What do innovative organizations do?
One of my recent keynotes for a global organization focused on the issue of high-velocity change. No matter who you are and what you do, there are certain realities: your markets, customer expectations, competitors, cost structure and business model continues to change really, really fast, and will continue to do so. This little video clip captures that message.
Innovative organizations recognize this reality, and orient themselves to a state of constant, forward-oriented innovation, not only to keep up with but to exceed the constantly rising bar of innovation that surrounds them. They do this by subscribing to several key ideas. Innovative companies:
- adjust to rapidly evolving markets: it doesn't matter what industry: consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, electronics, industrial supply, construction. Every industry is impacted by massive and sweeping change, in terms of product innovation, customer expectations, new business models. Look around you, and there's fast paced change.
- re-align for new workforce realities. With new career attitudes, the migration to the global, contingent workforce, and increasing skills specialization, deploying the right skills at the right time for the right purpose is becoming a core focus of innovation efforts.
- jump on rapidly emerging trends: new ideas now evolve faster than ever before because of the global infinite idea loop. New products, markets and innovation can now go from concept to market in a matter of months or weeks. Innovative organizations know where they are headed, because they are tuned into the global idea loop that envelopes them.
- track the impact of fast-science on product innovation: billion dollar markets are being born through global collaborative science. It's a trend I explore in my Future Trends document on this blog. Understand it, and innovate from it.
- generate ideas through generational collaboration: innovative organizations recognize that different generations have differing attitudes towards change. Rather than battling this reality, they work to ensure that they are getting the best ideas from the experience of longer term staff, combining that with the inspiration and innovative ideas coming from what I call Gen-Connect. Watch the cardboard people/plasma people video on this blog: it provides a good example of what can happen if you don't capitalize on generational insight.
- streamline process: innovative organizations focus on the concept of "agility" -- structuring themselves for rapid response, fast solutions to emerging challenges, and quicker focusing of resources on the changes occuring within the high velocity economy. Search this site for the phrase "agility," and you'll find a wealth of ideas.
- innovate upside down: innovative organizations recognize they can't do it all. They seek partners with everything they do, recognizing that there are of lot of really wonderful innovative ideas that transcend their organization and their culture. This allows them to discover new innovative ideas they hadn't thought of before; a process I call upside down innovation.
- continue to innovate in times of stress: it goes back to my recent blog post, Leading in turbulent times: How to innovate through the recession. Some economies might be in recession: but innovative organizations are already focusing on innovating for the inevitable upturn.
Watch the video 
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Learning how to innovate -- through skiing!
It's a Sunday afternoon, and a full day of skiing is done: and all the roads home are closed because of the snow. So we've settled in for an evening in the chalet with blankets of snow falling outside.
Skiing provides a wonderful metaphor for innovation; it involves taking risk, trying to do things you haven't done before, and always seeking for improvement. When you ski, you are constantly exploring new territory, examining new methods of doing things, and making discoveries that lead to something unknown. Skiing involves constant skills upgrading; there's no end of opportunity for new ideas by examining what others are doing on the hill.
The same type of thing you do when you instill an innovative mindset, either on your own or within an organization.
Two years ago, I keynoted an audience of thousands at the Swiss Innovation Forum. In my closing remarks, I linked the innovation theme to skiing -- because I was leaving from the event to ski the Swiss Alps. That for me was a huge achievement - because I didn't know how to ski less than 9 years ago.
I've caught that little video clip -- it's a little bit inspirational, and perhaps a little bit hokey, but captures for me, the importance of the link between innovation and skiing.
Watch the video clip
Related postings:
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When thermostats get connected .....
MSN Sympatico, in partnership with Cisco, has launched a new business portal in which I'm featured.
I'll be offering up my thoughts, in the form of articles and video clips, issues related to innovation, trends and the future.
In this first video clip, I talk about the unique world of massive connectivity -- a world where I can actually link from my cell phone into a cottage thermostat. One of my latest columns also focused on the continued trend to a digitized home -- in Home, Smart Home, I take a look at some of the emerging technologies.
That future exists today : simply look to Proliphix. Plain old furnace thermostats -- except with a LAN connection built in. You can access your furnace thermostat from anywhere via your Web browser, and so you can control the heat in a cottage or other remote location. And since Proliphix has also released an API, you can write a little bit of code to access and control it through your cell phone.
This is game changing stuff -- in that a simple connected device will change careers, industries, design, construction. There's also a huge impact on energy efficiency with this type of stuff; remote control and management at the residential level will will a lot of innovative, green solutions towards energy consumption.
