Monthly Archives: February 2011
Is constant multitasking wearing you down and eroding your effectiveness as a business leader? Here are five steps for recapturing your time, attention and productivity: 1. Focus. Focus starts with having a very clear definition of what winning looks like for your organization. Be as specific as possible. What will it look like at the end of 2011 when you have been insanely successful? What key operating achievements will you have accomplished? Who will your customers be and how will you serve them? What products will you have in the market and in the development pipeline? Who will your competitors be and how will they compete against you? What will your brand represent? To help you stay focused, stage your field of vision by keeping your goals and objectives in front of you throughout the day. Put them on your computer screen and carry them with you. Set up task … Continue reading
One of my favorite authors is Ismail Kadare from Albania. Over Valentine’s weekend, my husband and I had a romantic discussion of the Mid-East (ok, we’re ‘different’). Trust me, these are related. The media compares Egypt’s future to either Iran or what? Pakistan? Indonesia? Turkey? Always to other Mid-East, Asia, or Asia Minor countries (yes, Turkey straddles both continents, in so many ways). No one compared Egypt to any European country. I kept thinking about Albania (now see the link?). Having read Kadare’s books and learning a bit of Albanian history and ‘freedom’ post-1989, it seemed Albania could be just as likely a model for Egypt as any of the others. Kind of wondered if I wasn’t a bit nuts with this analogy until Monday 2/14’s WSJ article by Matthew Kaminski. So what in the world does this have to do with strategy and innovation? Everything! When we start creating our organization’s strategic direction (which should be a living, … Continue reading
I am continuously asked what would happen if Steve Jobs left Apple, or as he sometimes put it, if he “got hit by a bus.” I tell people that Steve is not replaceable as a charismatic, visionary leader of a consumer-product-centric company, but that he can be replaced by a triumvirate to carry on his legacy. Apple will have a new CEO but he, or she, will fill only one part of Steve’s role. Jonathan Ive, the modest Brit who breathed life into the designs of the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad, will continue to dream up designs for products everyone wants to use and own. Phil Schiller will continue to dream up product concepts, laying the path for the future of technology. One of several contenders will take over Steve’s role as the driving force over the unsung teams who translate the visions into software, hardware components, and the … Continue reading
Perhaps one of the most significant barriers to innovation is what we think we know, or “facts” that we are confident are correct. As several cognitive experts have demonstrated, the more you know about a topic, the more difficult it becomes to imagine not knowing what you know. In other words, the very knowledge and expertise that you have in a field often makes it difficult to create something radically new and different. Think about this for a minute and the evidence is all around you. When we gather to generate ideas, typically there are a number of experienced people in the room, usually with a lot of experience in the topic you are interested in. Yet many of these sessions end in rather incremental, ho-hum ideas, and little that’s really radical or unique. Often that’s because the people in the room are so accustomed …
Do you view yourself as a self-made man or woman? If you do, you may want to take another look in the mirror. If your pride, ego, arrogance, ignorance, the way you were raised, or any other excuse (yes I did say excuse) keeps you from recognizing the contributions of others, then it’s time for a wake-up call. I hate to break it to you, but you don’t know everything or everybody, so why even bother pretending you do? As much as some people won’t want to hear this, “help” is not a dirty word. Realizing that you need help is a sign of leadership maturity, and asking for help is a sign of leadership savvy. If you want to raise your leadership game to a new level then learn to operate beyond the limitations of your own personal bubble and make yourself easy to help… I don’t know about … Continue reading
How can I define the ideal innovation model for my organization? This is a difficult question which people responsible for improving innovation at their organization encounter. And that’s where the questioning starts: Should I implement an Idea Program or a department for New Business Development? Should I implement and innovation department or each department should have someone responsible for innovation coordination? Should I create an internal venture capital fund or departments should manage their own resources for innovation? Should we invest in small technology companies or should I develop the technologies internally? Should I partner more with suppliers and/or universities? The list of questions is endless and the definition of the model many times seems to become too complex. Here some advice on how to simplify this. When you build an innovation model for your company it is important to remember a few things: The competitive context and company situation … Continue reading
