... a beginner at something

Innovation Insights

One of my paid hobbies has been innovation for the company, as in making new technology work for us to help us complete our jobs for clients, easier, faster, or more reliable. More than a year ago, one of my responsibilities shifted from process innovation to business development. Loving it.

In my free time, I took basic courses in project management, both waterfall and agile, read business books like Tribal Leadership and The Culture Game, all good and valuable, but none of these prompted me to post.

The framework for directed innovation does. It is old enough to be proven in business and criticized in public, yet new enough (to me, anyway) to get excited about innovation insights. (You too, maybe?)

Let's begin with quoting from one of many insightful articles from the company Strategyn, whose logo I borrowed for the image, The New Language of Innovation.

Longing for 2013

Here we are, in the new year, and some of us choose to make resoutions. Fine if you like to, but for many it is better not to, writes Chuck Blakeman.

Instead of resolutely setting goals, I went to follow a faint calling to examine and re-discover what am I still longing for, silently, at the turn of the year. Yes, there it was, as always, noticed and celebrated rarely in the rush of getting things done. 

These longings are personal, I am sure you have yours, and no, you need not look for any now, or even reveal, just as some of mine may not resonate with readers, and some other may not be good to put in public. So if you long to know what are mine, ask in private. 

WHAT ISN’T THERE

Writes Matt, "...CAN OFTEN TRUMP WHAT IS". Quote:

 

I love optical illusions. Here’s why: The white circles that you see in the rather incomplete grid below don’t really exist. Neither do the white diagonal lines you see connecting them. Yet what isn’t really there is the most interesting part of the image.

The reason it’s so interesting isn’t just that you see the white circles and diagonals, it’s that ␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣ does. And even if I tell you to focus only on the drawn lines and completely ignore the space between them, your brain will override the order. So will everyone else’s.

 

Here is why I bought this book (got a free copy, too), enjoy it, share parts of it:

Highlighting the course of corporate transparency

As Nigel Cameron says, the impact of social media will be felt.

New tools connect more people, markets, and customers faster and cheaper, to shape reputation and build business selection pressure towards corporate transparency.  As the race is only going to get faster, how prepared is your organization?

Image: Canadian Museum for Human Rights by oggiedog on flickr

The Culture Game

Daniel Mezick's new book for the agile manager due out in March. He was so kind to offer me a preview, from which I quote.

 

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

Everything is changing, and changing more rapidly than ever before. The rate of this change is increasing like never before.

In 1978, Chris Argyris & Donald Schön published Organizational Learning.

In 1990, Peter Senge published The Fifth Discipline.

In 2001, a tribe of pioneering people in software wrote The Agile Manifesto.

In 2008, Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright wrote Tribal Leadership.

Crowdsourcing to improve a standard. The ISO 9001 survey.

Here is a rare chance to experience and get insights into how an organization approaches their audience that buys and reads their kind of short books: standards.

Millions of organizations use ISO 9001, for example as a contract supplement for business-to-business transactions. The standard specifies generic requirements for a quality management system, aimed at enhancing trust a company can deliver what they promise. It mainly does this through specifying a few generic processes, through internal and external auditing and by continual improvement. The standard comes on 35 pages for some $120. No, I do not sell it and I do not benefit from its sales.

If you or your company is using or influenced by the ISO 9000 series of standards in any significant way, please take the ISO 9000 Survey. It takes about 30 minutes. The time you save may be your own, whether you read for interest, apply for improvement, get certified, audit for compliance, or consult for others. How? Imagine the ways this collaboration shapes the next revision of the standard.

Getting into the open innovation revolution

Do you like to figure out gadgets before you open a manual?

If so, then treat this book as a gadget. I mean, do not follow instructions like read from front-to-back. Just experiment. Use this book like you use your gadgets. Try a page 56 on it.

Scores of employees submit ideas and expect others to deliver.

Linchpins Meetup 2010 Plan B: we met virtually

One of the meetups had a virtual venue. Here is the story that began on the meetup.com site: 

When: Monday, 2010-06-14 20:00

Where: #Junto (alpha) emergent discussion platform  
  Yokohama City, Japan

After after quick round of introduction, first meeting topic:

“Wouldn’t it be great if . . . ”

inspired by Linchpin Magazine We can then take it from there.

So you want to read "Linchpin" ...

Each book is an experiment. Big time on the author's side, small time on each reader's side.  There it is, the work; for you to decide whether you invest your precious time and money. Will it be worthwhile?  WIIFM? 

Well, if you already have made up your mind, read no further. Go get the real thing - Linchpin - in your bookstore, on-line, from a true friend, your library and so on. Or leave it for later, or ignore it forever. Up to you.