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Innovation Challenge

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text] How Much Does “Maybe” Cost?  |  Leveraging Innovation Management for Risk Mitigation  [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="42px"][vc_text_separator title="The Cost of “Maybe”" border_width="2"][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/4"][vc_single_image image="17384" img_size="" alignment="center" style="vc_box_outline_circle"][/vc_column][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Imagine standing at the crossroads of innovation, armed with a bold idea. Your team is ready to take the leap, but the path ahead is unclear and unstructured. Will this great idea flourish or flounder in your current organization? Is there transparency across collaborative departments to move the idea through the pipeline efficiently? The answer lies in the delicate balance of risk and reward and a structured strategy to make that determination.   “Maybe” is the cost of uncertainty—the price paid for daring to disrupt the industry. But how do you manage this risk? [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][qodef_separator position="center" color="#f2f2f2" border_style="solid" width="100%" thickness="2"][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text] Innovation Management to Navigate Risk  [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Use Innovation Management strategies against the paralysis of uncertainty. Here’s how it works:     Structured Exploration: Rather than jumping at every great idea, innovation management encourages a methodical approach. Define...

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innovation solutions

Innovation can also come in the form of new types of services that offer improvements on old ways of doing things, meet previously unidentified needs or fill gaps in the market. More often, innovation solutions use technology to support and dispatch new services...

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It's times of stress that really test the strength or weakness of an organization. During stressful times, leaders learn what the people in their organizations are made of – but also whether the systems, functions, and processes they have put in place are resilient to withstand the crises that inevitably come up. Industry shifts, market downturns, unexpected competitors: when stress comes, it shouldn't make an organization or process fall to pieces. Instead, stressful times should be when positive discourse, growth, and resiliency thrive.[1] "What do you do when you face a surprise?" David Woods, Faculty Emeritus of Integrated Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University, asked at the 2014 Velocity NY conference; referring to unexpected situations like when chunks of foam fell off the Space Shuttle Columbia's fuel tank in an unexpected way. "Do you gracefully extend performance, stretch your capabilities, and add adaptive capacity in order to continue to perform...

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A new study from the labs of Durham University's Dr. Andrew Smallbone lays out a pathway to making plastic bottles from organic waste material and CO2 captured from power plants. A thorough analysis of the economics shows this process could even be cost competitive for making things like plastic bottles. The process could start with something like the leftover plant material from sugarcane pressing. After a few reaction steps, which include the addition of some captured CO2 and some ethylene glycol produced from corn plants, you'd end up with a plastic polymer called polyethylene furandicarboxylate—otherwise known as PEF. Functionally, it's similar to the PET plastic used for water and soda bottles, denoted by the number 1 recycling symbol. Every step in the process has been at least demonstrated before, and some are quite common, so the paper doesn't spend much space on the chemistry. Instead, the researchers engage in life cycle analysis...

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Benchmarking Innovation Impact 2020

If you are lucky enough to be on an innovation team you understand the need to deliver successful innovative solutions. In this contemporary world assessing your progress and allocating resources is always a priority. Recently, Innovation Leader published the report, Benchmarking Innovation Impact 2020 offering an in-depth look at innovation strategies, investments, and approaches that drive successful innovation. ...

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Innovation Budget Planning Considerations

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] As you start Innovation budget planning, here are eight things to consider:   When it comes to Innovation budget planning (and R&D), it is typically a laborious process that spans several months with business model canvases, business cases, proposals and pipeline discussions. I remember my inbox being flooded with documents, meeting requests and scientists pushing their research forward for my sponsorship. As Forbes magazine mentioned in an article last year “The presumption is that R&D spending is somehow connected to increased innovation, revenue growth and profits. However, leaders may be asking the wrong questions here. A focus on R&D spending might be a good way to gauge best practice within an industry, but it is not a measure of how innovative any company is. Having a great R&D process and achieving market success with the technologies we invent are two different things.” Nonetheless, budgets are the fact of corporate world and must be...

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Innovation Budget Planning Components Top 10

As a follow-up to our recent blog on “What to Include in Your Innovation Budget” we have created an innovation budget planning components list with 10 key items you should include in your innovation budget for the coming year.   As you will notice as you go through the budget checklist, some of the key components include taking advantage of external resources. As Benjamin Franklin said, “time is money,” so keep in mind that innovation planning may go beyond optimizing internal resources and require you to invest in outside resources in order to speed up production time.     With that in mind, here are 10 key components that should be a part of your innovation budget plan:   Innovation Budget Planning Components #1 Outside Consulting Ask yourself: Do we have the skills and resources necessary for our project research and development? Can we bridge the gap with outside consulting resources?   Whether you need help developing innovation and best practices...

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