Tag Archives: Innovation

Innovation is not a process of checking tasks off a checklist

in Innovation

While the rest of the world clamors on how we are settling into an entrepreneurial economy and how their respective countries are building entrepreneurial ecosystems, there are other non-entrepreneurial habits that come with the territory: charlatanism.

I’ve called attention to this before, and I keep bumping into the same thing over and over again. There are quite a few people out there who are masquerading as innovators/entrepreneurs. A lot of them are nothing more than promoters/commentators /observers who take some known frameworks and play a game of plug-and-play.

For example, I recently talked to a guy who is forming a consultancy with another group of people (one of which who works in a government funded venture fund) to help entrepreneurs plan and execute their startup. Their plan is simple: help entrepreneurs fill out the business model and value proposition canvas for free, and then ask them for %5 of the company if they go ahead and launch.…

For innovation: Non-obvious needs are often the richest source of new insights

in Innovation

Innovation comes from leaving known shores and stepping into the unknown. This means being aware that you don’t have all the answers. So, you need to go out and discover new insights…

So, what’s an insight? Insights are unexpected shifts in the way we understand how things work.

They can be broken down into two categories:…

For innovation: Herd your black sheep

in Innovation
Cover of "The Incredibles [UMD for PSP]"

Cover of The Incredibles [UMD for PSP]

As you can discern from last week’s post about how not to drive a culture of innovation, as well as previous ones, I’m a big fan of “what not to do’s”. Well, in contrast to those, what are the counters to those NOT’s?

Let’s take the topic of success leading to failure…

Success breeds complacency because it hides problems, which eventually leads to failure. When success hides problems, what do you do?

You don’t repeat the same formula that worked for you before. Instead, you shake things up as Pixar’s Brad Bird did when taking on The Incredibles.

A few years ago, The McKinsey Quaterly asked: what does stimulating the creativity of animators have in common with developing new product ideas or technology breakthroughs? Apparently, a lot.…

How do you source ideas for innovation out of customers?

in Innovation, Question-To-Innovate, Questions

How do you source ideas for innovation out of customers?

Phil McKinney asks: are customers a source of ideas for innovation?

Two years ago The Economist published a report where it indicated that by 2020 customers will replace R&D as the main source of new ideas. Well, apart from customers, there are many sources where companies can get ideas for innovation; partners, competitors, non-competing companies and employees.

Some of the most innovative ideas can come from customers themselves. But, you must involve them.…

The sad truth about how innovation dies in large organizations

in Innovation

For things to change somebody somewhere has to act differently…

There’s a great thread going on in the Beyond Innovation LinkedIn group about exciting examples of driving a culture of innovation. In my experience, it was one singular person driving it and enlisting people. Always. Most of the people who commented on the thread have similar responses. This is not surprising at all, it is rare an organization that has innovation embedded in their core DNA.

But one response that stood out is about how NOT to drive a culture of innovation!

VP of Culture of Innovation John Coyle at Maddock Douglas chimes in:…

Innovation needs intent

in Innovation, Leadership, Strategy

innovation needs intentUltimately, just like your business strategy, your innovation strategy needs to be focused. It can’t be all things to all people. It must be able to stand on its own.

Last Friday I conducted a second innovation workshop with graduate students from UABC, the largest university in Tijuana. Before we were done, I made sure they took two things to heart:

  1. Figure out their own definition of innovation;
  2. Be intentional with your innovation intent.

The last point is important, and hopefully they caught my drift because a lot of what the media considers innovation fits into the silly category……