Could greater visibility and transparency into risk exposure have prevented the current financial-services meltdown? And what lessons can other companies and industries learn from the free-fall that many financial-services companies are in, specifically in the areas of visibility and transparency? Our New Age of Innovation road-show events next week in New York City and Boston will dig into these possibilities, and we hope you can join us to be part of the discussions.

Led by co-author M.S. Krishnan, these presentations and discussions will allow senior-level business-technology executives to hear not only the core theories behind the book but also specific ideas into how the book's lessons can be applied to companies and leaders in the financial sector. While the discussions will certainly be deeply germane to all industries, Professor Krishnan will focus significant attention on the financial-services sector. Here's a sampling of what he intends to discuss in New York City (Tues., Nov. 14), and Boston (Thurs., Nov. 16):

"While there are several reasons that led to the current financial crisis in the capital markets, one important reason is the lack of dynamic transparency to the real risks of the assets owned by the financial institutions. While the financial-services industry is known for capital spending in IT, they are also notorious for building silo systems across various business units often delivered by multiple vendors. Horizontal transparency in business processes across these business units was not common. As a result, these institutions lacked dynamic transparency to the net risk carried across these business units."

While many villains---individuals as well as institutions---have been singled out for blame, nobody's saying that there was too much visibility into what was really happening. And that's a dynamic that's relevant in not just financial services but also retail and logistics and entertainment and manufacturing and health care and every other industry sector you can imagine. Customers expect almost-instantaneous choices, feedback, service, involvement, and flexibility, and Professor Krishnan's core message addresses all of these issues. As he put it in a recent e-mail message about what he'll be discussing in New York City and Boston:

"The approach presented by the authors illustrates how the process of innovation needs to be a set of incremental experiments that are directionally consistent. They demonstrate through case studies in insurance, banking and other industries that transparency and resilience in business processes aided by the right social architecture can significantly aid managers in executing complex business models and managing risks."

You can register here, or contact my colleague Alyson McDermott at amcdermott@techweb.com or 516-562-5202.