When Innovation Stagnates: The Consequences of Slowing Research and Innovation

Imagine a world where people never invented the wheel and were unaware of the phenomenon of fire. Or, more relatable to our modern era, a world without the internet. These inventions, both ancient and modern, were all birthed from the womb of research and innovation. But what happens when this life-giving flow of ideas slows […]

When Innovation Stagnates: The Consequences of Slowing Research and Innovation

Bridging the Digital Divide with Innovation and Connectivity

In one of the most insightful episodes of Killer Innovations, I had the pleasure of hosting Mark Tubinis from Veea. Our conversation revolved around bridging the digital divide with cable technology, particularly in Panama. Mark passionately shared his experiences, recounting how people, for the first time, could use the internet from devices other than just […]

Calix’s Evolution Through Innovation

In this episode of Killer Innovations, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ken Grelck, SVP of Sales at Calix, about the company’s impressive transformation from a hardware-focused organization to a cloud and software-centric business. Ken shed light on how Calix concentrates on improving customer experience, regardless of the size of their network. Their dedication […]

Calix Evolution Through Innovation

Government and Innovation – Who is Really Pulling the Strings?

As the world becomes more digital and technology-focused, the need for innovation has never been greater. Startups and entrepreneurs drive this innovation, creating solutions to problems that have never been solved before. However, innovation is more than just creating a new product or service – it requires a supportive ecosystem to thrive. This is where […]

Government and Innovation Who is Really Pulling the Strings

How Failures Lead to Innovation

In today’s society, people often glorify and celebrate success while they avoid failure at all costs and regard it as shameful. However, failure can be an essential part of the innovation process. Many of the world’s greatest inventions and breakthroughs have come about due to failure. Why is failure a powerful catalyst for innovation? How […]

How Failure Leads to Innovation

How to be a Random Success at Innovation

Most people would consider random events a nuisance that gets in the way of their productivity and disrupts their carefully planned lives. However, looking closely, you’ll see that random events can be a source of inspiration and innovation. For example, consider the story of how Facebook was created. According to legend, Facebook was born out […]

random events

Pushing Back on The Chronic Innovation Critics

Chronic innovation critics are people and processes that kill new ideas before they can thrive. They prevent you from trying new things and learning from failures. The criticisms may result in your organization getting stuck in its current state. Innovation critics love to point out why an idea will fail. These people are often the […]

Pushing Back on The Chronic Innovation Critics

Elastic Innovation – A Needed Innovation Capability

Innovating in the face of the unexpected can stretch the most decisive innovation leader. COVID taught us that flexibility and adaptability is the name of the game. This is especially true within an organization’s innovation efforts. A new capability is needed to respond to these disruptive shock situations effectively. I call this capability “elastic innovation,” or the […]

Elastic Innovation

Creating Time for Innovation

Last week, I wrapped up a workshop I was teaching innovation leaders on the 7 laws of innovation. At the end of every workshop or session I teach, I conduct an “AMA” or ask me anything time. There seems to be a recurring question I get from leaders who have taken the Innovation Bootcamp and the […]

Creating Time for Innovation

Groupthink Kills Innovation

In this show, we will discuss how groupthink kills innovation. Groupthink is thinking or making decisions as a group. This way of thinking discourages creativity or individual responsibility. A downside of groupthink is that it can create blind spots resulting from not listening to dissenting opinions. Groupthink tends to end in unintended negative consequences because […]

Groupthink

Innovation Isn’t Just About New Products

Innovation isn’t just about creating new products or services. While this is critical to an organization, it is also essential to look at other areas such as business model innovation, process innovation, and marketing innovation. The Framework for New Products We use the FIRE framework, which we have discussed many times on the show. The […]

New Products

Are You Afraid Of Running Out Of Ideas?

