Top 10 Innovation Articles – April 2012

May 13, 2012

Every day, we search the Internet for the best articles and advice on innovation, which we share with our followers and fans on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Below are the best innovation articles we found last month. Feel free to add to the list in the comments.

Top 10 Innovation Articles for April 2012The Challenges for Developing Innovation in the Middle East
How technological ‘leapfrogging’ allows developing countries quickly build innovation abilities

What It Takes To Innovate: Wrong-Thinking, Tinkering & Intuiting
Why inventors throughout history don’t mind failing – and trying again

Inside Amazon’s Idea Machine: How Bezos Decodes The Customer
Amazon’s incredible business model transformation

How to Create the Next Silicon Valley
Conditions that contribute to a regional center of innovation

10 Tips for Successful Innovation Teams
A talent management roadmap for high-performance innovation teams

The Secret to Keeping Your Company Alive
Clayton Christensen and Hal Gregersen on how the most innovative companies in the world keep #innovation alive

When It’s Time to Throw Out Your Business Plan
5 tips for innovating your business model

Go Innovate on the Periphery
Spotting trends and innovating in adjacent markets

4 Ways To Keep Great Ideas From Getting Stuck In The Pipeline
How great innovation organizations deal with the “pipeline paradox”

When Will this Low-Innovation Internet Era End?
Why we’re living in an age of low #innovation despite all the advances in technology

For more great innovation articles, follow @Innovation360 on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, or join Middle East Innovation group on LinkedIn.

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Top 10 Innovation Articles – March 2012

April 11, 2012

With so much attention on innovation these days, it’s easy to find articles and blog posts on the topic. What’s harder to find is valuable information on innovation that sheds new light on the subject, educates or inspires. With this in mind, Innovation 360 would like to offer a monthly round-up of the best innovation articles we have come across.

Top 10 Innovation Articles - March 2012Below you’ll find 10 innovation articles from March that are worth a read (listed in date order starting with the most recent). If you know of an article or post we missed, feel free to add it in the comments.

Has Innovation Lost Its Meaning?
Percolate’s Noah Brier on the true definition of innovation.

Boosting Personal Innovation Capacity–Iterate!
Why iterative thinking is key for innovation.

The Five Personalities of Innovators
Research shows five different types of innovation personalities.

How to Get Rid of Old Ideas?
Tips for shedding old ideas to make room for fresh insights.

What is Innovation Governance?
A discussion of different models and which ones seem to be the most effective.

Accelerating Innovation in Lebanon
How Lebanon is accelerating innovation using startup incubators.

Disrupting the Public Sector
Why governments don’t do disruptive innovation – and how to change that.

The New Rules Of Innovation
Why world-changing innovation is not going to come from where we expect it.

Is Your Culture Kryptonite for Innovators?
How the wrong type of organizational culture can cripple innovation.

Three Innovation Drivers for Small Businesses
How SMEs innovate, based on research from Intuit.

For more great innovation articles, follow @Innovation360 on Twitter.

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The Amazing and Versatile Multipurpose Innovation Tool

March 29, 2012

Most tools have a singular purpose. A hammer drives in nails. A saw cuts wood. A shovel scoops dirt. You can use these tools to do other tasks, but they work best for the purpose they were designed for.

Lego Serious Play Tower ChallengeIt’s the same with most innovation tools. “Jobs to be Done” helps you hone in on the need your innovation will fulfill. Lateral thinking tools like “Brainwriting 6-3-5” and DeBono’s “Random Input” help you generate innovative ideas. Innovation management systems help you organize your ideas.

But there is one very versatile innovation tool that can be successfully used throughout the entire innovation life cycle. This tool can help you design your innovation strategy, anticipate possible future scenarios, generate innovative ideas, design new products, services and business models, and plan your go-to-market strategy.

The tool is LEGO SERIOUS PLAY® and it is one of the most powerful tools you can use to enable and support a culture of innovation. LEGO SERIOUS PLAY (LSP) is a unique methodology that enables participants to “think with their hands,” using LEGO® pieces to transform thoughts into physical representations that tell a story. The process opens up new lines of thinking, resulting in better ideas, more effective communication and enhanced teamwork.

