The Open Innovation Bridge

Personal networking across organizational and enterprise boundaries enables open innovation to flourish.

Best Open Innovators

Nominate companies that innovate across and beyond traditional enterprise boundaries to the Open 100. ...

... "The Open 100 competition was born out of NESTA’s search for the world’s top 100 open innovation companies. Now we are opening it up to the public to find who the best open innovators really are. " ...

Via OpenBusiness: The Open 100

Front End Innovation Needs a Back End

The front end of innovation needs a effective back end system to nurture ideas, manage research projects, and commercialize the best market opportunities. ...

... "Without the back end of innovation - the capacity to effectively screen ideas, align them with strategy, allocate resources to them and manage them successfully ... " ...

Via Blogging Innovation: Ideas

Resourcing Teams for Innovation

Building good innovation teams requires some insight into the behavior profiles of the potential resources, so that a balance of forces is created. A lack of balance could be a detriment to your desired success. ...

... "Some people are very action oriented and driven, and their opposite is more of a planner and conceptualizer. Putting these two types of people together can help create great ideas and plans and get them to market quickly. " ...

Via InnovationTools: Innovation Teams

IT Cares

So I heard. ...

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But, this caring form of emerging technology is fashionable. ...

... "ITcares: Intelligent Textile for CArdio REspiratory Sensing. The textile sensor patches are placed on positions of the T-Shirt’s inside which have been found to be most immune to the movement of the torso which will minimizing the artifacts, wrong readings of the sensor. " ...

Via talk2myShirt: Smart textiles monitor patients

Innovation through Adaptation

Lego adapts its product strategy with Hollywood themes and shifts the workforce culture, meeting with market success. There is a line of thought that theme-based toys will curtail the creativity of children by imposing Hollywood's definition of play. But even kids adapt their strategies. From observations of my kids and their friends, Lego sets are mashed up and integrated in new ways that their creators have not imagined. ...

... "Even toy analysts who admire the company and its recent success acknowledge a broad shift. I would like to see more open-ended play like when we were kids, says Gerrick Johnson, a toy analyst ... " ...

Via New York Times: Hollywood Tie-Ins for Lego

Innovation Strategies Need Targeted Focus

Innovation strategies and their associated projects leverage internal strengths and target areas of high impact. Identification of markets and customers helps bring focus to the desired product. And, fewer, smarter portfolio choices bring more resources to bear on the innovation challenges. ...

... "If companies seek to innovate sustainably over time, they need to understand who they focus on, what they should make, and how they actually conceive and develop new products and services. " ...

Via Fast Company: Innovation Strategy

Innovative Projects Recognized

Textron Chairman and CEO publicly recognizes its top innovators annually. ...

... "Three very different solutions. What they have all have in common is innovation by Textron employees. They were among the 13 projects honored last month with Chairman’s Awards for Innovation by Chairman and CEO Lewis B. Campbell at the Roger Williams Park Casino in Providence. This was the ninth year of the awards. " ...

Via Textron: Chairman’s Award

Crowdsource Approach to Projects

Open Innovation through Contests

Have a problem? Post a bounty. Use an open innovation model to cost-effectively source solutions. ...

... "Organizations have found contests to be a cost-effective method that allows them to tap into the vast intellectual resources outside their walls. " ...

Via San Francisco Chronicle: Drive innovation

Crowdsource Collaboration Breaks Barrier

BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos breaks the Netflix barrier through collaboration model. ...

... "Today our team submitted our solution to the Netflix Prize, resulting in a score of .8558, which corresponds to an improvement over Netflix Cinematch algorithm of 10.05%. This is the first submission in the competition to break the 10% barrier and sets off a 30 day period where all competitors are invited to submit their best and final solutions. " ...

Link

Make Business Case for Strategics

Load up your project portfolio with operational efficiency projects that deliver tangible returns. Always add a few strategic investments that speak directly to enabling important business strategies, where IT can support innovative business models or a differentiated position in the marketplace. Prove to the CFO that you understand the business. ...

... "If an IT project is neither simple nor fast, it may still get funding if you can show how it supports the enterprise’s top strategic goals. Use financial measures to make your case. " ...

Via SMART ENTERPRISE: Convince the CFO

Innovation Self Assessment

Take the test, if you dare. ...

... "How do you really know if you are an innovator? Is it based on the number of patents you hold? " ...

Via Innovation in Practice: YOU an Innovator?

Shampoo or Conditioner, Which is Better

Life is full of dilemmas. And, that's a good thing. Be prepared to achieve the appropriate balance in your innovation portfolio. Try a few scenario plans for good measure. And, get comfortable when these natural tensions present themselves. ...

... "A common mistake is to reduce innovation because you do not have enough R&D resources to develop the ideas. The irony of this dilemma is that you can actually accelerate development by spending more time on ideating. " ...

Via Innovation in Practice: Dilemmas

Reframe for Resources

Stanford author and leader, Tina Seelig, teaches students at STVP how to reframe their problems and leverage scarce resources to innovate. ...

... "They often involve identifying other people who can help, leveraging work that has been done before, or combining ideas in new and interesting ways. " ...

Via OPEN Forum by American Express: Make Your Place

Quantify Innovation Impact

GE launches healthcare strategy that requires innovative solutions to succeed. It expects to develop and deliver a portfolio of innovation projects in order to achieve the industry impact that it is targeting - cost, quality, accessibility, etc. The company will use external services to validate that its innovation projects really do "move the rock" in the healthcare space. ...

... "To date, Oxford Analytica has qualified seven GE products that yield 15 percent improvement in cost, access and quality, with 20 more in the pipeline. GE’s goal is to qualify 100 healthymagination innovations by 2015. " ...

Via GE: Healthymagination

Portfolio metrics ...

Oxford Analytica involvement in GE Healthymagination: "Oxford Analytica will now focus on this second stage, performance measurement, by reviewing GE's portfolio of innovations to determine whether they meet healthymagination standards and contribute to the declared objectives. "

Proof of Concept

University proof of concept centers are seeing success from mentoring and collaborating on the commercialization of emerging technology projects. ...

... "Results thus far suggest that the proof of concept center is a good model. By early 2008, the two centers combined had given out nearly $10 million in grants, producing twenty-six spinout companies that raised an additional $159 million in private investment. And the process is useful even when it demonstrates that a research idea will not be viable. " ...

