Speed Thinking is for time-poor individuals, groups & teams that want to become more productive, innovative and energised. Stop procrastinating & just start!
One of the questions I am regularly asked is how do we get started on an innovation journey and/or how can we rejuvenate our efforts? In my experience one of the best ways to move forward is to have an innovation day every quarter. I am not the first person to think of this concept….
Many leaders I talk to are worried about how to encourage greater collaboration and break down silo’s. There are two complementary strategies you can employ: 1. Formal In this approach you deliberately introduce silo-busting approaches. For example; – Move people around so they gain experience in different departments and roles. – Use online tools such…
This post originally appeared in Leading Company; http://www.leadingcompany.com.au/ I was recently asked by a CEO of an international service brand to help the company’s leadership group with its innovation efforts. My starting point with these types of assignments is always the question: what have you done recently that is innovative. The management team answered this question…
I was fortunate in my working life to spend 10 years at Citibank and American Express. Both of these companies used direct marketing extensively. This was a discipline that placed a premium on testing new approaches, measuring the results and comparing these results to the ‘control’ (A/B tests). We tried to make these tests as…
I often get asked how to bring about an innovation revolution at a business. There is no right or wrong way to go about this but I have seen a number of innovation initiatives that absolutely don’t work. Here is a few of them. 1. Ask managers to take on an innovation project on top…
I recently conducted a 2 day course on creative thinking and innovation in Shanghai. One of the key questions I asked the group was; What were the innovation blockers and accelerators in their business? They replied with the following: The Blockers: – Current success (i.e why change when the current formula in working?) – Lack…
More and more work today both in science and business is being done in groups and teams. This makes sense. With fewer resources and the interdependence of work the very idea of working in silo’s is something to be avoided. Greater collaboration can lead to a sharing of information and less duplication of effort. It…
In my doctoral research on Creative Organisations I asked both profit and non-profit leaders what does an ideal creative environment look like? They answered with the following 6 insights: 1. It is open and receptive to ideas. It is not enough to produce big, new ideas but an innovative culture has to be open to…
If you are about to embark on an innovation journey and/or you have not much success then perhaps you should consider these three questions. These are simple, practical and can help you build a solid starting platform. 1. What does innovation mean in your business? There are many definitions of innovation but what you have…
With all the doom and gloom surrounding the retail sector with online competition and careful customers there is at least one success story. Enter Smiggle. An Australian, stationery brand formed in 2003 that has taken this traditional category by storm. But what are the secrets to their success? – The product is fun and colourful….
