Category: Leadership of Innovation

Try this phrase to speed action; Unless I hear differently

Consensus is a good thing isn’t it? We want to get everyone on board and aligned don’t we? So we need to get everyone’s input and approval before we move forward with a new initiative, right? Wrong. If we wait until we have everyone’s feedback then we move at the speed of the slowest animal in the herd. One of the big problems with making innovation happen is the number of meetings... Read More--

The Deterrent to Innovation in Curing Cancer

Lord SaatchiWe live in an increasingly litigious age. The number of lawsuits brought against the British National Health Service has doubled in the last four years. The fear of litigation and the real possibility of been found guilty of medical malpractice are inhibiting hospitals and doctors from trying promising new ideas in the treatment of deadly illnesses. Lord Maurice Saatchi has introduced... Read More--

What is the optimal length of tenure for a CEO?

Do CEOs get better or worse over time?  Is there an ideal length of time for a CEO to hold office?  It appears that in general there is and it is around 5 years.  This is the conclusion of a study carried out on 356 US companies from 2000 to 2010 by Xueming Luo, Vamsi Kanuri and Michelle Andrews of the University of Texas as reported in a recent issue of the Harvard Business Review.  They measured... Read More--

How to fix the Innovation Disconnect

I recently ran an innovation training workshop for a global pharmaceutical company. The participants were all high-potential junior executives. One of the exercises produced some novel and feasible ideas that could possibly lead to a significant increase in sales. ‘What should we do with these ideas now?’ I asked. Nobody said a word. One or two people shook their heads. ‘What is the chance of... Read More--

Boost your New Product Development with an Innovation Incubator

The toy company Mattel is renowned for its Barbie doll brand.  The company needs a constant stream of internal innovations to build on this success.  So Ivy Ross, Senior VP of Girls Toy Design set up something she called Project Platypus.  The idea is based on the description of a platypus as an uncommon mix of different species.  The 12 members of the project team are a rotating group drawn from... Read More--

Great Ideas to Boost your Ideas Scheme

I spoke at the annual conference of Ideas UK in Bristol. It was a meeting of people who run suggestions schemes and employee engagement programs. Delegates came from many countries including the USA, Germany and the Middle East. There was a wealth of stories, experiences, suggestions and shared best practices. If you run a suggestion scheme of any kind then there is much to learn from this kind of... Read More--

Will more freedom to be Creative lead to more Innovation?

Let’s start by defining creativity as thinking of new ideas and innovation as implementing new ideas. The assumption has always been that if we want to deliver innovation in terms of new products, services, processes etc. then we need lots of creativity in order to generate ideas. Creativity is the ‘front end of innovation’. It is how we fill the pipeline that generates a flow of new products.... Read More--

We don’t just need Great Leaders; we also need Great Followers

Can you name some current political leaders who are held in high esteem?  I think most people would find this difficult because by and large political leaders are held in very low esteem.  It is commonplace in the media and on the internet to hear people criticizing government ministers for their incompetence.  They are blamed when they act and they are blamed when they fail to act.  They just... Read More--

Ask, ‘What Business are we in?’

The CEO of Black and Decker once said, “People don’t go into a DIY store because they need one of our drills. They go because they need a hole in the wall.”  Wonderbra in their internal communications to staff say this, “We do not sell underwear. We do not sell lingerie. What we sell is self-confidence for women.”  Harley Davidson does not sell motorbikes. It sells the concept... Read More--

Kill the Losers so that you can Foster the Winners

How are you going to find the means to develop the most promising innovation ideas?  One good way is to kill off the weaker projects which are currently absorbing precious resources.  Many organisations find this difficult to do.  Consequently the new creative ideas they generate are always short of money and manpower. The word decide comes from the same root as the words homicide, infanticide and... Read More--