On Our Radar…Monday, May 22, 2017 (#Innovation)
Greg Satell got us thinking…
A weekly compilation of of items that got our attention — change is constant. Let’s try to keep up! Content curated by Don Tomoff, founder of Invenio Advisors, LLC and Bill Tomoff, CFO of InstallNET International.
About “On Our Radar”
This post is about our changing world.
We know it, we hear it, but it’s hard to keep track of the flood of information and actually DO anything about the change we are being inundated with.
So, how can we move forward? START. Follow these posts and start with awareness — then ask yourself “how does this pertain to me?” Pay attention and get educated. We hope this helps!
One of our favorite bloggers about innovation related topics is Greg Satell — we highly recommend his posts (you can find him on Twitter, as well as his blog, and contributing posts to Harvard Business Review, Inc magazine, etc.
A selection of recent posts by Greg that we really enjoyed are provided below — Pick 2 and get started!
1 — This is How Your Business Will Be Disrupted
2–4 Innovation Lessons From Charles Darwin
3 — Truly Great Innovators Do These 4 Things
4 — Don’t Look For A Great Idea, Look For A Good Problem
5 — We Need To Educate Kids For The Future, Not The Past.
1 — This is How Your Business Will Be Disrupted
“Make no mistake. Eventually, every business finds itself in a round hole world. That’s why good companies fail. Not because they somehow become stupid and lazy all of a sudden, but because the world changes and they lose relevance. Then those same practices that led to success now lead to failure. We need to learn to prepare for a future we cannot yet see.”
2 — 4 Innovation Lessons From Charles Darwin
“Perhaps not surprisingly, Arbesman suggests that we approach the problem of modern day complexity much as Darwin did, through cataloging and documenting small pieces of ecosystems with the hopes that in doing so, a more complete theory will emerge, much as Mendel’s work combined with Darwin’s to form a complete picture.
The truth is that innovation needs exploration. Much like Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle, we cannot expect to know what we will find beforehand. The only certainty is that we learn nothing by staying put.”
3 — Truly Great Innovators Do These 4 Things
Excellent read! In a nutshell, the “4 things…”
- Actively Seek Out Important Problems
- They Overcome Failure
- They Have A Vision, But Remain Flexible
- They Maintain A Deep Commitment To Collaboration
“The most striking thing I noticed in my research was how innovators approached problems. They didn’t wait for them to arise, but actively sought them out. It is that passion for solving problems, rather than any particular personality type or ambition, that separates all of the innovators I talked to from most people and organizations.”
4 — Don’t Look For A Great Idea, Look For A Good Problem
Expanding on 3 above, and specifically, bullet point 1, is the idea of focusing on discovering problems.
It struck me reading this that practically every time you read about a new technology, or business started, it is to REDUCE SOME PAIN that currently exists. All of us can look around at what we do that takes too long, is more cumbersome than it should be, etc., and just ask “why?”.
“That means that we will need to plan differently. In addition to strategic planning, or planning based on things we know or think we know, we need to start innovation planning, or planning based on things we need to learn to solve new and important problems. That’s how you quest. You don’t plan the journey as much as you prepare for it.”
5 — We Need To Educate Kids For The Future, Not The Past.
With the rapidly changing world we live in, and the “commodization of knowledge”, much is being written about how the education system needs to better prepare kids for the new world we live in.
“Clearly, we need to rethink education. Our kids will face a much different world than we live in now. In fact, a study at Oxford concluded that nearly half of the jobs that exist today will be automated in the next 20 years. To prepare for the future, we need to replace our regimented education system with one that fosters skills like teamwork, communication and exploration.”
6 — Mapping Innovation (the book!)
If you are interested in innovation, consider Greg’s upcoming book — Mapping Innovation — soon to be available on Amazon.
About Don
“On a mission to challenge the status quo to a more productive and effective end…”
Don is passionate about helping professionals and organizations keep up and adapt to the changing business world that we operate in.
“What Do You Do?”
I frequently get this question. My response? Check it out here!
