People frequently ask me “How can I be more innovative?” The answer can be elusive, as they are often asking for permission to innovate, which you will rarely receive. Fortunately, you can learn to be more innovative. Here are some thoughts on how: Innovate because you have to. I was talking with Brendan Coram last […]
If you force me to choose, I pick the invention of quartz watch movements as one of the more astonishing examples of creative destruction in business. Once quartz arrived, the value propositions of most of the luxury Swiss watchmakers was instantly destroyed. Pre-quartz, they competed on accuracy. But quartz watches were 10 times more accurate […]
Experiments are a critical innovation skill, and it’s one that you can use to build your Innovation Competence. A culture of experimentation is one of the elements that distinguishes highly innovative firms from those that arene’t quite as good at it. The best thing that I’ve run across recently on the importance of experimentation is […]
When carbon atoms connect, they most commonly form molecules built on rings of six atoms. The things that are built out of these six atom rings of carbon are amazingly diverse. Here are the structures of two of these things: graphite (A) and diamond (B): You can see the rings in both. Same material, same […]
Innovation is all about coming up with new solutions to solve problems. But here’s an interesting question: is the problem that you’re trying to solve a puzzle or a mystery? The distinction was made by Gregory Treverton and highlighted by Malcolm Gladwell in a piece he wrote on Enron a few years ago. According to […]
Note: This is part of a series of posts explaining the individual parts of The Innovation Matrix. See this post for a description of the full model and what can be done with it. I presented The Innovation Matrix at a conference last week. After the other three speakers in my session had given their […]
Note: This is part of a series of posts explaining the individual parts of The Innovation Matrix. See this post for a description of the full model and what can be done with it. Potential Stars Some firms have a high level of Innovation Commitment, and they also have a reasonably high level of Innovation […]
Note: This is part of a series of posts explaining the individual parts of The Innovation Matrix. See this post for a description of the full model and what can be done with it. Stars (at Risk) How do you describe firms that have a high level of Innovation Competence but no Innovation Commitment? My […]
I solved a mystery recently that had been bothering me for months. There’s about a seven minute walk from the main faculty parking lot on campus to my office. About halfway through this walk, there are two paths that you can take – one covers significantly less distance. I’ve always taken this shorter route. One […]
Note: This is part of a series of posts explaining the individual parts of The Innovation Matrix. See this post for a description of the full model and what can be done with it. Unicorns In the last post, I discussed the three stable states in the Innovation Matrix. These are the places where Innovation […]
Note: This is part of a series of posts explaining the individual parts of The Innovation Matrix. See this post for a description of the full model and what can be done with it. Fit for Purpose and World Class Innovators In a perfect world, as firms increase their Innovation Competence, their Innovation Commitment, should […]