Category Archives: Innovation

How to Encourage a Culture of Innovation

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How to Encourage a Culture of Innovation

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What is a Culture of Innovation?

A culture of innovation is a working environment in which creative thinking, experimentation, and risk-taking are encouraged and rewarded. It is a way of working that values the development of new ideas, products, and processes. It is also a culture that supports collaboration and open communication in order to foster creativity, problem-solving, and innovation.

Fostering a Culture of Innovation

When it comes to fostering a culture of innovation in the workplace, there are a few key steps that can be taken to get the ball rolling. By encouraging employees to think creatively and to be open to new ideas, businesses can create an atmosphere of growth and progress that can lead to increased productivity and revenue.

1. Set Clear Goals – Make sure that all employees are aware of the company’s vision and mission. Clarifying the company’s goals and objectives will help employees understand what they’re working towards and why it’s important.

2. Provide Resources – Provide employees with the necessary tools and resources to enable them to think creatively and come up with innovative ideas. This can include access to research materials, training opportunities, and brainstorming sessions.

3. Encourage Risk-Taking – Be open to new ideas and don’t be afraid to take risks. Encourage employees to take calculated risks and be willing to make mistakes—it’s often through trial and error that the best ideas come about.

4. Reward Innovation – Recognize and celebrate employees who come up with innovative solutions. Not only will this motivate them, but it will also show other employees that the company values creative thinking.

5. Foster Collaboration – Encourage collaboration and open communication between teams. By bringing different perspectives together, teams can generate new ideas and find better solutions to problems.

Innovation is essential for any business looking to stay competitive and grow. By following these steps, businesses can create a culture of innovation and reap the rewards of a more creative and productive workforce.

Image credit: Pixabay

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What is an Online Research Panel?

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What is an Online Research Panel?

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

An online research panel is an online platform that is used to collect data from a specific group of people. This data can be used to gain insights into consumer behavior, market trends, and other types of research. It can be used to gain insights into a variety of topics, such as consumer preferences, product development, and marketing strategies.

While online research panels can be used to gather data from a variety of sources, they are typically used to gather data from a specific group of people. This group is often made up of a panel of individuals who are chosen based on their demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, location, and education level.

Once the panel of individuals has been selected, they are asked to participate in a variety of research activities. These activities can include surveys, interviews, focus groups, and other forms of data collection. This data is then used to gain insights into consumer behavior, market trends, and other research topics.

Online research panels provide a variety of benefits to researchers. First, they can allow researchers to collect data from a large pool of people quickly and easily. This is because the data collection process is automated, which saves the researchers time and effort. Additionally, online research panels can allow researchers to gain access to a wide variety of data sources, which can provide a more comprehensive view of the research topic.

Finally, online research panels can be used to quickly and easily test hypotheses and gather feedback from a variety of sources. This can help researchers develop better insights into their research topic, which can help them make more informed decisions.

Overall, online research panels are a great way for researchers to quickly and easily collect data from a variety of sources. They can provide a comprehensive view of the research topic, allow researchers to quickly and easily test hypotheses, and provide feedback from a variety of sources. For these reasons, online research panels are an invaluable tool for researchers.

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China Plans to Trump Innovation from Outer Space

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China Plans to Trump Innovation from Outer Space

First, let me say that this is not a political article, but instead an article about a potential innovation crisis looming just over the horizon thanks to brinkmanship between China and the United States.

Second, let me say this article is not about killer satellites being launched into orbit by the Trump administration or the People’s Republic of China.

Instead this article is about the psychology of a country being backed into a corner, the measures China is likely to take to fight back when they can’t match the United States dollar for dollar in a tariff fight, the current state of the rare earth metals market and its impact on the future of innovation.

Now, some of you might be asking yourself – What the heck are rare earth metals?

Well, as the name might suggest they are metals that are not often found in dense quantities on earth. Some hypothesize that some of the best rare earth metal finds have an extraterrestrial origin. So, some might say that rare earth metals are literally alien, brought to our planet not by little green men (and women) but by blazing hot meteors smashing into the earth. Rare earth metals are so valuable to collectors and to high tech manufacturers that there are groups of modern day Indiana Jones clones out there racing around the world to be the first to claim the next meteor strike before someone else does (see article) and the Chinese government made a conscious choice to invest in trying to corner the market.

Why?

Because rare earth metals are CRUCIAL to all of the technology that empowers the innovation economy.

