Code Red: A New Approach to Project Planning

At BeyondCurious, we engage a project planning practice called Code Red, designed to uncover the risk, uncertainty, and fears that exist in relation to any project. Code Red helps us align contingency planning to team energy level, gives us optimism when we need it, and vastly increases quality of output while on the way to the finish line. 

As New York Fashion Weeks closes its doors, the impact of technology in fashion is opening entirely new ones. The fashion industry is known for pushing boundaries in both aesthetics and design. It pulls inspiration from unconventional sources that are oftentimes off-kilter, explorative, and even futuristic. And depending on whom you ask, technology can be described using similar words. The relationship between fashion and technology isn’t new, but it's certainly evolving and there are many lessons to be learned by big and small brands alike. World famous designers are showcasing their collections through cinematic masterpieces while tech companies are hiring high-profile designers to spearhead product design.  

Data security is a heavy burden for business. That is particularly true in today's increasingly mobile, distributed workforce. And as the recent Heartbleed debacle pointed out, password technology is deeply fallible. However, new wearable technologies are being developed that will help companies simultaneously keep their data safe and allow their employees anytime anywhere access to key systems and information. 

At BeyondCurious, we live on the cloud. Literally. As an innovation consultancy, we work with leading brands helping them solve complex business problems with digital solutions. Yet, we have no servers, no local applications. Everything in our business is cloud based – providing global access to information and enabling us to scale rapidly as we grow.

Excellent client relationships are the foundation of a successful consultancy. But relationship management isn’t always easy. In fact, developing relationships and keeping them strong, even when there are bumps in the road, is one of the hardest skills to learn. 

Redg Snodgrass and Kyle Ellicott on the emerging business of wearable tech 

The second annual Glazed conference is set to take place June 3-4 in San Francisco at the Regency Center. I spoke to Wearble World and Glazed Conference founders Redg Snodgrass and Kyle Ellicott about the burgeoning wearable economy, and their thoughts on what it will take for the wearable era to truly come into its own. 

In this age of the quantified self, a lot of attention has been paid to wearable technologies. From Pebble and Misfit Shine to FitBit and Jawbone Up, wearable devices can track every aspect of our bodies. The quantified self movement isn’t just for fun; a detailed, specific understanding of our own metrics, from how many steps we take to how much we sleep we get, is helping to encourage positive behavioral shifts.

Apps get a lot of press and attention. But new technologies are about to change mobile as we know it. 

As the pace of innovation is speeding up elsewhere, health care innovation lags behind. Can a hackathon help?