because the technology is changing more rapidly, it's going to be a case of lifelong learning and continuously reskilling."Tim Vasko is founder of CMaeON Innovations.See More

Recently, as my six-year-old daughter asked me for yet another Barbie, I said, "You don’t always get what you want, you need to earn it." She then said, "That’s not fair, you always get what you want. How do I get what I want?" The Crucial Conversations book happened to be sitting on my desk, so I handed it to her, and laughing I said, "Read this, it gets you what you want." Now she refuses to put down the book. It goes in the car with us everywhere—to school, you name it. When someone asks why she is reading the book, she says, "Dad said from now on I’m going to get what I want." As many conversations are with my six-year-old, the full conversation was actually quite a crucial conversation about how to earn what you need and communicate that need. For the record, she "earned" the Barbie a few days later from her grandmother through some effective communication.

Jason Prater's blog post was featuredThe Internet of Making ThingsSmart Internet connected "things" are showing up everywhere, changing our interactions with friends, family, colleagues, and nearly every aspect of the physical world. Internet of Things (IoT) discussions often center on the home, where your refrigerator communicates with your phone reminding you to buy milk when the carton is nearly - but not completely - empty; and your sneakers tell your watch how many calories you’ve burned in your morning workout.While these applications are interesting and exciting, there is even more potential in the factory of the (very near) future. I like to call the emerging connections between machines, tools, materials, people and systems on the shop floor the Internet of Making Things.Today’s factory bears little resemblance to the stereotypical image of manufacturing. Long gone are the days of repetitious assembly lines where workers create part after identical part. Today’s modern manufacturing facility is a hub of technology, full of sensors, electronic controls, and automated equipment, all interconnected to drive efficiency, quality and flexibility that are vital to a company’s success.Productivity in American factories continues to rise, as plants produce more and more with ever increasing efficiency and quality. Connected tools and machines are a key aspect of these gains. Take the IP (Internet Protocol) torque wrench in the assembly of a complex part, for example. When connected to the cloud, the IP torque wrench captures the torque applied to a specific part, the specific wrench that was used, when that wrench was last calibrated and the employee who used it. If that wrench was faulty in some way, the cloud can identity every part affected, eliminating costly downtime.Automation and the connected factory are able to produce a wider variety of products and product variations in smaller quantities more quickly, answering the market’s increasing demand for customized products. The old-style "economies of scale" that powered mass-produced consumer goods are being replaced by fast, efficient and flexible connected machines that follow the exact requirements for each product at each moment of its production.Flexible machines and programmable controllers have been around for years. What’s new is the adoption of sensors and connected devices, combined with the interconnectedness of cloud computing that increasingly coordinates information and activities to take full advantage of what these machines, and the knowledge workers who run them, can do.The Internet of Making Things is still in its infancy. Wearable technologies have the potential to further connect people with plant information, better integrating into this connected world to further improve safety, efficiency and quality.Within and beyond the four walls of the production facility, the shift to cloud-based software systems allows employees, suppliers and customers worldwide to view the status of an order, work-in-progress, inventory, equipment availability, and much more. In the not-too-distant future, visibility won’t stop when the product leaves the plant. Smart products will not only interact with the customer in new ways but will also be able to stay in contact with the producer for better long-term performance and support. Already available in some cars, On-Star equipped vehicle owners can get e-mails or text messages alerting them to otherwise unseen issues like tire wear, needed service based on mileage or time, or factory recommended recalls.Connected smart technology in the Internet of Making Things brings the processes and the products together into a new ecosystem for added customer value.Jason Prater is Vice President of Development for Plex Systems.See More

Elaine Chen's blog post was featuredHow a Technology-Push Process Led to the Reboot of Google GlassGoogle Glass exploded into the tech scene in 2012 with the pomp and circumstance of an Apple product unveiling.  It put "wearable technology" into the lexicon of the masses.  Accolades poured in from both the technology world and the fashion world.  Celebrities, politicians, runway models, even Prince Charles wore them in public.  And yet, as of January 2015, Google Glass as we knew it was no more. There are many great articles that explored what went wrong. I will not repeat the many excellent points made.  Instead, I would like to explore how Google approaches new technology development, and how that approach, together with the initial public relations hype and the lack of a killer app, ultimately led Google Glass down the path of a reboot.Google and the Technology-Push ApproachFirst of all, Google is fundamentally a technology company, run by technocrats. They even make product manager candidates do whiteboard coding during job interviews.  Google does not define and develop products like Proctor and Gamble: through market pull and problem identification.  Instead, Google consistently pursues products as technology pushes.  This approach often results in solutions that are either in search of a problem, or solves a problem in a less-than-effective manner. Think about Google+, Google Wave, Google Health, or other former Google projects which were subsequently shelved. A technology push process is not necessarily an invalid strategy for Google.  With an R&D spend of $2.18B in Q4 2014 alone, Google can afford to take large-scale risks.  So, they try many things - and some fail.  Project Glass’s first incarnation happened to be one of them.The Perils of an Over-Hyped Hardware BetaNow let us look at how the PR hype surrounding Project Glass ultimately proved to be sizzle without the steak.  We can hypothesize about why Google went public so early.  Staking a claim in wearable devices could build Google’s reputation as a thought leader in all of technology, not just software. Google might have felt pressured to claim first mover’s advantage in this emerging but crowded field.  Opening up Glass to developers allowed Google to start building an ecosystem, the importance was proved by the iPhone and its AppStore.  Last but not least, there was so much pent up curiosity that a news leak was imminent. By going public, Google could control the narrative more effectively.What happened in the next three years highlights the difficulty of managing a wildly overpublicized hardware beta program.  Google launched Project Glass to much fanfare.  However, the product was in beta - a concept many of its early fans found alien. Over time, the rough edges of the product started to disappoint its fans.  Users fell out of love with a device that solved no mainstream problems, and was not beautiful enough to be a fashion accessory.  Developers became concerned about the shrinking customer base and their interest waned.Once the hype wore off, it became evident that the emperor had no clothes.  The press turned against it.  Users abandoned it. Eventually, Google cut off life support and opted for reincarnation.A Groundbreaking Interface Without a Killer AppLastly, let us look at Google Glass as a novel interface device.  The concept promised to fundamentally reinvent how humans interacted with data, their environment, and each other. But  the device alone was insufficient.  Users needed a killer app to realize this vision - and it was nowhere to be found.If we look at advances in innovative input devices in the past 30 years, the ones that took off did so with synergistic killer apps.  The keyboard and PC had word processing. The mouse had the spreadsheet. The touch screen had mobile phones and tablets. Conversely, devices that fell by the wayside were innovative but did not come with compelling use cases. Think of the Microsoft surface powered coffee tables, or force feedback devices for gaming. For Google Glass, there were never any compelling use cases that solved real customer problems. Look at the best of what ReadWhite came up with in early 2013.  Unfortunately for Glass, the most plausible use case - discreetly taking pictures or video clips - created a massive backlash and huge negativity in the mass market.At the end of the day, Project Glass was a fabulous technology project, but it was neither a product nor a business.  Google Glass is now under the leadership of Tony Fadell.  We will have to see how the team reimagines the problem statement, and creates a solution that delights customers while solving real customer needs.Elaine Chen is a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She is also the Founder and Managing Director of ConceptSpring. Follow Elaine on Twitter: @chenelaineImage: Getty ImagesSee More