Editor’s Choices for Week Ending Aug 10, 2012
Article of the Week
The Seven Deadly Sins of Innovation Leaders (Management Innovation Exchange)
Big Idea: Leading innovation efforts is difficult and completely different from most everything else done within organizations. This article discusses seven key underlying issues that can stifle innovation and numerous ideas for addressing and overcoming these innovation limiting challenges.
Article of the Week
Resource Fluidity
The Seven Deadly Sins of Innovation Leaders
Big Idea: Leading innovation efforts is difficult and completely different from most everything else done within organizations. This article discusses seven key underlying issues that can stifle innovation and numerous ideas for addressing and overcoming these innovation limiting challenges.
Management Innovation eXchange
August 9, 2012
Editor’s Choice Articles
Blank Checks: Unleashing the Potential of People and Businesses (Strategy + Business)
Big Idea: Kraft Foods Inc. utilizes an unusual management technique called “blank check” to inspire business teams to envision and achieve breakthrough results. Instead of defining budgets and resources, business leaders focus on defining ambitious goals while leaving it to their managers and their teams to ask for whatever resources they need to achieve these goals.
Pricing Lessons from New England’s Lobster Glut (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: This current situation in New England where Lobster prices have recently reached 40 year lows illustrates a key pricing concept — value-based pricing — that all companies can learn from.
The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: If success is a catalyst for failure because it leads to the “undisciplined pursuit of more,” then one simple antidote is the disciplined pursuit of less. Not just haphazardly saying no, but purposefully, deliberately, and strategically eliminating the nonessentials. Living by this principle differentiates successful people and organizations from the very successful ones.
Mothers of Invention: How Moms Help Huggies Innovate (Fast Company)
Big Idea: All around the world, mothers are inventing new child-care products–so Kimberly-Clark thought, why not collaborate with them (and save the R&D budget in the process)?
Editor’s Choices for Week Ending Aug 3, 2012
Article of the Week
From Fixed to Flexible Lives (Innovation Management)
Big Idea: A major shift is underway from fixed to flexible lifestyles, from commute to communicate forms of consumption. The Millennials are at the heart of it but the impacts will be felt far wider as new technologies enable a more flexible, pick and mix approach to life and work.
Article of the Week
Resource Fluidity
Big Idea: A major shift is underway from fixed to flexible lifestyles, from commute to communicate forms of consumption. The Millennials are at the heart of it but the impacts will be felt far wider as new technologies enable a more flexible, pick and mix approach to life and work.
Innovation Management
August 1, 2012
Editor’s Choice Articles
Debating Disaster in Order to Prepare for It (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: The key question for all organizations when it comes to catastrophic risk is how to make the critical prioritizing, planning and spending decisions for low probability, high consequence events. Such events can occur due to corporate failure, natural disasters, or acts of terrorism. Unfortunately, the benefit of hindsight is not available to leaders today trying to make best-efforts judgments on which potential events in the future require current action and what those actions should be.
The Planning Fallacy and the Innovator’s Dilemma (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: This article presents a short list of questions that organizations should address as they develop and assess their growth targets. Critical analysis, unbiased thinking, and careful consideration early on can mitigate the impact of the “planning fallacy” where human beings typically are very poor at estimation.
Cognitive Biases Inhibiting Innovation in Top Management Teams (Innovation Management)
Big Idea: The top management team of an organization is arguably the most important team for deciding and implementing innovation strategies. They typically decide which markets to be entered, which markets to be exited, and which new technologies to pursue. But decision making is fraught with biases – errors in judgment that affect the quality of decisions.
How to Thrive In the Free-Product Economy (Fast Company)
Big Idea: Someone will probably make a product just like yours, then give it away for free. Why not beat them to the punch?
Editor’s Choices for Week Ending Jul 27, 2012
Article of the Week
How Fast Should You Innovate? (Innovation Excellence)
Big Idea: The rate of change in the environment has increased and firms must accelerate their product and service development capabilities. Although no “one size fits all” model exists, Jeffrey Phillips suggests that organizations should be pursuing both incremental and disruptive innovation, using the Three Horizon framework as a guide.
Article of the Week
Resource Fluidity
Big Idea: The rate of change in the environment has increased and firms must accelerate their product and service development capabilities. Although no “one size fits all” model exists, Jeffrey Phillips suggests that organizations should be pursuing both incremental and disruptive innovation, using the Three Horizon framework as a guide.
