Dear Friends of SSMC,

Austin Mader-Clark / Autopia Biofuels
Basque Cultural Center
Brent Turner / Open Voting Consortium
Career Closet
Coats for Kids
Coastside Hope
David Alter
Don Weden
Eric Penington’s Auto Body and Paint
Full Bloom Baking Company
Housing Leadership Council
Intraline, Inc.
Mori Point Site Stewardship Program
PAR Auto Body
Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance (PTCRA) Shuttle Program
Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance
Pharmaceutical Disposal Program
Piacere Restaurant
Redwood City Civic Engagement for Sustainability
Reece Computer Systems
San Mateo AYSO
San Mateo County Interfaith Hospitality Network
Sequoia Hospital
Solar City
Sonrisas Community Dental Center
South Bayside Waste Management Authority (SBWMA)
South San Francisco / Centennial Way
Summit Bicycles
Vista Park Restoration (by San Carlos Green, Parks & Rec., Gachina Landscaping)
Webcor Builders
Yerba Buena California Native Plant Nursery

Dawes Residence, La Honda (residential)

It’s No Time to Forget About Innovation

James Yang

BY its very nature, innovation is inefficient. While blockbusters do emerge, few of the new products or processes that evolve from innovative thinking ultimately survive the test of time. During periods of economic growth, such inefficiencies are chalked up as part of the price of forging into the future.

But these aren’t such times. Wild market gyrations, frozen credit markets and an overall sour economy herald a new round of corporate belt-tightening. Foremost on the target list is anything inefficient. That’s bad news for corporate innovation, and it could spell trouble for years to come, even after the economy turns around.

“To be honest, we had a problem with innovation even before the economic crisis. That’s the reason I wrote my book,” says Judy Estrin, former chief technology officer at Cisco Systems and author of “Closing the Innovation Gap.” “We’re focusing on the short term and we’re not planting the seeds for the future.”

In tough times, of course, many companies have to scale back. But, she says: “To quote Obama, you don’t use a hatchet. You use a scalpel. Leaders need to pick and choose with great care.”

There are important things managers can do to ensure that creative forward-thinking doesn’t go out the door with each round of layoffs. Fostering a companywide atmosphere of innovation — encouraging everyone to take risks and to think about novel solutions, from receptionists to corner-suite executives — helps ensure that the loss of any particular set of minds needn’t spell trouble for the entire company.

She suggests instilling five core values to entrench innovation in the corporate mind-set: questioning, risk-taking, openness, patience and trust. All five must be used together — risk-taking without questioning leads to recklessness, she says, while patience without trust sets up an every-man-for-himself mentality.

In an era of Six Sigma black belts and brown belts, Ms. Estrin urges setting aside certain efficiency measures in favor of what she calls “green-thumb leadership” — a future-oriented management style that understands, and even encourages, taking risks. Let efficiency measures govern the existing “factory farm,” she says, but create greenhouses and experimental gardens along the sides of the farm to nurture the risky investments that likely will take a number of years to bear fruit.

“I’m not suggesting you only cut from today’s stuff and keep the future part untouched,” she says. “You have to balance it.”

Yet even that approach has its drawbacks. Companies that create silos of innovation by designating one group as the “big thinkers” while making others handle day-to-day concerns risk losing their innovative edge if any of the big thinkers leave the company or ultimately must be laid off.

“Innovation has to be embedded in the daily operation, in the entire work force,” says Jon Fisher, a business professor, serial entrepreneur, and author of “Strategic Entrepreneurism,” which advocates building a start-up’s business from the beginning with an eye toward selling the company. “A large acquirer’s interest in a start-up or smaller company is binary in nature: They either want you or they don’t, based on the innovation you have to offer. The best way to foster innovation is to create something, put it to the test, build a good company and then get it under the umbrella of a world-renowned company to move it forward.”

David Thompson, chief executive and co-founder of Genius.com Inc., based in San Mateo, Calif., says that innovation “has a bad name in down times” but that “bad times focus the mind and the best-focused minds in the down times are looking for the opportunities.”

“You do have to batten down the hatches and reduce expenses, but you can’t do it at the expense of the big picture,” Mr. Thompson adds. “You always have to keep in mind the bigger picture that’s coming down the road in two or three years.

