Thinking About Innovation

Aligning Models of Innovation (Part 2)

How do you acquire the technology assets necessary to innovate across four dimensions of an organization - the technology, the humans, the information, and the organization (THIO)? Clayton Christensen, Dorothy Leonard, CK Prahalad, Gary Hamel, and others have all wrestled with this question.
This episode is the reading of a journal article which is very fascinating with clear graphics of these models. But it is a difficult conversion into a purely spoken story. 

Aligning Models of Innovation (Part 1)

Academics have created multiple models of innovation and the impact of technology on business. But upon examination, many of these models are actually identical ideas expressed with different terms and diagrams. Nawaz Sharif suggested a "THIO" model of innovation which seems to unify the ideas of authors like Clayton Christensen, Dorothy Leonard, CK Prahalad, Gary Hamel, and others. 
This episode is the reading of a journal article which is very fascinating with clear graphics of these models. But it is a difficult conversion into a purely spoken story. 

R&D Funding During an Economic Crisis

During an economic crisis, should the federal government continue its level of funding for R&D, or redirect that money to other projects that more immediately impact the daily operations of the country? 

Einstein vs. Picasso in R&D Leadership

There are many types of intelligence and genius. Imagine the differences between an R&D team built by Einstein as opposed to one by Picasso. How would they be different? Individual leader preferences lead to lopsided R&D teams, as does the entire internal culture of a company. 

Innovation as a Sign of Hope During a Pandemic

Innovation is a sign of hope. COVID-19, the Spanish Flu, the Black Death ... though our situation is serious, it has not destroyed hope in the hearts of the population.
The Black Death was so severe that people expected nothing from the future but a gruesome death. Hope for a better future was extinguished for 50 years. The fact that people and businesses today are still innovating for a better future is a sign that hope for the future is still strong in our hearts. 

Googol is a Very Big Idea for a Little Boy

Googol was actually invented by a 9 year-old boy in 1938. But it was rebranded in 1998 as one of the biggest companies in the world. Let's talk about this big idea and how your company can be their favorite partner. 

Microinnovation

Product or service innovations do not have to be huge to have a big impact on customer demand and sales. Microinnovations can solve problems that customers have faced for decades, but which have been overlooked or ignored. 

Why would anyone create another podcast?

There are over 850,000 podcasts on the internet, with over 30 million episodes posted. So why would anyone create another one? Hint: why do people paint, sing, and dance? Do they expect to become rich and famous? 

5 Types of CTO

The CTO position has been applied in 5 very unique ways by different types of businesses. Understand the Genius, Administrator, Director, Executive, and Advocate forms of CTO. Read the CTO Book.

The Scribal Tradition vs. the Printing Press Innovation

In 1492, the Abbott Trithemius was fighting the slow disintegration of the holy calling of the scribe in reproducing books. Gutenberg's printing press was gradually replacing the scribe with a machine that could work much faster.