Innovation Excellence
July 24, 2012
Editor’s Choice Articles
Using Analytics to Prevent Next Major Crisis? (Forbes)
Big Idea: Risk analytics is increasingly important for banks as they cope with a complex regulatory and competitive environment. Research indicates that banks are increasingly committed to improving their analytics technologies, tools and teams. Successful banks leverage risk analytics not only to identify and mitigate risk, but to provide competitive differentiation.
Retailers’ Idea: Think Smaller in Urban Push (NY Times)
Big Idea: As young Americans move to cities, retailers that grew up in the suburbs are following them. Unlike previous efforts, they are doing it the cities’ way. With little room to expand in the suburbs, retailers, including Office Depot, Wal-Mart and Target, are betting that opening small city stores will help their growth.
5 Key Success Factors to Enable Transformational Innovation within Businesses (Innovation Management)
Big Idea: Transformational innovation for many businesses is inherently complex and, in many cases, high risk. It can be a big distraction, expensive in terms of cost and resource bleed from other key activities, must be managed carefully and will frequently not be successful. This article explores some key factors to work with when looking for transformational innovation.
Agile Vs. Waterfall Product Engineering (Innovation Management)
Big Idea: Author Eric Ries illustrates the difference between waterfall and agile product development theories, and outlines when each is best employed. Waterfall – the linear path of product build-out – is best used when the problem and its solutions are well-understood. Agile development, on the other hand, is a less-risky model of what can happen when the product changes with frequent user feedback and minimal waste.
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.
Article of the Week
Resource Fluidity
Innovation Almost Bankrupted LEGO — Until It Rebuilt with a Better Blueprint
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.
Knowledge@Wharton
July 18, 2012
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.
Editor’s Choices for Week Ending Jul 13, 2012
Article of the Week
The Power of Being Different (Fast Company)
Big Idea: Product success usually starts with difference–but there are many ways to be different. The trick is to be different in a way that is highly relevant to your audience and creates a sustainable competitive advantage.
Article of the Week
Resource Fluidity
Big Idea: Product success usually starts with difference–but there are many ways to be different. The trick is to be different in a way that is highly relevant to your audience and creates a sustainable competitive advantage.
Fast Company
July 12, 2012
Editor’s Choice Articles
The Unconscious Executive (HBS Working Knowledge)
Big Idea: Research by Maarten Bos and his colleagues suggests that unconscious thought supports the kind of mental organization needed for making complex decisions. In addition, unconscious thought might be more dependable than conscious thought when we are low on energy. The research also indicates that using odor or sound cues during sleep might improve creativity and innovation.
3 Steps to Innovate Like Google (Inc.)
Big Idea: By leveraging the Alchemy of Growth’s Three Horizons Model, companies of any size can begin driving innovation throughout their organization. These companies will discover not only that their firm may be more innovative than they think, but also that they can better allocate resources to drive future growth.
The Softer Side of Risk Management Means Fewer Analytics (Smart Data Collective)
Big Idea: For the past 25 years quantitative analysts have ruled the roost in Finance. However, as global financial flows (and financial products) get more interconnected, complex and opaque; investors and managers are finding this new paradigm terrifying. It’s high time to supplement quantitative strategies with the softer side of risk management.
Where’s Your Innovation Friction (Innovation Excellence)
Big Idea: When it comes to creating an innovation culture, often people make it far too complicated. If you’re part of the senior leadership team and you’re serious about innovation then your job is simple – reduce friction.
Editor’s Choices for Week Ending Jul 6, 2012
Article of the Week
Make Your Team More Innovative, Instantly (Inc.)
Big Idea: For most people, trying to be innovative feels nearly impossible. Lisa Bodell, the founder and CEO of futurethink and the author of Kill the Company, provides a technique referred to as “Kill a Stupid Rule” that engages the workforce, jumpstarts innovation, and allows people to have fun in the process.
Article of the Week
Resource Fluidity
Make Your Team More Innovation, Instantly
Big Idea: For most people, trying to be innovative feels nearly impossible. Lisa Bodell, the founder and CEO of futurethink and the author of Kill the Company, provides a technique referred to as “Kill a Stupid Rule” that engages the workforce, jumpstarts innovation, and allows people to have fun in the process.
Inc.
July 5, 2012
Editor’s Choice Articles
Decisions, Decisions: Why humans can’t seem to make the “right” choices (Kellogg Insight)
Big Idea: Psychologists and behavioral economists have established that humans exhibit a number of fairly predictable biases in their decision making. What if these biases are basic emergent properties of any system forced to make decisions with limited mental resources? In order to understand humanity’s irrationality when deciding between many options, Yuval Salant created a simplified mathematical model of how a machine—an “automaton”—would make choices.
