Noted NYU Stern professor Melissa Schilling has penned down a new book titled Quirky: The Remarkable Story of the Traits, Foibles, and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators who Changed the World. In this book, she charts the quirky traits of individuals that led to business innovations coming off the shelf. A lot of recent management literature around this topic has focused on the social setting and collaboration. But here Schilling takes a stance by studying eight eccentric, but game-changing innovators. She terms them as “serial breakthrough innovators” and includes- Nikola Tesla, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Albert Einstein and Dean Kamen. She prepares case studies on all these individuals to bring out their unique traits. Schilling has an eye for detail. Innovators unfortunately also suffer from a trait known as hubris or self-efficacy. This otherwise ailment gets converted into positive as it provides these innovators with the self-confidence and gravitas to push forward their products or ideas. They do not blindly follow others’ diktats. Schilling also delves into how Silicon Valley based companies can harness the innovative power of such quirky individuals.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-Quirky-Secrets-of-the-Worlds-Greatest-Innovators?gko=ef650

Uploaded Date:30 May 2018

The process of innovation is usually seen as an art rather than science. However, for sustained success, it is better to keep track of steps that were taken right during the entire innovation process. So instead of luck or intuition being the main driving force behind business innovation, it is actually knowing what to search for. Companies would be well-advised to glean information signals and perform a detailed data warehousing to ensure that a culture of creativity can be fostered for the long-run. Any innovation process can be categorized as either an impatient approach or a patient strategy. The former tends to do well in the near-term, but in the long-run, it is the patient one that tends to succeed. This can be perfectly well illustrated through any game using the Lego bricks.

Source:https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/harnessing-the-secret-structure-of-innovation/?linkId=51988865

Uploaded Date:30 May 2018

Running the operations of an insights or innovation programme is relatively easier as the processes are already set in place. Much more complicated is developing such a programme right from scratch. There exist several perspectives on how to execute such a plan. The most popular ones are those provided by managementgurus such as Tony Ulwick, Stephen Shapiro, Geoff Tuff, Braden Kelleyand Scott Anthony. According to Ulwick, there are five major obstacles which companies need to proactively weed out instead of relying on pure luck. First of all, one must understand that business innovation is a process and not a one-time hack. The process need not be executed backwards. Innovation tools adopted must be compatible with each other, while a budget and time needs to be fixed for all functions. And finally, one must adopt newer marketing research methods to the mix. Shapiro believes that while most companies adopt an idea-driven approach, better would be a Challenge-centred innovation. Kelley has drafted an Infinite Innovation Infrastructure that includes an innovation strategy, vision, goals and a catalyst. Anthony is of the opinion that before the process begins, the company must outline the specific problems is looks to solve. Tuff meanwhile states that the innovation must match-up to the ambition level of the group. The usual playbooks must be left aside, instead focus must be put on the operating procedures and individual responsibilities.

Source:http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2018/03/12/how-to-build-an-innovation-and-insights-group-from-scratch/

Uploaded Date:17 May 2018

Business innovation is not a one-time eureka moment as often portrayed in motivational blogs or videos. Instead it involves a series of steps and processes to foster the moment. First of all, the company concerned must have a clear corporate strategy in place, with quantifiable goals mentioned. Such mission or vision outlined alone is not enough, as the team must ensure they reach the implementation and execution stage. There will be challenges along the way, but these must be embraced rather than avoided. Crowdsourcing of ideas may be one of the best approaches to deal with them. Constant collaboration and interaction is a must across different stakeholders. Since not all ideas will go up to the execution stage, the ones shortlisted need to be tried out through pilot projects and simulated business cases. Such experimentation need be tangibly measured, improved upon, and adapted to the circumstances. Whosoever’s ideas get to the final stage, need to be amply rewarded and recognized by all as this will provide the fillip to continued future excellence.

Source:http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2018/03/10/the-eight-pillars-of-innovation/

Uploaded Date:17 May 2018

Open innovation is often the best solution, but not always possible, so innovators need to open up their complete toolbox to arrive at solutions.   An Innovation Matrix has been sketched out in a recent book titled Mapping Innovation. Four kinds of business innovations have been mentioned in this matrix. The first form Sustaining Innovation involved road-mapping, design thinking, R&D labs and acquisitions. In this, both domain and problem are well defined. Breakthrough Innovations work best with open platforms and partnerships. Disruptive innovations require a venture-capital backed model as the risks are high. Tracking customer feedback and making continuous improvements to the product are essential. It operates on a 15-20 percent rule. At the simplest level, there is basic research which is heavily reliant on industry-academia partnerships, attending conferences and getting published on journals. Global giants such as IBM, Google and P&G invest heavily in these.

Source:http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2018/03/11/no-innovation-strategy-fits-every-problem-so-you-need-to-work-with-full-toolbox/

Uploaded Date:17 May 2018

Coop Italia is the largest retailer in Italy. In response to growing digitization and changing customer expectations, Coop Italia partnered with Accenture to recreate the customer experience with increased digital initiatives. The entire redesign was curated with due diligence post business intelligence being collected regarding consumer usage patterns. Accenture further roped in the services of Microsoft whose Azure cloud platform enabled Coop to rope in real time insights on usage. The store layout was changed to vertical shelving, while interactive tables were provided in the website for product comparisons. Real-time visualizations can be seen at the store with insights on best-selling product per category. Coop has also made extensive use of Facebook for its digital marketing campaign.

Source:https://www.accenture.com/in-en/success-coop-italia?sr_source=lift_twitter&c=ad_giglbfy18_10073240&n=bac_1117

Uploaded Date:19 March 2018

London and two of the other biggest cities of the UK- Manchester and Birmingham- are set to launch a campaign to promote these three destinations in Asia. The mayors of all three cities are alrady onside as part of this campaign. The target catchment area will be China, India and the countries around the Persian Gulf, as the general thinking pervades that these three will be the major drivers of growth in inbound tourism. China is already one of the main sources with arrivals as well as expenditures expected to rise by more than a hundred percent by 2025. So, a digital marketing campaign involving social media outlets such as Weibo and We Chat is already being executed. The rise among Indian travelers is expected to soar even more so. Scotland has joined in with specific focus towards its capital city- Edinburgh.

Source:https://www.tourism-review.com/three-british-cities-join-forces-news10488

Uploaded Date:03 March 2018