Killer Innovations with Phil McKinney
Step into the world of relentless creativity with the Killer Innovations Podcast, hosted by Phil McKinney. Since 2005, it has carved its niche in history as the longest-running podcast. Join the community of innovators, designers, creatives, entrepreneurs, and visionaries who are constantly pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo. Discover the power of thinking differently and taking risks to achieve success. The podcast covers a wide range of topics, including innovation, technology, business, leadership, creativity, design, and more. Every episode is not just talk; it's about taking action and implementing strategies that can help you become a successful innovator. Each episode provides practical tips, real-life examples, and thought-provoking insights that will challenge your thinking and inspire you to unleash your creativity. The podcast archive: KillerInnovations.com About Phil McKinney: Phil McKinney, CTO of HP (ret) and CEO of CableLabs, has been credited with forming and leading multiple teams that FastCompany and BusinessWeek list as one of the “50 Most Innovative”. His recognition includes Vanity Fair naming him “The Innovation Guru,” MSNBC and Fox Business calling him "The Gadget Guy," and the San Jose Mercury News dubbing him the "chief seer."

Creative people can think of new ideas, and creative ideas are those ideas that are new, useful, and different. It all starts with the creative person. What is so special about them?

What are the Qualities of a Creative Person?

Creative people often have a sense of limitless creative freedom and experimentation. Their creative genius is a natural part of who they are. If you are not naturally creative, you can learn and develop your creativity by applying creative qualities.

12 Qualities of a Creative Person

  1. Curious: Creative people are always asking questions/looking for new ideas. They're not content with the status quo.
  2. Creative Confidence: Creative confidence is the feeling when you know that what you are about to do/say/or create is original. Creative, confident people are not afraid to fail because they know it's part of the process.
  3. Thick Skin:Creative people need to have thick skin, take criticism, reject rejection, stay persistent, and be unafraid of failure.
  4. Independent Rebellious Streak:Creatives can't be afraid to blaze their trail and stand up for their ideas. They need to find the right balance between their independent, rebellious streak and supporting the team mission.
  5. Flexibility: Creative people need to be flexible. If not, they might overlook new ideas, or you might not be able to adapt to changes a new idea would impose.
  6. Playful: Playing with ideas can help break through mental blocks by going outside the box to create new solutions or inventive ways of looking at old ones.
  7. Thorough: Creative people are more comprehensive than most because they never stop at the first idea. They always look around at what else they can do.
  8. Ambitious: Creatives are ambitiously striving to push the boundaries of what is possible. They crave feedback from others to improve and have a desire to create something new and unique.
  9. Energetic: Creative people are constantly moving, inspiring others with their creativity and constant energy.
  10. Naïve: Creative people are often naïve about their limitations but can also be more creative than others because of this naivete. It's important to balance creativity and practicality.
  11. Dreamer: Creative people are sometimes referred to as "dreamers" because they imagine new possibilities.
  12. Persistence: Creatives are persistent in their efforts over time despite any obstacles they may face. Creative solutions result from patience and tenacity.
Direct download: What_are_the_Qualities_of_a_Creative_Person.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Most people are afraid of what others will think about them if they do anything out of the box. It's easy for people to lose sight of their identity and uniqueness. So how do leaders and individuals combat this fear of taking risks?

3 Factors That Encourage Risk-Taking

Suppose you want to build an environment where everyone works together towards a common goal without fear of failure or judgment - one that encourages risk-taking alongside calculated caution - these steps will help guide your efforts!

  1. Open Communication:Consider open communication between all employees at every level. This fosters trust, allowing employees to contribute valuable input, empowering them rather than confining them.
  2. Active Collaboration:Active collaboration takes things to the next level. Design and construct your collaboration by looking for opportunities to leverage capabilities, expertise, resources, diversity of thinking styles, and experiences. Involving all employees in everything from start to finish can lead to impressive results because it utilizes their unique strengths and abilities.
  3. Extreme Transparency:Transparency is a key component in building an effective innovation cycle. When employees at every level are aware of major and minor changes, they feel empowered and included. Transparency builds trust, which then creates confidence.

Conclusion

To cultivate a growing organization, leaders need to ensure employees feel comfortable taking risks and not judged if they fail. Leaders need to set clear objectives and expectations for their team.

 

Direct download: 3_Factors_That_Encourage_Risk-Taking.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

For innovation leaders, it is vital to learn how to turn failures into successes. Innovation is all about seeing opportunities others don’t see and seizing them. Successful failures lead to successful innovations.

The Importance of Failure

The experimentation phase is within the innovation process, often full of failures. These failures are not always negative. When things don’t go as planned, failures allow us to see what needs change. Successful innovations require risk and a capacity for productive failures, which reveal something new about the problem you are trying to solve. To experience productive failure, you have to fail successfully. Three characteristics help you figure out if your failures are successful.

Three Characteristics of Successful Failures

  1. Effort: Innovators must have a strong sense of commitment even when others give up hope. Ask yourself this question, “did you put your 100% best effort into a project”?. If so, you are one step closer to a productive failure.
  2. Perspective: Reflect on what happened during each failure, learn from it, and apply what you learned to future innovations. Ask yourself, “what does the experience teach you about what works and what doesn’t”?
  3. Inspiration: Failure from experiments might lead to lessons about the nature of the problem, inspiring better solutions. They can also teach us something about how we think. Through failures, you can learn how to solve problems better. Ask this question, “Does this new understanding inspire a new understanding that wasn’t there before?”
Direct download: 3_Characteristics_of_Successful_Failures.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

It is crucial to stand out among the crowd in a world filled with so many innovations. Organizations that want to improve their innovation impact need to implement a high-impact strategy. We will be exploring the seven essential ingredients of agile innovation. 

Agile Innovations

Agile is the ability to think/understand quickly and move quickly and flexibly. Agile innovation helps teams deliver high-impact innovations. It consists of constant testing and experimenting to solve a problem. The ultimate goal is to provide innovation that is scalable and sustainable.

It is essential to keep in mind that agile innovation is a process. When viewing the agile innovation framework, understand that it’s not a “one size fits all.” It would be best if you adapted this framework to your organization. 

The Seven Essential Ingredients of Agile Innovation

The first ingredient of agile innovation is collaborating with stakeholders or those that benefit from what you deliver. Collaborate closely with them because this helps you build a shared understanding of the problem. From this, you’ll gain a higher likelihood of success and ensure met needs.

The second essential ingredient is focusing on high-impact innovations. Focusing on impact helps ensure the value of impact delivered. The team needs to be on the same page in this process. The third ingredient is a culture of continuous experiments. Continuous experiments help organizations learn fast and make decisions that lead to sustainable results.

In 2020, we had Stefan Thomke from Harvard Business School on the show, and he wrote an excellent book on this topic. The fourth ingredient is self-organizing teams. These teams are responsible and accountable for their work. They don’t have to wait for permission to take action, which speeds up decision-making and execution. Define and agree on the problem statement, and let the team execute.

 

The fifth essential ingredient is a cross-disciplinary team. Teams with diverse backgrounds and skillsets are unique and powerful. The sixth ingredient is the right innovation agility metrics. These are not just usual innovation metrics such as the 3M metric used to ensure that new product revenue grows. An agile-specific metric would be something like how many things are in your innovation queue. Stick with a few metrics, and don’t go overboard with them.

The seventh essential ingredient of agile innovation is short iterative ideation, testing, prototyping, and repeat cycles. This is done in a structured way. Keep aggressive schedules with planned progress towards the execution. Remember that if you run into a wall and something is simply not working, stop. Be willing to kill the project and move on to the next. 

Direct download: The_7_Essential_Ingredients_of_Agile_Innovation.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

We are finishing up a two-part series on innovation leaders. Innovation leadership skills go beyond the basic skills associated with managing people or processes. They are leadership styles to increase creativity, competency, and collaboration that result in innovations that contribute to the organization's success.

The Challenge

The Harvard Business Review recently said, "A major paradox managers face is that the systems that enable success with today's model reinforce behaviors that are inconsistent with discovering tomorrow's model." Today's rules and structures for organizations create innovation roadblocks. It's vital to appoint a leader with the characteristics to lead your innovation effort. Secondly, it's essential to support them with resources (people, time, and money) and give them space to work. 

9 Characteristics of Successful Innovation Leaders

Let's look at the nine characteristics every successful innovation leader needs. Firstly, innovation leaders need to be comfortable with risk. An innovation leader must have risk tolerance and analyze possible outcomes to make the best decision. Secondly, leaders need expertise in effective communication, conveying visions, commanding respect, and understanding ideas' inherent risks and advantages.

Thirdly, innovation leaders need to remain humble and open to new ideas. This will help cultivate an innovative organization. Next, innovation leaders need to have low anxiety since unnecessary stress depletes creativity. A leader with low anxiety will make their team feel comfortable and secure. 

The fifth characteristic is self-confidence, as innovation leaders constantly deal with unknowns. An innovation leader believes they'll succeed and stay positive. The next characteristic is being oriented towards action. Innovation leaders feel energized by action and enjoy leading change that produces innovation. Next, innovation leaders are active collaborators, creating a culture of trust, mutual respect, and shared aspiration of a mutual goal. Innovations that come from collaborative sharing can propel organizations to greater heights.

The eighth characteristic is being a rule breaker. Innovation leaders understand that consistently following the rules can become rigid and put people in a rut. They seek to generate insight and knowledge through non-traditional ways, such as experimentation, free exploration, improvisation, and breaking the rules of doing something. Lastly, an innovation leader needs to be a keen observer, perceiving new patterns and details. The ability to notice things that may have gone unnoticed helps innovation leaders make accurate assessments and figure out the best solution to a problem.

Resources

 

Direct download: 9_Characteristics_of_Successful_Innovation_Leaders.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Innovation is the secret sauce to success. Unfortunately, efforts to create innovative products or services often get derailed by good intentions, market factors, or other roadblocks holding us back.

Leadership Alignment

Business leadership has spent billions searching for innovation. From creating Innovation Centers to investing in incubators, organizations continue on a snipe hunt for innovation. It must be a snipe hunt because 94% of executives say they are frustrated with their company's efforts to harness innovation. The prominent paradox managers face is that systems enabling success based on today's management model reinforce behaviors inconsistent with an innovation culture.

Innovation leadership must remove the inertia barrier as a first step toward embracing innovation. To do this, start at the top with leaders that welcome and support new and more innovative ways of thinking. Leadership must lead with bold, creative ideas first. This will inspire the spark that can spread into a cultural conflagration of innovation over time.

8 Leadership Roadblocks to Innovation

Let's get specific on the eight leadership roadblocks that prevent organizations from achieving innovation success. Firstly, groupthink occurs when everyone makes the unspoken decision to follow the group's thinking. Groupthink stunts innovation and prevents some of the best ideas from being presented.

Secondly, there is burnout, which comes from firing on all cylinders, killing creativity. Innovation depends on creativity, so make sure to find time to rest. The third roadblock is a lack of resources, coming in time, people, and money. When innovation teams lack resources, it's hard to go past the ideas and into execution.

The fourth roadblock is insufficient trust, which is especially essential to innovation efforts. When trust within organizations is lacking, teams will be skeptical that their ideas will be executed and won't even try. The fifth roadblock is stopping at ideas. Ideas have to come with action by inspired and engaged employees. Letting good ideas die in the pipeline is a common innovation pitfall. Avoid that.

Roadblocks 6 to 8

Next is preferential treatment, stemming from managers not valuing diverse opinions or only valuing one person's opinion. This results in fewer ideas and low-impact innovations. The seventh roadblock is a lack of collaboration, which comes from leaders giving individual credit for ideas. This creates an unwillingness to collaborate with others. Without a strong culture of collaboration, an organizations' innovation efforts will fail.

Lastly, there is the roadblock of fear. It's not safe to fail when there isn't any trust that failure is a normal part of the innovation process. Sometimes, the riskiest ideas end up being the best, and innovation efforts suffer without them. Leaders who promote an innovation-friendly workplace culture are crucial in today's world. Doomed leaders and organizations are those who don't innovate.

Resources

6 Potential Roadblocks to Innovation

Navigating Innovation Roadblocks

Why is Collaborative Leadership Important?

 

To know more about about leadership roadblocks, listen to this week's show: 8 Leadership Roadblocks to Innovation.

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Direct download: 8_Leadership_Roadblocks_to_Innovation.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Eric Yuan, the CEO of Zoom, is a longtime friend of mine whose leadership has positively impacted countless people. Zoom is a sponsor of the show, and we are honored to have Eric join us to discuss game-changing innovations

During COVID-19, Zoom saw explosive growth from schools, businesses, and individuals alike. Eric attributes two factors to Zoom’s success: the product’s architecture that supports a hybrid model and the ability to increase servers as more traffic arose. If more bandwidth were available, new features would be better, and quality would be higher.

Eric believes increasing bandwidth will be vital to Zoom’s future innovations. Zoom’s original goal was to create a quality video conferencing app, which they accomplished. In the future, Eric wants to transform Zoom into a platform company. He envisions bringing third-party contexts to the interface, such as games and other consumer apps. 

Healthcare and Education Innovation

Eric believes Zoom will be able to deliver a better meeting experience than face-to-face meetings. The opportunities are endless, from language translations during business meetings to doctors supporting live surgeries happening overseas. Eric is especially excited about Zoom’s future in telehealth and education. Patients can comfortably receive the care they need when they need it, and this will only improve.

Higher education institutions and K-12 schools leverage Zoom across the world. Eric believes the future of education will be a hybrid model, similar to the future of work. Killer innovations come from the right collaborations, bandwidth, and artificial intelligence integration

The Future of Work and New Features

Eric believes the future of work is hybrid because it offers employees flexibility and shields them from mental health problems. When Zoom creates new features, they always ask if the features will support a hybrid work system. Different businesses are trying different setups for their hybrid work models. Focusing on making remote workers feel connected is a guiding principle for Zoom’s innovations.

Recently, Zoom announced some exciting new features at Zoomtopia. They announced a live language translation feature. They also announced a Docusign integration and the adoption of other apps into the Zoom ecosystem. 

About our Guest: Eric Yuan

Eric Yuan is the billionaire founder of Zoom, a popular video communications tool that took flight during the coronavirus pandemic. Eric was previously one of the founding engineers at WebEx, which Cisco Systems acquired in 2007. He went on to become the VP at Cisco Systems.

Eric is a Chinese native that moved to Silicon Valley in 1997 after eight failed attempts to obtain a visa. Business Insider named Eric one of the most influential people in enterprise technology. In 2018, Glassdoor voted him as the number one CEO of large companies and added him to the Bloomberg 50 Most Influential list.

Direct download: Eric_Yuan_and_the_Future_of_Zoom.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

We are back to discuss impactful healthcare-related innovations, specifically disability innovation. Kevin Spencer is an award-winning magician who is passionate about developing children with autism.

Disability Innovation through Magic Tricks

Kevin is a magician known by many as “the kid whisperer.” Years ago, Kevin had a brain and spine injury from a motorcycle accident. During the therapy process, he started learning magic tricks to keep himself busy and motivated. After seeing how well it worked, he developed Magic Therapy, a program that uses simple magic tricks to boost motivation, curiosity, and creative expression.

When first testing the program, Kevin worked with adults but felt intimidated by children. He was hesitant to work with a child but took on the challenge. At first, his tricks weren’t doing anything, but the child became curious and engaged after the second trick. After the session, Kevin noticed the child’s father crying. The father told him that was the first time he had ever heard his child speak. After that experience, Kevin committed to developing children who have autism.

Hocus Focus

Kevin always wanted to be a magician and feels very privileged to use his passion in a way that impacts others. For kids told that they can’t do things, performing magic tricks gives them the ability to do something that a peer or sibling can’t do.

Kevin’s team created an innovative program designed for a school system called Hocus Focus. The magic tricks address the objectives of a child’s education program that develops functional skills. The tricks connect to a common core standard of learning. A teacher can use the trick to deliver academic content, and occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists can use the same trick to work on the child’s functional aspects.

Unlocking Creativity Through the Arts

Kevin and a colleague developed an assessment for teachers to measure the impact of the Hocus Focus program. Dozens of school districts in the U.S use the program, but the most significant market is overseas. There is a greater appreciation of the arts in foreign countries.

I believe we need to bring back the arts to the U.S school system. There are so many things to be learned from the arts with no other way to learn it. Magic tricks give those on the autism spectrum the opportunity to think with flexibility. There is amazing creativity buried inside them, and they need a way to express it. If we can find a way to support them and bring them into organizations, they can unlock unbelievable amounts of innovation.

