All posts tagged innovation

The Novel Process of “Bookovation”

llibreria - bookstore - Amsterdam - HDR

When walking into a bookstore you are immediately greeted with a vast array of books strategically positioned on the bookshelves with their spines pointing out at you saying “come closer and have a look at me”!

As a way of encouraging you to clasp your eyes upon them, each book is ordained with its own distinct marketing appeal that is a complex blend of colours and words to entice the potential book buyer. I must admit, I am one those people who does judge a book by its cover so first impressions in this instance do indeed count.

Once tempted by a specific book, you gently slide the chosen article from the shelves and study the outer cover and artwork more closely to further justify your initial selection. At this stage, you have not yet opened the book and do not know what the story could be about, but you are already speculating in your mind various story permutations and plot combinations. If all goes to plan from the publisher’s perspective, you will eventually be seduced into reading the blurb and may then personally commit to purchasing the book for a greater analysis of the numerous pages to justify your expenditure.

This process of judging a book by its cover got me thinking about with the generation of ideas in the corporate office.

What if each employee was given a book with the same title (which represented a work problem to be solved), colours, design and branding on the outer cover of the book? The inside of each book would contain blank pages.

Each employee would then be asked to scribe inside their book the thoughts and ideas that came to them on initially viewing the exterior of the book. These thoughts would only be derived from the title and the complementary artwork (just like in the bookstore). The books would then be collected and the contents accumulated into a combined narrative.

The results I’m sure would be most interesting and I suspect would vary greatly in content. But, what a rich and extensive source of innovative ideas this process would generate! Let’s call the process “bookovation” (short for innovation derived from books).

So next time you are in need for some creativity in your business, may I suggest you give “bookovation” a go, I’m sure that the process would generate a lot of intrigue and enjoyment for your employees along the way. It would also make for the establishment of an impressive corporate library of thought!

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by Steven Cramer on October 24, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on October 24, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/10/24/the-novel-process-of-bookovation/

The Power of a Small Drop

Water Drop

 

When a towel is placed under a tap where the water is flowing quite quickly, most of the water runs off the towel with minimal absorption. However, if the water velocity from the tap is reduced to a slow and steady drip, the towel now becomes very effective with the water collection as each drop has time to fully permeate into the fabric.

Let’s take this thought and consider its application to the implementation of a new idea or innovative, change application in business, or in our social activities.

If the mindset shift associated with the proposed change is too large, those individuals feeling the full force of the change action may not absorb it so it could be lost and have minimal or no impact. The key for success is to slowly drip feed the idea to allow the desired effect to slowly permeate into the organization (or individuals) to which it has been aimed.

However, in some circumstances where efforts to implement change continually encounter strong resistance, sometimes there is the need to use a water canon to blast the change through with maximum force! But this course of action tends to obliterate the “towel” and may not achieve the required result. There are also usually a lot of puddles to clean up afterwards which may require a larger number of fresh towels!

So for your next “change introduction” may I suggest you adopt the steady and slow drip and you will obtain a nice wet and saturated towel!

 

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by Steven Cramer on October 13, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on October 13, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/10/13/the-power-of-a-small-drop/

That “Gaelic Place”

Big Mac

“Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun”.

On reading this sentence, many of you would immediately think of that global hamburger chain identified with the golden arches that I call that “Gaelic Place”.

To many children and adults from all around the world, this is their common perception of a hamburger. But what if we replaced the following ingredients…

Beef patties WITH lamb rissoles?
Special sauce WITH leaves of mint?
Lettuce WITH spinach?
Cheese WITH fetta?
Pickles WITH chutney?
Onions WITH beetroot?
Sesame seed bun WITH Toasted wholemeal bread?

I’m sure that those frequent and loyal eaters at the “Gaelic Place” would not recognise these replacement ingredients when constructed together as a hamburger!?

Let’s just ponder this thought for a moment and expand the discussion a little bit further. Many foods, fashions, music, plus many other items used daily, have become stereotyped by a consistent and standardised formula or delivery methodology. This can also be observed in the corporate workplace where everyone seems to dress in the same work attire, similarly, the offices have that regular format of appearance, funnily enough, very much like the business model used by that “Gaelic Place”?

The same can also be said about the process of innovation where most businesses utilise the same old standard approach of “brainstorming” to try and develop some new ideas.  I have even heard of some brainstorming sessions feasting on a selection of “Gaelic Place” food assortments to assist with the participant’s creative receptivity!

To foster some creativity in the workplace, why not try some new “ingredients”, just like the replacement “WITH” examples provided in the hamburger example above.  Some of these alternative “ingredients” could be:

Standard Work Attire WITH a bow-tie, cravat, kilt, swimming costume?
Corporate Office WITH an external location (the zoo, a picnic ground, railway train, gymnasium)?
Business Co-workers WITH kindergarten children, a choir, actors, artists, the French Foreign Legion?

