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FEATURED BOOK: Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire
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Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire: A Roadmap to a Sustainable Culture of Ingenuity and Purpose
Author: Braden Kelley
Price: $25.16
Description: Want to recapture your organization’s original innovative spirit? Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire helps you remove the obstacles that have crippled the innovation superpowers that made your organization successful in the first place. Helps you identify the blockages hindering innovation within your organization. Reveals the fundamental changes that will help your business rebuild its hidden or lost innovation capabilities. Explores leading innovation theories you can apply right away-without expensive consultants. Get the strategies you need to remove innovation barriers, increase profits-and change the way you do business.
Innovation Democratization: How to Get the Most Out of Your Team
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One of the first steps of achieving Innovation in the new product development process is to assemble a team. While the organization’s leader may be tempted to call in “the usual suspects”, people with a history of success in that field, it is important at this point to include fresh faces in the group. Dr. Harlan Weisman, chief science and technology officer of Medical Devices & Diagnostics at Johnson & Johnson suggests connecting people who wouldn’t normally work together* – people from different business groups, backgrounds, and skill sets. Creating a diverse environment of both men and women from different geographic regions, ethnic groups, age groups, and from a variety of functions will offer greater insight. This type of crowdsourcing opens the arena for new ideas within the organization.
After all, the path to Innovation is not always linear. It needs different perspectives working together to achieve the end goal. In fact, the greater the Innovation, the more necessary it is to include fresh perspectives. A team of “usual suspects”, experts in their field driven by past successes, may be able to take a product or service to the next level and create an incremental benefit. However, to create true ground-breaking “disruptive technology”, the process must start from a blank slate.
Once the Innovation champion assembles a team of diverse people from all levels and business backgrounds, it is key to establish trust. Only an environment that allows openness and risk-taking can produce favorable results. With the right amount of patience and shepherding, the Innovation leader can break down barriers and guide the conversation to allow for everybody’s input.
Here are some tips for the Innovation leader:
- Trust people before they earn your precious trust; and not make your trust contingent upon proving loyalty to your ideas alone.
- Devise a way to create a “safe haven” environment to coax the best out of the quieter members of the group; there will be those who have great ideas but will be reticent about piping up.
- Open dialogues and collaborative relationships with local business groups, suppliers, customers, and universities.
Democratization cuts across traditional methods and produces an environment ripe for Innovation. For more tips, *see “Robert’s Rules of Innovation: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival.”
Innovation: You Know You Want It, Now How to Implement It?
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“Successful innovation is turning ideas into money,” as Innovation expert Nic Hunt so distinctly and accurately describes. Innovation is the ability to convert ideas into value for your company, customers and shareholders. Successful innovation is not a one time deal, but a process that delivers sustained, long term profitability. Any company can develop one or two innovations over the course of time, but having a focused vision will deliver sustainable innovation - producing profitable results for your company time and time again.
Implementing innovation depends on a disciplined strategy customized to the needs, size and culture of an organization. First determine what type of innovation you hope to achieve with your organization. Innovation can be incremental, which features a new process or way of doing business, or it can be transformative, which debuts an entirely new way to deliver value. Transformative innovations are few and far in between. These true game changers open up new businesses and markets. Organizations tend to use 80% of their resources on incremental enhancements, according to a 2003 study by the London School of Business. However, be warned that companies that focus entirely on incremental innovations have difficulty keeping up with new competitors that enter the field.
Understanding what your organization needs is very important in the New Product Development process. Know your innovation status and areas for improvement by completing a short audit at www.innovationcoach.com/solutions/short-audit based on Robert’s Rules of Innovations.
Once you solidify the goals of your organization, it’s time to assemble your NPD team and begin the innovation process. Be sure to complete a few relatively easy wins with your team earlier on in the process. This will not only build equity for your program, but also gain attention from the high-ups in the organization right away.
Each organization must create their own clearly defined stages and steps of the NPD process. Here are some tips and insights for best practices.
- Do we go/no go? Set specific criteria for ideas that should be continued or dropped. Stick to the agreed upon criteria so poor projects can be sent back to the idea-hopper early on.