About our Guest Kevin Spencer

Kevin Spencer is the Director at the Center 4 Creative Arts, a Fulbright Specialist & Subject Matter for the U.S Department of State, a Research Consultant for the UAB Arts in Medicine and Occupational Therapy Programs, and a Faculty member at Carlow University.

Kevin is an award-winning performing magician who has toured the world with his wife and partner for over 25 years. He also serves as a Teaching Artist through the Hocus Focus and Magic Therapy programs.

Direct download: Kevin_Spencer_on_Disability_Innovation_through_Magic_Tricks.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

We are back in Texas with a venture capital firm and its FinTech portfolio company. Bryan Chambers and Joel Radtke join us to discuss venture capital innovation and the journey of an up-and-coming Texas startup.

Capital Factory is a firm that connects investors with new companies and talent. Texas has five of the twelve largest and fastest-growing cities in the U.S, making it a hot area for startups and investors. When it comes to raising capital, many middle-market companies struggle. They often run into various credit risks leading to rejection by banks.

Raising capital is where Joel Radtke and Collateral Edge come into play. Collateral Edge is a startup that uses technology to mitigate risk, allowing the borrower to secure needed bank loans, aiding both the lender and the borrower. Because of Collateral Edge’s technologies, banks can form new relationships that benefit them and their community.

Essentials of Venture Capital Innovation

When it comes to startups like Collateral Edge, people often make the mistake of failing to plan around their ideas. The value is not in the idea. It’s in the execution. It is vital to build a relationship with investors and help them fully understand the vision before asking them for money.

The team at Collateral Edge was patient in the process and built solid relationships. As a result, Collateral Edge has gained large Texas investors, New York investors with massive capital pools, Silicon Valley investors who have grown billion-dollar companies, etc. They intentionally targeted investors who could help with bank relationships, capital, and technology, which has paid off.

Bryan’s advice for innovators with ideas but no connections are simple. If you live in or near a large metropolitan area, you need to seek out the startup community. Looking for a community sounds easy, but it requires a lot of effort.

Step two is to work for somebody else who is building a startup. Building a startup is a complex and challenging thing to do. When you work for someone else’s startup, you will gain a wealth of knowledge that you can apply to your future startup efforts.

About Our Guests: Bryan Chambers and Joel Radtke

Bryan Chambers is the Vice President of Ventures at Capital Factory. He manages the statewide accelerator and investment operations for the venture capital firm.

He is a founding member of Venture Dallas, a venture capital conference in Dallas, Texas. Bryan is also a Professor of Entrepreneurship at UT Dallas and the Director of the UT Dallas Seed Fund for technology startups founded by students. Bryan holds a B.A. in Business Marketing and an M.B.A in Entrepreneurship from UT Arlington.

Joel Radtke is the Co-Founder, President, and Chief Operating Officer at Collateral Edge. Collateral Edge provides banks with an innovative, automated solution to bolster credit profiles on individual loans to allow greater underwriting flexibility while mitigating risk. He is the former Co-Founder and C.F.O. at United Orthopedic Group. Additionally, Joel has worked in the investment banking and private equity industries. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard University.

 


Artist Uprising connects creative talent with large corporations and businesses. The company started with Merrick’s passion for artists and her desire to see “starving artists” get paid. Many talented artists lack business skills. There is a need for them to bridge the gap between their work and the business world. Both sides have a hard time communicating their needs. Merrick comes in and helps them get on the same page.

When it comes to finding artists, Merrick does a lot of work through Instagram. Her team focuses on acquiring talent that isn’t mega-famous yet but still has large followings. Having consistent content that has a purpose is very important as well. Merrick refers to word of mouth as one of the best ways to find solid talent, similar to how the corporate world operates.

Artist Uprising and Innovation

When the conversation of NFTs started getting popular, Merrick got flooded with requests from artists wanting to collaborate. NFTs are digital assets that are purchased and represent things like pieces of art. Artist Uprising eventually hosted the first NFT pop-up gallery in the Richardson area, the third in the country. The event was successful and boosted the business.

In Richardson, Artist Uprising pulls in local artists to work on murals, augmented reality murals, live music activations, live music festivals, etc. For businesses, they even bring in musicians to perform at monthly happy hours. During COVID, murals were the company’s principal work. Since musicians couldn’t play live shows, they augmented pre-recorded concerts within art murals.

Collaboration Success

Now more than ever, Merrick believes that brands want to connect with creatives. Last year, Artist Uprising collaborated with Cannon USA when they were coming out with a poster printer. The commercial was artist-focused rather than product-focused, which promoted the printer in perfect light.

Large collaborations are often challenging to make authentic, but they can be done with the right people and focus. Artists live and breathe ideation, but when companies are over-controlling, they halt that creativity. Artist Uprising educates and brings both parties together, resulting in unique innovations that benefit everyone.

About our Guest: Merrick Porcheddu

Merrick is the Founder of Artist Uprising, a business resource for talent and a talent resource for business. They focus on abolishing starving artistry by curating and booking talent and creative experiences for brands and organizations. Merrick is becoming an NFT expert in Richardson, Texas. She is passionate about bridging the gap between creatives and the corporate world.

Direct download: Merrick_Porchddu_on_NFT_Innovation_Through_Artist_Uprising.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Adaptive 3D is an innovative company that partnered with Desktop Metal and UT Dallas. Walter Voit discusses the innovation behind microarchitecture within material manufacturing and how partnerships in Richardson, Texas, have created a thriving innovation ecosystem.

Innovating 3D Printing and University Research

At Adaptive 3D, Walter focuses on using 3D printing to produce additive materials. The company recently joined Desktop Metal to mass manufacture durable materials rapidly. Printing is often limited to small parts, so the company focuses on manufacturing large materials.

In companies like Adaptive 3D, a new generation of designers uses AI to enhance the manufacturing process. Materials are more intelligently architected, resulting in lower costs, lighter materials, increased sustainability, etc. Microarchitecture is what drives these innovations. As technologies scale, the ability to build large microarchitecture inexpensively becomes a reality.

In the past, there has always been a tradeoff between going green and being cost-efficient. The goal of Adaptive 3D is to have a balance of both. If, by the power of microarchitecture, turning cost structure on its head, it will benefit both the internal supply chain and external customers.

Adaptive 3D with UT Dallas

Adaptive 3D is a few miles from UT Dallas. Walter is an associate professor of material science and engineering and mechanical engineering at the university. Even though it’s a young university, UT-Dallas has been a pioneer in tech transfer and the original location for the core technology.

In Dallas, there is an incredible drive to solve practical problems for industries. Since the tech transfer program emerged, the university has supported founders and inventors and flourished innovation. Part of this is because local industries and UT Dallas have such close ties. The university truly understands what the industry needs to survive and thrive.

The Richardson IQ

The Richardson IQ is the real deal when looking at public and private cooperation. UT-Dallas, Texas Instruments, Raytheon, etc., has created a merging ecosystem of startups and seasoned experts who want to change the game. In Texas, people don’t look to the government to solve their problems. Instead, they do it themselves. Government leadership has established a system that supports this mindset, allowing the ecosystem to thrive.

About our Guest: Walter Voit

Walter Voit is the President and CEO at Adaptive3D, the premium Additive Manufacturing polymer resin supplier. Walter leads one of the new University of Texas – Dallas research centers in the IQ, focused on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Desktop Metal recently acquired adaptive 3D.

 

Direct download: Adaptive_3D_and_Microarchitecture_Innovation.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Joining us are three guests who lead innovation efforts in Richardson, Texas, known for the "Telecom Corridor." The Richardson Innovation Quarter (IQ) lies within the city, a 1,200 square foot land where innovative companies and entrepreneurs collaborate.

The Richardson Innovation Quarter

Paul Voelker has been in the Richardson, Texas area for over thirty years. To Paul, being mayor is his way of giving back to the community. Richardson has a wealth of innovation history behind it. At the time when Paul became Mayor, Richardson's innovation focus was on large companies. He and his team decided to shift the focus from large companies to entrepreneurs and startups. Doug McDonald leveraged Richardson's history and the city's connection with the University of Texas – Dallas. His task was implementing the mayor's vision to bring new innovative companies and individuals to Richardson,

Innovation Partnership

An innovation partnership with UT Dallas has been a key factor in IQ's growth. Dr. Joseph Pancrazio is the Vice President for Research at UT Dallas in Richardson and is part of the Innovation Quarter. The partnership's primary focus is revitalizing the IQ through specialized innovation efforts. The university believes that its partnership with the City of Richardson is the beginning of something unique.

Paul and the city team understand and embrace the fact that they live in a global marketplace. UT-Dallas exemplifies this marketplace with the diversity of its students. Dr. Pancrazio says that UT-Dallas has 200 national merit scholars and that the students have created a culture of excellence. Paul emphasizes the diverse group of talented students in the city during talks with businesses about moving there. In my opinion, it is that diversity that often brings excellent ideas.

Implementing the Vision

In terms of selling the vision of the new IQ, the biggest obstacle that Doug deals with is running a major hub to showcase the area's uniqueness. Through the partnership with Dr. Pancrazio and UT-Dallas, this hub is in the works. UT-Dallas offers the companies in Richardson the opportunity to acquire research from them, often sparking innovations.

In Richardson, places like the IQ create value, culture, and ultimately wealth. This wealth is what drives many innovative ideas. It then gets reinvested back into institutions, companies, and the highly educated workforce in the area. There is power in the vision held by both teams; Mayor Voelker's and the University of Dallas, Richardson's.

About our Guests: Paul Voelker, Doug McDonald, Dr. Joseph Pancrazio

Paul Voelker is the current Mayor of Richardson, Texas, and a Business Development Executive at Lone Star Analysis. After receiving his BA in Business Administration from William Penn University, Paul went to work for HP, where he took on numerous roles in his twenty-eight years with the company. He is a sales and marketing executive with experience in business development, marketing, and portfolio and alliance management.

Doug McDonald is the Strategic Initiatives Manager at the City of Richardson, under Mayor Paul Voelker.

Dr. Joseph Pancrazio is the Vice President for Innovation & Research at the City of Richardson under Mayor Paul Voelker.

Direct download: Richardson_Innovation_Quarter_IQ.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Today, we see an emergence of technologies in healthcare. Richardson Methodist Medical Center is at the helm of breakthrough medical innovations. Josh Smith joins us to discuss his work at the medical center around cardiology and electrophysiology.

Technology Breakthroughs and Challenges

Technology has allowed physicians and scientists to explore sub-specialties of specialties like cardiology. Josh is a cardiologist specializing in electrophysiology, the study of the heart's conduction, and correct abnormal heart rhythms.

Fifty years ago, there wasn't a lot that cardiologists could do to help those with heart issues. Partnerships between physicians and companies aided in accelerating healthcare innovation. Due to these partnerships, many of the technologies created are available to consumers. One ongoing challenge for hospital systems is acquiring technology and staying up to date with it.

Eight years ago, at the Cable Labs, the healthcare industry asked us to create a cable lab. We had to get the hospitals and the manufactures to work together to standardize the operation. This task was very complicated because it required several different components to work together.

Josh has noticed how more people are now researching the health issues they are having. The availability of information empowers people to do their research. Growing up, my mom would avoid the doctor at all costs, but with personalized healthcare, there is now so much good that can be done.

The evolution of technology has opened up the door for life-changing treatment. My dad had a severe heart issue in the 1970s, and the technology at the time left him in the hospital for three or four days. Now, top cardiologists can perform certain operations in ten minutes. Years ago, Josh had a pain in his chest and went to get it checked. It turned out he had a blockage and had to get two stints. He is thankful that he went because he protected his heart for the long term. None of this would have been possible if it weren't for innovators in the medical field.

Richardson Methodist Medical Center

People often think that all innovation happens in Silicon Valley. In reality, there are innovators all over the U.S and all around the world. The people at Richardson Methodist Medical are doing some groundbreaking innovations. A typical open-heart surgery would take seven to ten days. At Richard Methodist Medical Center, a device bypasses that process.

About four years ago, the medical center launched the TAVR Program, which deploys a valve within your heart's valve, resulting in the valve functioning again. This procedure drastically improves the lives of those suffering from heart issues. The outcome of this healthcare innovation is truly amazing.

Future Healthcare Innovation

Currently, pacemakers have a life of 7-10 years. Innovators in the medical world are currently working on making chargeable pacemakers, which Josh is excited about. Josh is also excited about the possibility of 3D-printed organs and things of that nature. Dean Kamen, who was previously on the show, is currently creating that technology with his team.

Josh is also really excited about the potential of telehealth. Due to COVID, telehealth accelerated, and I believe it will continue to grow. Josh thinks the next big one will be something related to telehealth when it comes to healthcare consumer devices.

About our Guest: Josh Smith

Josh Smith is a U.S Army Veteran and an Invasive Cardiologist, Electrophysiologist, and Radiologist at Methodist Richardson Medical Center in Richardson, Texas. Josh joined the team at Methodist Richardson Medical Center in 2015 and is passionate about advancing healthcare innovation through technology and evidence-based practice.

Direct download: Josh_Smith_on_Healthcare_Innovation_at_Richardson_Methodist.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

In today's world, buzzwords are everywhere. Within the realm of innovation, the misuse of these innovation buzzwords runs rampant. Often, these words and phrases push people away from innovation as they perceive it to be too complex. 

Buzzwords: What are they?

Often used to impress something upon someone, buzzwords can be technical or specific to a particular industry. Common buzzword examples are synergy, clickbait, and growth hacking. Synergy means something that works together. Clickbait refers to content developers such as Youtubers who exaggerate what their videos are about. Growth hacking means finding different ways to grow a business. Initially meant to simplify things, more often than not, buzzwords complicate them.

Within the world of innovation, there are many existing buzzwords that people dislike. The most common one I hear is design-thinking, which has been around for a while. Originally, this term referred to devising the user's needs at the beginning of a project and carrying that approach to the end. Unfortunately, this buzzword has been misused and turned into something different.

Misused Innovation Buzzwords

Let's look at an innovation buzzword I often use, ideation. At The Innovators Network, we teach workshops on the ideation process. Ideation is the process of generating more and better ideas. At the end of it all, ideation is a made-up word that means relatively the same thing that brainstorming does.

Another innovation buzzword is a disruptor— someone or something that shakes things up when entering an established industry. This shakeup is through the usage of different techniques and approaches. An excellent example of a disruptor is when Uber entered and changed the ride-hailing services industry.

Another buzzword that I use often is innovator. An innovator is simply one who presents a new product, service, or a new transformative technique. The issue that arises with this term is that so many people call themselves innovators when they don't offer anything innovative or perform innovation. Because of its rampant misuse, it has become harder to identify the real innovators from the fake ones.  

Other Buzzword Examples

Next up is the term system-thinking. Top consulting firms often use this buzzword. Companies use the term in attempts to differentiate the services they offer from their competitors. System thinking means looking at things as systems rather than established processes. At its core, this term, like other buzzwords, is an overcomplication of something simple. 

Pain points is another buzzword that refers to things that drive customers crazy. Another commonly used innovation buzzword is social innovation. This one is self-explanatory. It means using innovation to solve social problems

When it comes to innovation, buzzwords create a barrier between those inside and outside the innovation space. While buzzwords aren't inherently wrong, their misuses often lead to confusion and misguidance. I hope that misuse of these buzzwords will start to diminish, creating more apparent openings for others to participate in genuine innovation efforts.

To know more about the misuse of innovation buzzwords, listen to this week's show: Misused Innovation Buzzwords.

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Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

When studying different companies and their cultures, you will notice different team structures. The question of which structure is the best may eventually cross your mind. Some companies have large teams, while others operate with small, close-knit groups. I believe there is an optimal innovation team size that leads to killer ideas when it comes to innovation.

Studies on Team Size

The question of the day is this: Does team size genuinely have an impact? I reviewed a collaboration study done a while ago by the Kellogg School of Management and Northwestern University. The premise: large teams are problem solvers, and small teams are problem generators. The study showed that as the teams grew from one member to fifty members, their creativity decreased. The large teams focused on developing already known ideas, and the small teams focused on ideating new ideas.

As teams grew in size, different things impacted them. Firstly, team members suffered relational losses. They felt disconnected from other team members. Secondly, there was a tendency for the individual to contribute less on a large team than they would in a smaller one. Thirdly, when it came to large teams, they often sought out a leader to guide them. The smaller teams did not have a main leader but functioned off trusting each other and focusing on a common mission or vision.