In summary, there is more than one type of hamburger, the key is to expand your taste-buds with a variety of new ingredients so you continue to think that little bit differently!

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by Steven Cramer on October 6, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on October 6, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/10/06/that-gaelic-place/

Digging for Ideas

Camped

In the 1850s here in rural Victoria (Australia) it was a common sight to see many men and women of different nationalities lining the rivers panning for gold. This form of mining was quite slow and tedious, but for the minimal cost of a metal pan, you could dream of landing that allusive large gold nugget and then live that long awaited life of luxury!

Putting aside the emotion of the Victorian Gold rush, let’s focus on the simple process used for the panning for gold:

Environmental Experience:
Not all rivers contain gold. With the right knowledge, experience and an understanding of the surrounding environment, some river locations were deemed to have a greater potential for gold deposits than other less favourable riverbank positions.

Filtering Iterations:
The panning process involved a large number of filtering iterations in which the larger sediments were initially removed, then the medium sized ones, until the miner was eventually left with a fine particle distribution in the bottom of the pan. A small percentage of these iterations yielded some gold, however many resulted in worthless sand deposits that were ultimately discarded.

Practice:
As time prevailed, the miner’s panning technique improved and the filtering process became streamlined and more efficient.

Persistence:
The miner’s tirelessly repeated the process over and over again slowly accumulating small gold dust particles that with time eventually grew into a sizable and valuable sum of riches.

These gold pan learning’s from the 1850s are still valid today in the 2010s, particularly in the generation of innovative and creative ideas in the corporate office. Rather than unearthing that large gold nugget, here the business objective is to uncover that financially attractive new product or service.

Environmental Experience: In order to have the best chance of success, the organisation should utilise the skills, resources and knowledge contained in a broad cross-section of the business, don’t just rely on a select few employees as you will limit your options for discovery.

Filtering Iterations: The process of brainstorming new ideas will take a number of idea filtering iterations, many of which will be discarded along the way until that “golden thought nugget” is obtained.

Practice: The process of generating new ideas takes practice and repetition, but with time, it will become streamlined and very effective.

Persistence: Don’t worry if you are not successful the first time, keep going and you will eventually discover that prized gem of an idea!

So, may I suggest that you consider your corporate organisation as the river within which many yet undiscovered golden ideas lay buried just below the surface waiting to be unearthed. Your goal is to efficiently mine these ideas and bring them forth utilising the skills and talents that currently exist within your business. Happy digging!

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by Steven Cramer on October 4, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on October 4, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/10/04/digging-for-ideas/

And This Years Winner Is…..Teamwork

That One Day in September

Last weekend here in Melbourne it was the Grand Final of Australian Rules Football competition that involved the clash between two mighty football teams – Hawthorn and Fremantle. On the big day an audience of 100,000+ supporters sat in the famous and historical MCG stadium and cheered loudly as they encouraged their team towards victory with the goal of being the 2013 Premiers. However, only one team can be victorious and this year the winner was Hawthorn.

Prior, during and after the game, it is always interesting to observe the behaviours of the two team’s supporters. Each supporter dresses up in their football team’s club colours, waves team flags and provides “verbal encouragement” to their players, the opposition and particularly the umpires. Although the supporters have allegiance to their individual teams, after the game there is minimal malice and they depart on mass with “friendly” banter amongst their own supporters and those from the opposition team. In this instance, it could be said that the real winner was “football” as the game was a spectacular ending to yet another great football season that was enjoyed by all supporters of the game.

Let’s explore this team concept further in the corporate office. Many organizations are functionally structured into discrete work groups (marketing, sales, HR, production, etc), or business divisions, or via geography (Australia, Denmark, Japan). Over time, these groups tend to develop their own work culture and ethos that crafts and encourages certain good, and some bad behaviours. Unfortunately, this may also lead to an “us” and “them” mentality where one group tries to score points off another work group, just like in the game of football.

However, the key is for these work groups to recognise that there is one larger and more strategic team, that of the total organization. Sure, there can be a work group team credo under the direction of their General Manager (“team captain”), but only if the real winner is the overall business.

In football, it is the umpires role to keep order in the game and to administer and implement the rules to ensure an equal opportunity for all players. Taking this thought further, do we need to establish a band of independent “Behavioural Umpires (BU)” that freely roam the corporate organization calling poor intergroup teamwork with a series of Red, Yellow and Green “behaviour cards” and associated penalties?

For instance, a person given a “Yellow behavioural card” could be placed into a “behavioural sin-bin” for a day where they are forced to watch DVDs of greater teamwork effectiveness? Those awarded a “Red card” may need to spend a day working in the work group they have offended to learn about that team’s ways of “goodness”? However, the “Green card” would reward positive teamwork behaviour and could result in a financial incentive and other forms of recognition. The BU would have a special uniform, complete with a corporate branded whistle, so they are easily recognisable as they wander through the various work teams.

