Create Value Innovation

Who are the positive deviants in this recession?

Greg Krauska — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:08:51 PDT

OK, there is plenty of negative chatter on the economy to go around. Now what? Time to start looking at the positive deviants. These are the companies and individuals who thrive despite the circumstances. If you look around, they are there. Cirque du Soleil, a Blue Ocean Strategy original example, continues to grow its core business, while investing heavily in...

Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500

Greg Krauska — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:46:19 PDT

Innovation is often focused on products and services. What about innovating how you attract, engage and manage people? Southwest made this part of its strategy. By making employees number one (not customers), they were able to create a customer experience that has helped reshape an industry. HCL, which has been referred to an "intellectual clean room where its employees could...

Engineers, are your salespeople embarrasing you?

Greg Krauska — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:08:30 PST

Engineers get frustrated when salespeople cannot fully and accurately communicate the business benefits of their creations. Even more frustrating is when salespeople use so much jargon to describe their company and their products and services that their messa ge is meaningless. Of course your firm is innovative, customer-focused, flexible, resilient, earth-loving and friendly to animals and small children. Really? Blue...

Check out my OTHER blog - named one of the Top 100 Leadership Blogs!

Greg Krauska — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:32:41 PST

I am honored that my other blog, Innovate Rotary!, was named one of the Top 100 Leadership Blogs! It's nice to be recognized on the same list as Seth Godin, Tom Peters and many other insightful thought leaders. Innovate Rotary! focuses on creating thriving, growing nonprofit organizations, w ith a particular focus on Rotary International. In the spirit of Blue...

How to increase sales performance without training

Greg Krauska — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:52:56 PST

Many sales leaders look to outside trainers to give their salespeople a jump start, an energy boost, a shot of motivation and sometimes, some new skills and tools to help them succeed. As one of those trainers myself, I can tell you that training is not always the answer. Before looking outside for training, why not make use of the...

Keep the idea factory open

Greg Krauska — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:05:17 PST

Innovation is sometimes seen as what happens when you have downtime. Most mature organizations place their greatest energy and emphasis on control and competition, versus collaboration and innovation. In that world, downtime is an accident, not an intentional act. Mature or not, big or small, organizations must keep their flow of new ideas coming. Even in a downturn. As you...

Funding Innovation in tough times

Greg Krauska — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:06:28 PST

Innovation can sometimes be difficult to fund, as innovation is often seen as something that happens when you have the luxury of downtime. Smarter firms are more intentional about funding innovation as a consistent part of their strategy. But what happens when the economy is down? What is the business case for innovation now? In a recent Knowledge@Wharton article, panelists...

Blog Action Day - Blue Oceans of Non-customers

Greg Krauska — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:04:51 PDT

As the world focuses on the financial meltdown, those who HAVE investments that are under water may forget that there are many in the world who are not ABLE to even consider investments. Those are the billions of people on the planet in poverty. If you practice Blue Ocean Strategy, you know that one of the key principles is to...

The Mortgage Mess - A Lesson in Managing Assumptions

Greg Krauska — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:41:01 PDT

Although the so-called bailout bill has been passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, everyone is ready to point fingers at someone they can blame for the crisis. If we can simply blame someone, we can feel better because we think we can know what to watch for next time. I cannot say that I know the ultimate cause...

Please, stop the Benchmarking!

Greg Krauska — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:06:51 PDT

Winning attracts imitation. So companies like Apple, Google, Nintendo, Toyota and others are studied in minute detail to capture a bit of their magic, their secret sauce. But what happens when everyone blindly copies the winners? Study after study shows that companies who simply copy others either fail or, at best, achieve parity. The companies that truly excel, the ones...