Shows
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasCrystallising the spirit of innovationAn interview with Hannes Erler, Strategic Director for Innovation Ecosystems, Swarovski. This wide-ranging interview looks back at how a major European company grew over a hundred-plus years from a small engineering start-up to become a global player in the fashion, jewellery and accessories business through constant innovation.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!2023-08-0721 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasWhy value networks matter in scaling innovationInnovation needs ‘complementary assets’ – the ‘who else?’ and ‘what else?’ pieces of your innovation jigsaw puzzle. This podcast explores the different roles involved in constructing value networks - ecosystems which can deliver shared value at scale.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2023-07-1620 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasCracking the innovation code - an interview with Robyn BoltonThis episode offers an enlightening conversation with Robyn Bolton, founder and ‘Chief Navigator’ of Milezero, a consultancy specialising in helping organizations think through their innovation challenges.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2023-06-2825 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasTime for innovationThis podcast explores the complex links between time and innovation.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2023-06-1417 min
Plastic. Climate. Future.Rethinking Innovation - with John BessantIn this thought-provoking discussion with Plastic Climate Future, John Bessant extends our understanding of managing innovation, AI, and circularity, providing insights that are as deep as they are enlightening. Tune in to get a whole new perspective on innovation, and how it shapes our world.Stay updated with us through our LinkedIn and InstagramIf you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review on Apple Podcast2023-05-2844 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasCooking up some innovation magicThis podcast offers a case study of Instituto Caldeira, a successful innovation hub which has helped transform the city of Porto Alegre in Brazil through innovation-led growth.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2023-05-2020 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasUnderground innovation - how giving people space can amplify innovation effortsBy their nature people are innovators, full of ideas which can often lead to significant value-creating innovations. This podcast explores the ways in which such innovation happens and how we might tap into this rich well of possibilities.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2023-04-2520 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasIMPACT - Building values-based innovation cultures for sustainable business impact – an interview with Prof. Dr. Henning BreuerSustainability matters - of course. You'd have to be living in a bubble not to be aware of the wide-ranging conversation on this theme. But how to translate the rhetoric - whether it be the UN or EU's sustainable development goals or the aspirational strategies of businesses - into something practical?
This podcast interview explores the topic in an interview with Henning Breuer of the EU's IMPACT project.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2023-04-1226 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasA flop is not a failure...Changing our mental models about what we do and how we do it can be an important trigger for new directions - innovation. This podcast explores the idea of reframing as a powerful source of innovation.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2023-03-2211 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasInnovation - we've got it taped!This podcast looks at the history of data storage, from the early days of recording sound to today's huge data management tools. In its patterns of radical innovation followed by long periods of incremental improvement it highlights some surprising lessons about innovation which have relevance today.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2023-03-0620 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasI'm in love with Chat-GPT - another innovation songAnother innovation song, inspired by an article in the Journal of Product Innovation Management by Frank Piller and colleagues, in which they put Chat-GPT through its paces as an innovation assistant. It performed surprisingly well at diverse tasks including search and analysis, trend spotting and idea generation. Their conclusion was that this technology would work best in hybrid mode - in other words, in a human/AI partnership.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2023-02-2006 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasInnovating innovationMachine learning (AI) has its roots back in experiments with ‘artificial intelligence’ in the 1970s but has come to represent a powerful technological trajectory as the idea of mimicking human neural networks and their learning capabilities has been explored. And now we have generative AI, which does what it says on the tin — generates something new. This creates major new opportunities for innovation - but we need to think hard about how we harness it as this podcast explores.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even...2023-02-0113 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasIf at first you don't succeed...What do Mickey Mouse, vacuum cleaners, air travel and light-bulbs have in common? More than you’d think, especially if you look to the originators of those widely different things. All of their innovators spent a great deal of time being knocked back, living through failures and generally struggling to take their ideas forward.
This podcast explores the idea of persistence and perseverance in innovation.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2023-01-2012 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasDelivering innovation2022 was a record year for home delivery of parcels and packages. After the Covid-19 lockdowns the idea of remote shopping became an even bigger reality and changed the behaviour patterns of millions. This podcast looks at the innovation history of mail order and draws out some lessons for how we think about and manage innovation.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2023-01-1018 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasA letter to (Innovation) Santa....Christmas, as my 6 year old never tires of reminding me, is coming. Never mind that technically it’s a month away and forget the efforts I make, Scrooge-like, not to allow any trace of the season to cross our threshold until at least 1st December. So this podcast represents an attempt to bring a little Yuletide background to the innovation challenge..
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2022-11-2712 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasPlaying the innovation gameBirds do it. Bees do it. Even educated fleas do it….. Well, I’m not sure about the last one but someone somewhere has probably done some research on the topic. We humans certainly do it, especially when we’re young. I’m not talking about falling in love but about extending Cole Porter’s observations to a different world, something up there in terms of importance — playing.