Via The Kauffman Foundation: Proof of Concept Centers

Ideal Team to Innovate

New job posting ... Wanted: subversive individual for newly forming project team - knows how to get things done through the informal organizational network. You may need to fill some unusual roles to staff your ideal innovation team. ...

... "These people have an immense passion for the business and know how to work behind the scenes to get things done. They are champions, rule breakers, operatives ... " ...

Via Innovation in Practice: The Dream Team

The Accidental CEO

Twitter-ific unfinished autobiography ...

... "In 1999, I started Pyra Labs with a friend, Meg Hourihan, to develop project management programs. Then we started a side project called Blogger ... " ...

Via NY Times: EVAN WILLIAMS

Personal Innovation Preserves Creativity

New CIO to Drive Innovation

You can read the new CIO job description in the link. This appointment should work to revitalize the IT function in government, where significant opportunity to innovate remains untapped. ...

... "Obama: I have directed him to work to ensure that we are using the spirit of American innovation and the power of technology to improve performance and lower the cost of government operations. As Chief Information Officer, he will play a key role in making sure our government is running in the most secure, open, and efficient way possible. " ...

Via The White House: Vivek Kundra Chief Information Officer

A video clip from 2008 ...

Forecasting Innovation

While innovation isn't quite deterministic, you can reverse engineer the size of an innovation portfolio across the various stage-gates necessary to sustain future revenue from new products. This should provide you with insight on the number of new ideas that need to be generated or the number of product trials needed. Visibility into the innovation portfolio and your historical performance is valuable information for managing business success. ...

... "Break these annual revenue targets down over a mix of products, new and existing, in each year. Some firms call this a revenue cascade or revenue waterfall. " ...

Via Innovation in Practice: Mapping Innovation

Bootleggers

Google and 3M leverage the creative use of a portion of the workforce's time to dream up new products or improve upon existing ones. ...

... "3M's bootlegging rule allows research engineers to spend up to 15% of their time on projects of their choice. " ...

Via Computerworld: The 20% solution

Goal Setting

Setting your annual goals and objectives? Consider fail fast, fail cheap. Is failure your goal? Go ahead. Take some risk. ...

... "It's not stupid to have a stated goal of starting several ventures that will fail, or asking three stupid questions a week ... " ...

Via Seth Godin: The goals you never hear

Work Breakdown Structure for Innovation

Here's a WBS for creative work. ...

... "It is a rather complex tool/technique, but it is very effective in breaking down a very complex problem and getting manageable work packages out of the other end. " ...

Via Think For A Change: Creativity

Innovation Projects

While we are confronting the strongest headwinds since the Great Depression, leave room in your shrinking project portfolio for innovation and growth investments. It is understandable that operational efficiency and financial stability will move to the forefront and the portfolio balance will shift. There are innovation and project investment lessons to be learned from similar times. ...

... "Neoprene, which DuPont publicly announced in November 1931 and introduced commercially in 1937, became one of the 20th century’s major innovations. By 1939, every automobile and airplane manufactured in the United States had neoprene components. " ...

Via McKinsey Quarterly: Innovating during the Great Depression

Idea Greenhouse with Community Prioritization

Here's interesting model for incorporating customer input into product development and allowing the community to drive priorities. ...

... "Daptiv is now making the Greenhouse available to its entire customer base of more than 100,000 users. The beta allowed Daptiv to fine-tune the forum and gauge initial customer reactions, which have been overwhelmingly positive. As the rest of the Daptiv community contributes to the Greenhouse forum, Daptiv anticipates that time-to-innovation will decrease as product innovation is prioritized by customer need and features are expediently introduced through seasonal product updates. " ...

Via Daptiv: Customer Participation in Product Innovation

Global Teams Interact through Reaction

Fun exercise builds collaboration and innovation across globally distributed teams ... a nice ice-breaker if you are starting up a global project. ...


IDEO Global Chain Reaction from IDEO Labs on Vimeo.

IT Vendor Green Ranking

ABI Research did nice job with this green vendor ranking, looking for the vendors to "eat their own dog food" by implementing sustainable practices internally as well as offering green products as services. HP edges out the competition, but it is good to see the large vendors making strong moves in this area. ...

... "Hewlett-Packard emerged as the winner in ABI Research’s Innovation category, which measures how green a vendor’s products are. It was a very close contest because of the extensive efforts both IBM and Cisco have been making in this market. " ...

Via ABI Research: The Greenness of Data Center Equipment Vendors

Organizing for Innovation

Here's an organizational model and mindset for innovation, which has produced results over the years. ...

... "Unbounded thinking is encouraged, failure is not punished, and thinking big is the norm, but at the same time there's an emphasis on producing a result. Program managers are selected for their technical excellence, their entrepreneurial spirit ... " ...

Via Baseline: DARPA Continue

Idea Management Software

Here's an opportunity to participate in innovation software trial. ...

... "interested in working with our Incubator software which we will release this week (July 21, 2008) as a beta trial. " ...

Via Innovate on Purpose: Idea Management Software Beta Trial

Innovation Future at HP Labs

A look inside HP Labs ...

Print without Ink

Innovative approach to mobile printing ...

... "The PoGo, which stands for Polaroid-on-the-Go, is an inkless printer that churns out 2×3-inch photos sent to it via Bluetooth devices like cellphones or from plugged-in digital cameras. " ...

Via AllThingsDigital: Polaroid Magic

Packaging ReThink

Packaging redesign increases energy efficiency, operational efficiency and asset utilization with some degradation in customer usability. Stores offer change management to customers in order to ease the transition. Expect more of these changes as the new reality of energy and fuel costs drives industry actions. ...

... "The company estimates this kind of shipping has cut labor by half and water use by 60 to 70 percent. More gallons fit on a truck and in Sam's Club coolers, and no empty crates need to be picked up, reducing trips to each Sam's Club store to two a week, from five - a big fuel savings. " ...

Via NYTimes: Green Milk Jug

Connect to Innovate

Look for fresh combinations of the existing to create the next innovative idea. ...

... "If you are committed to coming up with a BREAKTHROUGH IDEA, start looking for new connections between the stuff that's all around you. " ...

