Nine Principles that Foster Innovation
A guiding principle for startup success, as well as the long-term health of a mature business, is a liberal dose of innovation at the beginning, with more of the same…
Innovate or Die
Organizations cycle between exploration and exploitation. An exploration-oriented organization is full of innovation and creativity. It’s bursting with ideas, even if short on cash. Once an idea has manifested into…
Understand the Power of the Question to Drive Innovation
Asking "Why," "What If," and "How" is a powerful way to drive innovation, empower entrepreneurs, and create needed solutions.
Harvest Great Ideas from Your Company’s Best Assets
Many businesses, large and small, have a huge source of great ideas that can help them improve, innovate, and grow, and yet so many of these companies never think of…
A Night at the Museum: Using Art to Spark Creative Thinking
Public discourse in recent years has revolved around the question of creativity: how to foster it, how to harness it, and whether our society suffers a critical lack of it.…
Moving Electricity: Sometimes, Innovation Isn’t Enough
An old friend named Tim stopped by the office recently to talk about innovation in the electrical utility industry in the United States. Tim has spent 45 years in the…
Licensing Your Intellectual Property for Fun and Profit
You have a brilliant new invention. Congratulations! But now what? In general, you have two choices: you can build a company, or you can license your concept to another company…
Get Uncle Sam to Fund Your R&D
Since 2006 I have had the pleasure of working, in a limited role, with the National Science Foundation. The NSF participates in the SBIR/STTR grant programs which are coordinated by…
Innovation Starts With Thinking and Ends With Execution
Most people think innovation is all about ideas, when in fact it is more about delivery, people, and process. Entrepreneurs looking to innovate need to understand the execution challenge if…
How To Think Big and Act Bold
What sparks paradigm-shifting innovation in any business? It’s a special mix of entrepreneur and company, regular in every respect except for having the courage and foresight to make an idea…