Author Archives: Gerald Barnett

Release the Bugaboos!

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

Let’s put some context around the idea of “free agency.”  AUTM clearly hates it, and so do Scott Shane and Joe Allan.  But what is it, exactly, that they hate?  I cannot get into their minds–and of course, it’s clear … Continue reading →

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Adoption before productization

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

In Four Steps to the Epiphany, Steven Blank argues that technology startups need to find their “earlyvangelist” customers before their product is finished.  Earlyvangelists are people who have a problem, know they have the problem, and have taken steps to … Continue reading →

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I know, build a compulsory control scheme!

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

Teresa M. Amabile, “How to Kill Creativity”: Creativity is undermined unintentionally every day in work environments that were established–for entirely good reasons–to maximize business imperatives such as coordination, productivity, and control. In Steven Johnson’s The Innovator’s Cookbook.  What do folks … Continue reading →

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Innovating in the infrastructure

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

Here is an interesting take on innovation.  Bill Frezza argues that the STEM infrastructure is not itself practicing uniformly the best STEM.  For biotech, Frezza argues there’s still room for innovation by upgrading to the tech that’s current in other … Continue reading →

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Voice + Choice

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

Does a national research innovation system benefit from the mass conversion of generally open and diverse environments of university scholarship to institutionalized management behind a paywall?  That’s what is happening in America right now.  Efforts have only intensified after Stanford … Continue reading →

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The Plutonomy

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

Chris Newfield, writing in his occasional blog on the woes of the middle class, discusses innovation in a list of the “core concepts of the current system” in the US (where Right/Radical is somewhat equivalent to “Republican” and Conservative means … Continue reading →

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A case for freedom

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

Let’s talk about “free agency”.   Institutions hate it, players love it.  Fans, they are not sure.  When it comes to university innovation, however, we need to work through a number of issues.  Let’s start with a few considerations. Universities have … Continue reading →

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The Most Wonderful Thing in the World

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

Here is a collection of clips from ten US research university IP policies.  The focus is on claims of ownership, not considering any of a number of other matters, such as royalty sharing schedules or the conditions on  which property … Continue reading →

Posted in Policy, Present Assignment | 1 Comment

The Gulag of Inventions

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

A Chronicle of Higher Education story has this headline: “Ambitious AAUP Effort to Guide Relations Between Academics and Industry Meets Resistance.” The “resistance” is from two officials speaking for AUTM and AAU. These are the same folks who led the … Continue reading →

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WYSIATI

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman develops the idea of “what you see is all there is.” He makes the case that we use two rather different mental approaches, which he calls System 1 and System 2. System 1 … Continue reading →

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