Innovation

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    Guy Kawasaki

  • The Perfect Interview Test

    GuyKawasaki
    21 Nov 2009 | 10:12 pm
    Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon, authors of I Hate People!, have figured out a quick way to interview job candidates. The solution is easy: watch how they cross the street. I’m a “wader,” by the way.

  • The 19 bloggers Inc. thinks you should read

    GuyKawasaki
    6 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pm
    Inc. named 19 bloggers that you should read. We’ve aggregated them all in one place: Inc19.alltop.

  • How to Get Found

    GuyKawasaki
    4 Nov 2009 | 3:29 pm
    The reality is that people and technology is getting better and better a blocking out unwanted interruptions—aka, “marketing.” Brian Halligan is the CEO of HubSpot, and he explains in my post on the American Express Open Forum “how to get found.” It’s all about creating great stuff and letting Google et al do what they do: find great stuff.

  • How I tweet

    GuyKawasaki
    2 Nov 2009 | 8:47 am
    By popular demand (and some complaints), I’ve done a FAQ with myself about how I tweet. Hope this helps you use Twitter for your business too. I explain how I use ghostwriters and why I repeat my tweets among other “unusual” practices.

  • Current Twitter Demo Script

    GuyKawasaki
    28 Oct 2009 | 2:26 am
    This is the set of links that I used to demo Twitter by going down through this list to show why Twitter is such a valuable marketing tool. Introduction Home page Profile page Monitor Search Guy Kawasaki or Alltop Starbucks VIA introduction Search for “Prius” or “Civic” Sell Dell Outlet Kogi BBQ Support Comcast Cares Engage JetBlue Virgin America Fandango Prospect Camaro Camaro near Palo Alto Advanced searches Surfing or skateboarding (shows how to eliminate extraneous results such as “surfing the web” How I Tweet - Find Alltop MyAlltop helped me find this.
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    Principled Innovation

  • Prepare your association for 2010!

    jeffpi1@gmail.com or @pinnovation on twitter (Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation LLC, the association community's leading voice for innovation!)
    1 Nov 2009 | 6:56 pm
    On January 6, 2010, from 2 pm-3:30 pm EST, I am holding a Principled Innovation Briefing webinar on “Top 2010 Trends for Associations.”  You will find the event detail from the registration site below. P.I. Blog readers are invited to register at a 10% discount (until December 1, 2009) by using the link above.  This is going to be a great webinar, so I hope you’ll join me on January 6 and help prepare your association for 2010! EVENT DETAIL FOR JANUARY 6, 2010 P.I. BRIEFING WEBINAR 2009 has been a very tough year for associations and their leaders. 2010 can be better, but…

  • P.I. Podcast: Interview with Tim Brown of IDEO

    jeffpi1@gmail.com or @pinnovation on twitter (Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation LLC, the association community's leading voice for innovation!)
    17 Oct 2009 | 6:31 pm
    “We need new choices.” I’m thinking this is the perfect mantra for association leaders as we approach 2010.  Associations face complex challenges, and the current options for tackling them don’t really inspire too much confidence in our ultimate success.  Not only do we need to think about our problems in new ways, but we literally need different strategies for solving them.  In other words, we need new choices. Tim Brown’s excellent new book, Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation, is all about how mindset and…

  • What relevance isn’t

    jeffpi1@gmail.com or @pinnovation on twitter (Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation LLC, the association community's leading voice for innovation!)
    16 Oct 2009 | 4:26 am
    Last month, my friend and fellow blogger Jamie Notter wrote an excellent post on why relevance is not enough for associations.  In his post, Jamie graciously mentions my continuing pushback against the relevance-oriented thinking (ROT) that is still framing the way most leaders in our community approach crucial decisions about the future of their organizations.  We need to cultivate a fundamentally different leadership point of view, and this is what I think it should be: +Relevance isn’t a purpose–How will your association’s pursuit of relevance nurture an authentic…

  • My Top Ten Favorite Things About #BIF5 Day One

    jeffpi1@gmail.com or @pinnovation on twitter (Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation LLC, the association community's leading voice for innovation!)
    7 Oct 2009 | 8:54 pm
    Sitting in my hotel room in Providence, I’ve been thinking about the first day of the BIF-5 Summit.  Wow, what a day!  I missed BIF-4, and in my two-year absence, I think I forgot about the incredible richness of this experience.  I’m inspired, and I’m thinking about even more new possibilities for my work. I’d like to share some of the experience, so here is my quick top ten list of favorite things from BIF-5 (#BIF5) Day One, with some help from my fellow Twitterers. (FYI, I’m @pinnovation) Thank you all for being so terrific. 10.  We talked openly about…

  • Live tweeting at #BIF5

    jeffpi1@gmail.com or @pinnovation on twitter (Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation LLC, the association community's leading voice for innovation!)
    7 Oct 2009 | 5:22 am
    I’ll be live tweeting for the next two days at BIF-5 in Providence.  You can follow the hashtag on Twitter at #bif5…there will be many other people tweeting, blogging etc. so be prepared for lots of great stuff!
 
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    In Pursuit of Elegance

  • Born to Run: An Adventure into Elegance

    20 Nov 2009 | 9:14 am
    I've just completed Christopher McDougall's awesome book BORN TO RUN: A HIDDEN TRIBE, SUPERATHLETES, AND THE GREATEST RACE THE WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN. I loved every word, because the underlying theme is that of elegance.The book tells the story of Caballo Blanco (White Horse) -- a social misfit and legendary trail runner -- and his attempts to put together a 50-mile trail race between the elite members of the Taruhumara indian tribe in the Copper Canyons of Mexico and some of the best American practitioners of ultramarathoning. The characters are whacky, starting with the…

  • How Behance's ACTION METHOD Helps Makes Ideas Happen

    11 Nov 2009 | 7:32 am
    Over at the American Express Open Forum Idea Hub, I've posted a review of a very handy, very effective, very well-designed (free) online application (complete with iPhone app) called The Action Method. The Action Method is the brainchild of Scott Belsky and his Behance organization, a group dedicated to making the creative world more productive, at least in terms of getting stuff done.I visited Scott and the Behance team in New York City when I was on an interview junket in October. He was kind enough to show me around, show me The Action Method, which (being…

  • Design Thinking Interviews

    11 Nov 2009 | 6:56 am
    Over at the American Express Open Forum Idea Hub in Guy Kawaski's "The World" section (which by now you know I've been a regular columnist for a few months), I've posted two interviews with two authors of recent books on design thinking. I like these two books because of the diversity of perspective, each one having been written by a non-designer. Why is that valuable? Ask the best salesman in the world how he does what he does and he'll shrug his shoulders. It's very difficult to deconstruct your own work in a useful way, a way that filter out your…

  • Elegance & The Site of Flight 93

    27 Oct 2009 | 3:38 pm
    Experiencing elegance is nearly always profound. And every once in a while someone takes me up on my offer to share stories of elegant experiences. I just received this note from Andy H., and I liked it so much I asked him if I could reprint it. I haven't changed a word. Thanks Andy!  Hi Matt, After reading In Pursuit of Elegance several months back, I wanted to share something with you that I experienced last month when I visited one of our sister companies near Somerset, PA.  It is a quick story that made me think about subtraction and the elegance found in…

  • How to Set a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal

    17 Oct 2009 | 10:07 am
    Over at the American Express Open Forum Idea Hub, I've posted "How to Set a BHAG." A BHAG is a Big, Hairy Audacious Goal, and it's a term coined by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras.I'm constantly asked about the challenge of complacency -- you know, things are going well, but there's a comfort setting in, and people are riding a different wave than when things were a struggle. The complaint goes something like this: "We’re stuck. Stuck in the old school, stuck in the status quo, stuck in stall mode. We want things done differently, but we can’t…
 
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    Roger von Oech

  • What's Your Creativity Style?

    Roger von Oech
    21 Nov 2009 | 1:13 pm
    It's time again for some inspiration from Heraclitus, the world's first creativity teacher (he lived around 500 BC). Today's insight is: “I searched into myself.” Heraclitus felt that consulting our own knowledge and intuition is a wonderful way to gain insight. Unfortunately, some of us never learned this lesson. Much of our educational system is an elaborate game of "guess what the teacher is thinking," and we come to believe that the best ideas are in someone else's head rather than our own. Heraclitus reminds us that there are good ideas within ourselves…

  • 10,000,000 Yards Swimming This Decade!

    Roger von Oech
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:53 pm
    If you asked me how this decade went for me, I'd say: "Swimmingly!" Why? I'll share a personal swimming milestone with you.This week, I passed the 10,000,000 yard mark for yards swum this decade (2000-2009). (9,144 kilometers, or approx. 5,700 miles.)This started with an innocent remark that a teammate (Jim Merchant) made to me in January, 2000. He said: "I've had a couple of million-plus yard years." I thought, "That would be a fun goal." I ended 2000 with 1,177,000 yards. All-told, I've had six million-plus yards years this decade: 2000-2003, and 2008-2009. The most yards was 2008 with 1.2…

  • Kenneth Clark's Series, Civilisation

    Roger von Oech
    17 Nov 2009 | 8:50 pm
    For the past two weeks, I've watched the 1969 thirteen-part BBC series, "Civilisation" which was written and narrated by Kenneth Clark. This series --which focused on western art over the past thousand years -- was quite popular when it first appeared four decades ago. I greatly enjoyed it then, and I feel that it holds up pretty well now!

  • The Best Thing About "2010"

    Roger von Oech
    15 Nov 2009 | 11:12 am
    I think the best thing about about the year "2010" is that most people will call it Twenty-Ten. Nice and simple. Only three syllables! [Not, God forbid, two thousand and ten. Ugh!] This means a return to calling the first two digits of the year one number, and the last two digits another number. For example: 1948 is nineteen forty-eight. I think that most of the years of this decade have been ponderous to pronounce, e.g., 2007 was two thousand and seven — and that's too many syllables. Twenty oh seven would have been just fine by me. Hello Twenty Ten! Happy to see you!

  • Carbon Credit Humor

    Roger von Oech
    15 Oct 2009 | 9:28 am
    The Internet makes many new enterprises possible. For example, I recently ran across this example. Hooray for human ingenuity! The guy in the bed has used the Internet to combine his sloth (sleeping in) with environmental concern (people wishing to offset their carbon use) and clever marketing ("having an environmentally friendly day"). Made me laugh!
 
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    Gregg Fraley

  • Easy Jet, Making a Fast Buck Screwing Customers

    GREGG FRALEY
    14 Nov 2009 | 3:23 pm
    I’ve got nothing against the low cost, no frills airlines, they are a necessary market innovation.  They perform a real service and get me places I need to go. It’s part of the deal that you pay for food, get treated like a cow, and become intimate with people who don’t use deodorant. Airlines have to make money — I want them to!  On the other hand, it makes me very angry when somebody takes my money and doesn’t deliver, like Easy Jet. See, I’m a tallish guy, 6-1. Economy seats in planes are a bit of torture for me. So, I often take up the offer to get…

  • BAM! Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World (review)

    GREGG FRALEY
    11 Nov 2009 | 1:37 am
    Customer service has been on my mind lately.  I’ve just had an awful experience with my web hosting company (Hostway, argh…) and it got me thinking. That’s why reading Barry Moltz and Mary Jane Grinstead’s new book, BAM! Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World was so timely for me. It’s helping me dissect how Hostway is losing their edge while I deal with my very real emotions about how I’ve been treated.  But enough about those…people right now, let’s talk about BAM! Let me say straight away this is a great book on the topic.

  • Incubation Food, Review of: “If I Never” by Gary William Murning

    GREGG FRALEY
    2 Nov 2009 | 3:54 am
    I read novels for pleasure. I read business books for content.  It’s not quite that simple however. The truth is, given the full-of-bs, hyped-up, buzzword-ridden, and generally weak content many business books are filled with — I probably learn more from novels. The wisdom of the ages is found in stories. Innovators seeking a shift in perspective they can apply to business challenges would do well to read a well crafted story.  Stories also do something to infuse a bit of energy into a bored spirit, and serve as “incubation food” when you are flummoxed by a business…

  • Women Innovators Who Use Idea Notebooks

    GREGG FRALEY
    27 Oct 2009 | 3:13 pm
    I’m a big fan of keeping an idea notebook. There’s been research done that indicates it’s a real aid to creative effectiveness.  Any innovator worth his — or her — salt should be keeping some kind of idea notebook. I’ve been researching and speaking about famous notebook users and it occured to me (okay, I was told…) that all my examples — Edison, DaVinci, Kerouac, etc. — are men.  The first woman that came to mind, Madame Curie, probably kept lab notebooks, but I can’t seem to find documentation to support the claim. Google, for…

  • “HUM Girlfriends” to Enable Young Indian Women Innovators

    GREGG FRALEY
    16 Oct 2009 | 10:21 am
    “Giving back” is the phrase one often hears from celebrities who use some of their fame and fortune to help others.  Successful business people often give back as well, but we don’t usually hear about it. That’s why I was taken by the story of HUM Girlfriends (HUM is the Hindi/Urdu word for “We”). Innovators are made, not born, and it’s fascinating how support, encouragement, and cultural values make a big difference in success. HUM Girlfrirends is the moniker of seven remarkable women of Indian origin.  The seven met at a recent ESOMAR (market…
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    Get Fresh Minds

  • Even in a recession, it's not just about having the lowest price.

    Katie Konrath
    17 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am
    America - and much of the world - is in the midst of a recession.  Customers are only interested in purchasing items at the lowest price and the only way to thrive now is to slash prices to rock bottom. Right?I don't agree.  Granted, people have less money to spend than every before. But I don't think that the fact we're in a recession means price cuts are mandatory.Yes, customers always want to pay the lowest price (or not pay at all) for generic products or services. However, this has been around for a while - it's not just a result of the financial crisis. In my…

  • My solution for moving without a car!

    Katie Konrath
    4 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am
    Right now, I'm over in Europe in a somewhat unique situation where I'm moving apartments every couple weeks.  Last week, I had to make my first move - all the way across the city of Biel with several suitcases and boxes.Friends helped with my kitchen stuff and my bed, but since I ended up moving my clothes the next day, I was on my own for the suitcases.So, here was my challenge:I had to get two big suitcases and a couple smaller boxes from one apartment to the other.  I didn't have a car or a bus pass (and since my German is spotty, I don't even know how to find the…

  • When was the last time you failed?

    Katie Konrath
    2 Nov 2009 | 2:20 pm
    I just came across the above image online and it made me think: Why don't our failures define us? There's a tendency in our culture to only talk about our successes and the things we do right. So when we do something wrong, or something doesn't work the way we planned, it's a whole lot easier to just sweep it under the rug and never talk about it again. We all want to be winners--and that's why we try to forget our failures and say that they do not define us. But what if they do? What if our failures are one of the most important parts of who we are? The fact is, if…

  • An update...

    Katie Konrath
    26 Oct 2009 | 12:16 pm
    Hi getFreshMinds readers,I know I dropped off the radar quite a while this summer, and I had a very good reason for doing so.  I had planned to jump back into blogging at the end of summer with a giant splash and a big announcement.  I've even had the post composed since July.But, as I hope you know, July (and the rest of summer) has come and gone! Due to circumstances beyond my control... I can't talk about my exciting news yet.  But, hopefully I'll be able to do that soon.Meanwhile, if you don't mind, I'm going to get back to blogging about fresh ideas again.

  • Do you need to learn Problem Solving 101?

    Katie Konrath
    23 Jun 2009 | 11:59 am
    Recently, I was asked to review Problem Solving 101, a book by management consultant Ken Watabee that was written for children--but became the bestselling business book in Japan that year. The thing I really like about this book is how it urges readers to go beyond their first assumptions.  A really good example in the book showed how a young soccer player realized that choosing to go to the 2nd best soccer school would actually benefit her much more than going to the best soccer school.This wasn't a conclusion that was obvious from the beginning--as the best soccer school was in a…
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    Project Rethink

  • Hello, My Name is Shawn Welch

    For the past few months I've been meaning to update the look-and-feel of projectrethink.org.  As you can see, this new design is much cleaner than the old look-and-feel.  The primary goal of this redesign was to put more emphasis on original content. Another big goal of the redesign was to bring ...

  • Let Viral Be Viral

    Imagine this scenario.  You are a major record label and you find that someone just uploaded a video to Youtube featuring a hit song from one of your artists. The knee-jerk reaction from most record labels is to declare copyright violations and have the video removed. Fortunately for Chris Brown ...

  • Surround Yourself With Good People

    Groups have interesting dynamics. I don't claim to be an expert on the psyche of a group but I can tell you one thing; good people bring good results. Surround yourself with good people. It's humbling, but try to avoid situations where you feel that you're the smartest person in the ...

  • Piece-of-Junk Innovation

    The trick with innovation is coming up with something "new". We have a tendency to iterate what we know; iteration is not innovation. There are a few companies who do this very well; Apple and Google typically come to mind. But I think there is an overlooked simplicity to the success ...

  • Sticky Song: Susan Boyle

    If you haven't seen Susan Boyle on the British reality TV show, "Britain's Got Talent", then over the last week you've probably successfully avoided social media sites, the news, or the Internet in general. This single video has been on Youtube for less than a week, and has already surpassed 26 ...
 
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    Endless Innovation

  • The New Way to Work: Top 5 Trends to Watch in 2010

    dominicbasulto
    21 Nov 2009 | 8:49 am
    Looking back at pivotal events that took place within the business world in 2009, it is becoming increasingly clear that there are five macro trends that will be shaping a New Way to Work in 2010 and beyond. Together, these five trends point to a New Way To Work in which creativity and innovation are more valued by employers than ever before and the traditional notion of work as merely an economic activity is being supplemented by ideas about happiness and well-being. Here are the five trends that I feel are creating The New Way To Work and what they mean to me:  (1) Organizations will…

  • What Shaun White and Snowboarding Can Teach You About Innovation

    dominicbasulto
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:16 pm
    One of the best articles that I've read about innovation this week actually had absolutely nothing at all to do with business innovation -- at least on the surface. Hannah Karp of the Wall Street Journal recently took a closer look at When Snowboarders Baffle the Judges. Faced with the prospect of judges that are not always on top of radical new snowboarding techniques, innovative snowboarders like Shaun White have a choice -- either keep their innovative snowboarding tricks under wraps until major competitions, or step-by-step unveil these innovations to the judges before the actual…

  • Digital Trends for 2010

    dominicbasulto
    9 Nov 2009 | 5:59 pm
    I've been playing around with a staggeringly impressive presentation tool called Prezi. Above, I've uploaded a brief look at some of the DIGITAL TRENDS that I see coming to the forefront in 2010 -- real-time marketing, augmented reality, new mega-content companies to replace mainstream media companies, and interesting cultural trends like the re-invention of bank branding in the aftermath of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

  • Digital Think-Ins for Brands

    dominicbasulto
    8 Nov 2009 | 8:43 am
    NPR Digital Think In Ed Cotton of Influx Insights recently highlighted an interesting experiment by global innovation firm Frog Design to spearhead new thinking about the future at NPR. Frog recruited 60 of the smartest thinkers in the world, gave them a brief about the current strategic issues facing NPR, and then set them free to to think about the future: "The Digital Think In is an incredible initiative pulled together for NPR by Frog Design. For one day only, Frog brought together over 60 thought leaders who worked on an envisioning new futures for NPR. It was an impressive list of…

  • Crowdfunding Artistic Projects Through Kickstarter

    dominicbasulto
    3 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm
    Brooklyn-based Kickstarter enables people to "crowd-fund" new artistic projects (books, movies, films, etc.) and then follow along the progress of the project through regular updates. In my first-ever Kickstarter project, I helped to crowd-fund a new book from Robin Sloan (a former Current TV exec and aspiring novelist) after reading about it on CNET:"I'm writing a book: a detective story set halfway between San Francisco and the Internet. And the more people who reserve a copy, the better each one will be! The basic setup is: Imagine a Sherlock Holmes for the 21st…
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    Blogging Innovation

  • Wake-Up Call for Holiday Inn

    Braden Kelley
    22 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am
    by Steve McKeeWhat do you with a hotel brand that's become outdated, irrelevant, and in some ways a signal to stay away from the properties to which it's attached? If you're InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), owner of the Holiday Inn franchise, you take a zero-tolerance approach to revitalization.A November 13 Wall Street Journal story reported that IHG is preparing to pull the Holiday Inn flag from as many as 300 hotels in North America whose franchisees won't spend as much as $250,000 per property to overhaul their lobbies, signage, lighting and bedding, among other things. Said Kevin…

  • Obviously You Feel the Love

    Braden Kelley
    22 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am
    by Kevin RobertsDon't you love it when scientists come out with studies proving the completely obvious? The advertising industry is not immune from such studies, as the American Association of Advertising Agencies has recently released a paper entitled: "Why You Need to Incorporate Emotional Messaging Into Your Marketing Communications." It states "Recent studies have proven that emotional advertising is more effective than a rational strategy."The AAAA paper points to a study of the 880 winners of Advertising Effectiveness Awards from the UK's Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA)…

  • Changes Coming in the Twitter Suggested User List

    Braden Kelley
    21 Nov 2009 | 1:03 pm
    by Hutch CarpenterAt a conference in Malaysia, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said the Suggested Users List (SUL), a boon in followers for anyone on it, will be going away sometime in the future:"That list will be going away," Stone said at a conference in Malaysia. "In its stead will be something that is more programmatically chosen, something that actually delivers more relevant suggestions."See that term? - "Programmatically chosen" - Hmmm...The SUL was hand picked by the staff of Twitter. Which meant if you weren't included on the SUL, it felt like a snub if you had established a large…

  • Getting Ready for 2010 - Real Life Planning Successes

    Braden Kelley
    21 Nov 2009 | 12:34 pm
    by Mike BrownI'm a proponent of spreading strategic thinking broadly in a company and not readily handing off strategy development to outside parties exclusively. Yet I've been a part of many examples where an outside perspective helped move strategy development ahead much more quickly.Here are several examples you may be facing where it's good to get outside expertise:Turning Talk Into a PlanA small subsidiary's three-person management team was told to get a plan in place to show corporate management the company's direction. They had no planning process and only ten business days to deliver…

  • Innovation and Idea Management

    Braden Kelley
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am
    From Ideation to Collaboration to Executionby Robert F. BrandsInnovation: What a great idea!Innovation thrives on a diet of news ideas. It needs fresh thinking and a different perspective from across the organization.We've noted that Innovation = Creative x Risk Taking. Setting aside risk for the moment, creativity is a central element to the innovation process. But it must continually be nourished with new ideas from a variety of sources.Ideation is not a single event. It doesn't originate from a single silo or one person or one department, although it can come from a single source. Ideation…
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    The Heart of Innovation

  • The Top 100 Learning Tools of 2009

    17 Nov 2009 | 2:28 pm
    Here are the top 100 netcentric learning tools as compiled by Jane Hart, social learning consultant and all around bright light. Jane surveyed 278 top learning professionals to generate this list, so a good deal of thought and consensus has gone into it. Some of these tools you already know about. Some you don't. And while you're at it, check out Idea Champions' Free the Genie (which...um...er...uh... didn't quite make the list this year). Illustration

  • "The greatest invention in the world is the mind of a child." - Thomas Edison

    15 Nov 2009 | 2:32 pm

  • So, You Want a Culture of Innovation?