- Lean, mean and scalable. During the NPD process, keep the system nimble and use flexible discretion over which activities are executed. You may want to develop multiple versions of your road map scaled to suit different types and risk levels of projects.
- The rear-view mirror review. Organizations are doing launch post-mortems, with performance metrics in place, to measure project performance, establish team accountability, and build in improvements for the future. An examination of your last innovation process can gain some valuable key learnings. Foster a culture of continuous improvement in the innovation process.
For more tips and guidelines on developing the right implementation strategy, see Robert’s Rules of Innovation: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival.
$4 Per Gallon Gas = Energy Innovation
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Long lines at the gas pump weren’t the only product of the twin energy crises of the 1970s. A legislative push toward energy conservation and innovation were also born as a result.
And that’s why one expert believes the skyrocketing price of oil will do the same in 2011.
“History has proven that innovation in the energy industry has almost always been driven by high consumer prices,” said Robert Brands, a veteran corporate executive who now consults with companies worldwide and author of Robert’s Rules of Innovation. “When we had cheap and abundant oil – and low gas prices – during the 1980s, energy exploration and innovation slowed to a halt. We didn’t need it, and we didn’t see an end in sight to the steady stream of oil from the Middle East. So, investors held back funds for new technologies, oil companies stood pat and conservation became a four-letter word.”
According to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, more than $172 billion dollars of government money was spent on new energy technology between 1961 and 2008, with the bulk of it being used during the 1970s. In the 1980s, the spending accounted for only 1 percent of all federal investment.
Brands believes that oil companies, besieged by Congress over taking huge tax breaks amid record profit reports, could earn some much needed political points by taking history’s cue and putting some of that money back into energy innovations.
“When you look at the broad spectrum of what the oil companies are making and compare it to the rate of innovation in alternative energy, it’s like comparing Mount Kilimanjaro to a grape,” Brands said. “Now, most consumers aren’t aware of that truth, because oil companies and ad agencies are very good at making it look like alternative energy is humming along when it’s not. While consumers may not connect those dots, they are very aware of the headlines that show record oil company profits combined with massive tax breaks – especially during a time when federal deficits are threatening them, their children and their children’s children. Today’s energy innovation is a fraction of the total and what should be spend. What’s more, the same old song and dance the oil companies offer with regard to touring how much of a percentage their research and development expenditures are as compared to revenue is a joke, and absolutely no guarantee of success.”
Brands wants oil companies to spark innovation not only because of the positive press it will net, but also because it’s the right thing to do.
“The truth is that many scientists are beginning to calculate an end to the fossil fuel era, because one day, we will run out,” Brands added. “Innovation in this area has been driven by high prices and it has been driven by shortages. When we begin to run out, we’ll experience both, and it will be too late to innovate. We need to do it now, when our resources to commit to it are abundant.”
About Robert Brands
Robert F. Brands, a veteran of companies like GTE, Kohler and Rexam, is president and founder of InnovationCoach.com. Having gained hands-on experience in bringing innovation to market, creating and improving the necessary product development processes and needed culture, he delivered and exceeded bringing “at least one new product per year to market” resulting in double digit profitable growth and shareholder value.
New Product Development Requires Fresh Perspective
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Developing a new product can be an exciting process for your team; it can also be disastrous if the process is absent of outside perspectives. One of the most important aspects of the development stage is to actively seek out a new perspective on product ideas.
All too often, managers become too comfortable with their existing team. While your employees have gained invaluable experience learned from working at your company, an outside, unbiased outlook and opinion on your proposed new product is essential. New viewpoints offer insights you aren’t likely to get from existing employees, and can reflect the reaction some of your intended target clientele may have. This allows you to alter your new product based on relevant reviews from fresh perspectives.
It is important to keep the idea funnels wide open. Keep your finger on the pulse of your marketplace in order to not miss any untapped opportunities. This approach widens the innovation highway, allowing multiple and diverse opinions to help you determine the best possible result for your new product.
New product development is a long and challenging process. Acknowledging that your market is inherently diverse and welcoming reviews from each and every demographic will ensure the most universally appealing product for your company. Keeping an open mind to new ideas is one of the single best approaches you can take towards developing new products in the future.
