My heartfelt thanks to Dave Duarte: for the opportunity to guest lecture in his stead on main campus while he led the 3rd successful run of Nomadic Marketing at the Graduate School of Business. I’ve seen Dave present countless times - and trust me it’s NOT an easy act to follow - he speaks with ease and engagement on topics that straddle both traditional and the pioneering edges of business. [Though I guess that's what you would expect from someone who specialises in the economics of attention.]
Innovation is one of those spaces that has to bridge both. This often elusive strategic advantage that could catapult you into uncontested territory (with the benefits of time, little competition, easy PR and high desirability in the marketplace) is often seen as the “soft stuff” best left to the creatives/scientists/inventors to envision. Mistakenly.
Never more so has there been such an urgent need for clarity on how to initiate, manage & implement innovation with accelerated competition and tightening resources on a crowded planet.
Companies that realise that the birthing of innovation is induced through rigorous process rather than entrusting it to luck or epiphanies of genius; those who specialise in it, like Google, BMW, 3M, GE, NASA offer insight on how to apply this in our own lives, businesses and careers.
I’m going to be writing 2 posts on innovation from our lecture series to de-fuzz the fluffy concepts around this word so treasured by management consultants. Essentially just as a memory recall for the students, so forgive me if they seem a little disjointed. (though as always you’re welcome to comment and nudge me if something needs more clarity or really connects with you & you want more info)
Continue reading ‘Practical Innovation: relentless problem.solving’