Great, You’re Inspired: Now Begin the Nitty-Gritty of Idea Implementation (Fast Company)
Big Idea: For successful implementation, involving others in the development process is a key part of managing the change. Such involvement not only provides you the skill sets needed to improve your idea, but also increases the sense of ownership of the solution. With that buy-in and increased expertise, your innovative solution stands more of chance of succeeding.
Five Ways to Commit Innovation Suicide (Innovation Excellence)
Big Idea: Many organizations struggle with innovation as they make the same mistakes over and over again. The article addresses five common mistakes to avoid when looking to foster innovation and some practical guidance to help avoid these mistakes.
Jugaad: A Frugal, Flexible Approach to Innovation (Knowledge at Wharton)
Big Idea: The authors of this article present a new approach to innovation referred to as “Jugaad”, a Hindi word meaning an improvised solution born from ingenuity. This approach follows several core principles including the following: seek opportunity in adversity, do more with less, think and act flexibly, keep it simple, include the margin and follow your heart.
Editor’s Choices for Week Ending Jun 29, 2012
Article of the Week
The Difference between Strategy and Innovation (Innovation Excellence)
Big Idea: Strategy and innovation are quite distinct, requiring vastly different people, skill sets and processes. The conundrum is that every business needs both. This articles presents a brief guide about what each needs to succeed, where to deploy them, who should drive them, and what to expect.
Article of the Week
Resource Fluidity
The Difference between Strategy and Innovation
Big Idea: Strategy and innovation are quite distinct, requiring vastly different people, skill sets and processes. The conundrum is that every business needs both. This articles presents a brief guide about what each needs to succeed, where to deploy them, who should drive them, and what to expect.
Innovation Excellence
June 29, 2012
Editor’s Choice Articles
The Importance of Studying the Obvious (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: How can we better appreciate the limits of our intuition, and hence the need to support the scientific investigation of human affairs? One interesting possibility is raised by the arrival of “big data” where the potential for all these data to yield insight into human behavior is tantalizing. Unfortunately the insights are often at odds with our intuition. Clearly a more rigorous, scientific approach is needed.
Valuing Radical Innovation (Innovation Excellence)
Big Idea: Early stage opportunities that disrupt markets or create new ones are mired in uncertainty. They are unlikely to use the standard business model for that category where the full potential of the product is difficult to estimate. Given these dynamics, really radical innovation should not be quantified in the same way as existing incremental opportunities.
2 Tools to Help You Make Smarter, Faster Decisions on the Fly (Fast Company)
Big Idea: Making a good decision depends on getting the right information, processing it, and then making the best choice you can. The author of this article has created a proof-of-concept tool that helps organizations improve decision-making by focusing on the problem, options, and priorities.
Evade an Innovation Blackout (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: Innovation can be stifled by normal business processes. Knowledge workers are essential to innovation, and when nudged off-task their output wanes. Companies must structure work so that peripheral parts of processes can be taken up by hyperspecialists, who provide distinct skills that help knowledge workers stay on track.
Editor’s Choices for Week Ending Jun 22, 2012
Article of the Week
A Beekeeper’s Perspective on Risk (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: Michael O’Malley presents an interesting perspective on how society could learn from beehives and improve risk management capabilities. Beehives are organizations that naturally got things right. They are structured for consistent long-term growth and the prevention of severe loss due to unpredictable environmental surprises. Bees are masters at risk management.
Article of the Week
Resource Fluidity
A Beekeeper’s Perspective on Risk
Big Idea: Michael O’Malley presents an interesting perspective on how society could learn from beehives and improve risk management capabilities. Beehives are organizations that naturally got things right. They are structured for consistent long-term growth and the prevention of severe loss due to unpredictable environmental surprises. Bees are masters at risk management.
HBR Blog Network
June 20, 2012
Editor’s Choice Articles
How Apple is taking on rivals now (CNN Money)
Big Idea: On the surface, Apple’s key announcements at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) seemed routine and almost mundane. They definitely were not. These announcements were thinly veiled thrusts at Google and Microsoft where Apple is an aggressive and savvy competitor — and one that is pushing its ecosystem forward effectively.
Your Judgment of Risk Is Compromised (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: A key aspect of risk intelligence is recognizing the limits to your knowledge. People’s judgment of risks is deeply compromised by psychological biases. What can we do to compensate for the difficulty we have when dealing with small differences in probabilities? The best option is to turn to mathematics.
