Front End of Innovation Blog

Video Sneak Peek: FEI Design Track, Smart Design's Sean O'Connor

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:41:00 +0000

Design within the FEI process is helping organizations unlock their innovation potential.

Today more than ever, design is working to increase operational efficiencies, improve processes and deliver superior products and services into the marketplace. Design is enabling companies to create better and more meaningful experiences which delivers a competitive edge.

Get a sneak peek of what's in store in this preview video from the chair of the Design Track, Smart Design's Sean O'Connor below:

Want to see all of the entire sessions? Join Smart Design and hundreds of of leading innovation and design executives at FEI Europe 2012: Europe's leading innovation conference.

To Register:
Visit www.iirusa.com/feieurope,
Call: +1.941.554.3500 ,
Email: register@iirusa.com

Please mention your priority code when registering to save 15% the standard and onsite rate: FEIEMEA12BlOG

Innovation Best Practices from Google, Credit Suisse, IBM, Volkswagen, Nestle, Nokia, BMW and more

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:40:00 +0000

The Front End of Innovation 2012 brings you the cross-industry insights on the topics you need to master to drive profitable innovation in your organization, including: Disruptive Innovation, Integrating Design at the Front End, Reverse Innovation, Megatrends and Technology, Making Innovation Repeatable, Social Media, Sustainability, Open Innovation, and Innovation Management.

A Sampling of the 50+ Corporate Case Studies at FEI include:

• IBM The Socially Synergistic Enterprise: Balancing Innovation and External Collaboration to Improve Innovation
• Credit Suisse Service Innovation: Turn Brand Strategies into Compelling Client Experiences
• Volkswagen Open Strategy: Using Wisdom of the Crowds for Identifying Future Trends
• Google How Does Google Stimulate Internal Innovation to Serve Users and Clients?
• Procter & Gamble World Class Innovation in China: The Search for Disruptive New Products & Services
• Nokia Inform, Involve, Empower: An Informative Revolution at the Bottom of the Pyramid
• Intel Open Innovation 2.0 and New Innovation Ecosystems: Industry, Academia & Government
• Adidas Uniting the Creative Design Process with the Front End
• Nestle The Freedom to Innovation, and Why Corporations Should Consider Having a Separate Research Team
• Henkel Performance-Based Sustainability: The New Green is Blue
• BMW BMW i Brand: Design Language and the Future of Mobility

Download the conference brochure for full event details.

Who Else Will Be There?

FEI EMEA, The World Leader in Advancing Innovation, brings together innovation, R&D, product development and (NEW for 2012) product design executives.

Companies already registered include:

ABN Amro,
Adidas,
Airbus Deutschland,
Alcatel Lucent,
Alessi Spa,
Altria Client Services,
Antwerp Management School,
Arc International Middle East,
Arcelik AS,
Artesis Hogeschool Antwerpen,
Astra Tech AB,
AT Kearney,
Ball Packaging Europe GmbH,
BASF SE,
Bayer,
BBVA,
Beiersdorf AG,
BMW,
Bostik SA,
Celanese Emulsions GmbH,
Claro Partners,
CoCatalyst Ltd,
Creaholic,
Credit Suisse,
Dialego,
DOKA,
Dow Corning,
DSM,
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL,
Elsevier,
European Patent Office,
Ericsson,
Ernst & Young,
Ethz,
European Investment Fund,
Farenheit 212 Europe,
FIRMENICH Perfumery,
Forbes.com,
GlaxoSmithKline,
Google,
Grundfos Management,
Gruppo Campari,
Hasbro UK Ltd,
Henkel,
Hype Softwatetechnik GmbH,
IBM,
Imperial Tobacco Group,
Innabler,
Innovation Leadership Network,
Innovia Technology,
Institute of Innovation & Environ,
Intel Labs Europe,
Intercontinental Hotels Group,
Johnson & Johnson Medical,
JTI, Kaba AG,
Kaos Pilots,
Kiln,
Kraton Polymers LLC,
Lantor,
Lanxess Deutschland GmbH,
Leaf,
Leiden Univ Res and Innovation Svcs,
Lonza Group,
Magna International,
Malaysian Technology Development Corporation,
Mars Europe, Mars Research GmbH,
Maurer & Wurtz,
Ministry of Manpower Singapore,
Nestec, Nestle,
Nine Sigma,
Nitto Europe NV,
Nokia, Novartis,
NV Bekaert SA,
Oce Technologies BV,
Oriflame Cosmetics AB,
P&G, PDD,
Philips,
Philips Consumer Lifestyle,
PRTM,
Pureinsight,
Rabobank,
Rafaela Kunz,
Reckitt Benckiser,
Royal College of Art,
SABIC,
Sabic Services Ltd,
Sage Publications,
Sanofi Pasteur,
SAP,
Saxo Bank,
SEB,
Seek Research,
Segway,
SGL Carbon,
Sherwin Williams,
Siemens,
SmartDesign,
Starbucks,
Strategos,
Swarovski,
Swiss Post International,
Swisslog,
Telefónica I+D,
Tetra Pak,
TomTom Int'l,
Trend Desk,
TRUMPF Maschinen Austria,
Vestas Wind Systems,
Volkswagen,
Whirlpool Corporation,
Wyndham Worldwide,
Yle Broadcasting,
and more

