Social media is a giant cocktail party. I am not the first person to point this out, as the existence of this book would suggest (I haven't read it but since the author's title confirms my opinion, I am inclined to believe it's brilliant). I recently attended an interesting presentation at the Business Innovation Factory by Francois Gossieaux, author of The Hyper-Social Organization: Eclipse Your Competition by Leveraging Social Media. His main theme was that in order to successfully leverage web 2.0, you need to understand human 1.0. According to Gossieaux, businesses should worry less about what the latest and greatest technology can do and think more about the fundamental human behavior it can facilitate. He argues that humans are instinctively social creatures and the same basic principles apply online as they do in face-to-face interactions. I could not agree more. Yet so many social media marketing efforts ignore common courtesy and exhibit behavior you couldn't get away with at a cocktail party. I must admit I am guilty of committing some of these sins myself, but hey, we are all still learning the best way to play in the world of social media, aren't we? Here are 5 personality types that are sure to ruin the party.
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Topics:
Chris Dolan,
Social Media,
strategy
In case you missed them, here are our picks for the Top 10 Tweets for the month of April (a slight twist on Top 10 Retweets, but isn't that what innovation is about, change?)
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Topics:
Chris Dolan,
Clay Maxwell,
Ideas,
Amanda Hines,
David Culton,
Twitter,
Innovation
Flipping through the channels over the weekend, I came across one of my favorite movies of all time: Old School. Like the subject of this clever Onion article, I ended up neglecting my plans and re-watching this comedy classic in its entirety. I saw the movie from a whole new perspective, a business innovation perspective. The movie is fundamentally about a group of guys implementing a seemingly absurd idea that breaks the mold. They are creative problem solving geniuses. Believe it or not, this comedy can teach us all a few things about business opportunities, innovation initiatives, and creative problem solving skills. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from this hilarious movie and the serious insights they contain.
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Topics:
Chris Dolan,
open-minded evaluation,
Innovation,
creative problem solving skills
It seems that every magazine article I have picked up lately has related directly to creativity and innovation. The trend continued this morning, when I discovered the The Atlantic's special culture report on How Genius Works. In Project: First Drafts, the magazine asks some of the world's most creative and famous artists to explain their process of turning inspiration into art. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the feature.
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Topics:
Chris Dolan,
creativity,
creative problem solving,
creative problem solving skills
In
The Possibilian, a riveting
New Yorker profile of the neuroscience and Renaissance man Dr. David Eagleman, Burkhard Bilger explores our understanding of time. Eagleman is obsessed with understanding how the human brain processes time and whether that perception is influenced by one's mental state. For example, does fear make time slow down? This is just one of the many topics that interest Eagleman. The article is well worth a close read, and I also recommend checking out the
transcript of the chat Bilger and Ealgeman hosted. Here, I would like to highlight three key takeaways that relate to innovation and creative problem solving.
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Topics:
Chris Dolan,
creative problem solving,
creative problem solving skills
Here's a quote we would like to share with you on this one day of the year when we are all allowed to have some fun and be a little "foolish:"
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Topics:
Chris Dolan,
Clay Maxwell,
Jay Terwilliger,
Amanda Hines,
David Culton,
Absurdity,
Tamara Wickramasinghe,
April Fools',
Innovation
A client recently impressed me with their willingness to use a powerful word that is rarely allowed to enter into the pursuit of innovation: the word "STOP." So often, innovation efforts are focused exclusively around invention sessions that lay out all sorts of potential new possibilities and opportunities. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement and wonder of it all. Invention is the fun part.
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Topics:
Chris Dolan,
Stop innovation,
Resource Allocation,
Saying No,
implementation
Here are the best innovation-related articles I read in January and found worthy of sharing on Twitter.
Topics:
Chris Dolan,
creativity,
Business Model,
Healthcare,
Army,
Entrepreneurial,
Innovation,
Obama
Innovation is a collaborative effort. In order for a flashy new idea to get off the ground and lead to successful busines growth, it needs to have sufficient support and air cover. In Hillary Clinton's words "it takes a village." Or in the case of this brilliant video, it takes a motley crew of hippies on a grassy field at a concert.
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Topics:
Chris Dolan,
Absurdity,
First Follower,
Fast Follower,
WildCards
Two weeks ago, I attended the PDMA 2010 Global Conference, where innovators gathered and traded tips on the latest in innovation business practices. Several themes consistently emerged from the various presentations – the emergence of open source ideation, the importance of engaging the customer, and a shift toward business model innovation, to name a few. Reflecting on the conference, I got to thinking about the business trends that seem to be unfolding. Innovation is happening not just in product development, but in how businesses are run. What does the company of the future look like? Here are 10 predictions for 2020. Some of these developments are a lready happening on a large scale, others are more esoteric. Although stemming from things I have read or heard, these predictions are admittedly (un)educated guesses. If any of these predictions came to fruition, they would undoubtedly bring with them new set of challenges, but I believe that in each case, the opportunity far outweighs the complications.
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Topics:
Chris Dolan,
Future,
Stage Gate,
trends,
Open Source,
20% Time,
20 Percent Time,
Innovation
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