Use the Creativity of Users to Develop Better Innovations
There is an urgent need to rethink the way firms innovate. We need to change from a manufacturer-active perspective to a user-active perspective, according to professor Nikolaus Franke of Vienna University. The Lead user method, Toolkits for user innovation and Innovation communities. These are three ways that firms can apply to benefit from users innovativeness and create better innovations and more value and growth.
Is Denmark a Lead User of User Driven Innovation?
You might think so since the world’s first government sponsored user driven innovation program is to be found in Denmark. The program aims to strengthen the diffusion of methods for user driven innovation and to contribute to increased growth in the participating companies. It also aims to increase user satisfaction and/or increased efficiency in participating public institutions. Søren Tegen Pedersen is the Deputy Director at the administrative authority of the program.
Meeting of innovative minds
Henry Chesbrough, the father of open innovation, was one of the key note speakers when more than 500 innovative minds met on a European innovation conference in Lund, Sweden. InnovationManagemenet.se asked him and some of the other participants a few questions.
Tips for Generating Innovative New Product Ideas from the Electronics Industry
Successful organizations worldwide realize how important it is to their success to nourish creativity and innovation. Innovation is, after all, the vanguard to increased competitiveness. In my years of experience in the development of innovative electronic products, innovation challenges have necessitated the gathering and practice of techniques from many arenas. Here are a few ideas that we have developed in my company. I hope that they will help you to expand and enable innovation in your organization, too.
How to build balanced innovation teams
When building a team it is critical to first understand what the group is expected to deliver, then take a deeper look into who is selected and how they are expected to work together. Purposefully balancing the right type of people for the job will go a long way toward making the team more effective, productive, and successful.
Creativity is a vital part of the new business paradigm, says Russ Schoen
Creativity in business: An interview with Russ Schoen.
Does your Firm Have an Innovation Czar?
It never ceases to amaze me. I’m meeting with the executive committee of a major global company. I’ve just asked if innovation is one of their top strategic priorities. Their unanimous answer is “yes”. I then ask about their individual responsibilities. “Which one of you is the CFO?” “Who is head of HR?” “Where’s the CIO?” One by one their hands go up. Yet when I ask to see their global director of innovation, nobody raises a hand. Everyone just looks at me with a blank expression. So, sure, this company understands the innovation imperative. But nobody in its leadership team is directly responsible – or accountable – for making innovation happen across the organization. And they don’t even seem to be aware of the paradox.
Creativity in Business: Interview with Holacracy Pioneer Brian Robertson
The fifth interview in the creativity in business thought leader aeries is with Brian Robertson, a pioneer of holacracy, a new organizational operating system noted for dramatically increasing agility, transparency, innovation and accountability.
See, feel and hear great ideas: Engaging your modalities in the workplace
Is there a relationship between learning modalities and creativity?Gary Bertwistle says definitely yes, and shares his thoughts on how to put this idea to work in your business.
To be More Innovative, Think like a Venture Capitalist
The most innovative leaders have a mindset like that of a venture capitalist. They take a portfolio view of innovation projects. The venture capitalist will invest in a basket of different start-up companies, fully knowing that most will fail. A few might break even and one or two might be successes. But one big success can pay back the costs of all the failures. Even though he is smart, the VC does not know at the outset which ventures will succeed and which will fail so initially he backs them all. As time goes on he cuts funding for the failures and gives more to the winners.
A 100-day plan for innovation
Successful organizations always have one eye on current operations and one eye on the future. Anticipating your customer's needs and developing a strategy to get there is what separates the quick from the dead.
New book reveals the key attributes of innovation leaders
Innovation Leaders: How Senior Leaders Stimulate, Steer and Sustain Innovation by Jean-Philippe Deschamps is an outstanding book focusing on the key attributes of innovation leaders, and the author's position is that a distinct form of leadership is required for innovation practitioners.
The new paradigm of innovative work: An interview with Larry Blumsack
This week's interview in the creativity in business thought leader series is with Larry Blumsack, founder and director of Zoka Institute, a creativity and innovation consulting, training, and coaching company.
How to commercialize your ideas – part 1
There are plenty of innovation and ideation efforts that yield new ideas for growth but never generate a dime for their inventors or the companies that develop them. Why? Because many inventors don't understand how to jump the gap from ideas to actually selling them.
Innovating the customer experience: An opportunity for business growth
Customer experience is much more than simply buying and using a product. Whether a firm is B2C or B2B focused, every interaction the customer has with a company or a company
The Emerging Paradigm of Work: An Interview with Dr. Stan Gryskiewicz
In this latest interview in the creativity in business thought leader series, Michelle James talks with Dr. Stan Gryskiewicz.
More innovation lessons from childhood: The 5 whys
Mike Dalton explains how the "5 whys" can be a powerful tool for innovators seeking to uncover new product and service opportunities.
The transformation imperative
Scott Anthony, in his new book, The Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times, does an excellent job of making the case for corporate transformation, and why it is an appropriate approach can help companies to escape their narrowing options in today's turbulent economy.
Mike Bonifer of GameChangers reflects on creativity and the changing nature of work
My second interview in the Creativity in Business thought leader series is with Mike Bonifer, co-founder of GameChangers and author of GameChangers: Improvisation for Business in the Networked World. He writes about and teaches improvisation for business.
How to Develop a Vision for Innovation
You cannot expect your team to be innovative if they do not know the direction in which they are headed, warns Paul Sloane.
How to Generate Original Creative Ideas with Random Word Stimulation
Random word stimulation is a powerful technique that provides a practical method of accessing your subconscious mind and utilize the wealth of information it contains to generate fresh new original ideas.
Tips for finding success on open innovation websites
Putting yourself in the role of the supplier or customer is a key to clarity when posting your needs on an open innovation website.
Creativity in business: An interview with Paul Scheele
This is the first in a series of posts based on interviews and dialogues with creativity and innovation thought leaders around the topic of applied creativity in business. In this interview, Paul Scheele, chairman of Natural Brilliance Productions, shares his thoughts on business creativity, creative leadership and the emerging business paradigm.
Study Proves that Living Overseas Boosts Creativity
It has long been said that travel broadens the mind. That has never been tested empirically until recently. And the result is that travel alone is not sufficient to boost creativity. Living overseas, however, has been demonstrated to improve creative thinking ability, according to a new study.