This podcast explores the key role which play has in successful innovation.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some 2022-10-2016 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasIce cream dreamsIce cream and innovation may seem unlikely bedfellows but as this podcast tries to show there's a lot of useful lessons to be found in exploring the innovation history of ice cream.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2022-10-0423 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasDon't kick the copier!Innovation isn't a solo act - it depends on sharing and shaping ideas. And one underestimated place where this happens is within what is called a 'community of practice'. It's where different knowledge, often tacit, can be shared and used - and one of the places where this was first seen was in the strange world of photocopier repair engineers!
This podcast looks at the many ways in which CoPs can help innovation.
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2022-09-1514 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasOpen innovation - another innovation songThis one was written in part as a contribution to the retirement celebrations of the Father of Open Innovation, Henry Chesbrough ......
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2022-08-0905 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasTwo timing innovationMultiple independent invention is surprisingly common — there have been many research studies highlighting the pattern. Examples include the blast furnace (invented independently in China, Europe and Africa) and the crossbow (invented independently in China, Greece, Africa, northern Canada, and the Baltic countries). And they reveal an important home truth about how innovation actually happens.
This podcast explores the topic
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2022-07-2817 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasScaling innovationInnovation isn't just a matter of fighting through the challenges of the start-up. That's only halfway along the journey to real impact - and the challenge of scaling innovation remains one of the big mountains we still have to learn to climb.
This podcast explores some of the issues involved
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2022-07-1119 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasDigital is different?There’s no shortage of scary headlines reminding us of the looming challenge of digital transformation. The message is clear. On the one hand if we don’t climb aboard the digital bandwagon we’ll be left behind in a kind of late Stone Age. On the other we’re facing some really big questions — about employment, skills, structures, business models, etc.
This podcast explores some of the challenges
You can find a transcript here, together with many other innovation resources including video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs!
2022-06-2119 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasWhy creative conflict matters in innovationIs your innovation team full of 'nodders'? That's the wonderful name P.G.Wodehouse gave to the 'yes-man' characters in his books about the early days of Hollywood. But it is a real problem in teams trying to be creative - because the best ideas often come from people who argue.
This podcast explores the importance of creative conflict in innovation
You can find a transcript together with many other resources, video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs - at my website here
2022-05-1712 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasManaging knowledge spaghettiInnovation is all about knowledge spaghetti.Just like a plate of pasta innovation involves many different strands. Only this time we are talking about knowledge - technical knowledge, market knowledge, legal knowledge, financial knowledge and so on. They need to be woven together to create value. And these knowledge strands are held by different people, inside and outside the organization. We have to find them and connect them, link them together to enable us to innovate.
This podcast explores some of the ways we can do this.
You can find a transcript...2022-04-2418 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasReleasing the power of users - why healthcare innovation is going to depend increasingly on the insights of patientsWe’re all going to depend increasingly on healthcare innovation for the quality of our future lives. Keeping ourselves healthy, coping with chronic ailments, living into old age with dignity and independence. We all want this — and we’re going to need all the help we can find to help us get there.
This podcast explores the world of healthcare innovation and the key role which user input can play in that process.
You can find a transcript together with many other resources, video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs - at my website here
2022-04-0614 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasThe suggestion box strikes backThe suggestion box sounds like a very old approach to the challenge of high involvement innovation - how to engage the majority of people in an organization in the innovation agenda. .But its successors - collaboration platforms for innovation - carry out essentially the same task. The difference is that they do so in powerful ways and provide a key engine for innovation.
This podcast looks more closely at such high involvement innovation tools
You can find a transcript together with many other resources, video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs - at...2022-03-1718 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasAt the Innovation Ball - another innovation song..Innovation is all about uncertainty - no-one knows quite what's around the corner. So there's a limit to how far we can plan to work with it - and instead we need to develop the skills of agility. As this song suggests, it’s a bit like learning to dance....
You can find a transcript together with many other resources, video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs - at my website here
2022-02-2704 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasMaking innovation count - why measurement mattersThe great management writer W. Edwards Deming had a powerful introduction to his talks on quality management. Pulling out a dollar bill and waving it in front of the audience he would point out the wording: ‘In God we trust’ — and then go on to comment that in business life the same principle could be applied, but with the afterthought ‘…everything else we should measure’. His argument was simple; if we want to control something we need to make sure we measure it.
This podcast explores some of challenges in measuring innovation for strategic success.
You can find...2022-02-0317 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasNot invented here? Why letting go is sometimes the hardest part of innovationHistory is full of examples of innovations which, despite their promise, have been resisted by established players – the ‘not invented here’ (NIH) effect. And although we’re familiar with the problem it doesn’t seem to have gone away; there are still plenty of examples to be found across today’s innovation landscape.
