Author Archives: Eugene Ivanov

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About Eugene Ivanov

I help mission-driven organizations, including nonprofits, solve persistent strategic, operational, and organizational challenges through AI-supported problem solving. As founder of INSILICONOVATION, I build and apply AI tools that think with you, not for you—helping uncover root causes, surface assumptions, and turn ambiguity into clear paths forward.

All Innovation Is Local

I like this phrase: all politics is local. Ascribed to the late Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tip O’Neill this phrase means that all political decisions, regardless of their purpose and scale, must take into account the interests … Continue reading

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Should We Celebrate Failure Worth A Billion?

As every popular topic, innovation is a powerful magnet for clichés. Some of them obliterate more than illuminate. For example, I’m not sure that mixing innovation with DNA is a good idea. Though I kind of understand what Clayton Christensen … Continue reading

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No Change On The Top Of Innovation Olympus

Recently, I wrote about the annual 2013 Global Innovation Index (GII 2013), composed by Cornell University, European Institute of Business Administration and World Intellectual Property Organization, that ranked 142 world countries’ innovation capabilities and achievements. I made a curious observation that … Continue reading

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Show Me The Money!

(This post originally appeared on Danish Crowdsourcing Association website) I strongly believe that as an open innovation tool, crowdsourcing has a bright future, but only if it proves its economic worth. In other words, when properly designed and executed, a … Continue reading

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A silver bullet that was not

There are lies, damned lies and statistics Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a horrible illness. A progressive neurodegenerative disorder that destroys memory, abstract thinking and cognitive function, it’s the most common cause of dementia in humans, affecting as many as five … Continue reading

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The Outsider Effect

Better decisions come from teams that include a “socially distinct newcomer”…someone who is different enough to bump other team member out of their comfort zones (From Kellog School of Management News, Embracing the “socially distinct outsider”) There are many things … Continue reading

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The Game of Definitions

There are different opinions on the value of proper definition of terms. Some people consider definitions a prerequisite for any meaningful discussion, and I often agree with them; others view definitions as a barrier to creative thinking, and I often … Continue reading

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The Strength Within

(This post originally appeared on Forward Metrics) Back in 2005, on a trip to Germany, I was having a dinner with a business partner of mine, an innovation manager for a large German chemical company. Chatting about this and that, … Continue reading

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Has Crowdsourcing Become A Mainstream Innovation Tool?

(This post originally appeared on Innovation Excellence) Given the level of excitement the concept of Open Innovation has caused in the media in recent years, one would assume that this approach has become a common tool used by organizations to achieve … Continue reading

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The Terminator Effect

(This post originally appeared on Innovation Excellence) I’d like to touch upon a subject that doesn’t come up often in innovation discussions: I’d like to talk about how we kill projects. Everyone would agree that killing projects is a key to … Continue reading

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