    13 Nov 2009 | 2:17 pm
    Tired of business as usual? Looking for insights, ideas, and inspiration about how to foster a culture of innovation? Willing to take a few minutes to pause and reflect? If so, read on... What follows are Idea Champions' ten most popular postings on the topic. Read 'em and leap! 1. The Garden of Innovation 2. 56 Reasons Why Most Innovation Initiatives Fail 3. Innovation: It's About Time 4. 50 Ways to Foster a Sustainable Culture of Innovation 5. The Paradox of Innovation 6. The Art of Seeing the Invisible 7. The 100 Lamest Excuses for Not Innovating 8. Innovation Is An Inside Job 9. Here's to…

  • Here Come the 15-Year Olds!

    11 Nov 2009 | 2:12 pm
    Tom Peters once said that unless 20% of a company's workforce was under the age of 20, they didn't have a chance. I totally agree -- especially now that my kids, Jesse and Mimi, are 15 & 12. Their creativity and resourcefulness blow my mind. See the image above? Photoshopped by Jesse, my son. If you have a photo or illustration that needs to be tweaked, repaired, refined, improved, or manipulated in any way, he's your guy. Forget about outsourcing to a 30-year old from Mumbai. How about a 15-year old from Woodstock? Faster, cheaper, and cooler. Contact Jesse today: yumyum@hvc.rr.com.

  • SIX SIGMA UNRAVELLED: The Gotta Have a Process Blues

    5 Nov 2009 | 7:10 pm
    One of my favorite clients of all time was a key manager in a very prominent Fortune 500 company. She was smart. She was funny. She was creative. And she was kind. Then her company adopted Six Sigma. I couldn't help but notice that soon after this she started becoming uncharacteristically cranky, not unlike the way an artist gets upon filling out a tax form. When I asked her how the Six Sigma initiative was going, she rolled her eyes and mumbled something about "going through the motions." In a recent online Business Week posting, Brian Hindo lucidly deconstructs some of the flawed…
 
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    Grassroots Innovation

  • The 3rd Way

    Greg
    21 Nov 2009 | 4:04 am
    Because we are people, pretty much every situation we encounter in life comes with a bit of drama.Our typical reactions to such emotions are fight or flight. We either engage in a campaign to convince you how you are wrong, or we fall silent, wishing everything away.If the topic is important enough to you than neither of these strategies will work. Odds are that if you start the fight routine you will get a fight back, then the issue becomes a battle of emotions leaving a scorched earth all around. Biting your tongue is no better as it's the equivalent of plugging the pipe. The back pressure…

  • No Way They Did This With a Straight Face

    Greg
    19 Nov 2009 | 4:50 pm
    According to today's USAtodayThe Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that pensions at the companies, United Airlines, US Airways, Polaroid and Reliance Insurance, were underfunded by more than $11 billion when the companies turned them over to a government-backed insurance fund. The report says executives at those four companies and six others that abandoned their pension plans took in a total of $350 million in pay and perks in the years leading up to the bankruptcies.1Seriously?The backbone of Innovation is trust. People who do this are not trustworthy. You cannot make the…

  • Inspiration Saturday

    Greg
    14 Nov 2009 | 5:46 am

  • Whale Facts

    Greg
    13 Nov 2009 | 12:14 pm
    Things that quite possibly only interest me....Yeah, But They Can Afford ItNew York spends $2,283 per capita on Medicaid, far more than any other state, and twice the national average, according to statistics compiled by the state budget division. Second is Rhode Island, which spends $1,659. The state also spends $14,884 per pupil on school aid, more than any other state and well above the national average of $9,138.1ForeEvery year over 300million golf balls are lost.2It's Not Like We Blew Up The Global Economy Or AnythingThe average pay in 2009 for a Goldman Sachs employee is expected to be…

  • Technology Makes It Hard To Cheat

    Greg
    12 Nov 2009 | 5:49 am
    With the advent of video devices everywhere there's going to be a lot more documentation of bad behavior. Case in point, drafting on the bike in Ironman Florida.
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    Innovate on Purpose

  • 3M's Innovation Challenges

    Jeffrey Phillips
    18 Nov 2009 | 6:13 am
    Over the last few posts I've documented a number of capabilities that enable 3M to innovate successfully. These factors include the culture, the intentional scenario planning or "forward mapping" within the research teams and the identification of seven core enablers or components of innovation. Through these attributes and a dedication to innovation throughout the organization, 3M has clearly established itself as an innovation leader.Now, we want to turn in this last post to the remaining issues or challenges. While 3M is an excellent innovator, there is always room to grow and improve. In…

  • 3M's Seven Innovation Components

    Jeffrey Phillips
    17 Nov 2009 | 6:01 am
    This post is the third about my trip to 3M. In the first post I examined 3M's culture, informed by its midwestern roots. In the second post I reviewed the concept of forward mapping and some of the opportunities and challenges of 3M's innovation exchanges. Today I'll recap and review the components that 3M believes make up its innovation success.The seven factors or components of successful innovation, according to 3M, are: • The relationship of innovation to corporate vision and business model • 3M’s culture, which I’ve addressed previously • Access to multiple platforms or…

  • More on the 3M visit

    Jeffrey Phillips
    16 Nov 2009 | 5:31 am
    This is the second of a series of posts about a visit to 3M's customer innovation center in St. Paul Minnesota. There we were treated to a day of interaction with some of the leading innovators at 3M. Additionally, we learned about 3M's methodologies and culture which sustains innovation. My previous post about 3M's unique collegial, no "rock star" culture is here. In this post we'll explore the use of "Forward Mapping" that the technology researchers and scientists use to project the development of new insights.In our meetings with 3M we were fortunate to have Andy Ouderkirk present to us…

  • Midwestern Innovation at 3M

    Jeffrey Phillips
    13 Nov 2009 | 5:52 am
    Yesterday, November 12th, I had a unique opportunity to visit with senior executives and scientists at 3M's Customer Innovation Center in St. Paul. 3M invited six innovation "influencers" to attend a briefing and to learn more about what makes innovation so viable at 3M. Over the next several blog posts, and in my upcoming November newsletter, I plan to recap what we learned during the briefings, and what I think that means for firms that seek to replicate the success that 3M has had in innovation.One attribute that resonated with me was the collegial and "we're all in this to succeed"…

  • Island of misfit ideas

    Jeffrey Phillips
    11 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am
    Do you remember the annual Christmas special about the island of misfit toys, where Rudolph ends up because he doesn't "fit in" with the other reindeer? The island is full of misfit toys that weren't acceptable for one reason or another.A recent Accenture study on innovation found that there must be a mythical land of misfit ideas. Executives who were surveyed for the innovation study said that "opportunities to exploit underdeveloped areas/markets often die because they can never find a home to nurture them." Less than 15% of the executives surveyed disagreed with this statement. In other…
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    Scott Berkun

  • Confessions book tour: NYC update

    Scott Berkun
    16 Nov 2009 | 8:30 am
    Update: In NYC this week. Hope you can make it out to one of these gigs. The schedule is still coming together, but here’s what I have so far: Confessions of a public speaker, book tour Boston, 11/1 thru 11/6 Monday / Tuesday,  11/2 UI14, Lecture on Confessions of a public speaker & workshop Wednesday (11/4) 12-1pm, MIT Sloan Business school (Room E52-175) 3-4pm, Harvard University (Aldrich 011) 5:30pm, U of Mass, Boston (Heally Library, 11th floor) Thursday(11/5) 10:30-1pm, Fidelity Inc. 7pm, Refresh Boston, Cambriidge, Open to the public,  details Friday(11/6) 12-1pm, Olin…

  • Webcast: Confessions of a Public Speaker (free!)

    Scott Berkun
    12 Nov 2009 | 10:03 am
    I’ll be doing a free web-cast about the new book, Confessions of a Public Speaker, on Dec 2nd, 10am PST. Details below.  Please help spread the word! Confessions of a Public Speaker Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 10am PST Duration: Approximately 60 minutes. Click here to Register For leaders, managers and anyone who speaks and expects someone to listen, Scott Berkun shares an insider’s perspective on how to effectively present ideas to anyone. Loosely based on his third book, Confessions of a Public Speaker, this fun, interactive webcast brings you lively lessons and insightful…

  • Why conferences must talk about failure

    Scott Berkun
    12 Nov 2009 | 9:19 am
    The web failed to let me know about this one before it happened, but last week The first ever FAILCON event took place, where 400 people met to talk about and learn from failure (hat tip: Lynn). The only other thing like it I can think of is failcamp, which didn’t get the buzz it deserved. From the nice writeup on Wired, it appears the event went well and hopefully there will be more events like this, or perhaps even other well known events will adopt a “Learning from failure” track. If you can get high profile folks like those who spoke at FAILCON to talk about failure, it…
 
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    BQF Innovation

  • Innovation across Central Government

    Paul Sloane
    21 Nov 2009 | 4:40 am
    There is an informative investigation by the UK National Audit Office entitled, Achieving Innovation in Central Government Organisations.  It draws on evidence from specific innovation cases in the public sector to assess government productivity and effectiveness at innovation. Among the findings are ‘Compared with leading commercial organisations, there is potential for departments to develop more innovation from suppliers and from service users. The majority of examples of innovation that central government organisations cited to us were based on ideas generated and developed within…

  • Let Suggestions bypass the Line Manager

    Paul Sloane
    19 Nov 2009 | 1:22 am
    Whatever suggestion scheme or idea initiation events you implement, it is important to ensure that there is a facility for individuals to bypass their line manager if necessary. Line managers can be resistant to ideas from their own people for a variety of reasons. They might fear that the person making the suggestion might be taken away from them to implement it. They might think that the idea does not reflect well on their department. They might see some implicit criticism of themselves in the suggestion. They might have political agendas or prejudices that lead them to block ideas coming…

  • Suggestion Schemes are the engine for your Innovation

    Paul Sloane
    15 Nov 2009 | 11:35 am
    Does your organisation have an effective employee suggestions scheme? An increasing number of organisations in the both private and public sectors are finding that they can drive innovation and reduce cost by moving their suggestion box from the office wall to the intranet. Siemens Automation and Drives is a good example. They employ 400 people in Congleton, Cheshire making electric motor drives. Their scheme is called Ideas Unlimited and it generates over 4000 suggestions per year of which some 3000 are implemented. The total savings are around $1.5m per year. Howard Ball administers the…

  • Splitting Extroverts and Introverts in Brainstorms

    Paul Sloane
    3 Nov 2009 | 11:01 am
    I was asked at a recent workshop on creativity whether I had ever tried separating extroverts from introverts in a brainstorm. I had to admit that I had never done this and the idea at first seemed strange. After all, diversity is one of the key elements for success in brainstorming – so why split people into their personality type? The argument is that the extroverts, who like to speak first and think second, will drown out the introverts, who like to think carefully before contributing.  Today I was running a creative thinking session for a major pharmaceutical company and I decided…

  • Focus on What went Right

    Paul Sloane
    2 Nov 2009 | 2:19 am
    In trying to improve quality and looking for improvements we tend to focus our attention on what went wrong. We try to fix problems. A typical management meeting consists of a group of people who are looking at what is not working and trying their hardest to come up with ways to put things right. But in the process they are often allocating blame, arguing, becoming negative and getting frustrated. Most managers ask these kinds of questions: o Why are sales down? o What is holding up production? o What can we do about customer complaints? o What can I do about difficult staff? o What is wrong…
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    Business Innovation Speaker and Consultant Stephen Shapiro

  • TEDx NASA

    Stephen Shapiro
    19 Nov 2009 | 11:08 am
    I am now in Newport News, Virginia preparing for my speech tomorrow at TEDx NASA.  There will be 1700 aerospace engineers and scientists in the audience. My topics is titled “Innovation is in the Space.” I have only 6 minutes for my presentation.  This may prove to be my most challenging speech yet!  Blaise Pascal (not [...]

  • FT Innovation Conference Highlights – Part 1

    Stephen Shapiro
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:24 am
    I just returned from a week in London where, amongst other things, I spoke at the FT Innovate conference. There was an impressive line-up of speakers including the CEOs of Jaguar, EMI and Best Buy. This is the first of two blog entries with conference highlights. Jaguar Land Rover David Smith, CEO, Jaguar Land Rover, [...]

  • Complete Idiots’s Guide to Target Marketing

    Stephen Shapiro
    17 Nov 2009 | 10:42 am
    My good friend Susan Friedmann just released her next book today, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Target Marketing.” Do you want to get the word out to buyers about all the great things your business has to offer, but a big-bucks marketing campaign just isn’t in your budget? Now you can get the expert information you [...]

  • London FT Innovate Conference

    Stephen Shapiro
    9 Nov 2009 | 2:02 am
    My schedule has been crazy lately!  My work with InnoCentive, my speeches all over the planet, and a manuscript due in a few weeks.  My blogging has become the victim of this.  But that will change. This week I am one of the speakers at the FT Innovate conference in London.  I will also be blogging [...]

  • Content is No Longer King…Long Live the King (Part 2)

    Stephen Shapiro
    21 Oct 2009 | 1:05 pm
    In an earlier blog entry on content, readers provided a number of interesting comments. If you haven’t already read that article (and the comments), you may want to do so in order to understand this new article. Many did not agree with my point of view. And that is great. I only wanted [...]
 
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    Working Knowledge ®

  • Lencioni: Arguing for Innovation

    Andrea Meyer
    4 Nov 2009 | 6:01 am
    Point: Teams that create the best innovations know how to disagree about ideas without interpreting the disagreement as a personal affront. Story: “I feel good when I see that engineering, advertising and manufacturing are really surfacing and talking about their differences,” said the VP of Technology at a successful $100 million firm.  “It’s my job to keep the dialectic alive.” When we see companies moving swiftly, anticipating changes in the marketplace and developing new products or services to meet the change, we’re tempted to think of the company as…

  • How Boston Scientific Accelerates Innovation

    Andrea Meyer
    26 Oct 2009 | 6:25 am
    Point: Capture, share and reuse knowledge to make R&D engineers more productive Story: At Power to Innovate 2009, Boston Scientific’s Randy Schiestl (VP of R&D) and Jude Currier (Cardiovascular Knowledge Management & Innovation Practices Lead) described how Boston Scientific is redesigning its innovation processes. The goal: to accelerate time to market, increase the productivity of innovators, and reduce costs and risks. Boston Scientific is an $8 billion company committed to delivering innovative medical technologies that improve the quality of patient care as well as…

  • Bill Clinton & Bill George on Leadership (World Business Forum #wbf09)

    Andrea Meyer
    13 Oct 2009 | 4:36 am
    Point: Leaders must communicate and connect, which means providing vision and revealing vulnerability Story: At the World Business Forum last week, former President Bill Clinton was asked about his lessons on leadership.  His answer was threefold: It begins with a vision of where you want to go: you have to articulate where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there A leader has to continually communicate and sell the vision Leaders need to understand people, not just policies That last point about leaders needing to understand people was the comment that was most retweeted during…

  • Kraft: the “$40 Billion Start-Up” Spurs Innovation

    Andrea Meyer
    7 Oct 2009 | 6:12 pm
    Point: Open innovation can accelerate new product development Story: When Irene Rosenfeld took over as CEO of Kraft, she saw an anemic innovation pipeline. The company had 2000 corporate R&D staff — scientists, engineers and chemists — but new products weren’t flowing rapidly enough.   Her solution to encourage innovation?  To get everyone to “Think of Kraft as a $40 billion start-up,” she said at the World Business Forum on October 7, 2009.  One way to emulate start-up thinking is to be open to new ideas from anywhere and quickly turn them into something…

  • George Lucas Innovates Outside the Hollywood Box

    Andrea Meyer
    6 Oct 2009 | 9:05 pm
    Point: Consider the role and value of outsiders in innovation Story: George Lucas, legendary producer, director and screenwriter of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones blockbuster hits, shared these thoughts at the World Business Forum. Lucas described how he got his start making movies by going outside the insular Hollywood system.  When he graduated from film school, Hollywood was not receptive to new ideas and Lucas didn’t want to go there.  He and Francis Coppola moved to San Francisco to start American Zoetrope in 1969.  Befitting their 1960’s cultural background, Lucas and…
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    Creativity And Innovation Driving Business - Innovation Index

  • Innovation Quotes

    Sanjay Dalal
    7 Nov 2009 | 1:36 pm
    Innovation Quotes by Sanjay Dalal, Chief Innovator, http://www.innovationmain.com/"Innovation happens when everything else fails.""Passion is the seed of innovation.""Creativity is the engine that drives innovation.""Ideas is the fuel that jump starts innovation.""Passion, creativity & ideas - together, they make innovation happen.""Creativity begins with asking questions... Innovation happens when you find answers""Fail first. Innovate next.""Innovation and success go hand in hand.""Innovation is the long, winding road up the mountain of success.""When everyone's an innovator, it's time…

  • Over 3,000 Professionals Joined India Business Network

    Sanjay Dalal
    5 Nov 2009 | 3:10 pm
    India Business Network is growing strong since the launch on June 15, 2009. Over three thousand business executives, entrepreneurs, managers, consultants, professionals and non-profits from over 100 countries in the world have joined India Business Network, and are interacting, collaborating, networking and doing business online."My mission is to grow India Business Network to over 1 million members strong worldwide in the next five years. The fact that over 3,000 members joined through word-of-mouth marketing underscores the need for a dedicated business network where professionals connect,…

  • Learn How Apple Innovates - The #1 Innovative Company

    Sanjay Dalal
    31 Oct 2009 | 7:21 pm
    Innovation eBook used by 600+ innovative companies worldwide - eBook Best Seller (deployed at Nokia, EDS, Pepsi, HP, many more...)Innovation eBook and Definitive Guide is a 212-page collection of over 55 best practices, case studies, and insights on the current state of Innovation in Business at Top Innovators including Apple, Google, Netflix, 3M, Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Toyota, GE, BMW, Deloitte, Frito Lay, IBM, Nike, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Dell, Tata, Intel and more. In particular, learn how Apple innovates, and what made Apple the #1 innovative company…

  • Leading eBook on Creativity and Innovation in Business

    Sanjay Dalal
    26 Oct 2009 | 1:05 pm
    Innovation eBook used by 600+ innovative companies worldwide - eBook Best Seller (deployed at Nokia, EDS, Pepsi, HP, many more...)Innovation eBook and Definitive Guide is a 212-page collection of over 55 best practices, case studies, and insights on the current state of Innovation in Business at Top Innovators including Apple, Google, Netflix, 3M, Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Toyota, GE, BMW, Deloitte, Frito Lay, IBM, Nike, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Dell, Tata, Intel and more. With pertinent articles from this award-winning Creativity And Innovation Driving…

  • The Biggest Innovation of 2009 - Accepting Nominations for Best Innovations of 2009

    Sanjay Dalal
    21 Oct 2009 | 12:11 pm
    Creativity And Innovation Driving Business Blog is taking nominations for the Biggest Innovation of 2009 now!! We will be accepting all nominations until December 15, 2009.The Top Ten Innovations of 2009, including the Best Innovation of 2009, will be announced on January 15, 2010 in an Annual Report of the Best Innovations of 2009 at this Blog. Further, the Best Innovation of 2009 will get year-round exposure on this award-winning Blog on Creativity & Innovation in Business.We invite you to nominate your Top Innovation of 2009 by filling out the form below... You can nominate your own…
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    INNOVATION NEWS - Google News

  • Even the lifeboats are giant on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas - USA Today

    22 Nov 2009 | 4:08 am
    IndependentEven the lifeboats are giant on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the SeasUSA TodayOasis' lifeboats seat people on the floor and plastic chairs on two levels, a design innovation implemented on Celebrity Cruises' recently unveiled Solstice Royal Caribbean International Appoints Seven Godmothers for Oasis of the SeasPR Newswire (press release)all 144 news articles »

  • Three mous to foster innovation, research and training - Thaindian.com

    21 Nov 2009 | 11:37 pm
    Thaindian.comThree mous to foster innovation, research and trainingThaindian.comThe second mou with the Polytechnic Institute of New York University commits the organizations to a culture of innovation in India. FICCI to join hands with US varsitiesmydigitalfc.comall 10 news articles »

  • O'Brien: Time to kill stock options - San Jose Mercury News

    21 Nov 2009 | 4:01 pm
    O'Brien: Time to kill stock optionsSan Jose Mercury NewsThe evidence is clear to me that stock options have outlived their purpose, and have actually become a liability to the valley's innovation economy. and more »

  • Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Sees Value Through Innovation - World Dairy Diary (blog)

    21 Nov 2009 | 1:56 pm
    Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Sees Value Through InnovationWorld Dairy Diary (blog) their existing portfolio and expand their cattle, dairy and pet business. The vision for the future of the company he says, is “value through innovation.”and more »

  • Medical innovation program kicks off - DesMoinesRegister.com

    21 Nov 2009 | 2:06 am
    Medical innovation program kicks offDesMoinesRegister.comA program that would make Iowa a center of medical innovation was kicked off Friday by state Ex-Missouri Congressman Gephardt in Iowa, touting “medical innovation”Radio IowaLink Strategies: Gephardt to lead forum today and announce "Innovate Iowa" ProjectIowaPolitics.com (press release)all 88 news articles »
 
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    ITIF

  • Whack-A-Mole Security: Bad Policy, Bad Legislation

    Daniel Castro
    19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm
    The recent disclosure of a confidential Congressional document has at least one congressman calling for a ban on peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing software, but a closer look at the problem reveals that this effort would merely be treating the symptoms, not the disease.

  • Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant: Asian Nations Set to Dominate the Clean Energy Race by Out-Investing the United States

    Scott Andes
    18 Nov 2009 | 6:03 am
    A new report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Breakthrough Institute, Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant, is the first to thoroughly benchmark the clean energy competitiveness in four nations: China, Japan, South Korea and the United States. The report analyzes clean energy investments and policy support for research, manufacturing, and domestic demand, with a particular focus on six key technologies: wind, solar, nuclear, carbon capture and storage, hybrid and electric vehicles and advanced batteries, and high speed rail.

  • ITIF Event: Is the U.S. Losing the Clean Tech Race?

    Scott Andes
    18 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am
    A new report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Breakthrough Institute, Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant, is the first to benchmark public sector clean energy technology investments in four nations: China, Japan, South Korea and the United States. Please join ITIF and the Breakthrough Institute for a discussion of the report’s findings.

  • Explaining International Mobile Payments Leadership

    Scott Andes
    17 Nov 2009 | 1:33 pm
    In this report ITIF identifies the leading nations in mobile payments, explains why the United States lags so far behind, and offers a set of policy recommendations for how the federal government can take steps to speed the arrival and adoption of more sophisticated forms of mobile commerce transactions.

  • Explaining International Mobile Payments Leadership

    Scott Andes
    17 Nov 2009 | 12:19 am
    Join ITIF for the release of a report that will identify the leading nations in mobile payments, explain why the United States lags so far behind, and offer a set of policy recommendations for how the federal government can take steps to speed the arrival and adoption of more sophisticated forms of mobile commerce transactions.
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    National Center for Technology Innovation

  • Education Technology ‘09, Barriers & Solutions

    dhollender
    17 Nov 2009 | 9:16 am
    Featured presenters at day two of NCTI's annual conference shared their vision for technology in education and policy needs to address research, implementation, funding and other barriers that block the way.

  • Thinking On The Brain

    dhollender
    16 Nov 2009 | 1:54 pm
    Do differences in individuals' brains affect the way students learn? Experts speaking at the 2009 NCTI conference suggest that the answer is, "yes." Confirming a commonplace notion, featured panelists reaffirmed that individual characteristics make differentiated learning valuable not only for students with disabilities, but for all students. Going further, our experts in residence focused light on a complex and sometimes misunderstood subject, sharing findings that individual brains learn differently, that apparently similar skills are not always transferrable, and ability to acquire skills…

  • Can Teachers Become Digital Natives?

    dhollender
    16 Nov 2009 | 10:20 am
    With pervasive access to Facebook, Twitter, IM and a whole host of other online communication technologies, today's students are our first generation of digital natives. But with technology coming more slowly to education than other disciplines, NCTI panelists and conference participants wrestled with an important question, "Can Teachers Themselves Become Digital Natives?"

  • Information Highways and Dirt Roads

    dhollender
    16 Nov 2009 | 7:34 am
    NCTI's first day keynote, Dr. Dan Domenech, asserts that today's educational environment is still similar to that of yesterday's one room schoolhouse. In a world of amazing tools and technologies, we still hold class with a sage on the stage, a piece of chalk and an old fashioned blackboard. In a world of information highways, why is it that the proverbial roadway to our schools remain unpaved?

  • Innovation for Assistive Technology

    admin
    16 Nov 2009 | 5:21 am
    Contribute to the NCTI Issue Paper, Unleashing the Power of Innovation for Assistive Technology. Draft released at NCTI Technology Innovators Conference Monday, November 16.
 
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    Belfer Center: Energy Technology Innovation

  • Energy for Change: Introduction to the Special Issue on Energy & Climate Change

    John P. Holdren
    18 Nov 2009 | 12:23 pm
    "Without energy, there is no economy. Without climate, there is no environment. Without economy and environment, there is no material well-being, no civil society, no personal or national security. The overriding problem associated with these realities, of course, is that the world has long been getting most of the energy its economies need from fossil fuels whose emissions are imperiling the climate that its environment needs."

  • Breaking the Climate Impasse with China: A Global Solution

    Kelly Sims Gallagher
    16 Nov 2009 | 12:56 pm
    A "deal" is proposed in this paper, whereby all major-emitting countries, including the United States and China, agree to reduce emissions through implementation of significant, mutually agreeable, domestic emission-reduction policies. To resolve the competitiveness and equity concerns, a proposed Carbon Mitigation Fund would be created. This proposed fund is contrasted with other existing and proposed mitigation funds and finance mechanisms. 

  • China's Fuel Economy Standards for Passenger Vehicles: Rationale, Policy Process, and Impacts

    Hongyan He Oliver, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Donglian Tian and Jinhua Zhang
    10 Nov 2009 | 8:29 pm
    "China issued its first Fuel Economy Standards (FES) for light-duty passenger vehicles (LDPV) in September 2004, and the first and second phases of the FES took effective in July 2005 and January 2008, respectively. The stringency of the Chinese FES ranks third globally, following the Japanese and European standards....The Chinese experience is highly relevant for countries that are also experiencing or anticipating rapid growth in personal vehicles, those wishing to moderate an increase in oil demand, or those desirous of vehicle technology upgrades."

  • Catalyzing Strategic Transformation to a Low-carbon Economy: A CCS Roadmap for China

    Hengwei Liu and Kelly Sims Gallagher
    10 Nov 2009 | 12:32 pm
    China now faces the three hard truths of thirsting for more oil, relying heavily on coal, and ranking first in global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Given these truths, two key questions must be addressed to develop a low-carbon economy: how to use coal in a carbon-constrained future? How to increase domestic oil supply to enhance energy security? Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) may be a technological solution that can deal with today's energy and environmental needs while enabling China to move closer to a low-carbon energy future. This paper has been developed to propose a possible CCS…

  • Securing the Peace: The Battle over Ethnicity and Energy in Modern Iraq

    Justin Dargin
    31 Oct 2009 | 3:18 pm
    October 31, 2009This article examines the legal and political impediments to the Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) exploration and production contracts, which the central government in Baghdad has refused to recognize. The newly established Iraqi national constitution significantly opened as many petroleum-control questions as it resolved. Negotiated in 2005, the constitution not only separated branches of government, but established Federalism as its lodestar. When faced with unresolved issues over regional and national control over petroleum resources, however, International Oil Companies…
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    Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog

  • Graph Media Activities with a Wheel Chart

    mro
    20 Nov 2009 | 4:46 am
    This hand-drawn "media wheel" shows what media people consume when and where, based on data points from a syndicated research.  Here's how me made it.

  • Apple Envy

    mro
    19 Nov 2009 | 2:49 pm
    'Tis the season to diss Apple in some very creative and entertaining ways. I'm just not sure whether it's a sign of strategic marketing insight, or fishbowl-like confusion of message over meaning.

  • When Innovating, Seek Out More, and More Varied, Ideas

    mro
    19 Nov 2009 | 2:14 pm
    I’ve been reading the book “Innovation Tournaments” by Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich of the Wharton School. The book sets out a methodology (the “tournament” of the title) for companies to generate and systematically winnow down innovation ideas to eliminate all but the most exceptional opportunities.

  • What Shaun White and Snowboarding Can Teach You about Innovation

    mro
    19 Nov 2009 | 11:56 am
    One of the best articles that I've read about innovation this week actually had absolutely nothing at all to do with business innovation -- at least on the surface. Hannah Karp of the Wall Street Journal recently took a closer look at When Snowboarders Baffle the Judges. Faced with the prospect of judges that are not always on top of radical new snowboarding techniques, innovative snowboarders like Shaun White have a choice -- either keep their innovative snowboarding tricks under wraps until major competitions, or step-by-step unveil these innovations to the judges before the actual event.

  • There Is This Company

    mro
    19 Nov 2009 | 11:12 am
    Here's something I've been thinking about for some time now. You see, there is this company. It publishes over a hundred RSS feeds and several email newsletters, but not a single blog.
 
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    getFreshMinds.com | Ideas so fresh--they should be slapped!

  • Even in a recession, it's not just about having the lowest price.

    Katie Konrath
    17 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am
    America - and much of the world - is in the midst of a recession.  Customers are only interested in purchasing items at the lowest price and the only way to thrive now is to slash prices to rock bottom. Right?I don't agree.  Granted, people have less money to spend than every before. But I don't think that the fact we're in a recession means price cuts are mandatory.Yes, customers always want to pay the lowest price (or not pay at all) for generic products or services. However, this has been around for a while - it's not just a result of the financial crisis. In my…

  • My solution for moving without a car!

    Katie Konrath
    4 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am
    Right now, I'm over in Europe in a somewhat unique situation where I'm moving apartments every couple weeks.  Last week, I had to make my first move - all the way across the city of Biel with several suitcases and boxes.Friends helped with my kitchen stuff and my bed, but since I ended up moving my clothes the next day, I was on my own for the suitcases.So, here was my challenge:I had to get two big suitcases and a couple smaller boxes from one apartment to the other.  I didn't have a car or a bus pass (and since my German is spotty, I don't even know how to find the…

  • When was the last time you failed?

    Katie Konrath
    2 Nov 2009 | 2:20 pm
    I just came across the above image online and it made me think: Why don't our failures define us? There's a tendency in our culture to only talk about our successes and the things we do right. So when we do something wrong, or something doesn't work the way we planned, it's a whole lot easier to just sweep it under the rug and never talk about it again. We all want to be winners--and that's why we try to forget our failures and say that they do not define us. But what if they do? What if our failures are one of the most important parts of who we are? The fact is, if…

  • An update...

    Katie Konrath
    26 Oct 2009 | 12:16 pm
    Hi getFreshMinds readers,I know I dropped off the radar quite a while this summer, and I had a very good reason for doing so.  I had planned to jump back into blogging at the end of summer with a giant splash and a big announcement.  I've even had the post composed since July.But, as I hope you know, July (and the rest of summer) has come and gone! Due to circumstances beyond my control... I can't talk about my exciting news yet.  But, hopefully I'll be able to do that soon.Meanwhile, if you don't mind, I'm going to get back to blogging about fresh ideas again.

  • Do you need to learn Problem Solving 101?

    Katie Konrath
    23 Jun 2009 | 11:59 am
    Recently, I was asked to review Problem Solving 101, a book by management consultant Ken Watabee that was written for children--but became the bestselling business book in Japan that year. The thing I really like about this book is how it urges readers to go beyond their first assumptions.  A really good example in the book showed how a young soccer player realized that choosing to go to the 2nd best soccer school would actually benefit her much more than going to the best soccer school.This wasn't a conclusion that was obvious from the beginning--as the best soccer school was in a…
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    Applied Imagination

  • Creative Aging Field Loses One of Its Key Leaders: In Memory of Gene D. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D.

    Steven Dahlberg
    10 Nov 2009 | 3:28 pm
    [10 November 2009 - National Center for Creative Aging] Last Saturday night, we lost one of our key leaders in the field of creative aging – more so our very dear friend. NCCA was blessed to have been closely associated with Dr. Cohen not only as one of the founding members of the Board of Directors but as our faculty host at George Washington University, where both NCCA and his Center on Aging, Health and Humanities are housed within the Health Sciences Department. NCCA came into this partnership to bring Dr. Cohen’s and other outstanding researchers work into practice. It has…

  • Making of Me: Creativity is vital in shaping our futures ... families are fundamental in developing it

    Steven Dahlberg
    10 Nov 2009 | 11:58 am
    [2 November 2009 - DEMOS (UK) - By Jen Lexmond and Shelagh Wright] Creativity and cultural engagement are essential ingredients in making our individual and collective lives rich. They are both key to developing and dependent on the social capital that is so vital in mobility and life chances. The terms creativity and culture are acknowledged as tricky to define, but the domains they describe, however disputed, are widely recognized as crucial to our futures. The Oxford English Dictionary defines creativity as ‘involving the use of the imagination or original ideas in order to create…

  • DREAMS: JUST BRAIN EXERCISE

    Steven Dahlberg
    10 Nov 2009 | 11:44 am
    [10 November 2009 - Discovery Channel] ... Psychologists like Freud and Jung have long cashed in on the potency of dreams and how they may reflect our inner emotional lives. But new research suggests dreams may simply be the brain, well, taking a jog. Just as a morning run can help tune up the body, dreaming may be the brain's way of tuning up the mind while conscious thoughts aren’t dominating the circuits. More

  • Art and Its Cultural Contradictions

    Steven Dahlberg
    2 Nov 2009 | 1:25 pm
    This essay raises questions about the role of the artist/creative engaging in neighborhoods, communities and cities. How do they participate and involve? How much time in the community "counts"? How can artists/creatives have the most meaningful impact? [Autumn/Winter 2009 - "Art and Its Cultural Contradictions" in Afterall] PREAMBLE: A FLOOD OF QUESTIONS: What is at stake when artists, architects, curators, organisers and other cultural producers facilitate bricks-and-mortar change, on the ground in cities, with citizens, communities and institutions? How do we test the interrelationships…

  • Authentic education is always experimental

    Steven Dahlberg
    2 Nov 2009 | 5:34 am
    An old blog post from "The Speed of Creativity" blog, but an important one worth revisiting. What examples of authentic education and learning are you leading? Participating in? Creating? [8 April 2006 - The Speed of Creativity] In the educational, classroom environment, authentic education is always experimental. This is because teaching is an art, not a science. Many, many people sadly mistake the purpose of the educational enterprise as mere content transmission. Much of the curriculum standards which dominate the educational landscape today [...] are based on this faulty assumption. Like…
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    Blue Ocean Strategy | Gabor George Burt on Creating Blue Ocean Strategy

  • All revved-up, Blue Ocean style

    Gabor George Burt
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:00 pm
    We’ve covered previously Blue Ocean Strategy-like models of inspiration from the auto industry, such as Koenigsegg and Tesla.  And it seems that the latest entrant, Local Motors, is also set to defy the conventional wisdom of the auto industry. Enter John B. Rogers, the CEO of Local Motors, who is “trying to rethink, rather than overtake, the traditional auto industry.”  His vision: To challenge the paradigm of highly centralized manufacturing, embattled dealerships, and dispersed service locations in order to produce newer, safer, more exciting, more efficient cars bought and…

  • The courage to lead

    Gabor George Burt
    17 Nov 2009 | 12:12 am
    If you haven’t already stopped by Beyond Business, the companion blog to the newly published book Radical Action for Radical Times, you should definitely click on over to read Jonathan Hornby’s latest entry entitled “The courage to lead.”  In his article, Jonathan questions why we continue to do things just because they have always been done a certain way — for example they’ve been handed down from generation to generation — yet few stop to question if the process is still the most efficient, or if it adds value.  And, echoing what Gabor has said previously, Jonathan points…

  • The Four Steps of Visualizing Strategy: Step Three — Visual Strategy Fair

    Gabor George Burt
    15 Nov 2009 | 11:25 pm
    Continuing in our series which takes a closer look at the application steps for visualizing strategy, our focus advances to the third step — Visual Strategy Fair. Once featured, each step is made accessible through the Blue Ocean Strategy Basics archive.  For the third step, we turn to page 90 of the book Blue Ocean Strategy (co-authored by Professor W. Chan Kim and Professor Renée Mauborgne), illustrating the experience of EFS (a European Financial Services Co.):After two weeks of drawing and redrawing [possible new strategies], the [internal] teams presented their strategy canvases at…

  • Let’s get academic — Reader Responses

    Gabor George Burt
    12 Nov 2009 | 1:57 am
    In the September issue of Fast Company, Editor Robert Safian posed challenging questions about the state of higher education, and the best model for the future.  Gabor’s proposed solution — printed in the November issue of Fast Company — would see universities using a portion of their endownment income to do away with tuition all together, and offer free attendance.  His idea generated a flurry of supportive responses, the most dynamic of which we will share with our readers.  From Brian Lynch of Lynchpyns:Just read your letter in the Nov 9 Fast Co issue - very salient points! I…

  • Defying Conventional Wisdom: Sniff this Camembert!

    Gabor George Burt
    11 Nov 2009 | 2:03 am
    Blue Ocean Strategy is all about challenging conventional wisdom — questioning taken-for-granted assumptions, and overstepping industry boundaries. It’s a frame of mind of continuously questioning and searching for a different angle and fresh perspective. You can draw inspiration from everyday life, and train your mind by having a discerning view of the world around you. Consider the following bit of comic insight as example of challenging conventional wisdom.Fashion magazines ought to feature peel-off sniff ads not only for perfumes, but for cheeses as well. In fact the two should be…
 
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    Creativity Central

  • What we know. What we don’t know. What we don’t want to know.

    Creativity Central
    9 Nov 2009 | 2:39 pm
    Perhaps we have a hernia to thank.  In 1942, Eric Hoffer attempted to enlist in the armed forces in San Francisco was rejected because of a hernia. A former migratory worker and longshoreman, Hoffer received laudatory notices in 1951 for his book The True Believer.  . Of his early life, Hoffer has written: “I had no schooling. I was practically blind up to the age of fifteen. When my eyesight came back, I was seized with an enormous hunger for the printed word. I read indiscriminately everything within reach—English and German.” Occupying a prized position on my…

  • Creativity; Or, lessons from duck hunting and Mamet.

    Creativity Central
    1 Nov 2009 | 8:23 am
    A few years ago I came across an essay by David Mamet called “The Audience: Or, lessons from duck hunting. (Bambi vs. Godzilla, 2007) It has resonated with me ever since. “A duck decoy doesn’t need to look like a duck. It needs to look like a duck to a duck.  Wisdom, therefore, lies not in the phenomenological question ‘What does a duck look like?’  But, rather, in the practical ‘What is a duck looking for? “A wealthy hunter might bespeak a decoy realistic to the nth degree. This decoy might be realistic in every particular of size, form,…

  • The Unusual Suspects 8: Innovation and Vulnerability

    Creativity Central
    25 Oct 2009 | 11:06 am
    It all began with a spontaneous comment by host Saul Kaplan on the second day of the BIF5 Collaborative Innovation Summit.  After thanking two of the speakers, he made the observation that there is a strong connection between vulnerability and innovation. The bloggers and tweeters, all noted the remark. During the next break, I asked Saul what he meant. He told me he was reacting to each innovator’s openness to new and often contradictory ideas. Melissa Withers, Executive Director of the Business Innovation Factory, echoed the same idea a few days later in an interview with Ted…

  • The Unusual Suspects 7: John Maeda and Bruce Nussbaum on design.