Innovation is a complex concept to fully, genuinely grasp. Look for Robert’s Rules of Innovation to understand more about the key to your company’s survival.
Key Innovations of 2010
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The end of the year is a great time to reflect on your companies Innovation performance. Did you deliver your Innovation Goals, maybe the “One new Product or Service per year”? As a business leader, what are your New Year’s resolutions for your company? As you think about the future of your company and how to make your business grow, implementing sustainable Innovation should be your top priority for 2011. Innovation is the lifeblood of any company and the only way to stay ahead of the competition.
Let’s take a look back at the Top Brand Innovations of 2010:
For example, probably the most Innovative company this year: Apple.
April 3, 2010 – Apple’s highly anticipated iPad launches in the U.S., selling 300,000 units that day with approximately 8 million units sold to date (CNET).
June 2010 - The iPhone 4 is introduced, featuring video calling capabilities and a sleek stainless steel design.
June 2010 – Apple updates its latest design of the Mini Mac.
September 2010 - Apple refreshes its iPod line of MP3 players to include a multi-touch iPod Nano, an iPod Touch with FaceTime video calling and an iPod Shuffle with buttons.
October 2010 – Apple introduces the new MacBook Air laptop with the iLife suite of applications and a Mac OS X Lion operating system.
After over 30 years in business, Apple continues to deliver a steady stream of new and refreshed products year after year. It’s easy to see why competitors have to be on top of their game to compete with Apple in the consumer electronics market. It’s Innovate or Perish.
Innovation is key in delivering profitable growth. Looking to start consider looking into Robert’s Rules of Innovation. Industry veteran Robert Brands gives the imperatives for how to create and sustain Innovation. With over 25 years of experience in creating innovative, breakthrough products at Kohler Company, Sylvania, Philips Lighting and Airspray, Robert Brands shares real life examples of what makes New Product Development teams succeed while others fail.
Don’t get left behind in the New Year; make sure your company has the roadmap to successful innovation implementation.
Happy New Year!
Innovation(3) Crowdsourcing, Culture and Tools Summit Part 2
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Innovation(3)
Crowdsourcing, Culture and Tools Summit
Doubletree ,Orlando, FL
http://www.worldrg.com/showConference.cfm?confCode=MW10005
Follow us on Twitter #i310 and @innovationrules
Part 2, Day 1 Dec. 9
Motorola’s Think Tank Idea Exchange: Leveraging the Power of Decision Markets to identify Valuable Ideas (Rami Levy, Motorola Open Source)
Wisdom of the Crowd…
Every new idea is constructed upon existing ideas… (like Shakespeare)
Pre 2007- Idea- ThinkTank-Idea queues-> Value
17,000 idea’s today…100 idea’s a month
Filter through Voting and Discussion Forums
Added TIX Thinktank Idea Exchange, combining ideas
Collective Intelligence Markets: Predictive :News, Political, Misc. sources or Decision Markets
Crowds need to be diverse, Independent and decentralized,
Markets need to aggregate results and have incentives
Ideas are approached as Stock, 5 votes and becomes stock, 30 day window
Incentivize: three “R” Rewards Recognition Recreation
Recognition of top traders, originators, promoters
“Keep Market fresh” periodically add ideas
Social interactive tools used
Voting participation and discussions are growing
17K Prioritized ideas , 5 or more vote 900, vote winners 140 (8%)…
Before Tix 180 days , now 89…
-Openness key to success
-Decision Markets help prioritize
-TIX to use crows to decide
Trading took a while to be accepted, play money
Turning Open Innovation into Business Results (Steve Hoover, Xerox)
To get scale in idea funnel…
Go beyond transactional view
Don’t forget Open Innovation Inside
Consider multiple models
Open up the black box
Innovation requires change
Innovation Framework, what and how you innovate
Transactional vs Strategic
Ideally towards ecosystem design, growth and sustenance vs Traditional product development
Involve and incentivize customers
Two Initiatives: CrossThink : Idea gathering and selection tool. Discuss, review, build. Idea Selection process key, involve associates, not just management
Focus, Targeted area, limited time…
Gold mining, prospecting vs farming
XTIN, Xerox Technology Incubation Network: Like minded interest, connect and build. Small budget, “angel investment like”, mile stone driven
Open Xerox Web Portal http://open.xerox.com
How scale: look for Complementary Assets
Looking for Mega trend analysis: globalization, technology, environment etc.
