Category Archives: Innovation

Innovation book review: The Innovation Expedition by @gijsvanwulfen

in Innovation

The innovation expedition Gijs Van WulfenThere are a multitude of innovation books that are either published or are going to be published with something along the lines of  “innovation lessons from ___fill in the blank with a famous person’s name___”.

These are typical books that provide tips and principles to follow. Nothing wrong with that, except that there are too many that come to the same conclusions. There are others though, that do present a different concept.

Gijs Van Wulfen sent me his newest book last month, I think it is very cool. Called “The Innovation Expedition: A Visual Toolkit to Start Innovation“, consist of a visual journey through Gijs FORTH Innovation method. Which is all about “How to get started with innovation effectively“.…

My Disruptive Heroes Interview with @simpletonbill

in Innovation, Interviews, Leadership

Popular blogger and author of multiple best-selling books, Bill Jensen, nominated me as one of 50 Top Disruptive Experts. An elite group of Disruptive Heroes, that already includes Marissa Mayer, Guy Kawasaki, John Hagel and many others.

And, as part of his Disruptive Heroes series, a few week ago I was interviewed by Bill. At the end of this post, you’ll find the short video interview.

To provide you with some context, he asked me the following three questions:…

Why should companies launch imperfect products?

in Innovation, Question-To-Innovate, Questions

Why should companies launch imperfect products?

Although we think there are exceptions to the rule (Apple, Square), no company ever launches a complete product.

The Lean Startup advocates that entrepreneurs can and should launch products and services that are not %100 percent complete. This idea, of constant experimentation, is not new. Most products that are launched by startups are an initial prototype that tests for market validation.

Big companies, by their nature, don’t do this. At least not all of them.

Starbucks, for example, is an outlier. If you’ve read about how Statbucks got started, then you won’t be surprised. As outlined on a Fast Company article, they’ve recently taken to experiment with new marketing channels, such as Groupon, and in doing so put their huge digital platform to the test:…

Q&A: Group Partners on How Visualization Provides Strategic Ways To Solve Business Challenges

in Innovation, Interviews, Strategy

Why We Think Visually from John Caswell on Vimeo.

To be great at strategy and innovation, you must be able to work through an interconnected system. And, as the pace of change exceeds our ability to grasp what is happening around us, a better approach is needed for developing strategy and innovation. A visual approach to systems thinking.

To help deal with that challenge, Group Partners, has developed a unique approach to visualize and better solve problems with strategy and innovation. Here is a quick interview with visual thinking gurus, John Caswell and Hazel Tiffany of Group Partners.…

Innovation starts with needs but it doesn’t end there

in Innovation, Leadership, Marketing, Strategy

Businesses, either new or “me-too’s”, set out to fulfill a need in the marketplace. Whoever fills this need in a better way, usually is rewarded with profits for a long time. But, profits does not a sustainable company make. Though this particular story I’m about to tell you doesn’t talk about billions of dollars in revenue being evaporated, it does touch on the illusion of customer loyalty.

About 5 years ago, I started advising and then joined a celebrity baby clothing startup called Tuni&G which has a new line of newborn baby clothes for a boy.…

Why is competitive advantage temporary?

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

competitive advantage is temporary

An often asked question. Yet, there are those who think that competitive advantages are everlasting.

Competitive advantage, it seems to me, has become an instrument of finance. As in, how can our company accumulate hoards of cash to become sustainable?

The defining metric for said advantage is profits. That is a mindset, I believe, of playing not to lose.

Accumulating a war chest of money doesn’t mean you will outlast the next wave of change, you have things upside down, for an investment in innovation is an investment in your future.…

The non-obvious innovation obstacle: charlatanism

in Innovation

No, we don’t need innovation offices or officers for our cities. Buzzword mania, and everyone wanting to be a part of the bandwagon make it a ignorant proposition. Most of the innovation offices want to resemble Silicon Valley, including its focus on technology.

Remember, innovation isn’t just about tech. So, another tech center does not innovation make.…