Innovation Culture

Unlocking Innovation in Business

85% of UK workers believe the strategic objectives of their employers could more easily be met through innovative approaches. Fortunately, the innovation discussion in business is progressing. Yet although most organisations acknowledge the desperate need for change, they are still at a loss when it comes to taking action. Workforces are a goldmine for the insight needed to drive change in an increasingly competitive business environment - but this knowledge must be captured to unlock innovation.

Ideascale2019-10-15T15:22:27-07:00November 23rd, 2015|Categories: Idea Management, Organization & Culture|Tags: business innovation, company culture, Competition, Employee Engagement, idea management, Ideation, Innovation Culture, innovation metrics, innovation software, Innovation Strategy, innovation value, measuring innovation|

Enhancing a Startup Culture in a Corporate Environment

There is little doubt that startups are dominating leadership discussion in many sectors of the economy, and have even become a source of admiration in popular culture. Whether driven by the hopes of “unicorn” valuations and lucrative exits or by the desire for more informal, collegial working environments, startups are more prevalent and attractive to existing and potential employees than ever. In fact, in a recent Accenture survey, only 15% of the class of 2014 would “prefer” to work for a mature, established organization.

Ideascale2022-01-24T16:45:15-08:00November 17th, 2015|Categories: Organization & Culture|Tags: Communication, company culture, Employee Engagement, employee recognition, enterprise innovation, HR, Innovation Culture, innovation tools, innovation training, leadership, reward, startup, talent management, team building, vision, workplace environment|

How To Get Support for Your Big Ideas?

Have you ever shared new big ideas at work? What happened...? Did they give you a standing ovation? Did someone bake you a cake to celebrate? Did you get promoted? Or I am a little too optimistic?

Ideascale2021-12-07T15:28:19-08:00November 3rd, 2015|Categories: Front End of Innovation, Idea Management, Leadership|Tags: business case, evaluating ideas, idea management, Ideation, Innovation Culture, pitch, presentation, presenting ideas, risk aversion, risk management|

Innovation Decimation: Refined Sugar and the iPhone

I see no value in waiting until New Year’s Day to resolve to improve myself. “Now is as good as time as any,” makes more sense to me. Last month I resolved to make two changes which, if I succeed in maintaining the alterations, promise to benefit me. In this article, I share my view on these changes, the immediate effect they have had on me, and their relation to the practice of collaborative innovation.

Ideascale2019-10-15T15:22:30-07:00October 27th, 2015|Categories: Collaborative Innovation, Organization & Culture|Tags: collaborative innovation, incremental improvements, Innovation Culture, Innovation Management, innovation process, mindfulness, personal development, sugar|

10 Best Board Practices on Innovation Governance – How Proactive is your Board?

All global business and technology trends point in the same direction: there is a need for more proactive and far-sighted management of innovation. Innovation for business reinforcement and growth – and for transformation in particular – are, of course, the prime responsibility of top management. Innovation governance – a holistic approach to steering, promoting and sustaining innovation – is thus becoming a new management imperative.

Ideascale2021-12-07T15:26:37-08:00October 19th, 2015|Categories: Leadership, Strategies|Tags: Best Practices, company-wide innovation, decision making, goal setting, in-depth article, innovation champion, Innovation Culture, innovation governance, Innovation Leadership, Innovation Management, Innovation Strategy, Jean-Philippe Deschamps, Organization|

Shaping the Future

Think of the future. Go on! Now tell me honestly what is the furthest point in time that you imagined. If it was three years then I’m not surprised. After all, in business three seems almost to be some sort of talisman. We have three year business plans, 2-3 year product development cycles and of course there is that ubiquitous interview question about where you see yourself in three year’s time.

Ideascale2019-10-15T15:22:32-07:00October 6th, 2015|Categories: Leadership, Organization & Culture|Tags: business model, business plan, Change Management, disruptive innovation, globalization, Innovation Culture, Product Development, product development cycle, thinking ahead, trends|

The Urgent Intrapreneur Opportunity: An Introduction for Corporate Leaders

The power and freedom that entrepreneurs and their startups embody is reinforced through a constant stream of media highlighting success, purpose and (mostly bullsh*t) bucolic work environments. As the global economy improves, business leaders of established corporate organizations need to consider how they can introduce an entrepreneurial spirit. Intrapreneurs are the answer, and this article provides a high level overview.

Ideascale2022-01-24T16:45:28-08:00September 8th, 2015|Categories: Leadership, Organization & Culture|Tags: company culture, download, enterprise innovation, entrepreneur, HR, in-depth article, innovation champion, Innovation Culture, innovation team, intrapreneur, startup, talent management, whitepaper|

Follow the Crowd or Create the Marketplace

It’s follow my leader time for the world’s stock markets. Concerns over the state of the Chinese economy have seen markets plunge into freefall, only for some to bounce upwards again a few hours later. At the time of writing, markets are still in flux with analysts divided on the eventual outcome.

