The Keys to Effective, Efficient Brainstorming
We all want to win the never ending race for great, effective, profitable new ideas. We want these ideas without a huge effort, without a huge risk and without a huge investment. Most brainstorming is done in a highly periodic, no idea is bad, let’s go for...
The Lean Startup Chasm
How many? Just how many people come up with big ideas that will “for sure change the world and make billions”? Within minutes, or even seconds, most us find find that 95% of these ideas are truly poorly thought out, out of context and with almost no...
The Path to Victory : Well, first make God laugh…
Memes. They are far to often silly, over simplified takes on life as if life were really that simple. Yeah, a few are good, but by and large I'm not a fan. They confuse, deceive and all too often make life seem too simple. A recent meme from the Theranos...
Top Innovators are like Top Athletes – Practice Makes Perfect
My son was a great baseball player for his capabilities - but he wasn't always. Brandon would spend, from a very young age, hours and hours practicing his craft with a dozen mentors and instructors. In the end, while he was never big enough to be a...
Want Impactful, Lasting Strategy? Focus Principles, Not Process
"As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble." - Ralph Waldo Emerson A process, a...
Want Startup Capital – Build Your Board First
We’ve all heard it before – great teams with not so great ideas get funded before great ideas with not so great teams. While many translate this to a great management team, it does not end there – not by a long shot. Few who start companies are Elon Musk...
Want the Innovation Lifestyle – Try Adaptive Innovation
Those who excel at anything in their lives have a way of making that effort, that interest, that passion become all pervasive and yet not all consuming in their lives. It's simply in their nature to always be thinking about that passion, somewhere, some way, some how...
Want Big Innovation Try Some Big Context…
Context. The big picture. For most product developers, designers, and innovators in general the context concept seems often lost. People want to believe. They want the idea to do well. Problem is, companies are not in the business of ideas. They are in the business of...
Innovation Consulting – Billings or Breakthroughs?
I'm seeing the game and I'm disgusted. I've been watching this now for almost twenty years and I can't believe this keeps happening. While consulting in general has a bad name and skyrocketing bills, innovation and startup consulting displays some of the worst...
Story Telling Keys Effective Strategy
We just don’t tell great stories anymore. We don’t teach how to. We don’t understand their importance. We tell our friends great stories, or at least we like to think that we do. We regale them of our college exploits, the crazed fun of youth, those first momentarily...
Want Big Innovation? Try Some Big Context…
Context. The big picture. For most product developers, designers, and innovators in general the context concept seems often lost. People want to believe. They want the idea to do well. Problem is, companies are not in the business of ideas. They are in the business of...
Production Crisis
Situation A client’s medical material was clinically successful but had not yet received FDA approval due to mounting production concerns regarding product quality. The FDA had informed the client that without a successful next trial, they would not entertain another...
New Platform Concept
Situation A materials and chemicals client sought to take advantage of major natural resource and energy shortages that they could preferentially exploit commercially over the next five years and beyond. The client specifically sought to either identify and develop...
Reinventing a Platform
Situation A client's key market had been declining by over 10% each year for the past six years. Although dominant in their field, technological changes, as well as new customer practices of doing business were slowly decreasing the need for the client’s core...
The Innovation Lifestyle – So You Have A Startup Idea? Really?
Of the almost 100 startups worthwhile I've reviewed out of say 100,000 ideas heard in my lifetime, it’s amazing that still that over 95% of them are poor ideas ill conceived with no context for success or any coherent idea if anyone of substance actually cares. Yeah,...
Tesla & Adaption: The Awesome Stark Realities
Elon Musk and Tesla are if nothing else bold on steroids. The only man and his firm in about 50 years to truly launch a new car brand with powerful loyalty, accelerating scaling and products the generally wow with their beauty, performance and quality and soon...
Want Big Innovation? Try Some Big Context…
Context. The big picture. For most product developers, designers, and innovators in general the context concept seems often lost. People want to believe. They want the idea to do well. Problem is, companies are not in the business of ideas. They are in the business of...