in Creativity, Innovation
The path to innovation usually starts with a question. That’s what Autodesk’s Innovation Genome Project developed after it tried to quantify what worked about the 1,000 greatest innovations of all time. With that data in hand, they quickly identified seven questions that famous innovators have consistently asked and answered to generate ideas that can lead to new innovations.
Here are the 7 questions Innovation Genome Project came up with:…
in Creativity, Innovation
It’s almost impossible to come up with really innovative things when you have a deadline and schedule.
It is no secret that constraints drive innovation. But what about deadlines? Deadlines, when managed well, can be a motivation–but when abused, can set you back. Here are a few things to consider before jumping on the “deadlines are imperative” bandwagon:…
Innovative ideas, initiatives, products, culture transformations, have little chance to succeed if they aren’t enabled by smart communications. And it all starts with a simple and easily understood message.
I’m in the process (pre-production) of co-producing a film with a Director friend of mine. The idea for the film wasn’t mine, so one of the first things I asked him after I read the script was: what’s the hook?
That was at the end of October last year. To this day, that question remains unanswered. And as we’ve been casting for the last two weeks, most of the actors have asked us the same question: what’s the hook?…
in Creativity, Innovation
Takeru Kobayashi (Photo credit: yamchild)
If you start with the wrong problem, it’s unlikely you’ll ever arrive at an effective solution.
Think about a problem you’d really like to solve, and before you spend a lot of time and energy trying to solve that problem, first define exactly what the problem is. Or better yet, redefine the problem.…
in Creativity, Innovation
English: Ryan Valentine scores the goal that keeps Wrexham in the Football League. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In their most recent book, Think Like A Freak, Steve Levitt and Stephen Dubmer tell the story of the penalty kicks in soccer to highlight how incentives move us. According to them, the data shows that 75% of all penalty kicks at the elite level are successful. That’s a high rate, but what can you do if you want to improve a little bit?…
All great achievements came about through collaboration. But, sometimes too much collaboration inhibits our ability to think creatively.
Last week’s post about what impedes employees from being innovative in the workplace generated some discussion. My point that managers, meetings, emails and phone calls get in the way of inspiration was not well received because those are mechanisms we use to move ideas forward.
Yes, but most of the time you are not moving ideas forward because of those mechanisms. Rather, those mechanisms exist to keep “business-as-usual” in place.…
What is the process I use to keep up and /or uncover emerging trends and what tools do I use? Previously, I’ve written about how to create an insights bank using Evernote. Here I’ll expand on that initial idea, with a quick guide on how you can stay on top of emerging trends, as well as building your own sense making capability, to make sure you don’t get caught off guard.
Why do successful companies fail? Because they miss the future. But, companies don’t fail because they choose the wrong course, they fail because they can’t imagine a better one.
How does trend spotting fit into an organization’s future?
Innovators either create trends that change the world, or take advantage of emerging ones. Trend spotting is a very important innovation skill, and one that the vast majority of companies outsource to trend hunting firm; sometimes with no benefit.
This is a valid strategy, but a I’d recommend you don’t bet on it because most organizations have access to the same information those trend hunting firms are selling. More strategic for you is to develop your own capability for detecting and taking action on trends.
Detecting trends is a similar exercise to how you look for tension points to uncover opportunities for innovation; you attentively look for what at some point could become a huge problem.