Monthly Archives: June 2009
In honor of the impact that Twitter has in democratizing information, Blogging Innovation is awarding a copy of the only business book I know of with a green cover – “Rethink” by Ric Merrifield – and a quick winner’s profile on this blog, to the winner of the innovation insight contest.Vote for your favorite innovation insight before 23:59 GMT on June 30th via one of the two following channels:Twitter – Send an @reply on Twitter with the # of the entry you are voting for and @innovate AND #i140 in the body of the tweetThis will allow everyone to see the votesBlog Comment – Vote below as a comment – include the # of the entry in your voteI will announce five (5) finalists on July 1st on this blog, complete with links to their Twitter accounts.I will announce the ONE (1) winner on July 2nd via my profile on … Continue reading
Interview – Adrian Gostick of “The Carrot Principle”I had the opportunity to interview Adrian Gostick, one of the co-authors of “The Carrot Principle” about the importance of recognition to successful innovation efforts.Because innovation comes most often from engaged employees, recognition is key to moving employees from marking time to making innovation.My book review of “The Carrot Principle” can be found here.Here is the text from the interview:1. Do you feel that companies should incentivize innovation?Absolutely. We studied 200,000-people for The Carrot Principle, and a simple truth we found in that data is that people do more of that which is rewarded. If you want great customer service, you find, reward and publicize people who go above and beyond in serving your customers. If you want innovative products, service and solutions, you reward that behavior. It’s a no-brainer, but rare is the organization that actually puts this in place in a … Continue reading
A couple of weeks ago I received “The Carrot Principle” by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton in the mail. Now you might be thinking – What does a book for managers about recognition have to do with innovation?Well, as I like to say:”Innovation is a gift. What are you doing to encourage employees to give it?”Innovation comes from employees that value belonging to the organization, and that are satisfied and engaged in their roles with the organization. One of the main ways that you can create a workforce willing to gift both sustaining innovations and breakthrough innovations to the organization is by adequately recognizing employees for what they contribute to the organization. Innovation is so difficult for most organizations because most managers neglect to provide sufficient recognition to their employees.”The Carrot Principle” is a well-written book about how the best managers use recognition to engage employees, boost retention, and accelerate … Continue reading
Teaching Moves Beyond the ClassroomSomewhat surprisingly, and despite huge advances in technology and communications, very little has changed in the way we teach – either in formal educational settings or in the world of work. Whereas the ways we learn and access knowledge in our day-to-day lives are almost entirely informal, the vast majority of teaching is still done in classrooms and lecture halls. We learn through examples, trial and error and discussing ideas – with everyone acquiring knowledge at their own pace and in formats that suit them. We teach through one-size-fits-all curriculum and 60 minute classes where sharing is akin to cheating.The good news is that this is starting to change – albeit slowly – as educators and trainers are increasingly experimenting with new technologies.Making Use of Social Media ToolsSocial media would appear to lend itself neatly to education – social learning if you will. From YouTube videos … Continue reading
In honor of the impact that Twitter has in democratizing information, I’d like to give everyone a chance to win a copy of the only business book I know of with a green cover – “Rethink” by Ric Merrifield.The rules for entering the contest are simple. Send us your favorite innovation insight in 140 characters or less* via one of the two following channels:Twitter – Send your favorite innovation insight as a tweet on Twitter with @innovate AND #i140 in the body of the tweetThis will allow everyone to see all of the innovation insights submitted on Twitter by doing a search for #i140Blog Comment – Post your innovation insight below as a comment in 124 characters or lessThis is to level the playing field for people who post a comment vs. a Twitter tweet@reply and comment voting from 00:00 GMT to 23:59 GMT on June 30th will decide the … Continue reading
I had lunch yesterday with the recently-retired president of a multi-billion dollar company and we had a great conversation about innovation, leadership, and culture. He enjoys his private life so I won’t be naming any names, but I will share some of the key insights and advice for innovators that came out of the conversation.Don’t be afraid to pay people well. When people aren’t busy worrying about money, they can focus on how to get more money into the business instead of trying to figure out how to get more money out of the business for themselves. Removing money from the equation also increases the chances that employees will bring their best ideas to the business instead of leaving to create a startup based on them.If you are an innovator and want to develop your idea within the company you are working for (whether it is an incremental innovation or … Continue reading
