Innovation
One in a million - an innovation that works for a children’s hospice
Francis House Children’s Hospice is 18 years old. “In January 1990 Sister Aloysius called a meeting of like minded people to discuss how to provide help to the many families around the Northwest who had children with life limiting conditions, the Rainbow Family Trust was born! Never one to let grass grow under her feet [...]
Feedback from HR directors highlights the importance of biomimetics as a technique in leadership and change management
HR Directors that attended the recent HR Forum in London to hear Phil Rchardson give his talk on leadership and change management and the use of biomimetics as a business tool provided some exciting feedback. If you are interested in finding out more visit Thoughtcrew or call Phil on +44 208 133 4728.
“Very passionate about [...]
Nano project management
Project management principles such as Prince 2 are fine if the team is trained and the culture encourages the right behaviours. However on my experience projects are full of business people who don’t get the right kind of training or support. Thoughtcrew has developed a new method called Nano Project Management. Business participants in a [...]
The next big thing in consulting
Biomimetics is the next big thing in consulting acording to a group of senior business leaders that attended the latest briefing by Phil Richardson of Thoughtcrew.
Exploring the application of the new models and theories developed by Phil on his PhD at the University of Bath the invited audience were enthusiastic about the application [...]
Creative solutions to the problems you didn’t know you had
Before setting off down the wrong path it’s worth spending some time thinking about the problem. Typically problems present as a series of clues. These symptoms present as something that is or is not happening.
Very expensive mistakes have been made by designing and implementing solutions for symptoms. Little, if any time has been spent [...]
Adhesives - a chat with Professor Julian Vincent
I have just come from an interesting meeting with Professor Julian Vincent where we were discussing glue. Julian is a biomimetics expert and has published 300 papers on the application of biology to engineering and in particular materials problems. Adhesives play a major role in the way we live our lives today. Julian points out [...]
Why insight is essential and software can’t provide it
Essential: vitally important, fundamental
Insight: penetrating and often sudden understanding, as of a complex situation or problem
I once asked the inventor of a clever search engine to build a business analysis engine - a software machine into which we might pour gigabytes of business data and then ask a series of broad questions. It would [...]
Inspiration to solve the problem of counterfeit goods
A recent workshop on Biomimetics in Bath found inspiration from a visit to the Botanical Gardens in Royal Victoria Park. Working on the problem of how to overcome the problem of counterfeit and fake goods a number of plants and animals were examined. Ideas for tracking, marking, packaging and training came from the close observation [...]
Innovation as a strategic target
Many businesses have ‘innovation’ as a strategic target or goal. However many are uncertain as to what this means or more importantly how they go about achieving innovation. what it means for the business and how to know when innovation has happened.
Thoughtcrew uses Biomimetics as the source of inspiration for innovation. We help identify the [...]
Bird flocks and crab growth provide insight to internal communications
We are currently working with a major drink manufacturer to help improve the quality of the communications between their innovation group and the rest of the business. Like many internal organisations the gaps between departments are often left whilst all energies are focused on the delivery of departmental objectives.
Biomimetics provided a fresh approach to this cross functional challenge and in [...]