A great way to combat innovation team size issues is through Multi-Team Systems (MTS). This process breaks down larger teams into smaller ones and establishes a structure. Utilizing MTS will lead to better team efficiency, which will lead to better ideas.

My Experience and Other’s

Allow me to share my experience with team sizes. I started my career at Deltek, which functioned with large teams. I later joined Thumbscan, which had medium-sized teams that were not the most efficient. When I left this team to build my product, I realized how hard it was to develop something without a team. This taught me the importance of being part of a team and the importance of that team’s size.

One outside example that shows the importance of team size comes from Apple in the 1980s. The company was utilizing large teams, coming out with the Apple 1, 2, and 3. These efforts had turned out unsuccessful. As a result, Steve Jobs picked a small exclusive team to work on MacIntosh. He did this to avoid any outside influence from the company. This move led to enormous success for Apple. The bottom line, when teams are separated and given a specific mission to focus on, they reach a point of efficiency, leading them to achieve their goal.

What is the Optimal Innovation Team Size?

From my experience with teams, I have concluded that the optimal innovation team size is 6-8 people. Any more than that, and the team members might lose focus and feel disconnected. In my opinion, nobody should have more than twelve people that directly report to them. Not only is the team size important, but the makeup of the team as well. A team needs visionaries, leaders, energizers, designers, etc. A team with the right combination of skillets will cultivate innovation success.

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Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

AI has become very popular in the world today. With its transition from a dream to reality, one must wonder what future outcomes will come of it. Is human creativity at the core of AI? Some may wonder whether AI can possess the same creative abilities.

Human Creativity and AI

Learning and experiences lead to innovation and creation. With every new creation comes inspiration from something else. When it comes to AI, there is a difference between being inspired and being invented. The keys here are input and experience.

AI is composed of training data that recognizes patterns and finds the best solutions. Training data is vital to the makeup of AI. This makeup is typically called machine learning. In the past, the common thought was that humans had a unique advantage over this area. Some instances have said otherwise.

Is Artificial Intelligence growing smarter than humans? That depends on your definition of smarter. Do you define smart by critical thinking skills or IQ? In the case of chess, the key is to recognize patterns and to be able to look at the number of steps ahead. These are two skills that computers have become quite good at through the utilization of machine learning. The question then becomes whether those skills are what we define as smart.

Innovations From AI Technologies

Let’s look at an example of AI from the work of the Associated Press, which generates millions of news stories for several different industries. It utilizes the Wordsmith tool to perform deep learning. As a result, AP outpaces the news outputs of all the major media companies out there combined.

Trained on successful articles that people have written, Wordsmith has a downside. The issue with AP’s process is that there is no specific writing style, lacking human creativity. Instead, the platform produces media based on things like news releases by newscasters or online outlets. As a result, Associated Press’s Wordsmith tool couldn’t write the script for my show or other similar shows. 

In my spare time, I like to write instrumental music. Magenta Studios has an AI plugin that I like experimenting with. This tool offers a simple way to utilize AI to develop something. The use of AI tools like AP’s Wordsmith or Magenta’s plugin conjures up some questions. People might wonder who should get the credit for the articles published or music created. 

Can AI Replace Human Creativity?

You may still wonder if AI applications can replace human creativity. You may also wonder if AI can create new ideas leading to killer innovations. I don’t believe AI can replace the unique creativity of humans.

AI utilization is most successful as a tool to enhance ideas. It can be used as an aid to get past the mental block encountered while brainstorming ideas. Human creativity is also evolving as AI grows. AI should not be feared, rather appreciated and experimented with. I believe AI will play a significant and positive role in our future.

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Let’s be honest with ourselves. Being creative is hard. Suppose a crisis within your organization happens, and you need to come up with ideas on demand. How do you respond? While this situation sounds scary, there are steps you can take to respond successfully.

3 Steps to Brainstorming Ideas on Demand

I use three steps to brainstorm ideas on demand. The first step is to create a problem statement. Define the problem before you start collecting solutions. Focus on answering the following: who is being impacted by the problem, what is the problem, and why is it important to solve.

I lead a project solving a problem involving broadband for those living in rural areas. In this situation, those impacted were the people in rural areas. The problem was the lack of access to broadband for those living in low population areas. The impact was the inability to work at home, access various information, and engage in entertainment.

Step two is to ideate through brainstorming ideas. Since this is an on-demand situation, I focus on two dimensions, the first being time. Does your innovation save people time or make them more efficient? The second dimension is money. Can your innovation help save money, make more money, or make people efficient with money?

Final Steps

Step number three is to share your raw ideas with others who can join you. Please invite others to build upon your ideas, or plus it. Next, you share the problem statement, describe the two dimensions, and present your ideas. Then, rank your ideas and select the best ideas to dig into.

By the end of ninety minutes to two hours, you will come up with a handful of good ideas to move forward with. Remember, this is just a starting point. You will not have fully developed ideas, but you will have enough to get started. The first time you try this, you may be nervous and stressed. Don’t your emotions filter your ideas because you are trying to create ideas on demand. The crazier, the better.

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Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

In life, it is essential to be content when it comes to certain things. However, when dealing with innovation, that is far from the case. When an innovator decides they are satisfied with their product or idea, they will be in for an unpleasant surprise. This contentment can be the ultimate enemy of innovation.

Virtue or Enemy of Innovation?

The state of contentment is a state of peace, satisfaction, and acceptance of a situation, outcome, or circumstance. While this sounds great, issues arise when one becomes so content they give up. When people choose contentment, they often avoid any conflicts or challenges. Innovation is all about finding ways to improve things. When an innovator is content with where they are, they develop a false feeling that change is slowing down. This false sense causes the innovator to miss warning signs of an incoming change.

Contentment will lead you to avoid risk and change. The contentment then acts as an innovation antibody. Now you can see how contentment is the enemy of innovation. True innovators are never content with where their products or ideas are. Instead, they are constantly working to improve them.

My Experience with Contentment

During my life, there have been a few times where I fell into a state of contentment. I allowed myself to check out and remain on autopilot. I was satisfied with my successes, but my state of contentment was short-lived. These phases were because of some disruptive shocks that occurred in the world around me at these times. When these changes happened, they shook me up, and my contentment rapidly disintegrated. It was then that I learned how contentment is the enemy of innovation.

Avoiding Innovation Contentment

Here’s what you can do to avoid the enemy of innovation. Firstly, challenge yourself to do things that make you uncomfortable. Try a new hobby, learn a new instrument, play a new sport, etc. This challenge will give you a new perspective and keep you from being stagnant. Secondly, you can change up the way you do things. This change can be simple, like switching up your morning routine or driving a different way to work. Thirdly, you can try some creative muscle exercises.

Start with challenging yourself to come up with five problems that need solving. These can be personal things, work or school-related, things for a non-profit, etc. There will never be a shortage of issues that need solving. Doing these things will keep you creative and alert, avoiding the enemy of innovation known as contentment.

Direct download: Contentment_-_Virtue_or_Enemy_of_Innovation.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

A vital function of an innovation leader is to motivate, support, and point their team to good habits. Doing this should be a daily activity. Modeling leadership habits and exhibiting leadership skills inspires employees to become leaders. With this inspiration, employees will become more efficient and innovative. This effect can be created through a list of questions to ask your employees.

Top Questions to Ask Your Employees

The first question on my list is, “What went well last time we met?” Once you ask this question, it is important to be a good listener. Next, offer them your appreciation for their work, and offer your support. Focus on reinforcing the idea that innovation is about the team. The second question on the list is, “What went wrong and what was the lesson you took from it?” When dealing with innovation, we can’t always be in complete control of the situation. Failures are bound to happen. As an innovation leader, you must encourage your employees to share their failures and learnings. Having a culture that embraces experimentation leads to greater innovations. Additionally, the organization can learn from that failure and avoid it altogether in the future. Number three on my list of questions to ask your employees is, “What did you find that could be improved, and what did you do to improve it?” This question is vital because it permits employees to fix things. In doing so, the employees learn some important lessons. Firstly, they learn that everyone in the organization is in it together. Secondly, they learn not to throw their problems on someone else, but to take initiative.

Creating a Motivating, Clear, and Honest Environment

The fourth question is, “how can I create a motivating environment?” In my organization, we give out gift cards to recognize employees’ good efforts and innovation habits. To create a motivating atmosphere, you need to actively listen and be approachable. Additionally, you need to recognize when someone does something well by publicly acknowledging it.  This shows others what habits and actions to strive for in their team and organization. The fifth question I ask is, “What roadblocks are you facing and what can I do to clear them?” As a leader, your job is to sift out things that hinder productivity. Roadblocks can be large or small issues. Leaders should remove barriers so that their teams can stay focused on what’s important.

 Lastly, I ask my employees if there is anything else they want to talk about. This open-ended question allows employees to share other things on their minds. One of my organization’s core values is “candor with respect.” This gives employees the confidence to be transparent and frees them from concern about negative reactions. Protect confidentiality so employees feel they can open up. I’ve had employees present challenges in their personal lives. In some cases, I’ve been able to help. The results have improved employee morale and generated positive change for the organization.

 

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Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Let’s say your organization tasks your team to generate a new product or service idea. You gather your team together and get ready to brainstorm, thinking you can’t go wrong. Contrary to common thought, when brainstorming problem statements, things can go wrong. Often, teams will jump into brainstorming sessions, forgetting a vital step of the process. This step is known as the area of focus.

When it comes to assembling your team to brainstorm problem statements, developing the area of focus is beyond critical. As a team leader, it is essential to explain a few key things to your team. Firstly, you need to explain who has the problem. Secondly, it is crucial to lay out what the problem is. Lastly, you explain why the problem is essential to solve.

Elements of A Good Problem Statement

When brainstorming problem statements, a set timeframe will help a team put all their energy and attention into creating that area of focus. This time is vital because a well-defined focus from a solid problem statement will generate more and better ideas. A well-thought-out problem statement either solves a problem, removes a barrier, or improves an experience. Don’t forget that problem statements need to be concise without implying or stating a solution.

It is also crucial that they are specific enough to the point where they are solvable by your organization within that timeframe. This process is not easy. As a result, I spend four to eight hours crafting, testing, and validating a problem statement.

Generating As A Team

There are a few key steps needed when successfully brainstorming problem statements. Firstly, you need to get together and brainstorm the problem. This step includes gathering a list of problems and challenges, any organizational friction or barriers, and unmet needs within the organization. The second step is to have your team answer the “what, who, and why.” Thirdly, you need to take the gathered data and plug it into one of the templates to generate the problem statement.

Next, repeat the “who, what, and why,” drafting multiple versions of the problem statement. Lastly, test it with the “who,” or your organization’s target segment. Once you have a version of the problem statement you think works, test it with others. The test is best done by writing it out and making it concise. Like I always say, never use yourself as a proxy. Next, ask your organization some questions to validate the problem and problem statement. Once validated, you are ready to present your problem statement to your team so they can begin brainstorming.

 

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Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Many people spend years of their lives searching for the secrets of success. Most people believe success comes from doing what successful people do. 1986, “In Search of Excellence” came out, which sought to identify shared practices of 10 successful companies and publish them. This book was the first one in its genre. Did these companies become successful out of luck?

Let’s try this strategy by taking fifty firms featured in three best sellers in this genre – In Search of ExcellenceGood to Great, and Built to Last. Of the firms covered by these books, sixteen failed within five years, twenty-three underperformed the S&P 500, five became exceptional, and the remaining six became average. Only 10% of these “role model” companies became successful.

Now let’s look at the area of music. If you look at an artist that had a top 20 song, should you sign that artist? Your gut would probably say yes. A study looked at 8,300 artist’s songs from 1980-2008. It concluded that rather than signing the artist in the top twenty of 100 songs, you would have better market success picking the artist ranked between 22-30.

In many cases, songs that get top spots are “one-hit wonders.” The artists that tended to have more career success were the second-best to start with. Smart agents sign artists in the mid-twenty to thirties range because they got there by skill and not luck.

Luck’s Role in Innovation

People often confuse luck with taking a risk. By luck, I mean going from good to great out of nowhere. The difference between an okay innovation and a breakthrough is all about the right timing. Some levels of success can be attributed to the innovator, but luck often plays a big part.

When I think of luck, I think of it in the construct of a 2x2 matrix. The horizontal axis is the level of luck, the left side being zero (no luck), and the right side being 100 (every perfect condition). The vertical axis is your innovation capability, the lower part is zero (no innovation capability), and the top is 100 (innovation perfection).

In the lower left-hand corner, with no luck and no innovation capability, you have no chance. If you don’t innovate and leverage any form of luck, competition will eat you up. In the upper left, where you have great innovation but no luck, you might have some mediocre success, break even, or get acquired by someone. With unbelievable luck but no innovation capabilities in the lower right-hand corner, you have “blind luck.” Many people think they can consistently achieve success through luck, but it is not a strategy. In the upper right-hand quadrant, you have unbelievable innovation capabilities, and luck comes along.

Final Thoughts

In some cases, you can position yourself to achieve breakthrough success. It’s important to know when to pause an idea. When luck raises its head, you can take advantage of it and create that innovation success. Don’t think that you can do whatever someone like Elon Musk did and achieve the same level of success. It would be best if you recognized that you aren’t in complete control. Don’t try to control luck, but use your innovation capabilities to create ideas and have them ready to move forward with them when the timing is right.

To know more about achieving innovation success through luck and skill, listen to this week's show: Innovation Success, Skill or Luck.

 

Direct download: Innovation_Success_-_Skill_or_Luck.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

A challenger is someone who ignores old thought patterns, doesn't let others hold them back, and confronts the dominant player. In the story of David and Goliath, David defeated the giant because he approached him differently. As an organization, you need to think differently to challenge a well-accepted market leader. Challengers fight smarter, with focus and a clear purpose. Being a challenger is a mindset as much as anything else. 

How to Become the Innovation Challenger

History is full of innovation challengers that upset prominent industries. Take Google, for example. Yahoo had 95% of the market share when Google started. Google's success came when they pivoted their innovation to an automated page rank algorithm. The most popular pages floated to the top, which people loved. Google stayed focused and had a purpose, resulting in a David and Goliath type of victory. They currently have around 92% of the market share.

Another example is SpaceX. Space exploration and travel used to be strictly government-based. In 2006, SpaceX challenged the space launch monopoly that Lockheed Martin and Boeing held. As a result, SpaceX went from a 1.5% market share in 2008 to roughly a 22% market share in 2020. How does SpaceX differentiate itself? By reusing rockets after launches, saving millions of dollars. Google and SpaceX are now Goliaths because they became innovation challengers. 

Establishing an Innovation Challenger Mindset

Firstly, you need to understand the Goliath deeply. It would help if you studied the culture, organization, key influencers from the inside and out, investors, board, company history, etc. If possible, buy and use their products. Follow them on social media, sign up for newsletters, call their support line, buy through their sales channels, etc.

Secondly, accept all negative feedback as opportunities. Don't rationalize away people's complaints about your products or ideas. Use them as ways to improve. Practice active listening and address feedback. An excellent example of this is Zoom. At the beginning of COVID, Zoom quickly rose to the top but started having issues. To address these issues, they did regular meetings to gather feedback from people. They responded successfully to the problems, leading them to where they are today. 

Thirdly, look for other parallel industries that have challengers. It is surprising how many ideas you can take from totally unrelated areas. Figure out how to apply what you have learned from other industries to your own. Number four is to build an "innovation red team, " a team of outsiders that challenges your assumptions. You want these people to be brutally honest with you and to point out your blind spots. I still have blind spots, even though I've been in the innovation game for forty years. It is vital to permit these people to challenge you. Doing this will make you more successful as an organization.

Lastly, encourage your team to experiment and try new things. Have a culture that teaches failure as a learning experience and not a negative thing. 

Direct download: How_to_Become_the_Innovation_Challenger.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Innovating in the face of the unexpected can stretch the most decisive innovation leader. COVID taught us that flexibility and adaptability is the name of the game. This is especially true within an organization’s innovation efforts. A new capability is needed to respond to these disruptive shock situations effectively. I call this capability “elastic innovation,” or the ability to innovate in the short-term while still managing innovation efforts in the long term.

Is Elastic Innovation Needed?

During these unexpected times, it is often necessary to innovate within a 0-48 hour timeframe. I became aware of this concept in 2015 when I read the Elastic Innovation Index. This index looked at the financial tech world and focused on how quickly companies could adapt to sudden changes. Recently, John Bremen wrote an article called Elastic Innovation related specifically to COVID. Today, I will be combining thoughts from these two articles with my own. 