3 Enduring Ways to Approach Innovation (Innovation Excellence)
Big Idea: One of the best and simplest definitions of innovation is the one rendered by David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue: “Innovation is trying to figure out a way to do something better than it’s ever been done before.” The author presents three stories of innovation showing how different styles of thinking can lead to successful breakthroughs.
You Don’t Need a PhD to Innovate (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: The essence of innovation is the ability to think, ask questions, and use your imagination. A simple twist on an existing paradigm can change everything — often in complicated technological businesses.
Editor’s Choices for Week Ending Jun 15, 2012
Article of the Week
To Innovate, Play with Pieces off the Game Board (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: Truly game-changing institutional innovations are unlikely to come about from internalizing the rules and making the moves that allowed others to win. The most promising pathway to disruptive innovation is to look around for underutilized assets—those game pieces off the board—and to configure them for success.
Article of the Week
Resource Fluidity
To Innovate, Play with Pieces off the Game Board
Big Idea: Truly game-changing institutional innovations are unlikely to come about from internalizing the rules and making the moves that allowed others to win. The most promising pathway to disruptive innovation is to look around for underutilized assets—those game pieces off the board—and to configure them for success.
HBR Blog Network
June 11, 2012
Editor’s Choice Articles
Ignore Your Performance Goals, Increase Your Performance (Fast Company)
Big Idea: Companies use performance goals all the time–for good reason. Performance goals provide people with a clear target that is usually difficult but, ideally, still achievable. Unfortunately, when leaders pay so much attention to performance goals, they often lose sight of other equally or even more important goals.
7 Sins that Undermine Your Forecasts (Business Finance Big Fat Finance Blog)
Big Idea: Antiquated processes and tools combined with misconceptions regarding forecasting accuracy have hindered the quality of forecasting processes around the world, producing often questionable forecasts. Yet, organizations have good reason to strive for accurate forecasts. This article presents seven of the key factors impacting an organizations ability to produce credible forecasts.
Better Ways of Thinking about Risks (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: A National Academy of Sciences committee recently completed an exercise regarding intelligence analysis and came up with a framework for taking a scientific approach to analyzing and evaluating risks. This article highlights several key lessons gleaned from their work and provides links to their consensus report.
Innovation Requires a Change in Behavior (Innovation Excellence)
Big Idea: Innovation is always about changing behavior. If you’re selling a new widget, you have to get people to switch from their old widgets. If you have a new way of doing things, you have to get people to abandon the old ways. If you have a new idea, you often have to kill off an old way of thinking. In all cases, this requires people to change the way that they act.
Editor’s Choices for Week Ending Jun 8, 2012
Article of the Week
The CFO in the Corporate Brain (CFO.com)
Big Idea: A Nobel Prize winning economist has some ideas that help explain how a CFO should function as part of the decision-making team. Given that people are often convinced by stories and not statistics, the CFO must master the numbers but also understand and communicate what those numbers are saying.
Article of the Week
Resource Fluidity
The CFO in the Corporate Brain
Big Idea: A Nobel Prize winning economist has some ideas that help explain how a CFO should function as part of the decision-making team. Given that people are often convinced by stories and not statistics, the CFO must master the numbers but also understand and communicate what those numbers are saying.
CFO.com
June 7, 2012
Editor’s Choice Articles
The Perils of Forecasting Benchmarks (SAS Blog)
Big Idea: Benchmarks of forecasting performance are available from several sources, including professional organizations and journals, academic research, and private consulting/benchmarking organizations. But there are several reasons why industry forecasting benchmarks should not be used for setting your own forecasting performance objectives.
Why You Need to Flip Your Org Chart (Inc.)
Big Idea: If you run a factory, McDonald’s franchise, or other business that involves repetitive, mechanical processes, then hierarchy may have a place. But if you run a company that demands creativity, good problem-solving skills, and a high level of motivation from your people, it’s time to flatten–and flip–your org chart.
The Importance of Play to Innovation (Innovation Excellence)
Big Idea: A pioneer in research on play, Dr. Stuart Brown says humor, games, rough-housing, flirtation, and fantasy are more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults – and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age.
Customers Don’t Want More Features (HBR Blog Network)
Big Idea: Development teams often assume that their products are done when no more features can be added. Perhaps their logic should be the reverse: Products get closer to perfection when no more features can be eliminated. As Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”