clair075

I'm a bit mystified this morning, mystified by the fact that so many people I interact with are constantly talking about innovation, and how often they are surprised by it or overtaken by events.  The word innovation seems to be on everyone's lips, is constantly in the news, but somehow the concepts behind these words never go beyond the surface.  Why is it that smart people who are constantly speaking about innovation and hearing about innovation are so often overtaken by innovation? I'm of the opinion that many people in the business world have sacrificed a significant portion of the proactive selves in order to operate in as efficient a manner as possible.  Years, no decades of work on right-sizing, outsourcing, Lean, Six Sigma and a host of other solutions has made modern business exceptionally efficient, and exceptionally reactive.  We no longer seem to possess the entrepreneurial spirit, risking even a little bit to gain even more.  Instead many people see...

I've used the example of Tower Records before - a behemoth astride the recording industry - brought low very quickly by a sudden shift in music distribution. The shift from physical media to digital media, and the shift from albums to songs as the distribution format made Tower suddenly obsolete. Similarly, Blockbuster experienced almost the exact same disruption. Using a business model based on real estate and limited selection of the top hits, Blockbuster was wiped out by a company with few tangible assets, no retail presence and an exceptionally broad catalog - Netflix. What these two examples have in common is a rapid, sudden change brought about by innovation. In one case the innovation was in media, and in the other case the innovation was in business models and channels. What we ought to be paying attention to, however, is the amount of rapid change that's occurring everywhere - in every industry, in every function and every geography. The fact of the matter is...

OK, here comes the pitch.  I'm an innovation consultant.  I've been working in the innovation space for over 12 years.  I have a somewhat (cough) vested interest in writing a blog post about why you should work with an innovation consultant.  Of course if you happen to select this particular consultant you'll be exceptionally successful, but there are some other perfectly acceptable consultants out there.  But I digress. The real purpose of this blog is to answer the question:  why should I work with an innovation consultant?  There are more answers than I'll have time for in this post, but rest assured I'm always happy to discuss if you have questions. Your team needs new tools and skills If your team has been tasked with creating new, innovative products or services, take a few days and introduce or build new skills and tools.  Trying to innovate with the existing tools and processes will only result in incremental change at best and a really fr...

I had the opportunity recently to lead some training workshops with a midwestern company that is a leader in its field, but recognized it needed to do more to stay ahead of the competition.  Frankly, sometimes leading innovation training feels like going through the motions - we innovators talk about innovation methods and tools, and the attendees listen politely then go back and do whatever it is they do day to day, and not much innovation happens.  I'll admit that I've led some sessions and workshops where I am sure that very little follow through occurred.  But that wasn't the case this time. Not long after the workshops were complete I got a call from the executive sponsor, who was so excited about the results and the work his teams were doing on innovation.  He felt they had more, and better ideas than they would have without the sessions, and called to say thanks.  It's rewarding when a client team really engages, and it made me think about what factors si...