To Register:
Visit www.iirusa.com/feieurope, Call: +1.941.554.3500, Email: register@iirusa.com
Please mention your priority code when registering to save 15% the standard and onsite rate: FEIEMEA12BlOG

The top 8 reasons I can’t seem to get anyone else at my company to embrace innovation

noreply@blogger.com (CogniStreamer) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:50:00 +0000

Maybe this rings a bell for you: You want to launch an innovation program at your company but you can’t get any support.

I talk all day to people who are interested in innovation. They know in their hearts that embracing innovation is the only way their organizations will flourish. They know the only way their company can compete in the difficult economic climate we face is to adopt an innovative approach. These people I talk to fall in love with the idea of collaborative ideation; assembling all of their smart people while they share ideas and other information of interest. They yearn to allow their cohort to find others within the company who are like minded; with common areas of interest.

Yet when the innovation topic is brought up, their managers turn a deaf ear. Management at their company tells them that they agree innovating is key, but “we all have day jobs”. No one at the company is really allowed to spend time on special projects.

Often these companies go so far as appointing a new Chief Innovation Officer. But then this new senior executive doesn’t get enough budget or doesn’t get enough people to do much. Every senior executive realizes that innovation is the way to go. It’s just that no one is sure what steps to take to get there.

More specifically they face some of these obstacles (tell me if any of these sound familiar)…

1. The new innovations the company pursues are the result of ideas that come from the HPPITR (the Highest Paid Person In The Room). A group of workers, their creativity taken away, stifled and discouraged, all decide the boss’s idea is the best one. This system is easy to adopt because those in power have great confidence and no one will voice any opposition.

2. If anyone on the team, besides the boss, submits an idea, they don’t get any feedback or acknowledgment. The idea goes in a hopper, the inventor never finds out if there is any action taken on his invention. There’s no reward for this creative behavior. There’s no reason to ever submit another idea.

3. Even if the company is open to new ideas, there’s no process to manage submissions well. Ideas are put into a list. Someone has to manually sort through ideas (the poor shmo). At its best these ideas go into a spreadsheet which is emailed to a group of managers who first rank them and then email them back. Because these ideas are never enhanced or flushed out, they’re judged based on their original formation and frequently rejected as being ill advised.

4. Creativity is stifled whether by rule or by action. If the average worker bee becomes an expert at their jobs and suggest informed improvements, they’ll be reluctant to opine regularly when management stresses that individual contributors are to only focus on their assigned tasks. There’s no time allotted for innovation. “We’ve got no time to dedicate to innovation. We need to focus on our ‘day jobs’”.

5. If one worker has an area of expertise, there may be no forum to communicate with others at the company with the same expertise. Perhaps these other people with common areas of interest are working in other company divisions and/or are located in other time zones. There’s no mechanism for any of these folks to compare notes or even to find one another.

6. We know innovation requires disruption and chaos. Yet, frank comments that can result in disruptive and innovative directions are considered shocking and unacceptable. No one in management is prepared for transparency. Thinking is done in isolation and in private. There’s no democracy because people are only allowed to follow “the chain of command”. If anyone picks up the banner for improved innovation or processes, they find no support from management.

7. Innovation is best realized using social media enabling people to connect and collaborate. Conservative team members, sometimes older employees, run the other way when social networks are discussed. There is no appetite for a collaborative ideation system.

8. Some senior people are believers themselves, but don’t believe anyone else on the team is. They believe the average person at their company won’t go through the trouble of finding the collaborative idea system, logging in, and learn how to use it. That’s quite a barrier and it’s called a self fulfilling prophecy.

But…have no fear… there’s a pathway out of this forest and into the light of an innovative world. It is possible (in fact inevitable) to get believers at the C-level to support innovation. It is possible to nurture a culture of innovation.