At the end of each financial year, the BUs could get together and have a “best and fairest” award for those employees deemed to have exhibited the optimum in teamwork excellence. There could even be a corporate dinner at a prestigious hotel to celebrate the occasion with a large and impressive trophy presented to the winner by the organization’s CEO.

So may I suggest that work teams never lose sight of the larger organization to ensure that the winner is always the one team, and not the individual!

Just a thought…..

 

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by Steven Cramer on October 2, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on October 2, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/10/02/and-this-years-winner-is-teamwork/

Serving up the Corporate Communication

dinner

 

Have you ever considered the humble beef steak and the many variations in which it can be prepared and served to meet the varying eating requirements of diners?

Some people like their steak raw, others partially cooked, others with a more highly tuned animalistic appreciation, savor it burnt with a delicate charcoal after taste that lingers just that little longer on the palate.

Others like their steak transformed into another eating format such as mince, a sausage, hamburger or even placed on a metal skewer garnished with an array of coloured complimentary ornamental vegetables to add that certain nutritional balance to the eating diet.

The overall result is that many people will happily eat steak owing to the customized presentation and delivery format that meets the endless variety of fickle needs of the consumer.

Let’s explore this thought with respect to corporate communications. Rather than having one single communiqué to the broader organization, a tailored message for each user group is required (you just can’t serve raw steak to everyone!). The message needs to be crafted to meet the consuming needs of each work group. Some groups will like to hear the message straight (don’t cut the fat off their meat), others will need it to be refined (cut into smaller more palatable pieces), some will need it simplified and reduced (via the use of a food processor), others may want some condiments to compliment the taste of the message.

In all the above message scenarios the origin of the communication is the same (just like the original cut of the steak) the skill is in how the Corporate Communication Director (or should I say chef) dishes up the “meat” to ensure that each employee (diner) eagerly greets the communication and is ready to eat it all up and is fully satisfied without the need for seconds, or a dessert!

So in summary, corporate communication is really just food for thought…..isn’t it?

 

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by Steven Cramer on September 27, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on September 27, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/09/27/serving-up-the-corporate-communication/

Ageless Innovation

Rectangular

We start from an early age exploring our surroundings where we learn new experiences on a continuous basis. Some of these learnings are positive, others may be negative, but through each individual encounter our foundation of knowledge increases.

Even as we grow older, we confront different environments and challenges which ensure that we are constantly adapting to our changing surroundings, just like our physical appearance alters with increasing years. However, there is a common constant in place throughout this learning and ageing process, that being the ongoing linkage of ideas where one thought is added to another thought to build a larger and ever expanding idea base.

To demonstrate this process, let us consider one of the most used building blocks that is familiar to all of us, that of a single brick of Lego® (“one idea”). To this brick we add another brick (another “idea”). We then add more bricks which are accumulated with time (“as we age”), where the process continues until we have a vast collection of bricks (or “ideas”). We could just leave the bricks in a large random pile, but we don’t. We join these bricks to make various shapes which we continually modify based on our experience and desires.

This simple analogy demonstrates that what it means to age where the concept of idea innovation becomes ageless. As we get older, we add our accumulated ideas and thoughts into an assembly of activities that are relevant for each stage in our life. The key is to keep finding new “bricks”, not to sit back and be impressed with what we have “built”, but to keep on building!

 

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by Steven Cramer on September 21, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on September 21, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/09/21/ageless-innovation/

The Mathematical Idea

Numbers

If you were an accountant, just imagine if the unthinkable happened?  What if you were at the crucial stage in developing a strategic profit and loss statement, or an annual budget and you ran out of numbers!

Yes, instead of numbers being an unlimited thought concept, what if they were an actual physical asset that was purchased, had a market value, and were manufactured in a finite quantity? How would the accountant cope? If they ran out of “4”s, could they continue the financial analysis that they were working on by replacing the “4” with a “3”, after-all they are close? Somehow, I suspect not!

So why is it that some corporate organizations tend to have a greater proportion of innovative ideas compared to other companies? After all, aren’t ideas, like numbers unlimited and freely generated?

One probable answer is the culture of the organization and the environment that has been established to encourage and promote innovation of thought. Many progressive companies are well aware of this requirement and have developed a range of thought creation initiates to drive and maintain the innovation process focused on targeted applications. If we go back to the accountant, it is all very well have an unlimited supply of numbers, but the key is how these numbers are applied to a specific problem thereby creating a solution. The same can be said for ideas, it is great to have a plethora of them, but the real opportunity is obtained when they initiate a creative solution that leads to additional sales revenue via a new market or product.