I will be keynoting the Plumbing-Heating-Contracting-Cooling Association's annual Construction Contractors' Alliance Meeting in Dallas, Texas in February 2008, taking a look at some key trends occurring in the construction industry. This type of connected device, set to become a part of our digital lives, will certainly be part of the discussion.
Related postings:
- Watch the video clip
- Article - Home, smart home
- Proliphix web enabled thermostats
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Making generations work - Cardboard people and plasma people
Can you innovate across the generations? If you can't -- then you've got a big problem to fix!
I do a tremendous number of keynotes that focus on the issue of "managing millenials," and the complexities of change occurring in the workplace. See, for example, my blog post, "Don't Mess with my Powder, Dude." (below)
Yet organizations need to move beyond the staffing issues that come with new generations: they must also ensure that they can innovate at the rapid rates demanded in our new world, and they need to do that by keeping up with the new ideas and innovations occuring with younger staff.
In this video clip, I take a look at the story of the "plasma people" and the "carboard people." Innovation occurs when different generations -- with different attitudes to change -- can cooperate and see eye to eye, and take advantage of different strengths. In this clip, I tell tjhe story where this clearly wasn't the case!
This is a video clip from a recent keynote that I gave for hundreds of executives from the grocery and consumer products industries, titled Faster is the New Fast: Innovating for the New. High Velocity Customer . This story also became the opening chapter in my book, Ready, Set, Done: How to Innovate When Faster is the New Fast.
Watch the video clip
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Faster is the new fast: innovating for the new. high velocity customer
In the fast paced world of instant obsolsolescence and rapid innovation, time-to-market is becoming a key factor for success.
This is a video clip from a recent keynote that I gave for hundreds of executives from the grocery and consumer products industries, titled Faster is the New Fast: Innovating for the New. High Velocity Customer . I take a look at what innovative retail, packaging and consumer goods companies do differently.
This is the third retail presentation that I've done for a major retail conference this year; earlier, I spoke to several hundred convenience store owners and their franchisees; as well as to a group of executives involved in health care retail.
There are a few key themes that I wove through this keynote that retailers, consumer goods and packaging companies need to be thinking about, as well as their advertising agencies:
- velocity: i.e. collapsing product lifecycles
- instantaneity: faster trends; I have a wonderful story about dive-in movies, that I use to describe how the new global idea sharing machine results in faster product to market!
- spontaneity: social networking, rapid emergence of new "hits"; there's a new suddenness with consumer choice!
- intensity: business operational excellence is critical; I have a story of a video game distributor -- 45% to 60% of profit of a new video game occurs in the first FOUR TO FIVE days. I explained similar short, sharp shocks of revenue are coming to consumer goods
- unpredictability: sudden, rapid shift of consumer choice, with nicheing, impact of new packaging, etc.
- simplicity: the new consumer wants nice, simple solutions that fit into their life; there's a great story here from the work I did with the American Nursery Landscape Assn, that spins directly into consumer products, beverages etc, in that simplicity is the new branding.
- volatility: great unknowns; water on planes, melamine/pet food; we have to be prepared for unforeseen risks!
- attractability: there's another video that I'll post soon that involves a story of the plasma people and the cardboard people. suffice it to say, the new consumer will be more highly interactive, sooner than we think
- unfocusability: short attention spans, consumers scan 50 feet of shelf space per second; we're seeing collapsing newspaper/magazine spend, rapid growth of online spend, etc.
- virtuality: Screen Digest, a media consultancy firm, predicts that 80% of active Internet users will become involved in a virtual world by 2012.
Watch the video clip
Related postings:
- Next big home entertainment trend? Dive-in movies!
- Can you run your business at video game intensity?
- High velocity retail innovation
- Creativity, trends and innovation in retail, packaging & consumer goods
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Trends and big transformative changes. Example: health care
The view of the future by most is often short term oriented.
In my keynotes, I often put into perspective the big, massive, sweeping transformations that can change entire industries over the longer term. That's one of the best ways to begin a process of thinking of innovation, and in finding creative solutions to challenges as well as opportunities. There's not enough long term thinking today; there is simply too much short term hype.
In this short video clip, I take a look at the world of health care, and the transformation that is occuring as we move to a world of personalized medicine.
- Watch the video
- read Future Medicine: Prescriptions for 21st Century Health Care
- read "Are you watching the major transformations, or just the piddly stuff?"
