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Are customers a source of ideas for innovation?
Of course, innovation should be customer focused. At a minimum, most companies will conduct a focus group, survey, or other market research periodically to gauge customers needs and wants. This data is provided to innovation teams, as one of many inputs, to help them frame the ideas that will lead t
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
Small Business Ideas That Went Big
Everyone has to start somewhere and this is often true with a small business. Starting off with small business ideas doesn’t have to stay small, however. There are many that can grow into giants. In today’s world of small business, we can take inspiration from those who took a little idea and turned
Rogue Rage: Four Questions to Transform Anger into Innovation Opportunity
Every person and organization says they want to change, to innovate, to grow. In a fast-paced business environment, standing still might as well be moving backward. But what happens when every idea, every innovation, is met with apathy, defensiveness, or outright hostility from the corporate antibod
Creativity in the Name of Social Innovation: Embrace Global Receives Social & Economic Innovations Award
When an idea meets a passion for social innovation, a little creativity can save a life… or millions. The latest reminder came from the co-founders at Embrace Global (Jane Chen, Rahul Panicker, Naganand Murty and Linus Liang) who were recently named winners of the 2013 Social & Economic Innovations
Beyond The Obvious Translations Available in English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese
When I signed my book deal with Hyperion to publish my book, Beyond The Obvious, it also included global rights. What this meant was that Hyperion purchased the right to have Beyond The Obvious translations in any language they choose. As an update, Beyond The Obvious has now been translated and rel
The Impossible Project: Take something old and make it new again.
What if your best new business idea is simply a way to make an old idea new again? That is the question asked by the drivers behind The Impossible Project, a leap of faith effort to bring back analog instant photography invented by Polaroid. In 2008, Polaroid announced it would dismantle all product
Having Engaged Employees is an Essential Part of Innovation
It is hard to imagine that a company can be truly successful if its employees are not adequately motivated and engaged. When you have engaged employees, they take a personal interest in the success of their company. Otherwise, they are likely to do what is expected but lack the motivation to go much
5 Steps to Avoid Burnout and Complete Your Project
As much as we may eagerly anticipate the completion of a project, we would probably be lying if we did not admit to some burnout or fatigue along the way. Even in the event of a killer thesis, a dynamite business proposal, or a practical play-by-play game plan, there still remains the actual work re
Post-It Notes: 4 Lessons for Innovators
I love the behind-the-scenes story of Post-it notes. How many of these little, yellow sorta-stickies are flagged around your house or your office? Did you know they were originally a mistake? A very fortunate mistake. As the story goes, Spencer Silver was a skilled chemist and a very smart man. In 1
