William Bostick over at Core77 wrote a terrific post called “How (Not) To Write Like a Designer.” Design thinking is how I prefer to think about my style of problem solving. I’m not alone…IDEO and Stanford’s D School coined the term, and Tim Brown’s blog is all about it. But what I liked about this particular post was that it talked about writing as design. In other words, writing as designer thinking and problem solving. And anything that reads, “…you work with contraints to find elegant solutions to complex problems…” is sure to catch my eye. I put William’s five points to the test in reflecting on my process in writing In Pursuit of Elegance, and in the eventual work product.1. Use Your SkillsBostick says ask: Who’s this for? What’s the big idea? What are the pieces I’m using? In developing the proposal for the book, all of those questions … Continue reading
Businesses Can Be Good Stewards Of Our Societiesby Idris MooteeInnovation takes many forms, but social innovation is the least understood form, and today there are pressing needs and urge for the creation, adoption and diffusion of innovations. Innovation’s several forms include: technological, organizational, product, service, business model, etc. The term ‘social innovation’ has come into common parlance in recent years. Some may consider social innovation no more than a passing fad, but many entrepreneurs and social scientists see significant value in the concept of social innovation because it identifies a critical type of innovation. Social innovations will probably be the most significant innovation type in the next decades. Some distinguish social innovation from business innovation, and identify a subset of social innovations that requires government support, which I totally disagree with. Business innovation should have a socal innovation component when we think about sustainability. A good business strategy needs to … Continue reading
In recent months I have observed a decent amount of politically correct discourse on the topic of team building and equality. The gist of the argument seems to be that for teams to be productive, employees have to feel ‘empowered’ by having an equal voice. I can sum-up my feeling on this in one word – ‘ridiculous’. To be blunt, the concept of equality in the workplace has only made team building more difficult as employees seem to have a sense of undeserved entitlement with regard to their roles and responsibilities. And as odd as it may sound, one of the greatest impediments to building productive teams is practicing management by consensus. In today’s post I’ll share my thoughts on team building and equality…Hear me loud and clear… While all men and women may be created equal, they are certainly not all equals in the workplace. While the thought that … Continue reading
What do jazz and innovation have in common?Quite a bit.Many years ago, in 24/7 Innovation, I wrote…”Most businesses are run like classical symphonies – long, with elaborate compositions (detailed workflows) that leave little room for interpretation. Employees are expected to follow these compositions rote.Unfortunately, by the time they learn the score, the music would have to be changed. This organizational symphony no longer works in today’s age of change.Instead we need jazz-like organizations. Innovation is not random. In fact, it emerges best when there is a structure to nurture it, much like jazz in the world of music. Jazz is heavy on innovation (‘improvisation’ in musical terms). Just as innovation is not random, neither is improvisation. Jazz has a simple structure, like 12-bar, B-flat blues. It has a rhythm, chord progression, and tempo.Businesses need much the same to succeed: Simple structures that allow innovation to emerge, in the moment, when … Continue reading
I briefly followed a Twitter conversation yesterday afternoon that attempted to define what a real entrepreneur is. It stemmed from one individual’s frustration that some small company employees considered themselves entrepreneurs, even though they did not own or start the company.I wonder if it matters. Furthermore, I love the idea of employees – at big companies and small – thinking of themselves like entrepreneurs. Forget about the technical requirements of an entrepreneur for a minute. What constitutes a set of entrepreneurial attributes that employees could emulate?1. Customer-Centric ThinkingSuccessful entrepreneurs are obsessed with their customers – what they want, how they want it, and their reaction/feedback to everything big and small. Successful entrepreneurs talk to customers every day to get feedback, build relationships, and help the customers themselves help evolve and grow the business.2. No Unnecessary SpendingEntrepreneurial employees treat every dime as if it were their own. Do we …
Recently a number of bloggers and Tweeters have linked to an interview with Greg Bialecki, who works for the governor of Massachusetts on economic development. The question posed to Bialecki was “What is the appropriate role for state government in accelerating innovation?”. Bialecki does a good job of straddling the many sides of the question, noting that many businesses are against more government involvement, since they believe it will lead to regulation and taxes, or favortism.But the question is a good one. At any level of government, from a city to state or province to a federal or national government, what is the appropriate role for the government in an innovation policy or strategy? It seems to me to break down into three likely outcomes.The first is based on the Apollo program. In this instance the government identifies a significant need or opportunity and challenges itself and industry to achieve … Continue reading
One of the questions I’m frequently asked by corporate leaders struggling to manage in the current environment is how far to go with their cost-cutting measures. With their companies suffering sales declines, they’ve got to trim somewhere to maintain profitability (and in some cases to stay afloat), but they don’t want to cut the wrong things. Recent moves by Jean-Paul Agon, CEO of L’Oreal, offer a good example. The luxury cosmetics maker has had a difficult year so far, in part because it “scrimped” on brand promotion, reports the Wall Street Journal. In light of this Agon knew he had to cut back, but he has done so wisely. He launched a reorganization plan which included a hiring freeze. He trimmed travel expenses and even closed three factories. What Agon did not do was cut off the company’s lifeblood, marketing and R&D. Says Agon, “We’re strengthening our media and promotion. … Continue reading