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Innovation - agility is critical
I often talk on stage to my clients about the concept of organizational agility: that is, the ability to respond to fast-changing circumstances. In the high velocity economy, everything can move quickly : markets, customer expectations, competitors, products ....
In this video clip, I take a deeper look at the concept of agility, outlining that organizations that master the capability have several key attributes:
- they are rapid movers
- cost excellence is a major focus
- their customers have set high expectations
- they establish instant, need driven relationships in order to get things done
- they excel at rapid response to new market demands
- they focus on fast time to market
- they have mastered the ability for quick marshalling of resources
- ….and they have instant scalability!
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Innovating in the high velocity economy
What does it mean to function in the high velocity economy?
It's all about learning to operate at high speed -- particularly given the rapid rates at which knowledge obsolescence is occuring, due to the rapid advancement of science.
In this video clip, from a presentation to 2,000 engineering and technical staff in Orlando, Jim puts into perspective what it means to operate at high velocity.
Watch the video
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Video - innovation and education
Some weeks ago, I spoke at the University of Oklahoma, on the role of innovation in education.
There's a brief video clip here.
The biggest area for any educational institution in the future is in the area of "just-in-time knowledge." Whether we are dealing with medical, scientific, financial and business, mechanical or engineering issues, one thing is clear: the knowledge that people need to know to do their job today is becoming infinitely more complex every minute, with a constant, relentless flood of that which is new. In such an environment:
- the ability of obtaining rapid, instant knowledge generation is becoming an urgent necessity in almost every field of endeavor;
- the ability to quickly digest, understand and assess new knowledge is an increasingly important skill – one that not a lot of individuals have mastered;
- the ability to reformulate our thinking, assumptions and capabilities to respond to the constant change being thrust upon us is of increasing importance
That’s where the concept of “just in time knowledge” comes in, as it best describes the nexus of these realities.
This video is linked to the post I originally made when visiting the folks in Oklahoma; you can read that post, What's happening with our workforce here
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10 Great Words
A few years ago, I wrote my listing of "10 great words" that could help to spur an organization into pure innovation.
It remains as one of the most heavily trafficked web pages on my site.
I just grabbed this video clip from a recent keynote, in which I used the theme of these "10 words" to close the keynote.
The words (observe, think, change, dare, banish, try, empower, question, grow, do .....) do a neat job of summarizing the culture that an innovative organization must have. I often add a final word on to the list -- enjoy! -- since it goes back to the main and critical point: people who have an opportunity to be innovative have a heck of a lot more fun!
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Innovation comes from flexibility, extensibility, agility....
In the high velocity economy, you've got to be able to design for a future in which all assumptions will constantly change!
In this clip from a keynote to a group of global media players, Jim takes at the attitudes and capabilities that an organization must develop to deal with rapidly changing markets.
The key ideas to focus upon? Design for short term longevity. presume lack of rigidity. design for flexibility, build with extensibility, harness external creativity,
plan for supportability, and revisit with regularity.
There's more on a blog post linked to the clip.
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Business models and complexity partners
With the lifespan of knowledge collapsing, furious rates of scientific advance, and rapid new discoveries, no one company can do everything.
In this clip from a presentation to a cable conference, I'm talking about the new corporate model of the future -- one increasingly based on "complexity partnerships."
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Managing Gen-Connect
Everyone is talking about Gen-Y.
I've come to call the next generation, Gen-Connect. Their attitudes towards careers, which is very unique, is caught in this video clip.
As I posted previously in this blog, "This next generation is completely different in terms of how they think. Kids today 15 and under coming into the workforce are not going to want to have a job, they're not going to want to have a career path, they’re not going to want to work for a company. They are the ultimate entrepreneurs. You're not going to be able to hire them. You're going to be able to contract them at best."
Their attitudes are part of what is driving 10 very unique attributes of 21st century skills, which was captured in a blog post here.
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The impact of globalization
At the Swiss Innovation Forum in Zurich, I took a look at the real impact of globalization -- the new consumer, market commoditization, rapid emergence of new business models, shortened product lifecycles.....
The bottom line? "We need to shake ourselves out of any complacency that we can continue doing tomorrow what we did today."
That's why innovation is critical : organizations today are in a situation in which everything around them is fluid, constantly changing and evolving. Permanence has been torn asunder.
It is only by focusing on continual, rapid change that an organization can adapt to today's new global realities.
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The innovation killers
At the Swiss Innovation Forum in Zurich, I took a look at the attitudes, ideas and cultures which always manage to stifle -- and kill -- any hope for innovation within an organization.
