Immunize your team against the spoilers of creative thinking
Research has shown that people solve problems in a more creative way and turn out work with more creative surprises if they are able to focus their attention on their daily enjoyment and fun that comes from the challenge, and their total immersion in the work.
7 reflection tools for navigating the unknown and exploring new territory
In a world filled with accelerating, unprecedented change, the ability to navigate the unknown and explore new areas is becoming an essential skill, says Michelle James.
Creative communication is critical to success today, urges Sam Horn
Creative communication is critical to making your product or service stand out in the minds of your customers. Sam Horn explains how in this fascinating interview.
Cluster and Eco -System: Formal and Informal Approaches to Innovation
During the 1980s it became apparent to European policy makers that the twin titans of innovation, at the time, the USA and Japan, were better at innovating than were European firms. Or rather Europeans could invent but struggled to get to market.
Public Sector Innovation: An immense opportunity
Most Western European countries are struggling with fundamental, long term issues, e.g. an ageing workforce; downward pressure on public sector budgets and increasing demands from citizens, to which Danish learning could be applied.
11 Dos and Don’ts for Small Group Ideation Sessions
There is a right way and a wrong way to run a brainstorm or ideation meeting. A little preparation pays dividends. It is very important to separate the two phases of the meeting, recommends Paul Sloane.
10 ways to expand your creative possibilities: The Free Thinking Method
Free Thinking Mode is a collection of best practices shared by the most creative companies and people Michelle Conrad and her team have come in contact with.
What does luck have to do with innovation? More than you think
Luck is more than just being in the right place at the right time. It's an essential part of successful innovation. The good news is that luck can be cultivated.
Fundamental Principles for Innovation – What’s Your Opinion?
In this article, Heinz Essman, contributing editor from South Africa, introduces a set of proposed fundamental principles for innovation. It is indeed a proposal and we are very interested in hearing your views on this. Welcome to read and then visit the InnovationManagementForum.com to share your views and discuss with like-minded.
The ‘why’ behind innovation
"Why" is the fundamental question every business leader should be able to answer, immediately, with absolute clarity. Without knowing why a company exists and the purpose of the business, the people who work for an organization cannot align their own, individual beliefs and values with their leaders in order to create the future.
Complexity Science and Innovation
What has complexity science to do with innovation management? Quite a few things if you ask Dr. Curt Lindberg of Plexus Institute, NJ, the States. Complexity science is the scientific study of complex systems, systems with many parts that interact to produce patterns of behavior that cannot easily be explained by the behavior of the individual constituent elements. From a business perspective you can use it to better understand the importance of relationships and interactions to your innovation efforts.
10 essential elements of an open innovation culture
Stefan Lindegaard, in his new book, The Open Innovation Revolution: Essentials, Roadblocks and Leadership Skills, outlines 10 essential elements of an open innovation culture. This list draws from some of the brightest minds in the emerging field of open innovation.
How to Strengthen your Organization’s Creative Core
Most of us don't invest enough time to develop our core muscles. Organizations, too, tend to have an under-exercised core: the creativity of their people. To strengthen this area of your corporate culture takes a commitment of time and resources, says Carol Kobza.
Unleashing Innovations for Sustainability: An Indian Perspective
In this article, Professor Archana Patankar takes an overview of innovations for environment in India, with specific focus on innovative ideas, technologies and programmes in the water and energy sector. It also brings forth the fact that environmental/green innovations are absolutely necessary to move towards the sustainable development pathways.
How to coach your team to greater levels of innovation
Coaching people to be innovative requires different skills from those normally used at work. This blog post outlines a few of the most important.
The Basics of Creative Problem Solving – CPS
Creative problem solving isn't just brainstorming, although that's what many people may associate it with. It's actually a well-defined process that can help you from problem definition to implementing solutions, according to Jeffrey Baumgartner.
Improvisation is key to building a culture of innovation, says Doug Stevenson
By adopting the behaviors and principles of improvisation, organizations can achieve significant and robust cultural change in the direction of innovation, says creativity and improv expert Doug Stevenson.
Use a one-page action plan to bring your ideas to life
Often, the brainstorming process is followed by a lack of action. This one-page action plan is a fail-safe way to bring an idea to life.
One key creative skill you must master
If you wish your idea selling skills were more effective, then I urge you to check out Sam Harrison's new book, IdeaSelling.
Adult creativity: Why we should make time for play
We learn when we play as children, in fact this accounts for most of our early learning. Play acts as a learning laboratory for trying out different internal models on an external world. This is not dissimilar to our traditional brainstorming sessions.
Innovation and Change: What are you afraid of?
Fear of change can make people resist the best of ideas. Keep this in mind when you innovate!
How to Manage in the Age of Turbulence
In times of global turbulence the role of innovation is more important than ever. InnovationManagement spoke to global strategist John Caslione who, together with marketing guru Philip Kotler, recently published their new book CHAOTICS: The Business of Managing and Marketing in The Age of Turbulence.
Collaborating Downstream in Emerging Markets
Not so long ago, internal R&D activities were considered one of the most valuable assets a company could have. The rather “outmoded” concept of closed innovation, in contrast to open innovation, was built on self-reliance and on the principle that successful innovation required control and secrecy.
Innovation is everyone’s job, says author Gregg Fraley
Everyone needs to be responsible for innovation. It doesn't matter what your job is. It's still part of your work to improve things and even invent things, says author and creativity expert Gregg Fraley in the latest Creativity in Business interview.