Via The Heart of Innovation: Idea Lottery

Measuring Innovation

Should we strive to measure innovation? Some high-level measures may be worthwhile to understand the pulse and/or health of innovation. Here are some suggestions for metrics. ...

... "The BCG report recommends that you select a small number of metrics appropriate for your business and have some for inputs, process and outputs. " ...

Via BQF Innovation: Metrics

Innovation at its Finest

Highlight video from All Things Digital Conference with great work by Dean Kamen and Deka Research ...

Pilot Project Evaluates Technology Benefits in Retail Perishables

European retailer, Metro Group, collaborates with Avery-Dennison to pilot RFID technology in enabling smarter processes in managing perishable meat products. Pilot projects are a good way to get some experience, without making a significant initial investment. It is good practice to have a portfolio of pilot projects testing innovative solutions to business problems and to get comfortable with assessing the readiness of technologies for further implementation, shelving, or outright cancellation. ...

... "The AD-222 inlay will be used to tag the foam meat packing trays used in METRO's real, Future Store. The meat tagging application will help METRO better manage the flow of its perishable products, cut down on cost and save time on restocking. " ...

Via Avery Dennison: Metro Pilot Project

Long Term View Leads to Success

Takeaways from Lafley interview ...

... "Companies need to take the long view. Lafley said he finds it hard to watch CNBC for more than 7 minutes because the focus is so short-term. " ...

Via Innosight: Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley

The Networked Organization

Future models of design, manufacturing, and distribution are considered and mapped, such as the concept of a networked organization that leverages outside-in perspectives. ...

... "Seeking an outside-in perspective on internal challenges may require long-held processes to be rethought, from the design cycle to R&D budgets to intellectual property strategies. Once open to the idea of a networked organization, it's relatively easy to identify and engage with external networks of exceptional people through community R&D platforms such as Instructables, InnoCentive, and NineSigma. " ...

Via Institute for the Future: Future of Making is Mapped (PDF)

Constraints Drive Innovation

Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, gives his take of business innovation, which he believes it driven by constraints that forces us to create new ways to approach the situation. ...

... "I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out. " ...

Via Business Week: Jeff Bezos

Dried Goat Sandwich

UK hits the wall on IT innovation and starts packing a new lunch. ...

... "For a sector supposedly driven by innovation, times are tougher than a dried goat sandwich. " ...

Via Computing UK: Lack of innovation

IBM Researches Green Computing Methods

Creative approach to cpu cooling is being explored by IBM researchers. ...

... "Michel see advantages in running them at the current level of 200F. He thinks of the chips as little furnaces from which heat can be removed and reused - by piping it off-site to warm houses or businesses. " ...

Via Business Week: Chilling Biochemistry

Creativity Ideas

100 ideas to spur your creativity ...

... "25. Take regular daydreaming breaks.

26. Dissolve turf boundaries.

27. Initiate cross-functional brainstorming sessions. " ...

Via The Heart of Innovation: Be More Creative

Collaboration Services

IBM offers a set of services to help an enterprise take advantage of collaboration through social networking. The services include support of the adoption of these technologies to create value through expertise location and leverage. ...

... "Adoption - helps introduce collaborative and social networking technologies to an organization through online collaborative events such as company-wide collaborative events (based on IBM's Innovation Jams) or smaller departmental events. Provides social networking analysis, identifying patterns of interaction and the key topic experts and enablers within the organization. " ...

Via IBM: Services for Collaboration

Innovation ROI

Philips CEO sees innovation as disciplined and process-oriented. He also expects a project ROI for innovation investments and a strong connection to profitability. Creativity is allowed within the boudaries. ...

... "Every innovation project should have a return on investment, an internal rate of return, a net present value. And, you need to hardwire it and keep yourself honest, because at the end of the day, it's about generating returns. " ...

Via Knowledge@Wharton: Philips Lighting CEO

Grow Ideas into Projects

Create a project incubator. Sprinkle some funding on your seeds and see which ones grow. Prune your plants. And, water your best prospects to grow the strongest trees. Read on for tips on incubating ideas into projects. ...

... "Pruning the project incubator is an especially important aspect of developing ideas. Ideas change over time, and some even turn out to be duds. " ...

Via LifeDev: Grow Your Ideas

Software Innovation Time

Software engineer discusses Google's concept of twenty percent time. ...

Innovation Culture of Unstructured Structure

Ideas on champion-ing sustainable innovation, include creating a burning platform to catalyze and help your people embrace the new culture. ...

... "Unfortunately, when the addiction to systems and structures rules the day, an organization's quest for a culture of innovation all too often degenerates into nothing much more than a cult of innovation. " ...

Via Idea Champions: INSIDE JOB

What is Disruptive Innovation?

... interesting definitions and discussion of the innovation topic. ...

Adoption Risks with Innovation Projects

Whether you are implementing a fundamental new innovation or providing a new way to do things, cultural adoption is a risk you can't overlook. Considering your change management strategy? Do you promote methods that drive addiction or use Frankenstein to your advantage? Read on for some insights. ...

... "Great innovations have foundered over human stubbornness. ... Resistance to technology is an omnipresent risk for every innovator. " ...

Via New York Times: Risk

Mindset then Tools

Good advice for influencing innovation in your enterprise. Do more of this to innovate: experiment, invest resources, create burning platforms, and understand your customers' problems. ...

... "Do not train your employees on creativity techniques or bring in innovation software until you have addressed your underlying cultural issues (the mindset). " ...

Via Steve Shapiro: Innovation Mindset, Not Tools

It's Magic: Challenge Those Assumptions

Andy Cohen shows us a few tricks that will aid in our ability to challenge assumptions to differentiate and innovate. ...

Sit Up and Ideate

Ever see that IBM commercial on ideating? Instead of laying down ... How about sitting up for some word-play. ...

Check out this idea generator

Too Much Methodology for Research Projects?

3M depends on new product development as its engine for growth and eases back on the throttle with Six Sigma methods for research processes. It may have over-emphasized disciplined methods in an area where structure can hinder creativity. ...

... "Under Six Sigma, the free-wheeling nature of brainstorming and the serendipitous side of discovery is stifled. Proponents contend such methodologies' rules keep researchers on track and accountable for producing. " ...