Ideascale2019-10-15T15:20:55-07:00August 28th, 2015|Categories: Leadership, Organization & Culture|Tags: Change Management, china, crisis, economy, groupthink, Innovation Culture, innovation roadmap, trends|

How Innovation Vendors Are Changing, and The Implications For Clients

Over the past couple of years, the services and solutions offered by innovation vendors have quietly shifted in new and interesting ways, with direct implications for corporate innovation leaders. Given that it is the middle of a long hot summer, I thought that it might be timely to outline some of the changes that I see taking place, and their impact on innovation leaders going forward.

Ideascale2022-01-24T16:45:54-08:00July 29th, 2015|Categories: Organization & Culture|Tags: company culture, conference, consulting, Crowdsourcing, innovation consulting, Innovation Culture, innovation leader, innovation management software, innovation vendor, software|

Heading for Mass Extinction

Global diversity is in crisis. Scientists have recently announced that our planet is in the middle of the sixth global mass extinction event and this time it’s man-made. Not since the time of the dinosaurs have so many species been under threat and it’s not just the environmental infrastructure which should be giving us cause for concern.

Ideascale2019-10-15T15:20:59-07:00July 16th, 2015|Categories: Organization & Culture|Tags: adaptability, Change Management, circular economy, climate change, Collaboration, crisis, green innovations, Innovation Culture, organizational structure, sustainability|

How Far Can Crowdsourcing Go?

The origins of ‘crowdsourcing’ lie very much in the business world. The term is widely accepted to have been coined by Wired magazine in 2006, in an article analysing how businesses were beginning to outsource tasks, usually handled by an individual to a larger number of people, in the expectation it would gain faster results for a cheaper price. Since then, business use of crowdsourcing techniques has become more established. Crowdfunding, for example, has become a common way of raising funds, while Spigit Engage customers provide a great example of how businesses are applying crowdsourcing to the innovation process.

Ideascale2020-03-30T11:58:34-07:00June 22nd, 2015|Categories: Enabling Factors|Tags: Collaboration, crowdfunding, Crowdsourcing, Innovation Culture, innovation program processes, wisdom of the crowd|

Taking Action: Your Innovation Master Plan

The focus of the The Innovation Formula is on the innovation process that makes sense for small businesses, where lean, simple, and fast are essential. You may also be interested in a view of the innovation process that’s suited to larger companies, so this chapter provides an overview of the Innovation Master Plan framework that we use when we’re working with larger organizations on innovation projects and initiatives.

Ideascale2020-04-02T11:10:03-07:00June 5th, 2015|Categories: Life Cycle Processes, Strategies, The Innovation Formula|Tags: apple, Change Management, Failure, Innovation Culture, innovation portfolio, innovation system, IoT, portfolio management, risk management, serialized book, SME, the innovation formula book|

Full Team Engagement in the Innovation Culture

The possibility of innovation is born when people transcend the beliefs that limit their thinking, and engage in the search for new and better ways. When people are doing this consistently and throughout your organization, you will see a pattern begin to emerge which you will discover is the dawning of the innovation culture.

Ideascale2019-10-15T15:21:09-07:00May 21st, 2015|Categories: Leadership, The Innovation Formula|Tags: Failure, HR, innovation champions, Innovation Culture, roles, serialized book, Teamwork, the innovation formula book|

The Rise of the Chief Innovation Officer

Questionable or confusing job titles have long provided fleeting office lunch-break entertainment. A quick search online brings up innumerable lists, featuring classics such as: Senior Information Adviser (otherwise known as a librarian), Wet Leisure Assistant (lifeguard) and Ideation Director (advertising). In this article Harvey Wade, Director, Innovation Strategy at Mindjet, discusses why a job title formerly found at wannabe creative companies is now playing an increasingly recognised and integral role in business.

Ideascale2021-12-07T15:14:47-08:00May 18th, 2015|Categories: Leadership, Organization & Culture|Tags: c-suite, chief innovation officer, Collaboration, Crowdsourcing, Innovation Culture, innovation leader, innovation program processes, Innovation Strategy, motivation|

The Value of Incremental Innovation

In my first article in this series, I talked about the continued, and often misplaced, focus of corporate innovation leaders on developing disruptive innovation efforts. My basic argument within the article was the while “Big I” innovation can be a valid driver of growth. However, few companies are in the right position or have laid the appropriate groundwork to support and develop new, groundbreaking ideas, especially in the context of the existing organizational culture.

Ideascale2022-01-24T16:46:27-08:00May 13th, 2015|Categories: Idea Management, Strategies|Tags: company culture, incremental innovation, innovation challenge, Innovation Culture, innovation leader, pipeline management, pressure, product pipeline, SaaS, Stakeholders|