Posts by Mike Shipulski
Four Questions to Choose Innovation Projects
It’s a challenge to prioritize and choose innovation projects. There are open questions on the technology, the product/service, the customer, the price and sales volume. Other than that, things are pretty well defined. But with all that, you’ve still go to choose. Here are some questions that may help in your selection process: 1. Is…
Read MoreFour Pillars of Innovation – People, Learning, Judgment and Trust
Innovation is a hot topic. Everyone wants to do it. And everyone wants a simple process that works step-wise – first this, then that, then success. But Innovation isn’t like that. I think it’s more effective to think of innovation as a result. Innovation as something that emerges from a group of people who are…
Read MoreOnly Thing Predictable About Innovation is its Unpredictability
A culture that demands predictable results cannot innovate. No one will have the courage to do work with the requisite level of uncertainty and all the projects will build on what worked last time. The only predictable result – the recipe will be wildly successful right up until the wheels fall off. You can’t do…
Read MoreHealthy Dissatisfaction
If you’re dissatisfied, there’s a reason. If you’re dissatisfied, there’s hope for us all. If you’re not dissatisfied, there’s no forcing function for change. If you’re not dissatisfied, the status quo will carry the day. If you’re not dissatisfied, innovation work is not for you. If you’re dissatisfied, you know it could be better next…
Read MoreHow To Innovate Within a Successful Company
If you’re trying to innovate within a successful company, I have one word for you: Don’t. You can’t compete with the successful business teams that pay the bills because paying the bills is too important. No one in their right mind should get in the way of paying them. And if you do put yourself…
Read MoreDefy Success and Choose Innovation
Innovation is difficult because it requires novelty. And novelty is difficult because it’s different than last time. And different than last time is difficult because you’ve got to put yourself out there. And putting yourself out there is difficult because no one wants to be judged negatively. Success, no matter how small, reinforces what was…
Read MoreSix Important Questions for Innovation
Here are six important questions for innovation: 1. What’s the Distinctive Value Proposition? The new offering must help the customer make progress. How does the customer benefit? How is their life made easier? How does this compare to the existing offerings? Summarize the difference on one page. If the innovation doesn’t help the customer make…
Read MoreThe Courage To Speak Up
If you see things differently than others, congratulations. You’re thinking for yourself. If you find yourself pressured into thinking like everyone else, that’s a sign your opinion threatens. It’s too powerful to be dismissed out-of-hand, and that’s why they want to shut you up. If the status quo is angered by your theory, you’re likely…
Read MoreJust Say No to Cubicles
Whether it’s placing machine tools on the factory floor or designing work spaces for people that work at the company, the number one guiding metric is resources per square foot. If you’re placing machine tools, this metric causes the machines to be stacked closely together, where the space between them is minimized, access to the…
Read MoreDrive Out Fear for innovation to Flow
The primary impediment to innovation is fear, and the prime directive of any innovation system should be to drive out fear. A culture of accountability, implemented poorly, can inject fear and deter innovation. When the team is accountable to deliver on a project but are constrained to a fixed scope, a fixed launch date and…
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