Via Design News: 3M R&D

Maverick Thinking from the History of Storage Systems

Historical perspective on the evolution of storage devices at IBM, where the maverick mindset was necessary to bring forth the innovation. ...

Networking for Project Innovation

Neat concept for creating portfolios of work and collaborating for innovation. ...

... "Join or create groups of creative professionals, gathered around interests, to share content and ideas. " ...

Via Behance: Network

Link Innovators for Happy Surprises

You can't force innovation. But, you can stack the deck in your favor. Link creative people together. Create a sense of purpose. Sprinkle in some data and information. Provide some funding. Step aside. Check back at stage-gates to see how things are progressing. ...

... "Creating a network of innovators who can identify trends and connect important dots across the business will create value on an even broader scale, and may bring some new insights and opportunities back into your team or function. " ...

Via Innovate on Purpose: Managing innovation

Idea Management

Here is an interesting tool for managing the ideation part of the innovation process and campaigning for ideas. It is offered as a monthly subscription service. ...

... "The ideas campaign is a simple process based on well established creative problem solving (CPS) methodology. " ...

Via jpb: Idea campaigns

Virtual Innovation Event Upcoming

Virtual conference is planned for November 7 to 9. ...

... "Global Innovation Exchange 2007 is a groundbreaking event focused on sharing and diffusing innovation insights, strategies and next practices from around the world. This 100% virtual event provides the all the value of a face-to-face conference but in a highly innovative online format that saves you significant time and expense. " ...

Global Innovation Exchange 2007

Innovative China Business Models: Localized and Modular

Insights on ... creative business models in China that require innovation to compete effectively in their markets. ...

Update: There is a downside to this innovative growth ---> Lack of Sustainability.

... "This so-called localised modularisation approach has been very successful and delivered big cost reductions and quality improvements, says John Seely Brown ... " ...

Via Economist: China Innovation

More Innovation to Come

Jeff Bezos offers insights on the future ... parallels to the past ... says that there more innovation to come. ...

TOGAF Enterprise Architecture: A Framework

Documenting an enterprise architecture can be challenging, especially if the business environment is dynamic. The Open Group's TOGAF approach may be just the approach for providing the framework and structure for your IT strategy. ...

... "An enterprise architecture addresses this need, by providing a strategic context for the evolution of the IT system in response to the constantly changing needs of the business environment. Furthermore, a good enterprise architecture enables you to achieve the right balance between IT efficiency and business innovation. It allows individual business units to innovate safely in their pursuit of competitive advantage. " ...

Via The Open Group: TOGAF Version 8

The Innovation Investment

Innovation is not free. Research projects need funding. And, it costs money for the salaries of innovation evangelists. Fresh from PDMA event, Jeffrey offers insights on the diminishing returns of operational efficiency and the need to innovate in order to grow. ...

... "Without defining an objective and consistently reinforcing the efforts of a group of people who support and enable an innovation process, most firms simply won't generate a lot of new ideas. " ...

Via Innovate on Purpose: Cheap Innovation

PMO: Center of Project Excellence ?

Is a project management office a center of excellence?

Subject matter experts = project managers; Central repository for materials = project portfolio, schedules, business case forms, scope documents, etc.; Clearinghouse of standards = project methodology; Source of educational opportunities = project training, mentoring; Development and monitoring of metrics = project dashboard, roi and hurdle rates;

The answer is yes (I was hoping this was the case), using criteria discussed in reference post. ...

... "The fact is, Centers of Excellence are most often unique to the organization or business unit that creates them. However, here are some common elements ... " ...

Via Think For A Change: Centers of Innovation Excellence...

Morph Projects, Don't Kill Innovation

Insights on Google's innovation techniques, which includes advice on innovation projects. ...

... "Don't kill projects, morph them. Google doesn't waste ideas. Instead, they try to change and transform them into something the company finds useful. " ...

Via Self-Service & Kiosk Association: Google innovation

Innovation through Contention

Resolving disagreements is a necessary and positive force in innovation projects. Embrace it. ...

... "Contention needs to be allowable and explorable. Openness and honesty necessary for a long-term productive relationship. " ...

Via innovation.net: The role of contention

Practical Application of Innovation

Here's practical advice on applied innovation techniques. ...

... "Any Innovation plan must be just that, a hard plan. It can't be an initiative. A plan has to have milestones and expected results. These results must be measurable and memorialized in writing. " ...

Via The Heart of Innovation: Science of Innovation

Creativity Boosters

Nice list of creativity boosters in reference post. I'd just substitute Led Zep for Bach. ...

... "Read as much as you can about everything possible. Books exercise your brain, provide inspiration and fill you with information that allows you to make creative connections easily. ... Exercise your brain. " ...

Via IDEAS 108: Boosting Creativity

Talent Perspective on Innovation in Business

Jeffrey Phillips describes a powerful role for the HR function in creating a culture and talent pool for innovation. Is today's human resource function ready for the challenge? ...

... "People dislike uncertainty and are somewhat unwilling to risk their jobs or futures working on items that are new or risky, without the appropriate assurances that the firm needs and requires people to try new things and make mistakes. " ...

Via Innovate on Purpose: Innovation Talent Perspectives

Strategic Focus Area

Use clearly articulated goals and objectives to focus product teams on innovation. ...

... "What takes a significant amount of time, psychic energy and attention in the idea to product process is trying to figure out what is strategic and important in a wide range of business opportunities and focusing on just those things. " ...

Via Innovate on Purpose: Strategic Focus When Innovating

Innovation: Influence of Relationships Survey

Survey delves into influence of relationships on innovation process. ...

... "Some data suggests that the quality of the relationships with decision-makers in a given organization may influence whether ideas are advanced (e.g., funded for the first time). The purpose of this study is to investigate whether this is indeed the case. " ...

Via Univ of Penn Wharton School: Survey on Idea Advancement for Knowledge

Innovate: Monday Morning Plan

Here's some ideas to jump-start your innovation tommorrow (Monday). Make some time for brainstorming. Don't penalize mistakes. Get folks interacting. Read on. ...

... "Creative or alternative thinking does not mean playing with brightly coloured balls all day long. It means selecting appropriate techniques and methods from as wide a variety as possible and matching them to the task in hand to get the best results possible. " ...

