As innovation emerges as a new organizational priority and the field is being developed, what guidepost messages should we leave today to inspire those working in the future to develop better tools, methods and programs? Some 30 years ago, W. Edwards Deming wrote “Out of the Crisis” which established many of the basic principles for […]
The Scientific Method: What Goes Around Comes Around
A sustainably innovative organization constantly learns and is comfortable with uncertainty. This type of organization seeks to remove uncertainty through experimentation that is designed to improve knowledge through two key actions: comparison of hypothesis with results and analysis of any differences between them. Formulating a meaningful hypothesis on any unknown, from customer and market expectations […]
Mind the Gap(s): Become More Innovative as You Innovate
There’s a lot of discussion about what makes a more innovative organization. You’ve seen some of it within our articles and they tend to include some significant cultural attributes. Cultural changes can be a long involved process and you may not be ready to embark on a complete corporate overhaul before attempting to get some […]
We Aren’t Moving Forward: Where Is Sun Tzu When We Need Him?
The strategic imperative has been communicated and a team is formed but progress is slow to non-existent. What’s the matter? Everyone inside and outside the team agrees something must be done, so why is it starting to feel like the problem is too big for us? It seems like personal agendas are getting in the way. It’s not clear […]
Taking Innovation Initiatives a Step Further
Today’s post touches on one of the more popular startup education approaches, Lean LaunchPad, which has proven effective in a wide range of contexts across the country (i.e., universities, large and small business development settings, the NSF I-Corps program), and for good reason. Lean LaunchPad presents a systematic process for customer discovery and product-market fit. […]