This podcast explores the new technology of unmanned aerial vehicles - drones - and how they may represent the latest incarnation of NIH.
You can find a transcript together with many other resources, video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs - at my website her...2022-01-2022 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasEveryday entrepreneurs Here’s a challenge. Close your eyes and try to visualise an entrepreneur. There’s a good chance that what you’ve come up with will be one of the usual suspects — Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, perhaps some of the older versions like Steve Jobs or even Thomas Edison. But in reality it's not a job for superheroes and we're all capable of innovating to create value - providing we learn and hone the skills.
This podcast explores 'everyday entrepreneurs' and the capabilities which ordinary people need to achieve extraordinary results.
You can find a t...2022-01-1018 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasLearning to create the digital futureWhat kinds of skills are going to be needed in organizations as they move towards an increasingly ‘phygital’ (= hybrid physical and digital) world of operations? Why are the skills of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship becoming so important? And how might people be trained on a continuing basis to acquire and deploy these skills inside a large international organization? In this podcast we speak with Dietmar Schloesser, responsible for digital innovation at the German company TuV-Nord.
You can find a transcript together with many other resources, video, audio, cases, tools, even some songs - at my website here
2021-12-2032 min
Science of Business by ValueshipsCreativity in Business Contexts with John BessantIn this episode of Science of Business I will be talking with John Bessant, Senior Research Fellow from Innofora, that dedicated his 40 years of career to explore the world of creativity and innovation.
We will be discussing different research pieces in the field of creativity and the ways they apply in modern business contexts. Some topics we will cover include:
➡ Where is creativity needed in business contexts?
➡ How to properly run a creative session?
➡ What can go wrong in a creative session?
➡ Big and small "c" creativity in business?
➡ Facts and myths about creativity2021-12-1559 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasDelivering digital transformation - an interview with Alan BrownSend us a textThe challenge of digital innovation is everywhere. It’s hard to escape the talk of ‘revolutionary impact’ or ‘digital disruption’ or the need for new strategies to cope with ‘digital transformation’. But what’s really going on, where are the big questions we should be addressing and how might this affect our approach to innovation management?This podcast features an interview with Alan Brown, Professor of Digital Economy at the University of Exeter, author of the inf...2021-12-1027 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasMoving to an online world of innovation trainingSend us a textPodcasts are a bit like London buses. You wait a long time and then three come along all at once! This week we feature more in the series around the challenges to education and training in innovation , creativity and entrepreneurship - the main theme of the VISION project.We’ve already seen that there are likely to be significant shifts across the landscape in terms of technology, expectations, curriculum, evaluation and overall student experience. But how will...2021-12-0614 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasSuccessful alchemySend us a textThis is the story of the development of porcelain, a series of innovations which enabled the creation of beautiful artefacts and a global industry. They represent a kind of alchemy, transmuting a handful of earth into weisses Gold - white gold.You can find a transcript hereIf you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich variety of cases, tools, vi...2021-11-2516 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasShaping the future learning landscape for innovationSend us a textThe development of skills and capabilities to work with innovation is becoming essential — they are no longer the province of specialists but something we all need to acquire and practice. In an earlier podcast we looked at the changing landscape for learning about innovation and entrepreneurship., drawing on the VISION project, a major European study looking at this question. At its heart is a vision of how things might develop over the next ten years and it p...2021-11-1952 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasPriming the innovation pumpSend us a textYou don’t get to be 150 years old just by being lucky. German pump-maker Wilo is paused to celebrate its big anniversary next year and it owes a great deal of its survival and growth to innovation, something it has worked hard to build into its culture. Founded in 1872 as a brass and copper foundry the business has grown to become a typical ‘hidden champion’, quietly getting on with its business of becoming world-leading in its field, providing a wide range of ...2021-11-0121 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasLearning into the futureSend us a textInnovation matters — of course. It’s the driving force behind economic and social change and underpins our evolution as a civilised society. And with the kind of challenges we now face it’s also clear that the development of skills and capabilities to work with innovation are also becoming essential — they are no longer the province of specialists but something we all need to acquire and practice. They are becoming life skills — but developing them across the population raises a...2021-10-2124 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasPlaying to learn - and learning to playSend us a textWatch any group of kids at play and you can remind yourself that this is something which comes naturally. It should do; evolutionary psychologists are pretty clear that the ability to play (and therefore imagine and simulate a variety of situations) developed as an important adaptive mechanism. Kids play because they are hard-wired to do so; reward circuits in the brain reinforce the experience with suitable chemicals to ensure it is seen as something pleasurable which they will...2021-10-0816 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasGoing with the flowSend us a textSometimes it’s the simplest ideas which change the world. A metal box which can be easily loaded and unloaded transformed the pattern of world trade and the economics of shipping