Monthly Archives: July 2009
Lots of people wanted the chance to win a $1,200 ticket to the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5) conference October 7-8, 2009 in Providence, RI, but here are the best entry submissions, the Three Finalists:Creating a Bachelor of Innovation by Dr. Terrance E. Boult, University of Colorado at Colorado SpringsBreaking Innovation Barriers by Looking Beyond by Vyoma Kapur, Colspark LLCA Nightmare on Innovation Street by Brad Barbera, KAB Business ResearchVoting is now open and you can vote for your favorite entry in one of two ways:Vote by adding a comment to the 1 of 3 blog posts you like bestVote by sending an @reply with “I vote for #x” to @innovate on TwitterJuly 31, 2009 – Voting by Twitter @reply to @innovate or by blog comments concludes at 23:59 (no anonymous votes will count)August 1, 2009 – Grand Prize winner announcedIf you’re unfamiliar with this excellent event, here is a video … Continue reading
This is Finalist #1 of 3 in the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5) Ticket ContestVote for this entry by leaving a comment or sending an @reply to @innovate on Twitter with “I vote for #1″ in it.This entry is about a ongoing educational innovation, a paradigm shift, offering new degrees with a common core focused on teams of students learning and practicing the key elements of the innovation process. It crosses department and college boundaries and changes the product at the very core of the university, replacing the centuries old BA and BS educational silos with a new Bachelor of Innovation™ (BI) degree family with a core built around multi-disciplinary multi-year teaming with real companies.In business, innovation from new startups is common, maybe even the norm. Yet people almost exclusively look/point to the old estabilished research universities when it comes to innovation. Many among the academe, and even the government …
This is Finalist #2 of 3 in the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5) Ticket ContestVote for this entry by leaving a comment or sending an @reply to @innovate on Twitter with “I vote for #2″ in it.If you are a scientist or an engineer, you know firsthand that innovation is neither inexpensive nor straightforward. It is a long convoluted process that starts with investing copious amounts of money into scientific and market research. Furthermore, the desired end result is not always guaranteed. Several projects, if proven less than commercially viable, are halted before they even reach the developmental stage. Others that make it through the new product life cycle take years to be completed.The importance of innovation is apparent everywhere. Companies need to constantly be in innovation-mode to remain competitive and become more productive. Government and non-government organizations, too, need to embrace innovation to progress forward. So when innovation doesn’t come … Continue reading
This is Finalist #3 of 3 in the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5) Ticket ContestVote for this entry by leaving a comment or sending an @reply to @innovate on Twitter with “I vote for #3″ in it.”Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”- Arthur AshePicture this. You’re in a large, dark basement. You need to find your way out before the boogeyman gets you. You’ve watched this boogeyman get people you know, people like you. The threat is real, and imminent. While fumbling around for a light switch that you can’t find, you stumble upon a pack of matches. You know that a match will not possibly light the entire basement. It may just light up a corridor that looks promising, but leads to a dead end. It may serve as no more than a signal to the boogeyman of where you are. But sitting in … Continue reading
Which do people prefer for sharing interesting news, articles, videos, and all around community – Ning or LinkedIn?I created an Innovation Community a year ago on Ning and to date it has 42 members.Ning had a lot of promise when it first came on the scene, but I’m not sure that it has a bright future because it hasn’t found a way to make itself an integral part of people’s lives.I created the Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn two months ago and it already has 470+ members.LinkedIn groups don’t require people to join yet another social network and build yet another profile (most people are already members of LinkedIn – or should be). LinkedIn is part of many people’s routine, and if it’s not they can sign up to receive a daily or weekly digest of group activity by e-mail.LinkedIn groups may not offer all of the functionality of Ning … Continue reading
I define innovation as an “organization’s ability to adapt and evolve repeatedly and rapidly to stay one step ahead of the competition.” A culture of innovation, when done right, gives you a competitive edge because it makes you more nimble with an increased ability to sense and respond to change.A culture of innovation has less to do specifically with new products, new processes, or new ideas. There are of course discrete innovations such as the iPhone or a battery that is powered by viruses (MIT has developed this). These are valuable and necessary in order to create a culture of innovation.But a culture of innovation is more than new ideas. It needs to be repeatable, predictable, and sustainable. This only happens when you treat innovation like you treat all other capabilities in your business. This means having, amongst other things, a defined process.An organization’s innovation process must achieve three things. … Continue reading