So next time you use your calculator to solve a mathematical problem, try to think of the numbers on the keys from a slightly different perspective. Why not view those numbers as the inputs for a range of ideas which when combined via a systematic approach lead to the generation of a creative and new solution. By the way, in this calculator there would be no “Error” function, for when generating ideas, there are no mistakes, just opportunities for improvement!

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by Steven Cramer on September 18, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on September 18, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/09/18/the-mathematical-idea/

Too Many Cooks do NOT Spoil the Broth

Too Many Chefs

There are many key factors required to achieve a magnificent slow cooked gourmet soup.

First, there is the Chef that coordinates the whole cooking process utilising their wealth of experience based on a proven and never ending method of trial and error leading to the desired soup result. Next are the ingredients that when merged together in the right proportions yield that optimum flavour and texture. Let us also not forget the liquid within which all the ingredients can be distilled, can freely permeate, and then combine to form the necessary soup consistency. Other important requirements are heat, time and a suitable cooking pot to allow the progression of the ultimate soup masterpiece.

A successful Chef will also welcome feedback from their peers and will happily consider their suggestions on other exotic ingredients that may compliment and improve their recipe. Some of these ingredients may provide an immediate taste impact, others may take time to infuse and then add a more complex and subtle addition.

The combined result of all of the above is the achievement of gourmet soup perfection!

However, this soup methodology can also be applied to the process of innovation in the corporate office.

The Chef
There needs to be an owner of the innovation process that coordinates all the idea inputs and directs the progression towards the required end result. The key is to have one Master Chef, but also numerous Apprentice Chefs that can assist and take-over when required so the innovation process doesn’t lose momentum and focus (after-all, without the proper attention from the chef(s), the soup may boil over and be ruined!)

The Pot
Ideas need a receptacle for their collection and development. Suggestions for this could be a corporate internal communication forum where thoughts are shared and discussed in an open environment, a brainstorming session, or other creative methods that meet the cultural needs of the organisation. The pot needs to be of the right size to accommodate all the ideas that might be generated throughout the process. Too small a pot may lead to participant frustration; too large a pot may lead to ideas being lost?

The Ingredients
Ideas need to come from many sources within the corporate organisation. All employees should be invited to participate to allow for greater diversity of thought and enhanced potential creativity. These ideas can then be further refined and combined by the skill of the Chef’s team as appropriate.

The Soup
The business needs to have an overall objective for the output generated from the innovation process. For instance, a Chef will know whether they are planning to make a soup and not a cake! If the objective were deemed to be a cake, then a completely different methodology would be required.

Time, Heat
Ideas need time to develop and mix with others that are placed into the cooking pot. Some ideas need to be broken down further via additional analysis (or heat) following which a new array of exciting and complex ideas may become evident.

You may recall that old saying “Too many cooks will spoil the broth”. Well, in this instance, you need many, many cooks as each cook (or fellow employee) brings with them a wealth of different ideas all based on their own insights and experiences. It is the collection of these ideas that leads to an endless array of innovation and creativity. The secret to innovative success is how these multitudes of ideas are mixed and brought together in a format that reinforces innovation. This is where the role of the Master Chef is so important in blending all these ideas into a soup that meets the requirements and tastes of the organisation.

To conclude, may these ideas help you develop a brilliant soup based on that distinctive taste of your own corporate innovation! Bon appetite!

 

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by Steven Cramer on September 15, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on September 15, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/09/15/too-many-cooks-do-not-spoil-the-broth/

The Gravity of Change

Apple on the ground

Gravity is one of those laws of physics that you know will work in all circumstances, what goes up, must eventually come down. The only variable is the rate of descent.

This creates an interesting opportunity in the establishment of a culture of “change” in the corporate environment. If the change is to work effectively, it must start at the top of the organization. Once in motion, the law of gravity comes into play and the change gradually permeates down through the whole organizational structure. The higher the starting point of the change, the greater the momentum and the better the chance of success in the change reaching the lower levels.

However, if there are any resistors to the downward movement, these blockers should be quickly identified and removed to allow the continued progression of change.

Gravity also ensures that change proceeds only in the required direction. Should a change start progressing in an undesired path, gravity will naturally implement the appropriate course correction.

One problem with gravity is that change has minimal impact on the corporate organization if it starts at the bottom. Here the change will have a limited life and will quickly run out influence and will eventually stop.

So next time you observe the influence of gravity in your surrounding environment consider how it can be used to implement an effective program of change in your corporate organization. Don’t fight the laws of physics, but rather, use this proven law to your advantage and let gravity do the work. But make sure you start the change at a high level to achieve the maximum impact.

 

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by Steven Cramer on September 14, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on September 14, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/09/14/the-gravity-of-change/

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