Two Recent Interviews

If you want to hear my voice talk about innovation, here are two recent interviews for podcasts:

I had a blast with Karen Keller when we addressed how women (and men) can be more innovative.  This was a no holds barred conversation where I said what was really on my mind: Power Influencer Series

SchoolBriefing.com is a subscrition-based website targeted at school administrators.  In this interview, I discuss how teachers, educators, and administrators can be more effective in the way they teach their students.  This link will allow you to listen to the recording and read the transcript without a subscription: Re-Thinking Innovation, Creativity and Collaboration

Innovation 101

Although much has been written about innovation, there is little agreement on what it is or why it is necessary. Is innovation the same as creativity? Is it synonymous with product development? Or is innovation just radical change?

I like to describe innovation through an old, yet relevant, joke. The joke begins with two men who are hiking in the mountains of Canada when they stumble upon a hungry 600-pound grizzly bear. Immediately, one of the hikers takes off his backpack and hiking boots and proceeds to put on his running shoes. The other hiker looks at him and asks, “What are you doing? You can’t outrun a bear!” The first hiker responds, “I know, but I only need to outrun you!”

This is innovation. It is not simply about new products, new processes, new services or new ideas. It is about staying one step ahead of your competition.

Why you need innovation now more than ever
Sometimes the “competition” is not another company, but rather socioeconomic shifts. Rising oil prices, a slumping housing market, the collapse of well-known financial institutions, and a looming recession have all left corporate executives on edge.

While many companies are tightening their belts due to unstable market conditions, truly successful companies use these times as a chance to outstrip their competition. My favorite company, Koch Industries, increases their investments during difficult times. They know that if they focus on innovation while others are cutting costs, they will quickly catapult past everyone else. They must be doing something right; Koch Industries has grown seven times faster than the S&P 500 for the past 40 years.

How can innovation benefit your company? It is not just about product development or radical growth. When used properly, innovation can help you achieve the following:

• Reduce costs
• Increase service levels to customers
• Improve overall employee performance and retention
• De-commoditize a commodity business
• Become recession-proof

Three levels of innovation

[Read more]

Articles in Thai, Danish and Dutch

Today’s blog entry gives you three feature articles with my thoughts on innovation.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what they say! 

One article is from “Computerworld” in the Denmark (scanned in by a colleague there).  Another is from “High Tech Analysis” in the Netherlands.  And the last is the cover story from “inMarketing” in Thailand.  If you can read any of these languages, you might enjoy the articles.  If not, you might just enjoy the pictures.

Computerworld (Denmark) (pdf – scanned from original)

High Tech Analysis (Netherlands)  (pdf – click here to view original online flash version)

inMarketing - Article #1 (Thailand) (pdf)

inMarketing - Article #2 (Thailand) (pdf)

(click cover to view larger version)

Resolutions That Work

Making Resolutions That Work

Like dinosaurs and gas-guzzling SUVs, is the traditional New Year’s Resolution rapidly becoming a thing of the past?

According to a survey by Stephen Shapiro, the answer is a resounding “Yes.”

In a survey of 1012 Americans, only 45% of Americans now say they write up New Years Resolutions down from 88% of Americans who did so in the past. The random telephone survey was conducted by Shapiro, author of “Goal-Free Living,” with the assistance of Opinion Research Corp. of Princeton N.J. The survey has a margin of error of 3%.

[Read more]

New Innovation Article

Although I have written about this many times before on this blog, we have created a formal article on “The Performance Paradox.”  This is part of an eBook being published by 21 professional speakers.

You can find this, and a dozen other articles in my “innovation articles” section of the website.

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