There was a 60 Minutes segment from three years ago that CBS recently refreshed and re-aired now that it is again timely given the United States vs. China trade war but they have since moved it to Paramount+. It provides a great introduction to rare earth metals and the role they play in the innovation economy, but this Financial Times video does a good job as well:

(updated 60 minutes video available has been moved to Paramount+)

About the only substantial change in the video is that China’s dominance has dropped from 90% of global production to 80% of global production.

Here is a chart showing the production of rare earths in 2018 in the world (data source):

Rare Earth Data

As the chart shows, China has about 40% of the world’s rare earth metals, but is responsible for 75% of the world’s production of rare earth metals. The military machine of the United States relies on rare earth metals to operate, along with green energy, high technology, electric cars, you name it – nearly every innovation direction we’re trying to go in – relies on rare earth metals.

China has cut off countries from rare earth metals before, most notably Japan, and now they are threatening to do it again to the United States (one article highlighting the threat not just to the United States, but to Europe as well). China is also threatening to begin blacklisting individual technology companies not sympathetic to its cause in the battle of egos and stare down between these two economic superpowers. You have to imagine this would include being cut off from rare earth metals.

So, is the innovation train, this pace of unrelenting technological advance and change, about to come a grinding halt?

I guess we’re all about to find out…


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The Impact of Open Innovation on Corporate Innovation

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The Impact of Open Innovation on Corporate Innovation

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

Open innovation is becoming increasingly popular among corporations as a way to improve their innovation capabilities. Open innovation is a process where companies collaborate with external partners to develop new products, services, and processes. This type of collaboration is beneficial for companies as it allows them to leverage the resources, knowledge, and expertise of their external partners.

The impact of open innovation on corporate innovation can be divided into three categories: cost reduction, increased efficiency, and increased innovation.

Cost Reduction: Open innovation can help companies reduce their costs associated with research and development. By utilizing the resources of external partners, companies can reduce the costs associated with research and development, such as personnel and materials. In addition, companies can benefit from the cost savings associated with external partners by receiving discounts on products and services.

Increased Efficiency: Open innovation can help improve the efficiency of corporate innovation by providing access to new technology and ideas. Companies can benefit from external partners’ knowledge and expertise to develop innovative products and services. This can help speed up the process of innovation and reduce the time and resources spent on research and development.

Increased Innovation: Open innovation can also lead to increased innovation for companies. By collaborating with external partners, companies can benefit from the knowledge and expertise of different people from different industries. This can help companies develop new products and services that they may not have been able to create on their own.

In conclusion, the impact of open innovation on corporate innovation is significant. Open innovation can help reduce costs, increase efficiency, and lead to increased innovation. Therefore, open innovation is an important tool for companies to improve their innovation capabilities and stay competitive in the market.

Image credit: Designed by vectorjuice / Freepik

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Leveraging Technology to Drive Innovation

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Leveraging Technology to Drive Innovation

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

Today, technology is more advanced and intertwined with our lives than ever before. From communication to healthcare and transportation, technology has become a necessary part of our lives. But, its importance doesn’t stop there. Technology can also be leveraged to drive innovation within businesses and organizations.

Innovation is the lifeblood of any successful organization. It’s the driving force behind new products, services, and processes. By leveraging the latest technology, companies can create new ideas and solutions to stay ahead of the competition.

One way to drive innovation is through data-driven decision-making. By collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data, businesses can gain a better understanding of their customers and the market. This data can be used to inform strategic decisions, create new products and services, and identify opportunities for growth.

Technology can also be used to increase efficiency and streamline processes. Automation tools can enable businesses to perform repetitive tasks faster, freeing up employees to focus on more important tasks. Artificial intelligence can be used to automate mundane tasks, such as customer service, freeing up resources to focus on more important tasks. Additionally, cloud computing can be used to store and share data securely and quickly, allowing teams to collaborate more effectively and quickly.

Organizations can also use technology to develop new products and services. With the right tools, businesses can quickly develop prototypes and test them in the market. This allows companies to get customer feedback early in the process, enabling them to make adjustments before officially launching the product.

Finally, businesses can leverage technology to improve customer engagement and loyalty. By using digital marketing tools, such as social media, businesses can reach their customers more effectively and build relationships with them. Additionally, businesses can use customer feedback platforms to collect and analyze customer feedback and use it to improve customer experience.

In conclusion, technology can be leveraged to drive innovation within businesses and organizations. By collecting and analyzing data, automating mundane tasks, developing new products and services, and improving customer engagement, businesses can stay ahead of the competition and create new products and services. Leveraging technology can be the difference between success and failure in today’s competitive market.