It requires a champion; in fact the more champions the better.

If you’re a believer; if you think your company must be innovative to succeed, then stand up now, make your case and keep on making it.

If you’re interested in learning some best practice approaches to getting everyone at your company on the innovation bandwagon, consider registering for an upcoming webinar covering this subject matter. On February 23^rd, CogniStreamer, with our partner Cloverleaf Consulting, will present the top ten steps for addressing these issues. You can learn how to empower your people to participate in innovative behaviors and how to get management on board. You’ll hear how other organizations have successfully gained consensus, putting innovation at the forefront of their corporate mission. You can find the registration form here: http://bit.ly/zkgf5f

Ron Shulkin is Vice President of the Americas for CogniStreamer®, an innovation ecosystem. CogniStreamer serves as a Knowledge Management System, Idea Management System and Social Network for Innovation. You can learn more about CogniStreamer here http://bit.ly/ac3x60

Ron manages The Idea Management Group on LinkedIn (Join Here) http://bit.ly/dvsYWD .

CogniStreamer® is an idea management software tool. It is an open innovation and collaboration platform where internal colleagues and external partner companies or knowledge centers join forces to create, develop and assess innovative ideas within strategically selected areas. The CogniStreamer® portal is an ideal collaborative platform that invites users to actively build a strong innovation portfolio. In addition it provides a powerful resource for internal and external knowledge sharing. The CogniStreamer® framework is used by industry leaders such as Atlas Copco, Bekaert, Case New Holland, Cytec, Imec, Phillip Morris, Picanol and ThyssenKrupp. CogniStreamer® represents the best use of adaptive collaborative technology to harness human skill, ingenuity and intelligence.

Special 2012 Alumni-Only Curriculum for Past Front End of Innovation Attendees

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:33:00 +0000

Why should you return to FEI this year?

Each year, the Front End of Innovation celebrates the power of collective intelligence by creating an environment that empowers innovators to have the confidence to contribute meaningfully.

No other event exists that attacks present and future challenges through content rich conservations and collaboration.

We know you have limited budgets to attend events each year, and want to be respectful of your time and investment. That’s why there are there Are No Repeat Performances. While other events repurpose content and speakers, we ensure fresh new perspectives from the hard to get speakers each year.

The FEI main conference features 100% new speakers. No repurposed content.

PLUS - FEI 2012 features a Special Alumni-Only Curriculum - with new content and experiences created ONLY for past attendees.

Bonus time with Opening Keynote Dr. A.K. Pradeep and His Brain-Scanning Headset! (Tuesday, 5:30-6:00) You may not know Dr. A.K. Pradeep now, but trust us, you’ll be wowed by his opening night keynote Monday night on “Secrets of Appealing to the Subconscious Mind: The Role of Neuroscience’s in How We Decide.” After his talk, FEI Alumni only will have extra Q&A time with Dr. Pradeep. You’ll be able to ask him questions and try on his MYND creation: the world’s first full-brain, wireless, dry, EEG headset. Are you ready to have your mind read?
Special Alumni Welcome Cocktail Reception (Tuesday, 6:00-6:30) Right after the Q&A with Dr. Pradeep, join him and your fellow alumni for a welcome cocktail reception in the Alumni Only room. This is a great chance to catch up with those you’ve met at past events, and get to know the people you’ll be spending time with over the course of the event in a smaller, more intimate group.
Bonus Q&A Time with Keynote Jeff Dyer, Author, The Innovator’s DNA (Wednesday, 5:30-6:15) Skip the lines at the book-signing! Jeff Dyer is the co-author with Clayton Christensen of the much buzzed about book The Innovator’s DNA. Join him after his keynote session for a special Q&A and informal discussion reserved exclusively for FEI Alumni.
Special Personal & Leadership Development Session (Thursday, 10:00-10:45) With the current pace of business, it’s hard to find time in the day to work on our own personal development, our personal brand. This is YOUR time to focus on YOU. During this session, Mike Myatt, America's Top CEO Coach, Forbes Contributor, and Author of Leadership Matters, explores three key development areas essential to accelerating your career: Being a Better Leader, Staying Business Young, and Making Your Personal Brand Relevant.
Bonus Q&A Time with Keynote Rob Cross, Author, Driving Results through Social Networks (Thurday, 2:45-3:30) It is no longer possible to build a powerful sphere of influence and be a social media novice at the same time. Benefit from extra time keynote Rob Cross, Associate Professor in Management at UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce after his keynote for special Q&A and informal discussion with your fellow FEI Alumni.

