ACHIEVE INNOVATIONAL SUCCESS
WITH ‘LOONSHOTS’
of the James Bond movies and how Lipitor became a pharmaceutical blockbuster. What these phenomena have in common is that they were supported and made possible by a positive work environment structured to nurture ideas that were “just crazy enough to work.” However, success stories aren’t the only focus of “Loonshots.” The book also examines companies that paved the way as innovators, only to stifle change and lose momentum. Bahcall puts Pan American World Airways (Pan Am), Polaroid, and other titans that let the lightning out of the bottle under the microscope to show readers where the companies’ organizational structures went wrong. To Bahcall, the way business owners organize their team is the same as how temperature shapes water. You can be cold toward new ideas, which freezes progress and makes your company too brittle in the face of change, or you can be warm and let your team’s ideas flow in exciting new directions. Drawing on his experience as both a physicist and the co-founder of a biotechnology company, Bahcall is able to make his case in entertaining, down-to-earth prose. Beyond being a good read, “Loonshots” addresses an often overlooked factor in the ways innovative companies succeed at redefining their industry, making it a great addition to any entrepreneur's library.
Many entrepreneurs dream of catching
lightning in a bottle — of harnessing new, powerful ideas that will propel their business to the cutting edge. Whether they call it disruption, innovation, or genius, many business books focus on the “lightning” side of the equation. But those flashes of brilliance mean nothing without a bottle to capture them in. According to author and physicist Safi Bahcall, if you want to turn momentary inspiration into tangible success, you need structure.
Bahcall explores this idea in his book, “Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries.” He examines many successful innovations that were originally deemed “crazy” or “doomed to fail,” including the breakout success
3 BIZ TOOLS THAT HELP REMOTE TEAMS SUCCEED Over the last couple months, companies that were not already operating remotely had to quickly shift to a work- from-home model. In the process, we at REIBLAW have learned new strategies and tools for being successful as a remote team, some of which will be equally beneficial in an office environment. Here are a few of our favorites. conference with one employee or an entire department, Zoom is a great tool for getting everyone on the same wavelength for collaboration.
MEET EDGAR This social media scheduling tool makes it easier to be consistent with your marketing. Rather than waiting until you have downtime to make a post, you can schedule out everything in advance. Meet Edgar allows you to build an unlimited, categorized online library of social updates for your personal and business accounts and make posts to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms on a schedule you choose. BONUS TOOL FOR ENTREPRENEURS: SCRIBE Always dreamed of writing your own book? Scribe makes it easy. Turn your idea into a book in about 50 hours on the phone over the course of seven months. You’ll be interviewed by a Scribe writer, who will do the heavy lifting and put the words to paper for you.
SLACK This is an excellent platform for team communication, even for teams not working remotely. Slack allows for group messaging, direct messaging, and department- or client- specific messaging. It utilizes tags to ensure people see your message, and it’s an approachable, easy way to stay connected with your team throughout the day. ZOOM Of course, while instant messaging and chat platforms are great for quick communication, getting some face time in with your team for real-time collaboration is a must, especially when you’re working remotely. Zoom makes that easy with video conferencing. Whether you want to video
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