and distribution. Brainchild of Malcolm McClean the idea of containerisation is one of those innovations which changed the world.McLean was a tough entrepreneur who’d already built a business out of trucking. He’d learned the rules of the innovation game the hard way and knew that having a great i...2021-09-2913 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasSustainability-led innovationSend us a textThe sustainability challenge.Maybe you’re a pessimist, seeing dire threats in global warming, worrying about the rate at which we’re using up the planet’s resources, concerned at the way we’re carelessly throwing the litter of our thoughtless consumption for later generations to pick up. Or maybe you’re an optimist, seeing new opportunities in this changing world perspective, shifting to low carbon solutions, cleaner energy and smarter homes and cities. Unlocking new techno...2021-09-1417 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasFlying high with great ideas...Send us a textTry this. Get hold of a group of people, mostly strangers, and have them gather at the opposite side of a large room. Now run very fast towards them and, just before you reach them, leap off the ground and let yourself fly through the air. Sounds a crazy thing to do and one which is not too healthy if they fail to catch you — yet it is a typical warm up exercise in the world of theatre. Groups of actors gather together to try and create a theatrical experience which will be...2021-09-0212 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasThe power of problem explorationSend us a text‘Houston, we’ve had a problem here’. John Swigert’s famous words, delivered in a voice as calm and clear as the mountain air in his native Denver home. But to the Apollo 13 mission controllers thousands of miles below in Texas this fired the starting gun in a race against time. At 2am on 14th April, 1970 an explosion in the main oxygen tanks and the failure of a major part of the electrical system suddenly put the Apollo crew’s lives at risk. The extreme conditions in which they...2021-08-1812 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasOld kids on the innovation blockSend us a textIt’s sometimes easy to forget that even the world’s largest companies were once start-ups. And a key feature of start-ups (the successful ones) is that they are fast learners. This blog looks at the way in which this fast learning, coupled with a willingness to embed and reinforce successful practices, can build innovation capability for the long-term. It can even grow a globally successful corporation with over a hundred years of innovation history - with the help of a banjo pl...2021-08-1316 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasLearning to manage innovation - a glimpse into the futureSend us a textWe need innovation more than ever. But we also need to be able to make it happen effectively, to be able to repeat the trick. There’s too much at stake to trust to luck; we need to learn to manage the process. Which puts a premium on thinking about how we approach supporting the learning of these life skills for the future. How can we enable different learners in different contexts to master the craft of innovation? In this situation having a pictur...2021-07-3025 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasCrisis innovation - another innovation songSend us a textTime for another innovation song....This formed part of my keynote session with Tim Minshall at the R&D Management conference last week. Their title was 'Innovation in an era of disruption' and Tim and I were exchanging ideas on how we might learn from the many innovation responses to the current pandemic crisis - and carry some of those lessons forward. Cue for a song to distil some of the key messages......You can find a transcript below:Innovation’s always bee...2021-07-1305 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasTransacting innovation ideas...Send us a textISPIM - the International Society for Professional Innovation Management - holds an annula conference which is always a good place to bump into new ideas and people in the world of innovation management. Unfortunately this year's event, like that of 2020, was confined to virtual space instead of taking place in the fascinating city of Berlin. But that didn't stop it being another stimulating few days - this podcast contains a few of my reflections...You can find a tr...2021-06-3010 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasInnovating with diversitySend us a textAn interview with Henry Rose LeeVariety is the spice of life - and diversity is the driver of innovation. There’s a great deal of research which highlights the value of different ideas and insights coming from diverse perspectives and the power of bringing them together in the innovation mix. But how can we build this into our approach to managing innovation?In this interview inter-generational expert Henry Rose Lee explains how today’s organizations contain a fascin...2021-06-1831 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasMastering the craft of innovationSend us a textThe idea of learning a craft offers us a useful metaphor for the world of innovation. We know it’s not magic - creating value from ideas doesn’t simply happen when a light-bulb flashes above someone’s head. It involves a journey, one as fraught with uncertainty and nasty surprises as any of my interstellar jaunts. And whilst each journey is unique there’s a pattern to them which is shared; innovation involves key stages from ideation right through to capturing value. Whether we ...2021-06-1011 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasCollaborative innovationSend us a text‘With every pair of hands you get a free brain!’ This flash of the blindingly obvious underpins the growing awareness in organizations of the huge potential their employees offer in terms of contributing to the innovation story. But mobilising such high involvement innovation wasn’t always easy - until the arrival of powerful collaborative platforms to enable it. These days organizations can engage thousands of people, not just amongst their workforce but out i...2021-05-2832 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasMetacognition....Send us a textMetacognition. Sounds a good word and it's certainly an important one. The dictionary defines it as ‘thinking about thinking’, self-awareness, our ability to oversee what we are thinking and doing. It’s not a new idea - the Greeks had it pretty much nailed (literally) to the arch over their oracle at Delphi. If you want advice on how to approach an uncertain future begin with this recipe - ‘Know thyself’. But it's more than a self-improvement motto. It's a key neural capabi...2021-05-1815 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasDiving deep for innovation - an interview with Gavin McClaffertySend us a textDiving deep for innovationFor many years Gavin McClafferty was Innovation Manager with Subsea 7, a major player in the highly specialised world of deep-sea engineering services. Laying down and looking after pipelines and cables thousands of feet below the surface of some of the world’s roughest water poses plenty of innovation challenges. And solving them is something which requires focusing as many creative minds as possible. Gavin’s experience in takin...2021-05-0231 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasManaging innovation in the humanitarian aid sectorSend us a textWe often talk about innovation being a survival issue - but in the context of humanitarian aid it takes on a very literal meaning. Crises, whether natural or man-made, require rapid problem solving if agencies and aid workers are to avoid the huge negative impacts of such disasters. For a long time humanitarian innovation (HI) took place in a responsive mode, often on an ad-hoc basis; the focus was on the innovations themselves rather than looking for an underl...2021-04-2222 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasPlatforms for social innovationSend us a textAmongst all of the interest in platform models it’s worth looking at the potential they might have for social innovation. Can we create an ecosystem to help enable better linkage between social needs and means, one which allows the development of innovations across it? There’s a lot of talk about ‘getting back to normal’ after the pandemic. And whilst that’s something we fervently wish for there may also be elements of ‘Covid-life’ that we mig...2021-04-1516 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasDynamic capability - another innovation songSend us a textContinuing my quest to put key innovation management themes to music, here's another song. Lyrics below: You like to think you’re sitting on top of your technology Your gadgets are smart and cool ‘cos you do lots of R and DYour software’s fast - your data’s the bestYour packaging’s great - you can ignore the restThere’s only one problem left at your doorFolks don’t want your product any more…. ChorusSo you need… Dynamic capability In i...2021-04-0803 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasFlirting with good ideas...Send us a textNext time it starts to rain and you reach for your folding umbrella spare a thought for Slawa Duldig. She was the Viennese sculptress who invented and patented the device back in 1929 and it's been keeping people dry ever since. But the birth of this, like so many innovations, was not in the research labs of a large company but as a result of her frustration with the large heavy and clumsy umbrellas of her time. Along with many user innovators her concern to so...2021-03-2612 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasA question of balanceSend us a textIt's easy to think of innovation as being all about creative freedom, experimentation and exploration. But we also need to recognise the need for what Peter Drucker called 'the discipline of innovation'. This podcast looks at the challenges in balancing innovation activities to maintain a healthy balance and looks at some of the messages around the need for maintaining 'dynamic tension' in our approaches.You can find a transcript hereIf you'd like to explore m...2021-03-1616 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasA curious blend of innovationSend us a textThe kitchen blender has a lot to answer for. These days there are plenty of experiments with what you can cram into the jug and then blur into a fine emulsion – not all of them entirely edible. It’s the ideal lockdown toy, but whilst it might permit all sorts of interesting smoothies it would be a slightly odd mind which decided to try and make one up out of egg white and titanium dioxide. Doesn’t sound like it would delight the taste buds – but then aga...2021-03-0515 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasSources of innovation - another innovation songSend us a textWhere do innovations come from? Research suggest that there are many different sources, some working to create opportunities ('knowledge push') and some channeling various kinds of demand signal ('need pull'). This song offers some ideas about the different ways in which innovation can be triggered......You can find a transcript and video version here....If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation...2021-02-2306 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasConnect the dots - an interview with Catharina van DeldenSend us a textCatharina is the CEO and founder of Innosabi, a successful software business specialising in the innovation field. In this interview she talks about her new book 'Connect the dots' which has the subtitle 'Agile innovation and collaborative ecosystems'.You can find a video version of this interview hereIf you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich vari...2021-02-1519 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasStriking an innovation chord...Send us a textI don’t know about you but I’m spending a lot of time listening these days. As my physical room to move about contracts (thanks to lockdown) so I’m enjoying taking voyages inside my head, carried along by music. The choice of vessels in my harbour is impressive; I can embark on a whole series of different journeys depending on my mood – jazz, classical, soft folky reminiscence or driving angry rock. Whatever the journey there’s a pretty good chance a guitar wil...2021-02-0520 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasBuilding an open innovation ecosystemSend us a text An interview with Christoph Krois, Open Innovation Manager at Siemens in which he talks about the opportunities and challenges in deploying open innovation across a large transnational companyYou can also watch the interview hereIf you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich variety of cases, tools, videos, activities and other resources - as well as m...2021-01-2914 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasAnother innovation song - why user innovation mattersSend us a textContinuing my quest to put key themes in innovation management to music here's a sideways look at why organizations should look again at the value users can bring to their innovation process....You can find the lyrics/transcript hereIf you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich