I previously started posting the 40 strategies from my Best Practices are Stupid book. But I completely forgot to include the introduction. So I am going back to that for this post. As you read this and the other chapters, please remember that this book was published back in 2011. Although the principles remain the […]

Here is the second half of tip 14 from Best Practices are Stupid. Be sure to read the previous post before reading this one. Your Customers Don’t Know What They Don’t Know Innovators looking for input from consumers must assume that consumers cannot always (and may not want to) explain themselves, their behaviors, their attitudes, […]

Tip 14 from Best Practices are Stupid…remember this is from over 10 years ago. Splitting this into two posts. Imagine you are a hearing aid manufacturer and you want to develop the next generation of product.  You conduct surveys and focus groups and discover that nearly 80% of the hearing impaired population, despite the recommendations of […]

Tip 13 from Best Practices are Stupid. Here I explore the lessons from one of my favorite movies of all time. In 1989’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” the nerdy archeology professor Indiana Jones advises students to “forget any ideas you’ve got about lost cities, exotic travel and digging up the world. We do […]

Tip 12 from Best Practices are Stupid… Imagine you are the former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Your state is struggling with myriad issues ranging from a perpetual and growing deficit to a decaying education system to an infrastructure that can’t handle the ever-increasing population. What do you do? Like any good innovator, you turn to […]

The final section of Tip 11 from Best Practices are Stupid. Please read the first two sections before reading this. Remember, this book was written a dozen years ago, so some concepts have evolved. The first two posts talked about competition vs collaboration, and the three downsides of traditional brainstorming. Now we move to some […]

Here is the continuation of Tip 11 from Best Practices are Stupid. Please read yesterday’s post before reading this. In it, I talked about competitions vs collaboration. Now we go to three downsides of traditional brainstorming (there are actually MANY more). There are several reasons traditional brainstorming sessions don’t work: 1. Serial Processing: If you […]

TO COMPETE OR NOT TO COMPETE: THAT IS THE QUESTION (part 1 of 3) Tip 11 from Best Practices are Stupid. This tip will be split into three posts. Remember, this book was written a dozen years ago, so some concepts have evolved. Open-source software is a well-known collaborative community. Many developers participate solely in […]

Tip 10 from Best Practices are Stupid. Keep in mind that this was written 12 years ago. American Idol remains a popular television shows. Why?  Partly because it is entertaining and partly because the show is able to uncover previously undiscovered talent. It is this latter reason why many organizations are employing the American Idol approach to […]

Tip 9 from Best Practices are Stupid. We dig even deeper into open innovation. While attempting to find a suitable filament to make the incandescent electric light a viable device, Edison is famous for saying, “I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways […]