Your idea was rejected. Criticized. Dumped on. You were told to give up. I have yet to find anyone who likes to have their ideas rejected. But if you want to succeed in innovation, you have to put yourself and your ideas out there which means you will get rejected. You have no other choice. […]
If you want to make your business as innovative as possible, you need lots of creativity and ingenuity. But how do you harness these qualities? Many people struggle to come up with creative new ideas or to think in untraditional ways. Here are some clear and actionable techniques to unleash your creativity in business and […]
You can’t make a return if there’s no investment of resources. This is true of every business venture, and it is even more true when it comes to innovation. But innovation isn’t easy. For many businesses, it can be tempting to forego a focus on innovation and instead encourage steady, incremental growth, which is less […]
Innovation doesn’t happen on its own. If you truly want to innovate throughout your company, you must create a culture that encourages cooperation, rewards creativity, and fosters a positive working style that creates more opportunities for every individual. Culture is one of the 7 Immutable Laws of Innovation and the subject of my next several […]
While for centuries, Africa has been seen as the “dark continent,” it is quickly becoming a hotbed of innovation, and smart investors are taking notice. Many challenges remain, but it’s safe to say that the seed of innovation in Africa has been planted. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second […]
Innovate or die—it’s a common refrain, and more and more organizations are taking it to heart and proactively pursuing innovation programs rather than waiting for innovation to happen. As a result, it’s becoming more and more common for businesses to have someone in their ranks with the title of chief innovation officer (CINO). I’ve already […]
As I discussed in a previous post, the basic components of success are the idea, hard work, timing, and maybe a little bit of luck. Here, we’ll look at how that formula worked to create the massive success of the modern cell phone. Success As you walk down the street in any major city in […]
Success in innovation isn’t going to happen overnight, nor does it happen as a matter of chance. There’s nothing preordained about successful innovation. There are a number of factors that can contribute to the ultimate success or failure of your latest idea, but the basic formula that I’ve learned over the years is: success = idea […]
We’ve all been in a meeting where we were asked to brainstorm. The concept is familiar. Everyone involved writes out everything they can think of on the given topic, even if it seems strange, silly, or not quite practical, because sometimes, as we let our brains really run, we come across a solution or idea that […]
In a world where customers have access to an almost unlimited number of products, most of which they may not even use, it becomes even more important to differentiate yourself in order to draw attention to what you might have to offer. How can you make a customer’s life easier, better or more interesting? Why should they […]
