September 30, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Don’t Look For A Great Idea, Look For A Good Problem
At the center of every significant innovation is always an idea. Clarence Birdseye’s idea about freezing fish revolutionized the food industry and American diets. Charles Schwab’s idea about flat commissions changed investing forever. Steve Jobs idea about creating a device that could hold 1000 songs in your pocket turned around Apple’s fortunes. Yet we shouldn’t …
September 29, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
The Genius of Iconic Brands
I believe the truly iconic brands, like iconic figures in the arts, sciences, and society at large, are the direct result of innovative genius.
September 28, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Should innovators trust their intuition more?
A quick Google search churns up endless articles and blogs extolling the virtues of using instinct, intuition and gut feel for making better business decisions and being more innovative. In this article I pick apart what governs intuition and how to us…
September 28, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Talent Management in the Gig Economy
A recent paper reveals that whilst many companies are using open innovation to access new ideas and skills, a lack of talent internally makes succeeding difficult. As such, it’s perhaps no surprise to see the gig economy as perhaps an easier entry poin…
September 28, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
How To Be The Next Elon Musk
Everyone Wants To Be Elon Musk. Here’s How. If you spend any time on Quora, the question and answer site which I pioneered a version of back from 2000-2005 (as I’ve always said – begin a futurist is like being a meteorologist, you are usually right, but at the wrong time) you’ll find an inordinate…
September 27, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
The Single Biggest Obstacle to Your Success is…
Unlearning this peculiar behavior is the key to unlocking the potential of your dreams. Entrepreneurship is like climbing Everest; you can make all the excuses you want about not having the skills, the endurance, or the equipment, but many people who have all of these still don’t even make it to base camp. Here’s why. …
September 27, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
The Emergence of the Blur
Followers of technology, in consumer electronics, might remember that at the beginning of the new millennium, we observed a new trend named technological convergence: product/ categories barriers started intersecting and overlapping, while categories themselves – traditionally based on one functional aspect – stopped making sense from a consumer point of view. This technological trend culminated …
September 26, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Innovation and Intrepreneurship at SMEs: T3LGROUP France
Nicolas Bry interviews Benjamin Ott, a young innovator working at T3LGroup, a French SME with a long tradition of developing new manufacturing processes, and product applications for office products, and shopfitting equipment.
September 26, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
To Change, We All Need Help and Structure
Structure Is Necessary For Change to Occur While I’ve written before on the concept of change, there are still many who don’t internalize the fact that life is change. They feel that there is such a thing as “steady state” and that at some point, things will stop changing and go “back to normal”. Unfortunately,…
September 26, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Aligning Organizations for Digital Innovation
To understand the challenges and opportunities associated with digitalization, MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte surveyed more than 3,700 business executives, managers, and analysts from organizations around the world. They have recently publish…
September 25, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Top 5 Innovations in Solar and Photovoltaic Power
The Department of Energy (DOE) has hit a key goal in solar energy cost reduction three years ahead of schedule, according to The Hill. The SunShot Initiative originally aimed to lower the price of electricity generated by utility-scale solar photovolta…
September 25, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Become an Intrapreneur at Work
Most companies recognise the need for more innovation and actively encourage employees to suggest and develop new business ideas. Paul Sloane shares eight key ways to help make your idea happen.
