in Innovation, Leadership
Look at any of the top innovative businesses in the world and you will see that it is driven by an innovative leader. So I was not surprised that yesterday’s post, 5 future-proof questions to ask people in the know, resonated with you.
Jack Martin Leith commented: “Great post. Thank you Jorge. A prerequisite for someone asking those five questions is to be in a state of perpetual curiosity, and I don’t think that can be acquired. Any thoughts?”.
My answer:…
in Innovation, Leadership
How do leaders go about creating an environment for innovation and innovative thinking?
In five ways:…
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.…
in Innovation
“We are tuned to think linearly – but the fact is, these are exponential times”.
And to think exponentially, we need to break out of our comfort zone and seek out new knowledge.
I’ve spent time in companies where they talk about innovation. Supposedly they fight for it. Funny thing is, I don’t notice any “innovation breeding habits” in display. And, if you ask them about those habits, the first one that comes up is brainstorming.
Sorry, but innovation work is more than just brainstorming around what you know. It’s about constant learning. And not so much as learning about the same topic, but going out an learning from people who are not in the same line of work as you. Learning about their domain, how they solve problems, what their challenges are, etc.
This is where seeds for innovative ideas born.…
in Innovation
The NBA Finals started yesterday. The young Oklahoma City Thunder versus the veteran Miami Heat. Who’s the favorite? The younger and inexperienced team, the Thunder, are favorite to win.
How did they get to this point? How does a young and inexperienced team become a favorite to win a series against the likes of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade? How does a team become a contender in less than four years?
I think the clue lies in how their coach, Scott Brooks, frames failure:…
Not as far as I’m concerned.
For as long as I can remember it’s always dawned on me that late adopters are not innovative. I mean, how could they be if they are not curious. I know, I know. Sometimes being late to the game is great. There are hundreds of examples of companies that were late to the game and ended up changing the game. Apple, Google and Facebook immediately come to mind.
But I think that curiosity drives the kind of creativity that leads to breakthroughs. To breakthroughs that create value. A simple formula I have is:
Curiosity = Value creation…
in Innovation
Boss as CEGO-Chief Error Generation Officer. People learn ONLY from screwup-and-adjustment cycle; your role is to accelerate the process.
— Tom Peters (@tom_peters) March 18, 2012
Awesome tweet by Tom Peters. It reminded me of the movie K-19 Widowmaker.
There are a few scenes in the movie K-19 The Widowmaker, which stars Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson, where Ford (the captain of the submarine) starts a number of drills to test the crew’s ability to execute under pressure. These drills, simulate situations that might go wrong. How about starting a fire in the crew’s sleeping quarters? How about shutting down the torpedo bay? How about jamming the sonar? All at once. What do you do?
The thinking goes, if you can test your edge, you can execute under extreme pressure.
This is what Tom Peters is referring to. Not someone who just wants to make people feel uncomfortable (although that’s true too) just for the heck of it, but a more strategic role of accelerating learning.…
