When I work with companies on innovation projects, whether it’s industry-changing new products and services or smaller-scale ideas to streamline internal processes, I often see leaders and their teams struggling to freely ideate and really dive into the brainstorm process. When they do finally get there, it’s a big aha moment, but it takes a…
The circumstances of 2020 have seen businesses push to increased virtual communication and online offerings. How do you compete in this new attention economy, especially with so much noise? With the explosion of virtual business during the COVID-19 lockdown, one of the biggest annoyances people have is the rash of messages they are seeing and…
4 Questions to Quantify Your Next Innovation Originally published September 15, 2017, with Innovation Enterprise. You have an idea to solve a problem or opportunity, whether it be a new process for your department or even a new business idea. So how do you figure out if your idea will actually work and if it’s…
In this article, we will look at how to identify and understand employee contributions, and learn how to work with idea generators, evaluators, and activators. The key to recovering from a business crisis is creating new value—whether it be new products or services, improving processes to be more efficient and save money, or identifying and…
Major world events create disruption, and COVID-19 is no different. Many industries are experiencing disruptions—in the way they do business, in the sustainability of their systems, and in the engagement of their customers. It is estimated more than 100,000 businesses that were inactive or barely active during the pandemic will close permanently. Even some large…
Embracing the latest technology can help companies advance their processes, expand to new markets, improve customer experiences, and even attract younger employees. But what do you do when even the best technology on the market doesn’t quite meet your company’s needs? Many CEOs are opting to transform their organizations by developing new technologies in-house. Companies…
The collective brainpower of every employee is a great tool and one you have right at your fingertips. In my work, I hear a lot of reasons why people don’t engage in innovation: “That’s not part of my job description.” “I’m not an idea person.” “Innovation doesn’t really apply to my industry.” “We don’t need…
An innovation strategist lays out 6 ways leaders can make their companies more agile and able to survive the current crisis—and beyond. One of the key lessons coming from the COVID-19 pandemic is the need to create more resilient companies. Many organizations think they are resilient, but they are not. The U.S. has lost more…
When planning or navigating a pivot, how do you know if you are pivoting in the right direction? Answer simple questions to validate your pivot and execute on four actions to help create speed-to-market. We are hearing the word “pivot” a lot these days. The idea is that business conditions have changed dramatically and, therefore,…
While the pandemic has been difficult for all us economically, as business owners, we never run out of opportunities. No matter the business climate, there is always a chance to do something new and something better—you just have to find it. This has never proven truer than now, with the way business has been forced…
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