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BQF Innovation
Next Meeting of the Innovation Unit – London Apr 19
We have a new agenda for the next Innovation Unit meeting on the morning of Monday 19 April and we will have a leading speaker from Nokia. Since the early 1990’s Nokia has invested close to €35 billion in research and development to build one of the strongest and broadest intellectual property...
Why CEOs just don’t get Innovation
Stefan Lindegaard has written an interesting piece in Business Week arguing that most CEOs just don’t understand what innovation needs and entails. As evidence he quotes research by the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, N.C., which interviewed 247 executives and managers who supervised at least 500 people and had more than...
Freewriting – a method for unblocking creativity
Freewriting is a personal creativity technique that is particularly useful when you have hit a mental roadblock. You simply write the challenge or topic at the top of a large piece of paper and then start writing. You can write anything related to the topic. Here are the rules of...
International Innovation League Table
Here is a report drawn up by the IMF, OECD and the UN to rank international innovation competitiveness. The authors constructed an Innovation Capacity Index (ICI) that draws on a range of available data to correlate the wide-ranging set of relevant factors, policies, and institutional characteristics which play a central role...
What would you do with a Radical Idea? Reject it of course.
Einstein said that all great original ideas at first appear absurd. This is why it is so easy to dismiss radical suggestions when they surface. We point out that they are ridiculous and so miss great opportunities. How would you react if an unorthodox business idea was presented to you...
In December the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced that he would make cuts of £600m in funding for higher education, research and science by 2012. Shortly afterwards the Science and Technology Facilities council announced a range of cuts in experimental programmes. The number of students funded to take PhD...
Endless Innovation
The Economist: Women-Friendly Innovation in Emerging Markets
In an article about women-friendly innovation in emerging markets, The Economist unpacks the concept of "wominnovation" by examining how societies can harness the power of innovation to empower women and promote greater gender equality. A new study by the International......
Vodafone Group’s user experience / concept development group has put together a brief video clip that explores the future of lifestreaming. There are some unique interactive visualizations in the style of Minority Report, exploring concepts such as "the magnetism of......
The Management Secrets of the Grateful Dead
Here's something that Deadheads could have told you 40 years ago -- there's a lot the Grateful Dead can teach you about running a business. In the March 2010 issue of The Atlantic, senior editor Joshua Green uncovers some of......
How far should you let people peek inside your creative process?
In the era of the social Web -- when it's possible to tweet, blog or status update every miniscule fact of one's life -- it's fashionable to opine that every personal detail and inner thought should be made public. After......
Microsoft, Middle Management and Why Some Companies Can't Innovate
This week's op-ed piece (Microsoft's Creative Destruction) in the New York Times from Dick Brass, a former Microsoft VP, was a wake up call for the tech world. In a thoughtful but ultimately scathing piece, Brass describes how and why......
Move over McKinsey, here comes IDEO
As one of the premier strategy consulting companies in the world, McKinsey has always been a pipeline of future CEO talent for the nation's leading businesses. The number of Fortune 500 CEOs with a consulting background at McKinsey is truly......
Smart People RSS | SmartPlanet
Social networking, and a free library, for science buffs
Thousands of users are logging on to Scitable to expand their scientific knowledge -- and make "friends" with some smart people. by Christina......
Do green buildings lower health care costs?
A study will show whether a building expected to be the country's first Platinum LEED skyscraper is good for the health of its tenants. Should......
Pay it forward: Research suggests generosity is contagious
When you benefit from kindness, experts say, "You don't go back to being your 'old selfish self.'" by Christina Hernandez...
Bike trails: once a luxury, now a necessity
A community with bike trails boasts decreased crime and increased property values. Plus, with Google Maps' new routes for bikes, pedaling paths......
Busting hurricanes with ocean cooling pumps
A climate scientist at Stanford University's Carnegie Institution is trying to cool the seas to weaken hurricanes and minimize the death and......
Protecting your privacy -- and reputation -- online
Parry Aftab, an Internet privacy expert, shares tips on safeguarding your online data -- and sheds light on the long-term consequences of this era......
How to Change the World
Pictures from my trip to the Winter Olympics
Having a great time in Vancouver. If you want to see how great, check out my pictures from Day 1 and Day 2....
