Guy Kawaski has another great interview on his blog. This is an interview with Scott Berkun, author of "The Myths of Innovation". If you are fascinated with innovation, this is a good read. I have tried innovation internally and externally. These last few start-ups which I have worked on have been great. This article addresses some of the things I have learned the hard way.
- Innovators are born and made
- Innovators face lots of challenges outside the creative process - support
- Get out of the ivory tower and "tinker"
- Problem definition (i.e., asking the right questions) is key (At HOK, we used to use a book called Problem Seeking for architectural requirements which is a helpful framework here.)
There is a lot more here. I think companies often miss the importance of "sponsoring" innovation through several actions:
- Encouraging people to try things and having a culture that allows risk
- Capturing ideas and having people who look across ideas for new combinations of things
- Having funds allocated to try things...if VCs who get their pick of ideas only expect 2 of 10 to flush out, why do companies look for 10 of 10
- Bringing in people with diversity (background, culture, education, industry)
Innovation is a critical process for companies. Thinking about how you create it, capture ideas, and manage your portfolio is important. In this blog, I have talked about P-TRIZ and ROT which are both relevant here.
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