Also New for 2012:

Celebrate Collaboration and Co-Creation. Other conferences focus on what’s already been done. FEI’s all new CHALLENGE & CHANGE sessions leverage the collective intelligence of our fabulous attendees. After each session, work together to create a powerpoint that will be immediately distributable to your colleagues when you leave the event.

Intrigued? Downloadthe brochure to learn more!

* FEI Blog Readers receive 15% off the standard and onsite rate when registering, just mention code FEI12BLOG.

Register Online: ClickHere
Phone: 888.670.8200
Email: register@iirusa.com

BMW, Adidas, Nestle Discuss Importance of Design at the Front End of Innovation

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:24:00 +0000

Attention Design Industry! Design is invited to take a prominent seat at the innovation table.

The Front End of Innovation EMEA now includes a 2-day track dedicated to Uniting Design at the Front End.

Design applied to the Front End of Innovation is acting as a therapeutic lens across disparate functions within the organization. This ultimately leads to a more successful innovation pipeline.

If you are responsible for industrial design, product design, user experience design, or design thinking at your organization, this program is designed specifically for you.

Special design keynotes never before on the same stage:

Alberto Alessi, Legendary Design Guru & President, Alessi S.p.a

Benoit Jacob, Head Designer, BMW iBrand

Tap into a carefully curated group of both design and business leaders from Nokia, Hasbro, Tetra Pak, Nestle Purina, BMW Group Designworks USA, Fahrenheit 212 Europe, Adidas, Smart Design, Vestas Wind Systems, Segway, Telefonica, Royal College of Art, TomTom, Whirlpool, Airbus, and more to discuss, learn and share best practices for the following topics:

· How to sustain design innovation over decades

· Creating a design language in an ever changing mobile world

· Realizing a design vision across-organizational silos

· Identify the future of design within your organization

· Successfully uniting the creative and FEI processes

· How to succeed in designing an innovation organization

· How to inspire and focus non-designers to see things differently

· Rethinking the producer and consumer relationship

Download the conference brochure for full event details.

To Register:
Visit www.iirusa.com/feieurope,

Call: +1.941.554.3500,

Email: register@iirusa.com

Please mention your priority code FEIEMEA12BLOG when registering to receive 15% off the standard and onsite rate.

Challenge & Change the Way You Innovate at FEI 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:23:00 +0000

What is the Front End of Innovation (#FEI12) conference?

There is no ONE defining characteristic. It the combination of exceptional keynotes, powerful content, and distinctive experiences that make FEI the world leader in advancing innovation.

But, with all the conference options out there, we know it can be confusing. If you're deciding between FEI and any other innovation event, we've made it our responsibility to help you understand what makes FEI a truly unique, one-of-a-kind experience.

Celebrate Collaboration and Co-Creation. Other conferences focus on what’s already been done. FEI’s all new CHALLENGE & CHANGE sessions leverage the collective intelligence of our fabulous attendees. After each session, work together to create a powerpoint that will be immediately distributable to your colleagues when you leave the event.
Client Side Shows Up Big. In 2011, 75% of participants came from the client side, making the connections, story-telling, and best practice learning that much more valuable.
Mentor Program. If you're a first-timer, get paired with a veteran who can show you the ropes and help you maximize your experience.
Big Name Keynotes Mixed with Real-World Industry Case Studies. Innovation guru’s like Phil Duncan, Global Chief Design Officer at P&G * Jeff Dyer, Author, The Innovator’s DNA * and Chris Anderson, Editor-in-chief, Wired Magazine deliver expertise through storytelling, while real-world practitioners make the content actionable.
Remove Boundaries between Speakers and Attendees. There are no hierarchies at FEI. Everyone at the event is a senior leader with something to contribute. Choose from 8 different learning formats that encourage sharing, collaboration, and interactivity.
Unique Speakers that Inspire you Personally AND Professionally. FEI goes beyond the typical corporate case study. Hear from innovators like Brian Hart, who lost his son to a roadside ambush in Iraq, and created an affordable robot that defuses bombs so the troops don't have to. The result? Popular Science's "Best of What's next" and "Top 100 Innovations of the Year".
Six Conferences in One. FEI offers more options to customize your agenda. Benefit from 4 full-day Monday Summits: the annual Voc Summit, the annual Portfolio Management Summit, the all New Trends & Technology Summit, the all new Co-Creation Summit, OR a full day workshop on A Universal Framework for the Front End of Innovation.
Unmatched Pre-Event Networking. Other events post a list of attendees on-site. We allow you to connect beforehand with a unique facebook-like online program where you can see who else will be there, set up meetings with attendees, and ask questions of speakers BEFORE you arrive.