We’ve all been sucked into doing something stupid, right? Fortunately, Steven Greenspan has written a book called Annals of Gullibility. In its conclusion he explains how to avoid gullibility, and I’ve provided a synopsis for you. Read the full story......
By definition, good marketers are empathetic. That is, they have a capacity to understand and care for the needs of others. Bruna Martinuzzi explains how to be empathetic over at the American Express Open Forum....
How to Not Be Annoying on Twitter
Amber MacArthur explains how to not be annoying on Twitter over at the American Express Open Forum. Sage advice for you to develop a great reputation and following on Twitter. More Twitter tips....
The Elements of Guyle: British Blogging
Want to make your blog classier? You should blog like a Brit. I explain how to do this in ten easy steps....
Lateral Action
Creative Block #5 – Being Disorganised
If you have a creative block you’d like some help with, tell us about it – details in the first article in the series. Artists and other creative people are not renowned for their powers of personal organisation. “A cluttered desk is a sign of genius,” we like to say, when...
If you could do with a little more clarity and focus in your creative work, have a look at What Daily Meditation Can Do for Your Creativity – my latest guest article for The 99%. One of the most popular pieces I’ve written at lateral action is How Getting Nothing Done...
Are These Two Creativity Myths Holding You Back?
I was walking down the street near my home in Berlin a few days ago when the image at right caught my eye in a shop window, and I couldn’t resist snapping a picture through the glass. ‘Kreativitat’, as you may have guessed, means ‘creativity’ in German, and the...
5 Stories that Make Complex Issues Compelling
As human beings, we love stories. We love to hear them and we love to tell them. We are always telling stories – sometimes to others and sometimes to ourselves. All else being equal, the best story wins. Another good reason to learn to tell better stories is because people...
Supercharge Your Productivity with Ultradian Rhythms
With the coming of the information age a fad called multi-tasking was also born. Somehow it was perceived efficient to be able to do many things at the same time; read your emails, talk with your spouse, eat bubblegum while walking… The reason I call multi-tasking a fad is that...
How to Create Your Own Blogger Stage Fright – and Then Kick Its Ass
Image by eschipul When Mark tossed out the challenge of sending in our creative blocks, I hit the keyboard faster than a speed demon in a red wagon. I was determined. I was going to tell someone. Once and for all. I have performance anxiety. I know, I know, that’s a dreaded thing...
Innovating To Win
How’s That Hope Thing Workin’ For Ya?
Well, okay… I admit that I’m annoyed. When Obama was swept into office, the winds of change seemed an unstoppable force, and many likened Obama to JFK. Now, Obama has distanced himself from JFK by essentially scuttling the programs that... ...
Innovation - Getting It and Getting It Done
As with most things, when it comes to innovation there is a huge difference between getting it and getting it done. Everyone wants to get it; but the rewards of innovation are only enjoyed by those who get it done.... ...
Boyd on Linking Strategy and Innovation
I read a nice post on Drew Boyd’s blog, Innovation in Practice, discussion the idea of linking innovation with company strategy. In it, Drew discusses two models of interaction between company strategy and innovation: Strategy informs innovation – in this... ...
Right after I gave a talk at the Open Innovation Summit in Orlando on overcoming some key obstacles of open innovation, I had the chance to talk with Business Week’s Michael Arndt. We had a great chat about future innovation... ...
Looking For The Innovation Silver Lining In 2010
As we begin 2010, I think it’s a great time to mention “The Silver Lining” by Scott D. Anthony. The book which bills itself as “An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times,” touches on some very important themes that we should... ...
Just before I left for my end of year holiday, there was an interesting post on Bruce Nussbaum’s BusinessWeek NussbaumOnDesign blog. It mentioned a recent statement by Don Norman, a key leader in Design, in which he had stated that... ...
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs - Latest Publications
The Effectiveness and Legitimacy of Using Force to Prevent Nuclear Proliferation
This chapter examines instances in which states have used military force for the purpose of preventing or delaying an adversary’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. What can be learned from past cases? What are the barriers to effective military prevention? Under what conditions has the use of force been successful in...
