Category Archives: Strategic

Why are we so passionate about being Innovative?

This is a question Brian and I get more often than not when people first read our blog and see that it is about innovation…innovation in a traditionally laggard industry such as ours. What I explain is quite simple. While we are certainly not where we want to be in this area, we have started.Continue Reading

What can we learn from the “Big Boys” – Ericsson

There was a conference in Silicon Valley not too long ago where Entrepreneurs gathered to hear some great speakers on the topic of innovation. One such speaker was the head of IP and Broadband for Ericsson, the telecom giant based in Sweden, Maya Strelar-Migotti. There was a great synopsis of the key elements in herContinue Reading

Howard Schultz of Starbucks shares insights about Innovation

There was a great article in USA Today, “Starbucks CEO Schultz on Digital Innovation,” where he shared some interesting thought and insights about how he and Starbucks view innovation going forward. I thought there were some interesting comments, quotes, and actions they are taking that could be relevant for all of us to take notContinue Reading

Innovation is ALL about Leadership…or is it?

There was a great article in Forbes, “An Innovation Leadership Revolution is Brewing,” by Henry Doss. He starts it off with a great quote by T.S. Eliot, “If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” That is awesome. It really says how limiting we can be as leadersContinue Reading

Strategy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Desert

Recently we had the opportunity have a meeting with our management team in the desert, specifically Arizona. It was a great several days of learning, participation, and of course some fun. But what one area that stood out for me and I wanted to share with you was how our employees embraced creativity and comingContinue Reading

Who will Innovate tomorrow?

Since Rick and I have been writing about innovation for over a year now, we have seen and heard a lot of great information.  While most of it has been business related, some has stretched beyond these boundaries and given us an opportunity to explore innovation in other aspects of our life. This is oneContinue Reading

Unleash the employees…let them fly!

Employees are great idea generators, and innovators – but only when freed by management. I get this because I am right in the middle of it as we continue to find more ways to be innovative and more ways to “re-invent” ourselves for the future. One thing I have found to be for sure –Continue Reading

Is Innovation “Big Bang” or “Drip”…or both?

If you are reading anything about Innovation, you have probably been exposed to a variety of approaches. The two that get the most attention are whether you should look to innovation for the next “Big Bang” of something new and completely game changing or something steady like a “Drip” to continuously improve upon what youContinue Reading

Does your company have a “Red Box”?

I recently saw a great video on a concept Adobe uses to help drive innovation inside their company and it is based around “what’s in the Red Box.” Adobe, like ourselves, believe that EVERY employee has innovative ideas. The key is how you can get them out and into practice – this is what IContinue Reading

Three Lessons Learned from Open Innovation

As we continue to build more around being an innovative company, it is interesting to learn from others what works and where companies stumble along the path to being effectively innovative. One recent blog post from Andy Zynga of Harvard Business Review, “Where Open Innovation Stumbles,” talks exactly about this issue. I wanted to shareContinue Reading