Via Derek Cheshire's Creativity and Innovation: Monday's Plan of Action

Innovation: More Than Products

Recent study on innovation shows that it is top of mind for executives and means more than new product development. ...

... "Companies are infusing innovation throughout their organizations. Seventy percent of senior business leaders use internal communications to promote innovation among employees, and more than two-thirds believe that driving innovation in their business processes and customer experiences are more important than innovation in product development. " ...

Via Weber Shandwick Worldwide: From Corporate Buzzword to Business Imperative in 2007

Chief Innovation Officer: Get Trained

Attend training on the Chief Innovation Officer role. The Chief Innovation Officer course is targeted to push the frontiers of the field and brings into focus fostering innovation talent, creating portfolio techniques, and enabling business processes necessary to execute innovation projects in support of growth. ...

... "BMG's Chief Innovation Officer seminar is designed specifically for business leaders who are leading the charge for innovation inside their organizations. This 2-day interactive seminar features emerging strategies, tools and techniques from some of the foremost thinkers in innovation today.

Upcoming Seminar Date: 4/30/2007 2 days Denver, CO " ...

Chief Innovation Officer Seminar

IT Governance: Board of Director Involvement

Corning demonstrates leading practices in board-level governance of IT - setting strategy, shaping the portfolio, understanding business impact, and sustaining benefit realization. The company expects growth through innovation in display technologies, diesel products, and telecommunications. Corning has a history of innovation and continues to invest in longer-term emerging technologies. ...

... "They play an active, creative role in helping to set IT strategy, make sure they know what's in the technology pipeline and what it will mean to the bottom line, and ride the results hard. " ...

Via Corporate Board Member Magazine: Board Level Governance of IT

Create Innovation Culture: Understand Where to Begin

Here's a diagnostic tool to understand where your innovation culture gaps are and how to approach them. ...

... "Based on the Innovation DNA, it gives you a way to begin conversations and create action plans based on solid information. " ...

Via Innovation Network: Where to Begin

Innovation Obstacles: Resistance, Time

Pulse-point survey on innovation shows cultural resistance and lack of time as barriers to innovation. Langdon Morris is author of Permanent Innovation, which is the process of innovating continuously, by developing an organizational culture that embraces innovation as a core value. ...

... "Both topics are chronic problems in organizations today, and both are significant red flags that indicate unhealthy situations. If your organization is characterized by resistance to change or you don't feel you have enough time for innovation then it may be time for a serious assessment of your organization's culture, and perhaps some remedial work to shift more of your focus toward something other than short term concerns." ...

Via Innovation Labs: Results of the Permanent Innovation Survey (PDF) ...

Technology Investment: Time Is Ripe

Implementation of IT strategy requires fresh approach: New standards of performance and greater accountability for achievement. C Davis Fogg discusses actions needed to emphasize a bias for action and points out the potential of IT to innovate. ...

... "IT is such an underutilised power in the marketplace, I would expect right now is a very good time to be thinking about powerful investments to improve market position and efficiency. Particularly if you have cash and your competitors don't. " ...

Via CIO Australia: Implementation of IT Strategy

IT Innovation: Balancing Act

The debate on IT innovation continues... Latest insights from SAP research leader are particularly interesting. I agree with the concept of thinking enterprise, but allowing investment in interim or temporary solutions to either reap quick value or offer time for the solution to flourish / die on its own. ...

... "The smart innovators realize there's nothing wrong with transient systems or investments that let you constantly add value in small increments." ...

Via techWeb: IT Innovation ...

Innovation: Books by Phone

Nokia set to launch new form of audio book for mobile phones ...

... "The card can be slotted into a mobile phone, dispensing with the need to carry up to six CDs for an audio version of a book. " ...

Via UK Times by way of Smart Mobs: Library on Phone ...

IT Innovation: Optimistic?

I'm optimistic about the ability of information technologists to transform the capabilities of business. McKinsey discusses how differnetiation is needed to remain competitive. Techniques that balance scale and speed involve segmenting the approach to governance. ...

... "But this time around, IT is increasingly redefining fundamental business models - not just single processes - in ways not even imagined a decade or two ago. " ...

Via TechWeb: McKinsey on IT Innovation

The Great Innovator: Santa

Inspiration from the big guy in the red suit ... Oh, and yes, he really does exist. ...

... "Santa is an innovation master. Analyze his leadership style, and his operational insight, motivational style, ... " ...

Via Jim Carroll: Why Santa rocks at innovation! ...

Managing from the Bottom Up

Yesterday I entered a post about Best Buy's new Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), and how allowing employees total freedom as to where and how they work, focusing instead on results, has shown a 35% productivity improvement. Granted, this may not apply in every environment, but the premise of focusing on results over rules is sound.

What I failed to mention is that this initiative didn't come from the top. In fact, CEO Brad Anderson didn't even know about it untill it was well under way and showing tangible benefits. And that's just the way he likes it.

Kudos to Anderson for allowing the flexibility in his organization for innovation from within, and the courage to try new things. That is what a learning organization is all about.

Anyone who ever brought about major transformation (think Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Jesus), usually did it in a bottom-up approach, not by first convincing "management."

One other thing I failed to mention. While it's uncertain to what extent it played in encouraging this particular situation, a primary consultant to the Best Buy organization is Marcus Buckingham, the talent management guru and author of three of the most enlightening management books I've read (First Break All the Rules, Now Discover Your Strengths, and The One Thing You Need to Know). I'd venture to say that his influence has at least indirectly encouraged this people-focused mentality.

Innovation: Necessary But Not Sufficient

Recent research illustrates that companies expect their growth to be enabled through innovation, however they see significant room for improvement in their innovation process. To address their shortcomings, the survey results show a strong investment in external spending on the front-end of innovation, including customer and market insights. Survey provides additional findings for improving innovation. ...

... "Furthermore, 50% of the companies reported that 10% to 25% of their revenues over the next 3 years would be driven by products and services that will be developed over the next 12 months. Less than 5% of these companies believe they have a highly effective innovation process and only a small number are using state of the art approaches to innovation like open networks and innovation based metrics." ...

Via ArchStone Consulting: Survey Reveals 50% of Companies Dissatisfied with Return on Innovation Investment (PDF) ...