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Innovation at Scale: How to Make Change Stick

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Innovation at Scale: How to Make Change Stick

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

Innovation is the key to staying ahead in a competitive market, but making transformative change can be a challenge. Whether it’s a new product or process that needs to be implemented, or a shift in the way an organization does business, the impact of innovation must be felt throughout the organization in order to be successful. This is especially true when the change needs to be implemented at scale.

Organizations can focus on a few key strategies to ensure that adoption of innovation at scale is successful. First, ensure that the organization is well-prepared for the innovation. This includes having the right technology, infrastructure, and training in place to support the change. By investing in the proper resources upfront, the organization is more likely to be successful in implementing the change.

Second, create a culture of innovation. Encourage employees to think outside the box and take risks. This doesn’t mean that all ideas should be given a green light, but it’s important to ensure that employees feel comfortable bringing their ideas forward and that those ideas are given a fair chance to be explored.

Third, ensure that there is clear and effective communication about the innovation. Make sure that everyone in the organization is aware of what the innovation is and how it will affect them. Provide training and resources to support the change, and make sure to solicit feedback from employees to make sure the change is understood and accepted.

Finally, create systems and processes that make it easier to implement the change. This can include automating certain tasks, streamlining existing processes, and providing tools and resources to make the change easier to adopt.

Braden Kelley, author of Charting Change, offers five key findings to help organizations make change stick at scale:

1. Understand the Nature of Change – The first step to making change stick is to understand the nature of change itself. Kelley emphasizes the importance of recognizing that change is a process, not a single event. By recognizing the complexity of change, organizations can better plan for the process and make sure that new initiatives are implemented successfully.

2. Establish a Change Culture – Establishing a culture of change is essential for making change stick. Kelley recommends that organizations create an environment where change is seen as an opportunity rather than a threat, and where employees are encouraged to take risks and experiment.

3. Make Change Visible – To ensure that change takes hold, Kelley advises organizations to make the process of change visible. This could include creating a visual representation of the desired end-state, or using storytelling to communicate the importance of the change.

4. Embrace Adaptive Change – According to Kelley, organizations should be open to making changes along the way and learning from mistakes. By embracing adaptive change, organizations can adjust and adapt as they learn more about their customers, their industry, and the environment.

5. Celebrate Successes – Finally, Kelley suggests that organizations celebrate their successes. Celebrating successes helps to reinforce the desired behavior and can help to motivate employees to continue to innovate.

By following these five key findings and leveraging the tools in the Change Planning Toolkit from the Human-Centered Change methodology, organizations can make sure that their new initiatives are implemented successfully and that change sticks. By understanding the nature of change, establishing a change culture, making change visible, embracing adaptive change, and celebrating successes, organizations can make sure that their innovations are implemented at scale and that change sticks.

Bottom Line: Innovation at scale is a challenge, but it is possible. By taking the right steps to ensure the organization is well-prepared for the change, creating a culture of innovation, and providing clear and effective communication and systems, organizations can make sure that their initiatives for change stick.

Image credit: Pexels

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How to Integrate Design Thinking into Your Organization

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How to Integrate Design Thinking into Your Organization

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

Design thinking is a powerful and innovative approach to problem solving that has become essential in many industries. It is a process of creative problem solving that starts with understanding the user’s needs and then working with them to come up with creative solutions. Design thinking has been adopted by many organizations and can be used to develop innovative and user-friendly products, services, and experiences. The following article will explore how to integrate design thinking into your organization and the five benefits that it can bring.

Integrating design thinking into your organization is a great way to foster a culture of creativity and innovation. Here are some tips on how to do it:

1. Begin by introducing design thinking to your team

Start by introducing the concepts of design thinking and user-centered design to your team. Explain the basics of the approach and how it can be applied to different projects. Show them examples of successful applications and allow them to ask questions. This will give them a better understanding of the process and help them to see the value of incorporating design thinking into their work.

2. Create a space for experimentation and collaboration

Design thinking relies on collaboration and experimentation to come up with innovative solutions. Create a collaborative environment in your organization that encourages employees to explore different ideas and approaches. Make sure everyone has access to the necessary tools, such as design software or prototyping materials. Provide ample time for your team to explore and experiment with new ideas.

3. Foster a culture of innovation

Encourage your team to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions. Reward employees for coming up with innovative ideas and encourage them to take risks. Provide resources and support to help them find new ways to solve problems.

4. Revisit and revise

Design thinking is an iterative process. Revisit your designs and products on a regular basis and make changes as needed. Listen to feedback from users and incorporate their insights into your design process. This will help you create better products and services that meet user needs.

