Creating a STEM-Based Innovation Lab in Your Crib to Compete in the 21st Century Global Economy
Being an African-American tech entrepreneur, it should be apparent I have a creative space to develop technology and economic empower solutions for brothas and sistas. But I want to be honest where I don’t have a “creative space” I have a full-blown innovation lab that is just is good and in some cases better than the innovation labs ran at large corporations. Me and my crew all have innovation labs setup in our spots and we can create and exchange knowledge and demonstrate proof of concepts.
A lot of cats just like to talk some ish about technology and trying to get you to think they all that. But they mad at me and the 30 Rotten Dissidents because we got real stuff to show and tell and can’t figure it out. The reason they don’t understand is because almost all African-Americans I talk to in this technology game do not have an innovation lab setup at their crib. They got a computer workspace or some ish like that, but they do not have a full blown innovation lab designed to create a startup culture.
There are two things that made me write this article – actually there is three reasons. The first reason is I was listening to this old head clown talking about starting up a Black think tank group. That’s where Black people get in a room and broadcast their egos, beat their chest like a gorilla, testing each other and don’t accomplish ish but either defending their personal ego or bruising their personal ego and have grudges. I told that old head clown we don’t do “think tanks” anymore in the 21st century; we have innovation labs to make ish happen and show tried and proven theories. Yeah, he looked real stupid after that.
The second thing was my kid – he actually like my innovation lab and it was not built for him but built for me to hustle hard and prove out concepts before taking to market. My innovation lab is setup with video conference to talk to experts and peers all over the world on technology, has a YouTube studio setup and has the mobile technology showcase with NFC and augmented reality and QR shopping poster examples, the point of sale project as well as the arduino microprocessor to run interactive light displays. It also has a collaborative setup to jot down ideas and capture information. But I realize that my son does not have this – all he probably have is like other Americans is a room to play video games and not be innovative.
The third reason kind of goes back to the first two – African-Americans need innovation labs in their household to prepare their kids for the 21st century as well as become creative entreprenuers in the 21st century and step our damn game up. Screw a home office – that’s some dotcom era McMansion crap, you want to create a true innovation lab that let you create real solutions like we been doing here at Dream and Hustle and why we way above the other cats out there in this game. Take your game room or home office and convert it into an innovation laboratory to start collaborating and creating solutions for you, your people and your community and your future.
What is an Innovation Lab?
An innovation is simply a laboratory where you create experiments and try out theories and concepts with the goal to make them a reality. It is where you be as creative, hold nothing back but at the same time, learn to organize your ideas and concepts and testing and results and make the decision if you can proceed, too radical for current market or not feasible.
This is why you see Dream and Hustle write the articles we can write and why me and the 30 Rotten Dissidents can make the kind of global moves we are making without anybody permission or knowledge. This is why I can laugh at cats coming to my blog running their damn mouth trying to question what I’m putting out in terms of what the hood can do and why you don’t see cats coming here messing with me like that anymore. Yeah, you don’t see them because we put in real work and research with our innovation labs while they just run their mouth.
Many large corporations realized their employees are just paycheck taking lazy morons who will never innovate and just “do their job” to keep it. These same large corporations are very scared after seeing how fast and nimble startups like Netflix wiped out Blockbuster or how Amazon wiped out large book chains like Borders. So corporations are investing in creating innovation labs and create a startup firm culture hiring people they want to think quick and nimble like a startup and give them the resources and space to do what they need to do to create and think of good solutions.
I want you to take a look at what Nordstrom wrote about their innovation lab:
What we build:
A new product every week or two.
Validated learning: we build experiments, not applications. We pass the working ones on to other teams.
Risky projects: we expect 80% to fail.
High leverage: we expect that 20% that succeed to have a huge impact.
New & diverse technologies: web, mobile, and sometimes even infrastructure.
