Monthly Archives: October 2011
Mark Twain, once said, “name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.” He was right. Most innovations and breakthroughs come from mistakes, serendipity, false starts, set backs, and misapplications. Many innovations were unplanned and unexpected. Continue reading
So, the question becomes, what is your CIO – chief innovation obstacle – when it comes to innovation? And, by the way, the CIO is not necessarily permanent and not consistent initiative to initiative. In one initiative, good ideas may be blocked by existing products. In another initiative, innovation may be stymied by existing culture. In yet another attempt, innovation may be slowed by inadequate resources or a lack of funding. Continue reading
In psychology and life mistakes are powerful levers for discovery and future success. For Kahneman they are the key to understanding human nature. In business today’s mis-steps are tomorrow’s side-steps, making us more agile, dangerous and competitive. If you’re not making mistakes and learning you’re missing something big. So fail fast, learn fast, fix fast. Continue reading
From a standing start, a financial services company had two decades of very strong growth. They were entrepreneurial and opportunistic. New products, services, and distribution channels evolved and developed as the leaders passionately pulled the organization toward their vision. But its growth wasn’t always a pretty sight. Continue reading
Plenty of people are piling on Netflix, and I don’t want to be a Monday-morning quarterback and question CEO Reed Hastings for his decision to backtrack after splitting the company in two. Netflix had already riled its customers with a price hike and apparently wasn’t prepared for the hue and cry the split would create. That’s easy to see in retrospect. Continue reading
Innovation, that perennial favorite, has recently lost some of its luster. While people are still keen on pointing out that corporations need to encourage and manage innovation, there is an increasing amount of evidence that challenges the simplified tale that innovation, as it is currently understood, will solve all our problems. Continue reading
