Practical Tactical Innovation

Open Innovation Websites- The Supplier/Customer Perspective

2009-08-08T12:12:00.010-04:00

There are many websites now touting open innovation which in essence is a way to match up an invention/technology, product or service with a potential investor/licensee, manufacturer or distributor. Some of these websites do a good job articulating the information required to make a match while others could use some improvement. This is a case where one of Stephen Covey's 7 habits, "Begin with

Innovation Quick Hits - If at first you don't succeed....

2009-07-23T02:19:00.003-04:00

John Barry died this month. He was 84. Why do we remember Mr. Barry? He became president of Rocket Chemical Co. in 1969 and was involved in a great innovation. Rocket later became the WD-40 Corporation. Interestingly, WD-40 started out as an agent to protect the skin of the Atlas Missile from corrosion but was so popular it became available in local stores in the 50's as the lubricant we all

Innovation Quick Hits - Drivers License Innovation

2009-07-18T13:17:00.002-04:00

Kudos to the State of Georgia on a simple, effective innovation that costs nothing, solves a problem and helps enforce the law. In a recent Atlanta newspaper article, the folks that produce the drivers license are revamping the look for the first time in like 13+ years. What got me wasn't the new holographic or anti-forging technology and the like, which we've come to expect, but something

Importance of History on Innovation Today

2009-07-18T12:27:00.003-04:00

Preparing for an upcoming presentation, I decide to start with a quote from famed philosopher George Santayana:"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"The perception of what innovation is and how we view it in our organizations has a lot to do with what we've believed about how it was done in the past. Unfortunately, our view of the past is colored by the way history has

Innovation Quick Hits - Challenge the Rules

2009-07-03T15:10:00.003-04:00

I am no 60's radical although I grew up in the 60's and am more of a conformist but innovation demands challenging the accepted norms. The British Government in a recent AP news story released its "Guidelines to Teachers". A true innovation was the recommendation to stop teaching the time-honored "i" before "e" except after "c" rule. Citing words such as "their", "sufficient" and "veil",

Open Innovation- Pros and Cons

2009-07-03T13:29:00.003-04:00

With the availability and increase of open innovation web sites (Idea Connection , InnoCentive , Innovation Marketplace , Bulbstorm , NineSigma , Ideas4all ), it will be interesting to observe the outcomes from this leveling of the playing field for new ideas, new products and new technologies. Admittedly, the sites have some different functions. Some are simply idea post and respond for no to

What is your Innovation Process?

2009-06-20T10:53:00.003-04:00

Innovation has become a buzzword and "cause". Yet it can be like a movie set that looks great from the front until you see it from the rear as a propped up fascade.As Deming like to say 94% of the problems encountered are due to lack of good process, 6% involve the people. So much recently is centered around how to get our people energized to innovate. Encouragement, motivation, stimulus etc.

Innovation Quick Hits - Frozen in Fear

2009-06-20T10:15:00.003-04:00

Are you the deer in the headlights? Frozen by fear, you stop and stare at the oncoming lights of change. The headlights keep coming and a collision is unavoidable.If change is the headlights and we are the deer, what keeps us mesmerized on staring at the inevitiable? Get moving, get going, start looking at what your business does differently, more agressively. The headlights are moving in

Innovation Quick Hits- Living on the past

2009-06-13T12:04:00.005-04:00

Today's products/services are the result of yesterday's innovation and risk taking. Are we still living on the residuals of past success or pressing forward to create tomorrow opportunities ?

Raw Materials for Innovation

2009-06-13T11:20:00.003-04:00

When we make product we start with raw materials. In the manufacturing world with Just-In-Time and supply chain integration, our raw material suppliers are vetted and their quality assessed, specifications analyzed, sample material inspected etc. This happens well in advance of approving the supplier for routine material purchase. How does this apply in the innovation realm? Our raw

Putting the "No" in Innovation

2009-06-05T21:26:00.003-04:00

I was reading Chic Thompson author and motivational speaker recently and a few of his thoughts brought back memories from grade school and beyond that are worth sharing. John Maynard Keynes once said "What's difficult is not so much developing new ideas but escaping from the old ones."Innovation begins with openness to new ideas but if you think back to your upbringing, we had very few role

The Customer Pyramid of Innovation

2009-05-31T16:00:00.004-04:00

The customer anticipation pyramid is key to innovation success. As Wayne Gretsky said " I always skate to where the puck (customer) is going to be, not where it is now". At the bottom of the pyramid is the Henry Ford days. Ford produced the model T primarily in black because the paint dried faster and he could product more cars that way but interestingly when the Model T first came out there

Nonprofit Agencies and Innovation

2009-05-22T14:15:00.001-04:00