    Creativity Central
    20 Oct 2009 | 6:44 pm
    Since the publication of The Laws of  Simplicity, John Maeda has become the patron saint of the art balancing simplicity and complexity.  A former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Maeda taught media arts and sciences there for 12 years and served as Associate Director of Research at the MIT Media Lab. Today, he is the president of the Rhode Island School of Design, a place world renown for nurturing artists and designers of all stripes. At BIF5, he was interviewed by co-host Bruce Nussbaum, Professor of Innovation and Design at the Parson’s School For…

  • The Unusual Suspects 6: Alan Webber Playing Fast with the Rules

    Creativity Central
    19 Oct 2009 | 2:42 pm
      In the relatively tiny geography of business magazine world, it was the equivalent of a pre-1981 Beatles reunion. Alan Webber and Bill Taylor, co-founders of Fast Company magazine, took the stage together at BIF5 for the first time in many years. It was easy to see the synergy they brought to an enterprise that became the fastest growing, most successful business magazine in history. Webber talked about his 5-year experience as managing editor and editorial director of the Harvard Business Review.  He lead the journal’s visual redesign and created the architecture for…
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    MyBrainBlog

  • Tying It All Together

    20 Nov 2009 | 5:36 am
    Sometimes it just takes awhile for it to "click."I've been reading Jeffrey Gitomer's articles and books for close to 20 years. He was the first guy I ever saw who put together lists of advice and tips that ended in "point-five" -- 9.5 Ways To Do This, 3.5 Reasons For That, etc.I met Scott "That Name Tag Guy" Ginsberg just a couple years ago. Scott ends his articles and online videos with "Let Me Ask Ya This..."Although I count myself as a fan of these two writers, I never stopped to really delve into the reasons their writing just seemed to hit home with me. It wasn't until re-reading…

  • The Strong Tail

    5 Nov 2009 | 7:33 am
    You've heard the theory of The Long Tail, here's my twist -- The STRONG Tail.The Long Tail explained, per Wikipedia: The Long Tail is a retailing concept describing the niche strategy of selling a large number of unique items in relatively small quantities -- usually in addition to selling fewer popular items in large quantities. The concept was popularised by Chris Anderson in an October 2004 Wired magazine article, in which he mentioned Amazon.com and Netflix as examples of businesses applying this strategy. Anderson elaborated the Long Tail concept in his book The Long Tail: Why the Future…

  • The Best Ideas Are Always A Little Scary

    19 Oct 2009 | 10:42 pm
    Ideas that don't make the people sitting around the presentation table shift in their seats and give each other furtive sideways glances are a complete waste of time.The best ideas are a little frightening. The big ideas make people nervous.The nice, safe, user-friendly ideas have already been thought of and put into action by your competition. If it were easy, everyone else would already be doing it. The concepts that make you work a little harder, learn a little more, and force you outside your comfort zone are the ones that deliver the best results and reach new heights (and new customers)…

  • THE Economy is Bad, But What About YOUR Economy?

    13 Oct 2009 | 8:06 am
    As always, wise words from Jeffrey Gitomer sharing a creative perspective on how you could be growing instead of woeing your business. I count at least a dozen ideas in the video below that could be put into action this afternoon. How many do you count?

  • Push Any Key for Creativity

    29 Sep 2009 | 5:34 am
    Creative commands for your mental keyboard, programmed to increase your effectiveness at innovation.1. HOMEDo not underestimate the importance of a home base from which to create ideas. A favorite space that fosters your creative spirit and surrounds you with resources to feed your innovative energy. Windows, posters, books on creativity, fun games and toys, etc. can all serve to spark your creativity and give you 'permission' to free your spirit of innovation.2. ESCThe Escape Key helps you think outside the box. Get out of your cube, office, or boardroom. Escape to a park or coffeeshop or…
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    Idea Sandbox » SandBlog

  • Stickability: 95% Of Ability

    Paul
    17 Nov 2009 | 4:28 am

  • Off-Site Meetings: Last Century Technology

    Paul
    16 Nov 2009 | 4:43 am
    Did use an abacus or slide rule to build your FY’10 budgets? To prepare and distribute information about next year’s Marketing Plan did you use a typewriter and make a duplicate with a layer of ink paper? Or did you hand crank copies on a Ditto (or Verifax) machine? Of course you didn’t. That would be crazy and inefficient. We have invented better and more efficient tools. With that said.. while we are in the 21st century… there is a tool that is stuck somewhere in the mid-1900s: The Off-Site Meeting. It is interesting we don’t perceive meetings as a…

  • Rules Of The Garage

    Paul
    9 Nov 2009 | 1:23 am
    [The garage where Hewlett and Packard started HP, 1939 photo Founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard had the right idea when they first built their company. They believed if you had passion for what you did – and did it with quality – the money will follow. This was a pretty radial idea back in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Their approach to business became known as the “HP Way.” And later the title of the book David Packard wrote about building HP. (The HP Way). They started their business in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California. (That garage has been dubbed the…

  • Catch More Fish With The Right Lure, In The Right Waters

    Paul
    6 Nov 2009 | 6:05 am
    A couple of fishermen are hanging out in their local bait shop. One has a new product idea for out-of-town visitors. Sell a lake map and fishing lure combo. Take specific fishing lures and tape them to the different lakes on the map. This way the out-of-towner will know the proper bait to use at each particular lake, and will lead to a more successful fishing experience. If you’re at Watermans Reservoir and want to catch a Northern Pike, you need a spinner lure. At Worden’s Pond after Jackfish? Use a fish-imitation lure or cut bait.* Here comes the business segue… We…

  • How To Peel A Tomato: Using The Right Tool

    Paul
    5 Nov 2009 | 3:59 am
    Last week I prepared a recipe for an Italian dish that calls for fresh-peeled tomatoes. I have a vegetable peeler… nice and sharp with a rubber grip. I’ve used it for carrots, potatoes, zucchini, squash… However, have you ever tried to peel a tomato? No matter how careful and patient you are, the peeler hacks up the tomato. Luckily I remembered my “how to peel tomatoes” lesson Chef Dad taught me: Blanching and Shocking. If you put whole fresh tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for 15 to 30 seconds (blanching) followed by a pot of iced cold water for 15 to 30…
 
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    Innoblog

  • 'It’s Like Netflix For …'

    19 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm
    There’s a popular adage that “imitation is the sincerest of flattery.” Well, it amazes me how often I hear “it’s like Netflix for…” as a new company is being touted as innovative because it has borrowed (what it thinks is) the Netflix model. Generally speaking, it’s a great idea to consider borrowing a successful business model from one industry to apply to another, but there needs to be thoughtful consideration as to what the core of that business model is, so that it is not misapplied. The Netflix model is a great example of business model…

  • Tesla Introduces the 'Geek Squad' of Electric Cars

    11 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm
    A friend in the industry sent along word of an interesting business model innovation from electric car pioneer Tesla. The company is now offering to send roving mechanics, or “service rangers,” to its customers on house calls as needed for diagnosis, maintenance, and repair work at the rate of a buck per mile traveled. This "geek squad" for cars makes the experience of owning a (still extremely pricey) Tesla more convenient and more secure, and it keeps Tesla from having to build out a nationwide network of service centers. Tesla’s cars are pretty wired – a…

  • Green Business Innovation — Strategy & Innovation November 11, 2009

    10 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm
    Green business ranges from sustainability to renewable energies to clean technologies and more. It's a big topic with huge implications for the world's future. Last spring Andrew Shapiro of Green Order, Lewis Perkins of Mohawk, and Innosight Chairman Mark Johnson participated in a panel discussion on “Green Business” as part of Forbes' Business Visionary series. This issue features a group interview of this panel in a further exploration of their thoughts on innovation in the green space. Here is an excerpt: Strategy & Innovation: The current cultural change has begun to shape…

  • Will Eventbrite’s Tickets Disrupt the Master’s?

    8 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm
    Ticket sales and event promotion are sets of jobs-to-be-done that the Internet enables very well. Individuals can send waves of spam event-promoting notices over Facebook, and of course the 800-pound gorilla of "high-end" ticket sales is Ticketmaster. One startup, however, believes there's space in between: Eventbrite, backed by $6.5 million from Sequoia Capital, is seeking to provide a lower-end, less-expensive Internet-based ticketing and event promotion solution for the masses. But can they successfully disrupt Ticketmaster and find space in a crowded market? One potential hurdle…

  • Emerging Technology Watch: Implantable Silicon-Silk Electronics

    8 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm
    MIT Technology Review reports on new advances in implantable device technology -- thin, flexible silicon electronics built on silk substrates, resulting in electronics that almost completely dissolve inside the body. Says the report, "These electronics don't need protection [from the body], and the silk means the electronics conform to biological tissue. The silk melts away over time and the thin silicon circuits left behind don't cause irritation because they are just nanometers thick." The research that has made this possible took place on several fronts, including the development…
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    Innovating To Win

  • A Nose For Innovation

    James Todhunter
    5 Nov 2009 | 5:59 am
    Before leaving on my current world-wide innovation tour, I packed Robbie, my two year old Bernese Mountain Dog, into my car and drove to Top O’ The Hill Farm in Ayer, Massachusetts, to participate in a two day tracking workshop....

  • Report From Power To Innovate 2009

    James Todhunter
    25 Oct 2009 | 1:14 am
    What a week it was! Last Thursday and Friday Invention Machine held its annual Power To Innovate conference. The event was well attended and drew international representation of users of Invention Machine’s Goldfire innovation platform software. For me, this is...

  • Government and Innovation Climate Poll Closing Soon

    James Todhunter
    21 Sep 2009 | 12:31 pm
    Oops! I forgot to close this most recent poll. So, our current informal innovation poll will close this Friday. This time, the question is: “As economic signs turn upwards, what will be the effect on the climate for innovation of...

  • An Innovation Chat With Braden Kelley

    James Todhunter
    18 Sep 2009 | 7:26 am
    Braden Kelley (@innovate on Twitter) is an official blogger for the Open Innovation Summit that will be held in Orlando on December 2-4, 2009. I will be speaking on the topic of “Hands-On Strategies For Overcoming the Key Challenges Of...

  • Finding New Market Opportunities Through Systematic Innovation

    James Todhunter
    15 Sep 2009 | 7:59 pm
    It has been more than a year since the bottom fell out of the financial markets, and companies around the globe are still struggle to figure out which way is up. There are some early signs of hope, but the...
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    Innovationedge

  • Starbucks hoping Via captures a niche

    Cheryl Perkins
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:56 am
    It’s been a couple of months now since Starbucks launched its instant coffee, after spending years developing it and months preparing its employees to pitch the granules. The product is called Via, and comes in three-packs that go for $2.95. So has Via been an idea that will work? I haven’t had a chance to give it the taste test yet. As a Starbucks fan myself, I will say that it targets the convenience factor when I can’t get over to the drive-through. Some say the marketing is too aggressive; too much of a hard sell that could potentially turn customers off. What is…

  • Friday fun: “Flyover” advertising?

    Cheryl Perkins
    13 Nov 2009 | 6:02 am
    Could the smallest commercial gimmick in the world become a new trend in advertising? Maybe not, but I couldn’t resist posting this innovative and unconventional way of delivering messages to customers. At this year’s 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair a German book company, Eichborn, decided to create an ad campaign that was highly unusual, but effective nonetheless.  At their booth, company execs attached tiny ad banners to flies, and let them loose. That’s right–branded insects! Check out people’s reactions to the can’t-miss ad delivery method:

  • Inventory is one of the biggest challenges stores face this holiday season

    Cheryl Perkins
    9 Nov 2009 | 6:49 pm
    This is a "Zhu Zhu Pet," retailing for about $10. It's one of the hot toys this season, but don't be surprised if you can't find it. Remember the hot toys from years past–Tickle Me Elmo, Cabbage Patch Dolls and Furby? This year the holiday season’s early hit is the Zhu Zhu Pets hamster, an interactive mechanical rodent. But it is also almost impossible to find as the holiday shopping season draws near. It’s not because parents are rushing out to buy the robotic mouse. No, instead of those parental buying binges of the past, the empty shelves are pointing to…

  • Greenhouse gas goes underground

    Cheryl Perkins
    2 Nov 2009 | 1:38 pm
    Toshiba, displaying the pilot site of a coal plant with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at the Mikawa power station. Here’s an interesting article sure to raise controversy in the scientific community: To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scientists at Toshiba Corp. in rural Japan are working on a way to send noxious pollutants deep into the ground. It is a technology called “carbon capture and storage” (CCS), and is being tested at the Mikawa power station, located near the coast of Japan’s southern coast. Five large-scale integrated CCS projects are now…

  • Patents: Valuable Tools for Advancing the Public Good

    Jeff Lindsay
    29 Oct 2009 | 6:31 pm
    Many of our readers understand how a sound patent system can advance the public good. The US patent system, for example, is based on a social compact between inventors and the public in which inventors are asked to teach the world their secrets in exchange for a limited monopoly on the invention. For a few years, the inventors can control the rights to what they have invented, and then the patent expires, making it available to all. Meanwhile, by teaching how to practice the invention, knowledge is advanced and everyone’s boat is lifted. Take away the respect for intellectual property…
 
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    innovation playground Idris Mootee

  • People Talk About Strategy And Business Model, Often forget About Thinking Industry Architecture

    Idris
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:29 am
    I was speaking in a panel at the Ivey Venture Forum this week with more than 150 guests, great event with 10 companies entering the final and presenting their ideas from recycling technologies to therapeutic technologies. Thanks to Jeff Szeto for inviting me. I was asked by Ron Close, the moderator (Residence Entrepreneur of MaRS and Ivey School of Business) the question of does strategy means for start-up. Ron was asking some very good questions. What does strategy means for new venture start-up? I gave a long answer. But the short one is they need to see beyond the product and see how their…

  • Is Facebook And Twitter Bad For Your Brain? Or It Acutally Makes You A Better Person?

    Idris
    17 Nov 2009 | 7:47 am
    Here is an old vision of a high-tech future. It is old magazine illustration in 1969 a Japanese Sunday magazine, which show life in the future, pervaded by computers. This illustration “The Rise of the Computerized School,” by Shigeru Komatsuzaki is an illustrated scenario of what schools will be like in the future. Sort of Webex type of online delivery and interactive learning via a tablet. I always find it fascinating to go back to see the future, comics and movies are the best place to see the future. In those worlds, there are always concern of the computer taking over of the Big…

  • The Evolution Of The ATMs. 30 Years Later Still Struggling To Make Them Scam Proof. It Is All About The Human Factors.

    Idris
    13 Nov 2009 | 9:03 am
    I find that people are over-concerned with online security every time there is a piece of news about identity theft on TV. It is really not that bad and we need to accept the fact that it will not go away. Whatever security mechanism being put can fix one hole but usually create another hole. Let me take the example of the ATM, it is a very mature technology (probably about 30 years). Not many people know the first mechanical cash dispenser was developed and built by Luther George Simjian and installed in 1939 in New York City by the City Bank of New York, but removed after 6 months due to…

  • Remembering Strangers And Heroes.

    Idris
    11 Nov 2009 | 6:13 pm
    Let us take a few moments to reflect on Remembrance Day, to spare a thought for the many victims of war particular those who sacrificed for their countries. Not only those whose lives were lost wearing the uniform, and all those who have lived through the hell of war that many of us could never ever imagine. Let’s remember this is not a day to glorify war. I was British by birth and my father served the British reserve in the second world war. His medals are framed and hanging in my living room.I am proud of all those British, Canadian, America, Australia war heroes.Yes I love the…

  • Warren Buffet Is Betting His Farm Investing In A 190 Years Old Innovation Platform.

    Idris
    10 Nov 2009 | 6:04 pm
    I love trains. I remember how happy I was when my Dad bought me the first expensive German made Minitrix train set (I was about 8). I was fascinated for months by different freight and passenger trains and had the catalog under the pillow going bed every night dreaming about them. Whenever I see trains, I think about him even sadly he is not around anymore. It is funny how toys can have so much sentimental value.Anyone know when the railroad was invented? It depends on how you look at it. The invention of the steam engine was critical to the invention of the modern railroad and trains. In…
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    Chas Martin, creative director, on creativity and innovation

  • IdeaCycles - Free Course on Innovative Thinking

    Chas Martin
    15 Nov 2009 | 8:56 pm

  • Miles the Can...

    Chas Martin
    15 Apr 2009 | 9:21 pm

  • Compliance and Innovation in perspective

    Chas Martin
    19 Jul 2008 | 2:11 am
    Situation: Your organization is burdened by a series of new rules with which it must comply. All organizations in your industry are subject to the same rules. The simple solution is to identify the path of least resistance – the solution that creates minimal disruption. That solution will probably be predictable. It will meet the requirement and probably nothing more.The path of least resistance is also the path of least responsibility for protecting long term stakeholder value. The predictable path is the one that trades short term compliance for future competitive advantage. An innovative…

  • Strategy and Innovation generate competitive advantage

    Chas Martin
    14 Jul 2008 | 9:58 am
    Over the past few years, I’ve seen many excellent speakers on the topic of breakthrough innovation and creative problem solving. Among the more interesting were: Claudia Kotchka, Clayton Christensen, David Swift, Renee Mauborgne and Vijay Govindarajan. What intrigued me about these speakers was their focus on shifting the frame of reference in order to identify breakthrough innovations. Innovation and strategy are not separate steps, but create a dynamic platform I see it this way: If innovation is not strategic, it’s not innovative enough. If strategy is not innovative,…

  • Innovation in a deep economy

    Chas Martin
    7 Jul 2008 | 11:53 am
    Bill McKibben, in his book, Deep Economy, illuminates several excellent perspectives on the state of the globe. More interestingly, he addresses the responsibility of innovation. He begins with an analysis of “more and better.” These two foundation principles of progress part ways once a stable quality of life is achieved. Beyond that, he says, more is not necessarily better. More does not guarantee happiness, but at some point conflicts with it. The average home in the U.S. is double the size it was several decades ago. The number of occupants has dropped. The storage industry…
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    Creativity & Innovation

  • American Innovation: In Decline?

    keithsawyer
    21 Nov 2009 | 7:56 am
    If you’ve been in a newstand this month, you’ve probably seen the cover of Newsweek magazine shouting out its cover theme: “The Decline of American Innovation.” It turns out that the article is actually about how Americans are worried about potential decline, not about any actual documented decline. And Americans are worried, according to the polls cited in this article: 61% of Americans think the recession has lowered the country’s ability to innovate. Only 41% think that American is staying ahead of China when it comes to innovation. Only 55% of Americans think…

  • Finland’s Innovation Economy

    keithsawyer
    6 Nov 2009 | 3:38 am
    This is my first posting from Europe, during my two-month stay as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge. I have about twelve guest lectures scheduled and I’ll be posting about my travels. This week I’ve been in Finland, giving a series of four invited lectures at four different universities.* If you have ever looked at those national rankings that come out every year, comparing how students in different countries score on math and science and other subjects, you may remember that Finland is usually number one. What are they doing that makes them so successful? Finland…

  • Regional Clusters: More Complex Than You Think

    keithsawyer
    27 Oct 2009 | 9:48 am
    Economists have noted for over a century that similar firms tend to “cluster” near each other. In the last few decades, research on clusters has picked up dramatically, in part because they are associated with more rapid innovation. One of the best-known examples of a contemporary regional cluster is Silicon Valley and its cluster of electronics and software firms. Clusters are often assumed to work due to openness, collaboration, loose organizational boundaries, and information sharing. A new research paper* by Simon Bell, Paul Tracey, and Jan Hiede argues that it’s often…

  • The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

    keithsawyer
    23 Oct 2009 | 2:50 pm
    Since it was founded in the 1920s, the New Yorker magazine has been famous for its one-frame black and white cartoons, each with a single one-line caption published underneath. For the last few years, the magazine has gotten readers involved in the art of cartoon humor: it publishes a one-frame cartoon, without a caption, and invites readers to come up with funny captions and submit them. The funniest caption is selected by a panel of judges and published two weeks later. Here’s a short article I wrote after interviewing a few recent winners of the contest, after being introduced to…

  • Superstar Extinction

    keithsawyer
    16 Oct 2009 | 11:36 am
    How important is collaboration in scientific laboratories? A new paper by Pierre Azoulay, Joshua Graff Zivin, and Jialan Wang* studied what happens to research productivity when an academic “superstar” dies while they’re still actively engaged in scientific research. A superstar is a brilliant scientist who teams up with others to collaboratively conduct research and who co-authors with other scientists. The researchers analyzed the coauthors of 137 eminent life scientists. On average, each superstar had 73 coauthors. (That number alone is astonishing, and shows how…
 
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    Killer Innovations

  • Podcast: Interview with Chuck House

    Phil McKinney
    29 Oct 2009 | 9:53 pm
    In this episode of the Killer Innovations podcast I interview Chuck House. Chuck is one of those individuals whose impact we’ve all felt but didn’t immediately realize. With the recent anniversary of Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon, Chuck turned out to be timely in this interview. Why? He’s the inventor of the early display technology that resulted in Chuck ultimately creating the moon monitor. It was the moon monitor that allowed NASA and the rest of the world see Neil Armstrong step on the moon. Now the interview lasted more than two hours … so this is just a few of the…

  • New blog and podcast site about ready for launch …

    Phil McKinney
    13 Sep 2009 | 1:37 pm
    We are in the process of doing a much needed clean-up and re-design of the blog (www.philmckinney.com) and podcast (www.killerinnovations.com) website.  The new site should be up and live in about two weeks.  We have completed the design work and now in the process of moving all of the content and cleaning up the tags, categories, etc. We are also moving from MT to WordPress and moving servers to Media Temple.  Lots of change and being the paranoid guy I am, I’m being extra careful to ensure its as smooth as possible. So – why am I doing this after all of these…

  • Podcast: Interview with Geoffrey Moore – Part 2 of 2

    Phil McKinney
    26 Aug 2009 | 11:28 pm
      As part of the continuing set of interviews with innovation thought leaders, this weeks podcast is part 2 of a 2 part interview with Geoffrey Moore. As with any interview, I came in with a set of planned topics that I thought were interesting.  Within the first 5 minutes, they were thrown out the window and we went “off script”.  Geoffrey’s thinking and writing have shaped the thinking of entrepreneurs around the world and every time I get together with him, I learn something. Hopefully, you enjoy this interview as much fun as I did recording it … The full show notes…

  • Podcast: Interview with Geoffrey Moore – Part 1 of 2

    Phil McKinney
    17 Aug 2009 | 10:29 pm
    As part of the continuing set of interviews with innovation thought leaders, this weeks podcast is part 1 of a 2 part interview with Geoffrey Moore.  Geoffrey is the author of Crossing the Chasm, Inside the Tornado, The Gorilla Game and most recently Dealing With Darwin, each of which deals with the challenges of leadership and innovation. He is a co-founder and managing director at TCG Advisors and founder of The Chasm Group Geoffrey is also a venture partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures, providing strategy advice and consulting services across MDV's entire portfolio of early-stage…

  • Video Podcast: Enabling Innovation

    Phil McKinney
    10 Aug 2009 | 1:54 pm
      A video of the presenting at the 2009 Forrester IT Forum on the topic of: "Enabling Innovation - A Strength In Any Economy" The content addressed the challenges of innovation during especially tough economic times. The material has been tailored to the audience of CIO's and other senior IT executives of leading corporations. The content is universal to any individual or organization looking to support and enable innovation. Download of video
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    Outside Innovation

  • Customer's Site Redesign Exposes the Sad Truth about Corporate Inertia

    Patty Seybold
    21 Nov 2009 | 7:43 am
    Dustin Curtis is a UI designer. He was fed up with how hard it was to book travel on American Airlines' AA.com Web site. So last May, instead of complaining, he sent them a better UI design. That led to an interesting interaction with a member of the team involved in the design of the AA.com Web site. Dustin refers to his correspondent as "Mr. X" and claims that he is, in fact, and excellent UI architect and that his identity will be revealed soon. PROPOSED NEW DESIGN: Here's an excerpt from the response Dustin received from "Mr. X", then a member of the design…

  • National Semiconductor’s New WEBENCH® Visualizer Raises the Bar

    Patty Seybold
    13 Nov 2009 | 7:52 am
    I've always admired Phil Gibson's work and have often pointed to many of his accomplishments as best practices. This week, he did it again! On November 9, 2009, he unveiled the most sophisticated, yet simple to use Web dashboard that I have ever seen to help customers make buying decisions. By turning a virtual knob to optimize for power efficiency, small footprint, and/or cost of a total bill of materials, design engineers can instantly generate and evaluate the most appropriate options among billions of power supply circuit designs. By turning the dial, or selecting different…

  • Google Android vs. Apple iPhone: Whose App Ecosystem Will Win?