variety of cases, tools, videos, activities and other resources - as well as my ...2021-01-2205 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasYes - you can innovate! Interview with Natalie TurnerSend us a textNatalie Turner is a writer, speaker, innovation consultant and coach. In this interview we explore some of the core themes in her book 'Yes you can innovate' and look at some of the challenges facing organizations trying to innovate in today's complex and difficult environmentIf you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich variety of cases, tools, video...2021-01-1318 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasBags of ideasSend us a textThe humble brown paper bag might seem an unlikely place to look for inspiration about innovation. But this sturdy workhorse of the retail world is making a comeback, driven not least by concerns about the impact plastics waste is having on our planet. In this podcast we take a closer look at the surprisingly rich innovation history behind it....You can find a transcript of the podcast hereIf you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of re...2021-01-0515 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasManaging innovation in a healthcare settingSend us a textAn interview with Lynne Maher, Clinical Director for Innovation, Ko Awatea , Auckland, New ZealandInnovation in healthcare affects us all. And implementing change in such a complex system is often difficult. In this interview Lynne reflects on her extensive experience of trying to manage and enable innovation in a number of different settings and shares some advice for others working in the sector.You can watch this interview hereIf you'd like to explore more innovat...2020-12-2135 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasHow to scale innovation - throw a party!Send us a textWhen Earl Tupper invetned 'Tupperware' he pulled off some impressive product and process innovation, turning waste from oil refining into bright housewares with a powerful seal which made them perfect for storing food. Yet the product didn't really sell - until he encountered Brownie Wise and her sales magic. At the heart of this fascinating success story of scaling innovation is the Tupperware party sales model - essentially setting out the basis of what we recognis...2020-12-0918 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasEnabling innovation - an interview with Sarah KellySend us a textOne of the challenges facing innovation managers is to help create the kind of culture in which innovation becomes 'the way we do things around here'. It's easy enough when you are working with a specialist team of innovation professionals - but what happens when you try to involve the whole workforce? And how do you do this in a large global organization with thousands of employees all around the world?This is the challenge Sarah Kelly, Senior Innovation Manager at ...2020-11-3025 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasUse our ideas.....Send us a textUsers are often a very powerful source of innovation - providing we listen to them!Lyrics below: If you need some inspiration When you’re wanting innovation Ask the crowd, they’ll shout out loud “U – U – Use our ideas!” When it comes to diffusion There’s a really neat solution Bring the users along, you can’t go wrong Just U-U-Use their ideas! In a world of co-creation, customer emancipation There is this new big th...2020-11-2001 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasPeanut-powered innovationSend us a textPeanuts might sound an unlikely source of insight into how we can learn to manage innovation. But - as this podcast shows - there's a lot to this particular legume. Something which didn't escape the attention of George Washington Carver, the man who did so much to promote it as an alternative crop to poor cotton farmers and helped engender an agricultural revolution in the USA. Carver's legacy goes well beyond peanuts - he was a pioneer in helping understand ho...2020-11-1013 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasLaggards.....Send us a textSomething a little different in this podcast - the beginnings of my quest to put innovation ideas to music!There's plenty of discussion about early adopters and other segments of the population in terms of their approach to adopting new ideas. But this song looks at the other end of the spectrum - the 'laggards' for whom any kind of change is not necessarily welcome....You can find the lyrics here:If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide ran...2020-11-0204 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasDiversity mattersSend us a textDiversity matters in innovation. Particularly because it allows us to access a wide range of different viewpoints which can contribute to the innovation task both in terms of improving the front-end design and also by accelerating diffusion downstream because ideas developed with user input have a better chance of being compatible But if we're going to involve users we're going to involve diversity we need to find methods to make sure we can deal with our aspiration t...2020-10-1814 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasLondon Bridge isn't falling down...Send us a textLondon Bridge isn’t falling down. In fact it’s in excellent health considering it straddled the river Thames for two hundred years before being dismantled, shipped halfway around the world and re-erected, stone by stone, in the middle of a lake in Arizona. If you were to take one of the pleasure craft which now ply their way across Lake Havasu you might find yourself looking a little more closely at those stones as you pass under one of the five wide arches of the br...2020-10-0316 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasExploring innovation space - incremental and radical innovationSend us a textThis episode looks at the opportunities for innovation in both incremental (do what we do but better) and radical (do something completely different) fashion.It forms part of a series of resources to help learn about the ways in which we might master the skills and build capabilities in innovation and entrepreneurship.For more details please follow this link:https://johnbessant.org/the-craft-of-innovation-2/If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range...2020-09-2313 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasWhy bother with user innovation?Send us a textWe’re only just beginning to get a measure of how much innovation begins with user ideas. Studies by NESTA in the UK, for example suggest that close to 10% of product innovations and 15% of process innovation