Innovation can comes from every corner of every day life: the last great novel you read; the cereal package that was easy to open; the microwave dinner that didn't suck; the next use of air and balls from Dyson; the machine that made your coffee; the noteworthy car rental experience in Indianapolis. What recent experiences inspired you?
In business and in life, clear and accurate problem definition is an essential prerequisite for effective problem solving. This may sound obvious, or even trite, but this simple truth can be overlooked by those with pressing needs and a bias for action.
Many managers are very good at working out the cost of implementing an idea. But they often completely fail to calculate the cost of NOT implementing it. This may sometimes be far more expensive than implementing it, especially over the long term, warns Jeffrey Baumgartner.
Paul Sloane uses a gambling analogy to show how uncertain innovation is and why senior management isn't likely to approve a new idea after several failures in a row.
Here are some lessons I've learned about innovation from working with high school and college students. If their passion and enthusiasm is any indication, we have a bright future ahead!
Customer and market research, competitive benchmarking, and focusing on market share could be detrimental to your organization's future performance. These approaches are critical improvement tools. Top performing organizations have turned them into a disciplined and useful science. But they can also lead to "me-too" followership or - even worse - commodity products and services that compete only on price.
Artists are innately creative, of course. That's why the rest of us, who are seeking to expand our creative powers, can learn much from them. Danielle Feliciano highlights three characteristics that we can borrow from artists to spur our own creative muse.
Jobs had a spectacular innovation compass; some of its directions can guide our inner innovators too, according to Andrew Sherman.
Is there a God of Innovation? And if there is, how can we invoke its qualities to help us innovate more effectively?
Is it possible to accurately predict if a person will be an effective creative thinker at work? After conducting rigorous tests, one Australian innovation firm says definitely yes.
If you want to see the type of behavior adults need more of, watch some 5-year-olds on a playground for a few minutes. Step back in time and forget about deadlines, committee meetings, and company politics and think about how children create and invent anything they desire at a moments notice.
Customers are people. Users, choosers, and influencers are people. Channel partners are people. People create things for other people to use in exchange for money. Understanding what motivates people can help us to overcome hurdles to effective creativity and innovation.
How can your products be turned into services, and your services re-thought to make them even more comprehensive? This growing area offers many opportunities for innovation, says Jeffrey Baumgartner.
Simplicity - reducing complex ideas into simple messages - is one of the keys to successful innovation.
Just as television shows age, so do businesses. It is important that managers of these businesses not fall into the same trap as many television executives, better known as "jumping the shark."
