Monthly Archives: September 2011
Traditional innovation metrics unwittingly undermine long-term success, because they focus senior management on tactics versus strategy. By thinking hard about the correct Input and Output metrics which best reinforce the organization’s strategy, innovation leaders have a much better likelihood of personal and institutional success. Continue reading
Breaking up is hard to do, but sometimes it is the right thing to do. Imagine my surprise when an e-mail from Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix arrived in my inbox this morning announcing that Ms. Netflix was getting an innovation divorce. Yes, Ms. Netflix has decided to send her old man packing and is no longer ashamed to tell you his name – Qwikster. Yes, Mr. Qwikster has been kicked to the curb with his DVD and Blu-Ray collection. Rumor has it Mr. Qwiskter was caught having a ‘qwikie’ with a mature video game, and Ms. Netflix decided she’d had enough. The newly independent Ms. Netflix announced she planned to devote all of her energy to her passion for streaming content now that Mr. Qwikster was out of the picture. Both hope that their individual pictures will be sharper after the breakup – and in full high-definition. … Continue reading
During the monthly sales meeting, Arnold, a new Business Development Executive and something of a gadget freak suggested: “you know those hand-held devices the delivery people at UPS use to confirm receipt of your parcel? Wouldn’t it be cool if we had a device like that so we could take clients’ orders immediately and send them to production people? It would make it so much easier to make orders, there would be fewer mistakes and production could begin sooner!” Steven, the Sales Manager smiled. He was used to outrageous ideas from the sales people. “Do you have any idea how much it would cost to equip the entire sales team with gadgets like that? Not to mention install the infrastructure for taking orders!?” In less than a minute, Steven has not only rejected Arnold’s idea, but has also ridiculed it in public. Steven has sent a very clear message to … Continue reading
You are you, and work is work, but work must fit you, not the other way around. Yet we hose it up most of the time. Most of the time it’s: “improve your weaknesses” or “close your gaps”. Make no mistake, this is code for “change yourself so you fit our work.” I say we flip it on its head; I say change your work to fit you; I say do your work differently; do it in a way that takes advantage of your strengths; do it the way you think it should be done. It’s your work; you’re the expert; you know it best. You choose. Change your work. With an uncertain economy and high unemployment, this change-the-work stuff sounds scary, but it’s scarier not to do it. Your company’s global competitiveness is weakened when you’re asked to change to fit the work; but when work changes …
When you think of the U.S., you often think of the word “opportunity”. For hundreds of years, people have immigrated to the U.S. because it was the “land of opportunity”. That isn’t to say that there aren’t many hurdles – you need an idea, skills, drive, sometimes capital, a dash of luck, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. But generally speaking, with enough of those ingredients you stand a chance of being successful. You also need to be conscious of the laws that apply to your business. If you are a restaurant, or a drug manufacturer, or make children’s toys, or do someone’s taxes, or are a doctor, or are in virtually any other industry or profession there are laws that are designed to make sure that what you are doing is safe. There are also patent laws that give protection to …
One of my favorite quotes is by George Bernard Shaw. The quote concerns itself with progress: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him… The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself, therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” The problem with this formulation is that few people enjoy being unreasonable, and many of those that we know who are unreasonable aren’t being unreasonable to advance knowledge or innovation. Many of the unreasonable people in your life are simply cranks. But let’s not miss out on the concept of unreasonableness, or, as the title of the post suggests, edginess. Innovation relies on the edge, and on edginess, for survival. Here’s why. People who are comfortable with the status quo tend to resist change and the introduction of “new” things. Most corporate cultures are far more comfortable sustaining existing products and services, which …
