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The Innovation Blog

Corporate Will Trumps Corporate Strategy

Posted by Jay Terwilliger on February 1, 2018

The other day I was having a conversation with the Division President of a large company about innovation. I mentioned to him that in our 30 years in the innovation space, we have noticed that innovation initiatives tend to have a 3-5 year life. The pursuit of breakthrough innovation – “Big Bet” innovation that expands the opportunity for significant growth through expanding markets or creating new ones, takes time. The unfortunate result of changes in Corporate Will is that too often, just when investments begin to pay off with new platforms, new technologies, etc., the efforts are often abandoned.

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Topics: Innovative Culture, Communication, executive sponsor, Alignment, Success Factors, breakthrough innovation, leadership, strategy, Strategic Goals, decision-making, breakthrough, Transformational Innovation, changing the game, innovation decision-making

A Parable of Yin, Yang and the Pursuit of Innovation

Posted by David Culton on July 13, 2011


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Topics: Future, Future Pull, Future Trends, Innovation Strategy, breakthrough innovation, leadership

Tony Hsieh: Culture is King at Zappos

Posted by Creative Realities on June 16, 2011

Culture is king at Zappos.  Last week at the World Innovation Forum, Tony Hsieh told the audience that there are five things Zappos does to build and cultivate their unique company culture focused on customer service.

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Topics: Chris Dolan, culture, Collaboration, leadership

Creating a common language for innovation

Posted by Creative Realities on March 8, 2011

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Topics: Jay Terwilliger, levels of innovation, 3 levels, three levels, defining innovation, innovation language, Creating an Innovation Team, Collaboration, breakthrough innovation, leadership, strategic innovation, criteria for innovation, decision-making, Creating an Innovation agenda, platform thinking, disruptive innovation

Creative Leadership- Is it too risky?

Posted by Creative Realities on March 1, 2011

Last month, Forbes contributor Chunka Mui posted an interesting article that addressed an upcoming study to be published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. The results of the study found that creativity negatively affected perceptions of leadership potential. In a series of experiments conducted among working adults in India and college students in the U.S., individuals perceived as “creative” were repeatedly seen as less effective leaders.

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Topics: creativity, Lorie Lin, Innovation, Compelling Case for Innovation, 9 Critical Success Factors, creative problem solving, leadership

Eating Innovation

Posted by Creative Realities on January 28, 2011

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Topics: creativity, Clay Maxwell, trends, Innovation, leadership, growth

Game-Changing vs. Incremental Innovation

Posted by Creative Realities on November 7, 2010

This past week I got sucked into what I thought was a pretty weak online debate. The question posed was, "Is Incremental innovation the enemy of Breakthrough Innovation?"

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Topics: Mark Sebell, Innovation, innovation consulting, breakthrough innovation, Championed Teamwork, leadership, strategic innovation, strategy, growth, Strategic Goals, criteria for innovation, decision-making, breakthrough, new product development, Essentials for Innovation, Risk, Management

Innovation Motivation

Posted by Creative Realities on October 21, 2010

On Day 2 of the PDMA2010 innovation conference Dan Pink gave a fascinating talk about motivation in the workplace.  Pink is the best-selling author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.  Coincidentally, he is also a man with an understated sense of humor and tone that is vaguely reminiscent of Kevin Nealon.  Unfortunately, he did not do any Weekend Update style under-his-breath uttering of his inner thoughts, however he did offer several counterintuitive insights on motivation.

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Topics: Chris Dolan, Motivation, Passion, Innovation, leadership, Management

Exploring Innovation's Other Side

Posted by Creative Realities on September 11, 2010

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Topics: Jay Terwilliger, Innovation, leadership, strategic innovation, strategy, growth, implementation