Tag Archives: Inventive

Why are we so passionate about being Innovative?

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Rick Smith • Creative, Culture, Employees, Imagination, Innovative, Leadership, Passion, Process, Rewards/Incentives, Strategic, Teamwork

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

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Howard Schultz of Starbucks shares insights about Innovation

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Rick Smith • Creative, Culture, Customers, Employees, Imagination, Innovative, Leadership, Passion, Strategic

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 not… Continue Reading

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Strategy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Desert

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Rick Smith • Collaboration, Creative, Customers, Employees, Fun!, Imagination, Innovative, Leadership, Passion, Process, Social Media, Strategic, Teamwork

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 coming… Continue Reading

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20 Fascinating “Accidental” Inventions

Posted on April 20, 2013 by Rick Smith • Creative, Fun!, Imagination, Innovative, Passion

While we usually write about ways to help each other be more innovative and lead innovation, sometimes it’s good to have a bit of fun as well. I found this list published by the Christian Science Monitor that did just that for me so I thought I would share it with you. They put together… Continue Reading

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Do you have “Model T” or “RW” leading your Innovation?

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Brian Farnsworth • Books, Collaboration, Creative, Culture, Employees, Imagination, Innovative, Leadership, Operations, Process

OK, I didn’t know what either of these meant either before I read the article by Henry Doss in Forbes, “Innovation: Time to Ditch “Model T Leadership.” It is such an interesting read about what I believe is a fundamental change in the way we look at employees today and how we hire them for… Continue Reading

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Get your Employees Involved to Solve…

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Rick Smith • Collaboration, Creative, Culture, Employees, Imagination, Innovative, Leadership, Rewards/Incentives, Teamwork

One question I get asked on a regular basis is, “How do you get employees involved and interested in helping you innovate?” Great question and like most good questions, there is more than one answer. We have talked about several ways other organizations have been successful in getting this to happen, and here is another… Continue Reading

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Unleash the employees…let them fly!

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Rick Smith • Collaboration, Culture, Employees, Innovative, Leadership, Passion, Strategic, Teamwork

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

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Does your company have a “Red Box”?

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Brian Farnsworth • Collaboration, Creative, Culture, Employees, Imagination, Innovative, Leadership, Process, Rewards/Incentives, Strategic, Teamwork, Trust

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 I… Continue Reading

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Success = Making more MISTAKES than Last Year

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Brian Farnsworth • Creative, Imagination, Innovative, Leadership, Passion, Process, Rewards/Incentives, Strategic

This year I decided to make some New Year’s Resolutions, like most people do this time of year. While some are more exciting than others, one I thought you might be interested in hearing about relates to my need (and probably yours) to “play it safe” and “lower my risk” throughout the year. But HOW… Continue Reading

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The Road to Innovation at EJ Bartells – part two…

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Rick Smith • Collaboration, Creative, Culture, Employees, Fun!, Innovative, Leadership, Passion, Process, Teamwork, Trust

So the last time we left off in Part One of our story, we had just left the management team of the Mountain States Region in a room for two days to work as a team to come up with innovative and creative ways to surpass what we were forecasting for growth. They were stumped… Continue Reading

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