photo credit: Peter Emmett Here is another tip from our “Little Book of BIG Innovation Ideas.” As adults, when we try to solve a problem, we often ask, “What does this mean?” We try to pull the answer from our knowledge bank, just like finding the solution in an encyclopedia. Solve the problem the way [...]

Here’s a useful innovation tip. Designworks, a division of BMW, designs cars and other products such as cell phones, computers, and tractors. Their design process is particularly interesting. Instead of starting with functions and features, they start with emotion. Designers first meet with company executives, employees, and customers in order to capture the emotion that [...]

If you have creative people in your organization (and trust me, you do), then you may find yourself with TOO MANY solutions. This is why suggestion boxes (physical or online) do not work. Therefore you need to move from suggestion boxes (give us your solution to everything) to a campaign-driven approach (we want your best [...]

Here is another “innovation tip.” This one is simple, yet incredibly powerful. In fact, I am using this concept right now with this website. But more on that later. One of the biggest barriers to success is analysis paralysis. It is the belief that studying the marketplace infinitum will yield better results. This is just [...]

Here’s another tip from my innovation book…  Because a few individuals at the top cannot possibly plan all of a company’s activities, give employees a set of rights, responsibilities and rewards that make them accountable for their own actions. Example: Koch Industries (the largest privately held company in the world) wanted to achieve world-class safety. [...]

One of the most simple, yet most powerful approaches for increasing your creativity potential is to phrase concerns as opportunities.  When brainstorming, inevitably someone will say, “We don’t have enough time to implement this idea,” or “We don’t have enough money.”  When you say this, you are stating it as fact.  Instead, state this concern [...]

Here is another tip from my new “innovation tips” book. There are two extremes of innovation culture. One is “the right of infinite appeal.” This is a culture where anyone, anytime, has the right to veto any suggestions, bring the process back to the starting point. In this environment, very little gets done, and innovation [...]

Today’s blog entry is from my new “innovation tips book.” But this is also an extremely useful concept in every day life. In fact, anyone who knows me eventually hears me say: “ethos, pathos, logos.” Selling is fundamental to your success – personally and professionally. Ethos, pathos, logos is a simple recipe for selling anything [...]

I am writing a new book on innovation that contains over 100 tips for turning creativity into profitability. Every tip is bite sized (typically one page in length) in order to be easily digestible. Each week I will post at least one tip from the book. Organizations who are interested in creating a culture of [...]

Today’s blog entry is a goal-free approach to brainstorming. Brainstorming sessions are useful. The standard approach is one person up front facilitating, while the conversation is single-threaded. To overcome this limitation, some groups use breakout sessions. The problem with this is that they do not allow for cross-pollination of ideas. To combat these problems, I [...]