Innovation Culture

Why Managers Fear Innovation

Innovation is a paradox for management. On the one hand you are well aware that you have to take new roads before you reach the end of the present dead end street. On the other hand it is risky. It takes a lot of time. And it takes a lot of resources. Research shows that only one out of seven innovation projects is successful. So saying yes to innovation is a step into the unknown. It creates fear of failure, which causes fear to innovate. It's like sailing to the South Pole like Shackleton, where the surrounding ice can stop you any moment.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:35:54-08:00February 14th, 2013|Categories: Front End of Innovation|Tags: company culture, Failure, innovation champion, Innovation Culture, inspiration, leadership, risk aversion, risk management|

The Supremacy of Innovation

Successful programs like TQM, Balance Scorecard and Six Sigma dramatically improve quality and performance. They are designed to rightfully calibrate the hard asset issues of production. There is a serious lack of three dimensional modeling for soft issues, like innovative thinking and the dimensions of the core vision itself enveloping all production issues. These image supremacy rules challenge current methods and offer checklists to assess the need of newer, softer and special agenda-centric approaches.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:35:41-08:00February 11th, 2013|Categories: Leadership, Strategies|Tags: balance scorecard, Best Practices, Communication, Innovation Culture, innovative thinking, leadership, measure innovation, measuring innovation, six sigma, soft skills, vision|

Creating Innovation Cultures in Companies: CEOs, People and Collaboration Tools

This article shares two strategies that are proving most effective for CEOs that aim to make their companies more innovative: developing a creative culture (people’s behaviors) and applying new processes and technologies.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:33:23-08:00February 1st, 2013|Categories: Collaborative Innovation, Leadership, Organization & Culture|Tags: Business Model Innovation, CEO, company culture, complex systems, education, in-depth article, innovation champions, Innovation Culture, Innovation Management, innovation management software, leadership, report, SaaS, software|

Reducing Confusion, Promoting Diffusion

In this series of three articles Paul Hobcraft explores the value of knowledge and education for innovation. Concluding the discussion, in part three the author reviews faulty innovation practice and argues in favor of recognizing innovation as a value enhancing and organizational life-changing event we need to move towards increasingly.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:33:18-08:00January 31st, 2013|Categories: Life Cycle Processes|Tags: Business Model Innovation, complex systems, confusion, education, Innovation Culture, Innovation Management, innovation training, knowledge sharing, leadership, motivation, openness, question, skills management|

Cultivating Innovation Champions

In order for innovation to flourish in your organization, your innovation champions must be supported through properly structured responsibilities, goals and resources. Otherwise, they will leave to pursue other opportunities, taking their energy and ideas with them. That’s one of the core messages of Gerard J. Tellis’ new book, Unrelenting Innovation.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:33:17-08:00January 30th, 2013|Categories: Enabling Factors, Leadership|Tags: goal setting, innovation champions, Innovation Culture|

Creating Innovation Value: Four Key Drivers to Success

The ability to increase business value through innovation is a critical success driver for most organizations. The markets that we operate in provide both opportunity and risk from an innovation perspective as they are rapidly changing. This article takes a look at a useful framework; The Innovation Diamond™, that examines the complexity and addresses some of the challenges in product innovation.

Ideascale2019-10-15T15:12:34-07:00January 21st, 2013|Categories: Strategies|Tags: brand loyalty, company culture, competitive advantage, framework, Innovation Culture, innovation diamond, innovation framework, innovation process, Innovation Strategy, innovation value, portfolio management, Product Development, product innovation, risk assessment, Success|

Hiring Creative Employees

Are you looking to hire creative employees at your company? If so, allow me to propose some characteristics you can advertise for and look for in order to find true creative thinkers. However, I also have a warning for you. But first, a little background.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:29:40-08:00January 16th, 2013|Categories: Enabling Factors|Tags: company culture, Creativity, diversity, Employee Engagement, hiring, HR, human resources, innovation champions, Innovation Culture, talent management, team building, team diversity|

Driving Innovation by Corporate Venturing: How to Master Governance and Culture Challenges

Corporate venturing is becoming an important tool for big companies to complement internally driven innovation activities. However, becoming a serious player in corporate venturing requires governance principles and creates cultural dynamics which do not fit into existing corporate environment easily. This article discusses those challenges in detail and suggests ways how to deal with them.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:22:49-08:00January 7th, 2013|Categories: Organization & Culture, Strategies|Tags: case study, corporate innovation, governance, in-depth article, Innovation Culture, innovation governance, venture capital|