    Patty Seybold
    30 Oct 2009 | 11:00 am
      The recent buzz about the Verizon/Motorola/Google (An)Droid vs. Apple/AT&T/et al iPhone has revolved around two customer-critical issues and one supplier-critical one (can you guess which is which?):• Which device+network combo meets customers' usability requirements?• Which brand evokes the most loyalty?• Which ecosystem will attract the most apps?As pundits review and early adopters swarm, I've been noticing a few patterns in the dialog. It's not about the device. Sure, everyone comments about display resolution, keyboard quality (or lack thereof), industrial…

  • Local Motors: Reinventing the Car Industry from the Outside In

    Patty Seybold
    23 Oct 2009 | 11:00 am
    One of the most inspiring "stories" at the Business Innovation Factory's fifth annual summit, BIF-5, in Providence, Rhode Island was told by Jay Rogers, the founder of an innovative new American car company, Local Motors (www.local-motors.com). Jay is an ex-marine whose grandfather instilled in him a passion for cars. His grandfather owned, among other companies, Indian Motorcycles. Jay grew up in a car-mad family. His experience fighting in Iraq convinced him that the U.S. needed to shed its dependence on foreign oil. So he has invented a new kind of car company. The cars are…

  • The Anatomy of Innovation

    Patty Seybold
    20 Oct 2009 | 6:33 pm
    I really enjoyed completing my case study about Nature Education's groundbreaking Scitable platform for science education. Many people are happy to showcase their innovative projects. But few people are as forthcoming as Vikram Savkar in taking me behind the scenes.  I gained a good understanding of the steps required to innovate within a large organization: Hire an outside renegade. Have him build and sell his vision. Let him create his own team. Locate the team off-site. Take a blank slate approach. Create a blueprint with an integrated cross-functional team. Have the team implement…
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    Think Differently!!

  • Redefining a "Business"

    Dr. Lauchlan A. K. Mackinnon
    18 Nov 2009 | 5:51 am
    I was recently having a look at some of the ideas from the Heart Of Business website. One idea that caught my eye there is Mark Silver's definition of business as "the relationships you have around your livelihood."That is such an evocative definition. It immediately gets one thinking of the web of relationships surrounding business activity, the people involved, the dynamic ebb and flow of relationship and value.It puts the focus on relationships rather than outcomes or metrics or activities.The definition of business as the web of relationships one has around ones livelihood opens up a…

  • Think Quick

    Dr. Lauchlan A. K. Mackinnon
    29 Oct 2009 | 8:21 am
    Many people in the organisational development community in Melbourne, Australia will know Frank Connolly from his excellent work as coordinator for the Victorian Public Sector Continuous Improvement Network (VPS CIN) over the last several years.Frank has started a new initiative, and central to these efforts is his new Think Quick blog.Good luck Frank with your new initiative and helping people 'Think Quick'!

  • Rethinking Economics

    Dr. Lauchlan A. K. Mackinnon
    23 Oct 2009 | 6:56 pm
    As someone who received his Ph.D from an Economics Department (but who in no way considers himself an economist!), I continue to watch with interest how the recent Global Financial Crisis is continuing to cause a rethink of the economics profession. A major focus of current interest was one of the subjects of my thesis: economists' excessive reliance on mathematics, regardless of the validity of the assumptions used by the mathematical models. Economists' assumptions for their mathematical modelling are typically things like "assume that people have infinite knowledge of the past, present,…

  • Organisational Fairy Tales

    Dr. Lauchlan A. K. Mackinnon
    13 Oct 2009 | 10:39 pm
    I was recently given a review copy of Andrew Rixon's new book, Opening Up: Creative Storytelling at Work. Andrew is an expert in applying complexity theory and storytelling within organisations to facilitate consensus and change.One of the intriguing contributions of this book is Andrew's idea of organisational fairy tales. By constructing a fairy tale around the issue or problem we wish to describe or address, we can liberate ourselves to talk about the issue in a different and more mythic way. The twist, however, comes when the facilitator asks the audience hearing a fairy tale constructed…

  • Snorklers and Divers

    Dr. Lauchlan A. K. Mackinnon
    13 Oct 2009 | 3:35 pm
    I was speaking with Experiential Marketing expert and consultant Justine Haddrick recently regarding the idea of scanners vs. deep divers. Justine mentioned that in their work responding to requests for information from clients, Justine and her team had developed a convention of asking whether someone requesting work was a snorkler - someone looking for an overview of options floating over them at a relatively high level - or a diver- someone wanting depth of insight and expertise regarding their very specific problem in the response. It's important to tailor our responses to the needs of the…
 
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    Think For A Change

  • Lean/SixSig vs. Innovation, Yet Again...

    Paul Williams
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:45 am
    Wharton released an interesting article this week called "Can Lean Co-Exist with Innovation?" In essence, the article walks through how Lean and Innovation play contributing roles in the complete product development lifecycle.  Overall, it is a fantastic article, but there are a few key points in it that I think we should explore and discuss further: "There is intense pressure to cut costs, and companies waste a lot of money on product development because the processes for accelerating the best ideas and terminating low-value ideas are often weak or non-existent" There is indeed…

  • Innovation Done Right...3M's Innovation Story...

    Paul Williams
    13 Nov 2009 | 7:30 am
    I was incredibly fortunate to be one of a very select handful of innovation thought-leaders invited to the 3M Customer Innovation Center yesterday for a behind the scenes look at how and why 3M innovates.  This visit moved me in a totally unexpected way.  As a person passionate about innovation and ideas, I have always used 3M as a shining example of one of the elite few organizations who champion innovation as a true business strategy.  But, until yesterday, I didn't have a real hands-on understanding of the depth of just how much 3M "gets it."  I was not prepared to meet…

  • Dead...But Not Down...

    Paul Williams
    8 Nov 2009 | 4:20 pm
    "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."  - Thomas EdisonI recently ran across an organization...a current Fortune 500 organization...that is dead.  That's right...dead.  Oh...you wouldn't know it yet.  They are still selling, still competing.  But they have been fatally wounded...they just haven't fallen over yet.  Maybe not tomorrow...maybe not even next year...but mark my words...they will eventually succumb to their mortal wound.  Here are the symptoms that have led me to make this…

  • Book Review: Innovation Passport...

    Paul Williams
    6 Nov 2009 | 10:23 am
    I was recently given a copy of "Innovation Passport - The IBM First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) Journey from Research to Reality" by Mary Jo Frederich and Peter Andrews, and I realized the depth of my innovation "geekness" when I flew through it in one sitting!  Let's be honest here, this is a book written by innovation practitioners for innovation practitioners.  Normal buyers of fluff management books will not get past page 20 of this book.  This is serious "nuts and bolts" innovation management, product management and portfolio management all wrapped up into one book.  And that's…

  • Tools for Solving Problems...

    Paul Williams
    3 Nov 2009 | 1:27 pm
    "If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail" - Abraham MaslowWhen I work with clients, I tend to use a lot of tools.  I have tools to assess innovation maturity.  I have tools to lead a root cause analysis.  I have tools to do customer interviews.  I have tools to facilitate an idea generation session.  You get it...I have a lot of tools.  And that is to specifically avoid the situation that Mr. Maslow describes above.  Many times...my counterparts on the Lean/SixSig side rely far too heavily on their specific tools.  They…
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    Securing Innovation

  • Sound Engineering Leads Music Innovation

    20 Nov 2009 | 4:58 am
    The Rocketboom Institute for Internet Studies examines the phenomenon of Auto-Tune with help from special guest Professor "Weird Al" Yankovic!  

  • China Intellectual Property Business

    17 Nov 2009 | 12:48 pm
    I've been looking forward to this week's trip to Asia, where I'll be getting together with other speakers at the first IP transaction focused conference in China. Marshall Phelps, Corporate VP for IP Policy and Strategy at Microsoft,  Joff Wild, Editor of IAM Magazine, and Duncan Bucknell, CEO, IP Strategist, Lawyer & Patent Attorney, coincidentally our featured guest blogger here on IP.com's corporate blog, Securing Innovation, are among the global IP leaders speaking at this conference. China Intellectual Property Business 2009 ("CIPB 2009") is organized by Global Leaders…

  • PATINEX 2009: Patent Information Expo

    11 Nov 2009 | 11:03 am
    Johnson Kong, here, in South Korea where IP.com is exhibiting at PATINEX 2009. This is not the first year we've participated in this conference. Last year, Tom Colson, CEO of IP.com,  addressed this gathering of IP professionals and business leaders from around the world on Advanced Enterprise Innovation Management and IP Strategies. PATINEX offers insight into various facade of IP information and latest cutting edge developments of new tools and services for protecting, enforcing and exploiting a company's IP. Conference host, Jung-Sik Koh, Commissioner, Korean Intellectual Property…

  • Hedy Lamarr: Not Just a Pretty Face

    8 Nov 2009 | 9:09 pm
    November 9th is Inventors' Day, marking the birthday of Hedy Lamarr a famous Hollywood glamour girl of the 1940's, who is now recognized as one of the leading women inventors of the 20th century. "Any girl can be glamorous," Hedy Lamarr once said. "All she has to do is stand still and look stupid." The film star belied her own apothegm by hiding a brilliant, inventive mind beneath her photogenic exterior. In 1942, at the height of her Hollywood career, she patented a frequency-switching system for torpedo guidance that was two decades ahead of its time. We've still got a…

  • Tweet of the Week @Pogue

    31 Oct 2009 | 1:42 am
    Thanks to David Pogue, New York Times technology columnist and CNBC tech dude, for tweeting this week about German innovation in automobile manufacturing. And linking from his Twitter stream @Pogue to this very interesting YouTube video giving us a good look inside Volkswagen's "transparent factory" in Dresden, Germany.
 
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    Stefan Lindegaard: Leadership+Innovation

  • Defining User-Driven And Open Innovation - And The Role Of Consultants

    Stefan Lindegaard
    19 Nov 2009 | 1:45 am
    User-driven and open innovation mean different things to many people. So how should consultants guide their clients on this? This became one of the key issues in a discussion that followed my Why User-Driven Innovation Should Not Be Confused With Open Innovation post. I argued that these two types of innovation are related, but not the same. I also argued that open innovation and user-driven innovation already have too many different meanings and definitions making it useless for academics and consultants to drive ONE definition for these terms. As a comment to this, Ellen Di Resta suggested…

  • Open Innovation Starts With A Why

    Stefan Lindegaard
    17 Nov 2009 | 8:59 am
    A journalist recently asked me how companies should get started with open innovation. I replied as below: First ask this question: Why do we want open innovation? Many people believe open innovation is the Holy Grail and they just jump aboard without asking why open innovation is relevant to them. An answer to the why question should show an understanding of how open innovation can be an important part of the general innovation strategy which in turn needs to be highly aligned with the overall corporate strategy. Many companies mess up here. They simply do not have an innovation strategy. The…

  • How Open Innovation Initiatives Can Break Down Internal Silos

    Stefan Lindegaard
    15 Nov 2009 | 4:27 pm
    Silo thinking and organization is one of the toughest obstacles towards innovation. This stifles the holistic mindset and approach needed and it becomes harder to create significant innovation as different business functions tend not to get involved. As a result, companies miss out on the “white space” which I define as the great opportunities that lie between the silos. The idea of open innovation is to build relationships with external partners. It is, however, great to see that open innovation initiatives also can break down silos and help internal innovation. The initiative I have in…

  • Open Innovation Assessment: Is Your Company Ready For The Future?

    Stefan Lindegaard
    12 Nov 2009 | 7:53 am
    My clients like my ability for asking direct and thought-provoking questions. I offer to use this ability to assess your current open innovation strategy and the initiatives that you have or are about to launch. The process is simple. I get as much relevant information from you as possible and I do some research of my own. My observations are presented in a short document. Together, we use the observations to tailor a half-day session for the key people within your company. Our desired outcome is to build a better understanding of your open innovation opportunities and challenges and to…

  • Tough Questions And Great Answers: General Mills Steps Up To The Open Innovation Plate

    Stefan Lindegaard
    11 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pm
    At a first glance, the G-WIN initiative by General Mills looks just like the many other open innovation portals that are popping up right now. So rather than just giving my two cents on this, I did an interview with Jeff Bellairs, who is director of General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network, to get a better understanding of the whys and hows of this initiative. This turned into a great learning experience that I would like to share with others. I kicked off the interview by telling Jeff that I was kind of neutral on their project. Some things looked good and others not so good. I also…
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    Innovation in Practice

  • Academic Focus: University of Michigan

    Drew Boyd
    15 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm
    Once you develop the capability to generate ideas, you need a rigorous approach to managing innovation within the context of your company's culture.  For that, Professor Jeff DeGraff's Competing Values Framework (CVF) is the best-in-class approach.  CVF describes four organizational cultural styles of managing innovation: Collaborate, Create, Control, and Compete.  Management teams tend to gravitate towards one dominant style, the one that has served them well in the past.  To be a more effective, leaders need to be "ambidextrous."  Leaders should become adroit at two conflicting…

  • Innovation Sighting: Smart Floors Using Attribute Dependency

    Drew Boyd
    8 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm
    In a world where gravity is ever present, floors are essential.  We spend most of our waking hours standing or walking on them.  But we tend to ignore them.  That is a pity given the nearly constant contact we have with them.  What if the floor could be innovated?  What could it do for us that it doesn't do today?Here is an innovative technology worth standing up for.  Future-Shape GmbH, a German technology  startup, has developed Sens-Floor, a layer of textile sensors that monitor human movement and can be installed underneath almost any type of flooring.  The product works by…

  • The LAB: Innovating Social Media with Task Unification (October 2009)

    Drew Boyd
    31 Oct 2009 | 5:30 pm
    Embracing social media and the myriad of Web 2.0 tools is more challenging than just setting up a Facebook account or adding a “Follow Me on Twitter” link.  Organizations struggle with how to take advantage of the power of Web 2.0.  Where do you start?  How do you tie these new tools in with your current website?  How do you make sure your current constituents are happy while moving the organization to a more networked world? For this month’s LAB, we will use the innovation template called Task Unification, one of five templates of the corporate innovation method called S.I.T..  To…

  • The Power to Innovate: Conference Report

    Drew Boyd
    24 Oct 2009 | 11:06 am
    Congratulations to the team at Invention Machine for hosting this week’s conference, Power to Innovate, at the Seaport Hotel in Boston.  The theme of the conference centered around the Innovation Intelligence EcosystemTM and how companies can boost performance by coordinating information, communities, and innovation activities.  Invention Machine’s premier product, Goldfire, is at the center of this ecosystem."Goldfire is a unique innovation software platform that transforms ideas into commercial products—generating and validating concepts and making innovation a sustainable…

  • Reinventing the Newspaper

    Drew Boyd
    20 Oct 2009 | 9:54 am
    Newspapers are dying.  Their business model is burning to the ground.  They cannot fend off the Internet and other threats despite their virtual monopoly and economies of scale in printing and distribution.  Advertisers are moving on.  Yet while traditional newsrooms are shrinking, journalism is thriving and the consumption of news is skyrocketing.  Why are newspapers shutting down?  As Clay Shirky describes it: "If you want to know why newspapers are in such trouble, the most salient fact is this: Printing presses are terrifically expensive to set up and to run. This bit of economics,…
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    INDIA INVENTS

  • CircuitSutra

    21 Nov 2009 | 11:33 pm
    CircuitSutra a start-up incubated at Amity Innovation Incubator, focuses on IC/SoC Design Companies, Embedded Product Companies, and EDA tool companies with core competence System C modelling. Founder Umesh Sisodia worked in SCL, Cadence etc.

  • Bi Box from start up evobi

    13 Nov 2009 | 11:03 pm
    Bi-Box is a small box with an Electronic Brain which can be connected to various electronic devices or toys and instructed to behave the way you want it to. It is supported under TePP. This start-up figures among the ten promising Indian companies by Global Thought.

  • Pruthvi- Universal TV demodulator IC based on Software Defined Radio (SDR) architecture

    13 Nov 2009 | 10:02 pm
    Saankhya Labs, a fabless chip startup based in Bangalore, has announced its Universal TV demodulator IC based on Software Defined Radio (SDR) architecture, and targeted at World TV and PC-TV receiver markets. Built on an ASSP (application specific signal processor) platform, the product named Pruthvi - is made up of programmable DSPs, and is the first demodulation IC to enable Global TV Chassis, the company claimed. The product prototype that supports all standards on a FPGA platform is ready and has been demonstrated to 6 major TV companies in Japan. Read more : EETimes.comThe founders,…

  • Shaping the Future- Semi Finalists

    10 Nov 2009 | 3:53 am
    For schedule of Semi finals in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai and also list of semi finalists see:http://specials.msn.co.in/sp09/shapingyourfuture/semifinalists.asp

  • Inolyst

    8 Nov 2009 | 10:34 pm
    inolyst is a young start-up, based in Bangalore, offering a package of Innovation management, IP advisory and IP licensing services to Indian firms. The comprehensive package includes, establishment of processes from `Idea generation' to`Revenue realisation'. Client firms will receive training in identifying opportunities for R&D/ product positioning after assessing IP and Business portfolio of competitors. IP acquisition is seen as integral part of R&D.
 
