Innovative Brain Food from New & Improved

Exploration: The Innovation Frontier

Demystifying Innovation Culture Efforts is a comprehensive eBook that distills Bob Eckert's and Natalie Jenkins' research and experience down to 12 Strategic Action Areas that leaders need in order to build a sustainable culture of innovation. In this series of articles, we will take each of the 12 Strategies in turn. Recently we featured:

Skills, Accountability, Key Measurements, Technology, Environment, Experimentation, Focus, Strategy, Governance, Leadership

(click here to download the complete eBook, webinar and videos)   ___________________________________________________________________________________

 Series 11:  Deep dive into EXPLORATION

EXPLORATION: Time or flexibility for employees to pursue creative ideas that are not their core responsibility.

The biggest complaint we hear as we work with organizations aspiring to be more innovative is “not enough time”. We see this as the most difficult challenge for organizations to solve. Things like the much ballyhooed “15% of time to work on projects of your own choosing” is incredibly difficult to operationalize, even as we've described, at 3M. But the impulse is correct. So what is one to do when everyone is running at 100%+ and you want people to have time to explore and create informally?

Innovation Strategy: Blind Spots are Dangerous!

 

Demystifying Innovation Culture Efforts is a comprehensive eBook that distills Bob Eckert's and Natalie Jenkins' research and experience down to 12 Strategic Action Areas that leaders need in order to build a sustainable culture of innovation. In this series of articles, we will take each of the 12 Strategies in turn.  Recently we featured:

 Skills, Accountability, Measure, Technology, Environment, Experimentation, Focus

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Series 8:  Deep dive into STRATEGY

STRATEGY: Clarified goals for profit generated from current offerings, new offerings and efficiencies.

“Strategy” - as we intend you to think about it here - links directly back to “Measurement” (Read more on Measurement.) Get your measurement system right first, then make some clear, mature, and as bias-free as possible decisions about what your specific goals need to be in the four measurement areas: (Efficiency, Incremental, Radical and Transformational). And, do this in every aspect of your business:

• Finance
• Processes
• Offerings
• Delivery

As we've repeatedly written, in our current cultural understanding of innovation, the perception is that it is all about new offerings, aka products and services. The dangerous blind spot within this point of view is...

The Innovative Brain - March 2015 - Overcome Innovation Fatigue

Innovate!  Faster, better and with no risk.  

This call to action is one we hear all too often. Frankly, it gets old and it's not all that inspiring. The reality is that innovation can be slow, "better" is relative and it can be risky.  Also, it can be exhausting-mentally and physically.  

Our most recent edition of the Innovative Brain, provides some tips and inspirations to help overcome innovation fatigue.  

• Tip:  3 tips for winding up your innovation 
• New Article:  Innovation Leadership:  4 Common Mistakes that Stifle Innovation
• Inspiring Video:  Innovation is more than products
• 12 Strategies Series:  Deep dive into Experimentation and Focus
• Upcoming Events:  Conferences where you can meet other Innovative Brains

See our March issue - read more here

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Building a Culture of Innovation: It takes more than wishful thinking

 

 Demystifying Innovation Culture Efforts is a comprehensive eBook that distills Bob Eckert's and Natalie Jenkins' research and experience down to 12 Strategic Action Areas that leaders need in order to build a sustainable culture of innovation. In this series of articles, we will take each of the 12 Strategies in turn. 

Recently, we featured:

Skills, Accountability, Measure, Technology, Environment and Experimentation.

 

Series 7:  Deep Dive into Focus

FOCUS:  A group responsible - with active executive involvement - to foster a culture of innovation.

Innovation efforts, like any other, whether it be safety, quality or ethics, will experience a decline in effectiveness through entropy unless there are...