With innovation and the ability to innovate perceived as the holy grail of business success the recent report, (by INSEAD professor Hal Gregersen, Jeffrey Dyer of Brigham Young University and Clayton Christensen of Harvard entitled Innovator’s DNA, and published in HBR in December 09 makes very interesting reading.
The objective of this six year research study [...]

 The Blue Monday mathematical formula was created by Cliff Arnall, formerly of Cardiff University. It marked a symbolic date in January when people are suffering due to the piling up of a combination of negative effects.
The components of the Blue Monday formula are: weather (W), debt level (the difference between debt accumulated and our ability [...]

January and it’s time for the annual JMW Turner exhibition at the National Gallery (A light in the Darkness). In accordance with collector Henry Vaughan’s bequest the watercolours, which are notoriously susceptible to fading, have their radiance preserved, by only being exhibited in the first month of the year. Famously known as “the painter of [...]

The most useful management book I’ve read this year is Problem Solving 101 – A Simple Book for Smart People
The author, Ken Watanabe, a former McKinsey & Company consultant, studied at both Yale and Harvard Business School and is now the CEO of his own media company, Delta Studio. Spurred on by discussion among [...]

The Challenge: How to motivate people to take the stairs instead of the escalator?
The solution: If you want to change someone’s behaviour make it fun to do!

Or as Einstein put it: Creativity is intelligence having fun

Further to my previous post  featuring Scott Campbell’s illustrations of new ideas being variously eaten, hacked and bludgeoned to death please see  below 8 suggestions of how to protect your ideas and guide them towards implementation.  
Within a Problem Solving/Brain storming session:
1.       A good facilitator is essential to create the atmosphere of trust which enables the [...]

While a number of posts have focused on ways  to generate new ideas this original artwork by Scott Campbell shows how unfortunate ideas can come to a grisly end…….

(From www.thisisindexed.com)
For those of you who’ve had that high heels from hell experience this simple incremental innovation will be very welcome!
From a company called Rollasole (www.rollasole.com) come vending machines  where you can get a pair of ballet flats for a fiver. What a great example of taking commonplace, everyday products (i.e. the almost ubiquitous vending maching and [...]

Ben Zander (pictured) conductor for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and professor at the New England Conservatory of Music, faced the same problem at the start of each semester. His students, all gifted instrumentalists and singers were so anxious over the measurement of their performance that they were reluctant to take creative risks and open themselves [...]

A really interesting TED talk by Tim Brown of Ideo in which he links the importance of playfulness to ensure creativity and particularly in the world of design
Some of the main points included:
• The importance of creating a trusted environment where people feel secure and free to try out new ideas. He gives examples of [...]