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    Come to Know

  • Cometoknow.com nominated for “Top 100 Blogs” Award

    Oliver
    27 Oct 2009 | 12:20 pm
    The Daily Reviewer has nominated www.cometoknow.com as one of the “Top 100 Blogs” covering innovation Come to Know Top innovation blogs

  • Newsga.me breaks free

    Oliver
    26 Oct 2009 | 7:12 am
    Newsga.me breaks free from Nosco The last couple of years we have worked hard to develop an ass kicking news game. Today we have reached our goal. We are very proud to present: Newsga.me Newsga.me is an online game that integrates news and users in a new and engaging way. On Newsga.me tomorrows news are shares that you can buy and sell. Everybody can create a free account filled with virtual money. Players make “money” by buying shares in real life news. The ones who are best at predicting tomorrow’s news win prizes and the respect of the other players. Check out some of the…

  • Nosco – A Hot Company

    Oliver
    25 Sep 2009 | 6:12 am
    Nosco has been recognized as one of the hottest companies for this year’s SIME awards. After scanning through hundreds of young, promising companies in the Nordics, the SIME jury has been presented around 160 companies in its first tough screening round. The first 12 companies has been selected for the next round. The jury will still nominate 24 rising stars for the second round of the awards during the next couple of weeks. About SIME SIME is Northern Europe’s largest event about the Internet and Digital opportunities. The SIME Awards were created in 1996 to honor excellence in…

  • Buy Shares in the Rich and Famous on Flashbørsen

    Oliver
    17 Sep 2009 | 11:52 pm
    Yes, we’ve been on it again. Another Danish top news media has launched their own News Exchange. Ekstra Bladet recently launched Flashbørsen. On Flashbørsen you buy shares in the lives of the rich and famous. If you’re good at predicting what will happen, you earn virtual money and win prizes. www.ekstrabladet.dk is one of Denmark’s biggest news sites. Ekstra Bladet describe the themselves as: … the newspaper with the surprising news. Naughty, disrespectful, tabo-breaking and credible. The newspaper you love to hate. It’s the second News Exchange branded as…

  • Berlingske Nyhedsbørs

    Oliver
    17 Sep 2009 | 1:09 am
    Check out Berlingske’s new cool news game Berlingske’s Nyhedboøs. It’s of course running on our News Exchange. It’s all about buying shares in tomorrows news. Sign up for free and win a gift certificate of 10.000 DKK. if your good.
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    Lateral Action

  • The Lateral Action Entrepreneur Course is Now Live

    Brian
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:33 am
    Hey gang. Just a quick note to let you know the Lateral Action entrepreneur course is now live and accepting enrollments. You can immediately check out all the details of this 18-topic intensive course. It’s what we wish we had 10 years ago starting out, and it’ll provide you with the guidance you need to succeed. We’ve got a great Charter Member offer — you save 50% off the 2010 enrollment fee, plus enjoy free access to the additional features we have coming. Get all the details by clicking here. If you haven’t read the free Lateral Action Guide to Becoming a…

  • Free Report: How to Become a Creative Entrepreneur

    Brian
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:40 am
    As hinted at last week, we’ve got some special extended content for you. It’s a free 31-page PDF report (don’t worry, it reads fast) called The Lateral Action Guide to Becoming a Creative Entrepreneur. Here’s what you’ll discover: Why I quit my cushy law firm job and turned to online publishing. How I failed miserably. How I then succeeded miserably. How I learned my lesson the hard way. The allure of the global microbrand. The rise of the “feeder” business. Why small is beautiful (and powerful). The 37signals approach to market research. Real-life examples of creative…

  • The Story of a Reluctant Entrepreneur

    Mark
    12 Nov 2009 | 11:12 pm
    Image by Hugh MacLeod I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. I just wanted to write poetry. Twenty years ago I would have told you “Business Is Evil”. I associated entrepreneurship with people like Gordon ‘greed is good’ Gekko. I was so ignorant I didn’t know the difference between an entrepreneur and a Wall Street trader. To me, they were the same thing. So I went to college to read English Literature. I thought it would help me as a poet. It was a creative disaster. I ended up blocked and bored of literature. Time to change direction. I never wanted to be a…

  • Marla Mentors Jack on the 5 Critical Components of Creative Entrepreneurship

    Brian
    11 Nov 2009 | 7:13 am
    When we last saw Jack, he was just about to sign a deal with Lou to start a business. But suddenly, Marla showed up at the last minute. Did Jack do the deal? If so, why is Marla giving Jack entrepreneurial advice? And what do these 5 elements have to do with starting a successful business? Create (Don’t Compete) Lead (Don’t Manage) Communicate (Don’t be Shy) Automate (Don’t Duplicate) Accelerate (Don’t Stand Still) You’ll have to check out the latest Lateral Action animated video to find out. If you’ve missed the previous episodes, check ‘em out first: Episode 1: Lou…

  • T.S. Eliot’s Unique Selling Proposition

    Mark
    5 Nov 2009 | 1:50 am
    Image by Muffet If you think the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is something only marketers need to worry about, have a look at this snippet from a letter to T.S. Eliot, by his boss. Geoffrey Faber is explaining why Eliot was the ideal candidate to take charge of poetry publishing at Faber and Gwyer, the firm that eventually became famous under the name Faber and Faber. In you we have found a man who combines literary gifts with business instincts, who has a wide circle of literary friends, and who is quite as much at home on the lower levels as on the lonely peaks. (Geoffrey Faber, from a…
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    neuronspark

  • Social Media for TV

    paul
    21 Nov 2009 | 6:37 am
    At the Future of Television in NYC Shelly Palmer talks to Stefanie Michaels, Juliette Powell and Jack D. Hidary

  • Brian Morrissey

    paul
    18 Nov 2009 | 6:53 pm
    Brian Morrissey the digital editor at Adweek talked at the Gravity Summit in NYC on effective ways companies reach consumers digitally.

  • Deep Focus

    paul
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:43 am
    At the Gravity Summit the Madmen Himself, Ian Schafer of Deep Focus, talks about consistently redefining the way entertainment properties are marketed online.

  • Bing Twitter Search

    paul
    17 Nov 2009 | 6:06 pm
    Paul Yiu, Group Program Manager of Bing Twitter Search gave the talk– Amplifying Twitter’s Value with Search at the Gravity Summit in NYC 11/09 A new era of search is emerging as real-time data from platforms like Twitter and Facebook integrate with search algorithms to build a smarter, more cohesive hierarchy of social content. As search begins to curate the real-time fire hose, businesses now have a unique opportunity to monitor awareness and the zeitgeist of conversation bubbling up around their brand. Paul Yiu, the lead program manager behind Bing’s recently announced…

  • Ethernet: The Last Frontier for Layer 2

    paul
    12 Nov 2009 | 5:37 am
    Margaret Chiosi, Executive Director, Optics & Ethernet Service Development, AT&T Labs at her Ethernet Expo Keynote, AT&T has embraced Ethernet technology and is aggressively rolling out metro, U.S., and global Carrier Ethernet services as well as infrastructure.
 
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    Permanent Innovation

  • Global Venture Lab Network — Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

    14 Nov 2009 | 11:09 am
    Global Venture Lab Network — Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

  • Sustainability Evolves from Fad To Force

    2 Jul 2009 | 9:30 am
    Sustainability is evolving quickly to become a major force in business practices and in business models. One of the best ways to think about sustainability is the triple bottom line model. This model speaks to developing business models that can show profit in three major areas - environment, economic, and social.Sustainability holds the seeds of much of the major innovation we will see over the next 100 years. Every aspect of business can, should, and will be transformed. This represents a serious opportunity for competitive advantage in the short term and significant profit in the long…

  • Planning for the Unthinkable Through Relentless Innovation

    29 Jun 2009 | 12:10 pm
    Joshua Cooper Ramo’s new book, The Age of the Unthinkable, provides a useful portrait of our difficult times, and an even more useful set of frameworks for how we ought to be dealing with it.Ramo shares insights he has gathered through dialog with some of what appear to be the world’s most interesting thought leaders in the military, business, science, philosophy, and economics, and together they enable him to define the nature of the challenges we face in a compelling way that justifiably should attract attention.The strength of the book is not necessarily that his thesis is stunningly…

  • Hydrogen Car going Open Source

    26 Jun 2009 | 10:24 am
    Whether you have much experience with open source or have explored the potential in engaging a community in co-design and develop or not - it sure is a good idea to pay attention to possible disruptive nature of open source business models in every industry. The manufacturer of a hydrogen car is going to make their designs available online so the cars can be built and improved locally. This in itself is a unique innovation in a business model for cars but they aren't stopping there. In addition, they are going to lease the cars and the lease includes fuel and repair costs. In order to make…

  • Honda Foresight

    4 May 2009 | 5:23 pm
    I was doing some research the other day on Honda, and I found the following fascinating piece of information:In a Business Week article from 1992, the head of engine development for Honda is quoted as saying, "We don't have much time," referring to the need to develop new, low-emission engine technology.His assessment of the future market (I'm paraphrasing): We have about 20 years more with gasoline before we will need to have alternative fuel technologies in place.Yes, the article was from 1992. It makes those guys at Honda look pretty darn smart.What do you have to do to see the future that…
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    The Future is Bright

  • The 50 Most Important Records from this Decade

    K.Summers
    20 Nov 2009 | 10:39 am
    W+K NY got this list from NPR. How many of these records have you listened to? Have they inspired you to create, do, or think? In bold are my favorite 10 from the list. What are yours? 01. John Adams: On The Transmigration Of Souls 02. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion 03. The Arcade Fire: Funeral 04. The Bad Plus: These Are The Vistas 05. Beyonce: Dangerously In Love 06. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago 07. Bright Eyes: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning 08. Burial: Untrue 09. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: S/T 10. Kelly Clarkson: Breakaway 11. Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head 12.

  • MGP Presents The Drum ep 6 - Japan and U.S.

    K.Summers
    17 Nov 2009 | 7:46 am
    This past Sunday I had the distinct pleasure to co-host episode 6 of the Drum. The episode focused on the influence of Japanese culture in the U.S. and predicted which countries around the world will be next in terms of cultural influence. We spoke about Pharrell, Nigo, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Takashi Murakami, Andy Warhol, Levis, Nike, Woolrich, J. Press, Kanye West, just to name a few. Co-hosted by @madmanralph with special guest @janicemomoko You can listen here.

  • Trend: Matching your phone to your sneakers

    K.Summers
    12 Nov 2009 | 11:02 am
    “If Hov’s a Blackberry Bold, then shorty is a Sidekick” So if I’m also a Blackberry Bold, then what are my sneakers? Exactly. They are bold too! I thought about this concept nearly a year ago. One of my habits is typing up my ideas on my Blackberry and giving myself a deadline. I also note any costs that may need to be incurred. However, I went a little bit crazy in the NikeiD shop and was not able to bring my idea to life. This time I got it right. The idea was executed about a month ago and since I opted to have my sneakers mailed to my office I am just now receiving…

  • Grizzly Bear - Ready, Able

    K.Summers
    11 Nov 2009 | 2:51 pm
    Grizzly Bear: ‘Ready, Able’ Director: Allison Schulnik In my opinion even better than the 2 Weeks video from the same album,’Veckatimest‘. They make me proud to be from Brooklyn. No, really. I’m serious.

  • Isamu Noguchi - Expo 70 Fountains

    K.Summers
    11 Nov 2009 | 2:24 pm
    Nine fountains designed for the World Expo in Osaka, Japan. Masterpiece
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    InnExperience

  • BlogQuotes: Marketing #1

    Sunil Malhotra
    20 Nov 2009 | 4:02 am
    1. Customers are human beings, not statistical aberrations. 2. Always remember you’re a marketer, not a marketeer. 3. If the client is God, worship him. Don’t work for him. © Sunil Malhotra. 2009 Posted in BlogQuotes, Companies of the future, Everything 2.0, Marketing, Quotes, Thought leadership Tagged: client dealings, customer, Innovation, Marketing, relationship, Sunil Malhotra

  • Vendor-Client relationships

    Sunil Malhotra
    14 Nov 2009 | 1:11 am
    Whatever one may try in building relationships with customers, it always comes back to negotiating prices the way it was done in the industrial (material) age. This hilarious, in-your-face video says it all. Is our client listening?? Can they laugh as loudly as we at this beautifully captured absurdity Read Ann All’s post “Squeezing Vendors Isn’t a Good Idea“  Posted in Innovation Tagged: absurdity, client, conti, Cost cutting, Culture, Ideafarms, Innovation, negotiation, outsourcing, partnerships, provider, vendor

  • BlogQuotes: Spirituality #1

    Sunil Malhotra
    6 Nov 2009 | 2:38 am
    1. God gives and forgives. Man gets and forgets. 2. The ‘I’ causes the effect. 3. Mantra=Om, Womantra=More. ©Sunil Malhotra. 2009. Posted in BlogQuotes, Quotes, Spirituality Tagged: God, I, Quotes, Spirituality, Sunil Malhotra

  • BlogQuotes: Entrepreneurship #1

    Sunil Malhotra
    4 Nov 2009 | 4:49 am
    Starting today ‘BlogQuotes’: 1. The only difference between ‘Leadership’ and ‘Management’ is that one creates a spark, and the other fights the fire. 2. The only mantra to learn – “Get out of your way”. 3. Be slow and steady in life yet hasten to fail. © Sunil Malhotra 2009. Posted in Business, Entrepreneurship, Everything 2.0, Innovation, Innovation 101, Leadership, Leadership Innovation, Management, Quotes, Thought leadership Tagged: Entrpreneurship, Leadership, Management, Mantra, Quotes, Sunil Malhotra

  • Let’s cut our noses. Yes Prime Minister!

    Sunil Malhotra
    31 Oct 2009 | 5:28 am
    Two of my favourite subjects here – the fascinating global warming debate and India’s bollywood style negotiation script. Hopenhagen is around the corner and will make Kyoto passe. We love being underdogs because like our movies, the hero comes from behind in a good-over-evil victory lap while the crowd applauds his heroic antics. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and I fully intend the pun. US spews Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere when India sleeps. [Pat on back .. I'm getting good at puns]Now India wants America to pay for their long and sinful polluting…
 
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    Fast Company

  • The 12 Best and Worst Digital Characters

    20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pm

  • What Do Presidential Libraries Say About Their Namesakes' Legacies?

    Alissa Walker
    20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm
    Part of the point of a presidential library is that it's a monument to a leader's legacy--his style, his enduring affect on the world, even his reading habits...or lack thereof. Speaking of which, Laura Bush unveiled the design for her husband's book joint this week, and the ultra-traditional structure that nods to Washington but bows to the rest of Southern Methodist University's campus isn't winning any points with architecture critics. But how does W's design stack up against his predecessors? We checked out the libraries of fellow recent commanders-in-chief completed in the last three…

  • Drive a Mercedes with Your iPhone and Nine Other Mind-Blowing Stories This Week on Fast Company

    Kate Rockwood
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pm
    Mind-blowing phrase of the week: "interferometric modulation," which can be loosely translated as "Oh my God! Qualcomm’s Mirasol e-reader has color video!" Mercedes Benz unveiled an app that lets you control your car with the iPhone. But Intel one-ups the luxe car maker with an implantable chip that lets you control your computer using only your thoughts.Round two of the juice-packaging cage match started late last year with Pepsi’s Tropicana fiasco, and this week Coke’s Minute Maid unveiled a juicy new look (courtesy of Master of Design cover boy David Butler). Los Angeles took home…

  • ComScore's New Study Finds Dope on "Movie Junkies"

    Alissa Walker
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:30 pm
    Research group comScore released its study on "movie junkies" yesterday that surveyed the behavior of 500,000 moviegoers who bought tickets online in September 2009. Some of the highlights: Fandango rules the market. Over $31 million is spent each month buying online movie tickets, with 81% of those tickets purchased at Fandago.com. Females 25-54 are heavy online ticket buyers. Women are actually more likely to make decisions about movie night than men: movie ticket purchasers are 39% more likely to be female. Maybe men would rather watch at home? DVD sales were an equal split between the…

  • Can Chegg Beat the Kindle at the Textbook Game?

    Ariel Schwartz
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm
    The Kindle may be the king of e-readers, but it has a long way to go before being accepted as an acceptable replacement for textbooks. When Amazon's device was introduced at Princeton for classroom assignments recently, it received mostly negative reviews. Now the Kindle's budding classroom legacy is being challenged by Chegg, an online textbook rental service that just raised a whopping $112 million in a round led by Insight Venture Partners. Chegg deals in good old-fashioned print books, but saves paper by letting students rent textbooks in a Netflix-like model. The company, founded in…
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    Schumpeter's Century

  • Reputation and Social Entrepreneurship

    BrianH
    17 Nov 2009 | 11:07 am
    Economists know a lot about entrepreneurship and have more or less even settled on a defition for the field. Auerswald (2009) writes: "For all the different notions of entrepreneurship that have been floated over the past century, the most fundamental and enduring is the definition of the entrepreneur as the “residual claimant” in a new venture—the person who walks away with, or (alternately and importantly!) is liable for, whatever is left over when the accounting is done—plus or minus."He then goes on to define a social entrepreneur as the residual claimant for an enterprise, but…

  • Godin on Upside vs Downside Risk

    BrianH
    10 Nov 2009 | 5:41 am
    Seth Godin has a good post about the change that occurs when a firm achieves economies of scale and ceases to be entrepreneurial:A new restaurant might rely on fresh vegetables and whatever they can get at the market. The bigger, more established fast-food chain starts shipping in processed canned food. One is less reliable with bigger upside, the other—more dependable with less downside.Here's a rule that's so inevitable that it's almost a law: As an organization grows and succeeds, it sows the seeds of its own demise by getting boring. With more to lose and more people to lose it,…

  • Tools not Stuff

    BrianH
    4 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am
    PopTech 2009 Social Innovation Fellows from PopTech on Vimeo.

  • Reimagining the Smithsonian

    BrianH
    31 Oct 2009 | 8:30 am
    A call to action: given new ways of learning, how can the Smithsonian Institution be more relevant in a digital age?Much more on their wiki.

  • The Pay Pal Wars

    BrianH
    29 Oct 2009 | 8:01 am
    I read The Pay Pal Wars upon Tim Kane's recommendation. Radley Balko at Reason wrote a favorable review as well. Do check it out. It's a wonderful look at entrepreneurial individuals and their experiences as they went from startup to IPO. Fascinating reading.Perhaps I should mention, in order to comply with the FCC and all, that I either purchase books myself or get them from the library, but do not receive free copies or have other incentives to recommend any readings.
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    wrightcreativity.com

  • Creativity through the years – 1999

    Kirsten Wright
    20 Nov 2009 | 11:41 am
    Over the next 25 posts, ending on my birthday, I will be covering an incredibly creative moment or idea from a year of my life AND one creative moment in either the marketing, advertising, technology or media world. For me, 1999 was a difficult year. For the first time in my life, I struggled with an English class. This had never happened before. English classes (book analysis, essays, poems, etc) had always come very easy to me. So, my freshman year of High School I decided to take Advanced English and push myself a bit. Push myself, I did. I was finally reading books that were at and above…

  • Creativity through the years – 1998

    Kirsten Wright
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:48 pm
    Over the next 25 posts, ending on my birthday, I will be covering an incredibly creative moment or idea from a year of my life AND one creative moment in either the marketing, advertising, technology or media world. In September, 1998 Google Inc was founded and released for the public. The only thing I was concerned with? I started High School. Do you remember your first day of high school? What about your first google search? Related posts:Creativity through the years – 1989Creativity through the years – 1985Creativity through the years – 1984

  • Creativity through the years – 1997

    Kirsten Wright
    18 Nov 2009 | 12:42 pm
    Over the next 25 posts, ending on my birthday, I will be covering an incredibly creative moment or idea from a year of my life AND one creative moment in either the marketing, advertising, technology or media world. In 1997, I was finishing 7th grade, starting 8th grade, and still trying to figure out who I really was (I think we all were at that age). Other than friends, boys and annoying my parents, I had 2 things I knew that I loved: reading and writing. I had a book and my notebook with me everywhere that I went, jotting down thoughts and ideas about every day life. I guess it was my…

  • Creativity through the years – 1996 (Two-word Tuesday #23)

    Kirsten Wright
    17 Nov 2009 | 10:28 am
    Over the next 25 posts, ending on my birthday, I will be covering an incredibly creative moment or idea from a year of my life AND one creative moment in either the marketing, advertising, technology or media world. Mine: Junior Councilor Media: Independence Day Related posts:Creativity through the years – 1991 (Two-word tuesday #22)Creativity through the years – 1986 (Two-word tuesday #21)Creativity through the years – 1998

  • Creativity through the years – 1995

    Kirsten Wright
    16 Nov 2009 | 11:46 am
    Over the next 25 posts, ending on my birthday, I will be covering an incredibly creative moment or idea from a year of my life AND one creative moment in either the marketing, advertising, technology or media world. In 1995 I started my first business, selling custom designed stationary. Well, myself and my best friend Liz, started a business together. We were partners. She had the computer, printer and lots of clip art. And I had the ability to talk to anyone and was really good at showing off our portfolio. Together, we were a dynamite team. I took the order, showed off the options, and…
 
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    Foresight 20/20

  • Revisiting Design Thinking

    16 Nov 2009 | 10:18 am
    Last year, I wrote a post about Design Thinking in response to an article in Brandweek that I felt was misleading on the topic. In it, I pointed to Roger Martin's work as some of the very best at describing what Design Thinking actually means. Last week I got into a Twitter discussion with Steve Finikiotis after he pointed me to a Harvard Business Ideacast featuring Roger and his ideas on Design Thinking.  I fundamentally agree with Roger's views, but I have noticed a few theoretical issues that are having some unintended consequences in practice. I boiled…

  • Innovation, translation, and the brain

    11 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am
    It's no secret that I believe that the ability to translate market needs into viable offerings that meet those needs is the key to successful innovation.  It's also no secret that I believe that this ability does not reside in any one discipline, educational background, or company process.  Last year I wrote three posts, each about an element of translation that I felt was important for an organization to embrace the capability. The three elements were Awareness, Capability, and Evaluation. I still believe that these three elements are necessary for an organization…

  • The purpose of process

    3 Nov 2009 | 7:30 am
    We've talked about the difference between the innovation process and the development process in terms of the results they are expected to achieve; the innovation process being used to identify market relevant opportunities for innovation, and the development process being used to efficiently and reliably get offerings into the market.  We've also talked about how different people, and different thought processes lend themselves to achieving these goals.  What we haven't talked about is how the different processes should enable people to best do their work.  This is…

  • Abductive and Adductive Reasoning

    26 Oct 2009 | 10:07 am
    A few posts ago, I talked about how an organization's development and innovation processes should be different, as they have different goals.  I then talked about how differences in perceptual skills are better determinants of successfull innovators than the organizational discipline in which they reside.  At this point it may be useful to step back and look at the fundamental differences in the thought processes that enable people to be successful in the development and innovation processes. As the development process requires a high degree of reliability and…

  • People first, Process second

    20 Oct 2009 | 3:51 pm
    I've been reading several articles lately that discuss different processes for innovation.  They typically center around a few main themes; ethnography, rapid prototyping, open innovation, and other ways to connect market insight with opportunities for new offerings.  And yet when I talk with clients who have tried similar processes, I get mixed responses regarding the results.  Most can point to isolated events that would not have occurred without the new process, but none can say that these processes have increased their ability to consistently connect opportunities…
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    Tin Whiskers

  • The Role of Innovation Scouts as Reverse Mentors

    Kevin Blackwell
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:09 am
    I’ve had the good fortune of serving on the Board of Trustees for Millsaps College for the past nine years.  Like most such  boards, its members are mostly older business executives who have given their time, talent, and treasure to the college.  And, of course, have a high-likelihood to provide for the college in their wills.  (Which lead one long-time member to comment that when he was young, he strolled around board meetings checking the health of elderly members but, now that he has had by-pass surgery, he strolls around wondering who is looking at him!) At one particular board…

  • What’s so great about Innovation Scouting?

