As an advocate for transparency, efficacy and consumerism in today’s business environment, I am, however left wanting a bit… I mean we have these great technologies, we have some “fun” things happening, but what are we really doing? Are we solving anything, or are we just showing off our geek-ness and ability to make a mobile device do something cool? With the speed to market being in an increasingly quick turnaround with agile iterations happening on an almost daily basis, the rush to ship is daunting.

Are we solving anything, or are we just showing off our geek-ness and ability to make a mobile device do something cool?

What if we take a step back and start with a real problem? What if use our collective genius to collaborate and create a technological advancement to solve these real issues? We have the power to completely change the way we live, the way we educate, the way we govern, the way we support one another as human beings. I see a huge need for a new type of incubator… one that starts with a problem and the solution is in the brainstorming and innovation.

Solve First… Then Ship.

What do you think? How would you use collaboration to solve real issues?

However, this speed is creating a “ship now, we’ll find a reason later” mentality is building a sense of ubiquity and clutter in our minds eye whereas we should be flipping the ship process upside down to create a solution based function. The “ship now” movement pushes out product with no rhyme or reason, with each new startup wanting to be the new shiny object that’s talked about in all the industry publications and blogs, however the product has little to no true value in the increasingly connected world economy.

To Flip the Funnel we dig deep into the economic ecosystem to identify and intimately understand root causes to problems, issues, or concerns then utilize technology to solve these issues. This viewpoint creates a deeper understanding of the economy as a whole and provides value in the products we ship.

To all the startups and wannabe startups, let’s start this shift and create towards global solutions. Let’s fight to understand major issues, then develop to solve. Instead of fame, let’s fix infrastructures. Together, with technology, we can change the world.

Not only is our digital and physical worlds colliding, but our entire world as we know it is converging in on itself. With uprisings in the Middle East being spawned and coordinated by the use of Facebook, to the massive response during this devastating time in Japan, to the amazing support Best Buy provides using Twitter, to the shift in product development using insights garnered through real time conversations and engagements, the use of technology is becoming a driving force towards an integrated, interconnected world.

The world economy is slowly shifting towards a converged infrastructure of passion, transparency, and empowerment through the use of technology. This shift, affecting everything from education, government, business, philanthropy, personal lives, etc, will prove to be the biggest opportunity for greatness or decline to complete and utter failure in society as we know it.

Each use of technology needs to add value and support the various ecosystems in which we live. The education ecosystem must support business to ensure our society is creating a workforce that will continue to grow and prosper in the future. The business ecosystem must support the transparency of our social lives and values regarding sourcing, labor, wages, and propel the activation of the philanthropic ecosystem, which in turn provides the support to the world issues and matters needing the most attention. Using technology, we, together, can accomplish great feats.

Deciding to do so is the hardest step.

However, as with all technological advancements we find ourselves becoming insanely focused on what this technology can do for us now on a tactical, almost heartless level.

We continually get lost in the weeds with what we can do rather than what we should do.

With advances in digital technologies (especially in the mobile realm) we, as humans, are more powerful than ever before. We can access information, learn, and be entertained with a simple thumb tap; we are able to perform at the top of our game with connectivity and instant access; we can enhance our daily physical activities to the point of complete immersion within our own social networks to share physical experiences digitally with those who may not be present; we can now elude time and be in two places at once…