Is Lack of Innovation Keeping You Stuck?
I was recently interviewed by Lisa Earle McLeod. The resulting article has been published in a number of newspapers and online sites, including the Huffington Post. Here’s the first half of the article… Do you ever find yourself trapped inside the same issue over and over again? Maybe it’s because you’re looking at it through […]
How to Create a Happy Work Environment
While speaking at a conference on “happiness at work” in Copenhagen, I met Cathy Busani, the Managing Director of Happy, a training and consultancy business operating in the U.K. Although they only employ 30 people, Happy has won wide recognition for its innovative approach to management and to customer service. I was intrigued by her […]
How To Embrace And Conquer Pain
Let’s face it, sometimes you feel horrible. You feel like the universe is conspiring against you. It could be caused by an upsetting event, such as the end of a relationship or the loss of a job. Other times the feelings are elusive and unexplainable, thus attributed to the alignment of the stars or a […]
How Small Businesses Can Leverage Crowdsourcing
Open innovation and crowdsourcing promise to revolutionize the way companies innovate and develop new products, create marketing campaigns and solve problems of all kinds. Unfortunately, there is more confusion than clarity about how to best utilize these approaches. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Dwayne Spradlin, CEO of InnoCentive, one of the early pioneers […]
New School is Old School
I just finished reading a mindless crime novel* – my favorite genre of book. The victim was the producer of an old television series who recently sold the rights to do a remake of the show. Fans were outraged. Most were purists who liked the original version and would do anything to prevent the new […]
Should You Catch or Fish for Innovations?
On talk radio the other day, they were discussing the fishing industry. The conversation centered on how certain types of much more popular than others. I not sure of the specifics, but I think salmon, tuna, and sea bass are the hot fish. Most consumers, when they go to the supermarket, ask for those specific […]
How to Always Be On Time
If you have been around for a while, you might recall the Hertz commercials from the 70s where the ex-football star and criminal, O.J. Simpson, is running through airports hurdling over rows of departure lounge seats and luggage. I know of other road warriors who also run through airports, priding themselves in being able to […]
Microwork Sourced Innovation Article
In my blog entry yesterday, I posted an interview with a woman who does “microwork” on the fiverr site. Be sure to read that interview first as context. Now, as promised, here is the article on innovation she wrote for $5. Not bad, if you want my two cents… 5 Ways To Make Your Company […]
An Insider’s View on Fiverr and Microwork Outsourcing
As readers of this blog know, I am always interested in exploring different forms of open innovation, collaboration, and outsourcing. Personally, I have used a number of sites including 99designs.com and elance.com. I have used these for the development of logos, graphics, websites, and research. In most cases I would pay several hundred dollars for […]
Stop Asking For Ideas
I recently gave a presentation on innovation for a company that sells travel packages online. The presenter who preceded me was the executive in charge of creating the technology that automatically sends follow-up e-mails to prospects who visited the site. A few minutes into his presentation, he displayed a slide that showed the typical e-mail […]