Each year FEI celebrates the power of collective intelligence by creating an environment that empowers innovators to have the confidence to contribute meaningfully. No other event exists that attacks present and future challenges through content rich conservations and collaboration.

Intrigued? Download the brochure to learn more!

* FEI Blog Readers receive 15% off the standard and onsite rate when registering, just mention code FEI12BLOG here.

Transformation Happens at the 10th Annual Front End of Innovation.

Pinterest: A Dream-catcher for Creatives & CEOs

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:05:00 +0000

What's Pinterest?

There's been a torrent of media interest in a new social network called Pinterest lately.

In fact, it's being billed as the hottest social media trend of 2011-2012. The explosion of traffic to the start-up's site in less than one year (from 40,000 to over 3.2 million monthly unique visitors) is perhaps an explanation of the fascination and enthusiastic declaration of it being "the Web's next best new Thing," combined of course, with the over $37 million in funding it's received.

For those of you not familiar to the site, it works as a pinboard or scrapbook, where users can create boards and pin links, photos, or videos and then share them with friends. Users can also follow other members and re-pin their content as well. The site is currently invite-only but users can also browse boards without signing up.

Currently, 70% of Pinterest's users are female and the site is getting a lot of interest from marketers and brands who want to engage consumers by promoting a lifestyle concept or get them to discover their products through a social medium. So it makes sense that as of now, the content being curated and shared leans very heavily toward fashion, home decor, food, and travel.

But what seems crystal clear to me is the site's potential to inspire and share beyond these categories and market segments. It can be used for play but it also holds potential for being fertile ground for innovation. The site is extremely visual and I can see it catering to creatives and dreamers in much the same vein as Behance, Tumblr and Vimeo do.

How?

Dreaming 4.0

Pinterest brings to mind to my bedroom walls where as a teenager I taped up photos, posters and collages of magazine cut-outs to remind me, inspire me and nurture my spirit. It is a good habit that I've never kicked. I know many artists and creatives who maintain dream or vision boards and sometimes carry quotes, pictures or inspirational items with them at all times. Web users regularly do this via bookmarking or sharing content.

From moleskin to iPad, cork bulletin board to sleek portfolio, the concept of organizing and storing your ideas, dreams and desires remains the same. Where are you currently storing your ideas?

Why not bring this dream-catcher process inside your company or use it to connect with your followers?

"Innovation" Pins on Pinterest

Inspire your team internally

Imagine an online pinboard dedicated to inspiring and connecting your team and other employees, allowing them to cultivate a vision and ideas together, fueling the fires of creativity and set the tone. By pinning items and tagging each other, they are collaborating and brainstorming ideas in a fun creative way that creates a strong, unified interest in your company's success.

Bring the innovation conversation online by pinning that new design, Superbowl commercial, song, gadget demo or street art that everyone needs to see. All hands on deck - Innovation warriors, come out to play!

Promote company culture externally

Pinboards can also be used to introduce and share your company's vision, mission and culture outwardly. Brands and figures like Whole Foods and Martha Stewart are already sharing via Pinterest. In this new marketing era of transparency, openness and connection, this avenue offers another way to delight your consumers by bringing them inside your corporation and showing them what you do literally and what you value.

Any social media marketer will tell you that consumers buy when they feel connected to a brand - that it reflects their shared values and aspirations and makes the consumer feel good about themselves.

Are you a creative? Are you a visionary? Are you a techie? A foodie? Connect with your peers and the people in that space, cultivate a following and then bring it back full circle.

Imagine being offered the opportunity to have a look at Guillermo Del Toro's, Walt Disney's, Anne Rice's or Steve Job's vision board, wouldn't you jump at the chance?

Have a company blog? Embed the Pinterest icon and invite readers to follow you.

Test, learn, gather insights

Pinterest may be used as a ideas bank internally but what about as a focus group? When you have a new idea or development in progress, you want to gauge interest and use failure as a learning experience. Pinterest's users share what inspires them on a very personal level.

Offer users the ability to pin your products or ideas or blog posts. Not only is it a great social marketing tool but you can use it to gather insights about your consumer base, your internal team or another audience.

What inspires them? What do they crave? What do they have in common? What are they saying about it?

Pin that new idea/concept/design and track how people react to it before actualization.

Take it to the people

You might ask people to pin photos or videos of themselves using your product, which may be used to reward your loyal customers by featuring them or for testimonials. Pass them the pin.

