The rise of the Generalist

generalist

Companies are in need of Generalist individuals with new, agile skills that can see the big picture.

Most companies have specialist organizations that support its business priorities.  For as long as we can remember, organizations such as finance, HR, IT, and marketing have been in existence. In most companies, domain expertise, efficiency and process execution dominate the agenda for these organizations.   You get hired, promoted and measured based on your expertise and value-add in your particular specialization.

 

 

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How to learn skills for a new field without going back to college

web designer

Breaking into graphic design without spending thousands on a degree.

There are some people in this world who know what they want to be when they grow up and they stick with it for their entire lives. But for the majority of us the path to contentment with our career is more winding. This week’s question tackles that tricky situation of itching for a career change when you are already saddled with college debt from a few false starts.     Continue reading… “How to learn skills for a new field without going back to college”

Passing the Fortune Cookie Test

Fortune-Cookie-1

Futurist Thomas Frey: Yesterday my wife Deb and I had lunch at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants, and afterwards we’re given the typical fortune cookies that come with the bill. Jokingly I broke open the first one and asked, “I wonder if it’d be possible to create a real fortune sometime in the future and put it into these cookies?”

 

 

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The internet of things is big data’s latest killer app

hand washing

Synapse’s system is like a real-time monitor, reminding people to wash their hands.

A Huntsville, Ala.-based sensor-network company called Synapse Wireless is moving from the machine-to-machine world into cloud platforms and big data. Here’s how it did it and how it thinks its work could actually end up saving lives.

 

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Tesla could have a $35K car that gets 1,000 miles per charge by 2020

tesla

Tesla Model S at a charging station.

When Elon Musk was designing the Tesla Model S he wanted an electric motor that had the same horsepower as the most powerful internal combustion engine but with nearly-instantaneous torque. He also wanted it to be the size of a watermelon. Musk was told this couldn’t be done by engine manufacturers. So the Tesla CEO decided to build his own motor. The earlier versions of this had a hand-wound stator which increased winding density to help eliminate resistance and increase peak torque. Later versions of the stators were built by robots.

 

 

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Sharing is the new buying: Insights into the Collaborative Economy

collaboration

A new report, Sharing is the New Buying, offers important insight for big brands who are grappling with the emergence of the Collaborative Economy, and for the startups that are driving this growth. The collaborative economy is a powerful movement in which people are getting the things from each other, it’s a combination of trends like the sharing economy, maker movement, and co-innovation. (Infographic)

 

 

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The Internet of Things is exploding, but the real money is the Internet, not the Things

internet of things

The real opportunity is building pan-device business services.

The Internet of Things is exploding, but the big money will not come from Internet nor the Things. Instead, the big money will derive from business services that pull data from those IoT networks.

 

 

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Lego toying with idea of letting customers 3D print their own bricks

lego

Legos

The toy industry has become stagnant due to the competition from digital games, Lego is among the companies looking at 3D printing as a potential fix. The Danish plastic brick manufacturer told The Financial Times that it is considering “what potential opportunities there are for consumers.” Legos are very easy to print on home 3D printers (in fact, some people are already printing them).

 

 

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Tesla’s plans for world’s largest battery factory will be a game changer

gigafactory

Tesla Motors, the electric car maker, hasn’t just blazed its own trail when it comes to designing and building a hot electric car. It’s also made breakthroughs in many aspects of the automotive business (the sales channel, the servicing, the over-the-air-software updates) and now it’s doing the same thing for the core part of the electric car: the battery.

 

 

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

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