In the past, consulting firms' bread and butter has traditionally been large IT and business-transformation projects. Nowadays, project scopes increasingly require new skills, such as user experience, human-centered design, agile and more. Skill sets that have historically been offered by agencies.
Read MoreIf Silicon Valley ever formed a political party, it might look a lot like the current iteration of Germany’s Free Democrats, or FDP. In the 2017 German election, the FDP offered a platform that reads like what Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg would come up with if they decided to disrupt the political landscape. Its primary aspirations include creating a startup-friendly economy, digitizing Germany’s bureaucracy, and reducing income taxes, which currently top off at 45% for the highest earners. A few weeks ago the re-invented party returned to the parliament with 10 per cent of the vote in the election.
Read MoreAgile development has become popular in conjunction with digitization. It entails frequent interactions between business and IT groups, and it requires widespread acceptance of a test-and-learn approach. Agile work flows create positive business outcomes, such as a more engaging customer experience, streamlined internal processes, and a thriving, collaborative corporate culture. My team and I at Alchemist have been adopting an agile work flow from the start. In turn, this outcome-driven approach greatly enhanced our progress, work environment and culture.
Read MoreIt only takes a few days to get out of shape. When you stop running for just a week, your maximal aerobic capacity (max. VO2), one of the key running dynamics and physiological measurements, starts to decrease. Two to three weeks without training, and you will add a minute or more to your 5K time. More so, the stroke volume, which is the amount of blood pumped per heartbeat can drop by 10 percent and your muscles' aerobic enzymes may fall by 25 percent.
Read More“Sleep is the single most effective thing you can do to reset your brain and body,” Dr. Matthew P. Walker of U.C. Berkeley said. “We have a saying in medicine: What gets measured, gets managed.” The New York Times has spoke to a number of entrepreneurs, influencers and researcher from Silicon Valley and beyond that have invested into the sleep space. Formerly, inhabited by old-style mattress and pharmaceutical companies, today it is a USD 32 billion market.
Read MoreWhat defines ‘lifestyle’ today and which brands are really defining it? The strategy of moving beyond products and services to own a larger slice of the customer’s identity has proven to be an excellent recipe for success. Today's leading lifestyle brands are the likes of Airbnb, Rapha and Tesla, which perfectly reflect people's busy, mobile and demanding lives. They touch upon the consumer's individual style and are influenced by the way we choose to live.
Read MoreRichard Branson is one of the most recognizable people on earth. The British serial entrepreneur, adventure junkie and philanthropist has reinvented corporate promotion and marketing over the years. He is reinventing business models and supporting some of the world's biggest issues.
Read MoreUnsplash did not start to reinvent an industry. Unsplash had started because Mikael Cho and his friends thought it might be useful. Unsplash is a community where anyone can share high-resolution photos for anyone to use freely. It began as a Tumblr blog with ten leftover photos from a photoshoot. Instead of letting those sit dead in a hard drive, they decided it would be better if they were put to use to move other creative projects forward. "We believed the good from giving our images away would far outweigh what we could earn if we required payment or credit" says Cho about why he started Unsplash.
Read MoreIBM has been Wimbledon's technology partner since 1990 and each year there have been various debates about what makes a great tennis champion and what does not. So, for this years championship, the topic of IBM's debate was around what makes a champion great. For the past 27 years, IBM has measured of 53 million points at Wimbledon and has analysed data from many of the great matches of all time, from Roger and Nadal to McEnroe and Borg, as well as looking at historical match data going back as far as 1877. To answer this question, Jeremy Waite, Evangelist at IBM Watson, read almost 100 articles about “What Makes Great” and collated the 13 highlights from those articles, with advice from performance coaches, famous players and business leaders that think contribute to greatness.
Read MoreChris Rowson is the head of design and group creative director at TBWA in New York, which is one of the most storied and successful creative agencies in the world. The firm has a knack for surprising, disruptive work, and Rowson has played a big role in many of the agency’s campaigns. Dropbox has sat down with Rowson to discuss where he finds creative inspiration, how he thinks about teamwork, and what advice he has for the next generation of creators.
Read MoreCampaign Monitor provides simple email marketing, automation and online surveys that help growing businesses. The company has shared a fictional story that outlines the potential of digital media and what opportunities it can offer if applied correctly. It tells the story of two friends from New York City that have started their donut shop in Chelsea and how they have turned a passion project into a full-time business.
Read MoreLondon’s emerging financial technology (short: “fintech”) sector is full of clever people doing things with cash and code. Monzo, Revolut, Tandem and TransferWise are all tackling similar issues. But Mr Blomfield has done something different, which the others have not. He has made banking cool. Monzo is disrupting banking with his little pink cards, which have turned into a must-have for millennials and creatives. Blomfield and his team have somehow made personal finance palatable to millennials. In an interview with Mr Porter, he shared a few very interesting insights about his business plan and fashion preferences.
Read MoreSmartphones have altered our everyday life, digesting many longstanding spaces and rituals, and transforming others beyond recognition. The smartphone has become the signature artifact of our age. Less than a decade old, this protean object has become the universal, all-but-indispensable mediator of everyday life. Very few manufactured objects have ever been as ubiquitous as these glowing slabs of polycarbonate.
Read MoreThe newly appointed CEO of Wolff Olins, Sairah Asham, spoke to Co.Design about her new role as a CEO, the intersect of branding and technology and what digital sociology means and how it impacts the design industry.
Read MoreFrom 1971 to the early 2000s, Osti was responsible for a catalogue of brands including from C.P. Company to Stone Island and Supreme to NikeLab. His work remains embraced by industry fixtures. For many, sporting a Stone Island badge on their left arm or wearing a C.P. goggle jacket still symbolizes a commitment to substance over hype. “I design clothes for a man who travels across the planet, through different environments; nature, traffic, pollution, the urban adventure,” said Osti. “I’ve always thought that my clothes had to respond to real needs.”
Read MoreMillennials are poised to reshape the economy. Our unique experiences will change the ways we buy and sell, forcing companies to examine how they do business for decades to come. Goldman Sachs has created an interesting infographic that looks at some of the trends that will shape the new economy of Generation Y.
Read MoreJustine Musk, the first wife of Elon Musk, did not sugarcoat her response, when she shared her views on what it takes to become a billionaire. She says that one of the many qualities that separate self-made billionaires from the rest of us is their ability to ask the right questions. Such is not the right question.
Read MoreThe Porsche 911 needs no introduction. It is what many boys dream about in their teenage years. People talk about Turbo, Targa, GT2, GT3 and so. However, recently I came across a post on Petrolicious that looks beyond the stock version of those dream cars. It does not matter how pure, raw, distilled, whatever adjective you like, it just does not matter how good you think your car is, there will always be something that can be improved. And that 'something', RUF and Singer Vehicle Design try to deliver, all in pursuit of the 'perfect' car.
Read More"To do anything well is a struggle. You need to give it everything," says Rapha’s founder, Simon Mottram. In fact, this man has certainly thrown it all into creating an one-of-a-kind company that has made him cycle around the the world and gotten to know and work with the likes of Dave Brailsford, Paul Smith, Bradley Wiggins and Norman Foster. Mottram says that the key to Rapha's success was shaped by a three core principles namely: commerce, content and community.
Read MoreBrunello Cucinelli founded his company in 1978 by selling brightly coloured cashmere sweaters. When he was young he witnessed his father working in an unwelcoming environment and became a close observer of the world. Such experiences built the foundation of his dream to develop a framework that uses capitalism to enhance the human being.
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