It should be obvious – don’t work with people that you can’t trust when they’re out of your sight. Want a great test to see if you should be working together? Take a long weekend and go camping. Bring almost nothing because you’re going to have to rely on each…
“The focus for 2011 will be on the jobs that are pivotal to driving growth.” -Ravin Jesuthasan On page 14 of January 3rd’s issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, Ravin Jesuthasan of Towers Watson points out that certain job categories will see increased demand… …as companies accelerate growth through product development.. How…
Back again for 2011 will be West Coast Cycing, this time with new sponsor, Suncoast Trailside Bicycles. Last year saw a successful season with Embe Associates and 2011 should be no different. I just spoke with Davey A, the president of the team, and committed to racing both Squiggy and…
What problem are you fixing, and who’s problem is it? If you’re fixing your own problem and then pushing it at your customers, step away from the keyboard. A better question to start asking yourself is this, who approves the purchase of the solution I’m creating? If you’re not fixing…
There are certain events that occur in everyone’s life that (should) make you stop and think about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Every once in a while you may come to the decision to chuck it all and start over. If we’re really innovators then we’ve been…
After a full six months off training and a full year off of competitive cycling, I’m getting back on the bike. I’m weighing in at 200 even, a full 30 over my TT race weight, and 35 over full race weight. My goal is to be back to 170 in…
And relate is the key word here – if you’re discussing new ideas then you need to find an existing concept for people to relate the new idea to. When I discuss SEO to small business owners they usually know that they need it but they’re not always sure why…
When presenting new ideas and concepts, nothing else is as important is knowing who your audience is. The phrase “know your audience” is an obvious cliche yet people still don’t consider it when they put a presentation together. Ask yourself this: what’s the reason people will want to sit in…
For the rest of this month I’ll be putting together a series of posts that focus on presenting thoughts and ideas in a way that people will understand and gravitate towards. If you’re a seasoned presenter then nothing here will be new. Much of the posts will be based on…
One major challenge to any innovation effort, especially one where people from different parts of the organization are involved, is that of conveying ideas clearly and consistently. Although communication skill sets may vary widely across an organization the results can be reached more effectively with some straightforward strategies. One of…
Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want (Strategyzer) by Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, Alan Smith
Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark Game-Changing Innovation by Phil McKinney