China's Bad Bet Against America
"...[T]he fact that China holds so many dollars is not a true source of power, because the interdependence in the economic relationship is symmetrical. True, if China dumped its dollars on world markets, it could bring the American economy to its knees, but in doing so it would bring itself...
"Concern over nuclear proliferation is likely to increase in the coming years. Many observers believe that the spread of nuclear weapons to one or two more states will trigger a wave of new nuclear states. More states may turn to nuclear power to meet their energy needs as other sources...
Nuclear Terrorism: A Strategy for Prevention
"On the night of November 8, 2007, two teams of armed men attacked the Pelindaba nuclear facility in South Africa, where hundreds of kilograms of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium (HEU) were stored. One of the teams opened fire on the site securit forces, who reportedly fled. The other team of...
Going Nuclear: Nuclear Proliferation and International Security in the 21st Century
The spread of nuclear weapons is one of the most significant challenges to global security in the twenty-first century. Limiting the proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials may be the key to preventing a nuclear war or a catastrophic act of nuclear terrorism. Going Nuclear offers conceptual, historical, and analytical...
Holbrooke stresses international involvement in addressing the AfPak problem
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said all countries with a strategic interest in the subcontinent region - beyond just Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India - must be involved in the move toward resolving the conflict at last week's Forum event....
Business Innovation Speaker and Consultant Stephen Shapiro
Nearly 2 years ago, I used open innovation to develop the logo used on this site. I am now using open innovation again to help redesign my Personality Poker cards. As you know, later this year, the Personality Poker book will be published by Penguin’s Portfolio imprint. The publisher designed the book...
Podcast on The Brain Advantage
Brad Kolar is one of the brightest guys I know. He and I worked together in Accenture back in the mid-90’s. He has been a contributor to all of my books. And now he is the co-author of a fascinating book called “The Brain Advantage. ” I had the...
Is it Dali Time…Or Hammer Time?
Yesterday I met with Jeff Boudro, the “Director of Really Cool Stuff at Staples.” And from spending time with him, I can attest to this being the truth! Case in point is the picture left… Jeff bought a clock that has 9 dials, each one representing a different timezone. For example,...
Three Innovation Distinctions (Part 3): Diversity not Homogeneity
This is the third of my “innovation distinctions” entries. In the first part of this series, I wrote why you should focus on “Challenges, not Ideas.” Next, I addressed the distinction of “Process, not Events.” In this final entry, I discuss why innovation requires “Diversity not Homogeneity.” Be sure to read...
I have been working ’round the clock to finish my Personality Poker manuscript. It goes to the publisher Feb 1. After that, I will be back and blogging in full force… ...
Today I learned that one of my favorite authors, Robert B. Parker, passed away. He is probably best know for his “Spenser” books. These fast-paced crime stories are based in Boston (my hometown) and were the inspiration for the ’80s TV show, “Spenser: For Hire.” I read every book and loved...
ZenStorming - Where Science Meets Muse...
Enthusiasm – The Key to Creativity and Innovation
Enthusiasm is at the root of all innovation and creative works....
Innovations in Elder Care Demand a Different Paradigm
Designing innovative healthcare for the elderly will require greater empathy on the part of caregivers and family members....
Success is Born in Innovative Cultures That Thrive on Good (and Bad!) Ideas
Ideas are not just things that need to be commercialized. They play an important role in moving innovation forward....
10 Life Lessons from the NICU= 10 Lessons for Innovative Design
Lessons on design based upon an amazing article from Sue Ludwig on 10 Life Lessons from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit....
Creative Problem Solving, Forgiveness and Our Brains
Since the area of our brains that forgives is also the area dealing with empathy and problem solving, could lack of forgiveness impact our abilities to design creative solutions?...
Twizzlers: Force of Habit and a Lesson in Design
Lessons in design from an 'improperly' opened bag of Twizzlers...
Principled Innovation LLC
Hope you'll attend my workshop!...
The Future of Associating is Mobile: 10 Great Reasons to Register!
The fun begins on Friday......
Why do successful innovators earn respect?
Because they give it....
Join me Friday at 10 am for Mobile Matters!
A special virtual briefing!...
My session attendees get a bonus and a chance to win!...
Please ignore....
