« Swisscom in Silicon Valley? Really? Sensational! Our Swiss leader in telecommunication has an office in the world’s capital of innovation. »
-Me (5th of february 2018 at 10:02)
T
hat day, we were walking down the streets in Palo Alto, waiting for the time to discover the Swisscom office. We were so happy to be at those typical American neighborhoods that we only see in movies or series like Desperate Housewives. After walking past the garage of IBM and having imagined a dozen times Clint Eastwook getting out of a house with a rifle (with a Gran Torino parked next to his house) we suddenly sow a Swiss flag on a small house. No, that did not immediately shock us and yes we had arrived at our destination.
When we are talking about « Silicon Valley », a lot of people are immediately thinking about big and modern offices like Google, Facebook or Apple. They’re half right : Innovation is not always coming from that big and modern environment that everyone has in mind. The proof below!
After walking next to the mailbox, walking along a small path with colored bicycles along a wall of the house (there was even a pink one), we saw a « Swisscom » sign on the ground. We then arrived in a nice garden. There were garden tables, garden chairs, cold drinks, beach umbrellas, barbeque, plants and a TV (please find the error).
A coke in hand, we met the team who then made a presentation. We learned a lot of elements that were helpful in analyzing our study; New canvas, models and illustrated theories. We then had the opportunity to work in teams to apply those models to our own cases with the help of the team. We were happy with the open-mindedness, the applied theories and advices we received from Swisscom.
A surprising but rewarding experience.