Is Organizational Structure The Secret to Innovation?

Change your company’s structure to get bigger and better ideas. Just about everyone wants more creativity and innovation these days. But what’s the secret to getting it? While most companies agree that innovation is vital, few actually spend time creating structures or devising rewards systems hinged on creativity. Many leaders also struggle with the fact that innovation comes from culture, something…

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Six Trends Shaping the Future of Health Care

The healthcare industry is an ecosystem. So are the companies disrupting it. This article is one more in a series I call Everything Transformed where I’m highlighting the disruptive forces revolutionizing just about every industry on the planet, including packaging, travel and hospitality, industrial safety, and more. This time it’s healthcare. It’s no secret. The healthcare industry is going through…

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Prioritize Your Best Ideas With One Powerful Tool

Innovation is as much about choosing what not to do as it is about deciding what you’re going to do. I’ll never forget the words of a client of mine, an executive at PepsiCo: “We can do anything, but we can’t do everything,”  he said to me. So true. But most companies forget this fact. They…

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“Decouple” the Value Chain to Drive Digital Disruption

“Decoupling” the value chain is the next big strategy for digital innovation and business models Digital disruption isn’t just about the internet or mobile technology. It’s about the digitally-driven business models that forever transform business as usual no matter what you’re doing. I recently had a chance to connect with Harvard Business School professor, Thales…

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The Packaging Industry is Massive, and It’s About to Be Disrupted

Technology isn’t just for creating new products and services. Disruptive technologies are transforming the packaging that comes with just about everything we buy. Imagine a day when you receive an alert from your refrigerator as you walk past 7-11 because the carton of milk at your home just expired. Or a day when you receive…

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The Travel & Hospitality Industry is Being Disrupted, Again.

Airbnb disrupted hotels. Now big travel and hospitality companies are going after the next disruptive innovation themselves before getting blindsided yet again. If you’ve followed my Inc.com column, you know I work with both big companies and start-ups around the world. My research, consulting and speaking give me a glimpse into the fledgling trends and upstarts that will one day…

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Serious About Your Social Mission? Innovate It.

A “lean” approach amplifies both profits and purpose. Corporate philanthropy. Benefit corporations. Nonprofits and non-governmental organizations. Doing well while doing good seems to be all the rage these days. Sounds ideal. But, if we are truly intent on achieving both, we need to start taking social impact just as seriously. Mission-driven organizations have an equal…

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Manufacturing Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Transforming Before Our Eyes

Large scale 3D printing farms will create the next industrial revolution   When it comes to business and the economy, there’s constant buzz about Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. There’s also been lots of attention lately on middle America and the loss of manufacturing jobs. At times these topics seem at odds – the new high-tech guard disrupting the old,…

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Innovation Comes With Messiness. Here’s How to Manage It

Every bold innovation involves messiness. The Chief Product Officer at Adobe reveals how to use it to succeed. In my work advising and consulting to some of the world’s most innovative companies, I see the best of the best practices for managing innovation. I also get a behind-the-scenes view of what really goes on during the innovation process itself–and…

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How to Cut Costs and Still Be Innovative

The best innovations reduce costs while adding value at the same time. With all the hype these days around the impending disruptions on the horizon such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, augmented reality and the like, it’s natural to assume that breakthrough innovation requires breakthrough technology. And if you consider the mind-boggling burn rates of recent innovation…

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