40 minutes-on-business-model-innovation3500

Editor's Notes

• #4: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgdtgd/134803926/ Creative Commons – Attribution Share Alike License everyone's idle Alchemy (www.wikipedia.org) The common perception of alchemists is that they were pseudo-scientists, who attempted to turn lead into gold, believing that the universe was composed of the four elements of earth, water, fire, air, and spent most of their time concocting miraculous remedies, poisons, and magic potions. Most alchemists were well-meaning and intelligent men and distinguished scientists, such as Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle. These innovators attempted to explore the nature of chemical substances and processes. They had to rely on experimentation, traditional know-how, rules of thumb and speculative thought in their attempts to uncover the mysteries of the physical universe. At the same time, it was clear to the alchemists that "something" was generally being conserved in chemical processes, even in the most dramatic changes of physical state and appearance; that is, that substances contained some "principles" that could be hidden under many outer forms, and revealed by proper manipulation. Throughout the history of the discipline, alchemists struggled to understand the nature of these principles, and find some order and sense in the results of their chemical experiments—which were often undermined by impure or poorly characterized reagents, the lack of quantitative measurements, and confusing and inconsistent nomenclature.
• #5: http://www.flickr.com/photos/timalamenciak/479780770/ CC Attribution-ShareAlike License Tim Alamenciak
• #7: http://www.flickr.com/photos/judepics/378329050/ Creative Commons – Attribution License Judith  
• #9: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photohannah/512202109/ Creative Commons – Attribution License Hannah Ranken
• #11: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adactio/537789598/ Creative Commons – Attribution License Jeremy Keith
• #22: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Brueghel-tower-of-babel.jpg
• #28: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45786585@N00/790347311/ CC Attribution laurentg80
• #31: http://www.flickr.com/photos/archibaldjude/31352718/in/photostream/ CC Attribution-NoDerivs License archibald jude
• #32: http://www.flickr.com/photos/r000pert/111340712/ CC Attribution-NoDerivs License r000pert
• #33: http://www.denismartin.ch/Plats/Plat-2.htm Restaurant Denis Martin Le shampoing d'eau de mer aux st.Jacques et Wasabi
• #34: http://www.flickr.com/photos/generated/501445202/ CC Attribution License Jared Tarbell
• #38: http://www.flickr.com/photos/billjacobus1/135815561/ CC Attribution License Bill Jacobus
• #41: http://www.flickr.com/photos/webethere/497958909/ CC Attribution-NoDerivs License carol mitchell
• #42: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hipocondriaca/488951265/ CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License Diana Castillo
• #43: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fxp/494636811/ CC Attribution-NoDerivs License Felix
• #44: http://www.virtualaloft.com/
• #45: http://www.flickr.com/photos/osterwalder/124735878
• #46: http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsgreg/22633970/ CC Attribution-NoDerivs License greg
• #47: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yuvalh/386987419 CC Attribution License Yuval Haimovits
• #48: http://www.flickr.com/photos/slworking/345125711/ slworking2
• #55: http://www.flickr.com/photos/framesniper/153464496/ CC Attribution-NoDerivs License Jeff Ryan
• #56: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lonelymoose/27178877/ Attribution-NoDerivs License lorelei
• #58: Toronto, Ontario's Goldcorp Inc. launched the Internet gold rush… http://www.innovation.gc.ca/gol/innovation/stories.nsf/veng/ss01056e.htm http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2007/id20070201_774736_page_2.htm http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/59/mcewen.html By the mid-1990s, Rob McEwen, Chairman and CEO of Toronto's Goldcorp Inc., was convinced that there was more gold to be found in his company's Red Lake Mine, despite expert opinions to the contrary. Located near Balmertown, Ontario, the mine had been in production since 1948, but was a small, costly and capital-starved operation with a very uncertain future. For Red Lake Mine to survive, big changes were required. Therefore in February 1995, Goldcorp launched a US$7-million exploration program, the most aggressive in its history. Forty-five days later, Goldcorp's geologists made a significant gold discovery at the bottom of the Red Lake Mine and shattered the accepted geological model for the area. Over the next three years, Goldcorp's exploration efforts continued to meet with success. The discovery revealed a deposit that was large enough to be economically mined, despite the fact that the price of gold had fallen to a 20-year low.For McEwen, the big questions were: "How big is this deposit?" and "How long will it take to find out?" To answer these questions, Goldcorp's geologists held a two-day brainstorming session. The open sharing of ideas focussed the exploration efforts. Greatly encouraged by the positive results, McEwen wanted to engage a larger community of experts in a much greater brainstorming session: the "Goldcorp Challenge."For this competition, Goldcorp publicly shared all of its geological data from the past 52 years and offered US$500 000 in prizes for determining where they might find the next 6 million ounces of gold at the Red Lake Mine, regardless of whether gold was found. "I wanted to tap into the intellectual capital of the mining industry and focus it with laser-like precision on our Red Lake Mine," says McEwen. "In this way, I could speed up exploration and improve the odds of discovery."Entry forms were made available via the Internet, with on-line virtual prospecting seen as the fastest and most cost-effective way to run the competition. A CD-ROM package was sent to applicants to allow them access to a valuable proprietary on-line geological database, as well as software to analyse and depict the data graphically in two and three dimensions.Goldcorp's open source code approach to exploration was unprecedented in the worldwide mining industry, where confidentiality and secrecy about reserves and exploration data are the norm. Goldcorp's transparency exposed it to possible industry criticism or rejection of its geological methodology and calculations, and could also have prompted a takeover bid. McEwen, however, believed that the benefits of sharing data — the rapid acquisition of knowledge — would outweigh the risks. The Goldcorp Challenge proved to be a resounding success, attracting 475 000 hits to the Web site and 1400 entries from individuals, corporations, domestic and foreign government geological agencies and universities from 50 countries. The exploration proposals that Goldcorp received identified 110 drilling targets, 50 percent of which were new prospects. The winning entry was a collaboration by two rival groups from Australia: Fractal Graphics, in West Perth, and Taylor Wall and Associates, in Queensland, who had developed a powerful three-dimensional graphic depiction of the mine. Mark O'Dea (Canada) took second place, while George Langstaff (U.S.) and Alexander Yakubchuk (Russia) tied for third.So far, Goldcorp has struck gold on four of the top five targets generated by this process. Today, Goldcorp's Red Lake Mine is considered the richest gold mine in the world with a reserve grade (concentration of gold) of 2.1 ounces per ton of rock. It produces gold at a cost of $60 per ounce, which makes it one of the five lowest-cost gold producers in the world. McEwen notes, "The winners were able to analyse a large, complex database in a short period of time and generate targets without ever visiting the property. It's clear that this process is part of the future."In September 2000, Business Week magazine named Goldcorp one of the 50 most innovative companies on the Web. In February 2002, Fast Company magazine named Goldcorp one of its "Fast 50: Champions of Innovation" based on a worldwide survey of its readers. In March 2002, BHP Billiton of London, England, the world's largest mining company, announced at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference that it had employed the "Goldcorp principle" to accelerate its own exploration effort.
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• #64: http://www.thelongtail.com/