Medici Effect

“Innovators do not produce because

they are successful but they are
successful because they produce”.
What is Medici effect?
 The Medici effect refers to a phenomenon
that occurs when a number of talented,
creative and productive people from different
fields are brought together and are able to
collaborate to create something innovative
and new.
 Directional Vs Intersectional thinking.
 What Inspired The Medici
Effect ??
It draws on the history of the wealthy Medici
family, whose patronage brought poets,
philosophers, scientists, painters and other
artisans from around Europe to Florence,
Italy, between the 13th and 17th centuries.
Bringing these talented people together and
allowing them to collaborate is believed to
have kicked off the Renaissance period.
 Characteristics of
Intersectional Innovation
 In summary, intersectional innovations share the
following characteristics:
 They are surprising and fascinating.
 They take leaps in new directions.
 They open up entirely new fields.
 They provide a space for a person, team, or company to
call its own.
 They generate followers, which means the creators can
become leaders.
 They provide a source of directional innovation for years
or decades to come.
 They can affect the world in unprecedented ways.
 Rise of Intersection
 Forces responsible for the rise of intersection
are:
1)Globalisation
2)Convergence of Science
3)Leap of Computation
 Creating Medici Effect
 To break down associative barriers by:
1) Expose yourself to a range of cultures

2) Learn differently

3) Reverse assumptions

4) Try on different perspectives

 Making Intersectional ideas
happen
 Execute Past Your Failures
 Try ideas that fail to find those that won’t
 Reserve resources for trial and error
 Remain motivated
 Make sure everyone learns from past failures;
do not reward the same mistakes over and over again
 Break out of your network
 Take Risks and Overcome Fear
Frans Johansson
Worldwide Appreciation of The
Medici Effect
 “One of the Best Books on Innovation”— Business Week
 “He’s written the book dozens of business school
professors meant to write, but couldn’t.”— The
Washington Post
 “There is a good deal that managers can draw from this
collection of ideas.”— The Financial Times
 “A Work of Art ... If you can’t read it and come up with at
least a minor Mona Lisa or two, you’re not trying.”—
Entrepreneur Magazine
CASE STUDIES ON MEDICI
EFFECT
 Food
Marcus Samuelsson is an Ethiopian Swedish chef who
has combined various ingredients found in Swedish food
with other food ingredients around the world.
Caramelized Lobster. This dish basically consists of
Lobster and Seaweed Pasta. Lobster is Swedish but
Seaweed is the staple food of Japan.

Source:http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4376.html/
15-08-15:11:58
 World War II and code
breaking
During World War II when the Allied forces
attacked the German Coast the German
submarines used to get a coded message
The code was broken by joint effort of
Historians, Cryptologists, Mathematicians,
amateur puzzle solvers etc.
This was only possible by the intersection
people of various different fields.
 Card Games
Richard Garfield a well known mathematician invented
the game Magic -The Gathering. It was the first trading
card game.
Thus he was able to combine the very different fields of
normal card games and the fantasy games.
 Meteorite Crashes
During the 1900’s the reason was extinction of Dinosaurs
was one of the most popular questions.
It took a Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez to predict that 10
Kilometres long meteorite had struck the earth which led
to wipe out of an entire branch of evolution tree.
He has been able to intersect two fields Astronomy and
Palaeontology
Ants and Route Optimization
Ants usually find the shortest route possible to get to their
food.
Eric Bonabeau an Research and Development Engineer
combined the knowledge the route optimization of ants
with electronics to develop a new field of Swarm
intelligence.
Swarm Intelligence technique was used in management
of UAV’s in the US department of defence in the Afghan
war.
It all Boils down to..
 Where can we see
Medici Effect in real life
???
 Biomimetic Building uses
Termite mound as a model
 The Eastgate Centre
is a shopping centre
and office block in
central Harare,
Zimbabwe.
 The building was
designed to be
ventilated and cooled
entirely by natural
means.
Google Self Driving Cars
Google Project Loon
Google Project Jacquard
BMW’s iDrive System
Nike Shox Shoes
LZR Racer Speedo Swimsuit
Nano Vent-Skin of Micro-Wind
Turbines
PlayPumps
Some of the Bio-Mimicry can
also be a part of the Medici
Effect.
Volvo and African Locusts
Shinkansen JR 500
Robots inspired by Animals