Mad Scientists and Creativity Labs

Managing solitary and collaborative innovation: All innovation is based on creative ideas which are generated and developed by passionate people working alone and with others. Both solitary and collaborative work are important to the effective development of innovation in organizations. The key for leaders is to effectively promote both.

Create like a 5-year-old

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.

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.

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.

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.

Innovation lessons from Silly Putty

In times like these, many people are waiting for better times to take action, to try new things or to create change but that is not the solution. To succeed, you must act, seek and welcome change and go beyond the norm, today. Here are 8 lessons from Silly Putty on how you can "eggceed" expectations.

Allocate Time for Innovation

One of the most common barriers to innovation is lack of time. People are just too busy doing their day job to spend time trying new things. Here are some common-sense strategies to help your people to be creative, from Paul Sloane.

Fueling the recovery with new, high-octane business models

According to a recent survey of 65 senior executives of global companies, the large majority of firms are looking for innovation to drive growth. But they're not necessarily looking for the next great product or product feature. Instead, companies are putting greater focus on business models that create value for customers in new ways.

Does your company have a process for nurturing ideas?

One of the most prevalent and dangerous misconceptions in innovation [...]