Tim Brown

Most innovation comes from being able to ask the right questions.

Konosuke Matsushita

The person who consistently seeks to do what is “right” – not just expedient – will invariably be inspired with new ideas and useful insights.

Ronald Burt

Because of patent law, which exists to protect intellectual capital, we often think the value of an idea lies in its creation. Yet the value of an idea lies in the audience, not its source, and one idea can be ‘created’ many, many times. Creativity exists in a chain: an idea comes from this group and goes to that group, and that group then carries … [ Read more ]

Jeanne Liedtka, Henry Mintzberg

Conversational design challenges leaders in ways that formulaic and visionary design do not. Business cultures that center on hierarchy, expediency, and authoritarian leadership get in the way of good conversations. We all know about opportunities that exist in the white spaces between divisions, regions, and functions of every company; what we do not know is how to tap these opportunities. Recognizing the role of conversations … [ Read more ]

Alvin Toffler

The more refined and specialized tasks become, the harder and more expensive it becomes to integrate them – especially in an innovation-driven economy. At some point, the costs of integration may exceed the value of such super-specialization. Narrowly-focused specialists may be good at incremental innovation, but breakthrough innovation is most often the product of temporary teams whose members cross disciplinary boundaries.

The Seeds of Innovation: Cultivating the Synergy That Fosters New Ideas

Innovation thought leader Elaine Dundon offers a “how-to” prescription for building creative and strategic innovation skills at all levels of an organization (rather than focusing on decision-making levels only) – and explains how to produce measurable results that translate directly to the bottom line.

Using field-tested concepts and practical examples, and featuring easy-to-apply processes and concrete thinking tools, this straight-talking book provides a broadly applicable guide … [ Read more ]

How To Find Innovation Coins In The Couch

Streamlining processes frees up resources for competitive differentiation.

Sustaining Corporate Growth Requires ‘Big I’ and ‘small i’ Innovation

All companies, from major multinationals to start-ups, face a common challenge: how to keep growing. These firms find it difficult to sustain growth because they become risk averse, opting for safer incremental product and service improvements instead of more rewarding, but riskier, major initiatives, according to a study by Wharton marketing professor George S. Day. Companies, Day says, need to better understand the risks inherent … [ Read more ]

Michael Iva

There are two qualities that usually determine a creative person’s potential…curiosity and determination. The curious learn, grow, and develop potential. The determined have the resolve to overcome the obstacles they encounter on their way to fulfilling their potential.

The Secret to Selling Your Big Idea

You’ve got a brainstorm. It’s bold, it’s brilliant-and it might even make you rich. Learn how the pros transform great insights into big career breakthroughs.

Vinton Cerf

People often take the view that standardization is the enemy of creativity. But I think that standards help make creativity possible — by allowing for the establishment of an infrastructure, which then leads to enormous entrepreneurialism, creativity, and competitiveness.

Faith Ringgold

The great enemy of creativity is fear. When we’re fearful, we freeze up. Creativity has a lot to do with a willingness to take risks.

Vinton Cerf

When it comes to innovation, the question is not how to innovate but how to invite ideas. How do you invite your brain to encounter thoughts that you might not otherwise encounter? Creative people let their minds wander, and they mix ideas freely. Innovation often comes from unexpected juxtapositions, from connecting subjects that aren’t necessarily related.

From Push to Pull: The Next Frontier of Innovation

In “push” systems the core assumptions are that companies and other institutions can anticipate demand and that mobilizing scarce resources in previously specified ways is the most efficient and reliable way to meet it. But the efficiency of push systems comes at a stiff price, for they require companies to specify, monitor, and enforce detailed activities and tasks. This rigidity necessarily restricts the number and … [ Read more ]

Charles Kettering

The research state of mind can apply to anything; personal affairs or any kind of business, big or little. It is the problem solving mind as contrasted with the let-well-enough-alone mind. It is the composer mind instead of the fiddler mind. It is the ‘tomorrow’ mind instead of the ‘yesterday’ mind.

Global Sourcing in Innovation: Theory and Evidence from the Information Technology Hardware Industry

Economists, including Paul Samuelson and Jagdish Bhagwati, vigorously debate whether offshore outsourcing in high-tech industries helps or harms the U.S. economy. The main issue is whether insourcing countries, such as China or India, will catch up with and eventually outcompete the U.S. Moreover, the dearth of off shore outsourcing data has hindered the study of the impact of offshore outsourcing. To explore the impact of … [ Read more ]

Charles Kettering

Obsolescence is a factor which says that the new thing I bring you is worth more than the unused value of the old thing.