When I run into fellow innovators, they often want to share their ideas with me and get advice. In many cases, they have an idea that they believe is the pinnacle of ideas. They love their idea to death and hold it close to them. While they may have a great idea, it has no value […]

Ideas

How to Avoid Innovation Burnout

What comes to mind when you hear the term innovation burnout? Webster’s dictionary says that burnout is the physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive or prolonged stress. Burnout occurs when we feel overwhelmed, drained, and unable to meet that constant demand. Innovation Burnout For innovators, it’s that constant demand for coming up with […]

Innovation Burnout

Innovating Wicked Problems

Wicked problems are problems that are extremely difficult or impossible to solve. The best example of this type of problem comes from a project I did with the Department of Education. Wicked Problems This project aimed to innovate kindergarten through 12th-grade education in the U.S. We ran a series of workshops in our attempt to transform education. […]

Wicked Problems

10 Inventions I Would Uninvent

If only innovations that had unintended negative consequences could be uninvented, we can fix our mistakes. Let’s look at a list of past innovations that I would uninvent if I could. The Invention of Robocalls The first invention that I would like to uninvent is robocalls. These calls include anything from selling automobile maintenance contracts […]

10 Inventions I Would Uninvent

What is Innovation?

Innovation is a  term often abused through advertising, marketing, and business meetings. Innovation means to introduce something new. A more expansive definition of innovation is — the result of a multi-stage process whereby organizations, teams, and individuals take an idea and transform it to make an improved product, service, or process to compete in the […]

5 Questions Every CEO Should Answer About Innovation

For the first time, we are recording a show in the mobile studio in Austin, Texas. Once we get past COVID, we plan to travel a lot more and visit different innovators in various areas of the country. This past week, I interviewed three CEOs of billion-dollar companies for a virtual event online. I asked them […]

Questions

Execution – Turning Ideas Into Innovations

On this week’s show, we will wrap up the series of shows on the innovation framework known as FIRE. We will discuss the part of the innovation framework known as execution. Execution is composed of making your best ideas into something real. Execution I have used the FIRE (Focus, Ideation, Ranking, Execution) framework for more […]

Execution

Experimentation is the Engine of Innovation

This week’s guest is an innovation guru from one of the world’s leading business schools. Stefan Thomke is a William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration Chair at Harvard Business School and a widely published author around innovation processes. We will discuss Stefan’s new book, “Experimentation Works: The Surprising Power of Business Experiments,” and how experimentation […]

Experimentation

Innovating Across Enterprises #CES2020

Guests: Ivo Boniolo, Fabio Todeschini, Roberto Rossi, and Patrizia Casali

A groundbreaking innovation group joined us this year at the Consumer Electronics Show 2020 (CES). E-Novia is an innovation company that inserts robotics and AI into everything they do. Our guests include Ivo Boniolo, Chief Innovation Officer and co-founder of E-Novia, Fabio Todeschini from BluBrake, Roberto Rossi from Smart Robots, and Patrizia Casali from Wahu, all enterprises […]

Enterprises E-Novia

Renaissance Era in Innovation #CES2020

Guests: Bob O'Donnell (TECHnalysis Research) and Greg Johnston (Manta5)

Two outstanding guests joined us while we were at the Consumer Electronics Show 2020 (CES). Bob O’Donnell, the President, Founder, and Chief Analyst at TECHnalysis Research, and Greg Johnston from Manta5, a company that offers the world’s first Hydrofoil Bike that replicates the cycling experience on the water. This week on Killer Innovations, we will […]

Renaissance Era

Dean Kamen on Making Life Better

Today’s guest stands as one of the top inventors and scientists of our time. Dean Kamen has been innovating for decades and is known for his invention of the Segway, the infusion pump, the iBOT wheelchair, and many more game-changing inventions. This week on Killer Innovations, Dean Kamen joins us to discuss inventions and what […]

Dean Kamen

Six Innovation Skills Everyone Needs

What are the innovation skills needed to be successful in creating new ideas and products? Many people often find themselves void of creativity in the innovation world. This stems from a deeper issue. On today’s show, we will go through in more detail what innovation skills separate those that have limited success to those that […]

Innovation Skills

James ‘Hondo’ Geurts on Taking the Navy into the Next Wave of Innovation

How do you manage over $100B in spending to innovate and not let that scale overcome your vision and approach to driving the most effective outcomes?  Can you balance speed and performance, short and long term innovation in parallel? Today’s guest on Killer Innovations stands at the forefront of these decisive decisions every day and […]

James 'Hondo' Geurts

4 Challenges Facing Innovation

What can derail the innovation journey?  Recently, I finished a 3.5-day Innovation Bootcamp. In the end, I was asked an interesting question with a different look and perspective of innovation, now and in the future. The participant asked what challenges are facing innovation. After answering the question for the group, I put more thought into […]

4 Challenges Facing Innovation