Understanding Innovation

Focused on learning about innovation as a discipline – article could be an explanation of a term or concept, for example, or an overview of how to start an innovation program.

Innovation Pays – More and More

Over recent years we have been tracking how companies identified as leading innovators subsequently perform in terms of growth in shareholder value. Linking innovation efficiency to out-performance against all major indices has proven the relationship that many across industry believe in and hope for: innovation pays. The latest round of analysis has just been completed and shows even greater performance than before.

Ideascale2021-12-14T07:57:32-08:00May 1st, 2017|Categories: Trend Alert|Tags: in-depth article, innovation impact, innovation metrics, innovation research, innovation success, innovation value, innovative companies, investment, research, return on innovation, ROI|

From the Future to the Present: Visualization and Innovation

Recent discoveries of exoplanets that are relatively close to our solar system are used to illustrate the importance of “visualization”—of future consumer lifestyles, work and recreation, and product and service preferences—for the process of innovation. Different aspects of the visualization concept are discussed, including distinctions between consumers and companies, the importance of widely shared images and competition, and a possible role for Zen philosophy. Particular attention is devoted to visualizations associated with digital innovations, such as smartphones, voice assistants and the internet of things. A key conclusion of the discussion below is that the concept of disruptive innovation should be expanded to include the idea of disruptive visualization. The latter phenomenon will probably become more prevalent in the future.

Ideascale2021-12-14T07:56:32-08:00April 26th, 2017|Categories: Front End of Innovation, Innovation Psychology|Tags: AI, creative thinking, fuzzy front end of innovation, industrial revolution, innovation philosophy, IoT, psychology, visualization, Zen|

Florence: Lessons from a Global Innovation Hub

While discussing innovative cities, one can’t help but think about those that were major catalysts for change in the past: Athens, Istanbul, Hong Kong, and Florence, for example. But how do they compare to more modern innovation hubs such as Silicon Valley, London, or Singapore? In this article, we’ll look at Florence - and 10 recognizable and applicable elements that contributed to its success throughout the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. We’ll also look at how Florence spurs innovation today.

Ideascale2021-12-14T07:55:06-08:00April 24th, 2017|Categories: Editorial|Tags: Best Practices, civic leadership, Collaboration, florence, influence, innovation history, innovation hub, innovation hubs, innovative cities, Italy, leadership, lessons learned, talent|

Organizational Revolutions through Idea Hacking

Businesses face the dilemma dividing resources between protecting the current value chain and developing new value propositions that in time replace the old ones. Not every organization has the luxury to have its own dedicated innovation unit and still then the ideas might not always be too innovative. Hackathons are an affordable and energizing way to generate innovative ideas that can revolutionize your organization.

Ideascale2021-12-14T07:52:48-08:00April 13th, 2017|Categories: Collaborative Innovation|Tags: bias, business development, Collaboration, collaborative innovation, Communication, Creativity, decision making, Employee Engagement, evaluation of ideas, hackathon, idea hacking, Ideation, in-depth article, innovative companies, strategy|

Managing Fundraising Innovation: the Dangers of the ‘Echo-Chamber’

This case study explores the results of an innovation research process undertaken by Oxfam, which compared internal feedback vs. general public feedback to identical sets of ideas. In comparing responses between these two audiences, Oxfam discovered an immediate and obvious divide between their staff’s opinions about which fundraising ideas would perform the best, versus what the general public preferred - an important lesson about avoiding the bubble of the echo chamber.

Ideascale2021-12-14T07:42:59-08:00March 23rd, 2017|Categories: Collaborative Innovation, Innovation Psychology, Organization & Culture, Strategies|Tags: analysis, analytics, case study, cognitive bias, Collaboration, Crowdsourcing, echo chamber, innovation, Innovation Culture, nonprofit, nonprofit innovation, target audience, third sector|

What Do the Best Innovation Programs Have in Common?

An in-house innovation program is becoming a common fixture in the most competitive organizations. However, in a recessed economy, these research & development programs can sometimes get eliminated, because they struggle to prove or articulate value.

Rob Hoehn2021-12-14T07:40:26-08:00March 20th, 2017|Categories: Strategies|Tags: Communication, communication strategy, communications, Crowdsourcing, Employee Engagement, engagement, Failure, in-house innovation, innovation, Innovation Strategy, innovation value, metrics, moderation, outcomes, Success|

Systematic Idea Generation and Organizational Capabilities for Front-End Innovation Performance in SMEs

This study seeks to answer two key questions about the front-end innovation: when do idea generation activities involving internal and external partner’s payoff, and which organizational capabilities support idea generation activities for achieving high front-end performance?

Ideascale2021-12-14T07:39:59-08:00March 16th, 2017|Categories: Front End of Innovation|Tags: Collaboration, collaborative innovation, Communication, customer engagement, Employee Engagement, evaluating ideas, front end of innovation, idea management, Ideation, in-depth article, innovation metrics, Innovation Strategy, innovation value, management, Open Innovation, partnerships, project management, project management capability, research, SME, smes|

Three Hurdles to Sustainable Innovation

Most people agree on the importance of sustainability in innovation, so why is it difficult to deliver? In this article, we’ll explore three hurdles to sustainable innovation: it’s often not considered by innovators themselves as they plan their projects; sustainability is not framed as an exciting and imaginative opportunity; and that sustainable innovation may not fit into a company’s ongoing processes.

