The Membership Business Model
Is it just me, or has every industry moved to a subscription/membership model for their services and products? This seems to be a new form of business model innovation, especially when it is married with online services. Of course the concept of memberships or subscriptions is not new. Gym and health club memberships have been around since the […]
Don’t Compare Me to a Bagel!
Professional speakers are always trying to justify their fees. Admittedly, it can be a substantial investment for a one-hour keynote. With that being said, for larger events, the cost of breakfast is often times more than the cost of the speech. While that may be true, some professional speakers have the crazy idea that it […]
What If You Worked 24/7?
Over the years I have been to a lot of conferences – either as an attendee or as a speaker. At most events, the formal education portions ends by 7pm, usually quite a bit earlier. A banquet or gathering in the bar typically follows. I recently attended a magic convention with 700 magicians. Unlike most […]
When You Are the Best, You Should be Worried!
Back in 1993, I started speaking. At the time I was a consultant with Accenture (then Andersen Consulting). By the mid 90’s, I was speaking 50 to 100 times a year at company and client events around the world. Invariably, after a speech, people would line up to shower me with accolades and acknowledge my […]
When Innovating, No Doesn’t Always Mean No
The other day I posted an article about innovation on LinkedIn. I was surprised to find a comment from someone I worked with at Accenture over 15 years ago. To paraphrase, he said… No offence, but I remember at a meeting in London trying to demonstrate to you how (a specific software platform) could be a […]
To Fee or Not To Fee…That is the Question
Should you ever give away your services (or products) for free? This has been an on-going discussion in the speaking community. And recently I found that the same debate is taking place in the magic community. There are some of my speaking colleagues who are adamant that no one should ever give a speech where […]
Video: Unexpected Places to Find Your Next Innovation
I was recently invited to speak at the WorldBlu Freedom at Work Conference. I was asked to speak for 20 minutes about the source of breakthroughs. Here is my speech, in its entirety. Enjoy!
An Inside Look at Fidelity’s Customer-Driven Innovation
Relevancy, Not Novelty Good innovators know that you always start with your customers’ needs or problems. In fact, studies show that a lack of customer insight is the number one cause of innovation failure. When looking to study innovative industries, financial services companies rarely comes to mind. Instead we equate financial services with a conservative and risk-averse […]
Innovate Like Sherlock Holmes
I am a fan of mysteries. I think they can train the brain to be a better innovator. I’m currently re-reading the complete works of Sherlock Holmes. In “A Study in Scarlet,” Holmes provides some great perspectives that everyone should consider. After Holmes made some amazing deductions about Watson’s current state of affairs, Watson was […]
Your Innovation Efforts are Focused on the Wrong Opportunities
One very dark night I was walking down the street. Under a street lamp there was a drunk guy who was on his hands and knees looking for something. I stopped and asked what he was doing. He slurred his words and said, “I lost my keys and am looking for them.” I asked him, […]