“The last thing you want to do with innovation is just throw money at it. It’s a very tricky balance.”

In fact, hard times can be the source of innovative inspiration, says Chris Shipley, a technology analyst and executive producer of the DEMO conferences, where new ideas make their debuts. “Some of the best products and services come out of some of the worst times,” she says. In the early 1990s, tens of millions of dollars had gone down the drain in a futile effort to develop “pen computing” — an early phase of mobile computing — and a recession was shriveling the economic outlook.

Yet the tiny Palm Computing managed to revitalize the entire industry in a matter of months by transforming itself overnight from a software maker into a hardware company.

“Our biggest challenge right now is fear,” she says. “The worst thing that a company can do right now is go into hibernation, into duck-and-cover. If you just sit on your backside and wait for things to get better, they’re not going to. They’re going to get better for somebody, but not necessarily for you.”

HOWARD LIEBERMAN, also a serial entrepreneur and founder of the Silicon Valley Innovation Institute, says innovation breeds effectiveness. It’s not about efficiency, he argues. “Efficiency is for bean counters,” he says. “It’s not for C.E.O.’s or inventors or founders.”

The current economic downturn comes as no surprise to him, he says, because it mirrors the downturn at the time of the dot-com bust. Then and now, the companies that survive are those that keep creativity and innovation foremost.

“Creativity doesn’t care about economic downturns,” Mr. Lieberman says. “In the middle of the 1970s, when we were having a big economic downturn, both Apple and Microsoft were founded. Creative people don’t care about the time or the season or the state of the economy; they just go out and do their thing.”

Somehow the chants of "drill baby drill" seem so ridiculous and insignificant after watching this video. I feel like policy based on intelligence and reason have finally replaced the fear rhetoric and politics of division and greed that have prevented our country from moving forward responsibly. Our economy and environment are in turmoil right now and we've got to unite and fight for what's right. It's time for a transformation, an evolution, and a revolution.

There is a new sense of purpose awakening in America now that we've elected Barack Obama to be the next President. Hope has now turned into action. It's about time we took responsibility as inhabitants of Planet Earth for the energy we use and the way we interact with the environment. Green Technology and Sustainable design will lead the way toward a better tomorrow.

At the West Coast Green Expo, I was inspired by an innovative company that is leading the way in energy conservation technology called Agilewaves. Home and building owners can finally monitor and automate the steps needed to reduce their energy consumption, carbon footprint and operating costs without relying on human intervention. Here is the link to their website:

www.agilewaves.com

"President Obama!"

My nephew said in this video when they held a mock election at his elementary school. Here, he announces on the local TV morning news show his vote for Obama.  My 6 year old nephew exemplifies this new hope for the future.

Here is the link to the video:

http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/InsideFox/Detail?contentId=7777755&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=5.2.1

A lot of people talk about "values" and "morality." Eco-Consciousness is essential for someone with true faith no matter what religion they follow.  Faith in a higher power should include respect for the planet and all life.  Without dedication to protecting our environment and all it's inhabitants, how can anyone truly be devout to the divine design behind the miracle we all share in common.

"Be The Change You Want To See In The World" - Ghandi

I am working with an exciting new company here in San Francisco

as Director of Innovations at Absolutely New, Inc.

www.absolutelynew.com

They have invested over $35 million building their business. In addition, they are financially backed by a top-tier Silicon Valley venture capital firm. After reviewing hundreds of investment opportunities they decided to back Absolutely New. And with $400 million under management, they provide access to significant growth capital.

I'll be working with entrepreneurs launching innovative product development and marketing initiatives worldwide.

I'm also a big fan of CNBC's show called "The Big Idea with Donny Deutch."

Here's a clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqV8mWnKUy4

And remember that Tuesday is election day.

ROCK THE VOTE

Dosa's new Filmore location should finally be opening in November.

Excited to see the new GREEN design elements of the completely renovated building.

Their new location will seat 200 and be much bigger than the original Mission restaurant on Valencia. It's kitchen will be three times as big and offer an expanded menu including catering.

Stay tuned to their website:

www.dosasf.com