Posts by Paul Sloane
Manage your Innovation Pipeline exactly like your Sales Pipeline
Managing the Sales pipeline is a well-developed executive skill in any company selling large ticket items to business customers. Each sales person has to gather data and input their reports and forecasts. Some of the key actions in managing the pipeline include: Qualification questions have to be answered. Does the customer need our product? Do…
Read MoreAsk For it by Name – Two lessons for Innovators
During WWI there was tremendous demand for bandages and sterile dressings for Allied wounded on the Western Front. The US company, Kimberly-Clark, developed a new cotton-like material from wood-pulp. It was highly absorbent. They manufactured this in large quantities to supply gas-mask filters and field dressings. When the war ended in 1918 the company was…
Read MoreDisaster Can Open the Door for Innovation
A catastrophe produces an unexpected set of circumstances and this can lead to opportunities for innovation. In January 1992 a container with 29,000 plastic bath toys was washed overboard in the Pacific Ocean. They were manufactured in China and were on route to the USA. They were called Floatees, bath toys consisting of red beavers,…
Read MoreBeat the Blame Culture with Get Out of Jail Free Cards
Is your organization a little too comfortable? Are your people risk averse? Is there a blame culture? How can you encourage innovation by getting men and women to be more adventurous and entrepreneurial? How can you get them to take more risks? Here is an idea that is borrowed from the game of Monopoly –…
Read MoreImprove Your Innovation Process with Innovation Journey Maps
The Customer Journey Map is a popular management tool. It is a visual representation of customer interactions with a company and a tool to investigate, analyse and thus improve customer experiences. Let’s borrow the tool and adapt it for our purposes. The Innovation Journey Map (IJM) is a similar concept showing the journey that an…
Read MoreSeven Verbs that Define Innovation Leaders
Leaders of innovation have a bias for action. They get on with things. No matter how well the business is doing they are not content to settle for what has been achieved so far; they are restless to try new initiatives. These seven verbs describe some of their key actions. 1. Focus. They focus on…
Read MoreTake More Risks
In this two minute video clip we will explore two important questions relating to risk in your life: 1. What is the biggest risk your have taken which has succeeded? 2. What is the biggest risk you have taken which failed? Wait! Before you go… Choose how you want the latest innovation content delivered to…
Read MoreFlipping the Script on Innovation
“If the Door is Shut, Open it. If the Door is Open, Shut it.” Change of State Innovation In looking for innovations it is sometimes helpful to consider whether your product or service is open or closed. If it is open what would happen if you enclosed it? If it is closed what would happen…
Read MoreHow do you get the World to Adopt your Great Idea?
Sometimes the idea is simple and obvious but getting it adopted is very tricky. Containerization was a massively important innovation which powered the expansion of global trade but it was a difficult idea to implement. Before containerization,  goods were physically manhandled as break bulk cargo. At the factory or warehouse goods were loaded onto a…
Read MoreTry this Ideation Method – The Ideas Exchange
The Ideas Exchange is a brainstorm method which works well for larger groups.  It is easy to run, quick and effective. This is the procedure: The problem is clearly stated. Everyone is given two colored cards (or post-it notes). Say one white and one pink. Working silently and individually they write down a sensible…
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