Ideascale2021-12-14T07:39:28-08:00March 15th, 2017|Categories: Column & Opinion, Enabling Factors|Tags: business process, customer integration, incremental innovation, innovation blockers, innovation challenge, innovation process, innovation program processes, sustainability, sustainable innovation|

Explaining the Origin of Innovations with the Opportunity Vacuum Framework

In our society, it is still quite common to attribute the creation of new ideas to either genius or serendipity - a lucky moment finding a valuable insight without actually looking for it. In recent years, however, human creativity was demystified. Empirical research shows that the development of novel ideas has less to do with the inexplicable genius of some individuals, than with the circumstances in which they occur. No genius of any sort could have invented an iPhone in 1850, since the technological trajectory was not anywhere near this point at that time. If there is a 'natural limit' to innovation, then how can we describe the field of possible innovations?

Ideascale2019-10-15T15:24:22-07:00March 13th, 2017|Categories: Innovation Psychology, Report|Tags: case study, download, in-depth article, opportunity vacuum framework, report, research, springer|

A Profile of Open Innovation Managers in Multinational Companies

Open innovation is widely used in large companies and we know increasingly more about how to manage this process. In contrast, we know virtually nothing about the managers and practitioners who are driving open innovation in large companies. Who are the managers operating in open innovation teams or units? What is their profile? How long do they stay in an open innovation job, and what is their tenure in the company? This report tries to answer these questions based on an investigation of open innovation managers on LinkedIn.

Ideascale2019-10-15T15:24:23-07:00March 9th, 2017|Categories: Open Innovation, Report|Tags: case study, download, enterprise innovation, Henry Chesbrough, in-depth article, linkedin, manager, MNC, report, research, talent management|

6 Pitfalls to Avoid in Innovation Development

Before investing in your company’s innovation development, it’s important to develop a strategy for collecting and evaluating ideas. Having guidelines in place to thoroughly vet ideas, value diverse opinions, prioritize scalable and sustainable results, and other areas of innovation management can set you up for success over the long term.

Ideascale2021-12-14T07:36:36-08:00March 8th, 2017|Categories: Collaborative Innovation, Leadership, Organization & Culture, Strategies, Support for SMEs|Tags: brainstorm, Collaboration, development, diversity, evaluating ideas, evaluation of ideas, groupthink, idea management, Ideation, innovation blockers, Innovation Strategy, innovation team, listening, opinions, team diversity|

Making Innovation More of a Science And Less of an Art

One of the greatest challenges facing innovation professionals is to find the right approach to a given innovation problem. Whether that’s instilling the innovation mojo in a large corporation or simply helping teams become more innovative, the ways to do this seem to be more of an art than a science. However, during the last ten years there has been a strong push to turn this art form into more of a science.

Ideascale2021-12-14T06:38:42-08:00February 21st, 2017|Categories: Column & Opinion, Idea Management, Strategies|Tags: best practice, Creativity, design thinking, enterprise innovation, event, Failure, innovation process, innovation standardization, Innovation Strategy, lean, measuring innovation, model, Problem Solving, research, science, startup|

5 Reasons Sustainability Drives Innovation

Sustainability is one of the key emerging trends in recent years. But much like innovation, it is a maturing discipline with few established business practices and lots of evolving methodologies. Sustainability champions at organizations often face the same challenges that innovation champions do: lack of senior level buy-in, lack of process, lack of resources. The benefits of successful sustainability and successful innovation are similar, as well: a competitive advantage, improved profit margins, and better brand sentiment from employees and customers.

Rob Hoehn2021-12-14T06:38:24-08:00February 20th, 2017|Categories: Strategies, Trend Alert|Tags: business development, Business Model Innovation, constraint, Creativity, future, green innovation, green innovations, innovation value, question, regulations, sustainability, trend, value chain, value chain innovation, value creation, value stream|

Are Corporate Innovation Centers The Last Hope for Companies Too Big To Fail?

Companies once deemed “too big to fail” are increasingly exposed to failure. The threat of disruption is everywhere. Startups are taking on the Goliaths in every market. Scores of malls across the United States are in collapse. Many household brand names are losing ground or even shutting completely. Regardless of industry, businesses face digital Darwinism, the evolution of technology and markets. Disruption is just a matter of when, where and why. To compete, executives must make tough decisions but more so, they must look to new horizons for new insight and direction. Whether companies thrive or cower in the face of digital Darwinism is a choice.

Ideascale2019-10-15T15:24:30-07:00February 9th, 2017|Categories: Enabling Factors, Report, Strategies|Tags: AI, asia, big data, case study, cloud, Competition, corporate innovation, corporate innovation centers, cyber-security, digital era, digital innovation, digital platform, disruptive innovation, ecosystem, europe, fintech, global market, in-depth article, innovation center, innovation centers, innovation hub, IoT, large companies, MNC, silicon valley, startup, talent management, Technology|

Collaborative Innovation – Hamburger Style

Often I read articles or books about top-down vs. bottom-up innovation and why one approach would be better than the other. After spending more than five years in the collaborative innovation space, I would advise going hamburger style!

Ideascale2021-12-14T06:34:14-08:00February 7th, 2017|Categories: Collaborative Innovation, Idea Management, Open Innovation|Tags: bottom-up, bottom-up innovation, campaign team, collaborative innovation, Communication, Creativity, crowdvoting, executive sponsor, Ideation, ideation contests, innovation champions, Innovation Strategy, question, suggestion box, synergy, top-down, top-down innovation, workshop|