Add 2+2 Easy, right? You did it in your head. Now add 25+47. Still easy? How about 174713414+104571? Math teachers urge their students to “show their work” even when the students can find the answer in their head. They do this so that the student can show that the hidden process in their head and…
Can elephants dance? What do solopreneurs have that your company can’t compete with? Why are Youtube stars coming up with million dollar launches for products that would normally emerge from your design department? In this era of unprecedented change, it feels like all incumbents, big and small, are vulnerable to two college dropouts in a…
Unsolicited ideas are unsolicited Innovation means doing something different. Different from what was done before. Different from what you were asked for. Different from your job description. Imagine you are sitting at your desk, feeling comfortable. Somebody walks in and turns the thermostat up a degree. Or down a degree. Different from the current temperature.…
“Some years ago the head of the Industrial Engineering Department of Yale University said, ‘If I had only one hour to solve a problem, I would spend up to two-thirds of that hour in attempting to define what the problem is.’” From the 1966 book titled “The Manufacturing Man and His Job” by Robert E.…
An effective brainstorming team has what Harvard Business Review calls “cognitive diversity,” which they define as “differences in perspective or information processing styles.” This diversity in thinking, more than gender, ethnicity and age diversity, was found to contribute to better problem solving in teams. The unsurprising conclusion is that more heads are better than one…
I asked for ideas, but… So you’ve encouraged your staff to come up with innovative ideas. You hate those ideas. Now what? In a previous post I wrote about what it’s like to have your boss get all excited about innovation and how to muster your own excitement. This looks at it from the boss’…
Big appetite As your team’s innovation abilities develop, your appetite for risk will likely increase, but the total amount of risk being undertaken needs to be understood at all times. Carefully chosen innovations will provide average returns to the upside. It’s like gambling, but in this case you are the house. They say the house…
Delegation is not abdication A common refrain in innovation literature is that failure should be expected, celebrated and even rewarded. How, then, can good work be distinguished from bad? How can team members making strong contributions be identified Delegation is not abdication. Set limits on the consequences of experimentation that those on your team can…
David Burkus is an author, keynote speaker and associate professor of leadership and innovation at Oral Roberts University. I recently listened to the audio version of his book “The Myths of Creativity”. Here are some of my key take aways. Breed myth We are all capable of creativity. This is not ability limited to a…
Lee-Anne McAlear is Program Director at The Centre of Excellence in Innovation Management at Schulich School of Business at York University. In her presentation at IdeaCity 2017, she made a compelling case for innovation in the workplace. High priority, low satisfaction McAlear quotes the McKinsey Global Innovation Survey which reveals that while 84% of leaders…