Impacts of Elastic Innovation

Elastic innovation impacts different practices companies use. Firstly, it impacts an idea pipeline. Most companies have some form of Idea Management System (IMS). Forced to take an idea from your pipeline, you skip standard processes and immediately implement it. Elastic innovation may also impact your people.

To succeed with elastic innovation, you need to have a culture that allows for a high decentralization of decision-making and resources. The best ideas usually don’t come from senior executives. When in an elastic innovation situation, you need to empower your team to move quickly and create a diverse approval process. Approve it, fund it, and get moving.

Thirdly, elastic innovation impacts your operating pace. Typically your process and pace are set based on approval processes. Significantly accelerated, this is the pace in the case of an elastic innovation. Things are tested and launched to respond to disruptive shocks adequately.

Lastly, elastic innovation impacts the framework a company is following. It would be best if you were willing to drop some elements of your framework. Keep in mind; you should maintain your quality and safety standards and protect your brand.

Examples from COVID

During COVID, perfume manufacturers transformed their manufacturing systems to make hand sanitizer. They leveraged their capabilities in a short-term effort to create an entirely new product. Restaurants shifted to using mobile ordering and curbside pickup to get people their meals safely. The gig economy saw a rise in its grocery delivery services. Musicians adapted and started doing virtual concerts for their fans. 

If you keep an elastic innovation approach, you will deal with complexities and balance response tradeoffs. Most importantly, you will react quickly and decisively, which will lead to your organization’s success.

 

Direct download: Elastic_Innovation_-_A_Needed_Innovation_Capability.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

In past episodes, I’ve discussed science fiction stories as tools to predict the future. H.G Wells wrote about atomic bombs and the fallout - thirty years before Nagasaki and Hiroshima. In 1968, John Brunner predicted the European Union, China’s rise to power, and Detroit’s economic downfall.   You can probably take any existing technology and find a book or article that predicted something like it in the past. If you want to spark an idea, the most crucial part is understanding the timing.

An Unexpected Way to Predict the Future

Writers of fiction bring something to those whose jobs it is to predict the future. Writers bring the sensory talent. To be a great writer, you need to be aware of things others don’t see and pick up on different trends and moods. The ability for a writer to convey a picture of what could be generates that “what if” spark. Writers can create and invent emotions, worlds, structures, political parties, and., eliciting a response from the reader. It’s all about imagining what it will take to get from point A to point B.

This episode was inspired by an article written by Philip Oltermann discussing novels to predict crises such as genocides or civil wars. The project, called “Project Cassandra,” was run by Jurgen Wertheimer, a professor of comparative literature in Germany.

The overall goal was to figure out if you could predict the unpredictable. They discovered that authors in a given country were writing fiction tied to their country’s circumstances and forecasting what they believed would happen based on the patterns they saw. Some people refer to a crisis as a black swan, which is an event you can’t predict. On the contrary, the project showed that a few years before a crisis, local authors offered a sense of what was coming. These predictions weren’t based on extensive data collection but more focused on people’s feelings. Those running the project focused on the literary infrastructure, asking whether the -  was the book was being censored or if it did elicit extraordinary reactions.

Predicting as an Innovator

I tend to use a similar process when it comes to predicting the future. On top of looking at reactions, I take interesting writings and search out the people involved in them. Firstly, I ask the writers what barriers are keeping their predictions from happening. I also check what the dependencies are, and most importantly, I ask what the intended and unintended consequences are. No matter what you are doing, it is vital to ponder these things.

The Cassandra Project was looking to predict crises five to seven years out. The early stages of this project were successful in predicting things one year out. The next stage was five to seven years out. The early successes came from giving off strong hints, but this is hard to make actionable. In the case of innovators, hints are interesting, but they have to be translated. This is a challenge for any innovation. Ultimately, Project Cassandra was killed in 2020 by the German government.

Do you think reading the writings of authors can be possible sources of predicting the future? Prediction is challenging and often viewed as the d is the holy grail for innovators. The one guarantee is that you will never be 100% right. This shouldn’t cause you to make us give up, as a prediction can create that little spark that will lead you to the next big thing.

Direct download: An_Unexpected_Way_to_Predict_the_Future.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

To me, pivoting is making a significant change in direction. Many people are not aware that some of the products they use today are the result of a pivot. Today we’ll look at seven companies that made meaningful significant changes resulting in ultimate success. 

Achieving Success by Pivoting Your Innovation

PayPal started as a digital “I owe you” platform. Today, it is a major payment transaction platform that gave birth to the “PayPal mafia”, which included people such as Elon Musk. The successful pivot was Airbnb, which originally offered housing for conferences and air mattresses. The third company is Twitter, which started as a podcast platform called Odeo. I was on show five or six in the early days of the platform. When iTunes came out with their podcast app, they put similar platforms such as Odeo out of business. As a result, Jack Dorsey and his team brainstormed, found inspiration, and pivoted, coming up with Twitter. Next up is Western Union, which was a telegram company founded in the 1800s. In recent years, the company pivoted and became a money transfer company. Today, the company handles just shy of $9 billion a year. I use Western Union for non-profit and for-profit work in Rwanda. The next company that has done major pivots is Slack, which I am an avid user of. Slack started as a video game venture called Glitch. When they couldn’t get any interest in their idea, they switched to a messaging platform and found success. 

Nintendo and Pivoting

The next company is Nintendo, which has been around since the 1880s and has been in many different businesses. They started off making playing cards, and then pivoted to taxi services. Next, Nintendo made instant rice cookers and then pivoted to hourly hotel rooms. Eventually, they pivoted into the early video game space and became the company we know today. The last company is Playdoh, which I grew up using as a kid. Playdoh was originally developed to clean up coal dust off walls. When heat sources were switched from coal to oil, gas, then natural heat, the market for Playdoh dried up. The company realized teachers were getting creative with Playdoh in the classroom and pivoted their business to a different target market. 

Important Steps

To pivot successfully, you should treat it like any other area of innovation. First, find your area of focus and ideate. Next, rank your ideas and execute them. At the end of the day, pivoting is better than going bankrupt. I did thirteen startups before my first IPO at Telligent. Pivoting is a skill that innovators need to have and an action they need to be willing to take. Additionally, you need to be dedicated and on the same page as your team to pivot successfully. Next, you need to be willing to change. Don’t fall in love with your innovation and refuse to let go. Thirdly, you have to move very quickly to pivot successfully. Lastly, choose what you will be doing and commit to it. 

 

 

Direct download: Achieving_Success_by_Pivoting_Your_Innovation.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Let's talk about some non-obvious sources of my innovation inspiration. Recently, we spoke about seeing with fresh eyes and how important that practice is. Fresh eyes need innovation inspiration to guide them towards that next game-changing innovation.

The Power of Unexpected Conversations

The first source of my innovation inspiration is unexpected conversations. I like to talk with interesting people who have different backgrounds than I do. I often do this on airplanes or at rest stops, as well as at large events like TED. My goal of these conversations is to walk away with at least one exceptional idea. I have a set of questions that I ask people in unexpected discussions, such as, "What are you curious about?" or "What innovation do you want to see come to fruition during your lifetime"?

In the 90s, my uncle owned Macarthur Fish and Poultry in the heart of Oakland. One thing that frustrated him was missed phone calls that often led to missed opportunities. During the holiday seasons, it was hard to keep up with numerous calls.

At the time, I was in the telecoms business, and I figured out that it was recorded every time a phone number was called. We decided to look up the callers' information from these missed calls and put it into emails. We would then send it to the store owner to call back, which led to more business. The product was called Imagine and went on to amass a ton of success after its launch in 1998. The success of Imagine eventually became the cornerstone of Telligent, which then grew to be a $3.1 billion business.

All of this resulted from a few unexpected conversations with my uncle and fellow shop owners on Macarthur Boulevard in Oakland, California. Never underestimate the power of an unexpected conversation.

Observe and Erase Annoyances

The second source of my innovation inspiration is being observant of what annoys me. We all have things that bother us. It is essential to ask what is causing these annoyances and how they're erased. I've been in the mobile phone industry since the late 80s, so I have many experiences with smartphones. In the early days, smartphones could only run single apps at a time.

A group called Palm had developed a new system called webOS which could run multiple applications simultaneously. I loved webOS so much that I convinced HP to buy it for $3.5 billion. They created what I would call the best smartphone approach out there, which was way ahead of Apple at the time. Now, all smartphones have the system that webOS developed. All of this was a result of an annoyance that a team decided to erase.

Asking Deep Questions

The third source is asking the "who, what, when, where, why" questions and applying them to your area of focus. For instance, I am currently reading "This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends" by Nicole Perlroth. Through reading this book and others, I've come up with a way to generate ideas by asking these questions.

Ask yourself what the more profound thing is that will allow you to dig deeper. I have come up with tons of ideas based on what Perlroth shares in the book. My objective is to come up with at least one interesting idea from every chapter. Ultimately, it is essential to remember that inspiration is everywhere, no matter where you are or what situation you find yourself in.

Direct download: Innovation_Inspiration_is_Everywhere.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Regret is one of those emotions that can derail your future success. As innovators, regrets can be things like someone else launching an idea you had before you were able to execute it. Today, I am going to share three of my innovation regrets, and how to move past them to continue achieving success.

My First Innovation Regret

During the early days of computer viruses, I was Director of Product Development for ThumbScan. We offered a fingerprint biometric device under $1,000, which was the first at this price that could attach to a PC. Since this was before PCs were common, people didn’t see much value in the company. During this time, I was making headlines for my work on computer viruses and had written down a ton of ideas about them in a notebook I had. Then, Thumbscan started struggling and sales were dropping. I ended up setting aside my notebook of ideas and focusing on other things. Next thing you know, Norton and McAfee, came out with products similar to my ideas and became very successful. I made a few big mistakes in this situation and learned some lessons. Firstly, I went wrong when I correlated people’s interest in the product to an entire industry segment. I also looked at the “now” instead of looking at what could happen if viruses became a major issue. My other big mistake was that I didn’t go back and present my ideas to McAfee and Norton. At this time, I was well-known and could have successfully leveraged my reputation. Instead, I chose not to do it because I didn’t want to be the second or third guy coming out with the idea, I wanted to be the first. This was another innovation regret because typically, the first people who come out with something don’t create the best product.

Second Innovation Regret

My second innovation regret comes from a project I called “the six degrees of separation”. This idea states that you are only no more than six people away from everybody else. A group of consultants and I were sitting around one day and came up with the idea of this project. We were trying to figure out if we could connect people through their work experience, employers, and the likelihood that they knew somebody, to create a connected introduction network. This was two years before LinkedIn offered any kind of product or service. We put the idea up but got distracted by a new idea and ended up dropping it. LinkedIn came out two years later and became a huge success. Here, I learned that I did not lack ideas, but I lacked a ranking process for my ideas. New ideas always look shiny, and we often gravitate to them, which causes us to lose focus on older and potentially successful ideas.

Innovation Regret #3

When I was at a company called Omnipoint, we came up with the idea of pre-paid mobile. This was the very first pre-paid mobile as the existing mobile required built up credit.  We set it up to be an easy process that could be purchased anywhere that sold Omnipoint phones. There was no account information required to purchase the service. We got flooded with people using the prepaid service and became very popular. Then, criminals discovered our anonymous phones. This became the launching point for “burner phones”. The U.S government was not happy with what we were doing, and I had a lot of conversations with different agencies. From this innovation regret, I learned to look for the unintended consequences of my innovations. Nowadays, I write out my regrets and jot down what I would have done differently. After this, I move on and let go of the past. Moving on is vital because if you dwell on your regrets, they will take your energy and focus away from future innovations.

Direct download: Overcoming_Innovation_Regrets.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Previously we talked about innovation adoption and the importance of getting across the innovation adoption curve. Let’s shift our conversation to innovation adoption as a competitive advantage. There is a new category of innovation adoption that is on the rise. This category is known as the hyper-adoption of innovation. The category describes the propensity to adopt and adapt to innovation at a speed and skill unmatched. Adopters in this category are willing to change everything very quickly to be successful.

The best example of this is to look at the economies of countries that have become hyper-adopters. Here is some information and statistics on China from a Harvard Business Review article by Zak Dychtwald. In China, we have seen explosive growth in business and infrastructure. The country has a resource that no other country has: a vast population that has lived through an unprecedented amount of change. China’s innovation ecosystem of millions of hyper-adoptive consumers makes the country so globally competitive. The Chinese people know change is good and are willing to change when it is necessary for growth.

The Lived Experience and Hyper-Adoption

The “lived experience” has shaped China’s unique attitude towards adoption. Looking at lifetime per capita GDP, the U.S has grown roughly 2.7 times from 1990, while China’s has grown 32 times. In 1990, China’s GDP represented less than 2% of the global total, but by 2019 it represented nearly 19%.

From 2011-2013, China poured more concrete than the U.S had poured in the entire 20th century. In 1990, China’s rural population had one refrigerator per one hundred households. Today, that number is ninety-six per one hundred households. In 1990, China had 5.5 million cars on the road, and today they have 270 million. 3.4 million of these cars are electric, representing 47% of global electric cars.

In recent years, the Chinese have had to adapt to radical change more than any other country in the world. Because they constantly implement hyper-adoption, China is poised to take the lead in the innovation arms race.

How to Become a Hyper-Adopter of Innovation

Becoming a hyper-adopter of innovation means remaining open to trying new things and being willing to change yourself. This includes looking at things with fresh eyes. When teaching workshops, I often ask organizations if they are eager to change. Typically, individuals in the group will say they are fine but point out someone else they think needs to change. You need to evaluate yourself and take the necessary steps to adapt. If you want to create an unfair advantage, you need to be willing to change yourself and decide on your own.

 

Direct download: Is_Hyper-Adoption_of_Innovation_a_Competitive_Advantage.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Once you've developed an excellent breakthrough innovation, the next step is figuring out how to get it adopted. Innovators have created numerous helpful models over the years, but most use the innovation adoption model.

The Innovation Adoption Curve

The innovation adoption model is the framework that lays out the audience, such as the late adopters or early adopters. This framework assumes that you are the innovator trying to sell innovation. Today, we will be laying the framework for innovation adoption. Innovation adoption is a model that classifies the adopters of innovation based on their levels of readiness.

Innovation Adoption Groups

There are specific characteristics and groups when it comes to innovation adoption. The first group is the innovators, who are the risk-takers, willing to be the first ones to try anything. This group is a small segment but is much more prominent in influence. These early innovators are the ones other people tend to follow.

The next group is the early adopters, who are visionaries that rely on their gut and experience. While they aren't on the bleeding edge, they are on the leading edge. Early adopters may not get it right out of the gate but jump aboard shortly after.

Next, the early majority is the more mainstream market segment and is more prominent than both previous groups combined. Those in this group like new innovations but prefer to wait and see if innovation is successful before adopting it. They look at innovations not just because they are new but because they perceive value in them.

Next, the late majority holds the same portion of the market as the early majority. These people only adopt innovation when it is their last option (Ex. people who had Blackberrys as long as possible). This segment is harder to persuade as they don't like to try new things. They have high regard for advice from friends and colleagues but not traditional advertising.

The last group is the laggards, which are the same size as the innovators and early adopters. These people are the naysayers of any change. They only adopt things when it is necessary, and no options are left.

Why is it Important?

It is essential to have a unique strategy for approaching each phase of the innovation adoption curve. This strategy comes from author Geoffrey Moore, a friend who has been on the show multiple times. In his book "Crossing the Chasm, he states the chasm between the early adopters and the early majority. This crossing of the chasm is necessary to have a widely successful innovation. To do that, you have to target the market segments and create some excitement over what you have developed. You can't just advertise or market your way over the chasm. It would be best if you had a strategy to find what will provide that needed momentum.

Geoffrey has another strategy he calls the bowling pins. If you think of bowling pins as different industries and solve one industry's problem, it knocks down a bowling pin. In turn, this will bump into another similar industry problem/bowling pin, and it will get knocked down, thus continuing the cycle. This strategy will create excitement and energy, which will help you cross the chasm. The chasm is the biggest struggle for 99% of innovations that could be breakthroughs. You will fail if you don't develop an approach to cross the chasm. 95% of all innovations fail when they neglect the chasm.

Direct download: Why_is_the_Innovation_Adoption_Curve_Important.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

It's hard to believe that I've been in the innovation game as long as I have. I've been creating ideas, inventing, launching services, and teaching others to do the same for many years. While this experience is good, it can sometimes be hurtful. Finding yourself doing the same thing over and over again can be tedious.

We all fall into this type of rut. People often do this with morning routines. The good part is you know what step is coming next. The bad part is when something happens to throw you off, you might overlook things. Routines are problematic when dealing with innovation. To successfully find creative ideas, you need to look at things with fresh eyes constantly. By looking with fresh eyes, I mean seeing something as if you are seeing it for the first time.  

Breaking The Rut with Creative Ideas

How do you break the rut to cause your brain to think differently? You need to observe things, not just look at things and take in information. When I was at HP, I would observe customers while shopping for products at BestBuy. When they picked one that wasn't an HP product, I would walk up to them and introduce myself. I'd ask them what made them choose that product over the HP one to understand their reasoning. Observing isn't just about seeing with your eyes. It is also about asking questions and having an inquisitive nature.

Innovation Example

In some cases, solving problems with fresh eyes doesn't work. In this case, you may have to bring someone in from the outside who has fresh eyes. Here is an example of this. A major manufacturer of potato chips was struggling with a problem: their chips were too greasy. They previously had too much salt on the chips, so they shook them. They tried this with the grease, and it did not work. They tried to shake the chips even harder, and it left them with broken products.

They finally decided to crowdsource, soliciting ideas from people on how to get rid of excess oil on the chips. The solution came from a concert violinist who realized the problem resembled something they had seen. When a violin hits a precise tone, the resonance of the tone will cause water to dance. The violinist proposed they play a specific note to get the oil to jump off the chip, and it worked. Here was a solution not found by those with years of experience but from an unexpected source.

3 Steps to Seeing with Fresh Eyes

  1. Be aware that you are seeing with old eyes.
  2. Build up the habit of looking at everything with fresh eyes.
    This means doing this differently, asking things differently, and asking different people.
  3. Ask for fresh eyes from non-experts. It is crucial to get in the habit of exercising your observation skills. You can do this by driving a different way to work or challenging a process you've used for a while. You can ask someone who isn't an expert to give you feedback, such as the potato chip manufacturer did. You can learn from people with different expertise, country, background, age, etc.

After implementing these things, you will begin to see with fresh eyes, which will lead to the creation of new ideas.

Direct download: Finding_Creative_Ideas_with_Fresh_Eyes.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Last week, I wrapped up a workshop I was teaching to innovation leaders on the 7 laws of innovation. At the end of every workshop or session I teach, I conduct an “AMA” or ask me anything time. There seems to be a recurring question I get from leaders who have taken the Innovation Bootcamp and the 7 laws workshop. The question is, “how do I find the time to innovate?”  

Creating time for Innovation as an Organization

Now I will share some examples of how organizations have created time for innovation. The first example occurred in the early days of HP long before I was CTO. Bill Hewlett would set aside time for the engineers to work on side projects that they wanted to prioritize. Friday from noon till the end of the day was where this typically went down. All HP’s part cabinets would be open and available, with the rule that you had to demo what you created at the end. In the early days of this show, I interviewed Art Fong, who was employee #9 at HP. He got recruited by Bill directly while doing radar work for the military in WW2. During these times, worked on putting together one of the first radar guns for measuring vehicle speed. This work led to the development of new test gear and resulted in employees feeling like they had time and permission to create new ideas.

This became part of the culture at HP. 

Another example of how you can create time for innovation has to do with project planning. Most organizations focus all 40 hours of the week on getting projects done for clients. A disciplined organization will schedule 35 hours a week for projects and leave an extra five hours for innovation/think time. Some organizations use what I call “innovation vacations”. This is a time where employees can refresh and think of new ideas outside of their scheduled work time. I do “trend safaris”, where I hunt for the newest things at big events. I would do this at The Hanover Furniture Fair, New York Fashion Week, the world’s fair in Tokyo, etc.  

 

Creating Time as an Individual

You may still be wondering what you as an individual can do to create time for innovation. The first thing you can do is prioritize. Innovation requires time and commitment. As an innovator and an author, I’ve learned that consistency is more important than quantity. If you spend an hour a day innovating every day, you will make a lot of progress. You can even spend fifteen minutes a day working on something if you’re consistent. Next, you can find an innovation accountability partner. I had a dream of writing a book for many years but didn’t do it till an agent approached me with the idea and kept me accountable. You can also talk to your boss and show them the work you are doing. Ask them for guidance on how you can fit innovation time into your schedule. Once you have innovation time allocated, protect it. Just like going to the gym, it becomes a habit if you do it enough days. Similarly, if you start skipping it, eventually you will stop it altogether. Creating time for innovation is so important because, without it, you will have zero ideas. If you are a leader, you need to give clear permission to everyone in your organization to innovate. This can be something like a one-day-a-month innovation day. At the end of the day, you can’t create time. When it's gone, it's gone, and it is very limited. By prioritizing your innovation, you will be one step closer to coming up with that new idea. 

Direct download: Creating_Time_for_Innovation.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

What is Groupthink?

In this show, we will discuss how groupthink kills innovation. Groupthink is thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility. The problem with groupthink is that it can create blind spots that are the result of not listening to dissenting opinions. Groupthink tends to end in unintended negative consequences because everyone thinks alike and agrees with each other. 

 

The Eight Symptoms of Groupthink

Let’s look at the eight symptoms of groupthink. Irving Janis developed the eight symptoms of groupthink in 1972. The first symptom is the illusion of invulnerability. It creates excessive optimism that encourages taking extreme risks, which always has a downside. Number two is a collective rationalization, where members discount warnings and don’t reconsider their assumptions. The third symptom is belief in inherent morality, where members ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions. Number four is the stereotyped views of the outgroup. This is where you stereotype people that are not in your group. The fifth symptom is direct pressure on dissenters. This is where members are pressured not to disagree with the group’s views. Number six is self-censorship, where you don’t say certain things to avoid reactions from people. Number seven is the illusion of unanimity. This is the view that the majority view is thought to be unanimous. In most cases, this is just an assumption. Number eight is self-appointed mind guards. These members protect the group from information that is contradictory to the group’s cohesiveness.

 

Examples of Groupthink

Here are two examples of the negative consequences of groupthink. Swiss Air was a Swiss airline that was so financially stable that people referred to it as the flying bank. In July of 2001, the company collapsed. Right before this, they got rid of any industrial technical expertise from its governing board. The company wanted to reduce anything that threatened the cohesiveness of the board of directors. Insider groupthink took over and led the company to failure. In 1999, fifty-four members of the Major League Baseball Umpires Association resigned in mass. The umpire did this to influence the ability to renegotiate new contracts. Ultimately, the MLB hired new umpires and decertified the entire union. 

 

Combating Groupthink That Kills Innovation

Innovation is all about doing something new and unique and taking risks. Groupthink is all about conformity, thinking the same, and being in alignment. If you fall into this trap, then it turns into an innovation antibody, and innovation antibodies block new ideas. There are several ways to combat groupthink. Firstly, you can formalize the questioning process. A group should have a process that gives questioning permission to those within the group. There should also be people from outside the group challenging it. Another way to fight groupthink is to institute anonymity. This will make people more comfortable giving their opinion. Number four is to bring in outsiders such as consultants and encourage them to point out problems. Lastly, allow extra time so things can be questioned and challenged.

Direct download: Groupthink_Kills_Innovation.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Like I’ve discussed in a previous show, innovation mentoring and coaching are two different things. Coaching is when working on a project, while mentoring is more long-term and focuses on one person. When directing teams on innovation efforts, the secret to success is a well-thought-out innovation or creative brief.

The Creative or Innovation Brief

I’ve done a lot of coaching and mentoring over the years. In one example, I helped design the new media exhibit in the Newseum in Washington D.C. I’ve done hundreds of similar projects, whether it’s working on a project that is already started or helping conceive a new one.

The innovation brief is information you share with your team or preparing to deliver to an innovation coach. The brief explains the ins and outs of a project and is a key document that saves a lot of time. It aids in discovering and understanding the overall goal of the effort at hand and the attached expectations.  

9 Elements of a Successful Innovation Brief

There are nine essential elements of a successful innovation brief. The first element is to describe your organization. The innovation brief should include history, projects, programs, what the organization does, etc., to provide context. The second element is to summarize the project and why you need it. Is it new, or is it enhancing an existing product or service? Summarize why you are doing what you are doing and all it entails.

The third element is to explain the objectives, which is the most crucial part. It would be best if you thought through your strategies and goals thoroughly. Here, you need to describe the problem you are trying to solve. As an organization, don’t be afraid to share the reality of your situation with your innovation coach. The fourth element is to define the target audience. This audience will be the group that will be benefiting from your efforts.

Elements Five through Nine

The fifth element is to define the deliverables or the result of the effort. Recently, I was working with the U.S Marine Corps on reducing time for procurement. I was also teaching them how to use the FIRE framework. The deliverables were training and a prioritized list of ideas. We did both simultaneously and came up with some exciting ideas.

The sixth element is to identify your competition. Figure out what products or services they have and discover the point of differentiation. It is also essential to observe what trends are occurring. The seventh element is to provide the timing of the project. You must be realistic and listen to your innovation coach.

Element eight is to specify the project budget. Set this budget upfront and be realistic about your expectations before you get started. The ninth element is to list the key stakeholders. Either you are developing this brief to give to your team or an innovation coach. In either situation, it is vital to know the key stakeholders involved.

Direct download: 9_Elements_of_a_Successful_Innovation_Brief__Creative_Brief.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Innovation isn’t just about creating new products or services. While this is critical to an organization, it is also essential to look at other areas such as business model innovation, process innovation, and marketing innovation.

The Framework for New Products

We use the FIRE framework, which we have discussed many times on the show. The primary goal of this framework is to think about innovation with a full 360 view. The framework looks at three dimensions: the who (the customer), the what (the new product or service), and the how (ex., supply chain). Everybody tends to focus on “the what,” but all three are vital to successfully doing innovation.

Business Model Innovation

Business model innovation focuses on the mechanism of exchange of your product or service with the customer. One business model we have all seen is a subscription model. I pay monthly for my Adobe Creative Cloud subscription and receive many apps in return. Bundling is another business model in which a company combines various things to offer more value.

Freemium is another where mobile apps offer something for free but give more capabilities for a price. Razer and blades model is another one, where a company sells something for a low price, but a complementary good is needed to use that product. An example of this would be printers and ink. Leasing a car is another popular business model.

Lastly, crowdsourcing is where a company builds excitement around a product by offering pre-order and then manufactures the product based on the interest level.

Process Innovation

Process innovation deals with delivering a product or service to the customer. It also deals with the sequencing, information, and communication aspects of the process. Ultimately, you need to figure out how to deliver more cost and time effectively to the customer.

How you provide the product can be just as important as the product itself. For example, the people who built the MINI cars used to keep the customer updated on the vehicle’s manufacturing process. They would also personally sign a letter for the customer that bought the car. This move created an emotional attachment for the customer and the company.

Marketing Innovation

This process is what we call the “how” dimension. In today’s world, it is hard to break through the noise level and make something exciting. Packaging is one area of marketing that is a prime example of innovation. At HP, we tested our packaging a ton to make sure it arrived successfully to the customer. In one situation, we partnered with a university to have students create packaging designs. One group of students created a design that we loved, and we cut a deal with them to use the packaging for the company.

Another area is product placement, or how you get your product noticed. At HP, we did product placements on movies, tv shows, and even with the NBA. Lastly, it is essential to innovate on the pricing model and product promotion.

Direct download: Innovation_Isnt_Just_About_New_Products.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

When I run into fellow innovators, they often want to share their ideas with me and get advice. In many cases, they have an idea that they believe is the pinnacle of ideas. They love their idea to death and hold it close to them. While they may have a great idea, it has no value in this state.

Running Out of Ideas?

Having a mind-blowing idea without any execution is pointless. When I question these “idea hoarders,” I often discover a similarity. They are afraid they only have a limited number of great ideas in their lifetime. Fearing that somebody steals their idea, they don’t want to share it with anyone else.

My Experience

The fundamental idea here is that once you succeed with that great idea, it will never happen again. This thought process is wrong. How many ideas did people like Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and Elon Musk create? They created tens if not hundreds of ideas that have changed our lives. Some people say these people are just special, but I say otherwise. I believe we are all able to innovate multiple game-changing ideas in our lifetimes.

Let me share my own experiences. I started off developing computer-based training for Deltek and Individual Software. At Individual Software, I created a product called Typing Instructor, which was my first award-winning product. Next, I worked at a consulting company started by my mentor Bob Davis. I ended up doing software for Apple on contract and developed some software for the original Macintosh. Next, I did consulting work for HP on the HP 9000, the first commercial computing platform built on a risk processor. The project was a big breakthrough.

Next, I became president at Teraplex, where we made a supercomputer. Then I went to Thumbscan and worked on biometric security technology. Next, I went to Telligent and built a product called Imagine, one of the first web-based online billing platforms.

My Two-Step Process to Successful Ideas

All these products I listed were award-winning products. You may look at me and think I am special, but that is not the case. Firstly, I did not do all of this on my own. I had the right teams in place to aid me. So how was I able to accomplish these feats?

There is a two-step process that I use. The first step is, whatever idea I have, I either execute on it or share it with others. I don’t hoard ideas for myself. Elon Musk is someone who also does this. While he was in the middle of dealing with SpaceX and Tesla, he came up with the idea of a hyperloop, which he shared with the public. As a result, we saw an explosion of hyperloop companies.

It would be best if you wanted to inspire others with your ideas as Elon did. If your motivation for innovation is solely money, then you have the wrong idea. My view is that if you do innovation for the right reason, the rewards and recognition will come.

The second step of the process is that when you’ve given them all away, then you’ve made room for more ideas. Your creativity will fill the vacuum you created by giving away and sharing ideas. I have found that when I give away ideas, its result is similar to exercise. When you work out, your muscles get bigger each time. The more ideas you give away, the better your next idea produced becomes. This practice becomes a never-ending cycle that leads to success.

Direct download: Are_You_afraid_of_Running_Out_Of_Ideas.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

While innovation leaders have the same core behaviors all great leaders have, they carry important additional behaviors. Today’s topic is the 9 leadership behaviors for innovation leaders which was inspired by an article on Forbes by Jack Zenger. Applied to the topic is my own forty years of experience in the innovation space. These behaviors are foundational for innovation leadership success. 

Fundamentals of Any Leadership Activity

Let’s start by discussing two fundamentals of any leadership activity. Every leader is there to bring together the right people to achieve an objective. Typically, a leader brings in people with different skills and abilities like finance and software engineering. When it comes to innovation, you’re bringing in people with different perspectives and thinking styles. It is critical to understand how to build teams to generate the next great idea. The next fundamental comes from a quote I use often, “leaders deserve the teams they get based on the worst actions they allow other team members to get away with”. If you allow members of your team to get away with things like disrespect, or not being a team player, it will infiltrate the rest of your team. The negative result of this will be your fault as a leader. 

9 Leadership Behaviors for Innovation Leaders

For the first behavior, innovation leaders have a vision of the future, not just the goals of the present. You have to look at both the short and long-term goals and convey a vision that gets people excited. Secondly, innovation leaders establish trust in their team. Building trust is paramount when it comes to innovation. This is because of how risky and scary innovation can be. Without trust, a team will not take the risk of putting their ideas out there. Thirdly, innovation leaders challenge the status quo, refusing to rely on what is safe and comfortable. As an innovation leader, you need to try new things instead of sticking to the same processes. For the fourth behavior, innovation leaders are curious. They ask smart, strategic, thoughtful, and targeted questions to gather input. Spending the extra time to craft better questions will lead to uncovering many ideas. They also listen carefully to responses of questions. For the fifth behavior, innovation leaders set aspirational goals or BHAGS (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). In this position, you are expected to deliver breakthrough achievements and ideas. It is important to challenge your team to do better. This is achieved by giving more autonomy. If you are a micromanager, either break that habit or don’t be an innovation leader. 

Behaviors Six through Nine

The sixth innovation leadership behavior is that innovation leaders move quickly. Studies have shown a clear correlation between the speed of execution and the degree of innovation. The 10% fastest leaders were also in the top percentile of innovation effectiveness. The seventh behavior is that innovation leaders crave information. They need input and things that they can let their conscience work on. For me, I am always reading blogs, magazines, books, etc. I find that the things I read help me connect dots to things that I come across at different points in time. The eighth behavior is that innovation leaders excel at teamwork. They put their self-interest to the side and focus on creating collaboration. One challenge I’ve seen within organizations is competition between different groups. This needs to be avoided to have success as an organization. The ninth behavior is that innovation leaders value diversity and inclusion. If everyone on your team acts, thinks, and has the same background as you, you will have the same thinking style. Similar viewpoints lead to the danger of groupthink, where everyone is thinking and doing the same thing. Differing opinions fuel the creative process.

 

Direct download: 9_Leadership_Behaviors_for_Innovation_Leaders.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

What comes to mind when you hear the term innovation burnout? Webster's dictionary says that burnout is the physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive or prolonged stress. Burnout occurs when we feel overwhelmed, drained, and unable to meet that constant demand.

Innovation Burnout

For innovators, it's that constant demand for coming up with new ideas. Being in the innovation game for some forty years, I have often gone through the burnout stage. Burnout can kill your creativity that drives innovation. Over the years, I've learned that there are things you can do to avoid it.

If you face burnout, it is essential to talk to somebody about it, whether your spouse, boss, or friend. If you don't address burnout, it can impact your career, family, and even happiness.

Dealing with Innovation Burnout as a Leader

The first thing you can do to deal with burnout as a leader is to eliminate time wasters. While at HP, when I asked my team to update me on something, they would often lose weeks of productivity preparing to present to me. Included in this time was preparation, meetings, etc., all leading up to a one-hour session with me.

In my organization now, when I ask someone for something, I have a conversation with them that does not need wasteful preparation. This meeting helps my team avoid burnout and keeps them focused on their projects, collaborations, etc.

The second thing leaders need to do to avoid burnout is to establish priorities. In my organization, I am a big believer in utilizing OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). Having set priorities helps people know what order they need to do things in.

Thirdly, leaders need to encourage and, at times, force downtime. By taking breaks, you replenish that energy required for the next project. At CableLabs, we offer unlimited paid time off (PTO) to our employees. If our managers see an individual struggling or just came off a big project, they often force them to take PTO.

Time Out

We also shut down our teams periodically, allowing them to rest and avoid innovation burnout. By disconnecting, I found that my teams come back with better solutions to problems. The fourth thing leaders need to do is allow employees time to disconnect at the office. Employees shouldn't have to be on call at all times. Having stress from their boss constantly messaging them will fuel their burnout.

Leaders also need to set boundaries for their employees. When you are outside of work, you should disconnect from work. While this is not realistic with all jobs, it makes a big difference when implemented. When a leader does these five things, it gives their team time to recharge and avoid innovation burnout.

Avoiding Burnout as an Individual

The first thing you can do is invest in your physical and mental health. You are an innovation athlete expected to perform at a high level. Athletes exercise physically and mentally to stay in shape and get more vital and more innovative. As innovators, it is essential to eat well, exercise, and do things that feed your creativity. This podcast is one of my creative outlets as I do it outside of work.

The second thing you need to do is take ownership of recharging your batteries. Don't wait for your boss to force you to take a vacation. Even as a startup guy, it is essential to take breaks to recharge. If you are struggling, don't be afraid to share your struggles with your leaders. If you are feeling this way, other people in your organization are probably feeling the same.

The last thing you can do as an individual is to find a community of fellow innovators. Within this community, you can find help from innovators who have experienced the same struggles. Check out the Innovators Community here.

Direct download: How_to_Avoid_Innovation_Burnout.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Co-innovation is a common term used in the innovation space. It describes two organizations of any kind that come together to innovate in an area of common interest. I am not only talking about collaboration. Co-innovation seeks to deliver a result such as a product or service. There is a 50-50 contribution with this model, whether that’s money, people, labs, etc.

Co-Innovation Partner: Corning

During my tenure at HP, co-innovation played a vital role in the company. The amount of money it took to accelerate acted as a barrier to innovation. Corning was the co-innovation partner in this case.

The project we did with Corning was around gorilla glass, which we improved and expanded for more uses. Next, we worked on bending glass displays to limit eye strain. We built a frame and figured out how far we could bend the glass before it would break. This project led to the curved displays, which are now commonly used. With the constant acceleration of time and costs, finding partners with the knowledge you don’t readily have is key to fueling innovation.  

3 Tips to Innovating with a Co-Innovation Partner

The first tip is to choose a partner with strong cultural alignment. During this time, you will be working very closely with your co-innovation partner. By alignment, I mean how they manage, oversee, and support their teams and what they expect from them.

It is also essential that both organizations grant similar autonomy to their teams. If one organization gives a lot of independence and the other micromanages, there will be unneeded friction.

Beyond people, you need to look at how the potential partner treats their customers and sells them. At HP, there is a very relaxed selling approach, but not all organizations are like that. You need to think about these things and figure out if you are willing to align with a company that approaches customers differently.

Next, it’s crucial to discover what the mission objective of the organization is. If one organization is all about numbers and the other is about improving lives, there is no alignment. If you don’t have a strong culture alignment with your co-innovation partner, your chance of success is slim to none.

The second tip is to define the area of focus carefully. There needs to be a substantial overlap of focus. Think of this as a Venn diagram, where your business has an area you want to focus on to achieve success. Your partner also has an area of focus where they want to achieve success. The area where these two spheres overlap is the general area of focus for this co-innovation effort.

Both organizations must have a committed interest in the common area and aware of each essential contribution. Co-innovation partners need to bring value and combine them to create a breakthrough.

The third part of tip two, which I can’t stress enough, is the need for mutual dependency. It would be best to find an area of focus where you need each other to solve problems. If one can do it on their own, then it is not a co-innovation effort. 

My Final Advice

Tip number three is to secure proper sponsorship and support. The key here is to create a true partnership built on trust. In the HP and Corning co-innovation effort, I was the executive sponsor and Wendell Weeks, the Chairman and CEO at Corning, was their sponsor. I can tell you that Wendell and I talk regularly and are good friends even to this day. This level of trust and relationship was built from this project and led to better innovation.

Another thing to think about is that patent creation happens during a co-innovation. Intellectual property issues constantly come up when dealing with co-innovation. Keep these legal issues simple. Tackle this with things such as a split license approach or patent sharing.

I’ve done about a dozen successful co-innovation projects to this day. The results of which are products that you are most likely using today. Co-innovation is not a quick and easy process and takes at least a year to get a project up and running. Be patient and keep your eyes open because you never know when a co-innovation opportunity may arise. 

Direct download: 3_Tips_to_Innovating_with_a_Co-Innovation_Partner.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Whitney Snider is the Head of Alexandria's LaunchLabs and the VP of Alexandria Venture Investments. Alexandria Real Estate Equities is a real estate investment trust that provides housing and labs for life science and tech companies. Whitney will share what ARE is doing to fuel innovation through collaborative campuses.

Whitney's Background

Whitney works at Alexandria Real Estate Equities and is involved in venture investment activity growing the life science cluster in New York City. Focused on collaborative campuses for life science, technology, and agTech companies, Alexandria brings companies together. They help grow collaborative ecosystems that fuel better innovation.

The concentration of Alexandria's portfolio is in some of the most innovative cities in the U.S, such as Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and New York. Alexandria started with a vision to create a new kind of real estate company focused on the life science industry. Unique team collaborations contributed to their success as an established leader in the industry.

Collaborative Campuses

Alexandria uses four elements to fuel innovation through its collaborative campuses. The first is vocation, where they're at locations with quality housing, good transportation, etc. The second is innovation, where Alexandria evaluates and searches to find opportunities no one has jumped on yet. Then there is talent, where Alexandria focuses on building a solid pipeline to grow the company. Lastly, there is the capital, which is needed to fuel and fund innovation at all levels.

You need these elements to support your ideas. Alexandria's collaboration campuses range from some of the world's biggest pharma companies to top-tier upstarts. With this diversity, there is a co-mingling of talent and energy that allows for more growth.

Alexandria's venture and investments arm focuses on funding early growth stage companies through a built platform. This venture expands its reach and providing mentorship and capital to cultivate innovation that will improve human health.

Fueling Innovation with LaunchLabs

Alexandria has LaunchLabs sites on many of their major U.S campuses. LaunchLabs looks for up-and-coming companies in their regions. Then, Alexandria identifies which ones could use their lab and mentoring infrastructure to become a new star. Alexandria tailors what they do to the specific region they are operating in. They work with teams, pinpoint their needs, and find the necessary resources to improve them. They work to push companies into the next stage of growth.

Currently, over one hundred of Alexandria's tenants and investments are working on COVID-19 solutions. Due to COVID, they had to adapt their buildings and launch initiatives to enhance their tenants' safety measures. In doing so, Alexandria formed a dedicated COVID-19 advisory board to improve and provide insights on the pandemic. As I've learned, there is no playbook when it comes to things like COVID. Having good processes and knowing when to change the process is vital to succeeding in times of disruptive shock.

The Future of ARE

Currently, there are 10,000 diseases known to humankind, with only 10% having some available treatment. Alexandria believes they are on the edge of a biology revolution. They want to find innovative ways to treat the world's major health issues.

Through COVID-19, it has been amazing to see the development of successful vaccines under high levels of pressure. Please don't underestimate the power of human ingenuity and collaboration when it comes to innovating solutions.

If you want to keep up to date with what Alexandria Real Estate Equities is doing, check out their website here. Check out Whitney's LinkedIn here.

About our Guest: Whitney Snider

At Alexandria, Whitney supports Alexandria's venture investment activity and other strategic initiatives to grow the New York City life science cluster.  She also oversees general management, operations, business development, member recruitment, and programming for Alexandria LaunchLabs in New York City.

Whitney was formerly at an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City and spent two-and-a-half years at Celgene in the Business Development group, where she was a Director. Whitney also was previously a Consultant at Bain & Company in both its Boston and New York offices. Whitney received her Master of Business Administration degree with High Distinction from Harvard Business School and her Doctor of Medicine degree from Tufts University School of Medicine.

Direct download: Dr_Whitney_Snider_on_Collaborative_Campuses_That_Fuel_Innovation.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Cyril Bouquet joins us to discuss "A.L.I.E.N. Thinking: The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas." His book breaks down five keys to creating disruptive ideas called ALIEN Thinking: Attention, Levitation, Imagination, Experimentation, and Navigation.

Cyril's Background

Cyril is a Professor of Innovation and Strategy at IMD. Growing up, both of his parents were professors, but he had no desire to become one. Cyril had to do French military service, and one way to got about this was through civic service. Through his civic service, he fell in love with being a professor.

Cyril Bouquet was a professor in Canada and later came to teach at IMD in Switzerland. He has been an immigrant most of his life, to which he attributes a lot to his passion for innovation. He was raised in tropical islands, lived in France, Canada, and now lives in Switzerland. Through coming to different countries, Cyril has learned that there are many different ways to approaching the same situations.

Better Innovation with ALIEN Thinking

Through Cyril Bouquet's story, it is interesting to see how different parts of the world view things differently. This ties into the new book he co-authored called "A.L.I.E.N THINKING: The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas."

A.L.I.E.N is an acronym for identifying the keys to being highly innovative. It is a metaphor that highlights the need to get rid of our previous assumptions. We have to think like an alien, coming from a different planet, or as I like to say, thinking outside of the box. The book explores the A.L.I.E.N acronym that applies to innovation in any field.

Firstly, the A stands for attention, or how you look at the world. Sometimes we need to zoom in or out and switch our focus. In the book, Cyril emphasizes not being too focused, as it can restrict your ability to come up with new ideas. There is a balance where you need to be engaged and concentrated while being attentive to the right things. If you want to develop an innovative concept, you need more fluidity than often taught. The L stands for levitation or stepping back, separating yourself, and expanding your understanding.

Imagination and the Loss of Creativity

The I stands for imagination composed of playing with ideas and putting things together. A few weeks ago, I did a show that talked about a study N.A.S.A. did on kids and adults using their creativity test. 98% of the kids under the age of 6 passed the test, while only 18% of the adults passed it. Much of the loss of imagination comes from schooling that teaches you to stay on specific paths.

Young kids are less afraid of what others think of them. They don't care what they look like and are okay being themselves. As they become older, they start to care more. As they grow older, conformity starts to creep in. This concept is the same when dealing with innovation creativity. The more we think ahead, the less we innovate as we become afraid to play with ideas.

Experimentation and Navigation

The E in A.L.I.E.N stands for Experimentation. The way we test ideas is often wrong, as we do it to prove we are correct. We use data to rationalize the story we have in mind and fail to learn from it. It is essential to be open to learning and discovery within the experimentation process.

The N stands for navigation or finding ways around things that are blocking innovation progress. Cyril believes this is the hardest part of innovation. It is because people often don't understand your idea. We often overestimate the support for our ideas that we will get.

Often killed immediately, most ideas scare people when they disrupt existing business models. In other words, the success of any innovation is very low. Innovators have to describe their ideas in a way that resonates with people for them to be successful. The language used to describe your innovation is so incredibly important.

If you want to keep up to date with what Cyril Bouquet is doing or grab a copy of the book, check out the website here.

About the Guest: Cyril Bouquet

Cyril Bouquet is a Professor of Innovation and Strategy at IMD, where he orchestrates all kinds of innovation journeys for companies that seek to create the future. He is the co-author of ALIEN THINKING: The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas (PublicAffairs; March 16, 2021).

As a professor at IMD, Cyril is doing research that has gained significant recognition in the field. His Ph.D. dissertation won the Academy of International Business 2004 Richard Farmer Award. Since then, he's published one book "Building Global Mindsets" (2005), and several academic articles in the most prestigious academic journals, including Harvard Business Review, M.I.T. Sloan Management Review, the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of International Business Studies, the Journal of Management, and the Journal of Management Studies.

 

Direct download: Cyril_Bouquet__Better_Innovation_with_ALIEN_Thinking.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Have you noticed that there is a constant cycle of new product releases? Organizational quarterly results often drive these releases. Cars, smartphone devices, home automation products, applications all follow this pattern of release cycles. I believe the fear of being left behind is what draws people to upgrades. They don't want to pull out an old generation of a phone or drive an outdated car.

Fast Release Cycles

In most companies, product managers will make incremental changes while portraying them as revolutionary upgrades. They put minor innovations into releases to get customers to buy the upgraded version nine months later. Companies have made it a standard operating procedure to launch numerous releases of the same product with minor cosmetic changes.

One example of this comes by way of Canon's cameras. Canon has a top-rated camera called the Canon Rebel that came out in 1990. Between 1990 and 2004, Canon released eleven versions of the Rebel. New versions of the product came out in 92', 93', 96', and 99'. The subsequent three releases (2002, 2003, and 2004) went through two releases per year. Here, you can see Canon accelerating releases of the Rebel's next version on an annual basis.

Another example of an accelerating release cycle comes from the Apple iPod. From 2002-2007, there was a new release of the iPod every year. The iPhone updates at a similar rate.

While these are some common examples, these fast release cycles also occur in other industries. They can be attached to fashion, home appliances, automobiles, and various things besides consumer electronics.

Do Faster Release Cycles Hurt Innovation?

Inside organizations, innovators want to create revolutionary products. The pressure to pump up sales comes from shortening release cycles with recorded quarterly profits. Pumping up products becomes a drug that many organizations get hooked on. It conveys a false sense of innovation capability to shareholders and investors.

Organizations that get hung up on fast releases fail to make long-term investments into revolutionary products. They feed into the next release cycle, hurting innovation efforts along the way.

Here is a personal example of a product I was involved in that was negatively affected by fast release cycles. The product was the 2011 HP Touchpad, based on some ongoing tablet work. As the CTO, I pushed for the creation while leading the Palm acquisition's due diligence. After the 2011 HP Touchpad was released, the board of directors discontinued it seven weeks later.

Internal organizational fighting is what led to the ruin of the product. Proponents for traditional product release cycles were firmly anti-new products. They came out in force, preventing dollars from going to new products. They wanted the spending dumped into traditional HP laptop and printer products. These conventional products are low risk but don't add much value to products.

At this time, HP valued good quarterly numbers over long time growth and the transformation of lives. Ultimately, this mindset resulted in the death of many other innovative products.

Advice for Innovation Leaders

As an innovation leader, you need to avoid falling into this trap. Incremental changes to existing products are not innovation but artificial marketing. Following the discontinue of the Touchpad, I announced that I was leaving HP. Dealing with the innovation antibodies in this situation was very frustrating. While this case was extreme, this is often the reality of innovation efforts.

As we have seen, faster release schedules hurt innovation. The law of patience says that innovation takes longer than you think. Trying to force it into a release schedule is incrementalism, not innovation.

