April 30, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Strategy is a Living Organism But Culture Will Outlive Its Creators
Organizations invest a vast amount of time and energy creating defined strategies for innovation. This could be anything from new business models to new products to new ways of interacting with customers. Ultimately, what is often overlooked is that the culture of the organisation will determine whether the strategy is successfully implemented. In short, culture outlives the people that create the strategy. This is where the saying culture eats strategy for breakfast comes from. Continue reading →
April 30, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Researchers generate clean energy using bacteria-powered solar panel
From the BlueBook of Nanotechnology: Researchers have taken the next step in the evolution of bacteria-powered energy. For the first time ever, researchers connected nine biological-solar (bio-solar) cells into a bio-solar panel. Then they continuously produced electricity from the panel and generated the most wattage of any existing small-scale bio-solar cells – 5.59 microwatts. “Once […]
April 29, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
The Role Global Competition Plays in your Innovation Efforts
A new study explores the role foreign competition plays in the way our companies innovate Continue reading →
April 29, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Measuring Innovation, Part 1/3: Why is Innovation Important, and How do we Measure it Today?
This article is the first in a series of 3 articles discussing measuring product innovation. Continue reading →
April 28, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Collaboration Is The New Competitive Advantage
In truth, neither view fully represents today’s business environment. Certainly, companies like Apple and Southwest are still able to dominate their industries, but the source of advantage has changed. We no longer compete in a resource economy, but a semantic economy where firms that can build, manage and widen connections win out. Continue reading →
April 28, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
When Art and Science Combines for Innovation
The powerful combination of designing and providing something that pushes our existing knowledge, our boundaries, understanding or expectations — and capturing it in thought, explanation, or detailing the discovery makes up the art and science of innovation. We just need to find even better and consistent ways to combine them continuously. Continue reading →
April 28, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
What Can I Do With This? Usefulness
This is the 4th of 5 posts on patenting your ideas. This episode: Usefulness. This one is an easy one. Take one look at the invention and ask yourself. “Is this useful?”. There are many, many cool ideas, but if they are not useful, then they probably don’t qualify as a patentable invention. For example, an artist creates…
April 28, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Why Only Adoption Matters
Recently I had an opportunity to interview Chris Laping, the former Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Red Robin restaurant chain about some of the challenges in achieving successful organizational change. Chris’ is a voice that emerged from the darkness as I was creating the Change Planning Toolkit™and conducting the research for my latest book Charting Change and its focus on beating the 70% change failure rate. Continue reading →
April 27, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Innovation Sighting: "Sweaty" Billboards That Fight the Zika Virus
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Zika virus is a global emergency. To fight it, humans have to find a way to kill the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.
Two marketing agencies in Brazil have designed a novel way to do just that. They call it The Mosquito Killer Billboard. It’s a great example of the Task Unification Technique, one of five in the innovation method called Systematic Inventive Thinking. Here’s how their innovation works:
April 26, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Turning Good Ideas into Great Products
One innovation method is to invite customers (in a B-2-B situation) or consumers (in a B-2-C scenario) into the creative process with you. Here, they will ideate, workshop concepts that arise in the session, augment concepts provided for them, and create some new product or service ideas that do not yet exist. Continue reading →
April 26, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Thinly Veiled Sales Messages Are 90% Of The Internet
Do you remember the days when selling a product meant advertising, PR, cold calling and direct mail? At least you could tell the difference between advertising and truth then. I was reading a post on Medium the other day on success. I read a lot of posts on success, even though I know that most…
April 26, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Beware of the ‘Hypenated’ Innovation Trend
Can you resist the temptation to hype your innovation solution? Unfortunately, we can expect to see much more of this – the unintentional obfuscation of innovation. Continue reading →
April 25, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Rethink Innovation!