Take the marshmallow candy Peeps for example, it has such a devout fan culture that if you Google or Youtube it, you will find consumers doing way more than just eating them for Easter.

Untitled from 8/7 Central on Vimeo.

You might be surprised to see online fans videotaping Peep explosions in their microwaves or using them for artistic expressions in delightful out of left field forms such as Peep sushi creations. Brands with similar devout fan culture, like Duct Tape or Lego, could easily reap the benefits of a user-generated pinboard.

You might run a contest asking users to submit ideas for a new product or just collect data about how they use the product to develop and innovate further.

The Myspace generation created a new wave of self-portraiturist, amateur photographers, using their mirrors and cameras to take candid shots of themselves and then posting them online that set the camera industry on a whole new design path.

Who knows what you might discover via Pinterest about your own concept and its use.

[Updated to add one more below]

From the Mixed Up Files of...

Libraries, museums and other institutions have practiced the noble art of information science and preservation for hundreds of years. Without much praise, social mediums such as Twitter, Foursquare, Flickr, Blogger, Instagram, Youtube and Facebook have done much of the same thing except that few people view them through that digital archives lens. That was...until Facebook owned it.

There's been a lot of fuss in the last several months about Facebook's major Timeline design overhaul. Call it what you will... curation, storage, archives, historical documentation, etc., There is a global collaboratory movement happening, preserving history (public or personal) has become a social phenomena.

Why not create an open, searchable, networked, digital channel that preserves your ideas, vision and creative passions for the future? Can you see the value of such a resource?

As inspiration for this post, I ran a search for "Zurich" on Pinterest since that is where the FEI team is headed next for Front End of Innovation EMEA. The results made me 'ooh and ah' but also validated my thoughts here:

Just look at those cool offices at Google Headquarters in Zurich!

Take caution though, Pinterest (n)etiquette restricts self-promotion so follow the rules and become a true part of the community before you begin sharing your own work. You don't want to be That Guy just talking about yourself all the time.

Lastly, remember to have fun. Play, explore and share - AND dream!

I have a few invites that I'd be happy to share with Front End of Innovation readers, please post your email address in the comments or contact me directly to request.

Feel free to connect with me at Pinterest too. A special thank you to Chris Brogan, whose own Google Plus post about Pinterest and its uses inspired me to write this - Inspiration is everywhere, don't forget to pay it forward.

For further exploration into social media uses within the innovation process, you might be interested in attending our full-day "SOCIAL MEDIA SUMMIT: THE INTERSECTION OF CUSTOMER AND WEB 2.0" at the 6th annual Front End of Innovation EMEA in Zurich.

FEI Blog readers receive a 15% off discount on the standard and onsite rate by using code FEIEMEA12BLOG to register.

Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a technology, anthropology, marketing and publishing business acumen. She will be attending the 6th annual Front End of Innovation EMEA in Zurich, Switzerland on February 27-29, 2012, and covering the event live via Twitter and the FEI Blog. She is a published poet and also maintains a literary blog. She may be reached at vrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

Assessing the State of Innovation: How Does Your Company Rate?

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Join us for a new complimentary innovation webinar:

During engagements with Fortune 100 companies and at several executive workshops, Dr. Matheson has identified concerns among innovation leaders over the current state of innovation. Issues include disappointment with popular approaches to ideation and management of the innovation process.

David will explore four “must-do” practices to improve the value returned by your innovation efforts.

Participants will learn:

•    Better ways to identify winning innovation
•    Four “must-do” practices to improve innovation value
•    Why you cannot consistently predict winners, but you can develop a winning portfolio

Plus, all registrants will receive complimentary copies of the following white papers: "Assessing the State of Innovation", "Perfecting the Recipe for Breakthrough Innovation" & "Optimizing Product Portfolios with Advanced PPM"

Space is limited! Register today!

Date: Tue, Jan 24, 2012
Time: 01:00 PM EST
Duration: 1 hour

Presenter: David Matheson, Ph.D. Co-Founder, President and CEO of Smartorg.

David has helped Sr. management of firms in the United States and Europe improve their results from portfolio management, product development, innovation, R&D, capital investment and strategy, and is an expert on measuring value and managing uncertainty. His practical experience covers a variety of industries, including printing, software development, biotechnology, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, manufacturing, electric power and entertainment. He is co-author of the best selling book, The Smart Organization: Creating Value through Strategic R&D and has authored numerous articles on innovation, portfolio management and decision making. In addition to being at the helm of SmartOrg, he is currently a member of the board at Photozini, Inc. and a Fellow with the Society of Decision Professionals. His Ph.D. is from Stanford University, where he currently teaches.

