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On Day 2 of the PDMA2010 innovation conference Dan Pink gave a fascinating talk about motivation in the workplace. Pink is the best-selling author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Coincidentally, he is also a man with an understated sense of humor and tone that is vaguely reminiscent of Kevin Nealon. Unfortunately, he did not do any Weekend Update style under-his-breath uttering of his inner thoughts, however he did offer several counterintuitive insights on motivation.
Topics: Chris Dolan, Motivation, Passion, Innovation, leadership, Management
What starts off as a well-intentioned gesture- to invite some friends out to dine and catch up on our busy lives, to relax- almost always becomes a source of anxiety and frustration for me and, I’d be willing to bet, for a few of you reading this as well.
Topics: Amanda Hines, Innovation, decision-making
Product launches are complex. That was the main takeaway of the PDMA 2010 Lab E – Launch for Commercial Success which I had the privilege of attending today. The session kicked off with an apt and literal example: a NASA shuttle launch. When NASA launched the Saturn V rocket, its engineers were depending on the successful integration of 2 million distinct systems. 2 million! And, as Richard Koppel pointed out, NASA operates in a space (get it?) where getting it right the first time is “mission critical” – if something goes wrong, not only are millions of dollars wasted, but people die. Fortunately, product launches are not as high stakes as shuttle launches, but you still want to ensure your innovation is brought to market as seamlessly as possible. So how do you launch successfully given all of the variables, risks and uncertainties inherent in the process? Here are the top 7 themes of the day which will help you make sure all systems are go when you blastoff.
Topics: Innovation Roadmap, Launch, Product Launch, Design, Brand Experience, Chris Dolan, Innovation, Cross Functional Teams, Risk, M.A.S.H
At Creative Realities, we have identified five essentials for innovation. These are attitudes and behaviors that will make even the best-planned and best-executed innovation processes easier to pursue. In our experience, no innovation effort can reach its full potential without these five innovation essentials:
Topics: Learning From Failure, Educated Gut, Innovation, Cross Functional Teams, Pursuit of Ideas, Essentials for Innovation
Where do ideas come from? I recently came across this fascinating interview from Wired Magazine in which authors Keven Kelly and Steven Johnson discuss the "natural history" of innovation and technology. Together, Kelly and Johnson provide what I can only describe as an evolutionary/biological/anthropological perspective on the history of new ideas. I highly reccomend reading the entire article, but here are a few key insights to keep in mind in any pursuit of innovation.
Topics: Chris Dolan, Core Competencies, Innovation, Collaboration, connection making
Topics: Clay Maxwell, Innovation, innovation consulting, breakthrough, new product development
Topics: David Culton, convergent thinking, Innovation, growth, implementation, execution
Topics: Jay Terwilliger, Innovation, leadership, strategic innovation, strategy, growth, implementation
In these trying times, consumers these days are looking for creative ways to stretch their dollar; to prioritize their spending – needs vs. wants – while trying to lessen the compromise of their quality of life.
Topics: Amanda Hines, DIY, creative, creative thinking, Innovation
As I write this, I have “It’s a small world” doing laps in my head. In our world of innovation consulting, I am constantly struck by the relevance of seemingly irrelevant things to our clients, even from one client to another. Whether operating in different industries, on dramatically different scales – e.g. producing 250 pieces per year versus 250 million – it seems everyone has something to offer everyone. For example, on a recent “Immersion” – a visit to a client’s customer site – a company that creates massive valves for pipelines (I mean massive, like feet and feet across) and does so on a very small scale was able to give our client, a sensor company producing tiny little sensors in the millions, 6 or 7 compelling ways sensors could apply in their space(s). The two companies, as different as can be, are now working on combining forces, even sharing manufacturing insights! Absolutely incredible. Thus, my theory that everyone has something they can offer to anyone and everyone. The takeaway: don’t discredit anything because at first glance it seems irrelevant. Have faith in the power of the absurd (Einstein said, “If at first an idea does not seem completely absurd then there’s no hope for it”) and play with that creative fodder. More often than not a creative idea is not an idea that is completely new to the world, rather an idea that applies something that already exists in a new way. So, relieve that creative pressure, the performance anxiety, and you will find new things in unexpected places, and you’ll be on your way to achieving truly breakthrough innovation!
Topics: creativity, Clay Maxwell, Innovation, innovation consulting, breakthrough innovation