Source: http://nordstrominnovationlab.com/
Noticed they said they expect 80% of what they do to fail. Do you notice in the Black community how our people try to talk about our own people failing and cats are scared of failing? Do you know that it some cats out there keep thinking I should fail all the time but don’t realize I also expect to fail 80% of the time also? See, this is again why they don’t come to Dream and Hustle no more because they wanted to see if I can be a failure but then they got emotionally mad after realizing I’m actually a professional failure because you have to learn to fail in order to be as good as me in this game.
This is why I want you and your kids to have an innovation lab in your home – I want you to show yourself and also show your kids to try out something and if it fail, they can learn from it and start something new. When you fail, understand why you failed and discuss it and the same with your kids, have them talk out why the experiment failed. What happens is you begin to collect data and you realize to save that data and learn and move on – let’s start teaching our Black children how to fail, learn from failures and keep moving instead of being ashamed to fail or being scared to fail and not try anything.
My innovation lab is dedicated to urban economics and development using technology which is the focus of both the mission of 30 Rotten Dissidents and Swagg-Scientific. I do a lot of paper crafting and model building as well as actual electronics building. In addition, I do a lot of programming against mobile devices and computer vision with cameras and interactive interfaces for touch screens. I also do software programming but that comes natural and after the fact. And I gather a lot of information and organize them in mind maps using the FreeMind mind mapping software on a large 42” LCD screen and share this data with a web conference with my outsourced development team or with the 30 Rotten Dissidents.
What You Find in an Innovation Lab
Building an innovation for yourself is actually not as expensive as you think – in fact, let’s get something straight right now – your innovation lab in your house should not be fancy or anything like that! It should be a place that just have the basics and make you focus on nothing but creating a solution and having the tools to generate and capture creativity and see if they can become real.
Same with your kids – do not make the lab fancy or fun, the kids will enjoy being able to think of solutions and research their creativity and make it real. Nothing is more fulfilling to a young child than being able to make their young dreams and ambitions real. So let’s talk about what you need to put in your innovation lab and I will share what I have in mine.
Wall Mounted Flat Panel Monitor. A good 32-inch to 50-inch monitor should be mounted on the wall and be about 5 feet from the floor or a little lower than that for the kids to interact with. Connect the monitor to a simple computer to stream instructional video feeds and allow the use of open source software to discuss with others. Also have a camera attached to setup a large video conference feed using Skype or other software. I got my flat panel as a divorce trophy and the computer from the pawn shop.
Plastic Folding Tables. The plastic folding tables you can get from the big box store but I have two 6 foot tables. Here is the thing – one of the tables is the workbench holding the stuff I’m working on at the moment and sits below the flat panel monitor. The other table is used to create the setup and layout when I go outside and setup a vendor table exhibit for my hustles – it is the practice table for that.
Drawing Glass. You can get a large sheet of glass and draw using glass markers that can be wiped off. I have glass on the wall mounted security and draw my freestyle ideas on it. In fact, I still got my original enterprise service bus drawing on it for the point of sale application I’m hoping to release this year.
Digital Camera. You can use your cell phone camera but I have a digital camera from the pawn shop to snap pictures of things I drew on the glass and I put that picture on a file of my computer to review later as notes. In addition, I have a video camera for my upcoming YouTube videos to do product demonstration videos and I’m practicing right now. In fact, I use the wall mounted monitor as a teleprompter to read my lines while looking in the camera.
Sticky Notes for Story Mapping. I will be honest, I use mind mapping software Freemind instead of sticky notes because quite frankly, sticky notes fall off the wall on the floor and you cannot capture all of the sticky notes with a camera or digital equipment and too physical. I do not like physical written stuff anymore and if I do scribble anything, it get scanned or a digital camera picture to upload later. You can tell how confusing sticky notes are looking at the pictures and here is a resource if you are in this kind of thing – http://www.agileproductdesign.com/presentations/user_story_mapping/index.html
Uncomfortable Chair. I have a simple folding chair because I’m not in that room to relax or chill out. I’m in that room to walk around, think, go to the drawing board and create innovation. This is not a man cave or a game room or a getaway spot. This is a room where you are tired of being broke and want to get your money up and build a real empire and create a solution.