Five Benefits of Integrating Design Thinking into Your Organization

Integrating design thinking into your organization can help you create better products and services and improve your overall operations. By introducing the concept to your team, creating a space for experimentation and collaboration, fostering a culture of innovation, and revisiting and revising your designs regularly, you can start to reap the benefits of design thinking in your organization.

1. Improves Problem Solving: Design thinking is an effective way to solve complex problems and come up with innovative solutions. By looking at problems from a user’s perspective, you can identify the underlying issues and develop solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of the user. This approach helps organizations to create better products, services, and experiences that meet the needs of their customers and stakeholders.

2. Increases Collaboration: Design thinking encourages collaboration among employees, customers, and other stakeholders. Working together allows for a greater exchange of ideas and a better understanding of the user’s needs. This can lead to more creative and effective solutions.

3. Fosters Creative Thinking: Design thinking encourages creative thinking and out-of-the-box solutions. By looking at problems from different angles, it is easier to come up with creative solutions that are tailored to the user’s needs.

4. Enhances User Experience: Design thinking helps to ensure that products, services, and experiences are designed with the user in mind. By understanding the user’s needs and creating solutions that are tailored to the user, it is possible to create a more engaging and satisfying user experience.

5. Improves Efficiency: Design thinking can help to streamline processes and make them more efficient. By understanding the user’s needs and creating solutions that are tailored to the user, it is possible to make processes more efficient and reduce waste.

Integrating design thinking into your organization can bring many benefits, but it is important to ensure that it is implemented correctly. It is also important to ensure that employees are trained in the process and that it is used consistently throughout the organization. By doing this, you can ensure that you are able to reap the rewards of design thinking and create better products, services, and experiences for your users.

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Innovation, Change and Transformation in London – Part One

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Innovation, Change and Transformation in London - Part One

I’m off to London tomorrow for my London Business School class reunion. And, while I’m looking forward to reuniting with my LBS classmates, I’m also looking forward to connecting in person with some of the smartest innovation, change and transformation professionals, academics and entrepreneurs on the planet.

But I need your help…

I’m trying to organize a meetup of London innovation, change, and transformation professionals on Friday afternoon, 3 May 2019 in central London, but I’m still looking for someone to provide a space to facilitate this cross-pollination of ideas.

If you would like to host me and a dozen or so amazing innovation, change and transformation professionals, academics and entrepreneurs to empower some great conversations and information sharing, please contact me.

I will be returning to London in June/July, but more about that later. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: I was able to secure a room at the Oracle office in Central London near Moorgate for Friday afternoon from 1pm-4pm. Please contact me if you’re interested in attending as I’m finalizing the attendee list and I have a maximum capacity for 25 people. I’ll send final details by email once the attendee list is finalized.

UPDATE: We had a great turnout at this innovation, change and transformation meetup at the Oracle office in Central London. It was a great opportunity to meet some great Innovation Excellence contributors in person, to make a lot of great connections between people and to share information and inspiration. For those of you unable to make it, sorry, but you really missed out! Maybe next time…


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Are You Prepared to Run a Digital Business for the Digital Age?

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Are You Prepared to Run a Digital Business for the Digital Age?

In our digital age, all companies must change how they think, how they interact with customers, partners, and suppliers, and how their business works on the inside. Customer, partner, and supplier expectations have changed, and a gap is opening between what they expect from their interaction with companies and what those companies are currently able to deliver. Companies must immediately work to close this expectation gap, or their entire business is at risk.

If digital natives attack, they will do it with a collection of digital strategies that utilize the power of the digital mindset to more efficiently and effectively utilize the available people, tools, and technology, and to design better, more seamlessly interconnected, and automated processes that can operate with only occasional human intervention.

To defend your company’s very existence, you must start thinking like a technology company or go out of business. Part of that thinking is to fundamentally re-imagine how you structure and operate your business. You must look at your business and your industry in the same way that a digital native startup will if they seek to attack you and steal your market. To make this easier, ask yourself these five foundational questions:

  1. If I were to build this business today, given everything that I know about the industry and its customers and the advances in people, process, technology and tools, how would I design it?

  2. From the customers’ perspective, where does the value come from?

  3. What structure and systems would deliver the maximum value with the minimum waste?

  4. What are the barriers to adoption and the obstacles to delight for my product(s) and/or service(s) and how will my design help potential customers overcome them?

  5. Where is the friction in my business that the latest usage methods of people, process, technology, and tools can help eliminate?

There are, of course, other questions you may want to ask, but these five should get you most of the way to where you need to go in your initial strategic planning sessions. What questions do you think are key for enterprises to ask themselves if they are to survive and thrive in the digital age?

