New and Improved Innovation Blog Site

Innovation? It's Not YOUR Job... Or, Is It?

What happens when no one takes responsibility for innovation? It’s a slap in the face!  On the other hand, when people dig in and take on making things happen, great things happen.  Find out more here:

 

Posted via email from newandimproved's posterous

Gator Brain Podcast - Free!

Interested in refreshing your memory about what you've learned about the Gator Brain?   Want to play our favorite game, "Real or Bogus?"  Download this and you can have listen to N & I on your computer with our podcast called:

"Your Brain and Creativity & Innovation." 
Listen to this podcast by clicking HERE.

Let us know what you think...
(Please comment below!)

New Chrysler CEO Shows Where He Stands Based on Where He Sits

Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Fiat, and now also the CEO of Chrysler, indicates that he will not be an "ivory tower" leader.  Rather than the 15th floor executive tower office of the previous heads of Chrysler, his desk is on the 4th floor of the technical center (this from the Wall Street Journal on Friday June 19, 2009).  And no, it's not an initiation prank played by his new employees.

His deliberate message?  Mr. Marchionne is going to be close to the day-to-day decisions that will make or break the turnaround of the just-out-of-bankruptcy automaker. 

How Do You Thrive in Economically Crazy Times? You Innovate Like Crazy!

Successful organizations must find ways to sustain innovation over the long haul. Wise organizations see innovation not just as a new product or service, but is a way of working to find opportunities in every job in your organization. Whether it’s to improve the top-line or bottom-line, implementing new solutions that add value to the organization requires leadership and teams working together. With different tools, techniques, skills, attitudes, and values than those used to sustain the status quo.

New & Improved  is offering a rare opportunity to dig into the abilities necessary to bring more innovation to your enterprise by sharing insights that have emerged from over 15 years of creating sustainable innovation cultures for our clients.

This two day program will be held on September 30 - October 1, 2009 at the Dolce Hotel and Resort in Basking Ridge, NJ.

Unintended Consequences and POINt

Newell and Bob were sitting and planning at the Creative Problem Solving Institute this morning, and got to talking about the dynamic of "Passion" as a driver of high quality innovation leader behaviors. That led to Bob sharing with Newell one of his personal techniques for energizing his passion to make a positive difference in the world. This is a simple, entertaining thing he experiences each morning, and this morning, he shared it with Newell. Both were deeply inspired. Learn more:

Good-Looking Bike Helmets -- Oxymoron or Principle of Creative Thinking?

 This morning Denise mentioned that she sees very few kids over the age of 10 years old wearing bicycle helmets, despite the risks on busy streets.  My comment was that they obviously never took a motorcycle safety class or an autoracing class where one learns how critical these "brain buckets" are.  Apparently style is more important than safety?

Watch Out... Because You Might Find What You're "Not" Looking For!

Bob, in your blog entry, Brainfood by the Truck Load, June 4, 2009, you made reference to arriving at a better fuel solution. Well here you go! Take a look at this video. You will meet a retired broadcast engineer looking for a way to use radio waves to cure cancer then stumbled on a way to make fuel from salt water.

This is an inspiring story! Two revolutionary ideas. One came from making a connection between medicine and radio waves and one happened by accident.



How does this notion of discovering something new when looking for something else show up for you? What kinds of interesting connections are you making between a problem you are trying to solve and something that is unrelated to the situation - Like wanting to cure cancer and making a connection with radio waves.

post submitted by Doug Reid 06/05/09

Creating Boeing's 747

In his book, Wide Body: The Triumph of the 747, Clive Irving recounts the history of Boeing's 747.   Pan Am's founder, Juan Trippe, had very specific ideas of what he wanted the 747 to be.  He envisioned the 747 to be a luxury liner with elegant staterooms, a theater, a library and a movie theater.  He could influence the design because Pan Am had ordered twenty-five 747s. 

You see Trippe was a nautical enthusiast.  He dressed his pilots as ship captains (this never occurred to me until I read this book).  He called his planes clipper ships after the great sailing ships.

Asymmetrical Cars? They Can't Do That!!

Driving past my local Nissan dealership yesterday, I noticed the new Nissan Cube (a new vehicle for the US which has been in other markets in the previous generation).  I was struck by the fact that the windows are not symmetrical -- the back window wraps around on the right side of the car, but not the left side.

 

 

I first saw one on vacation in Los Angeles in March, where I was struck by the fact that the windows are not symmetrical. Can they do asymmetrical design of a car exterior?

Well they did. 

 

Brainfood by the Truck Load

Alright, I admit it. I'm one of those guys who loves futuristic car & truck designs. I drive a truck myself, a gas guzzling Ford F250 as I've literally broken every other smaller vehicle I've had by plowing all of our roads and driveways here in the Adirondacks. So, I'll probably always be stuck with a big truck, and look forward to the day that we facilitate the session that helps arrive at a better fuel solution for these things.
In the meantime, I'm inspired by this concept from Adam Schacter Design LTD. What's really interesting is the way he tilts the bed up & down, and that it stays functional in all configurations. My next challenge for him is to see if he could figure out how to attach a plow to it, or a HIGH SPEED snow blower.

Now. Why would I bother to blog about this? Here's the coaching: