How to Break the 5 Habits That Hurt Ideation
Many companies find it hard to prioritize ideation. Here are five ways to break the pattern and gather a wealth of ideas for your organization.
Five Reasons Why You Should Think Like a Criminal
Have you seen the movie The Day of the Jackal? In this 1973 film directed by Fred Zinnemann, Edward Fox plays a professional assassin, the "Jackal," who is hired to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle. It is a compelling thriller in which it is hard not to admire the cunning and guile of the ruthless killer. In the end you feel disappointed that he did not succeed with his audacious plan. It is an example of a genre of storytelling in which the main protagonist is a clever criminal. We seem to find them fascinating. Breaking Bad is about a chemistry teacher who becomes a master drugs dealer. The Sopranos is about a Mafia family. Ozark concerns a money [...]
Four Traits Your Next CEO Must Have For Your Organization to Thrive
Want to ensure your organization will thrive over the long run? If so, then your next CEO must have these four traits – 1) relentless focus on the long-term future; 2) inherently entrepreneurial mindset; 3) solid grounding in reality and the fundamentals of business; and 4) behavior of a consummate diplomat.
How To Make Sure Your SMB Is Being Energy Efficient
Making your business environmentally sustainable does not mean reducing total material demand. Still, it does require more effective use of energy and resources and the mitigation of current waste streams.
What Are The Six Traits of Highly Innovative Organizations?
I love meeting innovators. You meet all types: some of them are blue sky thinkers, some of them are feasibility buffs, some of them are incredible networkers and presenters, and some of them are shy and fascinatingly deep thinkers.
Leadership Matters In More Ways Than One
No one is disputing the fact that leadership matters. In fact, there has never been a more critical time where leadership matters more than it does today.
The Post-COVID Workplace: What to Expect Now and in the Future
As we start to think about a time when we can get back to the office and return to some sort of normalcy in the workplace, whether we are a startup or a well-established company, we will need to understand how we can best operate in a post-COVID workplace environment.
Try Double-Handed Innovation
Most new products and services are developments or combinations of existing offerings. But just adding features can lead to a product overloaded with ‘feature bloat’. Instead try giving with one hand and taking away with the other. Add something different and take away something of little value. Start by focussing on the market leading product (or products). List its top features and identify the benefit which customers get from each of the features. What problems are solved and how important are they? Then prioritise the list. From a customer perspective which are the most valuable and least valuable features? You may need input from a survey or focus group to help at this stage. Ask what features could we add [...]
The Art Of Innovation | 10 Things To Learn From Guy Kawasaki
The agenda of our first management meeting in 2021 was ‘How can we innovate to thrive this year?’ We were clear that if we continue to do the same thing we did last year, there is no way we can bring any change in our growth.
Is There Value in an Innovation Program for Your Company?
In my last article I wrote about the influences and themes that I see changing how large, mature and (often) incumbent organisations drive innovative growth and impact. In short, the innovation development professionals are (ironically) being disrupted.
Strategic Agility: The Leadership Survival Skill of the Year
Chaos might have defined the year that was 2020, but that turmoil helped business leaders learn a new skill that will serve them well in the years to come.
One Certainty in These Uncertain Times: Innovate Through Ecosystems, or Miss the Opportunity to Radically Transform Your Innovation Strategy
Hardly no one will regret 2020, it seems. Yet, 2021 ahead is hard to predict. There are hopeful signs that pave the way for a better, stronger future, but as we have now the experience, our world can go upside down almost overnight.
5 Ways to Overcome the $1 Million Paradox
To understand the difference between how new ideas are treated in startups and in big companies, you need to understand the $1 million paradox.
What Impact Did 2020 Have on Innovation?
2020 revealed our fragility and our capacity for adaptation, and what IdeaScale's 2021 State of Crowdsourced Innovation report reveals is improved innovation capability from faster implementation rates to more engaged leadership. Let's look at some trends and takeaways from this year's report.
Learning Machines: From 95/5 to 60/40
In this article, we look at the future of work: as technology helps to automate more of our day-to-day processes, can we spend more of our time and resources on learning and innovation?
Innovation in Focus: Private Equity and Institutional Actors
Private equity funds invest in many traditional companies. So do institutional actors. When asked, leading voices in this field often claim that they are not looking for the next big thing, but dominant companies in the field, with low risk and a relatively predictable and stable cash flow.
Increase Your Innovation Reputation and Velocity with an Innovation Evangelist
Building upon my popular article Rise of the Evangelist, I wanted to create an article for the global innovation community focused specifically on the importance of the innovation evangelist role.
How Do Organizations Typically Gather New Ideas?
Even the most fledgling innovation program have a research component. Innovation research guides decision making, problem statements, idea generation, solution sourcing, and several other points in the innovation lifecycle. And when it comes to research there are lots of ways to get the data that you need - but two common ways are surveys and crowdsourcing.
How Innovation Management is Radically Transforming in 2021, and What It Means for You
Every new year I create a series of personal and professional resolutions. Sure, many fade into (foggy) memory, but this year I was determined to once again focus on building out my professional network. So I’ve been getting out there and having some great conversations with smart leaders, who are connected to innovation development from different career levels, competencies, geographies and industry sectors.
How Does an Employee-Owned Fortune 500 Company Manage Their Innovation Lab?
Graybar is a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America. They are a leader in the distribution of communications and data networking products – even if you don’t know Graybar off the top of your head, you’ve probably been in contact with their products.
6 Ways to Innovate Your Business Model
The pandemic has given us all an opportunity to build a new business future. Market disruption equals opportunity for those willing to look and work for it. This is the time to adjust and innovate your business model to market conditions.
Why Virtual Experiences Are Here to Stay
The pandemic caused brands in all industries to embrace virtual events. But even once the pandemic eventually subsides, these digital experiences will continue to deliver value.
The Key to Success In 2021: Building a Creative and Innovative Culture
In this article by Jeff DeGraff, he presents the four types of innovative cultures and four best practices for building a culture of innovation.
A Yin-Yang Model for Global Sustainability: Moving Towards Rural-Urban Balance
This article employs a holistic, interactive East Asian framework—the ancient yin-yang circle—for presenting both defensive and proactive carbon control strategies in urban and rural areas. Given the recent wave of deadly wildfires in the American West, attention is focused here on the future significance of oceans as a massive carbon sink for fighting global climate change. Life probably arose in the sea, and the sea may end up having to save the planet.
Strategies that Promote Workplace Diversity and Make Your Business More Innovative
At IdeaScale, we’ve learned that diversity combined with equity and inclusion leads to more innovative thinking: businesses that are run by culturally diverse teams are more likely to develop new products, 45% more likely to grow market share, and more likely to have a 2X innovation revenue.
How Are Agile and Innovation Related?
Organizations everywhere are working to form agile cultures. What does it mean to be agile?
What Local Government Can Do with Crowdsourced Innovation
If you look up Westminster, Colorado, you’ll find a university that looks like a castle, a bell tower intentionally made to look like Big Ben, and pictures of smart and cozy suburban homes sitting at the feet of the Rocky Mountains.
What Do Innovation Maturity Assessments Have in Common?
Building a repeatable model for innovation is a journey, not a trophy. An innovation department builds services and competencies across multiple disciplines – from research to communications and culture. And even with a dedicated innovation department, they must cooperate seamlessly with other parts of the business in order to deliver meaningful results on an ongoing basis.