Category Archives: Creativity

The Innovators DNA: Interview with Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen

in Creativity, Innovation, Interviews

innovator's dna

A few weeks ago, I got the chance to interview the authors of the bestselling innovation book, The Innovator’s DNA.  Below is the transcript of what I was able to record from our call.

Before, here is short bio of each author:

Hal Gregersen is the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Chair of Innovation and Leadership at INSEAD and Jeff Dyer is the Horace Beesley Professor of Strategy at BYU’s Marriott School of Management. They are co-authors of The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators and most recently worked together on Innovator’s Accelerator, an online executive education experience designed to develop individuals’ and organizations’ innovation skills.…

What is the greatest impediment to creativity?

in Creativity, Question-To-Innovate, Questions

What is the greatest impediment to creativity?

Question-to-innovate Series: This the twentieth 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.

The greatest impediment to creativity is your impatience. Let me explain…

Bravery has always been associated with creativity. And, while fear is an important impediment to creativity, worse, I believe, is impatience.

The inevitable desire to hurry up the process, express something, and make a splash. Sure, the speed in how we communicate is a key driver in the pace of change in the world. This puts enormous pressure on companies to forge ahead and innovate (if they can).…

Template mentality does not equal innovation

in Creativity, Innovation

imaginationWell, well, well. My rant about innovation consultants hit a nerve. In particular, I liked this response from Roger von Oech:

The problem with reading books and then going out and suggesting what they say to do, is that by the time those books come out, the techniques or strategies that they suggest are already a best practice. And, you already know what I think about “best practice thinking”. Also, business books don’t really teach you how to think. At best, they tell you what to think. On top of that, humans are not very good at understanding context. What works in Cancun is not going to work in New York. There are cultural differences, even within countries.

Another issue I see, is that templates, like all ideas, reach their expiration date:

…

What do good failures look like?

in Creativity, Innovation, Question-To-Innovate, Questions

what do good failures look like?

Question-to-innovate Series: This the nineteenth 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.

A few weeks ago I set the record straight about the relationship between innovation and failure: Failure isn’t the goal, but it is part of the process of innovation.…

To be taken seriously, should advice giving innovation consultants be innovators themselves?

in Creativity, Innovation

Gregg Fraley and I both are  of the opinion that a non-creative innovation consultant who knows the theory, but doesn’t get his hands dirty, has no business in giving game-changing advice.

Via Gregg Fraley in response to this article about creativity gurus:

Interesting that even the experts don’t really know how, exactly, to be more creative. A nicely written, humorous, and thoughtful piece.

When I saw his response, I couldn’t help myself and not respond. Here is my on-going response with Gregg (from Facebook):…

What is the most important innovation skill I should practice?

in Creativity, Innovation, Question-To-Innovate, Questions

question to innovate

This the eighteenth 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.

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to interview the authors of The Innovators DNA. One of the questions that I asked them was: Of the five skills, is there one skill in particular that is more important than all others? Why?

Before the other core innovation skills, the ability to associate is the most important innovation skill you need to master. Associating, or the ability to successfully connect seemingly unrelated questions, problems, or ideas from different fields, is central to the innovator’s DNA.…

What are the most important things you can do to speed and improve the creative process?

in Creativity, Innovation, Question-To-Innovate, Questions

question to innovate

This the fourteenth 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.

This is an interesting question. Here are a few thoughts on how you can speed and improve the creative process:…