Willing to Innovate? Start with Improving on Culture!

It is neither the business models nor the products that are innovative, but rather the minds behind them. Hence, nurturing a culture where people are willing to generate and execute on creative ideas is an essential skill for every innovation leader.

Democratising Elite Performance Tools with Dr. Andy Walshe

Currently leading Human Performance for Red Bull, Andy works with hundreds of international athletes and business leaders to develop and implement elite performance models. In today’s podcast, Andy and Mark sit down to discuss the intricacies of human potential and how certain qualities of elite performers resonate across sectors, industries and arenas; how companies can evolve to enable more talented employees to excel and his project Human 2.0 which looks at how new technologies especially in the arena of Artificial Intelligence encourage us to explore our own potential at a much higher level.

Cutting Complexity with Lisa Bodell of Futurethink

In this episode, Lisa and Mark reconvene to share more essential tools for leaders and teams to simplify their work environment from her second book, Why Simple Wins, they explore insights into how companies like SAP, Southwest Airlines and Syngenta are putting simplification principles into action. Join us to learn how simplicity can give you and your organisation the competitive edge of our time!

Opening the Floodgates of Innovation: Insights from Deloitte Innovation Day

Take a quick glance around your office. What do you see? Categorically “Start-up” types in t-shirts and jeans passing bottles of craft beer around? Or “Suits”, with their collars starched to perfection, hunched over their laptops and scrambling away at emails? What would happen if we flipped these scenarios around? I for one, would love to see my accountant rock up to work in a Hawaiian Shirt; a calculator in one hand, and a piña colada in the other. But what difference would this make?

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.

Innovation Enablers

They say variety is “the spice of life” – but in our working lives, it’s the spice, ingredients and a good portion of the kitchen equipment too. In striving to build comprehensive and sustainable enterprise innovation programs however, too often I see companies then ignoring the need for diversity – both in the reach and composition of their programmes. We are long past the days where a company’s growth can be sustained with innovation from a few solitary individuals in a lab or conference room. Innovation nowadays needs to be a singular mindset across the entire company – with executives not just asking, but instead requiring collaborative input from across the organisation as they look to solve the strategic and tactical problems that stand in the way of progress.

10 Commandments of Effective Crowdsourcing

For the companies which have embraced the crowdsourcing mindset in their business processes, the motive is more than just outsourcing. It's about better collaboration, better innovation outcomes and ultimately superior value. But like many other new business models, some fail and some succeed in accomplishing this mission.

Is There a Silver Bullet For Intrapreneurship?

Intrapreneurship is vital for all organizations to thrive in the 21st century - equally important for large firms, SMEs, and family businesses. Is there a proven recipe, a one size fits all approach to promoting intrapreneurship?

Put down the iPad: How to Set Rewards for Collaborative Innovation

Engaging in collaborative innovation by participating in activities such as ideation challenges can put community members at odds with the carrot-n-stick incentive and power structures that exist in every organization, including those that ostensibly support a culture of innovation. As the sponsor of your organization’s program for collaborative innovation, you can structure rewards in ways that give your community members the space and resources they need to pursue ideas to fruition. In this article, community architect Doug Collins helps you think through the process of defining a rewards structure for a basic ideation challenge that respects the innovators and collaborators who contribute.

Open Innovation for Small Companies

Open innovation may seem to be the preserve of big business. After all, it is often associated with long established monstrosities like Proctor and Gamble and IBM. But it is an approach that can be used by all companies, especially start-ups and small businesses, explains Jeffrey Baumgartner.

Innovation Strategy: Hurdles are for Leaping Over

The biggest hurdle to innovation is probably allowing hurdles to become insurmountable. The thing to remember, however, is that hurdles are for jumping over. The best method of jumping over innovation hurdles is through creativity and innovation.

10 Rules for Creative Teams

Under the right circumstances, a team can be significantly more creative than any individual team member and is often better able to push creative ideas through the implementation process so that they may become innovations. Here are ten quick rules for ensuring your teams are effective creative teams from Jeffrey Baumgartner.