    Kristy Ulmer
    6 Nov 2009 | 7:38 am
    Innovation Scouting seems to be a hot topic these days but I’m not sure why. Last week Nerac hosted a roundtable event on Innovation Scouting at the Executive Conference Center at Babson College. The idea was to invite Nerac clients to come to an open forum to learn about current practices in innovation scouting and discuss how companies are dealing with their challenges. We were thrilled when we had more registrants than we had chairs to hold them (only to be deflated by nasty New England weather that kept some folks home), but I’m still not sure what motivated these clients to attend.

  • Book Review: The Rudolph Factor

    David Fazzina
    28 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am
    After reading The Rudolph Factor I was struck by the essential importance of people based methods. Every aspect of business can be boiled down to three elements; Process, Product and People. And the third element can be leveraged to generate significant innovation.  The authors identify a myriad of processes that generate excellent efficiency at the expense of the innovative (Rudolph) employees. These practices drive those employees to silence and they become disconnected.  And the ultimate target is not achieved: your employees becoming emotionally committed to your company’s success. If…

  • Adjacency Guides – what you should know

    Kevin Blackwell
    21 Oct 2009 | 9:17 am
    In a previous Tin Whiskers post, I briefly introduced the concept of an adjacency guide.  This post is an expansion of that concept.  In previous professional life, I sold software to many different industries.  I recall attending two executive offsite events that, on the surface, seemed similar.  But, in reality, were quite different. The first was an executive retreat for the food and beverage industry held annually at The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia.  Attending were top executives of packaged goods companies such as Hershey, Kraft, and Coke.  I recall driving by…

  • Innovation Scouting through Adjacencies

    Kevin Blackwell
    9 Oct 2009 | 9:19 am
    When companies look to accelerate growth beyond that which seems achievable in their core markets, they often look to approach adjacencies. So, naturally, companies scouting for new technologies tend to look in adjacent areas as well. But they often get frustrated with the lack of substantive results. But other companies seem to do really well at adjacency exploration and the difference in their results is apparent if you understand the difference in approach. First, a clear understanding of adjacencies will help. There are two fundamental types of adjacencies. First, an adjacent market. That…
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    New Medici

  • Ken Auletta’s Googled: 25 New Media Maxims

    Adrian Sexton
    18 Nov 2009 | 1:35 am
    Ken Auletta’s new book is a journalist’s take on the Google phenomenon. He conducted interviews with some 150 current and former Google employees as well as the CEO Eric Schmidt and the normally media-shy founders Larry and Sergey. Read the transcript from the Charlie Rose interview. And the addendum of 25 media maxims to create a [...] Related posts:Looking for Ideas: A Media + Entertainment Perspective From today's keynote on "Looking for Ideas: a Media+Entertainment Perspective"...SXSW: Multi-Picture Your Media Woke up this am, and found the excellent SXSW…

  • The Ten Spot: Nov 18, 2009

    Adrian Sexton
    18 Nov 2009 | 1:11 am
    EXCLUSIVE: Carl Icahn Buying Up MGM Bonds “Like A Bat Out Of Hell” – Deadline.com As for Icahn’s intentions for MGM, film financing circles think he’s going after the studio because he wants it for his son. True, Icahn wanted to give one of the four Lionsgate board seats he was seeking to his 29-year-old offspring [...] Related posts:New Medici: Media “Ten Spot” Deadline / #1 'Paranormal Activity' Scares Away Weekend Rivals [Nikki...The Ten Spot: Nov 4, 2009 via Is Hollywood always in panic mode? Ari Emanuel's...The Ten Spot: Nov 5, 2009 Chart: U.S. Virtual Goods…

  • The Ten Spot: Nov 17, 2009

    Adrian Sexton
    17 Nov 2009 | 8:20 am
    You-Be-The-Terrorist Videogame Sales Reach $600 Million In 5 Days | SAI In one week, Activision and Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has raked in more cash than any form of entertainment for sale. It sold around 9.4 million copies of the first-person shooter game in five days and made $600 million. via Here’s Proof [...] Related posts:The Ten Spot: Oct 29, 2009 via 'Paranormal' Now the Most Profitable Film Ever | The...The Ten Spot: Oct 30, 2009 via HuffPost Game Changers: Who Is The Ultimate Game...The Ten Spot: Oct 27, 2009 It's Diller-Day in terms of a…

  • “I’m With the Brand…”: Multiplatform & Monetization Strategy

    Adrian Sexton
    17 Nov 2009 | 5:52 am
    Just presented my keynote at XMediaLab’s Amsterdam 2009 conference on public media - think PBS, CBC or BBC. Goals were presenting general strategy re protecting media investment; avoiding cannibalization, i.e.,  disruption not destruction of value; viewing lifestyle media as the new inclusive parent of entertainment media (as opposed to Big Media owning lifestyle media); and [...] Related posts:Looking for Ideas: A Media + Entertainment Perspective From today's keynote on "Looking for Ideas: a Media+Entertainment Perspective"...Big Ideas in New Zealand I've just arrived in Auckland,…

  • Must-View: Traditional vs Digital Journalism

    Adrian Sexton
    15 Nov 2009 | 3:49 pm
    A must-view from the Monaco Media Forum: Arianna Huffington from Huffington Post debating with Axel Spring AG CEO Mathias Dopfner, who runs one of the largest newspaper publishing companies in Europe. A very sophisticated debate on traditional publishing versus internet/aggregated or citizen journalism; plus, Arianna’s key quote on “traditional media versus digital media: ADD versus [...] Related posts:Future of Journalism, Huffington on Ads and Non-Profits Via Gerd Leonard's brilliant Media Futurist: Arianna Huffington talking to...The Future of Pay Walls With Rupert Murdoch's…
 
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    Sharp Innovation

  • Announcing "Got Invention Radio"

    Jeff Lindsay
    18 Nov 2009 | 11:05 am
    I've had the privilege of working with inventor, innovator, entrepreneur, and author Brian Fried on some of his patents. Very impressive inventor and businessman. I've watched with pride as he's worked to educate and inspire many inventors in New York and beyond. Now I'm delighted to share the news about a new radio program he is hosting to help innovators and inventors. Got Invention radio (see http://www.gotinvention.com) makes it debut this week. Here's an excerpt from a press release at BusinessWire:Inventor and Author Brian Fried Launches Nationally Broadcasted Live Radio Show “Got…

  • For Sharper Innovation, Focus Not on Ideas But on Unmet Needs

    Jeff Lindsay
    5 Nov 2009 | 6:29 am
    In response to a recent BusinessWeek article on generating creative ideas ("How to Produce Big Ideas on Demand"), one commenter, Larry McDonald, made a valuable albeit overstated observation about the problem with idea generation per se:Ideas are the kiss of death, sadly. The fastest way to fail is to have ideas, instead of looking for unmet needs. If you must have ideas, the most critical issue is what you choose to have ideas about. Picking the right subject to innovate around should be half the task. Once you know the target of opportunity, only then think of solutions. Ideas on their own…

  • The Dangers of Listening to Outsiders: The $1.26 Billion Dollar Judgment Against Pepsico

    Jeff Lindsay
    29 Oct 2009 | 8:39 am
    The press is focusing on the mistake of a busy secretary that led Pepsico to miss a court hearing, resulting in a $1.26 billion judgment against the company. Two men from my state of Wisconsin filed a suit claiming that Pepsico stole their trade secret idea for bottled water, obtained from them in a 1981 meeting, and then used that secret information to launch the profitable Aquafina bottled water business (over a decade later). The legal notice to Pepsico was accidentally ignored by a busy secretary rushing to prepare for a board meeting. With Pepsico a no-show in court, the judge gave a…

  • The Future of Business Method and Software Patents? Keep Your Eyes on the Bilski Case

    Jeff Lindsay
    6 Oct 2009 | 7:50 am
    The pending Supreme Court case of Bilski v. Kappos may do much to clarify the role of "business method" and software patents in the U.S. The In re Bilski case added some new hurdles (offering the machine or transformation test as the test for patentability, not the less demanding test from State Street Bank v. Signature Financial Group), and that decision is now being appealed before the Supreme Court. PatentlyO summarizes the briefs being filed in support of the US Government's position. In discussing the Government's brief, PatentlyO also observes that the Government is taking an…

  • BusinessWeek Names 23 Masters of Innovation (Surprising Default from Two Companies)

    Jeff Lindsay
    26 Sep 2009 | 6:50 pm
    BusinessWeek went to the twenty-five companies that topped its list of the most innovative (generally large) companies in the world, and asked them to nominate a leading innovator to be part of BusinessWeek's top 25 masters of innovation. None of these candidates carry the title of Chief Innovation Office. John Donovan of AT&T, for example, is the Chief Technology Officer, and a variety of other titles are represented. What I found especially interesting was the lack of a nominee from Wal-Mart and Reliance Industries of India. In both cases, I can imagine that there were so many high-level…
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    Innovation CHEF

  • Tweet map from Cork Dublin and Belfast tells stories of the week

    Chef
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:50 am
    Bit of regional variation today that tells the story of the week really.Belfast and Dublin have lots of tweets about Thierry HenryDublin mentions the floods but look at Cork Flooding emergency destroyed council mercy damaged cancelled Image from Trendsmap

  • Innovation training special offer

    Chef
    20 Nov 2009 | 2:44 am
    Special post!!!!Thinking about Innovation training? Great offer on Innovation training in DecemberKeep reading for the Special discount offer exclusive to InnovationChef… If you have been thinking about Innovation training it is probably for at least one of number of reasons Sharpen up your skills Sharpen up the CV Become more productive & creative Enhance your career Well this looks really talilored [...]

  • Got something Innovative happening in December?

    Chef
    20 Nov 2009 | 2:22 am
    If you have something related to Innovation, Creativity or entreprenuership happening in Ireland or something you want to shout about just let me know and I’ll put the semi regular list togethe Given the season coming doesn’t have to be too serious! Mythbusters Christmas Rube Goldberg machine Video @ Vidly.net

  • DIY Inventions the Chicken Plucker

    Chef
    19 Nov 2009 | 7:16 pm
    Saw this and was quite amazed really.You can apparently make your own!

  • Very Odd as Microsoft try to patent Sparklines

    Chef
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:21 pm
    What are sparklines? Sparklines come from the Edward Tufte book Beautiful Evidence. It’s a great book and well worth checking out. (I was recommended his book The Visual Display of Quantitative Information as an apprentice engineer and just loved it.) Sparklines are little data words. A small line graph to give context and meaning to the [...]
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    The EstiMate Software Blog

  • EstiMate Bundles Now Available

    Mark
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:29 am
    Want To Take The Hassle Out Of Selecting Plugins And Just Get Started? EstiMate is now available in bundles at slightly reduced prices.  We’ve put together six bundle packages that we believe will bring you what you need to get started right away with EstiMate and we’re offering them to you beginning today. The packages we have available are: The EstiMate Vinyl Quoting Bundle The EstiMate Digital Quoting Bundle The EstiMate “Whole 9 Yards” Quoting Bundle The EstiMate Vinyl Shop Management Bundle The EstiMate Digital Shop Management Bundle The EstiMate “Whole 9…

  • RateMate Hourly Rate Calculator Coming Soon for the iPhone

    Mark
    29 Oct 2009 | 10:37 am
    Lately I’ve been working on a new project, an hourly rate calculator for the iPhone.  RateMate is a port of our ProfitWatch software to the iPhone.  I think calculating the proper hourly rate is so important to small business that I hope this app will bring the concept to a wider audience. iPhone development has turned out to be a real blast — very solid tools with Xcode and Interface Builder, coupled with a solid iPhone emulator, made the only challenge the learning of the Cocoa environment. <Nerd Moment> Cocoa is a development environment wrapped around Objective-C,…

  • Flatbed Digital Print Pricing Plugin Now Available!

    Mark
    5 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am
    The new Flatbed Digital Printing plugin for EstiMate represents a great leap forward in pricing technology, not just for flatbed printing, but for EstiMate overall.  We’ve really put our all into this one and if you have a flatbed printer, and are using EstiMate, it’s an absolute no brainer to get this plugin.  If you’re not using EstiMate, this just may be the reason you should grab a trial and get started. This plugin has many powerful pricing features, as you can see in the following screenshots. Complicated Flatbed Print Pricing Made Simple This plugin, though similar…

  • Sandblasted Signs Pricing Plugin Now Available!

    Mark
    5 Oct 2009 | 5:30 am
    The new Sandblasted Signs Pricing Plugin is one that I’m really excited to release, from my old-school perspective.  This has been long asked for and many people will find it to be the perfect complement to the Vinyl and Painted signs plugin as far as pricing dimensional blasted signs. Quick and Easy Pricing Of Sandblasted Signs You’ll find this plugin to be extremely easy to use even though it has a lot of behind-the-scenes pricing math going on. First, you do the usual, selecting your blasting substrate (cedar, redwood, SignFoam)… and enter quantity, # of sides, width and…

  • EstiMate User Manual Now Available Online

    Mark
    29 Sep 2009 | 1:11 pm
    Great news! The EstiMate user manual can now be downloaded in PDF format. It can be downloaded from our support page or by clicking this link: Download the EstiMate User Manual PDF Enjoy!
 
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    Information Design Watch

  • Geography Awareness Week: November 15-21

    Lisa Agustin
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:37 am
    To kick off this year’s Geography Awareness Week, National Geographic invited all 100 U.S. Senators to draw a map of their home state from memory and to label at least three important places.  Visit the online gallery to see who was up to the challenge (pictured above: map of Wyoming by Sen. Michael Enzi (R)–who knew it was so square?). For more to do, also check out NG’s My Wonderful World, an online resource for promoting global literacy.  The site includes a number of map-based features, including  Google Earth geo-tours, a blog with a global perspective, and a survey…

  • Resume as Infographic

    Kirsten Robinson
    18 Nov 2009 | 5:55 am
    Designer Michael Anderson has created an infographic representation of his resume: View the full-size image.

  • The Sweet Spot Between Information and Design

    Kim Looney
    17 Nov 2009 | 2:16 pm
    Trying to explain what information design is to our families and friends, and yes, potential clients, has been an ongoing challenge for us here at Dynamic Diagrams. Verbally, I usually resort to something about creating visual explanations for complex sets of data. But that doesn’t really satisfy anyone. Venn Diagram Information is Beautiful recently took on the same question on their blog. Their visual approach tries to show–with a Venn diagram-in-progress–what information is; what design is; and what happens when these overlap. Not every product of the two entities is a…

  • Typography on TV

    Henry Woodbury
    17 Nov 2009 | 8:27 am
    The New York Times runs a breezy article on typography mistakes in popular culture which fortunately links to Mark Simonson’s incisive review of the typography in the television show “Mad Men”. Here’s an sample of Simonson’s critique: These lipstick ads feature Fenice (1980) with Balmoral (1978) for the script caps. Amazone (1958) for the script lowercase is fine here, but the outline looks too much like a modern computer graphics effect (which is what it is).

  • Maps: Fighting Disease and Skewing Borders

    Lisa Agustin
    9 Nov 2009 | 12:40 pm
    The Freakonomics blog features a short Q/A with Strange Maps creator Frank Jacobs.  His perspective on maps ranging from the beautiful to the bizarre is the subject of the new book Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities. Pictured above: The Inglehart-Welzel Cultural Map of the World, which plots “how countries relate to each other on a double axis of values.“
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    VizThink Blog

  • [Podcast] Visual Miscellaneum: An Interview with David McCandless

    VizThink
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am
    Earlier this week I got on the phone with David McCandless, author of The Visual Miscellaneum, his new book of visualizations of ‘the world’s most consequential trivia”. During the conversation we discussed how the idea for the book came about, his creative process and whole other host of topics. Perhaps the most interesting thing that I learned in the conversation is that a couple of years ago David wouldn’t have considered himself a designer – which, once you’ve seen some of his work, might convince even the biggest doubter in their own drawing…

  • VizLinks | Visual Thinking Bookmarks for November 19th

    VizThink
    19 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pm
    A collection of visual thinking links found on the web in the past few days by our editors & vizthink community contributers. Have a link suggestion? Tweet it or add it to delicious and be sure to tag it with vizthink. These are the links for November 19th: Google Image Swirl – A new Google tool for browsing images – do a search and play around with it… Choose Your Own Adventure – visualized & animated – Some great visual animations showing the flows of Choose Your Own Adventure books Related posts:VizLinks | Visual Thinking Bookmarks for November…

  • VizLinks | Visual Thinking Bookmarks for November 18th

    VizThink
    18 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pm
    A collection of visual thinking links found on the web in the past few days by our editors & vizthink community contributers. Have a link suggestion? Tweet it or add it to delicious and be sure to tag it with vizthink. These are the links for November 18th: Visualizing empires decline – An interesting little visualization that shows the growth and decline of a variety of empires from 1800 to 2003 NOTCOT.ORG – An interesting site to turn to when you're looking for inspiration & new ideas Amazon.com: The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World’s Most…

  • [Reminder] Visual Thinking for Writers is Next Week

    VizThink
    17 Nov 2009 | 7:30 am
    Just a friendly reminder that our next VizThinkU webinar, Visual Thinking for Writers is next Tuesday, November 24th @ 11am EST. If you’re looking for a way to get your brain unstuck and the words flowing onto paper (or screen) then this is the workshop for you – a self-described “writer who draws” Austin uses visual tools to help his creative process on a daily basis. I hope you’ll join us for this session – you can register here – and be sure to check the bottom of this post to learn how you can get your discount code to save $10. - Ryan — Visual Thinking for Writers…

  • VizLinks | Visual Thinking Bookmarks for November 17th

    VizThink
    17 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am
    A collection of visual thinking links found on the web in the past few days by our editors & vizthink community contributers. Have a link suggestion? Tweet it or add it to delicious and be sure to tag it with vizthink. These are the links for November 17th: http://apps.asterisq.com/mentionmap/#user-vizthink – An interesting tool that visually shows your twitter “mentions” – this link shows VizThink’s but you can enter your own to see the results Logos. The Battle for Blue. – A great info graphic showing the diversity (or lack thereof) of colours used in…
 
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    Adaptive Path

  • Signposts for the Week Ending November 20, 2009

    Adaptive Path
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:12 pm
    We missed last week, so we’re going double-or-nothing this time. Twice the goodness! Matt Jones’ chrono-mind-blast blows our circadians: We Have All The Time in the World Information visualizations the old skool way, featuring the genius work of Mark Lombardi. Hey look! A new Flickr-searching desktop app that can place photos and captions directly into Keynote. Here’s a new blog that’s a gallery of great RIA design. Next time you need to create a sitemap, see if you can make it look like a theme park map. And now, a unified approach to visual and interaction design.

  • The Wonderful World of Make Believe

    Alexa
    20 Nov 2009 | 2:32 pm
    Have you ever set out to “reimagine an experience,” only to find yourself feeling trapped? Have you had one of those days when all your ideas felt too much like existing ones? Perhaps your design decisions were rational and grounded, but just didn’t feel inspired. Or maybe you felt stuck because you were constrained by assumptions without realizing it. As a Left-Brained Person, I’ve certainly found myself there before. Fortunately, my brilliant colleagues, Kate Rutter and my former colleague Rachel Hinman, are always full of ways to help me, and others, snap out of it.

