Innovation Networks in Action – A Case Study

In this fourth and final installment in this whitepaper series, we examine a live case study of where both innovation training and network development have been actively managed and sustained within Intuit, an IT organization based out of Silicon Valley.

Taking Innovation Training to the Next Level: Integration With Employee Networks

In the previous two whitepapers of this series we examined both the benefits of innovation training and areas of innovation skills that mid-to-junior level employees can be taught. In this installment we will address an important topic that is often missing from innovation training / education programs: How to build effective employee networks that support employees who have been trained with new innovation skills.

Innovator’s Accelerator: Imparting the Skills of the Innovator

Is it possible for companies to teach the skills of innovation to leaders and teams to help secure a marketplace advantage? The six-week Innovator’s Accelerator™online program is designed to do just that: impart the skills of the innovator–as taught by industry leaders and demonstrated through case studies–in as little as one hour per day.

How to Assess an Innovation Training Program

As innovation becomes an important skill set, large organizations will seek to obtain training for their employees. We stand on the brink of an innovation training “land rush” with few rules and little information to identify the best programs. Evaluating an innovation training program is critical. Assess programs based on their depth, the experience of the trainers, the referenced body of knowledge and the inclusion of practical examples and hands-on exercises. Ignore certifications, because no standard exists.

The Innovative Employee: Traits, Knowledge and Company Culture

How can a companies’ ability to innovate be improved?All innovation activity can be traced back to the behavior of employees. That makes the employee the center point of attention, if you want to improve your innovation ability. This article is built around the question: Which personal abilities and traits as well as organizational culture enable an employee to be innovative?

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.

5 Steps to Increase Innovation Skill Sets

"This company needs to be more innovative!" Sounds familiar, doesn't it? But what happens next? Because a true change in how innovative a company is must also reflect a change in the skills of employees that are related to innovation. Which, of course, begs the question: Is innovation a skill set that all employees can acquire? Can employees that are not innovative learn how to be? And, if so, what are these skills? How are improvements in them measured? In this article Dr. Mark Juszczak attempts to provide HR practitioners with some guidelines and a background into the competencies linked to innovation and the extent to which such competencies are teachable.

Coaching SMEs to Innovate

In this article Dr Rowan Gilmore shares lessons from the AIC’s Innovation Coaching program which was first introduced to help Queensland (Australia) SMEs in 2009. The program works with SMEs in a number of industry sectors, helping company management to “think outside the box” to grow their business or develop new products and services.

Changing times –preparing for the ‘New Economy’

Perhaps your company’s product innovation process is one of the casualties of the Great Recession. Yet, you know that a steady release of new products or services into the marketplace remains the only way to stay strong and grow in an increasingly competitive world. Companies need to produce more with less, to make it faster, and to do it with reduced personnel. What do you do? Read more in this article by Dr. Scott J. Edgett.

Innovate to Thrive –The Importance of Inspiration

This is the first in a series of articles that take the need of Innovation under the loop and share some of the imperatives, must have’s if you will, to create and sustain “NEW” in business or organizations. The material is based on 25 years of hands on experience in the innovation space and the recently published book “Robert's rule of innovation”.

Creating a Culture of Innovation

Years of cost-cutting and focus on process excellence have created in many firms a culture that is focused on operational excellence and risk avoidance. For innovation to succeed as a corporate objective, the culture must change to accommodate the risk and uncertainty that accompanies an innovation focus. Luckily, several important levers can help you change the culture, as Jeffrey Phillips explains.