Monthly Archives: July 2011
In case you think “how to be more creative” ideas aren’t real techniques used by people in more creatively-oriented industries, a recent Entertainment Weekly article shows that’s not the case. In an interview-based article called, “Kids at Heart,” directors Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams talked about their careers, their creative relationship, and the movie Super 8. The how-to’s of creativity fascinate me, and I’m always up for listening to practitioners talk about the techniques and perspectives infusing their creative processes. Here are eight creative lessons from the guys behind Super 8. 1. Collaborate with People Stronger than You It can be intimidating to be paired up with a creative force having more experience or notoriety. But what better way to be more creative? While Abrams says that working with Spielberg leaves him “paralyzed with disbelief” at times, he views Spielberg as his creative “consigliere.” 2. Focus Your Creativity When developing … Continue reading
Interview – Navin Kunde, Ph.D. – The Clorox Company I had the opportunity to interview Navin Kunde, Partnerships Manager for The Clorox Company, about open innovation strategy, importance of an innovation culture, and . Here is the text from the interview: 1. Do you feel that companies need an innovation strategy? If so, where does open innovation fit in? Yes, every business needs an innovation strategy, but this must be aligned with corporate and business-unit strategy. Open innovation complements what the company can do (or chooses to do) internally. 2. Why is it important for organizations to consider participating in open innovation or why did your organization begin its open innovation effort? Clorox started on the OI journey over a decade ago with supplier win-balancing partnerships, where we awarded long-term contracts to innovative suppliers to help “pay” for the “commercialize-able” innovation they brought to us. We were able to tap … Continue reading
Everyone is talking about innovation these days. There is probably not a company on the planet that does not claim that innovation is a critical component of its future. We are getting new queries almost daily on how we can help organizations become more innovative. Yet, companies are slow to act. I recently spoke to the innovation manager in a large, well known multinational. He complained that even he has problems selling innovative ideas to the very management that gave him his position to help the company innovate better. Then, one day last week while responding to a query from a major scientific institution, it dawned on me: the first step any business ought to make on the road to innovation is to prepare an Innovation Manifesto, have the CEO and top managers sign it off and display it prominently in their organization. To make matters easier for you – … Continue reading
