BQF Innovation BlogBQF Innovation BlogWe review business innovation issues. We discuss creativity, leaderhsip and innovation as part of a special interest group for the British Quality Foundation. 
Articles
Leadership and Innovation
2008-01-26 17:28:00 There is an interesting report on leadership and innovation on the McKinsey site. Based on a recent survey they say that most senior executives are dissatisfied with their ability to stimulate innovation. They recommend a that a disciplined focus on three people-management fundamentals may produce the building blocks of an innovative organization. A first step is to formally ... More About: Leadership , Innovation
Use a little Mathematics to spice up your Product
2008-01-07 17:56:00 If you are looking for product or process innovations then you could take inspiration from the middle row of your computer keyboard. The letters A S D represent add, subtract and differentiate. What can you add to your product, what can you take away and how can you differentiate? Let?s look at how Ryanair used ... More About: Mathematics , Product , Innovation , Spice
Innovation in Services Meeting on Feb 5th
2008-01-02 19:04:00 The next meeting of the BQF Innovation Unit will be on the morning Feb 5th in London. It is kindly hosted by Royal Mail at their offices on Old Street in EC1. We will discuss innovation in services and processes. Robin Mar of Royal Mail will present on their experiences. There will also be a workshop ... More About: Services , Events , Meeting
Innovation Resolutions
2007-12-30 21:25:00 It is that time of year when we wipe the slate clean and set ourselves new resolutions and goals. I expect that like me you have some personal resolutions. Have you turned them into targets that are measurable and given yourself dates by when you want them done? Whether it is losing weight, getting fit, ... More About: Innovation , Resolutions
Successful Service Innovation
2007-12-18 19:18:00 In In this article in Businessweek, Jeananne Rae analyses what makes leaders in service innovation successful. Her consultancy carried out detailed studies of 12 leading US service companies to see what common patterns emerged. There is a detailed report. ‘Key findings of the report included the Internet emerging as an important distribution channel in almost every case. ... More About: Service , Innovation
Challenging the CSR bandwagon
2007-12-04 17:31:00 It is increasingly fashionable for large businesses to put significant resources into Corporate Social Responsibility programs. They dedicate staff and money to worthwhile causes. They tell stakeholders and applicants how responsible and caring they are as they boast about their worthy projects. Maybe businesses should focus on what they are good at and stay out of ... More About: Innovation , Halle
Sharpening the Skills
2007-11-26 23:10:00 The annual BQF Innovation Seminar was held in October at the Latimer Conference Centre. The speakers included Mike Carr, Chief Scientist at BT?s research labs, Philip Anderson, Chairman of the Global Business Partnership Alliance, Kevin McFarthing, Global Director for Strategic Alliances & External Relations at Reckitt Benckiser, and Paul Sloane, head of the BQF Innovation Unit ... More About: Events , Skills , Sharpening
Adaptive Innovation
2007-11-21 12:35:00 Here is an interesting new article by Michael Slocum on the Real Innovation site. He argues for adaptive innovation and says,’There is an argument that all that can be invented has been invented or, at least, that the number of high-level inventions has diminished over time with the overwhelming majority of patents issued being on ... More About: Adaptive
New Innovation Managers? Community
2007-11-12 23:34:00 Chuck Frey of Innovation Tools.com and Hitendra Patel will launch an online community for Chief Innovation Officers and innovation managers. The main source of content for this online community will be a series of interviews with innovation experts about important innovation issues and challenges. These interviews will be distributed via e-newsletter and will appear in a new section ... More About: Community , Managers , Ager , Unit
Redefine the Problem
2007-11-05 09:56:00 One simple technique that can generate fresh thinking is to redefine the problem. The way we express any issue, the form and choice of words we use, sets expectations and constraints. There was an ideas meeting at a manufacturing plant where shop floor workers were asked for their suggestions on how to improve productivity. The ... More About: Innovation , Problem , Redefine , Define
Great Books on Leadership and Innovation
