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…
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…
I learned this trick a few years ago and I believe it was a tip that Brian Tracy suggested, however I can’t find it and over time I’ve refined it a little bit. The first step is to clearly define the “problem” and I find most people don’t take the…
The July-August 2010 edition of Harvard Business Review has an article called “How to Stop the Innovation Wars” which discusses a common misunderstanding that the ‘innovation’ side of the house must be separate from the ‘operations’ side largely because innovation is something done by a few people and without accountability…
Critical to any organization that is attempting to grow is a flow of ideas through that organization. This first hit me when I was reading “One Up on Wall Street” by Peter Lynch several years ago. Somewhere in there he describes that if he made 1000 investments, ten would break…
Often overlooked when putting people together, the ability of individuals to communicate and cooperate often times determines the success of a venture more than their work experience. In many environments ‘teams’ of people are assembled with the assumption that ‘team work’ will carry the day and something useful will come…
I’m not sure who at Cobb Theaters put “dinner” and a “movie” together but I freakin’ love Cinebistro! The service program is a little awkward and you don’t have a lot of time to get seated and order, but I appreciate the convenience of the overall concept. The theater in…
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