Category Archives: Innovation

Three Reasons for your Company to Write an Innovation Charter

 This piece was originally posted to the Qmarkets blog A lack of executive leadership is one of the most commonly mentioned reasons for the failure of innovation. This leadership vacuum usually comes in two flavors. The company’s CEO loudly declares “Let’s … Continue reading →

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The Myth of “Unstructured” Innovation

I’m grateful to everyone who commented on my post, Does Innovation Need “Structure”? Many agreed with my assertion that adopting a formalized process (“structure”) provides innovation with direction and helps create what is commonly known as culture of innovation. Yet, … Continue reading →

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Does Innovation Need “Structure”?

A 2012 study by Accenture found that organizations that have a holistic, formal innovation structure consistently report better outcomes of their innovation programs. But Kevin Daly of Affinnova is skeptical. In a recent piece, Daly described Affinnova’s own survey of … Continue reading →

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Is Facebook At Work a threat to innovation management software?

Last week, Facebook released a private beta version of Facebook At Work, a new enterprise collaboration suite allowing organizations create their own social networks. FB@Work will feature a News Feed of “what’s new and relevant at your company,” extended user … Continue reading →

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3 reasons why “the innovator’s DNA” is an awkward term

I already wrote that as every popular topic, innovation is a powerful magnet for clichés. Unfortunately, some of them are more obstructive than instructive. For example, I’m not sure that mixing innovation with DNA is a good idea. Sure, I … Continue reading →

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In defense of brainstorming

Am I the only one who’s getting tired of constant bashing of brainstorming? The latest attack that I saw, coming from Forbes, begins with the following rhetoric question: “Have you ever sat through a fruitless brainstorming session and wondered—who came up … Continue reading →

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The last mile of a marathon

In the mid of September, my daughter ran–and finished!–her first marathon, and as a parent, I’m very proud of her. She then decided to take a short break from running: first, to get much needed rest for her body, and … Continue reading →

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Are We Going Crazy about Using the Word “Innovation”?

This past weekend, I made a routine shopping trip to Lowe’s. Strolling around the store, I was stunned to see a large poster marking the entry to one of the aisles: New Innovation. My first reaction was that this was … Continue reading →

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Not All Innovation Models Are Created Equal

It’s one of the most popular topics in innovation discussions: why innovation fails? How many times have you heard the following narrative? With great fanfare, the XYZ Company launches an innovation initiative. Employees are urged to submit ideas, and a … 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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