Accountant Boxes. I do not have messy paper all over the place or craft projects hanging around. I like to pack them away and keep the room clean so I can think and not be distracted on existing stuff out there unless it is the active project.
Why Brothas and Sistas Need Personal Innovation Labs
The problem with the African-American community is we are just talking ish and talking opinions and want to get emotional and broadcast our egos and biased. We like to follow people like Al Sharpton and then when someone like Media Takeout puts out a lie, Black people don’t even do homework or research and start making ignorant comments off misinformation.
But most important, the school system is not teaching our kids how to be creative, how to innovate and how to think. Instead, these sorry American schools are teaching our children how to take standardized test and that is not going to help their ass one bit in the 21st century when the rest of the world is coming up and surpassing Americans in STEM and can easily take jobs we Americans used to hold down.
Look at our ineffective organizations and how they are self-serving but have no skills or smarts to fight the smart data enemy that is plotting hard against us. All of our Black leaders on television running their mouth as emotional pundits as if someone actually gives a damn what they think or say. But none of them ever come out with hard data, facts and research and able to use predictive science or modern historical data to anticipate and make the kind of moves to stay winning in the 21st century.
It is your individual responsibility as an African-American to get your own setup to keep you and your children relevant for the global economy in the 21st century. That mean you get rid of that silly ass home office where you just sitting there thinking you important in your own house. That means you get rid of that time wasting video game room for your kids where they play video games all day and you build out an innovation lab inside your house that allow you and your kids to collaborate, research and pursue your hustles and dreams.
So if you wondering why Ed Dunn and the 30 Rotten Dissidents are straight styling on these cats, straight making ish happen and know what we doing and know what we are talking about, it’s because cats like me are innovating and got labs to prove what we say and say what we proved.
http://dreamandhustle.com/2013/03/creating-a-stem-based-innovation-lab-in-your-crib-to-compete-in-the-21st-century-global-economy/
Being an African-American tech entrepreneur, it should be apparent I have a creative space to develop technology and economic empower solutions for brothas and sistas. But I want to be honest where I don’t have a “creative space” I have a full-blown innovation lab that is just is good and in some cases better than the innovation labs ran at large corporations. Me and my crew all have innovation labs setup in our spots and we can create and exchange knowledge and demonstrate proof of concepts.
A lot of cats just like to talk some ish about technology and trying to get you to think they all that. But they mad at me and the 30 Rotten Dissidents because we got real stuff to show and tell and can’t figure it out. The reason they don’t understand is because almost all African-Americans I talk to in this technology game do not have an innovation lab setup at their crib. They got a computer workspace or some ish like that, but they do not have a full blown innovation lab designed to create a startup culture.
There are two things that made me write this article – actually there is three reasons. The first reason is I was listening to this old head clown talking about starting up a Black think tank group. That’s where Black people get in a room and broadcast their egos, beat their chest like a gorilla, testing each other and don’t accomplish ish but either defending their personal ego or bruising their personal ego and have grudges. I told that old head clown we don’t do “think tanks” anymore in the 21st century; we have innovation labs to make ish happen and show tried and proven theories. Yeah, he looked real stupid after that.
The second thing was my kid – he actually like my innovation lab and it was not built for him but built for me to hustle hard and prove out concepts before taking to market. My innovation lab is setup with video conference to talk to experts and peers all over the world on technology, has a YouTube studio setup and has the mobile technology showcase with NFC and augmented reality and QR shopping poster examples, the point of sale project as well as the arduino microprocessor to run interactive light displays. It also has a collaborative setup to jot down ideas and capture information. But I realize that my son does not have this – all he probably have is like other Americans is a room to play video games and not be innovative.