“We need to rethink the term “innovation” and we should drop the term “innovation culture” entirely.” Stefan Lindegaard shares his latest presentation: Rethink Innovation! Continue reading →
April 25, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Key Innovation Issues for the Near Future – Part 1
The challenge for companies will be to find their positions in upcoming platform ecosystems. Not every company has the capability and influence to act as an orchestrating platform builder. But even participating in other firms’ ecosystems can be highly attractive. Continue reading →
April 25, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
If You Want to Use Storytelling to Communicate the Value of Big, Hairy Ideas, Read This
A penguin, a priest, and a newspaper reporter walk into a bar. The penguin orders a shot of Red Eye. The priest starts juggling three flaming chain saws. The newspaper reporter turns to the bartender and says: “There’s gotta be a story here somewhere…
April 25, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
It’s here! The Innovation & Growth Leadership Summit is underway in Chicago
For the next two days, I will be engaged with many of you in a highly-productive, stimulating gathering of leaders and their teams, at the Innovation & Growth Leadership Summit (I&GL), April 25-26 in Chicago.There’s still time to join us! We’re focusing on the most important leadership challenges facing Chief Innovation Officers, EVPs and VPs […]
April 25, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Anatomy of an Innovator – Prince R.I.P 1958-2016
Prince Rogers Nelson was a serial innovator in his music, his style and his interactions with the music business and I feel very lucky to have lived in the same age as him. Here is an excerpt from a longer article on Linkedin. Continue reading →
April 24, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Innovation and Control
Innovation isn’t really an issue of control or not; it’s about the right kind of control. Continue reading →
April 22, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Channel Data Management and the Customer Experience Movement
Channel Data Management has an essential role in enabling a higher level of end customer visibility and enhanced Customer Experience. Continue reading →
April 22, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Innovation Force = Innovation Mass x Acceleration
We all want our innovations to change the world. This requires Innovation Force. In turn, Innovation Force is the product of Innovation Mass (Product-Market Fit) and Acceleration (building growth with customers). To maximise Innovation Force, we need both Mass and Acceleration to be big, and this is true for startups, established firms, and regions. Continue reading →
April 21, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Innovation and the Art of Implementation: Dealing with Creatives
Give the creatives the freedom to push back the status quo and to even obliterate the status quo with a sledgehammer. This freedom will unleash their creativity, ultimately helping to catapult your business into a new role as industry leaders, rather than be left behind as laggard and scared, same-old status quo followers. Continue reading →
April 21, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Cavemen with Briefcases in Need of a Wise Person’s Story
Storytelling at Work: The Workshop
Storytelling to Create the Innovation Mindset
Storytelling at Work: The Book
Storytelling in the Workplace: The Radio Interview
April 20, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Are Insiders or Outsiders Better Innovators? [Report]
A new study looks at the different ways that industry experts innovate when compared to those from other field. Continue reading →
April 20, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Free networking reception in Chicago
If you’d like to meet and network with innovation leaders in some of the largest corporations, I have a special invitation for you, at no cost! On Monday evening, April 25th, head to Chicago’s Signature Ballroom at the DoubleTree O’Hare to hear Managing Director and Partner, Accenture Shiv Iyer on how to boost margins and […]
April 20, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Boredom Is The Best
A Little Boredom Helps You Innovate My wife and I were waiting in line at one of our favorite ramen places here in the Bay Area, Santouka (they have the absolute best broth you know – personally I’m a fan of the Shio myself) and behind us in line was a small family, mom, dad, daughter.…
The post Boredom Is The Best appeared first on thinkfuture.
April 20, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
The Problem with Isolated Innovation Departments
Why investing in a completely isolated innovation department is a terrible way to spend your innovation budget. Continue reading →
April 19, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
You CAN Tell a Book by its Cover — Especially If You Have 9 Choices
Ever hear the phrase “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover?” Of course you have. But what you probably haven’t heard is how far back that phrase goes — all the way back to June, 1867, as seen in the newspaper, Piqua Democrat. “Don’t judge a book by…
April 19, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Three Lessons in Innovation from Jeff Bezos
Disrupt your own business before someone else does. Offering second hand books at low margin threatened Amazon’s higher value new book sales but this did not bother Bezos. He wanted to own that segment of the market too and to prevent a competitor from seizing it. Continue reading →
April 19, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
How Automation and Artificial Intelligence Work Together to Spur Innovation
According to the experts, 2016 may finally be the year that artificial intelligence comes into its own. Here is how AI stands to aid us in the future. Continue reading →
April 18, 2016 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Working Like a Startup is Not Equal to Working With a Startup
Startup mentality is very powerful tool in developing more radical innovations serving hidden needs of the customer, there is also vast amount of added value in improving the perceived user value with incremental innovations for existing assets. Continue reading →