begin in this fashion – and that’s almost certainly an underestimate. Users are a hidden ‘front end’ of innovation, highly motivated, prepared to experiment and tolerant of things not working right first time. So whatever we do – whether we’re a commercial compa...2020-09-1012 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasThe importance of innovation modelsSend us a textHow we think about something shapes what we do about it. What we pay attention to, what we give resources to, what we manage. So it makes sense to check out whether the models we're using to work with innovation are as up-to-date and robust as they need to be.This podcast explores that theme.It forms part of a course , 'The Craft of Innovation' and you can find more details and a transcript of the podcast here at my websiteIf you'd like to explore more innovation sto...2020-08-1712 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasSuccess and failure in innovationSend us a textInnovation is, by its nature, uncertain - we don''t know in advance whether or not it will work, if the market will be there, if some other elements in the environment will shift. But we can build capabilities to help stack the deck in our favour, to enhance our chances of success. And the good news is that we have over 100 years of research into experiences of what makes for success (or failure) on which to draw.This podcast is part of a short course on innovation m...2020-08-1714 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasMaking the innovation journeySend us a textInnovation involves a journey but it's not a case of 'one size fits all'. Different contexts require different variations on the core framework we use to plan and make our journeys - as this podcast highlightsThis forms part of a course on 'The craft of innovation' - you can find a transcript and much more on my website hereIf you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.Y...2020-08-1706 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasThe birth of the InternetSend us a textNo-one knows exactly but it’s a pretty fair guess that at any moment several hundred million people are communicating with each other, working, sharing, living big chunks of their lives via internet conferencing platforms. Doctors diagnose, businesses operate, music and theatre happen, parliaments sit – all in virtual space. But where and how did this technology emerge?This podcast looks at the birth of the internet and explores some of the udnerying innovation lesso...2020-08-1618 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasAn innovation birthday party...Send us a textTwenty five years ago work in a research institute in Germany made it possible to compress audio files into a size manageable enough to broadcast and share - ushering in a wave of innovation which shook the music industry to its foundations and laid the foundations for today's world of streaming. This podcast ( the first of two) looks in more detail at the birth of the mp3....Transcript/blog version here And a YouTube film version hereIf you'd like to explore more innovati...2020-07-3115 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasScaling innovationSend us a textWe spend a lot of time worrying about the ‘front end’ of innovation - how to create new business models around products and services. But what happens when the project succeeds, and the new product or service is launched? If a new idea is to have impact (commercially or socially) then it needs to move to scale. People have to adopt it in large numbers, the ideas need to spread, the concepts diffuse. And it’s here, on the journey to scale, that we fi...2020-07-2022 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasThe birth of the bikeSend us a textBicycles are big business. It’s hard to get an exact figure but estimates suggest there are around 2 billion bikes in the world today – and after Covid-19 there might be a few more. People in lockdown have been turning to bikes as a form of exercise and as an alternative to public transport and they’re doing so in such numbers that waiting lists for new bikes run to three months or more. But bicycles weren’t always around and perhaps it’s worth reflecting a lit...2020-07-0525 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasPhoenix strategies for crisis innovationSend us a textWhen you’re in the middle of the swamp and the alligators are snapping at your legs you can be forgiven for not giving too much precious headspace to thinking about plans for draining the swamp. But assuming you get out of that scrape in one piece it might be worth it. The same is true for our current experience of a crisis-shaken world thanks to Covid-19. Even though there are very pressing concerns it might be useful to pause for a moment and try to draw out s...2020-06-1716 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasThe best thing since sliced bread.....?Send us a textPeople often use this phrase when talking about an innovation and the impact they hope it will have. But what’s the story behind sliced bread – and does it have any useful lessons for innovation managers today?(For a transcript and blog version click here)If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich variety of cases, tools, videos, activities and oth...2020-06-0313 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasSweeping the floor with innovationSend us a textInnovation often makes us think about dramatic shiny new products emergng from high tech sectors. But we shouldn't forget that even the most mundane context can provide the trigger for change - and that change can have sigificant impact in our lives. As this tale of the humble vacuum cleaner explains....