Fostering Innovation through Effective Risk Management

Risk management can provide visibility, analytical insights and governance that can help companies better manage and optimize their innovation portfolio. In this article Adi Alon and Ken Hooper look at learnings from the VC industry and risk management practices to provide three principles that can drive higher return from an innovation investment.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:22:42-08:00January 3rd, 2013|Categories: Strategies|Tags: agile innovation, analytics, control, flexibility, innovation controlling, Innovation Culture, innovation portfolio, innovation processes, portfolio management, risk management, speed, speed of innovation, stage gate, stage gates, sustainable growth, venture capital|

The Role of Education and Learning for Innovation

In this series of three articles Paul Hobcraft explores the value of knowledge and education for innovation. In part one he opens the discussion by exploring some of the biggest challenges faced by organizations today and provides encouragement to explore emerging practices.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:22:38-08:00December 27th, 2012|Categories: Life Cycle Processes|Tags: Competition, education, Innovation Culture, innovation management standards, innovation standards, innovation standarization, knowledge sharing, knowledge transfer, learning|

How to Deal with Innovation Management When You Are Small?

Innovation is frequently marketed as driver of growth and prerequisite for remaining competitive. However, the process is often risky, especially for small or medium sized enterprises in search of ways to successfully manage their new products, services or businesses in a systemic and stable manner. Luckily, tools such as the “A.T. Kearney House of Innovation” are available to lend an essential helping hand.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:16:56-08:00December 19th, 2012|Categories: Leadership, Strategies, Support for SMEs|Tags: benchmarking, business growth, Business Model Innovation, competitiveness, entrepreneur, growth, in-depth article, Innovation Culture, Innovation Strategy, small business, smbs, SME, startup, sustainable growth|

The Seven Essential Characteristics of Innovative Companies

What makes a company innovative? Innovation is nothing more than a tool that enables companies to achieve unique, strategic goals. It should not simply be a slogan, nor an end unto itself, argues Jeffrey Baumgartner. To be truly innovative, an organization should have seven essential characteristics.

Ideascale2021-12-20T16:34:52-08:00December 18th, 2012|Categories: Leadership, Organization & Culture, Strategies|Tags: autonomy, Best Practices, entrepreneur, Failure, goal setting, goals, Innovation Culture, Innovation Strategy, innovative companies, inspiration, trust|

Harnessing the Power of Insight: Customer-Centric Innovation in a Changing World

Anyone has the raw capability to think of a great idea, but not everyone has the ability to bring ideas to fruition. It’s a process that requires vision, a strong handle on industry trends (both present and future) and risk takers willing to champion seemingly impossible feats. Most companies have innovators or teams of innovators with these qualities, but many don’t incorporate both customer feedback and customer observational research as key components for designing the next generation of product development. This article will explore the benefits of leveraging a customer-centric model to create more innovative, user-friendly devices that provide the support customers really need.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:16:53-08:00December 17th, 2012|Categories: Strategies|Tags: Business Model Innovation, business objectives, company culture, customer engagement, Customer-centric innovation, ethnography, idea generation, idea implementation, in-depth article, industry trends, Innovation Culture, insight, leadership, Product Development, R&D, systems approach, vision|

Foment Your Culture of Innovation

Many seek a culture of innovation for their organization. What characterizes such a culture? How would you know if you have one? Would your colleagues agree? In this article, innovation architect Doug Collins reflects on the characteristics that comprise a culture of innovation. He explores, too, how people might assess the state of their organization as a first step in fomenting a culture of innovation.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:16:38-08:00December 11th, 2012|Categories: Collaborative Innovation, Leadership, Organization & Culture|Tags: collaborative innovation, company culture, Failure, Innovation Culture, innovative companies, leadership|

Inspiration Versus Aspiration: Two Approaches to Innovation Leadership

Inspiring leadership is what we have all been led to believe creates successful businesses. The fact that history is dotted with examples of successful companies which businesses study closely for clues their own leaders can emulate, clearly shows that we believe there is a formulaic style of leadership which is key to a thriving business. If only it were that simple. Kate Tojeiro, founder of progressive leadership consultancy, X-Fusion, takes a closer look at two key types of leaders.

Ideascale2021-12-05T09:16:32-08:00December 10th, 2012|Categories: Leadership, Organization & Culture|Tags: Best Practices, creative leadership, Creativity, decision making, Employee Engagement, employee satisfaction, Innovation Culture, innovation governance, innovation psychology, inspiration, leadership, lifestyle, power, profit, Success Factors|