"You can’t solve a problem on the same level that it was created. You have to rise above it to the next level." - Albert Einstein

Working with an innovation consultant part 2, Jeffrey Phillips
Jeffrey walks through some concepts that you'll want to consider before an innovation consultant will be able to help you structure an innovation program or project.  A good quote from the entry:

People have to actively participate. Ideas don't generate themselves, and they certainly can't evaluate or test themselves.

The six attributes of innovation leaders, Innovation Weblog
This is some notes from the book by Jean-Philippe Deschamps:Innovation Leaders: How Senior Executives Stimulate, Steer and Sustain Innovation.  The attributes described in the entry are:

1. A mix of emotions and realism
2. The acceptance of uncertainty, risks and failures, coupled with an urge to make their staff learn from them
3. A high degree of passion for their mission and for innovation, as well as the burning desire to share that passion with their staff
4. The willingness to proactively search for external technologies and ideas, and then to experiment with them
5. The courage to stop projects, not just start them, and the flair to decide when to persist versus to pull the plug
6. A talent for building and steering winning teams, and a knack for attracting and retaining innovators

Economics of Innovation - What You Said, Innovating To Win
This is the results from a survey.  You'll have to check it out to see how people responded to the question "Given global economic concerns, what is your organization doing about innovation?"

Blue Ocean Strategy: Innovate out of the economic downturn, Creating Blue Oceans
This points to the BusinessWeek artcile by Sami Mahroum: Innovate Out of the Economic Downturn.  An interesting quote in the entry (not the BusinessWeek article) about Blue Ocean Strategy:

Blue Ocean Strategy is especially important and relevant during such times -- because it looks for sources of innovation and cost savings simultaneously. 

Blue Ocean Strategy -- Four Actions -- Action #3: Raise, Creating Blue Oceans
This is a short refresher entry about one of the critical actions of Blue Ocean Strategy.  The entry's main definition:

Blue Ocean Strategy Action #3:  Raise factors well above the industry’s standard so your customer won’t have to make compromises.