Category Archives: Innovation

Innovation: Governments Matter

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Eugene Ivanov

In a recent post, I presented evidence that the ability of a country to innovate correlates with the level of political freedoms in this country. To make this argument, I used innovation rankings from the 12th (2019) edition of the Global Innovation … Continue reading →

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On Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, and Fast Horses

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Eugene Ivanov

A solid consensus seems to exist that customer feedback, gathered through market research, is a key to successful innovation. And yet, I’m surprised how often one can hear dissenting voices. Some folks, especially not engaged in day-to-day innovation activities, claim … Continue reading →

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The Words We Choose

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Eugene Ivanov

In a recent HBR article “Stop Calling It Innovation,” Nadya Zhexembayeva suggests ditching the term “innovation.” Her point? Employees hate innovation. Rightly or wrongly, they associate innovation with undue risk, extra work without reward, and even job loss. As a … Continue reading →

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The “French perfume” innovation

Posted on February 3, 2020 by Eugene Ivanov

(This post originally appeared on Medium) I grew up in the Soviet Union and know a thing or two about the shortage of goods. The perennial chasing of hard-to-get stuff had instilled in me and my compatriots one simple habit: … Continue reading →

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Detecting cancer in a-intelligent way

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Eugene Ivanov

Good news from the front lines of the War on Cancer. The American Cancer Society reported the sharpest drop in cancer death rates in the United States between 2016 and 2017. The 2.2% drop, the biggest single-year drop on record, … Continue reading →

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If not Google, then who?

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Eugene Ivanov

Is Jeff Bezos upset with the U.S Department of Defense’s decision to award a lucrative $10 billion contract not to Amazon but to Microsoft instead? You bet. But he still firmly believes that U.S. tech companies must work with the … Continue reading →

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Innovation and U.S. National Security

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Eugene Ivanov

The important role innovation plays in economic growth and prosperity of the world’s nations is well documented. A recent report by the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs, highlights the crucial … Continue reading →

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Being an expert: traveling the same road again and again

Posted on November 24, 2019 by Eugene Ivanov

There are several reasons for the slow adoption of crowdsourcing as a practical problem-solving tool. One of them is the lack of trust in the intellectual power of the crowd, its ability to tackle complex problems. Almost everyone would agree … Continue reading →

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“Fail often” but not too often

Posted on November 18, 2019 by Eugene Ivanov

“Failing fast and often” has become an innovation mantra. Of course, not everyone takes this wisdom at face value. Even more tellingly, no one has taken the trouble to explain what “fast” and “often” precisely mean when applied to failure. … Continue reading →

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Crowdsourcing: two approaches, two objectives

Posted on November 13, 2019 by Eugene Ivanov

In my previous post, I reminded the original definition of crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe: “the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people … Continue reading →

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