  • The Emerging Design Orthodoxy

    peterme
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:52 pm
    I finally got around to watching IDEO CEO Tim Brown’s TED Talk “urging designers to think big”. It’s a noble talk, but as I was watching it, I realized something bugged me. Many of the elements Tim proposes–moving from design to design thinking; balancing “desirability, viability, and feasibility”; to be “human-centered”; the approach of observing people, generating concepts, and prototyping experiences; to begin with divergent thinking before adopting convergent thinking–have become the accepted orthodoxy within circles that engage…

  • Food for thought from the “secret ingredients” for designing food & beverages

    Kate Rutter
    13 Nov 2009 | 8:28 am
    Steve Gundrum | UX Week 2009 | Adaptive Path from Adaptive Path on Vimeo. It’s becoming that season. You know, the season where food seems to take center stage. As the weather gets colder, comfort food, hot drinks and celebratory feasts appear on the horizon. When I think of food, I think of things like: yummy, fragrant, spicy, hearty. Or, fruits & veggies, meat & potatoes, Mom’s amazing spaghetti. Then I heard Steve Gundrum, CEO of Mattson speak at UX Week 2009 on “The Secret Ingredient” for Designing New Foods and Beverages. He told the insider tale about how the…

  • Selective Innovation with Matt Webb

    Andrew Crow
    11 Nov 2009 | 11:15 am
    Matt Webb | UX Week 2009 | Adaptive Path from Adaptive Path on Vimeo. This past UX Week brought some great speakers, including Matt Webb from BERG. We’re happy to share is fantastic talk about developing products and learning from mistakes. Matt shares the lessons that his company grappled with during the design and production of their first major product. Matt talks about how smart products bring their own design challenges. Internet-connected devices and plastic filled with electronics behave in unexpected ways: what does it means for a physical thing to side-load its behavior, or for a…
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    The Phoenix Principle

  • Management illusions - Brand management and MIT

    Adam Hartung
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:16 pm
    "The Illusion of Brand Control" is a great article at Harvard Business Publishing. Andrew McAfee, who is a research scientist at the MIT Sloan school Center for Digital Business, offers the insight that in today's market it's not possible for a business to "control" its brand.  "New media" like the internet and Facebook are bi-directional.  People no longer just absorb a crafted message, they are able to push back.  Bloggers and internet commenters can have more influence on a brand than traditional advertising and PR.  As a result, a business's brand becomes the result of what others say…

  • White Space for Electric Cars - Nissan, Chevrolet, Ford, Tesla

    Adam Hartung
    19 Nov 2009 | 11:19 am
    According to Marketing Daily "Electric Cars Set to Tiptoe Into Showrooms."  Nissan is supposed to introduce the Leaf.  Chevrolet,  Toyota and Ford are all supposed to begin offering a plug-in hybrid.  None have announced prices, but all indicate they intend to price them at the high end - more costly than a like-sized traditional gasoline powered automobile.  One reason for the higher price is that dealers normally expect to make 20% of a traditional vehicle's price in high-margin maintenance and repairs, and because these electrics won't provide that revenue and margin the manufacturers…

  • Scenario Planning - the U.S. Dollar implications

    Adam Hartung
    18 Nov 2009 | 4:56 pm
    Most Americans pay no attention at all to the value of the U.S. dollar.  As an island nation, and largely an importer of goods, all most Americans care about is how much something costs at the store.  Since the vast majority of Americans never set foot on foreign soil in any year, they just don't think about how many Euros or Yen you get for a dollar.But they should.  We now live in a global economy.  People in foreign countries have a direct impact on the lives of Americans every day.  And they watch the value of the dollar constantly.  Just look at outsourcing - the transfer of jobs…

  • Biting off your nose - News Corp. and Rupert Murdoch

    Adam Hartung
    13 Nov 2009 | 8:14 pm
    "Rupert Murdoch to remove News Corp's content from Google in months" is the London Telegraph headline.  Claiming that Google gets a "free ride" on the newspaper content, the News Corp. Chairman claims he can block Google from referring his content - and that the conclusion will be bad for Google because it will hurt the search engine's ability to add value.  He also expects that his newspaper and its website will do fine without Google, including doing fine without any Google-placed ads on the newspapers' web sites.Really.Ever heard the phrase "cutting off your nose to spite your face?" …

  • The Myth of Market Share - Motorola vs. Apple

    Adam Hartung
    12 Nov 2009 | 4:36 pm
    The Myth of Market Share by Richard Minitar is one of those little books, published in 2002 by Crown Business, that you probably never read - or even heard of (available on Amazon though).  And that's too bad, because without spending too many words the author does a great job of describing the non-correlation between market share and returns.  There are as many, or possibly more, companies with high profitability that don't lead in market share as ones that do.  Even though the famous BCG Growth/Share matrix led many leaders to believe share was the key to business success.  Another…
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    FOLDEN.INFO eMedia News

  • Online Client for both Facebook and Twitter

    FOLDEN.INFO
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:22 pm
    Mashable reports about Brizzly being available to all now after a closed beta phase. Brizzly is an online client for both Facebook and Twitter enabling reading and posting messages. The video below shows how it looks and works and some of its features. For instance images and videos may be watched within the app, direct [...]

  • Online Business Cards with Social Media Aggregation

    FOLDEN.INFO
    20 Nov 2009 | 2:15 pm
    Magntize is offering a way to be presented on the web with updates from social networks and a real virtual business card. The service integrates updates from social networks, enables to link to important sources and display contact details. These contact details are standardized by the vCard Standard to be downloaded and integrated into address books [...]

  • Twitter Image and Video Sharing Apps

    FOLDEN.INFO
    18 Nov 2009 | 2:46 pm
    Yfrog is an image and video sharing application for Twitter like the already reviewed Twitmatic and TwidVid apps and Vidly or the broadcasting tool twitcam. The Yfrog app enables to upload media, to share media by linking from the web and webcam video. Too, people got profiles with their listed media. Remarkably Yfrog is mentioned as [...]

  • Backup your Social Media Data

    FOLDEN.INFO
    17 Nov 2009 | 1:03 pm
    Backupify is a new backup service solving the problem of information being disseminated across various services on the internet. The service is able to backup data located at some of the most important social media services and online office tools. For other services serving other online services and social media sites have a look at [...]

  • Chat with a Stranger

    FOLDEN.INFO
    17 Nov 2009 | 12:24 pm
    Nearly everything today is about finding people with similar interests and this is ok. But getting another point of view or just to talk to someone to relax is a great experience, too. This is what iMeetzu offers. The service connects people by an online chat application, who want to talk to someone else. Too, there [...]
 
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    xBlog: The visual thinking weblog

  • New project: The Carbon Economy

    Bill
    5 Nov 2009 | 7:16 am
    For the second time in recent months XPLANE has partnered with The Economist to create a compelling video on a topic of global importance. After working together on “Did You Know? 4.0”, The Economist enlisted XPLANE’s visual communication expertise to develop “The Carbon Economy” about the growing importance of climate change and green technologies and solutions. “The Carbon Economy” will be shown at The Economist’s upcoming Carbon Economy Summit on November 17 and 18, 2009 in Washington, D.C. The video is three minutes in length and includes simple visuals and a moving…

  • David Allen releases The Ultimate GTD Workflow Map, designed by XPLANE

    Bill
    8 Oct 2009 | 7:55 am
    The David Allen Company: “If you ever feel like you need to get more in control or regain your focus, here is the ultimate guide for getting and staying on your game. The set of productivity best practices which David Allen has researched and synthesized over the last three decades are brought all together into one stunning visual display — the GTD Workflow Map. It’s a rich compilation of the key steps for gathering, clarifying, organizing, and reviewing everything you need to track and manage, as well as an explanation of all of the factors that you must take into account…

  • 14 Best Online Typography Tools for Web Designers

    Bill
    28 Sep 2009 | 7:12 am
    Style, convert units, search, identify, preview, etc. Lots of resources for working with type on the web: Since typography is one of the most challenging and important aspects of web design, it’s important to have useful tools that can make things easier. Here’s a list of tools that will be a big help in making your typography beautiful, and you won’t even have to leave your browser.

  • Vintage Infographics From the 1930s

    Bill
    21 Sep 2009 | 10:53 am
    Designers everywhere are suddenly drooling over this 70-year-old book. Including me. Someone needs to get me a paper copy of Willard Cope Brinton’s Graphic Presentation (1939), because it is awesome. Brinton discusses various forms of graphic presentation in the 524-page book and what works and what doesn’t. There’s also some good stuff in there about how to make your graphs, charts, maps, etc (by hand). The most interesting part is that many of the graphics — despite having no computers in 1939 — look a lot like what we have today. Albeit, they’re a little…

  • Did You Know 4.0

    Bill
    15 Sep 2009 | 9:41 am
    XPLANE is happy to present Did You Know 4.0 — another official update to the original “Shift Happens” video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology, and was developed in partnership with The Economist. As Garr Reynolds mentions over at Presentation Zen this morning, yes, this project was created with “off-the-shelf slideware” (Keynote and GarageBand, actually, along with Photoshop and Illustrator). Content by XPLANE, The Economist, Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Laura…
 
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    Holiday Matinee

  • Hello San Francisco

    dave
    20 Nov 2009 | 4:09 pm
    I love the Bay Area, there’s an energy here that makes me feel alive and excited. This Saturday and Sunday, I’ll be debuting “Creativity On Wheels“, a new project that delivers a single nugget of creative inspiration to anyone that stops by our booth at Thread. I’m totally humbled because we’ve received such amazing support for this project. As an entrepreneur, this support truly motivates me on our mission to spread creativity to the masses. So here’s to you for bringing people together for the creative good. You help put the unity in community and…

  • Gift Guide: When shopping turns to giving

    dave
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:47 pm
    For the past three months I’ve been living in my TOMS Shoes. It’s impossible to deny this company knows how to do business. So this holiday season, instead of buying gifts where the transaction ends at the point of purchase, give a gift that pays it forward. TOMS offers a ton of styles and you’ll love meeting other TOMS-wearing people. It’s sort of like the Prius-driving cult but better.

  • The Messenger: a great new film about a job I would never want

    dave
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:10 pm
    The Messenger is a new film written and directed by Oren Moverman, a former Israeli paratrooper and writer of one of my favorite books, Jesus’ Son. It stars Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson as  casualty notification officers and follows them in their day to day routine of telling families that their loved ones have passed. That’s a job I definitely wouldn’t want to have but incredibly interested in seeing pulled off on the big screen. It’s a very powerful film that will be screening in San Diego this Friday and Saturday. For the love of good cinema, I urge you to see…

  • A trunk show turned fundraiser

    dave
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:58 pm
    It’s good to see independent designers and artists coming together more often at trunk shows. Not only are prices lower and you get to meet the people responsible for some of the best fashion and art today but it saves us from going to the mall, and in my book, that’s a damn good thing. This Sunday, San Diego will play host to the 1+1 Trunk show. Over 30 vendors will be showcasing their latest works including recycled handbags made from jeans by Dear Cora. I’ve seen them in person and they’re awesome. Best part, the event is a fundraiser for a local, alternative…

  • Gift Guide: WTF Snowglobe

    dave
    20 Nov 2009 | 8:38 am
    WTF…Pretty much what you’re thinking every time you see a snow globe. Problem is, you secretly love those magical, glittery snow filled domes, but what would people think? We’ve got ya covered. This globe has a snarky sculpture inside, sure to get your sentiments across before anyone passes judgment on your choice of home or desk furnishing.
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    Work In Colour

  • Why three solutions are better than one.

    17 Nov 2009 | 9:38 pm
    It's a great technique: Whenever you have a problem to solve, or need to come up with a fresh idea, challenge yourself to come up with at least three ideas, not just one. Or if you are a team leader, challenge your team to find three ways of doing something, not just settling for their first plan.

  • Taking Mini-breaks to Recharge your Creative Juices

    11 Nov 2009 | 1:21 pm
    I am busy at the moment, really busy. (Actually, REALLY REALLY busy is more like it...) So I devoured with immediate interest the Harvard blog post by Gina Trapani on preventing burnout by taking a year-long creative sabbatical. My immediate reaction was 'Great idea, but maybe next lifetime'.

  • An Australian Innovation Story

    3 Nov 2009 | 5:39 pm
    Many people have a perception that innovation is about complex research and scientific laboratory work, years of burning the midnight oil and developing a mad scientist persona. Maybe sometimes that's true, but there are plenty of good Aussie stories of 'ordinary' men and women who saw a problem and came up with a (generally very simple) new and better way to solve it.

  • How Following Rules Can Inhibit Creative Thinking

    27 Oct 2009 | 3:18 pm
    Yesterday I went to my first networking lunch with the Athena Network, and excellent fun it was, too. The week before, I was emailed a template so I could prepare a one-minute pitch about my work, and being a good girl, I followed it. (You know the thing, 10 seconds on your name, 30 seconds on what you do, a quick call to action then repeat your name.)

  • Is Your Creative Work Good Enough?

    19 Oct 2009 | 3:04 pm
    Last month I painted our backyard. (OK, if truth be told, I hired some guys to paint our backyard...) Choosing the colour was tricky and I'd put the whole thing off twice because I couldn't decide. Finally I found it, a washed-out pale verdigris, aqua, dirty green colour. All was well. Except that on the wall it turned into a very strange neon baby blue...
 
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    Frogblog.biz

  • Being and Entrepreneurship

    Fred H. Schlegel
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:40 am
    “Organizations tend to evolve in ways that are inherently resistant to entrepreneurship. Yet Entrepreneurship is instrumental for ensuring the long-term sustainability of any enterprise.” (Properties of balance: A pendulum effect in corporate entrepreneurship, Michael H. Morris, Jurie van Vuuren, Jeffrey R. Cornwall, Retha Scheepers) Whether you call it corporate entrepreneurship or individual creativity, it is difficult to drive behavior that challenges the status quo, questions existing procedures, or increases personal risk. “More fundamentally, fostering corporate entrepreneurship…

  • Creative Launch Pad | The Little House

    Fred H. Schlegel
    13 Nov 2009 | 7:15 am
    Last outpost before the alley, The Little House was a center of creative life (or shall we call it play here, I sometimes can’t distinguish) for me and much of the old neighborhood. It was simply a great place to launch our many adventures. It was a safe place to launch. Funny how lessons from childhood get learned so well you forget there was a time before you knew them. My dad did the building back in 1966 based on a simple plan found in the always inspiring Better Homes and Gardens. A kid size A-Frame with porch, ‘bay’ window, screens and furniture. Even as a youngster I was…

  • The Increasing Cost Of Bad Behavior On Innovation

    Fred H. Schlegel
    3 Nov 2009 | 1:04 pm
    The cost of innovation is increasing due to bad behavior. This ran through my mind as I learned that the great bicycle experiment in Paris has hit an expensive traffic bump (NYT 10/30/2009). The idea of being able to rent a bike for an hour or two and drop it off, not where you started but wherever you end up, seemed perfect for our new green and healthy mindset. But as with many ideas that make life better, affordable implementation depends on general ‘good behavior’. Expected behavior has a large impact on how you develop an idea. Dr. Leonard Kleinrock, who was a major force in the…

  • Creativity Is Messy | Creatives Can Be Cranky

    Fred H. Schlegel
    30 Oct 2009 | 5:17 am
    In St. Louis I’m told the tradition for trick-or-treaters is to tell a joke before receiving their candy. That sounds fun. Although a while back when I demanded a joke around here things didn’t end well. I was surprised one year when my kids decided the perfect bag for stashing their loot was a king size pillow case. Heavy, but holds up to rain, sleet and snow. Cardboard Creativity in action. Halloween seems to refresh the creative spirit, whether its a cool costume, uncool prank or simply a discussion of how electronic chip implants may replace candy someday soon. Fear is a…

  • Death To Hard Drives

    Fred H. Schlegel
    23 Oct 2009 | 11:11 am
    If you manufacture hard drives the end is in sight. I do not say this because I lost my third drive in six months yesterday. (Ok, I admit it. Maybe there is a connection. I might be a tad irritated. Death to hard drive manufacturers!) The traditional hard drive is under siege. Gadgets are transitioning away fast and cutting edge laptops are giving up on them entirely. A previous disruption in the hard drive industry came with the transition from ‘large’ drive technology to ‘small’ portable drive technology. Brands collapsed. Companies changed hands.  (Famously discussed in Clayton…
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    Creativity_Unbound

  • Should you crowdsource even if you’re only gonna get crap?

    edward boches
    18 Nov 2009 | 6:27 pm
    “We’re gonna get crap. I don’t want crap associated with a brand I work on.”  That was the reaction I got this morning from one creative director after proposing to an agency’s management team that they should crowdsource a version of everything they create. I wasn’t recommending a contest or declaring that some random consumer might generate a bigger idea or better execution than the agency, though that’s always a possibility.  Instead I was simply suggesting that one of the best ways to extend an idea or campaign was to invite everyone out there to create their own version…

  • I don’t talk to clients about social media anymore

    edward boches
    16 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am
    Maybe it’s time to stop talking to your clients about social media completely. After all social media is not an objective in and of itself. It’s merely a means and a tool to create deeper and more valuable relationships with customers and prospects. What should you be talking about then?  Here are five subjects that might be more compelling.  Rather than asking a client if they want to be in social media, ask one of these questions. Want to improve your organic search results? Start the conversation here. Everyone wants presence on the first page of Google’s search results. And if you…

  • Where do you want to be touched?

    edward boches
    12 Nov 2009 | 4:20 pm
    You could answer that question in words. But it might be far more interesting to see your answer in a picture. Even more interesting to see a picture that aggregated thousands of people’s answers. And even more interesting than that to see if where you want to be touched is the same place that someone wants to touch you. (Note, women want to touch and be touched on the back of the neck; men don’t really focus on that particular body part.) All of which you can experience on fleshmap.com, a site that represents just some of the work being done by data visualization master Martin…

  • Are creative marketing types a dying breed?

    Guest Post
    11 Nov 2009 | 3:18 pm
    This is a guest post by Brian Halligan. Over the last few months I’ve had the privilege of getting to know Brian, the co-founder and CEO of HubSpot, author of “Inbound Marketing:  Get Found in Google, Blogs, and Social Media,” and an EIR at MIT. You might think that a “Modern MadMen,” as Brian refers to me, and an inbound marketer might not have a lot in common.  But in fact we do.  We share an understanding of how much has changed and just what it takes to market in the new age.  Enjoy. Are creative marketing types a dying breed? By Brian Halligan I have been thinking about my…

  • Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce: are you inspired?

    edward boches
    10 Nov 2009 | 6:28 pm
    If you watched Mad Men’s finale the other night, and have even an ounce of entrepreneurial blood running through your veins, your heart had to start pumping a little faster with thoughts of being in that hotel room at the Pierre, ready to start something new. Nothing is more exciting than the launch of a new venture. Of course in those days, it took money; the Madison Ave boys (and girls) estimated they needed $30 million in billings to start the new Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce. Fear and the risk of failure come cheap. But office space, Xerox machines, furniture, and phone lines all…
 
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    Ideas Exist | a blog of great and original ideas

  • Idea #13: GPS alarm

    Dunchead
    15 Nov 2009 | 4:25 am
    Despite invoking feelings of utter despair in billions of people every morning, alarms are admittedly fairly useful. If you’re like me, you not only use them for getting you out of bed, you use them for reminding you to do stuff. Fine. That’s fine. Yet another brain function replaced by technology. But I suppose the Neolithic days when the brain was invented weren’t filled with business meetings… …I mean, that’s what everyone uses reminders for, right? Appointments, business meetings? Err… No. I don’t. Normally, for me it’s more like this:…

  • Idea #12: Crowdsource band bookings

    Dunchead
    3 Nov 2009 | 7:36 am
    The 20th century music industry continues to perform one of the most dramatic death scenes ever witnessed. For years it has been stumbling around like a wounded bull in an empty record shop, occasionally charging outside to gore a passerby caught Napstering – for instance, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, mother-of-four (shared 24 songs, fined $1.92 million). The Death of the Record Industry Ok, so CD sales might be finished, but what about concerts? They’re still going to happen. In fact, live events are probably going to rise in value, because they provide a unique experience that…

  • Idea #11: Augmented reality Facebook recognition

    Dunchead
    19 Oct 2009 | 10:11 am
    While you read, why not listen to this classic tune: You may or may not have noticed, but the present is beginning to move so fast it’s starting to catch up with the future. One consequence of this warping of space-time is that the virtual world is beginning to merge with the real one in an increasingly tangible way. This new stage in the relationship between the two worlds we live in has got a name: augmented reality. Augmented reality applications such as Wikitude and the recently released Layar are available for Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android. When you to point the…

  • Idea #10: Advertise on money

    Dunchead
    2 Oct 2009 | 2:10 am
    If you found out about this page from a banknote, please leave a comment saying where you got the note and what you were buying. To celebrate the milestone of reaching Idea #10, I’ve had a team of global allies in this enemyless war of ideas advertise the post on banknotes with the denomination of 10: From Sunny Scotland; released in St. Andrews From my motherland; released in Surrey The exception that proves the rule; released somewhere in Holland (it's not that big) Is this risky? Released in Shanghai anyway (We’re still awaiting a picture of the US offering, although it…

  • Idea #9.5: Remote graffiti

    Dunchead
    22 Sep 2009 | 3:03 am
    Welcome to Idea #9.5. I’ve got something special planned for Idea #10, which relies on co-ordinating some allied forces from abroad. Until they are successfully assembled, I’m going to give you an idea that’s been emblazoned across my mental brickwall for the past few days: remote graffiti. In my work for Springwise.com, two of the most interesting trends that keep bubbling to the surface are mass customisation and (what I’ll call) remote participation. Mass customisation - the trend that sees consumers customising their environment and products en masse – has…
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