Business Intelligence software is an essential tool for analyzing your company's strengths and weaknesses. From inventory management, to accounting, to customer intelligence and beyond, there are many ways you can use BI software to inform your decision-making, increase operational efficiency, and gain a competitive edge.
A decade ago, when purchasing a new cellphone,informed customers would likely choose between Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, or perhaps even Siemens. Today, youngsters, hipsters, techies and executives alike opt for Apple, Samsung and LG. What happened?
Many people assume that creating new ideas is the beginning of the innovation process, but actually that’s not true, according to Langdon Morris. He explains that ideation occurs in the middle of a disciplined, strategically-focused innovation process. In this article, he outlines an 8-step innovation process that promises better results than the traditional 'spray and pray' approach to developing and managing ideas.
Anticonventional thinking forces out of our normal pathways of creative problem solving to consider a wider range of potential solutions. Jeffrey Baumgartner explains how it works via a simple example.
Leaders need to develop a ‘habit of knowledgeability,’ according to Haydn Shaughnessy, who has written extensively on change and innovation for Forbes, WSJ, InnovationManagement and HBR, among other noteworthy publications. In this article, Harun Asad expands on this notion and suggests how to build and implement a strategic intelligence platform that facilitates advancing innovation.
In these uncertain times, are you ready to take advantage of the opportunities that will arise in the next few years, or are you paralyzed by indecision? Scenario thinking can help you to be part of the first group.
In the age of permanent uncertainty there is a resurgent interest in scenario planning. Executives that have witnessed high profile decline of strong companies know that past success is no guaranteed guide to the future. Kevin McDermott & Peter Kennedy argue that scenario planning can be lifted out of its conventional uses in strategy development and risk management and used instead to avoid “opportunity blindness”.
Every time that we approach a problem, in any walk of life, we bring to bear assumptions that limit our ability to conceive fresh solutions, warns Paul Sloane. Brilliant thinkers are always aware of assumptions and are always happy to confront them.
Visualization - the powerful technique used by the world's best athletes to condition their subconscious minds for peak performance - is also a potent problem-solving tool. Here's a simple four-step visualization technique that can help you solve nearly any problem you may face.
