Empathy: The Currency of Human Connection—and Innovation.

Having worked with innovation teams from global companies like Visa, Colgate-Palmolive, Kimberly-Clark, Disney, Medtronic and many others, there’s one consistent success factor when it comes to innovation, no matter what you’re doing: it all starts with the customer. Companies spend oodles of time and money trying to understand customers. They conduct surveys, hire market researchers, run…

Use “Calculated Optimism”​ for More Strategic Decisions

Harvard Research Suggests Pessimism Is Bad for Business. Replace pessimism with “calculated optimism” for better decision-making. Research from Harvard University looked at whether people were afraid of various situations or objects, such as being stuck in enclosed places or coming face-to-face with snakes. These same individuals were asked to estimate the number of fatalities each year…

How to See Your Hidden Assumptions

Successful strategy and innovation are about how fast you can become aware of your assumptions. When it comes to strategy and innovation, success depends on how fast you become aware of your assumptions and then modify them. But it’s a paradox:  You can’t see your most fundamental assumptions until you overcome them. This means that you…

Turn Overwhelming Data into New Insight to make Strategic Decisions

Focused on insight, not numbers Planning for next year is well under way. Because of unprecedented uncertainty, there’s a strong desire to use data to deliver better decision-making. Makes sense. Yet many teams and organizations get paralyzed by overwhelming data. Spreadsheets, presentations, and industry reports, can inform, but also overwhelm. While data exists, many teams…

Organize innovation to fit your strategy & culture.

Companies don’t fail at innovation due to lack of ideas. They often don’t create the right innovation structure to implement their opportunities. Most organizations struggle with innovation. That’s because they try to apply processes and structures that don’t fit their business strategies and cultures. They partner with Silicon Valley startups who have breakthrough technology when…