Attn. All CES Ninjas: Innovate or Die
February 7, 2019
Written By:
Dayna Beal | Business Lead - Discovery and Marketing
What does it take to be a Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Ninja? For me it took: 36 hours, four flights, three Ubers, hundreds of booths, a thousand photos and videos, 19,000 steps, no hotel, and zero sleep. And now to apply innovative-ninja-like skills after the show to next-generation innovation? It takes even greater commitment and discipline! Gary Shapiro got it right when he said, “We all need to adopt the mindset of a ninja to survive, let alone succeed.” Gary is the President and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association which produces CES, as well as the author of the new book Ninja Future, Secrets to Success in the New World of Innovation.
In his keynote address at CES, Gary discussed the need for businesses to “adopt the mindset of ‘ninjas’ to technological change to capitalize on opportunities at lightning speed.” He describes the attributes of ancient ninjas as “Japanese warriors who survived battles against extraordinary odds using stealth and surprise… despite being outgunned and outmanned by fierce competition or hostile conditions.” Gary goes on to state that ninjas “develop the discipline, self-confidence, and respect and learn a way of thinking that relies on surprise, strategy and adaptability. To think like a ninja was to do the unexpected, and in so doing produce value by connecting dots among different areas of knowledge and then apply creative thinking.”
How do organizations create value in today’s world which is a colliding cacophony of commotion? According to Gary and the T-shirts he distributed at CES—”Innovate or Die”. But how does one go about being innovative? Gary encouraged us to think like a Ninja. Be creative. Be strong, cunning, adaptable. Be disruptive. Take risks. And here is where it gets fun. Gary said we should “assemble a strike force of colleagues committed to creating a better future.”
DISHER SWAT Teams
For a sustainable future, DISHER loves to be part of an organization’s innovation strike force. From our growing 160-member team, we put together highly-trained SWAT teams of ninja-like warriors to attack specific problems for our customers every day. Our cross-functional teams are hand-selected, equipped, and ready to charge forward into new territories our client partners— many of whom exhibited at CES. Which by the way… it is always a delight to meet with our customers, see the fruit of our labors on display, and learn from other passionate inventors at the show.
We all need to think and act like ninjas. One way we help organizations accomplish this is through intense, two-day Innovation Workshops to help companies expedite product development— fast. Together, we understand user problems, embrace new technologies, ideate new solutions, rapidly build prototypes, and test ideas with potential consumers. Our design-thinking process is built for rapid iteration and constant human-centered feedback throughout each phase. When DISHER is awarded the privilege of turning the best vetted ideas into working realities, it is highly motivating. To develop meaningful, makeable, and marketable products with our customers is our sweet spot. We design and engineer with speed and accuracy— and like to creatively think outside the box. We have to. Our customers count on us to do this with them. After all, if we don’t innovate, we die… whether it is a service, a product, or a program. It takes courage, creatively, and agility to be a SWAT team with a group of innovation ninjas.
Organizations involved in product development and innovation must apply ninja-like speed and skill in light of the technology and social trends colliding around us.
A Few Trends from CES 2019
Listed below are a few top trends from CES 2019. If you would like to learn more about them or discuss how they apply to your organization— let us know.
Top 5 Trends According to Analytics India
1| Rise of AI & Robotics
2| AR & VR Becomes Consumer-Centric
3| CES 2019 Electric Bikes, Self-Propelled Vehicles to Flying Cars
4| The NextGen. 5G Connectivity for Global Networking
5| Foldable Smartphones: The Future of Portable Mobile Devices
Source: Check Out The Top 5 Trends Emerging From CES 2019
7 Automotive Trends from Driving Postmedia Network, Inc.
1| The future might be invisible
2| The future is alert
3| The future is bright
4| The future is booming
5| The future is modular
6| The future will be convenient
7| The future is data
Source: Seven automotive trends from 2019 CES you need to know about
Best of CES According to Business Insider
Best New Technology: Kia’s Real-Time Emotion Adaptive Driving
Best Consumer Concept: Mercedes-Benz’s futuristic concept car, the Urbanetic.
New Laptop Technology: The 5 Laptops we’re most looking forward to trying in 2019
Source: CES 2019 – Insider
Written By: Dayna Beal, Business Lead – Discovery and Marketing
Dayna is a strategic growth guy with a BA from Hope and an MBA in corporate strategy from Northwestern. He is a Jim Collins, Patrick Lencioni and Bill Hybels fan. Dayna helps organizations with vision mapping, branding, developing their people and more. He is a soccer coach, youth group leader and an energetic family man.