This is the eigth of a series of weekly posts where I will answer a few common questions about innovation. Please feel free to add your own response. Also, if you have any questions you think we should discuss, let me know. Via Quora: What are some of the first questions you would ask your [...]
What question would you ask your company to spark innovative thinking?
Posted on November 9, 2012 // Leave a Comment
Is the CEO responsible for product failure and wins?
Posted on October 31, 2012 // Leave a Comment
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Scott Forstall, is apparently out of Apple because he didn’t want to apologize to the public for the whole maps and Siri mess. Products he was responsible for. Why is this important? Are we seeing arguably “the most innovative company in the world” starting to implode in front of us? I don’t [...]
Tactics are superficial, strategy is deep
Posted on October 11, 2012 // 1 Comment
Here’s the question posed on yesterday’s #bizforum chat. Apple is OFTEN used as a case study for how biz can & should grow, yet it’s always a one-off. Few compare. Why?#bizforum — Sam Fiorella (@samfiorella) October 11, 2012 My answer: Because, as always, everyone copies tactics. Not strategy. Apple’s strategy is unique to them. Their [...]
Focused enthusiasm = innovation success
Posted on August 9, 2012 // 3 Comments
A recent article in Fast Company caught my attention. It isn’t anything you haven’t heard before, but it is very well worth pointing out again and again: “The next best thing won’t come from a Fortune 500 company.” Yes, there are exceptions to the rule. Google, Amazon, Apple, and others are talked about all the [...]
3 Ways to help customers win
Posted on May 22, 2012 // Leave a Comment
“It’s not enough that we win; all others must lose.” – Larry Ellison Heard this one yesterday. I’m all in for competition, but business isn’t about war (at some point I used to think like Genghis Khan too). It isn’t about beating competitors just for the heck of it. I find this focus on competing [...]
Everyone wants to follow the leader, not many want to be one
Posted on March 13, 2012 // Leave a Comment
We all have access to the same information. To the same quotes, to the same people, to the same sources. To the same… Regurgitation has taken center stage. For example, those of us ‘in the know’ have a pretty good idea about how Apple works. We know they don’t do focus groups, that they don’t [...]
Why creating new categories is so successful
Posted on January 25, 2012 // 1 Comment
Creating a new category. The Holy Grail of Innovation. The Holy Grail of entrepreneurs. It’s when you can create a new category that you command the skies. Think of the iPad. Is it a new category? It is. But not because people think it is, but because Apple defined it as such. Experts characterized the [...]
