Fast Company has released their list of the most innovative business people of 2007. This is a must read series of articles. Everyone can learn from the examples set by these CEOs, scientists, and politicians who don’t just accept the status quo.
Who made the list? A few were surprises to me including Arnold Schwarzenegger. Others included the founder of Facebook, the founder of Wikipedia, leaders in environmental sustainability, and many top designers.
Innovation is no longer about the big one-off idea. Innovation is about strategy. New ideas are important, but too often businesses neglect their innovation strategy. Developing an innovation strategy is essential to the long term growth and sustainability of any organization.
At CE Studios I developed an Innovation Strategy Chart. The purpose of this model is to develop a strategy of innovation which creates future experiences.
Remember to evaluate the constraints your business faces in implementing your next innovation and adjust the timing accordingly. The more firm you need your launch date to be the more flexibility you need in your critical path. Don’t let one late item throw off your whole schedule.
Here are a few constraints to consider.
1. Seasonal changes in your business. Is January a slow month for your business? Consider the impact of different seasons on your innovation launch.
2. Staffing needs. Does your new innovation change your staffing needs? Do you need to hire, train, or release employees? How will that change the timing of your innovation launch? If your launch is late, can you hire more staff or pay more overtime to make up the difference?
3. Multiphase implementation. Does your innovation launch all at once, or does it roll out over time?
4. Finances. Are you still raising capital? Does a secondary phase of the innovation require a certain level of sales from the first phase? Will changes in the currency market influence the launch date?
5. Competitors. What are your competitors doing? What new innovations are they launching? Does this require you to re-work your innovation before the launch?
6. External Parties. What external parties are you relying on? If they deliver late will your innovation be delayed?
Consider these constraints and others as you approach the implementation and launch of your next innovation.
Have you ever heard someone say that ideas are a dime a dozen? Well this statement couldn’t be truer. Everyone has ideas, and in fact most people have good ideas. However, there is no such thing as a successful idea. You can have a successful product or successful business, but not a successful idea. Ideas are a dime a dozen.
You need to take an idea from concept, to proof-of-concept, to investment, to business, to successful business. That isn’t the easiest process and usually you don’t end up where you thought you would, but that is the process. All ideas must be though through, tested, and adapted over and over again.
The idea doesn’t bring success. Everyone knows that you can buy a dozen ideas for a dime.
The CBC carries a show called Dragon’s Den where inventors and entrepreneurs pitch their innovations to “big time” investors. As you would expect some ideas presented on the show are good and others are not. But one lesson everyone needs to learn is to test before you invest $85,000.
Entrepreneurs Lynden Salandy & Michelle King invented the Carry Comfort after discovering how un-hygienic public seats are. Carry Comfort is a hygienic seat cover for airplanes, buses, or other public seats. Now this is not the worst idea, as it has merit and solves a real issue.However, you must test before you invest!
Lynden was so convinced that the Carry Comfort would be a major success that he sold his house and invested his personal savings. He invested $85,000 with Carry Comfort and has zero sales!
Most people whether they dislike change or not, understand that there is underlying value in a culture of innovation. But what really is so special about a culture of innovation?
The special thing about an innovative culture is that each new innovation leads to new innovation opportunities (see also Everything Has Already Been Invented). That means that an innovative culture builds on itself. Instead of using up its resources, innovation is a renewable resource and the more it is renewed the more it can occur.
Take a look a Google, HP, Apple, Electronic Arts or any other innovative company and you will see example of what I am talking about. Let me show you what I mean. While Apple did not invent the mp3 music format or the first mp3 player, look at the innovation progression their organization took:
1) MP3 music compression lead to iTunes music player.
2) The iTunes music player lead to the iPod.
3) The iPod and iTunes lead to the iTunes music store.
4) All of the above lead to the video iPod…and eventually the iPhone.
So the special thing about having a culture of innovation is that innovation is a renewable resource and one innovation leads to another innovation opportunity. If you need help starting a culture of innovation see The Number One Way to Encourage a Culture of Innovation.
The hype is wrong, Google Phone isn’t a phone at all. It is actually an open source operating system for mobile phones called Android. But here is the best part. Google has set aside 10 million dollars for developers to create innovative applications for this new operating system. If you want to take part in this innovation opportunity, you can start developing applications for Android right now.
You thought BlackBerry was all the rage… just wait. Android has the ability to once again revolutionize the computing world. Its limitations will be only related to the phone hardware. Do you need more storage on your phone? Just store your large files on the internet. Do you want to play the lasted 3D game? You can, especially if phones begin using 3D acceleration hardware. Want a bigger screen? It won’t be long before phones will start plugging into your TV. If you need to type on a full size keyboard or use a mouse, just use you wireless bluetooth enabled keyboard and mouse. None of this happens over night, but the personal computer of the future could be your phone. This wont replace your work computer, but Google has put together a framework that combined with advances in cellphone technology has the ability to change the way most of us live.
Watch this video to learn more about Android and what it can do.
Return on investment (ROI) is a term you can seemingly never escape. Almost always ROI refers to financial return on financial investment. Without doubt ROI is a key indicator of the value of any investment. However, there are some cases where an investment can have intangible returns.
How do you measure the return of buying a meal for someone who has gone without? One could look at such a scenario and discover that for every six meals you buy for the hungry one of those people is able to get back on their feet and feed someone else in return. Whatever the actual return of this investment there will always remain an intangible value to feeding the hungry.
Have you ever heard someone say that ideas are a dime a dozen? Well this statement couldn’t be truer. Everyone has ideas, and in fact most people have good ideas. However, there is no such thing as a successful idea. You can have a successful product or successful business, but not a successful idea. Ideas are a dime a dozen.
The CBC carries a show called 
Most people whether they dislike change or not, understand that there is underlying value in a culture of innovation. But what really is so special about a culture of innovation?
Return on investment (ROI) is a term you can seemingly never escape. Almost always ROI refers to financial return on financial investment. Without doubt ROI is a key indicator of the value of any investment. However, there are some cases where an investment can have intangible returns.