Digital Strategy vs. Digital Transformation

How much appetite for digital change do you have?

Understanding how your management and your enterprise is likely to answer this question will help you identify whether your business should pursue a digital strategy or a digital transformation. The two terms are often misused, in part by being used interchangeably when they are in fact two very different things.

A digital strategy is a strategy focused on utilizing digital technologies to better serve one group of people (customers, employees, partners, suppliers, etc.) or to serve the needs of one business group (HR, finance, marketing, operations, etc.). The scope of a digital strategy can be quite narrow, such as using digital channels to market to consumers in a B2C company; or broader, such as re-imagining how marketing could be made more efficient using digital tools like CRM, marketing automation, social media monitoring, etc. and hopefully become more effective at the same time.

Meanwhile, digital transformation is an intensive process that begins by effectively building an entirely new organization from scratch, utilizing:

  • The latest best practices and emerging next practices in process (continuous improvement, business architecture, lean startup, business process management, or BPM, crowd computing, and continuous innovation using a tool like The Eight I’s of Infinite Innovation™)

  • The latest tools (robotics, sensors, etc.)

  • All the latest digital technologies (artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, BPM, etc.)

  • The optimal use of the other three to liberate the people who work for you to spend less time on bureaucratic work and more time creating the changes necessary to overcome barriers to adoption and obstacles to delight through better leadership methods, reward/recognition systems, physical spaces, collaboration, and knowledge management systems, etc.

It ends with a plan of how to transform from the old way of running the business to the new way.

The planning of the digital transformation is all done collaboratively on paper, whiteboards, and asynchronous electronic communication (definitely not email) powered by a collection of tools like the Change Planning Toolkit™.

The goal is to think like a digital native, to think like a startup, to approach the idea of designing a company by utilizing all the advances in people, process, technology, and tools to kill off the existing incarnation of your company. Because if you don’t re-invent your company now and set yourself up with a new set of capabilities that enable you to continuously reinvent yourself as a company, then a venture capitalist is going to see an opportunity, find the right team of digital natives, and give them the funding necessary to enter your market and reinvent your entire industry for you.

What do you want to re-invent?

Our team at Oracle was created to use design thinking, innovation and transformation tools and methods to help Oracle customers tackle their greatest business challenges, to re-imagine themselves for the digital age, and to discover and pursue their greatest innovation, transformation and growth opportunities.

We call this human-centric problem-solving and together we create plans to make our customers’ solution vision real in just weeks. And along the way, this new Oracle approach helps increase collaboration across business functions and accelerate future decision-making.

Find out more about how to protect your business from digital disruption, building upon these five foundational questions with additional questions and frameworks contained in my latest success guide Riding the Data Wave to Digital Disruption.


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The Relationship between Human-Centered Design and User Experience

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The Relationship between Human-Centered Design and User Experience

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

User experience (UX) and Human-Centered Design (HCD) are two popular topics in the field of web and software design. While UX and HCD are related, they are not the same thing. Understanding the distinction between UX and HCD is crucial for designers who want to create the best possible experiences for their users.

At its core, UX is the process of creating a product or service that is easy to use and provides a positive user experience. UX designers focus on making sure that the user can successfully complete their desired task. This often involves research, analysis, and testing to ensure that the product or service meets the user’s needs.

On the other hand, HCD is a process of designing products and services that focus on the needs and wants of the user. This involves researching users and their contexts to better understand the user’s motivations, behaviors, and preferences. Designers then use this information to create solutions that are tailored to the user’s needs.

The relationship between UX and HCD is symbiotic. UX design focuses on creating a product or service that meets the user’s needs, but HCD takes this a step further. By understanding the user, HCD can create a product or service that is tailored to the user’s needs and preferences, resulting in a more positive user experience.

For example, a UX designer may create a website that is easy to use, but an HCD designer may take this a step further and make the website more visually appealing, adding elements such as animations or illustrations that the user will find interesting. This will make the user more likely to use the website and have a positive experience.

In conclusion, UX and HCD are related but distinct design processes. UX focuses on creating a functional product or service, while HCD takes this a step further and creates solutions that are tailored to the user’s needs. By understanding the relationship between UX and HCD, designers can create more engaging and enjoyable experiences for their users.

SPECIAL BONUS: Braden Kelley’s Problem Finding Canvas can be a super useful starting point for doing design thinking or human-centered design.

“The Problem Finding Canvas should help you investigate a handful of areas to explore, choose the one most important to you, extract all of the potential challenges and opportunities and choose one to prioritize.”

Image credit: Pixabay

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