Key point? "Organizations fail, because their have failure engrained in their corporate culture!"
This clip is based on an article I wrote a few years ago about the innovation killers. I often tell a joke on stage that it sometimes seems that there are groups of people who wake up every morning and ask themselves, "what I am going to do today to kill off new ideas?"
Take a look at the list of innovation killer phrases. Take it into your next meeting, and start to take score of how often these phrases are used. That will give you a sense as to whether you are slowly dying from organizational sclerosis, or if you do have a corporate culture that permits innovation to thrive.
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What's your future-attitude?
There are two types of people in the world -- those who view the future with fear, worry and concern -- and the rest of the people who look at the future as an opportunity.
The latter group are the innovators; the former group will do everything they can do dismiss the idea of doing anything differently. (They use the "innovation killer phrases" which I often use on stage.....)
I just grabbed a quick video clip from a talk I did for the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Chamber of Commerce earlier this fall (which drew a standing room only crowd of 800 people), in which I'm talking about the attitudes of farmers towards the future. I spent a bit of time talking about the 10 Big Trends for Agriculture, and put into perspective that we really need to focus on the opportunity of the upside.
It might be worth a watch, because it really puts these two camps into perspective. Take a look at it here
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The Google Car and massive market disruption
There are a few news stories today about Tesla Motors, which includes some of the founders of Google, involved in an effort to build a new electric car.
Let's just call it the Google Car.
I've been predicting this type of massive market shift since sometime in 2004; there's a video clip from January 2006 in which I talked at the Society of Cable Telecom Engineers annual conference about the concept of a Google Car (which in my view, will be delivered via FedEx and will come with a party in a box!). I even included the suggestion that you'd be able to pre-order online.
Hmm, look at that -- you can!
I don't think the scenario posted by Tesla is far-fetched at all -- given rapid science, hyperinnovation, low cost offshore production, and the slow response of other traditional business models .... every industry today is ripe for massive disruption and the rapid emergence of new competitors. A big part of the equation is avoiding 'legacy costs' both in manufacturing as well as sales and support. Think FedEx, not car dealerships. Think smart engine modules that pop in and out, not auto mechanics. Think WalMart, not ReadyLube.
It's all there, and someone just has to pull it together.
Watch the video clip here.
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Denmark TV interview -- Brand image in a low cost economy
Wow! Where did May go?
I had keynotes for a huge number of different companies and associations, ranging from appraisers to broadcasters to motor vehicle dealers ....
Somewhere along the way, I did an interview on the national news for Denmarks's TV2 on the issue of how companies might survive the global low cost economy.
There's a short snippet of the interview you can watch online ; just click the picture above!
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Why the world is becoming faster!
I've put up a new video clip from my keynote for the Society of Cable Telecom Engineers ; this short clip focuses on the issue of why the rate of change around us is going to accelerate, because of simple demographic realities.
I find that a lot of people think about the future in terms of what they see around them today. In this clip, I try to help people realize just how quickly business models and everything else are set to change as the next generation takes over.
Watch the clip
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Change. Deal with it.
Outside my home office, I've got what my family has come to call the "squirrel highway." All day long, they scurry back and forth along the top of the fence, busy collecting and hiding food.
Earlier this summer, my sons and I wondered what would happen if we put up some highway signs for them to obey. We set up a video camera -- taped for six hours running -- and edited out the best bits. It's a project we're still working on.
This clip was the funniest one -- and seems to tell a bit of a story as to the right way to deal with change. I spend a huge amount of my time in keynotes and workshops helping organizations adapt to the rapid rates of change that surround us. And it's certainly clear that lots of people just aren't good with change. This little fellow is!
Watch the video clip
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Fortune Magazine and the infinite idea loop
i>Fortune Magazine's Business Innovation blog linked to my "infinite idea loop" video clip, and the traffic has been pretty heavy from right around the world.
They had this to say of my clip on how innovation has forever changed in the context of what I call "the infinite idea loop: "It's hard to discuss all of these trends succinctly within a brief 3-minute period, but Jim does a great job - it was like watching a motivational speaker up on stage exhorting companies to embrace open collaboration and global connectivity."
Cool -- and thank you for the compliment!
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Dentist drills and just in time knowledge
I've just put up a new video clip of a TV interview in which I'm talking about how children of the future won't know dental drills -- a result of the rapid explosion of knowledge and change occurring around us. Watch it here.
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