Here he is talking with Meet the Boss TV about corporate innovation:

How Does Google Stimulate Internal Innovation?

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:05:00 +0000

Has innovation plateaued in your organization?

A recent article in Fast Company stated: "Companies that succeed at innovation - Apple, Google, and GE, for example, have their own innovation DNA that exists independent of innovation managers."

In 2012, you must go beyond simply creating an innovation team, to truly creating a culture that breeds and rewards innovative thinking.

Hear from Google's Country Manager at The Front End of Innovation EMEA in Zurich to find out how they stimulate internal innovation.

Download the conference brochure for full event details.

Additional sessions focused on creating a culture of continuous learning include:

• The Freedom to Innovate, and Why Corporations Should Consider Having a Separate Research Team
- Alfred Yoakim, Nespresso R&D Leader, Nestle System Technology Center

• Organisational Breathing: Embedding an Innovation Rhythm
- David Thomas, Global Innovation Leader, MOS Program Manager (Innovation for Growth), Mars Incorporated

Who Else Will Be There?

FEI EMEA, The World Leader in Advancing Innovation, brings together innovation, R&D, product development and (NEW for 2012) product design executives.

Companies already registered include:

ABN Amro, Adidas, Airbus Deutschland, Alcatel Lucent, Alessi Spa, Altria Client Services, Antwerp Management School, Arcelik AS, Artesis Hogeschool Antwerpen, AT Kearney, Ball Packaging Europe GmbH, BASF SE, Bayer, BBVA, BMW, Bostik SA, Celanese Emulsions GmbH, Claro Partners, CoCatalyst Ltd, Credit Suisse, DOKA, Dow Corning, DSM, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, Ericsson, Ernst & Young, Ethz, European Investment Fund, Farenheit 212 Europe, FIRMENICH Perfumery, Forbes.com, GlaxoSmithKline, Google, Grundfos Management, Gruppo Campari, Hasbro UK Ltd, Henkel, Hype Softwatetechnik GmbH, IBM, Imperial Tobacco Group, Innabler, Innovation Leadership Network, Innovia Technology, Institute of Innovation & Environ, Intel Labs Europe, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Johnson & Johnson Medical, JTI, Kaba AG, Kaos Pilots, Kiln, Kraton Polymers LLC, Lantor, Lanxess Deutschland GmbH, Leiden Univ Res and Innovation Svcs, Magna International, Malaysian Technology Development Corporation, Mars Europe, Ministry of Manpower Singapore, Nestle, Nine Sigma, Nitto Europe NV, Nokia, Novartis, Oriflame Cosmetics AB, P&G, PDD, Philips, Philips Consumer Lifestyle, PRTM, Pureinsight, Rabobank, Rafaela Kunz, Royal College of Art, SABIC, Sabic Services Ltd, Sanofi Pasteur, SAP, Saxo Bank, SEB, Seek Research, Segway, Sherwin Williams, Siemens, SmartDesign, Starbucks, Strategos, Swarovski, Swiss Post International, Swisslog, Telefónica I+D, Tetra Pak, TomTom Int'l, Trend Desk, TRUMPF Maschinen Austria, Vestas Wind Systems, Volkswagen, Whirlpool Corporation, Wyndham Worldwide, and more

To Register:
Visit www.iirusa.com/feieurope,
Call: +1.941.554.3500,
Email: register@iirusa.com

To save 15% off the standard and onsite rate, please mention your priority code when registering:

News Flash: Front End of Innovation 2012 Program Released

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:32:00 +0000

We are thrilled to unveil the full program for the 10th annual FEI: Front End of Innovation event taking place May 15-17, 2012, at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando.

Here’s the the top 10 reasons to joins us at our 10th anniversary event:

1. No Repeat Performances. The FEI main conference features 100% new speakers. No repurposed content.

2. Keynote Provocateurs: The best FEI keynotes yet deliver expertise through storytelling.

· Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief, Wired Magazine, Author, The Long Tail

· Phil Duncan, Global Chief Design Officer, Procter & Gamble

· Jeff Dyer, Author, The Innovator’s DNA

· Michio Kaku, Famed Futurist, Physicist, and TV Personality

3. 6 Conferences in One: Benefit from the main conference plus either 4 full-day Monday Summits- the Annual VoC Summit, the Annual Portfolio Management Summit, the All New Trends & Technology Summit, and the All New Co-Creation Summit; OR the Full Day Workshop on A Universal Framework for the Front End of Innovation.