Information Design Watch
Movie site Little White Lies has announced the winner of its latest competition, in which readers were asked to condense a favorite film into a ......
Man as Industrial Palace Animation
We sometimes use “little people” to depict complex processes, with multiple actors participating in a real-life process (e.g., online collaboration or editorial workflow). But little ......
Visualizing More Affordable Care
The February 2010 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology features work by Dynamic Diagrams for an article titled Alternatives to a Routine Follow-Up Visit for Early ......
Sometimes the simplest visual explanations are the most powerful. Case in point: David Liittschwager’s series of photographs in which he shows how much life can ......
Next Steps for Augmented-Reality Maps
Fresh from the TED2010 conference: an amazing talk by Blaise Aguera y Arcas, an architect at Microsoft Live Labs, in which he demonstrates how Photosynth ......
Jacob Gube at design site Six Revisions uses the Way Back Machine to create a “then and now” piece on search engines. It’s worth a ......
Innovation feeder
I was just watching this Dan Pink clip on TED (for those of you who don’t watch TED get thee to the site immediately) and he talks about how to motivate people, namely staff. His theory is that traditional notions of management are great if you want compliance but if...
Bringing passion into the sales environment
A great little ditty from Paul Sparks at Sales Effectiveness that I thought I’d share with you: As salespeople, we often hear that we need to be passionate about our products to sell them effectively. And this is probably true. But what does passion look like, and how do we display it? This...
Was surfing a new site this morning by Giles Rhys Jones and found this little musical ditty. All sensationalism aside this is a great little toe tapper. Enjoy. Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: rhys giles jones, the day the media died ...
Has anyone been to Pocket bar in Surry Hills Sydney? I haven’t but was surfing the net having a nosy about when I came across this cute little promotion they’re doing for pocket optimists. I wonder whether they’re relying on the fact that many people don’t respond to things like...
How healthy is your health insurance?
I’ve been trying to make a claim (or in fact about 40 claims) with HBA my health insurer today. It has become so difficult to even make the claim that it’s becoming laughable. I pay an extraordinary amount for health insurance a month, I mean a lot. I looked up...
A little social media ditty someone passed along that I thought you might enjoy
I see the blogarati are up in arms about the above video. You can read some posts here and here. Surprise surprise there’s a lot of truth stretching and many of the facts in this video are misrepresented. Like so much of the social media hyperbole that floats around the...
neuronspark
Frank La Vigne gave this talk on the Silverlight Bing Maps control virtually to his first user group N3UG from his home in Maryland...
Bobby Chopra at the NYC CodeCamp demonstrated how to use Monotouch and Visual Studio to create iPhone applications. In two parts....
Parallel Programming in .Net 4.0
At CodeCamp NYC Aaron Armstrong details Parallel Programming in Visual Studio with .Net 4.0 and as his talk lasted over an hour I broke it into two parts....
Microsoft PowerShell MVP Doug Finke at CodeCamp NYC 3/6/10 Doug's Slide Deck and Code Scripting with Windows PowerShell Windows PowerShell Windows PowerShell Blog ScriptingGuys...
Building a SQL Server Search Engine in .NET
Michael Coles shared his project with our N3 User Group Building a SQL Server Search Engine in .NET You can find the code and examples at Pro Full-Text Search in SQL Server 2008 and more resources can be found at: Irony - .NET Language Implementation Kit Adobe PDF IFilter v5.0 ...
At the High Stakes Healthcare & Capitol Hill forum in NYC Dr. Jon Cohen, David Cohen, M.D., Dr. Marc Donner, and Dr. Mitch Morris from the talk Outlook from the Frontlines: How will Reform affect our Health Care System?...
Think For A Change
Project Management for Innovation Professionals...
"A project is complete when it starts working for you, rather than you working for it." - Scott AllenIf you've followed along here for any real duration, you'll know that I sit at the intersection of innovation management and project management....literally. I earn my living as both a Project Manager...
Safety and Innovation Don't Go Together...
"A ship is safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships are for" - William SheddInnovation is not about seeking safe harbors. And yet, that is what I see companies do day after day after day.They declare that innovation is their key to growth. But they run the program...
When Innovation Just Happens...
