The Anatomy of an Idea in Collaborative Innovation
Innovators and enterprises invest hugely in the production of ideas. But did you ever stop to think.... precisely what is an idea and what counts as a contribution?
This is no time for ‘idea tourism’
Seth Godin recently published a blog post about a concept called "idea tourism." In it, he warns that we can't just be spectators when we come in contact with big ideas that could potentially transform our businesses. Rather than superfically reading about this big idea, I decided to dig deeper into it, to understand what it really means to you and I.
The Front End of Innovation Does not Conform to a Funnel
Much of the action in innovation during the past five years has been around the front end of innovation – acquiring and gating new ideas. Doug Collins asks whether we are applying the right processes to the fuzzy front end..
How to Combine Innovation with Lean and Six Sigma
Innovation never takes place in a vacuum cut off from other initiatives to improve performance. Doug Collins takes a look at how to team up with people in the Lean and Six Sigma processes.
It’s open innovation. What could possibly go wrong?
Some open innovation experiments are more successful than others. Here are 3 common areas where companies run into trouble trying to implement it.
How to Create a Culture of Leadership (where everyone plays their part)
How do you create the right conditions for your co-workers to mutually reinforce their commitment to your goals? Doug Collins looks at the four cornerstones of that process and how you can go about fostering them in an innovative workplace.
How to Create a Supportive Environment for Outside Innovation Partnerships
How can organizations derive the greatest value from consulting engagements or other outside partnerships? Here are three strategies that can make a difference whenever external resources are used, such as hiring a consultant or partnering with another firm.
The Importance of People and Places
Evidence from new disciplines like complexity theory tells us that the physical proximity of people, and their everyday interactions, are big drivers of innovation, yet we all too often rely on technology platforms as innovation incubators. Doug Collins, whose day job is advising clients on how to create and build online innovation communities, gets physical.
Want Breakthrough Innovation? Then Don’t Listen to your Customers
Crowdsourcing and customer-focused innovation are very popular today. But by themselves, they're not a very good way to achieve breakthrough innovation, warns Jeffrey Baumgartner.
Changing Mental Models to Make Innovation Work
We see a lot of programs being run in companies in the name of innovation. Of course some of the large corporations need to run innovation programs for name sake. They need some window dressing for analysts and industry observers lambasting the same for not being innovative enough.
Weak signals, connections and leveraging networks are keys to creativity: Smyre
To creatively prepare for the future in an era of great transition, we need to pay attention to weak signals and look for conections in everything, says futurist Rick Smyre.
Creativity is key to organizational and individual sustainability, says Annalie Killian
Creativity is not only essential to the sustainability of organizations, it's also key to individual health and happiness, points out maverick woman Annalie Killian.
From Science to Business – How Firms Create Value by Partnering with Universities
In today’s “knowledge-based” society, it is becoming increasingly imperative for companies to “mine” knowledge and technology generated by universities. Why? Because the outcome of such industry-university collaborations help companies create new activities and jobs.
Stephen Shapiro explains why open innovation is the new paradigm of work
Stephen Shapiro explains the thinking behind open creativity and why he wrote a book and created a card deck called Personality Poker.
How to Develop a Creative ‘Elevator Pitch’ that Captures Attention and Interest
To sell ourselves and our big ideas, we need elevator pitches that stand out, are unique and stimulate a response. Clearly, some creativity is what is needed to design such a pitch. Jeffrey Baumgartner explains how to develop one.