2007-10-29 10:01:00 What are your favourite books on leadership and innovation? Here is my recommended reading list. It contains books by Clayton Christensen, Gary Hamel, Geoffrey Moore, Peter Drucker, Edward de Bono, Jim Collins and others. When your friends and relatives ask what you want for Christmas refer them to this list. And please send me your suggestions and ... More About: Books , Leadership , Great , Innovation , Inno
Create a Community
2007-10-22 13:32:00 A great way to harness the collective creative power of your customers is to create an on-line community. Wikipedia created an innovative product ? an online encyclopaedia ? by garnering a community of contributors who built all the articles. It is an open source creation. All sorts of people post contributions and the community can organise, correct ... More About: Community , Innovation , Create , Unit
Service Innovation - relocate
2007-10-12 16:09:00 I flew to France recently with BA. I checked in online at home on the morning of the flight. I printed my boarding pass at my printer and saved time at the airport. Not all airlines offer this service and those that do gain a competitive advantage. Anything that saves time, avoids queuing and makes ... More About: Service , Innovation , Inno , Loca
The Innovation Value Chain
2007-10-09 09:41:00 The next meeting of the BQF Innovation Unit will take place on Monday November 26th from 4 to 6.30 pm at the BQF offices in Westminster. The topic is the innovation value chain - all the elements of generating ideas, evaluating ideas, prototyping innovations and then rolling out the successes. In small groups we will explore which areas represent the weakest ... More About: Events , Value Chain , Chain , Hain
Business Model Innovation
2007-09-24 14:00:00 We are familiar with product innovation and with process innovation. They involve finding new offerings or new ways to do things. But how do we handle the biggest challenge of all - business model innovation? This is about discovering and trying an entirely new way for your organisation to operate. There are some interesting tips and ... More About: Business , Innovation , Model , Inno , Sine
October 3rd Conference
2007-09-17 10:37:00 There is still time to book for the half day conference at the Latimer Centre in Chesham, Bucks on the morning of Wednesday 3 October . It is entitled - Sharpen your Innovation Skills. It is a great opportunity to hear leading speakers, to learn new skills and to network with senior executives who share a ... More About: Events , Conference
The Need for Constant Renewal
2007-09-15 12:06:00 Great and successful companies have to constantly renew themselves. It is a risky, disruptive and often unpopular process - but it is essential. I spoke at a business event at Royal Ascot Racecourse this week. Royal Ascot has a superb brand and a loyal customer set. It had a perfectly adequate if rather old-fashioned grandstand. Its ... More About: Innovation , Renewal , Rene
The question is what to do about global warming?..
2007-09-11 18:11:00 The answer is innovation…… Instead of doom mongering and insisting that everyone stops driving or flying perhaps we should look to the innovative power of science based solutions. There are many interesting proposals but they do not seem to get much media coverage. One is to put reflector panels over large areas of desert to reflect ... More About: Global Warming , Question , Innovation , Global , Ming
Innovation in Large Organisations
2007-08-31 11:44:00 The leaders of large organisations recognise the need for innovation and they allocate targets and resources accordingly but often the results are disappointing. Corporate lectures about the importance of creativity and an increase in the R&D budget are just not enough. There are too many obstacles within the organisation to the implementation of new and unorthodox ideas. Often ... More About: Innovation , Inno , Large , Organ
Schubert?s Unfinished Symphony
2007-08-22 10:32:00 The CEO was given a ticket for a performance of Schubert ’s unfinished Symphony . Since he was unable to go, he passed the invitation to the company’s Quality Assurance Manager. The next morning, the CEO asked him how he enjoyed it, and he was handed a report, which read as follows: For a considerable period, the oboe players ... More About: Innovation , Unfinished , Finish
Google?s 9 point plan for innovation
2007-08-17 15:01:00 Selfservice.org has a great article on Googl e ’s approach to innovation based on a talk by Jim Lecinski, MD of Central Region at Google. Here are the points in brief: 1. Innovation , not instant perfection. Google believes in launching new products and ideas early and often, rather than trying to perfect those ideas behind closed doors before releasing them to ... More About: Point , Plan
Innovate or Die!
