Culture
These essays on innovation culture cover the importance of having the right culture. Through stories, examples, and research findings, I explore how to craft a winning culture of innovation, so teams are motivated, focused on making an impact, and successful in delivering innovations that customers love. Plus, I share insights into the key practices needed to create and sustain a culture of innovation from start-up to large enterprise.
Stop Being Negative: Become an Anti-Critic
It’s an unfortunate fact that the world is full of critics who feel that it’s their place to put others down left and right, based on their ideas, actions, and even personal beliefs. It seems that being negative is the order of the day, based on its prevalence among TV pundits, editorials, and anony
Pinocchio with a PhD: An Appeal for Ethical Innovation
In recent years, a growing number of innovators has falsified or fabricated their ideas and their work in order to gain prestige and undeserved credibility. Furthermore, instead of this scandal being the work of a few innovators led astray, it seems that the issue of unethical behavior in research i
Hey, What’s the Next Big Idea?! Look for Answers From Your Employees Rather Than Outside Experts
One old idea that continues to block the route to new ones is that only certain people in an organization has the answers to business problems or the ability to find “the next big idea“. The fact of the matter is that, when it comes to innovation, executives with heaps of industry experience are mo
Are You Blind To The Disruptive Trends In Your Industry?
When I saw this cartoon on my flight back from China last week, I couldn’t stop laughing. It reminded me how easy it is to be blind to the disruptions that are happening all around us. How is it that we can’t see the changes happening? Because it requires that we admit that we missed something […]
Could Your Innovation Failure Be Innovation Progress?
Is innovation failure a contradiction? Innovation leaders and analysts say no. Venture Capitalist and Forbes writer Henry Doss observes that “…failure is a feature of highly innovative organizations….[T]here is a strong correlation between failure and innovation.” According to Doss, in a culture whi
Core Attributes For An Innovation Culture
The key foundation for an innovation culture is what I call the “core attributes”. Core attributes are those attributes the organization holds which form the foundation on which its perform work and conduct itself. Done well, they are empowering to an organization. What to think about when definin
On NBC Discussing How Companies Can Be More Innovative (video)
Yesterday, I recorded two segments for NBC’s Press:Here that will appear on Sunday, April 8th @ 9:00 AM in SFO and then later on cable in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas, and Washington DC. In segment one, the questions focused on the stodginess of HP, the Palm a
Why Was Steve Jobs Better At Driving Innovation at Apple?
In Silicon Valley, you can’t avoid the game of comparing every company to Apple. There is no avoiding the success Apple has experienced. So what made Apple so successful at establishing its innovation leadership and avoiding the traps and roadblocks other companies’ experience? Was it the fact that
3 CEO’s who get innovation
Over my career, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a number of CEOs. The general perception in the market is that the CEO’s of public companies are only focused on meeting the quarterly numbers. The following are 3 CEO’s who get innovation. How do I know? I’ve had the opportunity to spend mea
Is your team diversity enough to create killer innovations?
On Wednesday, I will be traveling to Atlanta to give a speech on “Innovation and Diversity” to the American Institute for the Management of Diversity. Given the title and the group, you may think you know what I will be talking about but you would wrong. The topic description is: The key to unlockin