The law of resources says that you should not tie your resource commitment to a release or budget cycle. An organization that focuses on accelerating release cycles is not doing proper innovation. As an innovator, it is crucial to fight the urge to be like everyone else.

Direct download: Do_Faster_Release_Cycles_Hurt_Innovation.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Wicked problems are problems that are extremely difficult or impossible to solve. The best example of a wicked problem comes from a project I did with the Department of Education.

Wicked Problems

This project aimed to innovate kindergarten through 12th-grade education in the U.S. We ran a series of workshops in our attempt to transform education. The project turned out to be an extremely frustrating endeavor. Looking back, I realize that this qualified as a wicked problem.

A wicked problem is something that is inconsistent and changes over time. People's opinions on the problem also change over time. The ecosystem of people interested in education, such as policymakers, teachers, unions, and students, have different opinions and think theirs are superior.

A wicked problem also has a sizeable economic burden or risk. If you mess up education, you impact a generation of people and how they compete in the marketplace. Entangled with other problems by nature, wicked problems are complex.

Challenges

Wicked problems can often be overwhelming due to their size and complexity. The complexity of the problems comes from these entanglements. For example, if you look at the poverty problem, it is linked to education and linked to nutrition.

Each wicked problem has a set of organizations that are trying to solve the problem. Some try to solve poverty, education, nutrition, economic disparity, etc., from their perspective. Each group believes their approach is the right one. This process becomes part of the overall challenge in finding innovative solutions to these wicked problems.

Wicked problems are unique, and everyone frames them differently. Other things that challenge the solving of wicked problems are restraints and limited resources. These can come in the form of laws and contracts and limited finances and time limits.

Wicked problems are never entirely solvable. The education problems today are just different than the issues that existed when I was in school.

Strategies and Keys to Success

There are two keys to success when finding innovative solutions to wicked problems. Firstly, there is multi-disciplinary collaboration. There need to be experts in many different fields involved in these efforts. If you want to solve education, you need parents, nutritionists, economists, educators, etc.

The second key to success in this area is to have perseverance. Wicked problems are never done and require continuous improvement.

There are a few strategies to tackling wicked problems. The first strategy is an authoritative strategy, which gives a group or individual the responsibility of making decisions. This process simplifies the complexity problem, but some perspectives of the problem are left out.

The second strategy is a competitive strategy that puts opposing points of view against each other. This way presents many different solutions but creates a confrontational environment that reduces knowledge sharing.

The third strategy is collaborative, which consists of getting people to discuss and share their knowledge. The con here is that a collaborative approach takes a lot of time. Remember, don't think about solving wicked problems. Instead, seek to find the proper intervention that will improve them and continue that cycle of improvement.

Summary

Let's recap the discussion on wicked problems. The first element to innovating wicked problems is to recognize that there is an adaptive vision. It's not about finding a solution but applying that intervention.

The second element is creating an idea-safe environment that brings people together. It is essential to experiment and try new ideas while encouraging social bonding.

The third element is to enable knowledge sharing. People often approach wicked problems with biases that don't help the situation. It's vital to encourage differences and frame them as strengths. One way to do this is to force face-to-face interaction. This type of interaction is the most beneficial for collaboration.

The last element is recognizing that execution is learning. Don't focus on timelines and blueprints when dealing with wicked problems. These things are often changing, so you need to be ready to adapt through each step you take.

 

Direct download: Innovating_Wicked_Problems.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Is creative thinking based on a born ability, or can you learn it like any other skill? Is it nature or nurture? There is research that argues both cases, and I believe you can do both. I would say that we are all born highly creative.

Creative Nature vs. Creative Nurture

Children use problem-solving and their imagination every day. Here's some insight into this creative transition from child to adult. In 1968 George Land tested 1,600 kids to analyze their creative transformation. He focused on three-five-year-old kids and used a creativity test developed by NASA. This test helped identify highly creative engineers, thinkers, and problem solvers. It had proven to be incredibly valuable in NASA's recruiting process.

George Land tested the same kids when they were five, ten, and fifteen years of age. 98% of the five-year-old kids passed the test, 30% of those same kids passed the test at ten years old, and 12% of them passed the test at fifteen years old.

Two hundred eighty thousand adults took the NASA creativity test, and only 2% of them passed. The result of the study was the realization that non-creative behavior is learned as people age.

Unlearning Non-Creative Behavior

Non-creative behaviors fall into two categories: rules and regulations. The educational model that we use today originated in the Industrial Revolution. The purpose of schooling during this time was to produce good workers who followed instructions.

The question then becomes, can you teach creative thinking? I believe you can teach and learn creative thinking. However, you cannot use traditional learning methods like lecturing, reading, testing, memorization, etc. There are many "creative thinking" courses out there that I would call traditional such as one-day courses, talking head on a YouTube video, or a "guru" speaking on stage.

When it comes to creative learning skills, you first must unlearn by breaking old habits and patterns. Intensify the breaking of old habits by creating new muscle memory. Getting out of the comfort zone is also a big part of this, and it starts with humility. People often come into my workshops with an ego problem stemming from prior successes. Ego is one of the most significant barriers that leaders have when trying to rediscover their creative thinking. Overall, it's an unlearning process, not a learning process.

Unlocking Creative Potential

You don't become a Marine by reading a book. Instead, you go through intense boot camp experiences. Likewise, you don't learn to be creative. You become creative from intense experiences. Becoming creative entails various challenges and tests that put you under stress. Remember the military model and how you can apply it to teaching and learning creative thinking skills.

You should also hang out with creative people that have experience because it creates community. In the Innovation Boot Camp course, we give those who complete the course a callsign— which signifies the experience they went through and achieved. The callsign is a symbol to wear. When we run into someone who has taken the course, we share that common experience of creating community.

The Innovation Boot Camp is a great way to unlearn bad behavior stemming from rules, regulations, and assumptions. The boot camp puts every student into a very intense experience. We start with a blank sheet of paper on Monday and a finished product to pitch on Friday.

Direct download: Is_Creative_Thinking_Based_on_Nature_or_Nurture.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

As innovators, we should always ask ourselves what the unintended consequences of our inventions will be. Some unintentional things can be positive, but some can be very negative. Let's look at a list of past innovations that I would uninvent if I could.

The Invention of Robocalls

The first invention that I would like to uninvent is robocalls. These calls include anything from selling automobile maintenance contracts to various telemarketing campaigns. In our office, our employees get eight to twelve robocalls every day.

Robocalling is the result of telephone calls going digital and the creation of voice over IP. This technology opened up the door for the invention of robocalling. The inventors of voice-over IP did not think their invention would be this widely misused. Misuse of the technology has spread more widely as regulators haven't been able to keep up with it.

The Atomic Bomb, Speed Cameras, and Social Media

The second invention I would uninvent is the atomic bomb. Atomic energy has been very beneficial to society. The creation of the atomic bomb is an excellent example of the harmful use of good innovation. If I could, I'd keep using atomic sciences for medicine and energy but get rid of the bomb.

The next thing I would uninvent is speed cameras that clock your vehicle's speed and send you tickets. These have some positive uses, such as license plate tolls that mail a bill to your address and improved road safety.

The bad thing about the speed camera technology is that many third-party companies install cameras and split the toll money with the municipalities. With a third-party in the picture, it opens the door for many unethical practices for these companies.

The fourth technology I would uninvent is social media. I believe social media creates an amplification effect of similarities. Social media algorithms misuse and manipulate data and information and place things in your feed. I prefer to spend my time on LinkedIn and the Innovators Community, which are more professional and don't artificially put stuff in your feed.

Tobacco, Plastic, and other Chemical Weaponry

Number five on my list is tobacco, a hard one for me as the family on my grandmother's side were tobacco farmers in Kentucky. I remember helping with the tobacco harvest in the summers as a kid. The fundamental role of tobacco is damaging as it is addictive and bad for one's health. My mom was a heavy smoker, so I would love to get rid of tobacco if I could.

The sixth invention I would love to get rid of is chemical weaponry, which started with mustard gas before WW1. Many more dangerous weapons came about because of this invention. Now the world is forced to form treaties to deter abuses of these technologies.

The next thing I would love to get rid of is plastic. Plastic has had many positive uses, especially in healthcare. The early versions of plastic that never decompose are the real problems. Here's an example of an invention with unintended consequences. Innovators were encouraged to solve the problem and resulted in bio-degradable products that are very useful.

In the past, I've shared our work with Lakeside Fish Farm in Rwanda, the largest fish farm in the country. Rwanda has a stringent no-plastic policy. Packaging fish without plastic has proved a challenging task. As a result, there has been a lot of work done on creating alternative packaging that reduces the need for plastic.

Computer Viruses and Chemical Ingredients

Another unintended consequence I wish I could erase is the invention of computer viruses and malware. Many of you may not know that I was doing work around computer viruses and had some engagement with Dr. Fred Cohen in my early days. My work on computer viruses focused on cutting down illegal software copying. The intentions were good, but over time, they led to malware and other dangerous things.

The next on my list is the overuse of chemicals in foods. I've gotten into the habit of reading ingredient lists on the foods I eat and liquids I drink. When looking at the ingredients of food and drink, many chemicals' inclusions solely benefit the producer. These chemicals make foods last longer, cost less to produce, etc. One example is high-fructose corn syrup, a common replacement of sugar that is very unhealthy.

What Invention Would You Like to Uninvent?

For the tenth and final invention, I want the listeners to think of something they want to uninvent and add to the comments.

Direct download: 10_Inventions_I_Would_Uninvent.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

We often wonder if people will accept our ideas or criticize them. This fear can halt us from utilizing our creative expression, which ultimately affects how we innovate. When our creativity is encouraged, it can have a positive impact.

Creative Expression

When coming up with new ideas, early encouragement gives you the motivation to repeat them. In my seventh-grade art class, my teacher was showing us how to cut linoleum blocks. Being a boy scout, this was a natural thing for me, and I enjoyed experimenting with it. With the knife and the block, I constructed a dragon’s head that I used for stamping. The teacher liked the dragon head I created and showcased my work to the entire class.

Unknown to me, she submitted one of my prints to a local art contest, and I placed towards the top of the competition. I still have that linoleum block on my bookshelf, and it continually reminds me of that first level of encouragement I received. What she did can be applied to putting innovative ideas out there.

The Power of Encouragement

The question of today is how to encourage creative expression. Showing people that linoleum block I made was risky, as students could have laughed at it. However, I am glad my teacher showcased it because it encouraged me in a way that I didn’t think it could. I would love to go back to jr. high and thank my teacher for her encouragement, but unfortunately, I cannot. I can, however, pass on what she did for me by paying it forward to others.

When you see someone being highly creative and coming up with ideas, be encouraging to them. It would help if you were an encourager of others as it holds a lot of value. People don’t often realize that words go a long way. However, keep in mind that you should refrain from false platitudes as they decrease the value of your encouragement.

When giving an encouraging word, remember to explain why you are giving this encouragement. Ask questions such as how they came up with the idea. Please provide feedback on how they can do it better but do so in a positive way. Don’t be afraid to spread awareness about other people’s ideas as well. 

Imposter Syndrome

While encouraging creative expression is essential, being able to receive it also holds importance properly. Many people suffer from imposter syndrome, which makes it hard for them to receive encouragement. People with this syndrome are afraid of taking any credit for their successes. These people feel as if they just got lucky and don’t deserve any of their accomplishments. In this occurrence, our irrational mind tries to credit something else with our success.

I am a big sufferer of imposter syndrome and gave a TEDx talk on the syndrome years back. The experience is where I draw my knowledge on this topic. When people encourage your creative expression, it is crucial to avoid this pitfall. It would be best if you assumed people have positive intent when encouraging you. Ask why they responded the way they did about your ideas and use it as a learning experience. 

Conclusion

At this point in my career, I am not the one coming up with many ideas. I build teams and encourage those teams to come up with ideas that turn into innovations. My role is attracting the right talent, creating a solid funding base, protecting from outside antibodies, and being an encourager to my team.

You may think of me as an extroverted person. I’ve done speeches, hundreds if not thousands of YouTube videos, a radio show, this podcast, etc. The reality is that I am an introvert and am happy being a homebody. I have to work extra hard to be the encourager to those doing interesting work. Encouraging people online tends to be a lot easier but can lead to comparison, which leads to discouragement.

We discussed not letting social media be your validation on a recent show. My friend Ernie, who worked with me at HP, is a great photographer. He spends a lot of time travelling and taking extraordinary photos. I follow him on Instagram, where I post photos that I take as well. When Ernie likes my photos, it is a form of encouragement to me.

Encouragement is a learning opportunity. Remember that you should not expect anything in return for giving out encouragement. Focus on genuine encouragement because it holds meaning. I challenge you to take the next step and encourage people’s creative expressions wherever you find yourself today. 

Direct download: Why_Creative_Expression_is_Important.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

We all struggle with being creative from time to time. We may feel like we have lost something, and nothing seems to spark that creative flow. What is killing your creativity? Your ego is the biggest killer of creativity. The struggle tends to become an issue for people in the middle and later years of their career.

The Biggest Creativity Killer

When you are called upon to be highly innovative and creative, the fear of failure can often step in and stump you. You might subconsciously have a bias towards making yourself look good and feel good. This bias feeds your ego and vanity and turns into a vicious cycle. I have seen many people get caught in this cycle and eventually get stuck in a rut.

If you look at highly innovative individuals, they tend to be most prolific in their early thirties. This cycle happened to breakthrough artists and inventors such as Ansel Adams, Thomas Edison, Nicola Tesla, and many more.

As you achieve success, it becomes more challenging and more problematic as it feeds the ego. Naturally, you will act in ways that fit into how you want to be perceived by others, resulting in a creativity killer. For example, if you are a top innovator, you will fall into the trap of keeping that specific image or brand. When this happens, your lifestyle, identity, social status, reputation, etc., will impact the creative risks you are willing to take.

My Experiences

You may wonder how I came across all this knowledge of the topic. The knowledge I have comes from what I experienced in my own life. I had great success in the innovation space early on in my career.

In my mid to late twenties, I won two best product of the year awards two years in a row. Three times I led teams that won Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Teams” awards, I did numerous products, had a radio show, and now a podcast. Looking back at how I used to be versus how I am now, I realize I am completely different. I now have a brand, a reputation, accolades, and an ego. I recognize that I have let that get in the way of things and hold me back in the past.

Everyone wants people to like them and to keep giving them positive feedback. The more we build up those accolades, the fewer risks we start to take, opening up room for a killer of creativity. To achieve creative success, you need to be aware of your vanity and let go of your ego. Disconnecting your ego from creativity enables you to take risks, which opens up the opportunity for outside success.

Taking risks is essential for innovation success. Without it, you are not going to make progress. Taking risks open up previously unconsidered areas. When you stop caring about what people perceive to be true about you; then you will see success. While this concept is simple, it is not an easy thing to do.

Keeping Your Ego at Bay

The most significant way to keep your ego at bay is to stop comparing yourself to others. Each of us is on a different creative journey. The path I’m on is not the path you should be on, as no two paths are the same. If you keep comparing yourself to others, you are feeding that ego and will end up disappointed.

In my opinion, social media hurts a lot in this area, primarily through how it impacts your ability to be creative. Social media is not reality, and often give us the idea that we are not as good as others. Don’t try to be somebody else, rather be the best version of yourself. Don’t shy away from your natural gifts and talents because you will get into a state of self-doubt if you do. Once this happens, you lose your ability to be creative and innovative.

We are currently in a transition from the information and knowledge economy to the creative and innovation economy. Allowing room for a creativity killer will halt your creative potential. You need to find ways to continually nurture your creativity and keep that ego at bay, to be successful going forward.

Direct download: What_is_the_Biggest_Killer_of_Creativity.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

The Importance of Utilizing Tools

I really enjoy reading as well as listening to podcasts and audible books. With all the information I come across, I have to be able to capture, organize, and recall it to properly utilize it. I’m currently working on a new book as well as some disruptive innovation courses and workshops. The real challenge for me is finding a single tool that solves the issues stated. Over the last six months, I challenged myself to find the right tools and combine them in a way that I can capture the input, organize it, and make it easy to retrieve. The criteria I emphasized was usability on a mobile phone and desktop. I typically carry an Android, iPhone, and laptop on me, as well as an iPad Pro. I need tools that can collect from books, podcasts, websites, magazines, and emails with minimal manual steps. The tools also need to adapt as the content focus shifts. As of late, I have been focused on ethical innovation, but sometimes shift to discussing the digital divide and other things. I also need to be able to find information easily without remembering exact wording. Lastly, I need tools that create the serendipity effect.

 

The Tools I Use for Innovation

The first tool I have used for innovation is the Moleskine notebook, which I have thousands of. Recently I have shifted to the reMarkable 2 tablet. Using the tablet is just like writing on paper but better. There is a pen for writing and erasing, and it stores and exports all my information to my mobile phone and desktop. I actually wrote out the entire script for today’s show on my tablet. On top of my writing, I read a lot of information from RSS news feeds. I am a big user of Feedly, primarily for access to its AI engine. It is very trainable and interprets sentences to see what concepts are being talked about. I scan through 500-600 articles a day and save different feeds that I like to the Pocket app. The Pocket app is a collection of things that you save to read at a later time. Another tool I obtain information from is through my Kindle Oasis. In the Kindle, I can highlight things I like, and they are automatically fed into my workflow for future inspiration. Podcasts are also things that I capture content from. I use an app called Airr, which allows you to capture a podcast snippet that interests you with one touch of the screen. Otter.ai is another tool I am experimenting with to help me capture ideation sessions.

 

Organization/Combination, and Serendipity Tools

One tool that I found recently was Readwise, which collects everything from my Pocket, podcasts, Kindle, hardcover books, articles, and combines it. Readwise also points out things in your collection that you might not have picked up, triggering serendipity. While Readwise is great, it only prepares information for what I am ultimately looking for. I found an impressive tool called Roam Research, which takes everything from Readwise and organizes it, connecting words and concepts for you. Roam Research runs very well on mobile phones, and I use it for show content, books, articles, etc. I also use the software for my project work and documenting upcoming content for the show. 

 

Direct download: 5_Tools_I_Use_For_Innovation_and_Creativity.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Sam Liang is one of the key innovators behind the scenes in Silicon Valley. He is one of the founders of Google's location services and on the Google Blue Dot patent. Sam is the co-founder and CEO of Otter.ai, which specializes in live transcription services.

Sam Liang's Background

Same earned his Ph.D. at Stanford in hopes of becoming a professor. While in school, he met many smart people working on startups, which influenced him to go that route. He went on to work at Cisco, worked on a startup, and then joined Google for four years.

While at Google, Sam and his team created the Blue Dot and started the Google location server project, which became location services. While we use these services daily, we often don't think of the behind the scenes work that goes into them. When the technology first started coming out, everyone was so amazed by it. Now the market has matured to the point where it is an intrinsic part of daily life.

While Google maps have gone through this process, AI and speech recognition is currently going through it. Even though voice recognition and automatic transcription systems have advanced a lot, there is still more to come.

The Birth of Otter.ai

When using Alexa or Siri, you ask a question or give a command, often taking little time. When using Zoom or similar platforms, there are multiple speakers engaged in a potentially more extended interaction. People often have different accents, speaking styles, and background noises. The technology doesn't handle complicated conversations effectively.

In 2010, we started transcribing the Killer Innovations show using an offshore transcribing service. Even though a human was transcribing it, they couldn't get it right. Human involved transcribing required a lot of effort to go back and clean up the mistakes on my team's part. After a while, we stopped using this service for the show.

For Sam, he realized this was a problem when he always forgot things from meetings. Eventually, he brought a team together to find a solution to this problem. He surveyed the top transcribing technologies of the day and was disappointed by their low quality.  The survey opened up an opportunity for his team to create something better.

Transcribing your Brainstorm

I am a customer of Otter.ai and am impressed with the transcription accuracy no matter the environment. I use it while in my studio as well as on my phone for capturing notes. Otter offers a system that adapts to people's natural speaking styles automatically. It works in the background no matter how many people are speaking or the speed of their words. Many people use Otter when they are in restaurants, driving a car, or walking their dog. Otter.ai has created a new feature that allows the software to hook up to Zoom when used automatically.

When using the software, you can highlight important things that were said to remember them. For those wanting to skip meetings but still get the information, Otter offers that chance as well. The software also identifies the speakers at the end of the session to connect them with what was said. Otter has released a product that allows people to experience it for free. There are also pro and business versions of Otter for those interested in regular usage.

Moving forward

From what I've observed, people these days are hesitant when being recorded. As being recorded becomes more common, I believe the issue of concern will go away. I predict that it will get to the point where it will be rare not transcribing every meeting. The future of work is going to be through virtual meeting systems such as Zoom.

Currently, Otter is working on a lot of things both on the technology and product side. Different words, names, terminologies, and acronyms are a big focus at the moment. On top of that, they are working on better understanding conversations and their context.

About our Guest: Sam Liang

Sam Liang is the CEO and Founder of Otter.ai, an AI-powered live transcription and collaboration app. Before founding Otter.ai, Sam became CEO and Founder of Alohar Mobile in Palo Alto, which Autonavi and Alibaba acquired in 2013. Before that, Sam led the location platform team at Google on the patent for the "blue dot" in Google Maps. Sam has a Ph.D. from Stanford in Electrical Engineering and studied under Professor David Cheriton (first investor in Google and VMware).

 

Direct download: Transcribing_Your_Brainstorm_with_Otter_ai__Interview_with_Sam_Liang.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

We will pick up from the previous show's topic, "What is Innovation?" and talk about innovation types. There are three types that I use. These are institutional innovation, social innovation, and technological innovation.

Type of Innovation: Institutional

Institutional innovation is the type that is most commonly overlooked by organizations. Institutional innovation applies to organizations, teams, companies, industries, and governments. This type can have several applications to different industries and co-innovation opportunities within those industries.

Based on how an institution operates and covers things (like policies, procedures, structures etc.), institutional innovation tends to get overlooked because it encompasses day-to-day things that we usually take for granted.

Improving institutional innovation can have a significant impact on an organization. There are a few different ways to do it when it comes to funding institutional/organizational innovation. Firstly, you can do it through entrepreneurship, consisting of going out and finding investors or customers to provide funding. Another way is to be an intrapreneur, coming up with ideas and securing funding from your organization. These are the two funding models within institutional innovation that have the potential to make a significant impact.

Social Innovation

Driven by social priorities, social innovation has a positive social impact. Employment, quality of life, equality, or environmental efforts like providing clean water, are only some of the many goals. It is the innovator's passion that often drives these social innovations.

Funding can come from social impact investments. These investments don't seek a return on their investments. Instead, they seek to further a cause wherein they share a similar passion. Finding those who are passionate about the same thing is an effective way to fund this type of innovation.

Another way to fund is through angel investors who want a smaller return than usual due to their passion for the cause. Grants from government agencies, philanthropists, World Bank, etc., can also be a great way to fund social innovations. When working with social innovation, you have to be creative with fundraising efforts to achieve your financial goals.

Technological Innovation

The most commonly thought of the type of innovation is technological innovation. It comes in the form of new technology such as phones, tablets, software, etc. This type can also be in the form of scientific know-how, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing processes, etc.

In many cases, technological innovation comes from a unique combination of background or expertise that creates something new. The technology doesn't have to be invented from the ground up but requires the dots to be connected.

The funding opportunities for technological innovation are many. First, there are angel investors such as friends and family that invest in you. Next, there are venture capitalists that invest in companies as a profession. These two types of investors fall into the equity category, as you sell a percentage of your company to them to receive their investment.

Another option is corporate venture capitalists, which invest in areas of interest that could impact their corporate entities. There is also customer funding, where a customer interested in buying the product invests early on in it. I made many investments like this while I was at HP and got priority access to a lot of products. Lastly, there are grants such as Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from the government.

3 Elements

When it comes to ideas, it can be hard to make them sound interesting to investors. There are three elements I teach to those wanting to pitch their ideas. Firstly, there is the "what," which should be a description of the idea. The next element is the "who," or who the innovation is for, and who the innovation impacts. There can be multiple "whos" when it comes to ideas. It could be a customer, a government, etc. The third area is "why," or why the investor should care about your idea. I get pitched hundreds of times a month with new ideas. The one area that most innovators do not think about is the "why." You need to think about all three of these elements to pitch ideas and gain funding.

 

Direct download: 3_Types_of_Innovation_-_Institutional_-_Social_-_Technological.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

A term often abused through advertising, marketing, business meetings, innovation means to introduce something new. A more expansive definition of innovation is — the result of a multi-stage process whereby organizations, teams, and individuals take an idea and transform it to make an improved product, service, or process to compete in the marketplace.

Definition of Innovation

Ideas made real— that is my definition of innovation. Without execution, ideas are just hobbies, not innovation. A spark that turns into an actual product, service, or capability, innovation is about making life better.

Grouping innovation can be done in many different ways, starting with the uses/context of innovations. It can also be grouped by departments of organizations such as marketing, IT, sales, R&D, etc. Another way to categorize it is by looking at who is implementing the innovation. There are thousands of different ways to organize innovations.

I’ve spent forty years of my career in the innovation game, and there are always new academic papers trying to categorize it. We will boil it down to the uses of innovation and the impact of design to give you a simple mental picture.

The Uses of Innovation

The uses of innovation break down into a couple of different groups. Firstly, institutional innovation deals with organizations focused on changing their policies, processes, business models, regulations, etc.

The second area is technological innovation: the scientific know-how, expertise, chemistries, and anything that involves technology. The last area is social innovation, which focuses on improving how we respond to social needs in an organization, affecting employment, ecology, social purposes, and quality of life.

The Impacts of Innovation

The impacts of innovation fall into three categories. Firstly, incremental innovation is a series of improvements made to a company’s products or services. These are typically low-cost and low-risk innovations but can have a significant impact if done correctly.

Next, there are breakthrough innovations, which create new markets and value networks, and disrupt established markets. These get the attention of the marketplace and set a new player as the market leader.

Thirdly, there are disruptive or killer innovations, which are technologies or any form of innovation that significantly affects the way a market or industry functions, typically involving some element of technology, science, or materials that people build on top of. These are things that significantly alter what you or your competitors will be using going forward.

An example of a killer innovation would be the invention of silicon microprocessors. People have created software, browsers, and AI on top of these processors, but the processors themselves are the killer innovations. To qualify as a disruptive or a killer innovation, you have to create a barrier of entry.

Your competitive success is somewhat based on the fact that you have created a foundational position difficult for others to compete. When it comes to innovation impacts, you will most often see incremental innovation. Breakthroughs are much less frequent, riskier, and have a higher investment level but yield a higher reward. For most of us, it is more useful to build on top of these breakthrough innovations and take advantage of what they offer.

The Relation of Innovation Uses and Impact

I think about the relation of innovation uses and impact in a 3x3 format of what I call the “innovation matrix.” The innovation matrix breaks it down horizontally into social innovation, institutional innovation, and technological innovation. Going vertically on the left-hand side, I label it as an incremental, breakthrough, and disruptive/killer innovation. Now, to use this matrix, take your pipeline of innovations and place them in the grid, you think they fit in. This may challenge you to think differently when it comes to making innovation investments.

Another way to use the matrix is by taking a new idea, placing it into the matrix, and narrowing down the impacts and uses it has. I have also used this innovation matrix to break down investment spend on each of the areas. The innovation matrix helps put the uses and impacts of innovation into context. I use the innovation matrix for my organization and coaching or mentoring CEOs and CTOs.

 

Direct download: What_is_Innovation.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Consumer Electronics Show 2021 (CES) will be held virtually due to COVID-19. Despite this change, the show will be available virtually and in seventeen different languages. On top of that, if you are registered, you get thirty days to view all of the content available. Karen Chupka, the Executive Vice President of CES will be joining us to discuss what to look forward to at CES 2021. 

Physical to Virtual

Transitioning from a physical show that’s been in Las Vegas since 1978 to a virtual show has been interesting, to say the least. The decision to go digital was made in July 2020 after the pandemic started to pick up. Over a year, there has been a ton of innovation going on, so CES 2021 had to go on. Everybody who is in the online collaboration space has seen such an explosion in usage due to COVID. These collaboration tools are now being used for things like doctor’s appointments, family visits, schooling, etc. A year ago, nobody would have thought this would be a reality. Consumers were able to adopt all of these virtual technologies a lot faster than they would have without the pandemic. 

CES 2021 Trends

The traditional technologies that are always at CES will still be there this year. As far as new trends, there have been a lot of digital health advancements in the area of wearable technologies that help people better monitor themselves. On top of that, there is a lot of new diagnostics equipment that will help doctors have more effective tele-visits. Advancements in driverless technologies and AI technologies have been popping up as well as desktops, laptops, television, and gaming technologies. In my organization Cable Labs, we went to working from home in March and recently announced that all of our staff will be doing so until May. With innovation being done virtually, the productivity and R&D has increased. That being said, there is a loss in the area of collaboration, and it is harder to fix certain problems virtually. Even with the increase in technology, there is a decrease in group creativity. Karen believes the trend of improving the work from home environment will continue, but we need to get back to working in-person to achieve the best results.

Features of the Virtual Show

With the show being held virtually this year, a lot of people that normally couldn’t make it now can. Over the years, CES has wanted to hold the show digitally and physically, so now they will be better prepared for that. As a new virtual feature, CES 2021 offers the ability to opt in to an attendee directory so people can communicate back and forth with others at the show. CES is partnering with Microsoft to power the show this year and create the best possible experience. They created product showcases for exhibitors to show off their products in various capacities. About 1,800 companies are attending the show and about 100 different conference sessions will be going on during the show and covering many different topics. This year, there will be a live anchor desk for two days broadcasting product announcements, hot topics, and interviews with different executives. On top of that, the digital platform will be available for thirty days to those who are registered, offering opportunities to see more content from the show. Closed captioning will also be available in seventeen different languages. 

About Our Guest: Karen Chupka

Karen Chupka is executive vice president, CES for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). She oversees the sales, marketing, conferences, operations and management of CTA’s events including its annual tradeshow, CES. Under Chupka’s leadership, CES has been named as the largest annual North American tradeshow by Tradeshow Executive Magazine and Tradeshow Week since 2001. Chupka has been with CTA for 30 years and has held numerous roles within the organization including vice president of business development, director of industry relations and education, and director of marketing for CES.

Direct download: CES_2021_-_A_Virtual_Innovation.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Building a library of inspiration in your innovation studio is what ensures you have a ready source of ideas. This can come in the form of a collection of innovation books. I am a visual learner, so reading books is where I often find my inspiration. I am going to walk you through some important books I have and explain why I value them. The first book is “Frank Lloyd Wright: A Visual Encyclopedia”. I grew up in Chicago where Frank Lloyd Wright started and was very popular. Personally, this book reminds me to create my own style. This is where Frank Lloyd Wright separated himself from others. He created his own style and put a different spin on the design of his buildings. The next book is called “A Pattern Language” by Christopher Alexander, a professor at UC Berkeley. This book breaks down patterns that are found through building houses, cities, and various types of other buildings. This book was used by the developers of the original Sims games. While you can’t take what is in this book and apply it directly to a product or service, the book does teach an important idea. You can generate a certain feeling or experience through the patterns and designs that you use.

 

The third innovation book is “Designing Interactions” by Bill Moggridge which focuses on designing experiences. The book offers important insights into the origins of Google and others. The next book is “The Universal Principles of Design” by William Lidwell. This book touches on what to do with design, where problems can occur, and how to avoid them. The fifth book is “Thinker Toys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques” by Michael Michalko. In my opinion, this is a book that every innovator should have. The book brings together all of the tools, approaches, ways to brainstorm, uses of SCAMPER, etc., that are very useful for innovators. Pretty much anything that Michael puts out, I buy. Another book is “Six Thinking Hats” by Dr. Edward de Bono”. I got introduced to the innovation/creativity space by watching a TV show he put out on PBS back when I was a kid. Over six or seven shows, Dr. de Bono taught about unleashing your creativity, which sparked something inside of me. The book is a great reminder to change your perspective and keep a fresh mind and is a great piece to have in your library of inspiration.

Fun Books I Keep

Now I’m going to share with you some fun books I keep that make me laugh. The first one is “The World’s Worst Inventions: The Craziest Gadgets and Machines Ever Made” by Jack Watkins. This book discusses some inventions that have been deemed stupid by many. Ironically, some of these inventions have gone on to be successful after this book was published. The next book is “Fail Harder: Ridiculous Illustrations of Epic Fails” by Failblog.org Community. This book humorously discusses human failings and reminds us of our human nature. 

 

Direct download: Innovation_Books_-_My_Library_of_Inspiration.mp3
Category:Past Shows -- posted at: 12:00am PDT