It may be surprising that it has taken us until our fourth installment to talk about who is actually doing the work. However, experience shows us that without good leadership, structure and a clear mandate, it won’t matter how good the team members are – the project will not reap the return you’re looking for. […]
This is the first in a five post series on how to build a cross-functional team that delivers. If you have done your homework using the process we’ve discussed in previous newsletters, you are now ready to put your plans into place. The first step in this process is selecting your leader. An effective growth […]
I am having more and more conversations with leaders of organizations who have fundamentally the same concern: “I have read all the literature on the “Lean Startup” movement, and find it superficial at best. I have a business with a large human resource and capex base (or regulatory constraint), and the idea of “pivoting” means […]
The recent news that Apple is looking at a $3.2B acquisition of the DRE music business – much larger than it’s usual pattern – brings up an interesting question: What happens when a company moves from smaller deals that are easily digested into core business and product operations, to larger and more highly valued entities? […]
This is the fifth post in a series on innovation decision making built around the WRAP process from Chip and Dan Heath’s book Decisive. The WRAP acronym allows you to remember their four decision anchors – Widen your options, Reality test your assumptions, Attain distance before deciding and Prepare to be wrong. If you need […]
The set of decisions that take place over which programs and projects to pursue is the highest leverage point for the senior team of any organization. In this series, we explore the intersection between the latest work on making high-quality decisions and establishing innovation portfolios. This is the second post (if you’d like to start […]
It’s that time of year, with article after article citing the trends that will matter most in 2014. Do a quick Google search and you’ll see what I mean — right now there are over 1.5M total hits for the term “2014 trends” alone: About 1,540,000 results (0.30 seconds) As an innovation leader or sponsoring […]
This is exactly how you fly when you dream that you fly. — Yves Rossy I love my job. Since I was 10 years old, I have been fascinated by finding new paths for businesses to grow and thrive. I was always the one getting into discussions with people about their businesses and their products—even as […]
Human beings have long been fascinated by time. It’s very hard to see and taste; yet its effects are indisputable. Its progress is unstoppable and forward momentum irreversible. Man is working on changing his perspective both in the long term (see this link for efforts to build a clock that will run for the […]
Our family loves water parks, and one of our favorites is in the Wisconsin Dells at a place called Noah’s Ark. They have a 10-story high waterslide there called The Point Of No Return, and after you’ve ridden it a time or two, you know exactly why. The ride starts with a 40-meter vertical drop, […]
