Let's change people's minds!

Grid breast feeding

Silicon Valley-venture Prolacta has launched a nation-wide concept for collecting and distributing mother's milk to premature infants. The company provides hospitals with all necessary equipment including refrigerators, temperature-controlled shipping cartons and tracking software. In turn, hospitals hospitals are to recruit volunteering donor nursing mothers. The milk will then be frozen and shipped to Prolacta's production facilities in California for pasteurisation and further distribution.

Of course this will cause debate, and it already has. Experts highlight the risks of mothers who are fully  capable of breastfeeding themselves buying the milk instead. Others point to fact that pasteurisation decreases the nutrial value of the mother's milk.

That´s the nature of innovations. As the products or methods are new and previously not present, it's very easy to find qualities they don't have. But the wonderful thing is, that's not for experts to decide on, but for the users. Indeed, I am sure infants who don't get either pasteurised or non-pasteurised mother's milk, will be quite happy with this initiative.

Most compelling however, is the way to distribute resources from they who have something they don't need to they who despirately want it but don't have it. To me that's what more often should guide investors, entrepreneurs and politicians when it comes to evaluate new business concepts. Smart distribution of resources is more than grid computing. It can revolutionize energy supply, food catering and now even health. Sharing is caring.

Never check a good story

The diet book "French women don't get fat" has continued to climb the bestseller list. And I'm not suprised. The book, written by Mireille Guiliano, a 58-year-old Champagne CEO, who shares her time between Paris and New York has something really attractive: A title that allow us to live an ordinary life, only French.

However, the question one might ask is. Are Frenchwomen really not fat? And the sad answer is according to Washington Post - yes they are. At least 25 per cent of them are overweight and 11 per cent are obese.

So I am sorry. Not even this time the easy living approach to a better body came true. Changing body measures without changing behavior seems once again unreachable.

(Damn science - they can send a man to the moon, but we still can't have a hefty cheese burger a day without getting fat)

War - what is it good for?

San Francisco Business Times reports ten major California health-care organizations, including Blue Cross of California, Health Net, PacifiCare and Sutter Health have declared "war on fat". They will also try to recruite other organizations to make the program state-wide.

So, how will they fight this war?

Well, every health care provider "is expected to fill 50 percent of the space in vending machines at more than 140 worksite locations with healthy snacks and beverages, such as water and fruit"

Is it just me thinking:
1. Does it take a state-wide initiative to change what's in the vending machines?
2. Why, in a health care organization, wasn't the vending machines containing fruit and water already before this initiative?
3. Will it actually make any difference other than that the 50 per cent fatty stuff will be procured more often?
4. Is this a war?

The some carb diet

Will the hype of Atkin and Montignac finally lead to something really healty? It seams so according to this San Francisco Chronicle article about whole grains. In people's efforts of avoiding carbs while they still are addicted to bread they more and more listen to the advice of at least choosing whole grain bread.

This has started a whole grain trend in the US which hopefully will have a longer life than the low carb fad.

Why knowledge sucks!

If there would be an expression I would like see more often it would be "I knew wrong"

In my native Swedish you can't say it, and I am pretty sure English wouldn't allow it either.

I knew something, but now I know different. But I didn't think. I knew.

That's what strikes me everyday when reading about new diets and how to loose 10 or 20 pounds in a month or two. People know so much. But they know wrong.

Diet reading soars in sales. The South Beach Diet (number 12) has just been surpassed by Why French Women don't get fat (number 2!!!) on the best 20 selling books at Amazon. And the only reason some of the Atkins titles aren't there is probably only because everybody has one.

We thirst for knowledge. But still so many fail in loosing their pounds. Why? Because we only consume the knowledge that tells us not to change our behavior.

What's so mindblowing about Atkins, GI and diets alike? Well what about eating as you always have done, only choosing a low-carb alternative. It's pretty easy. Therefore we love the knowledge.

The problem is that if it possibly is nothing but the truth, it's not definately the whole truth. In last week's number of the gossip magazine US Weekly we were enlighted about our favorite celebs diets. What was the clue? Well in 9 times of 10 it turned out exercising 6-7 days a week and a low calorie diet. No "eat as much fat and protein you want diet" in sight.

Using knowledge about Atkins alows you to adopt a low carb lifestyle. And it may help you loose a couple of pounds. But it's nothing compared to a low calorie diet in combination with daily exercise. But that's a changed behavior, and what could be a better driver to acquire more knowledge than the possibility to turn down such a change. Even if it's faulse or unsufficiant knowledge.

Too many innovation marketing strategies are built around the assumption that knowledge changes attitude that changes behavior. It may be the case, but often it's not. It's far too complicated and it may well turn out in a completely other direction. Instead, in the case of diets, doing how the celebs do, without thinking of why, can be your best option. Don't think, just do it.