Crazy Foods, an intriguing spot I photographed in a small and actually very innovative town in Veracruz State, Mexico, represents the wild and crazy ideas of prospective innovators that, like most innovative concepts, end up in failure. Brilliant ideas deemed crazy by others often really are, and those that have potential for crazy success can …
In the game of chess, experienced players know that a move that looks tempting can often open up fatal weaknesses that deliver swift defeat later in the game. With experience, discipline, and solid strategic skills, good players can look several moves ahead and be aware of broad patterns and principles that can give one an …
Beware Unintended Innovation Killers from Laws, Regulations, and Corporate Policies Read More »
Guy Kawasaki correctly notes that a lot of innovation success can be achieved in small baby steps. A few minutes a day of effort can lead you to innovation success if you know what you are doing. On the other hand, it’s important to note that would-be innovators face some very dangerous streets that must …
DUI (Don’t Understand Innovation) Accidents on the Busy Streets of Innovation Fatigue Read More »
The journey of innovators is virtually never without great stress and trials. Some novice inventors think of something interesting and imagine that it’s just a matter of taking the idea to someone and collecting a fat check, but few can anticipate how difficult the journey can be and how many lessons must be learned. Even …
When traveling, I feel like I have a gift in meeting cool innovators on airplanes. Almost every time I fly, I meet someone whose story intrigues me. Recently I met a manager from Shurtape, the company that introduced the innovative Frog Tape® product. Frog Tape® is a masking tape for use with latex paint that …
Thanks to Roni Horowitz in Israel for calling my attention to this excellent presentation from Daniel Pink, a leading career analyst who spoke at a TED Conference in 2009. He discusses research showing that traditional “if then” financial incentives are great for encouraging people to rapidly complete simple, straightforward tasks, but when it comes to …
Keep Intrinsic Incentives in Mind to Stimulate Creativity Read More »
David Semb’s outstanding essay, “The Upcoming Crisis in Talent Management” for Chief Learning Officer magazine, points to a tsunami of trouble ahead for US corporations in terms of retaining the know-how and experience that makes business run. The demographics point to a huge loss of experience and knowledge in the next few years. While innovation …
The Upcoming Innovation Crisis: Talent Management Read More »
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 …
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 …
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 »