Innovation: The Who's Where's and How's

This past November I participated in an Innovation conference where I had to present the results of a group brainstorming session on the subject of how to create innovative cultures in staid companies. This past December I was approached by another Innovation conference to participate as panelist on a thought leadership conference. This February I am giving a keynote address at a Frost and Sullivan conference on the subject of spotting trends and market shifts, I was approached by F&S to do so due to my work in Innovation Management. All of these events prompted me to think about the subject of trends and to write this entry. Some trends are so, so evident that there are hard to read; it is something akin to fish not seeing water because it is all around them. Who was it that said something to the effect that the hardest things to see/understand are those that are closest to us? Well, I won’t make this mistake here. One trend seems fairly evident to me now: Innovation is a ...

Lately (well, over three years now) I have become a long distance bicycling addict which unfortunately places me out on the streets together with inattentive drivers driving giganticus SUV’s while on cell phones. If this is not scary enough, now I understand from the latest research, that GPS receivers are the latest distraction toy to complement cell phones. As I deeply believe in the powers of evolution to enlighten us into healthier ways, I hope that we hurriedly are evolving ourselves to accommodate our new, always-on, connected lifestyles. I, and I am sure all my fellow bicyclists out there feel the same way, am praying for this to happen sooner rather than later because the close calls have become too close and in many unfortunate cases, deadly. What brings me to this latest stream of thinking is not the trials and tribulations of sharing the road with inattentive and arrogant drivers and their vehicles, what has surfaced instead, thanks to this new found love, is an insight...