September 24, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
The Innovator’s Connundrum
Illustration: gapingvoid
Idea Champions
September 24, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Preparing for a Strategy Sprint – A DIY Guide
This is the second in a series of five DIY posts on holding a strategy sprint. The decision to hold a strategy sprint assumes that you’ve come to the conclusion that a new strategy is warranted, that new directions must be explored, and you’ve gotten to this point in a thoughtful and deliberate way. Something …
September 24, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
5 Reasons Every Company Needs an Innovation Coach
Innovation is not a solo activity (and neither is my favorite sport to coach – basketball). And while the rare lone genius may be able to invent something on their own (although still always inspired by others), nobody can innovate by themselves. Innovation, by its very nature, requires collaboration. Companies are like brains. The brain …
September 23, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
One of life’s greatest lessons isn’t about you, it’s about those who shaped you
I’d like to tell you a story. Stick with me. I promise it will be worth it and will forever change the way you think about your success in life and in business. My high school sport was wrestling. It suited my personality of being both a team player and a fierce individual competitor. It’s …
September 23, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Here’s Why You Should Think Twice Before Listening To Business Gurus
Probably the hardest thing in business is to innovate consistently, year after year and decade after decade. Take a look at any industry at any point in time and you’ll find one company that seems to have hit on a secret formula only to find that ten years later that things have gone awry. Consider …
September 22, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
The World’s Best Blog Collection of Awesome, Memorable Quotes
If you’re on the prowl for inspiring quotes you can use for work, your book, speech, website, news report, blog, proposal, kidnap letter, or time capsule, look no further. What follows are 21 universal topics — everything from Possibility to Failure…
September 22, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
5 Steps to Turn Accidental Discoveries into Great Inventions
The story of the invention of the Post-It note by 3M is relatively known…but this is not the only story of accidental discoveries that turned into some of the greatest inventions ever made.
September 21, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Rise of the Social Business Architect
The world is changing and needs Social Business Architects. Gone is the epoch of the passive consumer, now customers want a say. At the same time, the quest for survival and growth is causing companies to stop looking at suppliers as someone to squeeze…
September 21, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
When Disloyalty Is Good
Should You Seek Out Disloyalty? Our modern corporate world thrives on loyalty. Actually, if you think about it, even our prior, non-modern corporate world thrived on loyalty, to royalty, to religion, to companies, to people. Up to around 2008, that last great recession, loyalty went both ways – employees were loyal to your company and…
September 20, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
The Science of Success for Product Managers and Innovators [podcast]
In his book, Barking Up the Wrong Tree, Eric reveals the science behind what actually determines success and—most important—how you can achieve it. Eric also has a popular blog by the same name as his book that shares science-based answers and expert insight on how to be successful.
September 20, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
The Best Way to Share the Best of Your Best Practices: STORYTELLING!
12 other short videos on storytelling
Storytelling at Work
Storytelling as a way to spark the innovation mindset
September 20, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
The End of Talent Management
How can you attract, manage and retain talent in a modern organisation? Are the employers still the ones to decide, the ones in charge, the powerful puppeteers coordinating their talented staff top-‐down? Or are the terms we are using already misleading us? All those questions and many more were running through my mind when my …
September 19, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
What is an Innovation Business Developer?
Nicolas Bry describes the Innovation Business Developer, and why their skills are a must-have today.
September 19, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Lego’s Innovation Lessons
In strange and disappointing news, Lego announced that it was facing dire sales projections, with growth slowing from over 25% per year to low single digits. Strange, when just a few years ago Lego was on top of the world, with great new toys, Lego kit…
September 19, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Time To Leap: It’s Not Enough To Just Try A Little Harder
Sometimes You Need To Leap Your Competition, By A Lot In some cases, companies comes to us because some of the leaders feel that they have a perception that the company is no longer a leader in their space (most of the time, true from the perception of those who hire us, and untrue to…
September 18, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Are All the Best Ideas Used Up?
A new study from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research suggests that truly novel ideas are not only harder and harder to come by, but they tend to be ever more expensive to explore.
September 18, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
Are You Building an All-Star Innovation Team?
There’s been a big shift from individual performance to teamwork. To solve complex problems, you don’t need the best people, you need the best teams and that means we need to change the way we evaluate, recruit, manage and train employees.
September 17, 2017 | by Chris Kalaboukis
3 Innovation Lessons from Louis C.K.
Despite all the talk of disruption and rapid Fortune 500 turnover it can feel like the same old brands are touted as the titans of innovation year in and out. In this multipart series I’ll look beyond the beloved behemoths and startup darlings to discover innovation inspiration in unlikely sources — NPR, opera & stand-up comedy. _____ …