Blog
Leadership Failures and the Innovation Lessons Learned
Individuals in a position of leadership have a heavy weight of responsibility on their shoulders, particularly when it comes to the innovation process. Breaking the laws of innovation can cause the entire process to crumble. Learning from the leadership failures of others can offer some insight into
Leaders in Innovation: How They’re Creating Cultures of Creativity
June 2, 1868: the Union Army and the Confederates were locked in a brutal struggle for supremacy. One of the most innovative leaders in American military history, Robert E. Lee, was bringing his forces into the North to try to end the war. His right flank advanced further into enemy territory. All t
The Importance of Leadership in Fostering Organizational Innovation
Any expert on the driving forces behind organizational innovation will tell you that leadership is one of the most important. In fact, I’ve discovered it to be one of the 7 Immutable Laws of Innovation, and a necessity for any institution looking to prioritize leadership. Over the next few weeks, I
Finding Bubbles and Predicting the Burst
Many innovators and entrepreneurs have dozens of ideas every day for the perfect new business. They’re sure that this is the next big thing, that this idea will outlast the competition. Unfortunately, some of those ideas may fall prey to the “bubble” problem: they begin quickly, expand rapidly, and
How To Create Resilient Innovation Processes That Don’t Fail When Stressed
It’s times of stress that really test the strength or weakness of your organization. During stressful times, you learn what the people in your organization are made of—but also whether the systems, functions, and processes you’ve put in place are resilient to withstand the crises that inevitably com
How To Overcome Cognitive Bias And Habits ..
What tools do we humans use when faced with a problem to solve it? We might tap into experience, prevailing trends, our perceptions of what would be safest or easiest, and gut-level instincts, to name a few. These are what psychologists call having a cognitive bias—and while they’re excellent tools
The Top 5 Skills Every Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) Needs
.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 ch
Design Thinking and Innovation: A Real Life Example
What is design thinking? How does it contribute to innovation? Are design and innovation fundamentally integrated? In a nutshell, design thinking is problem-solving that uses design principles: human-centered ideation, pattern recognition, marrying meaning to function, and prototyping. There aren’t
Who Is The Driving Force Behind Creative Change?
There are so many stories of important innovations arising from serendipity, sudden bursts of inspiration, and lone geniuses going from idea to execution in their garages. In reality, though, innovation isn’t a magical process: sudden bursts of inspiration can certainly be important, but it takes a
What Is The Silicon Valley Secret Sauce For Innovation Success?
There’s plenty of advice out there about how to make it in Silicon Valley. Some things are required for innovation success anywhere in the world, but the valley is a special place with different rules. As someone who’s spent a lot of time there, I think there are a few important elements to Silicon
