Category Archives: Innovation

Join me on #innochat for a discussion about Overcoming Innovation Inertia

in Innovation

A few weeks ago, I published a post that got some decent reaction from peers. Titled “Law of innovation inertia“, I touched on the topic of copying approaches that have worked for other companies. My stance is that one should think for themselves, develop a point of view, and then look for ideas elsewhere based on that point of view.

This, of course, is rarely the case. Businesses copy and paste based on the success of others, not because of their own unique strategy.

Anyway, this Thursday 12 at 9 AM PT, I’ll be joining #innochat to discuss the topic of how to overcome innovation inertia further.

The suggested questions as starting points for our discussion are:…

The Customer Experience Advantage: Always be connecting dots

in Innovation

I once wrote about connecting the dots. But connecting the dots isn’t constrained to strategic thinking, it applies in every domain. For example, to read a person’s unspoken thoughts, you can read their body language. This takes some preparation, but it is really about connect the dots within a context.

Taking this example further, the same principle applies in the domain of customer experience. What does connecting the dots look like? To illustrate, here is what happens at Gramercy Tavern (from the book Influencer):…

What are the common sources of resistance to change?

in Innovation, Leadership, Question-To-Innovate, Questions, Strategy

What are the common sources of resistance to change?

Scott Berkun has a great quote about resistance to ideas: The default state of an idea is non-adoption.

Reflecting on this quote, it useful to consider why that is so. For many reasons, people, in any arena, will resist change. That is just the way it is, so it is best to expect it.

While too many to list, there are commonalities between them. Here are five common sources of resistance to change:…

Getting the small things right is a first step towards innovation

in Innovation, Leadership, Strategy

Nobody likes to be rejected. But, there are times when you know you’ve provided value by facilitating clarity. This happened to me recently…

Last week I had a meeting with a very public mexican CEO, where we talked about innovation and its various forms. He clearly wants to innovate in various areas, but was honest in expressing his understanding that his company is not prepared to do so.…

3 reasons why eliminating customer friction is not always intuitive

in Innovation

People remember, and pay for experiences. But, some businesses are delivering unhappiness, and they don’t know it. And they might not have an epiphany even if they go out of business. This is sad…

From a customer experience perspective, a business’ single focus should be to eliminate all the obstacles that will stand in the way of the customer achieving their desired outcome.

But, eliminating friction is not always intuitive. Why? Here are three reasons why:…

To do original work don’t have rules, have ruling values

in Innovation, Leadership

burning man

“I’ll know it when I see it”. That is a common expression of something that we think is novel and distinctive. When we see or experience something truly original, it is surprising. But how many times in a day, week, month or year are you authentically surprised?

Rarely I assume.

How can we change that? Well, let’s start by asking a simple question: What does it take to do original work?

…

Strategy is hard. Innovation is harder

in Innovation, Strategy

By now, you should know that I don’t sugarcoat it. No recipes, frameworks, or any other method with promises of a silver bullet. No BS here about how easy it is. With that said, here is another anecdote for you…

Yesterday we visited a prospect, we talked about how we could help them make some improvements in they way they collaborate with their value chain. After our meeting was done, the CEO asked me why we needed to be so thorough to make a strategy. I simply said: Strategy isn’t supposed to be easy. There is no silver bullet that applies to everyone. Whoever tells you differently is not a strategist.…