Three steps companies must make to see innovation opportunities
In his new book, Hidden in Plain Sight: How to Find and Execute Your Company's Next Big Growth Strategy, author Erich Joachimsthaler outlines three steps that companies must take in order to remove their blinders and see new innovation opportunities.
Innovation coaching: The manager as idea midwife
Bringing ideas into the world has much in common with the role of the midwife, according to Mitch Ditkoff. Read on to learn why.
Idea systems and corporate culture
James A. Schwarz, in his new book, The A to Z of Idea Management for Organizational Improvement and Innovation, points out that you can't just bolt an idea system onto a corporate culture that is closed to new ideas. It requires a complete transformation of the corporate culture.
Intriguing new creative problem solving book follows ‘business fable’ format
When Chicago creativity consultant Gregg Fraley set out to write a book about creative problem solving, he decided that this book category needed...well, innovation. Not content to publish yet another me-too tome about creative problem solving (CPS) techniques, Fraley instead wrote Jack's Notebook, an inspiring business fable that illuminates one person's creative journey.
The Six Thinking Hats of Creative Communication
Edward De Bono’s Six Hats method is a powerful and creative approach for communication. If you design your communication efforts - such as speeches, meetings, dialogs, posters and ads - according to this model, you will increase your odds of getting your message through in an original yet clear and effective way.
Adopt and Adapt Ideas to Drive Innovation
What do Clarence Birdseye, Alexander Graham Bell and George de Mestral have in common? As Paul Sloane explains, it has to do with a unique way of looking at the world around them with a creative eye.
The problem with problem definition
Arthur VanGundy, in his new book, Getting to Innovation: How Asking the Right Questions Generates the Great Ideas Your Company Needs, says that many companies have a problem with problem definition. They make assumptions and rush into generating ideas before clearly defining the problem or challenge at hand. As a result, much manpower and many ideas go to waste.
How to Generate 20 New Business Ideas Over Coffee
Reverse (or negative) brainstorming is an ideal technique for people in businesses of all sizes, either on their own or with colleagues. It can also be slotted into short periods of time such as coffee breaks, bus or train journeys or while waiting for someone. And if your board meeting drags on you can always let your mind wander a little.
How to Avoid ‘Boomerang Innovation’
Boomerang innovation is never intended. It just happens. It's a tremendous waste of money and highly demotivating for all concerned. Read on to learn what boomerang innovation is, and how to avoid it.
Innovation in the copycat economy
Author Oren Harari recently observed in his blog that we seem to be awash in a world of me-too products. In his latest book, "Break From the Pack: How to Compete in a Copycat Economy," he explains a four-pronged process for innovating your way out of commodity hell. In this blog post, he cites a number of recent references in the media on the profusion of look-alike products we face. And he cites Whirlpool as a great example of how to break away from the pack and increase your sales and profitability.
David Silverstein: How TRIZ can help to bring structure to innovation
In this Thought Leader Interview, author David Silverstein explains how the TRIZ problem solving methodology can help organizations to bring structure and direction to their innovation initiatives.
Assumptions: A major roadblock to innovation
Of all the roadblocks to innovation, assumptions are the worst, according to Mitch Ditkoff. Read this article to learn why, and what you can do about it.
Leverage disruptive innovation by following TRIZ principles
Disruptive innovation is not a mystery. Where it will occur is actually predictable, using the principles of TRIZ, according to Jack Hipple.
Strategies for implementing customer innovation
Patricia Seybold, in her new book Outside Innovation: How Your Customers Will Co-design Your Company's Future, offers some valuable strategies that your company can use to implement customer-focused innovation. Of course, if you're going to place customers at the center of your innovation initiatives, you can no longer sit in your cubicle dreaming up new product ideas and tossing them over the wall to product development and marketing. No, you actually have to engage with your customers and prospects. But how? Patricia offers these recommended strategies.
Tony Buzan reflects on the growth, evolution and future of Mind Mapping
Tony Buzan is the developer of mind maps, a popular visual thinking technique often called the "Swiss army knife of the brain." In this interview, he talks about the growth of Mind Mapping, his company's recent foray into Mind Mapping software and the future of this visual technique for representing ideas and information.
Paul Sloane Talks about Strategies for Creating Effective Innovation Processes
Paul Sloane is renowned as a thought-provoking, entertaining and motivational speaker. His books have established Paul's reputation as the leading expert on lateral thinking and lateral leadership and he has published numerous articles on InnovationTools.com. With his consultancy, Destination Innovation, Paul helps organizations to develop a vision, culture and process for innovation. In this thought leader interview, he shares his thoughts on how to establish effective processes for innovation.
To Identify Opportunities for Innovation, Focus on the ‘Customer Chain’
Many companies focus exclusively on the users of their products. If they would only widen their view to encompass the entire "customer chain," they would see amazing opportunities for innovation, according to Daniel Scocco.
Put your Best People on Innovation
Many businesses make the mistake of giving innovation projects to junior executives. It seems natural to hand innovation opportunities to enthusiastic and promising upstarts. But generally it is the experienced heavyweights who can overcome all the process and political obstacles that will occur, explains Paul Sloane.
A process for continuous innovation is built on a service ethic
New products and services can be "knocked off" or copied. But it's much harder for competitors to duplicate a management system and corporate culture that produces a continuous stream of successful product and service improvements, innovations, adaptations and extensions. That continuous innovation stream comes from controlled chaos, which can be achieved through a four-stage process, according to Jim Clemmer.
Don’t Be a ‘One-Innovation Wonder’
Take a lesson from Airbus and WebVan: When you have that really big, disruptive, amazing, incredible, world-changing idea, it should not mark the end of your innovation process.
The enemies of innovation
Why do so many innovation initiatives fail? Geoffrey Moore, author of the new book Dealing With Darwin: How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution, has some fresh insights into this ongoing challenge.
Ideas come in all sizes
Don't discount the impact of small ideas on your business, advises Paul Williams, because the can be a great source of efficiency and competitive advantage. Read this article to learn how!
Open innovation sounds good, but how can scientists apply it in the lab?
Open innovation expands opportunities for success by encouraging innovators to look outside their organizations for potential technologies and solutions that could be adapted to the challenge at hand. However, its utility and value to R&D teams depends on the ability of scientists to make sense out of open innovation. Dr. Ali Alwattari explains how.
Questioning: An Underutilized Innovation Strategy
One of the most powerful innovation tools available to every member of a group - be it a team, a company division or an organization - is a tool that those individuals are often reluctant to use. The tool I am talking about, of course, is: questioning.