When markets change, we often try to keep using the same tools that we’ve always used, in the same way. This will lead to failure. We need to innovate the tools we use, or innovate the business model around the old tools.
If we’re evaluating markets, is it better to start with research or with talking to people? In part, it depends on whether we’re entering a completely new market or not.
Innovation drives economic growth, but the relationship between innovation and inequality is much less clear. It is possible to be an innovative country with low levels of inequality.
TL;DR – when attention spans get shorter, we can either accommodate this by going short ourselves, or we can do the opposite and go deep.
It’s not enough to want to innovate more. We have to build the habits that will help us take the daily actions that will achieve this goal.
George R.R. Martin describes two kinds of writers: architects (who plan) and gardeners (who see what emerges). These ideas apply to innovators too. However, instead of embracing one approach over the other, we need to build the skills require to integrate them.
Ideas change lives. Here are some of the sources of ideas that have changed mine recently. I hope you find a few ideas in here that will change yours too!
I just started writing for Harvard Business Review Blogs. Here is the story of how I almost blew that opportunity, and how I finally made it work by doing what I already know works: experimenting.
We learn through trial and error. That’s how everyone figures out how to ride a bike. We need to use trial and error more in business – it is a core tool for building an innovation culture.
