Daily Archives: 14/07/2008

How easy is it to replicate Silicon Valley’s innovation in Europe?

Posted on by

“I was in Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago speaking to a group of marketing executives at Royal Philips about the forces that drive the Internet revolution in America. “So what is it about Silicon Valley that makes it so innovative,” one Philips executive asked me after my speech. “How easy is it to replicate this innovation in Europe?”

It’s a great question — one that has intrigued me since 1983, when I first arrived in northern California as a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley. Indeed, it’s such a good question that I instantly Googled it when I got back to America.”

Goes on about paradox of 50’s and 60s culture, company law, etc. Makes good sense to me.

 

Process is an embedded reaction to prior stupidity

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Posted by Clay Shirky

“Ben Hyde upbraids me for overstating the case about process in my post about Wikis, Grafitti, and Process. Says Ben:

What pisses me off about Clay’s note is that he’s playing to people’s most base instincts. First he’s encouraging people to assume that process is a reaction to other people’s stupidity. That’s kind of thinking is toxic to community; it encourages people to label others rather than strive to find more functional processes.

He’s right. In writing that piece, I overstated the case. Process is an essential part of group work, and without it, groups would suffer paralysis. However, though I overstated the case, I didn’t misstate it, and I stand by the core observation: Process is an embedded reaction to prior stupidity.”

PS: Recent Clay podcast (30mb) at Demos for your download + your enjoyment.