Managing the Grey Areas: Lessons from the Leadership Quadrant Seminar

On November 15th and 16th, I conducted a seminar with productivity consultant Jerome Jewell called The Leadership Quadrant: 4 Ps for Organizational Excellence. The 4 Ps are Principles, People, Productivity, and Process. It was held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and we incorporated the museum’s rousing multi-media show, Freedom Rising, into the seminar.

The seminar participants came from the healthcare, criminal intelligence, and manufacturing sectors, which led to some fascinating discussion and dynamics. With any seminar, the value to all in attendance is magnified by the contributions of the participants, and this was no exception.

In the seminar, which included sections on principles, emotional intelligence, systemic thinking, talent management, innovation, project management, and more, the collective group highlighted a number of “grey areas” that a manager must frequently weigh when making decisions.

Some questions arose, such as:

"What if someone no longer likes a role they excel at and prefers a role they're poor at?"

"Do people always need to see the big picture?"

"Should one person be expected to serve the role of a manager, leader, and administrator? A strategist and tactician? A generalist?"

"How do you strike a balance between effective time management and remaining available to your staff?"

"Are recurring meetings effective or are they time wasters?"

In line with these questions, below are some of the factors that managers must consider:

• People’s individual needs vs. organizational goals
• Big picture inclusiveness vs. security (or the desire to give people narrow focus)
• Using generalists vs. specialists (and where the specialty should focus – on a functional area or on a particular skill)
• Effective time management vs. flexibility and being available to your staff’s needs
• Recurring meetings vs. consideration for people’s time
• Informing vs. influencing (for deciding whether to email or meet; even then, the decision is not always straightforward)
• Innovation vs. execution (knowing when to move from ideation to “getting things done”)
• Systemic (whole view) thinking vs. systematic thinking (routine, repeatable process)
• Vigilance vs. delegation (how much is safe to delegate, and to whom?)
• Firm principles vs. ethical dilemmas (should a firm principle ever be bypassed?)

In all of these cases, the group determined that the answer isn’t always black and white, and that each situation requires weighing these items. The trick is to observe, orient, decide and act quickly (referencing Colonel John Boyd’s OODA principle).

On the item of firm principles vs. ethical dilemmas, the group applied lessons from various cases throughout history where the US Constitution was challenged. It was obvious that there was no “one size fits all” answer.

With more recent events, consider OJ Simpson’s book. If you manage a bookstore with a principle of defending freedom of speech, do you carry O.J. Simpson’s new book, even though it is "ethically challenged," to say the least? Most large-chain bookstores creatively tried to satisfy both sides of the equation by donating all of the proceeds to the victims’ families. Of course, in the end, the book was canceled, but for a while, this was a real challenge to bookstores.

All of this reaffirms that management is abstract, not concrete. Managers cannot have all the answers; but they can and must insure that the right questions are considered, and they must have the courage to make decisions.

Project Innovation: Look to the Sky

If you need inspiration from the heavens to innovate on your project or just a break from your terrestrial surroundings, don't miss the transit of Mercury this week. Please use safe viewing techniques. ...

... "On Wednesday, 2006 Nov 08, Mercury will transit the Sun for the first time since 2003. The transit or passage of a planet across the face of the Sun is a relatively rare occurrence. As seen from Earth, only transits of Mercury and Venus are possible. " ...

Via NASA: 2006 Transit of Mercury

Influence the Culture: Achieve the Goal ...

More evidence that influencing culture is the strongest lever in positioning an organization for success, however it is defined. ...

... "The chief executive knew he could not personally cause the needed innovation, but he could help create a culture and lead his managers in a way that would foster innovation - a culture that encouraged the traits of Adaptability and Involvement. " ...

Via Inc: Building a High-Performance Culture

Unconsulting: Common Sense Lessons for Project Managers

At someone's recommendation, I just finished reading Unconsulting, by David Newman. Fascinating and energizing book for anyone in business.

His book is partly inspired by Peter Drucker's statement, "Only marketing and innovation produce revenue. All other business functions produce costs." To this end, Newman offers that "the bottom line is meaningless if the top line is weak." He points out that, according to studies, "Companies with the same earnings per share that got there from SALES were worth about 30% more than companies who got there with COST CUTTING."

Newman, who, according to the book's back cover, has been called "a younger version of Tom Peters with less hair," offers 95 common-sense "in your face" tips.

A few more key points, paraphrased from the book:

• When consulting, talk to people (especially the impact points such as customers, suppliers, etc.) to gain anecdotal data to gain texture, context, and perspective.
• 95 percent of problems can be addressed by making significant changes to 5 percent of the processes, people, or technology.
• Simplicity defined: Find the shortest way to the best answer.
• Be with the client, not of the client. Rock the boat. You're there preceisely for that reason and to give advice. You're there to do your thing for them, not be a "yes" man (or woman).
• There is no cookie-cutter. Don't sell canned solutions. Listen to the client and look at unique angles to each engagement.
• Bill Cosby says, "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
• Don't isolate talent management and organizational development to one department. Institutionalize it in all your management.
• The unconsultant handles an engagement in this way:
  
  "I'll ask some questions, do some research, guide the discussion, help set clear and specific objectives for the work, offer options, tools and answers each step of the way, and then we'll do the work together."
  
  All in all, very refreshing stuff. And a good model for project managers as well. I highly recommend this book. It's not available on Amazon.com, only on Newman's site, but well worth getting. Also, see the wealth of free white papers on his site, as well as his blog...
  
  David Newman: Professional Speaker Motivational Speaker and Keynote Speaker and Business Consultant

Innovation Needs a Process Too

Gerald "Solutionman" Haman was recently interviewed on Innovation Tools about...well..his innovation tools. And he has quite a few. An impressive list of clients have used his KnowBrainer pocket tool to generate ideas that directly led to huge profits.

The tool makes use of his "Accelerated Innovation Process," which outlines four steps. According to Haman's site, "the four steps include: (1) Investigate Needs, (2) Create Ideas, (3) Evaluate Solutions, and(4) Activate Plans." Haman stresses the importance of "continuous innovation" as opposed to being a short-term or one-time activity.

When you think about it, these four steps are very much in line with Dr. Deming's classic "Plan-Do-Check-Act" model for continuous improvement. Not a bad framework for project management either.

