It could be about semantics. Or not. A pilot is not a prototype. It is my strong belief that innovation success derives from prototype initiatives that are carefully planned, properly funded or staffed, and supported from beginning to end by senior executives seeking breakthrough bounties.

Read More

Our feature today kicks off a series of essays written by Innovation Alchemists, as conceived and compiled by a new book by author Luis Solis: Innovation Alchemists: What Every CEO Should Know to Hire the Right Chief Innovation Officer.

Read More

The relative newness of the CINO means at least two things: it’s difficult to know what a great one looks like and behaves like, and there are few CINOs in the marketplace to recruit to your organization. Since the pool of existing CINOs is tiny, you simply must seek the right traits for your organization’s CINO.

Read More

If you attend as many Innovation or Transformation conferences as I do, you must be equally frustrated by the constant regurgitation of the same companies and innovation celebrities in answer to the question “who are the innovation leaders?”

Read More

Traditional innovation metrics unwittingly undermine long-term success, because they focus senior management on tactics versus strategy. By thinking hard about the correct Input and Output metrics which best reinforce the organization’s strategy, innovation leaders have a much better likelihood of personal and institutional success.

Read More

The Charter Statement is the single most important tool to ensure an effective kick-off for enterprise innovation, or any complex transformation initiative. No wonder many innovation initiatives fail to deliver.  In my enterprise transformation work for 25 years, the Charter Statement is an exception and not the rule despite analogs for Six Sigma, Lean, CRM…

Read More

“The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation.” So stated our President Barack Obama during last week’s State of the Union Address. But more important was what he did not say: How can organizations, enterprises and communities that are in shock facing our new normal economy, begin to reinvent the very essence…

Read More

How relevant is Trust in enterprise innovation? Let’s piece together an answer with the help of some field research. Three of five executives at this year’s Front End of Innovation Summit in Boston shared one reason for attending: “I am looking for ways to create a culture of innovation…we are just not there yet!” Eli…

Read More