"Do not fear mistakes. There are none." – Miles Davis
"It's No Time to Forget About Innovation", Bill Ross
This is pointer to Janet Rae-Dupree's article in the NY Times: It's No Time to Forget About Innovation. A good quote from the NY Times article:
"Creativity doesn’t care about economic downturns,” Mr. Lieberman says. “In the middle of the 1970s, when we were having a big economic downturn, both Apple and Microsoft were founded. Creative people don’t care about the time or the season or the state of the economy; they just go out and do their thing."
Don't Forget the Big Picture - Innovation Shouldn't Be a 4 Letter Word, Front End of Innovation
This entry refers to the same NY Times article as Bill Ross does above, but give more of a review of the article. An interesting quote from the entry:
Senior managers may talk quite a bit about the importance of investing in the future and innovating to meet the future needs of their markets. But in an economic climate as this, too often the knee-jerk reaction is to cut areas that do not have the short term results that are needed to bolster the business.
A good link in the entry: Front End of Innovation - LinkedIn Group
Working with an innovation consultant part 1, Jeffry Phillips
Jeff writes an entry from the innovation consultant's point of view working with companies. A great quote that reminds me of a meeting I had yesterday:
I'm constantly surprised by the fact that most people consider innovation a strategy, rather than an enabler to the strategies and goals of the business. Usually it can take several weeks for folks to agree on what they want to "innovate" around. Then, they want to jump quickly to the "low hanging"fruit to show "quick wins". If there is "low hanging" fruit available in most organizations, it has either been 1) picked or 2) proven to be undigestible. Additionally, nothing will deflate your team more than to have other say that nothing the team did was "new" or difficult.
New Innovator's Toolkit book offers a wealth of tools, techniques to spur growth, Innovation Weblog
A quick first impressions of a new book by David Silverstein, Philip Samuel and Neil Decarlo: The Innovator's Toolkit: 50+ Techniques for Predictable and Sustainable Organic Growth
Brainstorming for Ideas: Boomerang your Way to the Best Possible Solutions, Carol Ring
Carol describes a 4 step process to brainstorming and using the ideas that come from the process. The 4 steps mentioned:
- Create a Barrier-Free Environment
- Brainstorm or Dream about the Best Possible Solution
- Stretch the Solutions Even Further
- Assess Your Ability to Implement the Best Possible Solution
The article is worth a read if you are interested in how to benefit from brainstorming.