Here's the full interview.

Interview with Gerald Haman, SolutionPeople - from InnovationTools.com

21 Success Secrets of The Beatles

One thing I enjoy doing is studying excellence. There's something about unique, extraordinary human achievement that I find fascinating.

I love studying it, dissecting it, and extracting lessons from it. It's what attracted me to write about Napoleon. It's what led me to explore lessons from Einstein. And it's what leads me to dive into lessons from The Beatles.

Like them or not, nobody can argue that The Beatles didn't achieve amazing feats. I doubt there will ever be another musical group that could rival them for sheer impact on the music scene and the world.

They were the first pop artists to record in stereo. They were the first band to experiment in the studio. They were the first band to list lyrics on their album. The list goes on and on.

But what made them so successful? And are the lessons applicable to building successful and innovative individuals and teams in business? Here are 21 lessons that answer definitively "yes."

1) Focus on Strengths - They focused on their strengths, doing what they do best (songwriting and performing).

2) Engage a partner - They got help (from Brian Epstein, their manager, and George Martin, their producer). They couldn't have achieved such heights on their own.

3) Differentiate! - They dared to be different, whether it was their suits, their hair, the instruments they experimented with, their neverending search for new chords, and so on.

4) Have key values - They stuck to principle themes, such as love, peace, and the search for truth.

5) Adopt a cause - In the band and in their solo careers, they always had a cause that they were passionate about, whether peace, vegetarianism, eastern philosophy, or some other passion.

6) Worship change - They weren't afraid to change, even in the midst of success. At the top of the moptop craze, they changed their style, then they changed again with Sergeant Pepper, which was a virtual celebration of change.

7) Broaden your horizons - They continuously sought self-growth, learning new philosophies, new chords and instruments, etc.

8) Be passionate about everything you do. They treated each deliverable (i.e. song) as THE hit, which is why their "B-sides" did better than most people's A-sides.

9) Embrace conflict - They readily embraced creative conflict and friendly competition. It was precisely the conflict and competition between Lennon and McCartney that made each of them strive for new heights.

10) Keep moving - Fast! - They recorded constantly, always looking for some new and unique angle. They recorded first and asked questions later.

11) RMF (Risk Magnificent Failures) - They experimented with new chords, new concepts, and had some celebrated failures (Revolution #9-although some liked it; the Magical Mystery Tour Movie, in which they filmed everyone on a bus in the hopes that something neat would happen--nothing did). In a sense, each album was also an experiment in some way.

12) Aim for the Skies - They thought big ("To the toppermost!" they used to say) and they believed it! Similar to Napoleon Hill's principles in Think and Grow Rich, they aimed high and got there.

13) Talent matters - When all is said and done, they had the right talent. All the other elements wouldn't have helped if they didn't have a natural talent for music. Luck helps, but if you have the right talent in the right job, the luckier you get.

14) Use your whole brain - They used the left and right sides of their brain---using the right side when freeflowing creativity and innovation were needed, and the left side when the proper structure was important.

15) Have Fun!!! - Above all, they had plenty of fun, and even stressed the importance in the song "She's Leaving Home" (about a girl who left home to explore "something inside that was always denied for so many years---She's having fun, bye bye.")

16) Never Conform - They didn't conform to standard education, which led to their unorthodox style. In fact, I've noticed most great pop musicians hold their instruments "the wrong way." Tom Peters pointed the same thing out about great Tennis players and their rackets.

17) Field the right team - They were built for synergy -- each were different but shared the same values. The whole was truly greater than the sum of its parts.

18) Get noticed! - They wouldn't have gotten anywhere if they didn't get noticed in the first place. How did they get noticed? By playing in public, where they could get noticed. This should stress the importance of networking. Be seen.

19) Prototype and Test! - They prototyped and tested zillions of versions of their songs. For each hit, there were about 20 alternate takes in different styles and genres. And they practiced each version over and over.

20) Study the greats, Then forget them. - They didn't begin in a vacuum. They studied their idols, such as Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, and others. If you want to succeed at something, a good place to begin is studying those who have succeeded before. But then make your own way, just like The Beatles did. Carve your own niche.

21) Be Authentic - They were authentic to who they were - British lads from Liverpool.They could sing colorful lyrics about places like Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields, and could talk about TV shows like "Meet the Wife" ("It's time for tea and Meet the Wife" from "Good Morning"). They could sing about these things because it's who they were, not because they were trying to be cute or clever. It's important to be true to who you are, not who you'd rather be.

IT Innovation Matters; Allow Some Room for Risky Projects

I've often thought it wise for organizations to allow some room in their portfolio for high risk (but potentially high payoff) projects, much like in a financial portfolio.

As Tom Peters says, the fast path to breakthrough success is to "Screw Around Vigorously."

Some companies say IT should focus on efficiency and productivity and leave innovation to the product development folks. I don't buy it. Smart companies leverage technology as a differentiator and don't view IT merely as a cost center.

Does IT really matter? It does if it's approached right.

There's a good blog entry (below) by Elana Varon about this on CIO Magazine's blog site. I like her postings in general.

CIO Blogs - What is Bleeding Edge?

Innovation: Challenge Your Assumptions

Great points made about challenging our assumptions in order to free our minds to innovate. Identify the assumptions. And, challenge them to their core. ...

... "We can't expect to innovate new products, services, techniques, etc. without challenging our assumptions. " ...

Creating Passionate Users: Assumptions have a Sell By date

Einstein Project Management Tip #5: Imagination Counts

Our next project management tip from our Einstein series regards the need to challenge the status quo----to think out of the box. Consider this quote:

"To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advances in science."

Of course, Einstein also famously said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." To a project manager, who's typically focused on things like scheduling, monitoring, reporting, and driving the team to completion, this can be a particular challenge. But it's important nonetheless.

Imagination is required in many situations, including (but not limited to):

• Achieving success when the odds are against you
• Conceptualizing ways to achieve the objectives more effectively
• Brainstorming solution ideas and possible risks
• Overcoming barriers, whether political, technical, or physical
• Improving the cusotmer experience

For some practical advice on building the right team for innovation, see my blog series on Tom Kelley's The Ten Faces of Innovation.

More to come.

Innovation Moto Style ...