(for a transcript of the blog and more information see my website here).If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help ...2020-05-2622 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasCreating an innovation culture (part 2)Send us a textIf we’re serious about wanting a culture of innovation its probably useful to start by exploring what that might involve…. This episode ( the second of two parts) looks at how we might begin to develop the core values and behaviours we'd want to see in our innovation culture.If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich variety of cases, tools, videos...2020-05-0619 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasCultures for innovationSend us a textIf we’re serious about wanting a culture of innovation its probably useful to start by exploring what that might involve…. This episode ( the first of two parts) looks at what mike make up an innovation culture - the core values and behaviours we'd want to see. And in the next episode we'll look at how we might begin to develop these......If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please vi...2020-04-2613 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasCreating innovation spacesSend us a textWhether you call them innovation hubs, maker-spaces, fab-labs, accelerators or hotspots you can hardly turn a street corner or a magazine page before you bump into another example. The names may vary but the underlying idea is the same – a place where people can meet to get inspired and supported by each other, to articulate and co-create.All of these ventures are built on the belief that innovation (particularly of the radical, game-changing variety) needs somewhere to in...2020-04-1120 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasExperience innovationSend us a textThis podcast looks at one of the challenges in staying ahead of competitors through innovation - how to stage memorable experiences which provide meaning for consumers? And how to build a community within which such a process can be maintained through co-creation and storytelling.(I wrote this before the Covid-19 pandemic wrought havoc with the travel sector. But perhaps some of the themes within the podcast might resonate as organizations struggle to rebuild that in...2020-04-0413 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasCrisis-driven innovationSend us a textI first wrote this as a blog piece back in the middle of last year when the only crisis we had to wrry about was Brexit here in the UK. But the undelrying message - that crisis can provide powerful opportunities for innovation - remains important even as we confront a massivley more serious challenge to all of our lives.If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You c...2020-03-2418 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasPreparing for the journeySend us a textIf you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich variety of cases, tools, videos, activities and other resources - as well as my innovation blog.Or subscribe to my YouTube channel here2020-03-2016 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasThe innovation journeySend us a textIf you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich variety of cases, tools, videos, activities and other resources - as well as my innovation blog.Or subscribe to my YouTube channel here2020-03-2007 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasThe innovation imperativeSend us a textThis episode looks at the role of innovation as a way to enable survival and growth in organizations.It forms part of a series of resources to help learn about the ways in which we might master the skills and build capabilities in innovation and entrepreneurship.For more details please the this link:https://johnbessant.org/the-craft-of-innovation-2/If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visi...2020-03-2012 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasThe goalkeeper's fear of the penaltySend us a textThis episode looks at how maintaining focus may not always be the right strategy for innovationYou can read the blog version at www.johnbessant.orgIf you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich variety of cases, tools, videos, activities and other resources - as well as my innovation blog.Or subscribe to my YouTube channel here2020-03-2011 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasInnovating innovationSend us a textThis episode looks at the importance of mental models about how innovation works - and the need to keep reviewing and updating those modelsIt forms part of a series of resources to help learn about the ways in which we might master the skills and build capabilities in innovation and entrepreneurship.For more details please the this link:https://johnbessant.org/the-craft-of-innovation-2/If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help ...2020-03-2010 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasWhy does innovation matter?Send us a textThis episode looks at the many reasons why innovation makes a difference - to individuals, to organizations, to sectors and to the whole of society.It forms part of a series of resources to help learn about the ways in which we might master the skills and build capabilities in innovation and entrepreneurship.For more details please the this link:https://johnbessant.org/the-craft-of-innovation-2/If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources...2020-03-2011 min
Managing innovation - creating value from ideasValue shifts as a driver of innovationSend us a textAs any budding entrepreneur filling in their business model canvas will tell you, we need to think about the market and work on what our target segment will value. And that may take a lot of testing and pivoting around our original value proposition to shape and configure it to the point where it's going to diffuse to scale.So far, so obvious. But this word ‘value’ is worth exploring a little more deeply. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines it as ‘…..the i...2020-03-1215 min
Business of CollaborationPODCAST Prof. John Bessant on Crisis-Driven InnovationThis podcast, Business of Collaboration, it’s in collaboration with ISPIM and it is all about Crisis-Driven Innovation. How did he come with the idea of the importance of crisis-driven innovation? Why does he see it’s important to change how people talk and think about innovation? About Our Guest: Originally a chemical engineer, Prof. John Bessant… Read More »PODCAST Prof. John Bessant on Crisis-Driven Innovation
The post PODCAST Prof. John Bessant on Crisis-Driven Innovation appeared first on Collabwith.2020-01-1844 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasAccidents will happenSend us a textLooks at the role accidents and unexpcted events can play in innovationIf you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich variety of cases, tools, videos, activities and other resources - as well as my innovation blog.Or subscribe to my YouTube channel here2019-11-1608 minManaging innovation - creating value from ideasWhat is innovation?Send us a textBrief introduction to the idea of innovation and the role entrepreneurs play in making it happen.(part of online course 'The craft of innovation'. For more details see https://johnbessant.org)If you'd like to explore more innovation stories, or access a wide range of resources to help work with innovation, then please visit my website here.You can find a rich variety of cases, tools, videos, activities and other resources - as well as my innovation blog.Or subscribe to my ...2019-11-1610 min