Innovation Excellence

Innovators vs Adaptors – Hendrix vs Clapton

Peter Cook — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:00:48 +0000

What can we learn from the different polarities of innovation styles - from adaptor to innovator? Continue reading →

Who is Your Naive Challenger?

Kevin McFarthing — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:00:29 +0000

It’s an old saying that if you continue to do what you’ve always done, you’ll continue to get what you’ve always got. If you keep on banging your head against the metaphorical brick wall, your headache won’t go away, it’ll just get worse. It’s the same with creativity and idea generation. New products and services will continue on the same themes they always have if you have the same input and approach. Continue reading →

Collaboration in Innovation Competitions

Andrea Meyer — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:00:36 +0000

Innovation tournaments can be run either competitively or collaboratively, with each approach yielding better results for different purposes. Stephen Shapiro's tip #11, for example, tackles the topic of innovation competitions and tournaments. The tip focuses on what role, if any, collaboration should play in these bounty-driven events. Continue reading →

Making Memories and Motivating Loyalty

Innovation Excellence — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:44:16 +0000

This simple, true story of an encounter that Barbara Glanz had at one of her speaking engagements defines what good customer service means. Every employee can make a difference and create memories for your customers that will motivate them to come back - putting their personal signature on the job at the same time. Continue reading →

Innovative Leadership for Future Change

Dr. Tony Bolden — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:00:20 +0000

We’ve all heard the axiom “you can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been.” To some degree, that’s true. In their book “The Leader of the Future 2: Visions, Strategies, and Practices for the New Era”, Frances Hesselbein and Marshall Goldsmith noted the importance of learning from history – particularly the history of business and industry – and contended that “...the lessons of history are so poorly learned.” Continue reading →

When Regulations Promote Innovation

Peter Doyle — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:00:52 +0000

It is common to hear business leaders decry regulations as a roadblock to business development. There is some truth in this assertion. But there is another side to the coin. Regulation can spur innovation. Continue reading →

Finishing – Effective Intrapreneur Habit # 7

Steve Todd — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:00:37 +0000

Finishing is the Seventh Habit of Effective Intrapreneurs, and the last in a series of articles that describe the unique traits of a corporate intrapreneur. Continue reading →

Predictions for Social Product Innovation in 2012

Amy Kenly — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:00:50 +0000

What predictions can we make for the use of social media and related social technologies to improve product innovation? To help answer that question, we turned to the results of Kalypso’s annual Social Product Innovation surveys from 2010 and 2011. Continue reading →

Message to Boards- “People are Watching”

Kaye O'Leary — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:00:23 +0000

I recently attended the inauguration of Roz Mallet as the new board chair of the National Restaurant Association. It was a special moment for the restaurant industry…Roz is the industry association’s first black woman to chair the National Restaurant Association. This is a big deal…if you are not familiar with the restaurant industry, you should know that the restaurant industry is one of our nation’s largest private sector employers (over 12.9 million jobs) and over one-half of all adults have worked in the restaurant industry at some point in their lives, and one-third received their first job experience in a restaurant (see www.restaurant.org). Continue reading →

Artistry At Work: Lean Into Discomfort

Matthew E May — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:00:43 +0000

To find and maintain it, we have to pit our deepening strengths against ever-greater challenges, taking intelligent risks that test our perceived boundaries and carry us into uncertain territory. If we don’t, if we forever indulge in our fear of failure, we will never experience the highest levels of our creativity. Continue reading →

Godiva’s Falling “Awe”

Donna Sturgess — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:21 +0000

Once upon a time, Godiva Chocolatier was a brand that captured the essence of the exotic and erotic stemming from the story and legendary mystique of Lady Godiva. In a quantitative consumer study measuring the heightened feeling of elation or ”Awe”, Godiva was rated lower than brands such as Pixar, Absolut, Cartier and BMW. (Data source: Buyology Inc) Continue reading →

Shifting Paradigms – Refreezing for Innovation

Paul Hobcraft — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:00:17 +0000

I would like to continue on "unfreezing the middle" for innovation to really take hold and have a greater mometum in organizations. Largely it is about our ability to unlock those ‘frozen innovation moments.’ To radically redesign the approach to innovation that today is constantly occurring in ‘discreet parcels’ of innovation activity within organizations. It is this ‘selective’ approach I certainly believe needs changing. Continue reading →

Are You a Tourist or Resortist? – why language matters

Holly G Green — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:00:32 +0000

Whether on a billboard or inside your organization, language matters. Find out why the words you use can help make the difference between winning and settling for second best. Continue reading →

Making Innovation Sustainable – Part 3 of 4

Braden Kelley — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:30:52 +0000

Ultimately, successful and sustainable innovation is all about purpose and passion. The people in your organization have to be clear on what the purpose of the organization is. Ideally, that purpose has to be something bigger than the individuals and something that people can get passionate about, because first and foremost, as Jeffrey Phillips has said, "You can't force a disinterested person to innovate." Continue reading →

The Organization’s Dominant Innovating Design

Paul Hobcraft — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:00:19 +0000

Each organization seems to favour one design approach over another when it comes to how they innovate. It favours either the more comfortable repeatable zones or is determined to push the boundaries out on its innovation activities. Continue reading →

Evolving from Delivery to Growth

Linda Bernardi — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:00:14 +0000

Large enterprises have massive pools of technical talent, have clients, and a global market reach. So why are we not seeing more innovation from large companies? Continue reading →

How Apple Changed the Smartphone World

Simon Drew — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:00:25 +0000

The name Apple is synonymous with innovation. Long has the Silicon Valley giant brought childlike excitement into the tech industry, thanks largely to the vision of its late CEO, Steve Jobs. Remember the launch of the Apple II? We don't either, but it was one of their crucial first steps towards greatness. Arguably though, Apple's greatest achievement came in 2007, when the company flipped the smartphone world upside down and back to front with the launch of the very first iPhone Continue reading →

Beyond Business as Usual

Jeffrey Phillips — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:51:49 +0000

When I wrote Relentless Innovation, I hoped to uncover some of factors that allow firms like 3M, Google, Apple, P&G and Gore to sustain innovation over time, while remaining efficient and productive. In the book I identify two factors that sustain efficiency and can become barriers to innovation: “business as usual” operating models and middle managers who sustain business as usual. In this article, I’d like to build on those two factors by examining other, less evident barriers and conflicts that a modern business creates for innovation. Continue reading →

Fair Trade Electronics – Responsible Innovation

Melba Kurman — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:00:48 +0000

We should consider a new certification program for innovation consumer electronics: Fair Trade Electronics. Do you have a cell phone, TV, iPad, GPS or laptop? Odds are good that most of your gadgets are the fruit of an elaborate, global supply chain hired and managed by big, brand name tech companies as HP, Dell and Apple.[i] Behind most sleek, cutting-edge consumer gadgets is a chain of good, old-fashioned human workers. Continue reading →

Innovation Just Isn’t What It Used To Be

Peter Cochrane — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:00:19 +0000

Business has been static or regressive while the commercial environment has been really tough. For those still standing there is good news - innovation is back on the agenda big time. Continue reading →