The third reason kind of goes back to the first two – African-Americans need innovation labs in their household to prepare their kids for the 21st century as well as become creative entreprenuers in the 21st century and step our damn game up. Screw a home office – that’s some dotcom era McMansion crap, you want to create a true innovation lab that let you create real solutions like we been doing here at Dream and Hustle and why we way above the other cats out there in this game. Take your game room or home office and convert it into an innovation laboratory to start collaborating and creating solutions for you, your people and your community and your future.
What is an Innovation Lab?
An innovation is simply a laboratory where you create experiments and try out theories and concepts with the goal to make them a reality. It is where you be as creative, hold nothing back but at the same time, learn to organize your ideas and concepts and testing and results and make the decision if you can proceed, too radical for current market or not feasible.
This is why you see Dream and Hustle write the articles we can write and why me and the 30 Rotten Dissidents can make the kind of global moves we are making without anybody permission or knowledge. This is why I can laugh at cats coming to my blog running their damn mouth trying to question what I’m putting out in terms of what the hood can do and why you don’t see cats coming here messing with me like that anymore. Yeah, you don’t see them because we put in real work and research with our innovation labs while they just run their mouth.
Many large corporations realized their employees are just paycheck taking lazy morons who will never innovate and just “do their job” to keep it. These same large corporations are very scared after seeing how fast and nimble startups like Netflix wiped out Blockbuster or how Amazon wiped out large book chains like Borders. So corporations are investing in creating innovation labs and create a startup firm culture hiring people they want to think quick and nimble like a startup and give them the resources and space to do what they need to do to create and think of good solutions.
I want you to take a look at what Nordstrom wrote about their innovation lab:
What we build:
A new product every week or two.
Validated learning: we build experiments, not applications. We pass the working ones on to other teams.
Risky projects: we expect 80% to fail.
High leverage: we expect that 20% that succeed to have a huge impact.
New & diverse technologies: web, mobile, and sometimes even infrastructure.
Source: http://nordstrominnovationlab.com/
Noticed they said they expect 80% of what they do to fail. Do you notice in the Black community how our people try to talk about our own people failing and cats are scared of failing? Do you know that it some cats out there keep thinking I should fail all the time but don’t realize I also expect to fail 80% of the time also? See, this is again why they don’t come to Dream and Hustle no more because they wanted to see if I can be a failure but then they got emotionally mad after realizing I’m actually a professional failure because you have to learn to fail in order to be as good as me in this game.
This is why I want you and your kids to have an innovation lab in your home – I want you to show yourself and also show your kids to try out something and if it fail, they can learn from it and start something new. When you fail, understand why you failed and discuss it and the same with your kids, have them talk out why the experiment failed. What happens is you begin to collect data and you realize to save that data and learn and move on – let’s start teaching our Black children how to fail, learn from failures and keep moving instead of being ashamed to fail or being scared to fail and not try anything.
My innovation lab is dedicated to urban economics and development using technology which is the focus of both the mission of 30 Rotten Dissidents and Swagg-Scientific. I do a lot of paper crafting and model building as well as actual electronics building. In addition, I do a lot of programming against mobile devices and computer vision with cameras and interactive interfaces for touch screens. I also do software programming but that comes natural and after the fact. And I gather a lot of information and organize them in mind maps using the FreeMind mind mapping software on a large 42” LCD screen and share this data with a web conference with my outsourced development team or with the 30 Rotten Dissidents.
What You Find in an Innovation Lab
Building an innovation for yourself is actually not as expensive as you think – in fact, let’s get something straight right now – your innovation lab in your house should not be fancy or anything like that! It should be a place that just have the basics and make you focus on nothing but creating a solution and having the tools to generate and capture creativity and see if they can become real.
Same with your kids – do not make the lab fancy or fun, the kids will enjoy being able to think of solutions and research their creativity and make it real. Nothing is more fulfilling to a young child than being able to make their young dreams and ambitions real. So let’s talk about what you need to put in your innovation lab and I will share what I have in mine.
