Clayton M. Christensen’s book The Innovator’s Solution (published by Harvard Business School) reveals some astonishing insights into the fragility of success. Being bigger, it seems, it not always better.

Examining the companies that appeared on Fortune’s “50 Largest” list between 1955 and 1995, Christensen points out that 95% saw their growth rates stall to the level of general GNP or lower. Of these “stalled” companies, only 4 percent successfully rose to a level even one point higher than GNP subsequently.

It seems that companies become victims of their own success. Too often – almost inevitably – they reach a certain size beyond which they are unable to innovate and grow.

What does this have to do with learning? Everything.

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The bad news? Realizing I would be grounded for at least six days in Europe, so missing my son’s debut as the lead in Beauty and the Beast. The not so bad news? Although I am 4,000 miles from New York, I am stuck in beautiful Paris!

This trip was different. It was to be a short business trip – a few days of meeting clients before heading back to CERTPOINT’s New York headquarters. For the first time, I left my laptop at home. Instead, I decided to give my brand new iPad a road test.

And as my only device for running a global firm on, that iPad has had plenty of testing over the past few days.

The verdict?

The iPad passed with flying colors.  Although I wish it had this feature and that feature, the bottom line is this: the iPad is a game changer. I believe it will change the concept of personal computing for ever – making the standard laptop a dinosaur.

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sometimes you hear some news that just makes you smile.

So if you think you need a lift, I recommend a visit to e-Learning for Kids.

I recently learnt about the great work that this charity is doing under the leadership of its founder and chairman, Nick van Dam, and it certainly made me grin – it made me stop and think, too. It exists to make quality electronic courseware available for free to children throughout the world. For many of these kids, learning represents their best route to a better life – and e-Learning for Kids aims to provide it.

The Dutch/US Non-profit Foundation has high standards and ambitions. Its curriculum is based on the International Baccalaureate, and has already reached 1.6 million children. But the charity’s supply is outstripped by rising demand. By 2015, they aim to be in touch with 20 million kids. The volunteers there are a smart bunch – founder Nick van Dam is also the Global Director Learning for eLearning Solutions and Technologies at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu – but they can’t reach this target alone.

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In the future, historians and economists may refer to our current times as the great economic and financial meltdown of the early twenty-first century. At CERTPOINT Systems, we see things differently. We view these trying times as an opportunity for innovation, a spring board for new beginnings. History has proved that it is in times of hardship that mankind has made some of its greatest leaps.

2009 forced everyone to re-examine what they were doing – especially in business. Organizations were forced to shed bad habits. Complacency went out of the window as every part of the business came under scrutiny.

With 2009 behind us, how does 2010 look?

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