Motorola CEO, Ed Zander, discusses his approach to innovation, while leveraging Moto's strengths. ...

... "try to get in a sense of urgency, speed, winning customers first, innovation. We don't care about our titles, we don't care about our offices, we don't care about entitlements, we just care about winning. We laugh, we kid, we have fun, and the people below us have fun and there are no secrets here. " ...

Via The Observer: Motorola's cutting edge ...

Project Management Winds Are Changing

There's an excellent article by Betsy Morris in the current issue of Fortune Magazine about how the Jack Welch way of winning is---dare we say---a thing of the past.

How is this relevant to the project management field? Well, for one, it means recognizing the winds of change in the industry, and how projects are selected, promoted, and managed. Above all, this impacts program and portfolio management. Particularly, note four trends in management thinking:

Innovation:

Let's take Welch's old rule of being number 1 or 2 in your market (or else fixing, selling, or closing the business). The new rule is to find a niche and create something new. The article uses CocaCola as an example of a company that was basking in their glory as number 1, but eventually realized (although it took a while) that energy drinks and bottled water were about to pass them. As the article points out, energy drinks "are now expected to outearn every other category of soft drink within three years." Parhaps marketing guru Harry Beckwith said it best in Selling the Invisible when he said that it's fine to do something 10% better until someone else comes along and does it 110% different.

Customer-Centric Management:

Welch started a whole movement of focus on the shareholder, which led many organizations to ignore the future amid pressure to appease shareholders and "make the numbers." Now, organizations realize that the customer is king. The article references several companies that have made this realization, and the trend is heading in that direction. After all, statistics show that even a minor improvement in customer retention leads to a major increase in profitability. The days of short-term thinking may be finally coming to an end.

Reinvention vs. Incremental Change:

Since it seemed Jack Welch could do no wrong, everyone imitated whatever Jack did---and Six Sigma was no exception. The problem is that, according to the article, of the 58 large companies that announced Six Sigma programs, 91% have trailed the S&P 500 since. As the article points out, that's mostly because Six Sigma is intended to "fix an existing process," whereas innovative companies that developed new and unique products (or reinvented their business) took the lead.

Stop Ranking Your Players; Inspire Passion:

Once of Welch's most controversial systems was to constantly rank his employees and regularly weed out the "C" players. But companies have had difficulty getting productivity and innovation out of "increasingly disenfranchised employees." In the article, Christopher Bartlett of Harvard Business School put it best:

"People don't come to work to be No. 1 or No. 2 or to get a 20% net return on assets. They want a sense of purpose. They come to work to get meaning from their lives."

Side editorial: For the "enlightened" approach of finding the hidden strength in everyone (something Peter Drucker always suggested), read Marcus Buckingham's Now Discover Your Strengths (or any of his books for that matter). Or read Dennis Littky's The Big Picture: Education is Everyone's Business. I assure you, you'll never be the same.

Meanwhile, I highly recommend the article (the link is below) for those looking for the latest trends in management thinking, and who want to remain one step ahead.

From a project management perspective, the handwriting is clearly on the wall. The traditional "execute to a set of deliverables" approach won't cut it. Today's project manager needs to be thinking about things like innovation, customer focus, business transformation, business acumen, change leadership, and team passion. Those focused on merely schedule, budget, and scope will soon be dinosaurs.

Fortune: The new rules - Jul. 11, 2006

Innovation Culture ...

An organization can leverage the workforce and increase its overall rate of innovation. Employee involvement and empowerment, setting challenges, and leveraging individual strengths are a good start to encourage serial innovation. ...

... "By creating a culture that encourages innovation and sets particular goals in place, entrepreneurs can train employees to be systematic innovators. " ...

Via Entrepreneur: Thinking Bigger ...

Project Management Lessons from Mars

Brian Muirhead, the project manager for the Mars Pathfinder program, had some good tips to share with Projects@Work this week.

Some key learnings, extrapolated from the interview:

• Innovation and bold ideas are often necessary to meet what often seems like an impossible challenge. The trick is to balance the cost and time savings with the risks.
• A diverse team is key. It's better to have people that are different, with complementary skills, than have a bunch of people who think and act the same way.
• A small core team that can share issues, problems, and resolutions, with one person at the helm, is an effective way to run a project.
• Trust, honesty, and personal committment are traits that need to be prevalent throughout the team.
• Test, test, and then test again. Don't rely on luck. If you can't test using the exact situation, then simulate it as best you can, testing as much as is possible.
• A team is only as good as it's weakest link. It's up to the project leader to identify those people that aren't up to the task and remove them or find an area that suits them better.
• Ensure team members have opportunities to make personal connections and grow.
• A project manager must simultaneously provide the glue (keeping the team cohesive and focused) and the grease (removing barriers).
  
  Here's the full interview...
  
  http://www.projectsatwork.com/content/Articles/232113.cfm

IT Strategy: Enable Knowledge Based Economy ...

Government minister sees knowledge work as the key to economic development and creates IT strategy that supports the creation, collaboration, and deployment of knowledge to drive economic growth. The plan emphasizes the development of citizens to create and leverage knowledge to further innovation in the local and global marketplace. ...

... "Kuwait's Communications Minister Ibrahim Al-Shatti presented Monday a working paper outlining the national IT strategy in light of Knowledge Based Economy (KBE). " ...

IT Strategy: Enable Knowledge Based Economy: Via Kuna: Kuwait's Communications Minister outlines national IT strategy ...

Project Accomplishments Recognized: KC MO ...

Kansas City recognized for its accomplishments in project management methods and delivery. ...

... "The City was awarded a regional APWA Management Innovation Award for the development of the Capital Improvements Management Office. The office was created as a partnership with MWH Americas Inc. and Burns and McDonnell to re-engineer the City's delivery processes and reinvigorate its backlogged capital improvement project portfolio. CIMO has used inventive corrective strategies and industry best practices to create a centralized, more efficient approach to capital project delivery and accountability. Additionally, three of the division's capital improvement projects were named regional APWA Projects of the Year. These awards recognize projects that exemplify outstanding project execution through project management; timely execution; safety performance; community relations; and quality control, construction innovations, and time and/or money-saving techniques. " ...

Project Accomplishments Recognized: KC MO: Via Kansas City Mo: News from City Hall: City receives four regional public works awards ...