Wall Mounted Flat Panel Monitor. A good 32-inch to 50-inch monitor should be mounted on the wall and be about 5 feet from the floor or a little lower than that for the kids to interact with. Connect the monitor to a simple computer to stream instructional video feeds and allow the use of open source software to discuss with others. Also have a camera attached to setup a large video conference feed using Skype or other software. I got my flat panel as a divorce trophy and the computer from the pawn shop.
Plastic Folding Tables. The plastic folding tables you can get from the big box store but I have two 6 foot tables. Here is the thing – one of the tables is the workbench holding the stuff I’m working on at the moment and sits below the flat panel monitor. The other table is used to create the setup and layout when I go outside and setup a vendor table exhibit for my hustles – it is the practice table for that.
Drawing Glass. You can get a large sheet of glass and draw using glass markers that can be wiped off. I have glass on the wall mounted security and draw my freestyle ideas on it. In fact, I still got my original enterprise service bus drawing on it for the point of sale application I’m hoping to release this year.
Digital Camera. You can use your cell phone camera but I have a digital camera from the pawn shop to snap pictures of things I drew on the glass and I put that picture on a file of my computer to review later as notes. In addition, I have a video camera for my upcoming YouTube videos to do product demonstration videos and I’m practicing right now. In fact, I use the wall mounted monitor as a teleprompter to read my lines while looking in the camera.
Sticky Notes for Story Mapping. I will be honest, I use mind mapping software Freemind instead of sticky notes because quite frankly, sticky notes fall off the wall on the floor and you cannot capture all of the sticky notes with a camera or digital equipment and too physical. I do not like physical written stuff anymore and if I do scribble anything, it get scanned or a digital camera picture to upload later. You can tell how confusing sticky notes are looking at the pictures and here is a resource if you are in this kind of thing – http://www.agileproductdesign.com/presentations/user_story_mapping/index.html
Uncomfortable Chair. I have a simple folding chair because I’m not in that room to relax or chill out. I’m in that room to walk around, think, go to the drawing board and create innovation. This is not a man cave or a game room or a getaway spot. This is a room where you are tired of being broke and want to get your money up and build a real empire and create a solution.
Accountant Boxes. I do not have messy paper all over the place or craft projects hanging around. I like to pack them away and keep the room clean so I can think and not be distracted on existing stuff out there unless it is the active project.
Why Brothas and Sistas Need Personal Innovation Labs
The problem with the African-American community is we are just talking ish and talking opinions and want to get emotional and broadcast our egos and biased. We like to follow people like Al Sharpton and then when someone like Media Takeout puts out a lie, Black people don’t even do homework or research and start making ignorant comments off misinformation.
But most important, the school system is not teaching our kids how to be creative, how to innovate and how to think. Instead, these sorry American schools are teaching our children how to take standardized test and that is not going to help their ass one bit in the 21st century when the rest of the world is coming up and surpassing Americans in STEM and can easily take jobs we Americans used to hold down.
Look at our ineffective organizations and how they are self-serving but have no skills or smarts to fight the smart data enemy that is plotting hard against us. All of our Black leaders on television running their mouth as emotional pundits as if someone actually gives a damn what they think or say. But none of them ever come out with hard data, facts and research and able to use predictive science or modern historical data to anticipate and make the kind of moves to stay winning in the 21st century.
It is your individual responsibility as an African-American to get your own setup to keep you and your children relevant for the global economy in the 21st century. That mean you get rid of that silly ass home office where you just sitting there thinking you important in your own house. That means you get rid of that time wasting video game room for your kids where they play video games all day and you build out an innovation lab inside your house that allow you and your kids to collaborate, research and pursue your hustles and dreams.
So if you wondering why Ed Dunn and the 30 Rotten Dissidents are straight styling on these cats, straight making ish happen and know what we doing and know what we are talking about, it’s because cats like me are innovating and got labs to prove what we say and say what we proved.
http://dreamandhustle.com/2013/03/creating-a-stem-based-innovation-lab-in-your-crib-to-compete-in-the-21st-century-global-economy/
