Monthly Archives: May 2011
Innovation is driving change in the business ecosystem and the dynamics of this change are remarkably similar to those found in nature. Several years ago biologists studied the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park and its impact on plant growth. This may seem like an odd connection to explore since wolves don’t eat plants. However the elk that wolves prey on do. What researchers found was a significant ‘fear factor’ impact. Wherever visibility was low or escape difficult due to topography or other obstacles, plants like fast growing cottonwoods were significantly taller. This is apparently because elk – now fearing the wolves – browse less at those locations. In wide open spaces with good visibility, there was no significant difference in plant size. It’s a great illustration of how a single change (wolf reintroduction) had significant indirect effects that have literally changed the look of the whole landscape. Similar … Continue reading
A company in my Danish network group recently created a global innovation management department whose task it is to strengthen and systematize innovation and innovation processes in their Global Research unit as well as across the organization. The ultimate goal is to enhance and make visible the value creation that happens through targeted research and discovery activities in the enterprise as a whole. How can you set goals, which can monitor and quantify this value creation and thus boost innovation? This is a big challenge and it would be great to have a discussion that can help share insights and inspirations among the innovation community. The company asked some questions that I think work well as discussion starters: How do you assess the quality of an innovation management governance system (idea / project stage gate systems)? How do you measure innovation (i.e. the translation of something creative to something productive) … Continue reading
A lot has been written about Intellectual Property (IP) and Open Innovation. It’s not surprising, because it’s one of the thorniest problems facing collaborators. In a recent blog I talked about the importance of having a flexible approach to IP policy, ensuring that you can deliver the deal that is most appropriate to the partner and opportunity under consideration. Now I’ll turn attention to a more difficult challenge – how do you protect Open Innovation collaborations where keeping the IP secret is the best way forward? First, when should you opt for a trade secret as the way forward? Many situations result in commercial potential and the opportunity to protect it using a patent. Often the patent confers narrow protection, or the ability of your competitors to easily invent around it. Even worse, sometimes the patent discloses exactly how you are solving your problems, giving …
It is always interesting how one ‘thing’ triggers another thought, and then you reflect and learn something that helps you add a new kernel of knowledge. This happened recently while looking at the discussion topic for an upcoming #innochat that happens every Thursday at noon EDT, 5pm UK time. The question posed was “Innovation isn’t working! Is it time we innovate how we innovate.” The facilitator was Graham Hill (@GrahamHill) who attempted to moderate the flood of thoughts of 140 characters by anyone who wanted to participate. Everyone plowed in, offering thoughts or exchanges and for one hour parts of the question were ripped up and tossed around, other parts, the less tasty ones, were just left on the table. It was a twitter ‘feeding frenzy’ for people who are involved (or simply interested) in innovation matters. Fun, relevant and topical. Graham chose to provide within his briefing paper a … Continue reading
When I hear people speak about innovation, or when one sees people present innovation, most of the time it comes back to the same old talk about iPads, iPhones, iPods and other i-something in the making. Many people are still stuck to the same old pattern that innovation is all about bringing new products and technologies to the market and Apple of course is in this aspect the iCon. Not taking anything away from Apple’s capability to take innovations to the market, we do have to remember that not all companies are like Apple and that Apple’s innovations are not simply product innovations (see an earlier post of mine: “Steal ideas and create value”). There is a lot of service and business modeling part of the innovations they bring to the market. If we take innovation to a broader platform, innovation is not only about delighting the customer or investing … Continue reading
Innovation advances your company towards the future – generating new products or services, boosting profits and increasing stakeholder value. To develop Innovation, the first step is to Inspire and Initiate your organization’s members. Innovation leaders need to provide the right support, both material and emotional, to stimulate new product development (NPD). What are effective methods of inspiring innovation? For starters, keep the idea highway open to all. Good ideas can come from anywhere within your company and from any level. Communicate your innovation goals to the organization and encourage everyone’s feedback. Setting regular monthly in-person NPD meetings will ensure that the innovation process doesn’t fall off course. Hold your team members accountable for attending on time and actively participating at each meeting. Monitor progress, make new decisions and set target goals for the next meeting to steer the innovation process along. The best way to stimulate innovation is to take … Continue reading
