My Website's Signal to Noise Ratio
In audio, there is the concept of the “signal to noise” ratio. This is the ratio of a signal (what you want – such as the music) to the noise (what you don’t want – such as the background noise). Higher ratios are better. Over the past few months, we have been doing some interesting […]
Blizzards and the Birth of the ATM
“Build it and they will come.” We hear that mantra a lot. But with innovation, it is often more like, “Solve a pain and they will come.” The ultimate success of the automated teller machine (ATM) is a great example of this. The other night I was having dinner with someone who in the mid-1970’s […]
"21 The Movie" and Innovation
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsK1c9ZBpuw[/youtube] “21: The Movie” is in theaters today in the United States. Last week I wrote a blog entry on what innovators could learn from blackjack card counters. Today, to celebrate the formal release of the movie, I am including a downloadable pdf with a full article on the topic of statistics, probability, card counting and […]
What Innovators Can Learn From Vegas Card Counters
Which will help your business be more successful: statistics or probability? Underwriters at insurance companies use statistics to assess future risks. This is based on years of collected data. Probability is what card counters in Vegas use to increase their odds of success. This is based on real-time, real-life experience. If you want to play […]
Simplification is Innovation
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of The Little Prince, once said, “Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add but when there is no longer anything to take away.” This is a brilliant quote because it describes the challenge many innovators face. Too often, new products are overly complex and end […]
College Students Innovate for Corporations
Want your organization to be more creative? Maybe you should “hire” college students. Or at least that is what some companies are doing. Yesterday’s Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, Indiana) described a cabinet maker who is partnering with a local university to bring on students with 3-D design expertise. The students work for the company in exchange for real-life experience […]
HP to Consolidate Innovation Efforts
HP recently announced that they are consolidating their innovation efforts and will focus on fewer projects. According to an Associate Press article, HP is “reassigning its worldwide research team of about 600 employees to focus on a total of 20 to 30 major projects, down from roughly 150 different ventures the labs typically have in the […]
How Energy Management Can Improve Innovation Success Rates
Yesterday I had lunch with Scott Westover, a pilot, a business executive and an aspiring speaker. He shared with me some thoughts on how what he learned from aerobatic flying could be applied to business success. I asked him to write a blog entry on this topic. His philosophy is called “Energy Management.” I […]
7 Ways Innovation Can Help Recession-Proof Your Business
As the economy continues to tumble, it is tempting to cut back on your investments in innovation. But now is the perfect time to increase your innovation efforts. Here are seven creative ways that innovation can help you recession-proof your business. 1. Make Your Products/Services More Accessible Successful companies are now shifting their emphasis away from increased performance […]
A Fun Innovation Diagnostic
Innovation can be, and should be, fun. Here is a 16 question “diagnostic tool” I published back in 2001 in my first book, 24/7 Innovation. It may help you assess just how innovative your organization is. It is, admittedly, quite tongue in cheek and not a serious diagnostic. But who knows, you might just learn […]