Today I heard a story about Norwegian carpenters who literally turned what they knew upside down to solve a difficult problem through innovation. This occurred in the nineteenth century in the wild Western frontier, where a team of Norwegian carpenters were helping to build a large and complex structure in Manti, Utah. These men were …
Is your innovation organization running on empty? Crushed, lacking creative juices? Time to add some fizz again with principles from the book, Conquering Innovation Fatigue. As part of the series on Magic and Innovation, today I’m using a simple effect to illustrate what can be achieved with an innovation organization. Available on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JVr017KZBw.
Innovation has often been killed by poor metrics, part of the innovation fatigue factor of flaws in judgment and vision. Poor metrics can include financial analysis that emphasizes short-term gains but overlooks the future. One way of illustrating the problem is with the “Apple Tree Analogy.” Imagine a fruit production company that is concerned with …
One of the top nine “innovation fatigue factors” that we address in the book involves the challenges that stem from governmental policies and regulations. Chapter 14 explores this in detail, and urges government leaders and policy makers to listen to the “voice of the innovator” before they pass new laws or add new burdens that …
Innovation Fatigue from Excessive Regulation: Ford’s CEO Speaks Out Read More »
I love the term “Innovation Fatigue” to describe the weariness that can beset organizations and sometimes whole sectors of a nation’s economy when it comes to innovation. The term has been floating around for some time. For example, “Innovation Fatigue” was the title of a 1995 article on educational innovation in Scotland, published by The …
I’ve just added a few excerpts from the book. Click on the “Excerpts” button on the menu above. Later I’ll be adding some material from our chapter on the “Horn of Innovation,” which I think could be one of the most helpful chapters for innovation leaders in many firms. I also love the story of …
While our book, Conquering Innovation Fatigue, has a lot to say on innovation and managing innovation, we also have important sections on intellectual asset strategy. An entire chapter, for example, is dedicated to intellectual asset tools for dealing with disruptive innovation. One of the key concepts we discuss is what we call “360 IA” (three-hundred …
Thinking Beyond Patents: Why You Need 360 IA (Holistic Intellectual Assets) Read More »
With a hearty hat tip to PatentlyO, one of the best blogs on intellectual property issues, here is a video of Judge Randall R. Rader of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in a brief interview about the role of intellectual property rights. He scores several excellent points about the benefits …
As part of the series on Magic and Innovation, today I’m using a simple magic trick with a balloon to illustrate some of the trials in producing successful innovations within a corporation. I begin by discussing the challenges and barriers that inventors and prospective innovators within a corporation face. Available on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiF6IQO79ag
Shortly after I became Corporate Patent Strategist at Kimberly-Clark Corporation in 2001, I had the opportunity to address nearly several hundred people in the innovation community of K-C at a large internal technical conference held at Stone Mountain near Atlanta, Georgia. My theme was “Healthy Paranoia” as the key to success in innovation. I drew …
Not Optimism, But Healthy Paranoia: A Key to Innovation Success Read More »