Editor’s Choices For Week Ending Jul 20, 2012

Article of the Week
Innovation Almost Bankrupted LEGO — Until It Rebuilt with a Better Blueprint  (Knowledge at Wharton)
Big Idea:  The LEGO story lies at the heart of why companies should not blindly follow the typical mantras of innovation. Although it is generally not good for a firm to remain stagnant, the reality is that unbridled innovation in the vein of LEGO may not be the answer, either.

Editor’s Choice Articles
Two Innovation Lies and a Truth (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea:  There’s no doubt that innovation remains a challenge at many large organizations. But before throwing up your hands, make sure you’ve reached the root of the perceived innovation blockers. You might find ways to do things faster and better.

Everything Must Earn an ROI (CFO Magazine)
Big Idea:  Company management must quantify the benefits of so-called strategic investments to improve the quality of their investment decisions. Doing this requires a solid grasp of the drivers of revenue, cost and capital investment, and an eagerness to apply this information in a deliberate manner to determine which investments deliver high ROIs and which do not.

Why Non-Experts Are Better at Disruptive Innovation (Inc.)
Big Idea:  In this article, Naveen Jain presents an interesting argument that ground-breaking innovation will NOT come from experts in their respective disciplines but from lay people.

Innovate Like Famous Explorers (Innovation Management)
Big Idea:  Innovation nowadays has many similarities with voyages of discovery in the past. In this blog Gijs van Wulfen illustrates a series of practical learning’s for innovation inspired by successful explorers.