There is actually a lot of science behind LSP including the theories of constructivism, which relate to how knowledge is built piece by piece from experiences, and constructionism, which demonstrates how building things with our hands stimulates imagination and engagement more than merely talking about them. LSP also makes use of storytelling and metaphor, which combined with the playful approach of using LEGOS, reduces tensions between participants by allowing them to express their thoughts in a non-threatening way. (For more on the science behind LSP, download this free report.)

Given the nature of LSP, it makes sense that an innovation team would use it to generate innovative ideas and solutions. Yet the approach works equally as well during each step of the process of developing your innovation culture framework. [Read more...]

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The Missing Link between Innovation Strategy and Leadership in the Middle East

February 24, 2012

There’s something missing in the Middle East when it comes to innovation. I have a theory about what it is, but first let me share some statistics that I think are relevant.

GE just released its 2012 Global Innovation Barometer, which was based on survey results from 3,000 senior business executives in 22 countries, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The key findings weren’t all that surprising. For example, 92% agree that innovation is the main lever to create a more competitive economy, and nearly 9 in 10 executives believe innovation is about partnerships, not individual success. These beliefs reflect the changing nature of innovation, from being a mysterious process led by researchers to a way of thinking and adding value embraced by organizations at every level.

One thing that was surprising about the survey results, at least to outside observers, was the level of enthusiasm for innovation in countries like the UAE, Turkey, Algeria and Saudi Arabia. With 90 out of 100 points, the UAE scored higher than any other country when it came to “Innovation Optimism,” or how optimistic the executives were that innovation will result in improved quality of life for citizens.

For anyone involved in the local innovation community, this statistic makes perfect sense. I’ve personally seen the energy at regional innovation conferences. There is a real interest in innovation here, and an earnest belief that innovation will make a difference, not just for companies but for society. [Read more...]

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Where Does Your Innovation Journey Start?

February 6, 2012

Attendees at Abu Dhabi Innovation ForumLast month, I had the pleasure of addressing attendees of the third annual Abu Dhabi Innovation Forum.  The 3-day event drew more than 150 innovation experts, business people, educators and regional government representatives to discuss strategies for unleashing the true value of innovation in business. I was honored to be among a distinguished panel of speakers including local representatives from Google, Proctor & Gamble and 3M.

One of the most impressive presentations came from Mr. Mohammed Alansari of Saudi Aramco. He walked the audience through the company’s step-by-step approach to increasing intellectual capital, which in turn improves contributions to its corporate innovation program.

Mohammad Alansari, AramcoI especially liked the way Aramco defined “intellectual capital” as the value derived from the intersection of human capital (knowledge, skills and experience of Aramco’s people), relational capital (customers, suppliers, partners and associated programs), and structural capital (includes IP, processes and other intangibles, and the culture). Any organization that is savvy enough to recognize, manage and actively increase its intellectual capital assets is on its way to providing significant value for customers, the organization and even the community.

I also enjoyed the presentation from Mr. Wim Roels of Borouge. Here is a company that understands that innovation must create value for not only its customers, but also its customers’ customers, and for the organization. I also liked Mr. Roels’ definition of innovation as “the successful exploitation of ideas, into new applications, products, processes, services and business practices,” and the notion that “Innovation is not an action – it is a culture!” [Read more...]

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New Report Highlights Top 20 Emerging Innovations

January 22, 2012

What are the top 20 emerging technological innovations? According to CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, an independent brokerage and investment group, there’s a diverse list of technologies, such as implantable electronics and quantum computing, and also trends, including social computing and open data initiatives, that will have significant impact over the next few years. The “Top 20 Innovations for 2020” list is part of CLSA’s very in-depth and thought-provoking report on the state of innovation and technology – “2020 Innovation: Pulling the Future Toward US.”

Nanotechnology (Source: nanodeltech.com)In addition to the top 20 innovations list, the report includes insightful analysis of how global drivers such as the economy, technology and shifting manufacturing borders are affecting innovation in many different industries. The authors also look at current inhibitors to innovation including R&D spending, VC funding, immigration restrictions and patent laws.

And if that is not enough, the report also contains company profiles on 16 innovative global organizations including tech giants Apple, IBM, Microsoft and Google, as well as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, American Express and even Schlumberger.

Last but not least, CLSA interviewed more than a dozen innovation experts (including myself) and included the transcripts in the report. I shared my thoughts on the culture in the Middle East and how it affects innovation and entrepreneurship. It’s just a small part of this impressive report that everyone with a stake in this innovation economy should study and learn from.

Click here to download a free copy of the report

 

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