In business, as in personal good health, it’s the gap between what we know is good for us and what we actually do that gets us every time. This article looks at how companies can improve innovation by focusing on a key, and often overlooked, ingredient for innovation success.
Newsletters tagged "Innovation"
Volume 9, #6, November 2011
The Not-So-Obvious Truth About Innovation
A major research firm's study supports what we've been saying all along: just pouring more money into R&D doesn't yield results. Strategic alignment and a culture that supports innovation are key.
Volume 9, #3, May 2011
What gets in the way of finding out what ails your customers?
A friend's seventh-grade son (let's call him Rob) was stumped for weeks by his school's annual "Invention Fair." The fair organizers did a great job of attempting to foster creativity among the you
Volume 8, #9, December 2010
Innovation and the Fear Factor
When creating products, a short-term focus only works for so long; tweaking existing market winners and responding incrementally to customer needs is not a recipe for long-term success. Fear of investing in ideas that might fail consigns you perpetually to also-ran status.
Volume 9, #5, June 2010
Assessing Your Company's Innovation Maturity
To understand whether it's safe to give your R&D department the corporate equivalent of the keys to the family car—and figure out what to do if it's not—you need a framework for evaluating maturity.
Volume 7, #3, April 2009
What Kind of Statistic Will You Become?
Investing during a downturn can be a sound strategy, but few companies do it. What separates those who do from those who don't?
Volume 5, #1, January 2007
Customers as Partners in the Quest for Value
In the bad old days, consumers selected from small, medium, and large. They could choose basic black, white, and maybe red; two doors, four doors, or flat beds. Now comes a world of product options and a new twist in the form of new communication technologies that give customers a say in defining those options.
Volume 2, #4, March 2004
A Framework for Measuring the Creative Contribution to Product Development
As with any business process, the first step in exploiting innovation to serve your company's goals is to measure it -- an inherently difficult undertaking.
Volume 2, #3, March 2004
A Framework for Measuring the Creative Contribution to Product Development
As with any business process, the first step in exploiting innovation to serve your company's goals is to measure it -- an inherently difficult undertaking. Innovation is a creative process, which, by its very nature, involves doing things that have never been done before. Yet, if you don't measure it, you can't manage it, and if you can't manage it, you can't control it, and if you can't control it, it can sneak up and sabotage your business before you even know there's a problem.