Weekend Digest: The Bright Ideas Edition

For our weekend business and political readers:

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT BRIGHT IDEAS
That is if you truly want to innovate in your work.

According to research by Harvard Business School alum Clayton Christensen, Jeffrey Dyer of Brigham Young University, and Hal Gregersen of INSEAD, there is a new way of thinking about your job.

And what was the bottom line of their research? They came up with “five traits of highly innovative leaders.”

Some are simple, some are out there. So if you really want to be an innovator, click on this link from Science.

‘I HEAR THE SECRETS THAT YOU KEEP’
On your phone that is, and who is tapping in?

Fan Zhang, the owner of Happy Child, a trendy Asian restaurant in downtown Toronto, knows that 170 of his customers went clubbing in November. He knows that 250 went to the gym that month, and that 216 came in from Yorkville, an upscale neighborhood.

And he gleans this information without his customers’ knowledge, or ever asking them a single question. How does he do that?

Mr. Zhang is a client of Turnstyle Solutions Inc., a year-old local company that has placed sensors in about 200 businesses within a 0.7 mile radius in downtown Toronto to track shoppers as they move in the city.

So how do these sensors work and how does this “growing value of location data” help businesses promote to customers?

Turnstyle Solutions has a growing network that is “among the few that have begun using the technology more broadly to follow people where they live, work and shop.” What are the obvious privacy concerns and do U.S. companies have to get consent before prying-in on your phone call data?  For some surprising answers, go to this link.

ON-DEMAND CLOTHES FROM A 3-D PRINTER?
It hasn’t actually happened yet, but a fledgling company called Electroloom wants to expand this sub-market by 3-D printing basics, like T-shirts and sweaters.

Electroloom, founded by entrepreneur Aaron Rowley, is also the name of the company’s sole product: an in-development 3-D printer for creating customized, on-demand apparel. Rowley recently won a grant from Alternative Apparel, the Atlanta-based company known for its comfortable and casual clothing made from organic cottons and recycled fibers.

Fast Company Co.Design reports that Electroloom “still has a way to go,” but “so far Rowley and his team have managed to print sheets and tubes of polymer fabric with the machine.”

For more on this ingenious company and its radical plans, click on this link.

THE PRICE OF THE PLAYOFFS
Forbes has taken a precise look at what is at stake for the NFL Final Four of Denver, New England, San Francisco and Seattle.

Breaking it down by team, Forbes dissects what each team stands to gain by winning the Super Bowl. It also lists “Power Rankings” for the remaining four teams, based solely on team value.

Of the four who are left, what team do you think is the most valuable? And what are the net worth’s of the team’s owners? (Hint: #1 is a staggering amount of money.)

Finally…what are the Las Vegas odds to win it all?  Go here to find out.

OBAMACARE GETS PUSH FROM NBA GREATS
Magic Johnson and Alonzo Mourning are the latest celebs to promote ObamaCare, reports Forbes.

The Obama administration, in its latest push to increase the number of Americans signing up to enroll in health benefits under the Affordable Care Act, said NBA legends Magic Johnson and Alonzo Mourning who are well familiar with using the medical care system will appear in ads beginning tonight. (Thurs., 1/16)

The ads will appearing nationally on ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBAtv during NBA games and in “local markets that have high concentrations of the uninsured,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in a statement.

How long will the ads run and who are the ads mainly targeting? For more on this latest Affordable Care Act campaign, click on this link.

WHAT DOES BARBARA BUSH REALLY WANT?
Another Bush in the White House? Well, you might be surprised.

In an interview airing Monday on C-SPAN as part of the channel’s First Ladies series, the Bush matriarch says she isn’t too keen on Jeb making a presidential bid, citing her belief the country should look beyond just “Kennedys, Clintons, Bushes.”

For more on this story plus a clip from the interview, go to this link from POLITICO.

THE THEFT OF A RECRUITING STRATEGY
Pointing to the U.S. Senate race in Virginia as one example, The Washington Post reports the race “is the latest piece of evidence that Republicans have learned well from the recruitment strategy of Senate Democrats in 2012.”

Republican Ed Gillespie is running against Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Warner.

Gillespie is not a favorite in the race. He probably has less than a 30 percent chance of winning. But, he is a serious candidate who will raise money and run a real campaign against Warner, and, if the national environment collapses for Democrats or the incumbent makes a major mistake, will be positioned to win in a swing state.

In short, Virginia is now a race in play — an expansion of the playing field on which the fight for the Senate majority will take place.

That scenario is playing out in other states and the reason, according to The Post?

The GOP’s 2014 strategy might ring a bell. That’s because it’s the exact strategy that Democrats put in place in 2012 to hold the Senate.

So what is that strategy, and is the Arkansas Senate race in this mix?  For the full story, click on this link.

OBAMA TO VISIT SWING STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
The New York Times reports that “When President Obama arrives here (Raleigh) Wednesday to tout a manufacturing initiative, he is expected to be joined by students, business leaders and local officials — but not by Sen. Kay Hagan, his Democratic ally facing a tough re-election.”

Obama and how to keep those candidates some distance — but not too far — from the president. The notable absence at Obama’s first trip outside the Beltway in this election year highlights a perennial quandary for embattled candidates and less-than-popular presidents.

With a battle for control of the Senate looming and the president’s approval rating deflated, Democrats and the White House will spend much of this year grappling with whether their most vulnerable candidates will be helped or harmed by a visit from Obama and how to keep those candidates some distance — but not too far — from the president.

For more on this “familiar balancing act” that The Times says, “Both Republicans and Democrats have struggled with how to use,” go to this link.

OSCAR NOMINATED SONGS
The Oscar nominations were released this past week and from 75 possible options the list was narrowed-down to five that were nominated for the Best Original Song award.

Have a listen to all five here, courtesy of Rolling Stone.

STYLISH NEW E-BIKE
Ever seen one of those ugly e-bikes? You know those clunky-looking things that are green, but not exactly in vogue.

A company called Faraday has shifted the paradigm, so to speak, reports TechCrunch.

Urban commuters are getting more and more comfortable with the idea of biking around, but in places like San Francisco, that can be a drag. Electronic bicycles have emerged to help people get where they’re going, even in incredibly hilly environments. But many e-bikes are ugly, due to huge motors and battery packs that end up being placed in odd places around the frame.

Faraday Bicycles hopes to change that, with a bike that was built to be stylish, functional, and a lot of fun to ride.

For a preview and a look-see, “pedal” over to this link.