New and Improved Innovation Blog Site

A tasty solution to pain-in-the-grass problems

"Every problem was once a solution to a previous problem." -- Bob Mandel

Two weeks ago I used a wonderfully effective herbicide to kill the "unsightly" (per my spouse) crabgrass in my lawn.  And discovered that when crabgrass is dead, my formerly green lawn is filled with large brown patches -- of dead crabgrass, go figure.  I am now spending my evenings digging up dead crabgrass and planting grass seed.  Thus the quote, listed above.  And a backache.

Innovation and the CEO: More walk, less talk.

In a recent study released by McKinsey, 84% of CEOs say that innovation is extremely important to their company’s growth.  Another in a growing list of data points showing that C-level executives who are not attending to the creation of a culture of innovation are sleeping at the helm. 

 
Potentially worse are the boards that are not demanding they do so and by so doing put long term shareholder value at serious risk. Yes, with some deft M & A moves we can perhaps clear a few nice quarter-on-quarter returns, but the old play of “when the going gets tough, the CEO should go shopping” only works for so long. If we are going to move from volatility to stability we need our companies to grow organically. And we can:

Why DO we do that anyway? One technique for breaking through assumptions

In an AutoWeek news story, the author mentioned that auto maker Mazda is considering using accelerator pedals that are hinged on the bottom, rather than what has become widespread in mass-market cars over the last 30-40 years, which is an accelerator that hangs from a pivot point above the pedal.

Mazda says that this "new" concept makes for more natural motion which reduces foot fatigue.  Sounds good.