Innovation Fortune Style
11/10/2005
Gotta love the tag line of FORTUNE's Innovation Forum - Innovation is Everyone's Business.
Successful companies have made innovation a strategic priority. But what exactly is innovation? Is innovation creativity? In business, can we say innovation begins with creativity that then leads to ideas for new products and services that .. here's the key .. are marketable?
Andrew J. Parsons, McKinsey&Company, encourages business to stimulate a restless culture. I would call it a culture built on curiosity. Questioning the status quo. Understanding latent consumer needs. Determining how to leverage trends.
How do you build a process and a culture that ensures a continuous flow of ideas? Business Innovation points to an article in Detroit Auto News Inside about how a very traditional company - Ford Motors - is creating a grassroots culture of innovation. The Strategy: Zap the bureaucracy and make it easy for employees to communicate with a responsive management. Then innovation becomes - "Everyone's business!"
Tips for Creating Innovation
-Launch an internal blog or a wiki dedicated to innovation
-Reward ideas
-Hold creativity or ideology sessions
-Tap into your your customers
-Respond to suggestions...don't let ideas fall into a dark hole
-Celebrate success
-Encourage risks ... celebrate failures too
-Use mind maps
-Mix up work teams
-Understand drivers of consumer behavior
-Incorporate "innovation" into job descriptions
If you can't make the FORTUNE's conference or your budget doesn't include the $1895 registration fee, you might find an idea or two on the companion blog Business Innovation.
On innovation - by Dr. Seuss
And ZATZ is the letter
I use to spell Zatz-it
Whose nose is so high
that 'most nobody parts it...
So, to get there and do it,
I built an invention:
The Three-Seater Sarz-it
Nose-Patting Extension.
Sidebar: FORTUNE must think Diva Marketing is innovative - they've included a link to Diva on the BlogRoll. Sweet!
Read More About Innovation
Creativity? Innovation? Are They Different Do We Need Both?
Innovation DNA
Innovation Baby Steps
Think Smart Blog
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