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.

4 Steps for Top Executives to Execute on to Truly Empower Innovation

Why would a company that rose to prominence based on its innovativeness abandon its lifeblood when the founder exists the building? There are many examples of this happening out there. However if they follow in the footsteps of the world’s ‘serial innovators,’ leadership can keep a company’s innovation flame lit without having to bring back the founding CEO.

Innovation Versus Vision

Truly innovative companies do not aim to be innovative. Rather they relentlessly strive to follow a unique strategy, says Jeffrey Baumgartner.

What is Innovative Leadership?

Who are innovative leaders? What are their qualities and how do they drive innovation within an organization? Jeffrey Baumgartner provides a tantalizing profile to which we can aspire.

Want Breakthrough Innovation? Then Don’t Listen to your Customers

Crowdsourcing and customer-focused innovation are very popular today. But by themselves, they're not a very good way to achieve breakthrough innovation, warns Jeffrey Baumgartner.

The ‘why’ behind innovation

"Why" is the fundamental question every business leader should be able to answer, immediately, with absolute clarity. Without knowing why a company exists and the purpose of the business, the people who work for an organization cannot align their own, individual beliefs and values with their leaders in order to create the future.

How to lead creatively and inspire your people

If you're a manager who wants to lead creativity effectively, there is hope and support available. You could be remembered as fondly as Herb Brooks is remembered by the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. He's the guy who helped them achieve a miracle.

Is open innovation over-hyped?

Open innovation has been hyped in the media and by some consulting firms over the past few years as the next new thing and is just giving a term to an activity that has been underway in business for a long time. Simply put, open innovation is partnering to gain leverage and build barriers to competition.

Innovation: Creating the best practices of tomorrow

The best way to create value is to innovate your way ahead of the competition. You need to create temporary monopolies where yours is the only show in town. You can do this by harnessing the creative power of your greatest asset, your people. The goal is to turn them into opportunistic entrepreneurs who are constantly looking for new ways of doing business.