Monthly Archives: September 2010
There’s a lot of talk these days about the importance of innovation. All CEOs worth their low salt lunch want it. And they want it, of course, now. Innovation, they reason, is the competitive edge. What sparks innovation? People. What sparks people? Inspired ideas that meet a need — whether expressed or unexpressed — ideas with enough mojo to rally sustained support. Is there anything a person can do — beyond caffeine, corporate pep talks, or astrology readings — to quicken the appearance of breakthrough ideas? Yes, there is. And it begins with the awareness of where ideas come from in the first place. There are two schools of thought on this subject. The first school ascribes the origin of ideas to inspired individuals who, through a series of purposeful mental processes, conjure up the new and the different — cerebral wizards, if you will. The second school of thought … Continue reading
This is the first of several ‘Innovation Perspectives’ articles we will publish this week from multiple authors to get different perspectives on ‘Should companies treat innovation management as a core competence? And if so, how?’. Here is the initial perspective in the series: by Ric Merrifield My growing fear is that innovation is on course to become the fad of the day in the same way quality was in the 90s. For those of who missed, or were too young for it, the quality movement, it was everywhere. There was a big quality award called the Malcolm Baldridge award that top companies did everything they could to win. The premise was that everything needed to he high quality and at the time as a young Accenture employee, it actually seemed to make sense. Why wouldn’t you want everything to be high quality? These days it’s really obvious to me why … Continue reading
‘You are the average of the five people that you spend the most time with,’ says author Richard Koch. While this statement is not to be taken literally or mathematically it plainly contains a disturbingly large grain of truth. For most of us the people we choose to associate with reflect ourselves, our values, our backgrounds, our attitudes and our behaviors. Take a moment to write down the names of the five people that you spend most time with. Who are they and what are they like? Are they people you are friendly with, who share your views and interests and keep you safely within your comfort zone? Do they inspire, encourage or teach you? Do they push you to achieve more? Or are they people who limit your ambition, pull you down or restrict your view? Do they challenge your views and your thinking or simply agree with you … Continue reading
Steven Johnson is a fantastic author, and his next book is about innovation. It is called Where Good Ideas Come From, and it comes out next month. It is the result of a few years of study, where he has investigated creative, innovative environments. He explains the key points from the book in this TED talk: There are a few key points that are important for people trying to encourage innovation within organizations: Ideas are networks: Johnson maintains that innovative ideas at their most basic level are the result of new, novel connections within the mind. Just as important is the environment in which people are working. Those that regularly come into contact with people having diverse interests and viewpoints are more likely to come up with innovative ideas. Innovation = Connections – one of the key themes that we repeatedly come back to here. If we want to encourage … Continue reading
It’s well known that sensuality is a powerful force behind human decision-making (it’s a core principle of the Lovemarks approach), but even I was surprised by a recent article in the journal Science. According to the study, our sense of touch is affecting us in ways that we would have never guessed. Among other things, the study found that certain sensations have a dramatic effect on our social judgments. For instance, “heavy objects made job candidates appear more important, rough objects made social interactions appear more difficult, and hard objects increased rigidity in negotiations.” This is only the most recent in a string of findings regarding how sensuality affects our judgments. Wired recently reported that “studies have shown that kids are better at math when using their hands while thinking. Actors recall lines more easily while moving. People tend towards generosity after holding a warm cup of coffee, and are … Continue reading
There are three categories of knowing: we know we know, we don’t know, and we think we know. When we know we know – we understand fundamentals, we have a model, we have evidence, we can predict. We can build on this knowledge. We’re not often in this state, but it sure feels good when we are. The trick here is to understand the applicability of the knowledge. Change the inputs, change the system, or change the environment and we must question our knowledge. Do the fundamentals still apply? When we don’t know – no fundamentals, no model, and no predictions. No danger on building on bad knowledge. Life is uncomplicated. Next task: develop the fundamentals; build a model. We’re in this state more often than we admit, and there’s the danger. It’s politically difficult to say “I don’t know.” But it must be said. Otherwise we’re expected to predict … Continue reading