2007-08-13 12:05:00 Neil Fairbrother interviewed me on Pod3.tv. The programme is called Inno vate or Die and is available as an iTunes video podcast download. We discuss issues relating to the need for innovation, how leaders can establish a culture for innovation and what to do if you want to introduce innovation at a lower level in the organisation. Do ... More About: Innovation
Innovation in Services
2007-08-10 21:21:00 In the current issue of CEO Refresher Katalin Eibel-Spanyi and Andrew Spanyi give some pertinent advice on how to innovate in services. They point out that most people think of innovation first in terms of products. But service or business process innovations can be much more powerful. Dell, Direct Line and Amazon are all examples ... More About: Services , Innovation , Inno
Better for the planet to drive than walk
2007-08-06 18:32:00 It is great to see conventional wisdom challenged head on. Dominic Kennedy writing in the Times on 4 Aug 2007 says that walking to the shops does more harm to the environment than driving. Calculations by Chris Goodall author of How to Live a Low Carbon Life show that driving a typical car for 3 ... More About: Planet , Drive , Innovation , Walk , Anet
How to Kill a Great Idea
2007-07-29 10:02:00 Jonathan Abrams created the first online social network and enlisted Silicon Valley’s best and brightest to run it. Yet Friendster flamed out spectacularly. What went wrong? This article from Inc.com analyses the answer in detail. It contains some salutary advice for entrepreneurs with great innovative ideas. Abrams believes he failed because because he embraced a system ... More About: Great , Innovation , Idea , Kill , Great Idea
Oxford Innovation Competition
2007-07-26 22:40:00 The Oxford University 21st Century Challenge is an international entrepreneurship competition for bold and innovative business ideas that can help to solve some of the key challenges of the 21st Century. The goal of the competition is to promote the creation of sustainable new business ventures that combine financial returns with social and environmental benefits. These can ... More About: Competition , Innovation , Petit , Inno
The Thinker?s Toolkit
2007-07-17 15:33:00 As an author I am always on the lookout for interesting new business books. I have just finished The Thinker ’s Toolkit by former CIA analyst, Morgan Jones. I can recommend it. He shows how systematic analytical techniques are much better than seat-of the-pants decision making. He explains 14 methods including some that I already use ... More About: Innovation
Take the Brainstorm Quiz
2007-07-09 17:09:00 Brainstorms, Thought Showers or Ideation Sessions ? call them what you will ? can be fun, fulfilling and fruitful or damp, dismal and demotivating. It all depends on how they are run. Let?s brush up on your brainstorming skills with a short quiz. Here are some things to think about before your next brainstorm meeting. ... More About: Quiz , Innovation , Brainstorm , The Brain
Innovation Conference - October 3rd 2007
2007-06-25 12:36:00 The BQF annual innovation conference will take place on Wednesday October 3rd at the Latimer Conference centre in Chesham Bucks. The title is - Sharpen your Innovation Skills. It is a morning event and we have a strong line-up of speakers including: Mike Carr, Director Research & Venturing, BT Group Technology Office Philip Anderson, Chairman, Global Business ... More About: Events , Ferenc
3M?s seven habits for innovation
More articles from this author:2007-06-19 00:40:00 How can a large and old company like 3M maintain a strong ethos of innovation? Larry Wendling, vice-president of 3M’s corporate research labs at its St. Paul (Minn.) campus, thinks he knows. In fact, Wendling, an engineer who joined 3M right out of graduate school in 1977, has boiled it down to a seven-point list. ... More About: Habits , Innovation , Nova , Inno , Bits 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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