"Culture is like dropping Alka-Seltzer into water...you don't really see it, but something happens" - Hans Magnus EnzensbergerOne of the things that struck me as most curious in my visit to 3M last year was the seemingly absent "process" of innovation as they went about their work of developing innovative...
Innovation Is About Execution...
"Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is eighty percent of being a successful hitter. The other twenty percent is just execution." - Hank AaronA lot of organizations "intend" to innovate. They have innovation as part of their "strategic roadmap." Innovation is their "key to growth." Some even go...
What Does Project Management Have To Do With Innovation?
"A project is a problem, scheduled for a solution" - J.M. JuranA fellow "Twitterite" (is that right?) recently asked me about my Twitter tag line, "Working at the intersection of innovation management and project management." She didn't make the connection between project management and innovation. She made the all too...
Don't OPEN Yourself Up To INNOVATION Failure...
"I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief" - Gerry SpenceOpen Innovation...or expanding the pool of brains thinking about your business problems outside of your organization...is a concept that has gained significant and recent traction. The concept is very sound:From Wikipedia...Open innovation is a...
Innovationedge
Attention Shoppers: Look what cell phones can do now!
Imagine walking through a shopping district after hours, pointing your cell phone through a window at something you want to buy—and making your purchase on the spot. Many of our nation’s retailers will soon be using barcode scanning technology to allow people to window shop with their cell phones. It’s one...
No need for an outlet with this battery charger
When an earthquake shook Haiti’s capital Port au Prince in January, communicating by cell phone was impossible. The cell towers high in the hills of the capital city that covered most of the island nation became inoperable. But a new palm-sized fuel cell that turns water into electricity might be...
Getting a Grip on Innovation: Lessons from the Bionic Glove
The Bionic Glove The most recent issue of Consumer Goods Technology has a cover story that indirectly reveals some secrets of successful innovation. Alarice Padilla’s “Game-Changing Innovation: The maker of Louisville Slugger Revolutionizes the Sporting Good Market with Bionic Glove Technology” describes the rise of a new sports glove that gives...
Green Innovation: Do You Have a G-Rated Business™? A White Paper from Innovationedge
Innovationedge is pleased to announce the release of a new white paper on sustainability and green strategy. The paper, “Green Innovation: Do You Have a G-Rated Business™?” is available in PDF form. It includes a brief excerpt from Conquering Innovation Fatigue, our recent book published by John Wiley & Sons....
The Social Component of Innovation
In this Pixetell video presentation, Jeff briefly discusses the social side of innovation and gives a plug for one of our favorite books, Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi, a resource that can help corporations and individuals better “feed innovation.” Keith’s book, coupled with the insights we provide in Conquering...
What are we learning from Toyota?
Although we have yet to discover the whole story of the underlying causes of the unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles, I suspect that we may be seeing more of these dangerous types of incidents in the future. A growing culprit will be the complex computer software and hardware systems that run...
Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog
Looks like China is getting it when it comes to design. In a recent interview on the local Chinese CCTV, Chen Dongliang, Director of the Beijing Industrial Design Center, has highlighted the tremendous economic value of Industrial Design to China’s economy. ...
Thought Experiment: What if Facebook, Skype and PayPal Merged?
Many people don’t know that Bostonian William Crapo (Billy) Durant founded General Motors, and if you ever go to the old General Motors Building in Detroit, you will see his initials emblazoned on the coat of arms in the eaves of the building. Durant was the visionary who crashed together...
One big crazy week. We have clients visiting from San Diego, Seoul, London and Boston for big workshops, a local station TV crew (second TV stations this month) filming us at work plus 3 very cool project kick-offs that we need to prepare for (and also pitches). The workshops were...
The Possible Negatives of Clean Energy
In November 2009, Scientific American - with an eye on then upcoming Copenhagen Summit - published a manifesto piece titled "A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030." ...
Mr. Clean is a car wash in Texas. Gerber sells baby life insurance. Caterpillar makes flashlights. I think the brand extension business is just a little crazy. ...
Digital Inclusion at the Sharp End
This is a great video showing how older people can get online, with a bit of help. In this case the video shows a group of people in Hackney, East London, who are clearly enjoying themselves and getting the skills to use the Internet. Well done Age Concern Hackney. ...