In preparing to kick off a big client strategy project with a growing international firm in the building products space, I was reminded that the best work is always developed with well thought out collaboration. I’ve been reflecting on what it takes to have a great outcome, and this is true not just for me […]
Having spoken at the 2014 Society of Concurrent Product Development conference, I was looking forward to the 2015 session. I’m pleased to say it didn’t disappoint. They had 76 attendees at the 3M Innovation Center in Minneapolis, MN (always a great venue), from as far away as Germany. The SCPD as an organization focuses on corporations for the purpose […]
In a recent coaching dialogue with a C-level executive of an international manufacturer, I was asked what minimum elements were necessary for a successful innovation program. This is a very common question that comes from being overwhelmed with the enormous body of innovation information that comes from the popular press on a daily basis. All […]
The first third of 2015 has been a solid year in business and now we’re looking into the front edge of summer. If you’ve been following this blog, you may have used this post to help structure your Q1 operations review, giving you a nice concise set of actions that your team is executing on. […]
It’s that time of year again: baseball teams are starting back up, school kids are turning their sights towards summer, and companies are firing up their strategic planning processes. It’s no secret that we’re all very busy these days – a fact that is magnified by the enormous amounts of data, much smaller amounts of […]
In my coaching work with growth leaders, one of the things we work toward is getting a proper balance of risk and reward in the projects they work on. There are some surprising relationships between these two areas, especially in the later portion of the innovation cycle. Clients are often surprised that one of the […]
For regular newsletter readers, we are four steps into a five-post series on developing a cross-functional innovation team that can deliver. To provide sufficient context for the final post, I am going to take this opportunity to do a higher-level briefing on innovation systems. If you missed the previous posts in this series, you can […]
Similar headlines are popping up every day: there are great jobs going unfilled because of the “talent shortage.” As the economy moves forward, these “shortages” are going to continue to increase in frequency and severity. If someone has shared this post with you, let me invite you to join my twice monthly mailing list by adding […]
If you’re like me, the year has flown by. Yet, there were moments in 2014 where engagement, clarity and challenge created a punctuated moment that is worth reflecting on. For this post, I want to share 12 of the most recent posts that, based on feedback I’ve received, triggered those events for you, my regular […]
This is the time of year when senior leaders in organizations of all sizes lock in their annual plans and go home with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads. Unfortunately, by the middle of January (in most cases), it’s painfully clear that the warmth of the plan has turned out more like the opening scene […]
