Innovators Guide

Building My Own Innovation Network

I was very distressed to realize I have nothing to talk about today. I buzzed over to a couple of good innovation blogs and read about how other people are working together. As usual, I'm working by myself. My partner in Active Canines is coming over later today but I don't know what we're going to do.

It's becoming clear that unless I get a working group together, no work will get done. Yet, I still have at lot of challenges with time and transportation. I guess I'll just have to keep swimming.

Something to Look Forward To

Jay Cross, one of the pioneers of web-based education, believes the nature of education has changed, as does Clay Christiansen, and his next book on Informal Learning will be an Un-Book. Alas, the web site is open yet, but you can see a movie about his plans.

Internet Time Blog: 10, 2008-Jun-7, by Jay Cross

Today I completed the first release of my un-book. It’s a modern-day Whole Earth Catalog which provides access to tools for improving individual and organizational performance. The un-book’s content changes day to day; the hard copy portion is printed on demand. The printed pages are the tip of a heap of resources on the web. A parallel community provides the opportunity to suggest improvements and additions, and to network with other subscribers. The un-book will always be in beta, forever an unfolding experiment. I expect to release the un-book within ten days.

Risk versus Uncertainty

While the risks will sort themselves out in predictable ways, the "unknown unknowns" will always throw a lot of surprises into the outcomes. Uncertainty grows as we move into unknown territory--where innovations occur.

WSJ.com: Inherently Risky Business, 2008-Jun-16, by L. Gordon Crovitz

In this Information Age, when we take pride in knowing, parsing and spreading risk, how can we not have the information? The explanation is the much-overlooked difference between risk and uncertainty. Unlike risk, financial uncertainty is not about probabilities so much as the animal spirits that move markets in ways even Federal Reserve governors cannot explain, much less control.

Big Failure and Big Ideas

Everyone should hear or read the J. K. Rowling commencement address to this year's Harvard graduating class. All the way through.

When I talk about failure, I'm usually talking about little failures. Rowling experienced a "big failure," allowing her to say "rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life." She goes on to say that such failure allows you to strip away everything superfluous in life and focus on what matters.

She also talks about the importance of imagining ourselves into other people's situations. The better we can do that, the bigger the difference we can make. There's something to keep in mind whenever you're trying to innovate.

Harvard Magazine J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement, 2008-Jun

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

What Does an Idea Look Like?

Lightning bolts, LED lights, and brains have been suggested.

Creative Think: Death Notice of a Creative Metaphor, 2008-Jun-2, by Roger von Oech

We were reviewing cover mock-ups for one of my upcoming projects. One of them had a light bulb — symbolizing a "new idea."

I told her: "We can't use the light bulb for two reasons. First, it's a very, very, very old metaphor for a new idea. And second, the environmentalists are going to vilify the incandescent light bulb in coming years."

So long, trusty innovation metaphor. You served well! But it's time to find something new.

Question: What are your suggestions for the new creativity metaphor?

Watching for Good News

A few days ago, I was considering where I find my most consistent source of inspiration as an innovator, and I was surprised to discover that it's the DailyGood email. Always thought provoking, often uplifting, I frequently click through to the single link provided. It has a call to action, but I seldom use that part. Anyway, it's a real treasure which I recommend to anyone who wants to keep growing.

DailyGood: Positive News and Inspiration From Around The World.

Watching the nightly news and reading the daily newspapers, it's hard to imagine that there is good in the world. But it's often right under our noses in the ordinary, small and simple things that have sustained life for ages. DailyGood, then, aims to promote that good, change the nature of our conversations and spread a few more smiles.

The project started many years when one college student started emailing a daily quote to a couple of his friends. Today, that list is called DailyGood but it now reaches more than 50,000 readers with a wide variety of uplifting stories. The growth of the project has been, and continues to be, organic and largely word of mouth.

Our philosophy is quite simple: be the change. The entire project is run by volunteers. All our content is distributed and syndicated for free.

Handling an Audience

Innovators have to sell their ideas, and this article is chock-full of juicy tips on how to get an audience involved with your ideas.

Manage Smarter: Five Things Not to Do in Front of an Audience, 2008-May-22, by Kathy Reiffenstein

The more you can "stand in your audience's shoes" and look at their needs, concerns and perspectives, the more likely you will be to connect with them. Think of yourself as a guide or a translator for your audience. You explain, demystify, interpret and analyze—you present your information through the filter of the audience's needs.

If you're busy guiding and translating, there won't be time to worry about you.

New Innovation Sponsor

The Environmental Defense Fund is supporting innovators who will help "make green the new business as usual."

Innovations Review:

20+ Innovations Showing the New Business as Usual

Companies find that environmental sustainability helps reduce costs and gain advantages.

   

Finance: Insuring green buildings
   

Packaging: Sell less, make more

See the list of innovations

Call for Nominations for 2009 (deadline is Dec. 1, 2008)

If you know of an innovation by your company or another, tell us.

Being Better Conferenced

I recently attended GEL, partly for the cherry trees that bloom in NYC during that time, but also because I need to be around people who share my commitment to doing something special, not just trudging through work. Duke Rohe recently recommended the CPSI Conference, which he characterized as very friendly and supportive of people trying to 'figure things out.' For some people, 'unconferences' are the way to go.

This Blog Sits at the: Tim O'Reilly, now shall I compare thee to a city state. 2008-Jan-28, by Grant McCracken

In the Foo Camp and its many counterparts, we are looking at an adaptive response to a world that is itself newly nimble, spontaneous, improvisational, responsive, in a word, liquid. Large institutions are being in the words of Thomas Kuhn, "read out" of the field. The knowledge required of a liquid world must almost necessarily come from liquid events, the only places, we now suspect, that liquid knowledge and news of the future now consent to gather.

Toyota as an Innovation Maverick

Sometimes the smartest thing to do is the hardest thing to do. Who else will have the commitment and persistence you'll show to deliver your innovation? What I like about this story is the it makes clear that sometimes the little things are harder than the big things.

The New Yorker: The Open Secret of Success, 2008-May-12, by James Surowiecki

In the nineteen-nineties, a McKinsey study of companies that had put quality-improvement programs in place found that two-thirds abandoned them as failures. Toyota’s innovative methods may seem mundane, but their sheer relentlessness defeats many companies. That’s why Toyota can afford to hide in plain sight: it knows the system is easy to understand but hard to follow.