Pocket of Thoughts™ by Saint Akanji

       Why is it that some organisations succeed at innovation when others only dream of it? According to Gallup , the success rate of new product development effort is around 20% meaning that more than 80% of research budget is lost. The other way to look at this is to say that 80% of new products fail to achieve market success. This is a staggering percentage yet the research budget of corporations have consistently been on the ascendancy. In 1924, P&G became the first company to conduct deliberate, data-based market research with consumers. The enigmatic CEO of Yahoo; Marissa Mayer (formerly a Google employee) recently cancelled the flexible work policy at the struggling tech giant after it became apparent that productivity was beginning to stall. According to her, it was a case in which there was no longer a moral not business case for the policy to continue. Talk of wanton abuse. What separates the leaders from the follow...

  This has got nothing to do with the movie; Hunger Games but like everything in life, there is wisdom to gain. The toilet is as important as the kitchen. It all depends on your world view and the context. There are few things that rank high on my list of annoying things like unsolicited marketing messages (mails and sms alike). It is not only pesty (parasitic) and rude but a violation of minimum social rules. Just because you have access to people's electronic mail addresses and phone numbers doesn't give you the right to badge into them anyhow. It is not a license to violate their peace of mind. I do not claim to be an expert relationship management professional but sending barrage of unsolicited messages to people is damn right unacceptable. This is irrespective of the offer you wish to push to them. The same way you wouldn't propose marriage to a total stranger is the same way you shouldn't push unsolicited messages to people.  For those who know bet...

Much Ado About Davos. Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,156. Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range. Switzerland is foremost for their advanced time piece technology. Very few places can boast of Switzerland's superior craftsmanship. The Omega Speedmaster worn on the moon during the Apollo missions is of Swiss heritage. In terms of value, Switzerland is responsible for half of the world production of watches. The Gotthard Rail Tunnel connecting the southern canton of Ticino, the longest in the world at the time. Today, Swiss continue to lead the way in railway technology and infrastructure. The annual conference organised by the World Economic Forum is at the time of writing this post underway in Davos. With this enviable footprint and pedigree, could there be anything else worthy of note about the Swis...

His manner of call is unusual but when you listen carefully to the sound oozing from his busy scissors, it is a rare genre of music. The "ejika ni shop" (translated literarily to mean shoulder is my shop ... ) archetype is a truly amusing one. Yes! his method is of low estate and nomadic (Hehe! I am beginning to fall in love with this word) but there is wisdom to glean from this phenomenon. "Ejika ni shop" is the Yoruba description of a mobile tailor. I was at my mechanic's workshop over the weekend and I saw one of them mobile tailors passing-by. As expected, he was busy making melody with his busy scissors (a dual instrument of cutting and marketing). It was this moment that it dawned on me.       Mobility and agility aptly describes the method of the mobile tailor. He optimises his tools thereby pushing the envelope of what is possible. Like someone said the other day, when life hands you pepper, make pepper-soup. Indeed, I salute the ingenu...

      I know it’s probably too early and probably of no use to bemoan the shylock tendencies of majority of African leaders (business leaders alike) but I have chosen here and now to say it as I consider it. The pyramids in Egypt reminds me of a lost opportunity. We blew it. I do not intend to ruffle any feathers but I do hope that the handwriting stays on the wall. The key difference between the horsemen of the American and African revolution is the low-balling, often un-enterprising pursuits of the latter.     John D Rockefeller founded Standard Oil ; one time biggest global corporation. He re-organised a second rate market into an industry. This man was a monopolist but he found the use for petrol. What has our oil, cement and commodity barons found a use for?     Thomas Edison and JP Morgan created what later became General Electric through the brilliant marriage of innovation and finance. I must mention that their...