Early and deep customer understanding, when was the last time you tried your product or service?
Dreaming with your customers…
Opening the Black Box: Open Innovation needs to look at the ten types of innovation
PARC as agent of Open Innovation
Innovation means change…
Acquisition as Open Innovation, expansion into services business, ACS Xerox’s service provider.
Delivering smarter business processes
Kraft on Innovating : The How we Innovate (Steve Goers, Kraft)
World’s #2 Food co., 11 billion dollar Brands, 5% growth challenge
Innovation is the fuel to drive growth.
Global development challenge. Mission Critical: Need leading edge Innovation capabilities: Innovation-enabling Competencies -3:
-Knowledge Management
-Open Innovation, leverage what other’s know
-IP management
The Inventing Delicious Framework and Toolbox , What and How
Corp/Buss Unit Strategy, Techn Challenge/Needs
Intel gathering, What do we know, what do others know…
IP Strategy. Development
Key questions by step…
Framework enabler/derailer:
-Time: Need for speed
-Access, User friendly tools
-Value Add, recognize value
Clear benefits of best practices; Increase Innovation capacity
Kraft has great knowledge management system (sharepoint ) plus global R&D suite
Using BrightIdea Cooking up new Idea’s
Monthly success story sharing
Lots of training.
Hub and Spoke in OI :
Hub :Tools, Process, Culture.
Spoke: Scout, Content, Collaborate
The wheel different product groups are now sharing and communicating
Key learning:
Addressing culture and behavior change #1 priority
Build capabilities
Tools user friendly/intuitive
Share case studies
Get buy in…
Using the Alliance Framework to Develop High Quality Collaborative Relationships (Gene Slowinski, Rutgers U.)
Growth is what it is all about, Tool =Open Innovation
Lipton tea case study. Compete with Snapple, need distribution/bottlers…alliance with Pepsi , cost capital zero, access to distribution instant.
OI Model
Want Find Get Manage Model:
What ext resources do we need to succeed in our mission
Find: What mechanisms will we use to find these resources
Get: What Process use to negotiate agreement
Manage : What Tools to measure/manage
The Alliance Framework: do things quick, win win, commitment from all stakeholders
Alliance fail due to none alliance
Consider Alliance Framework elements, above and below the line
Rights to use matrix Tool
Look for Reinventing Corp Growth
Efficiently Integrating New Tools to facilitate an Innovation network (Mary Lou Tierney The Mitre Corp)
Holistic approach to Innovation
Think broadly about Innovation management
Used BrightIdea and Spigit, cross firewall challenges
Idea collection and participation< great thread depth
Broad and deep participation
Dont measure transactional data
Launch of 5 month process, knowledge management process, metrics and analytics.
Ideas, submitted, threads created, and voted
Lessons Learned: Communicate, Communicate
Champions
Process ripe for change
Use of visual triggers that are familiar, internal as well as external
Looking at Innovation Tournaments
Please focus on idea gathering vs selection process
Rethink: A Business Manifesto for Cutting Costs and Boosting Innovation
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Rethink: A Business Manifesto for Cutting Costs and Boosting Innovation
Author: Ric Merrifield
Price: $18.24
Description: It’s the trap that ensnares virtually every business. We focus on process: “how” we’re doing the job. And we forget about the bigger issue: “what” we’re doing and “why” we’re doing it. That’s why we’re leaving so much value on the table. In Rethink, business architect Ric Merrifield exposes this problem with vivid examples and introduces breakthrough techniques for overcoming it.
The New Age of Innovation
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Author: C.K. Prahalad
Date Published: 4/08/2008
Price: $29.95
Description: Prahalad and Krishnan show us how innovation will be driven by the seamless integration of strategy, business processes, technology, and people. While this may seem an insurmountable task, the authors delight the reader by creating an architectural framework for business transformation. I have yet to come across a book that offers such a clear roadmap.”-S. Ramadorai CEO Tata Consultancy Services