4. Stories that Will Inspire You: Hear from innovators like Brian Hart, who lost his son to a roadside ambush in Iraq, and created an affordable robot that defuses bombs so the troops don’t have to. The result? Popular Science’s “Best of What’s New” and “Top 100 Innovations of the Year”.

5. Make Meaningful Connections: Last year, we had 75% of participants coming from the client side, making the connections and story-sharing that much more valuable.

6. Dissolve Boundaries between Speakers and Attendees: Choose from 8 different learning formats that encourage interactivity: FIRESTARTERS, CHAMPIONS, STORYTELLERS , FISHBOWL, SANDBOX, COINS, GREENROOM, CLASSROOM.

7. All New Chief Innovation Officer Panel: Insights from those who’ve reached the top of the innovation field, including CIOs from Xerox, Dow Corning, and DSM.

8. 70 Real-World Case Studies: Break-out speakers worthy of the mainstage:

· Karen Freidt, Lead, Navigation Center for Creativity, Collaboration, & Innovation, NASA

· Gordon Jones, Director, Harvard Innovation Lab

· Barry Calpino, Vice President, Breakthrough Innovation, Kraft

· Bill Lunderman, Vice President, Global Strategic Brand Design, Colgate-Palmolive

9. Special Alumni Curriculum: Been to FEI before? The 2012 event features special Q&A time with keynotes, personal development sessions, and bonus activities just for our past attendees.

10. New Core Content Areas: featuring sessions on Reverse Innovation, Storytelling as a Core Competency, Design Integration at the Front End, Collaboration in the New Social Space.

FEI continually serves as the industry’s catalyst for change by masterfully facilitating the intersection of thinking and acting. Register now to lock in the lowest rate possible.

Transformation Happens Here: www.iirusa.com/feiusa

My predictions for 2012 (tell me I’m wrong!).

noreply@blogger.com (CogniStreamer) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

1. There will be more twitter handles with the word fragment “inno” in them.

2. Every month there will be at least two more innovation experts offering management consulting advice. Half of these people will come from the CRM advisory arena. The other half did this work as employees of big companies.

3. There will be more university sponsored educational programs focused on innovation.

4. There will be more Chief Innovation Officers at big companies.

5. Only half of them will have people working directly for them.

6. Only a third of them will have a reasonable budget

7. They still will have to talk senior management into enabling employees to put time into innovation versus their “day jobs”.

8. Companies that tried “idea contests”, “idea prediction markets” and “electronic suggestion boxes” will look at ongoing collaborative systems for ideation instead.

9. Organizations that tried to write a SharePoint based idea system will come to terms with the fact that no matter how good they get they still don’t have the mechanisms to manage idea promotion.

10. Most companies will embrace the concept that a collaborative tool for the front end of innovation will bring all their smart people together to share information…and that this is a very small investment for such a large impact.

What’s your prediction?

Ron Shulkin is Vice President of the Americas for CogniStreamer®, an innovation management system. You can learn more about CogniStreamer here http://bit.ly/ac3x60

Ron manages The Idea Management Group on LinkedIn (Join Here) http://bit.ly/dvsYWD . He has written extensively on Idea Management (Read Here) http://bit.ly/b2ZEgU and also right here on the FEI site (search on “cognistreamer” for my weekly guest blog results).

CogniStreamer® is an idea management software tool. It is an open innovation and collaboration platform where internal colleagues and external partner companies or knowledge centers join forces to create, develop and assess innovative ideas within strategically selected areas. The CogniStreamer® portal is an ideal collaborative platform that invites users to actively build a strong innovation portfolio. In addition it provides a powerful resource for internal and external knowledge sharing. The CogniStreamer® framework is used by industry leaders such as Atlas Copco, Bekaert, Case New Holland, Cytec, Imec, Philip Morris, Picanol, ThyssenKrupp, Vesta, Vesuvius and many others. CogniStreamer® represents the best use of adaptive collaborative technology such to harness human skill, ingenuity and intelligence.

Free Live Webinar: Womenomics Meets Design: A Female Innovation Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:55:00 +0000

Fact: Women buy (products made by men)

Over 10,000 working hours and more than 1500 women worldwide were involved in a unique research study, which analyzed female tech-preferences and how to best embrace these insights within product development.

This masterclass will present the results of a 3-year design research program called "female interaction" co-financed by the Danish Governments program for user-driven innovation - a cross disciplinary project bringing together scientists, designers and innovation experts from 3 leading tech companies: Bang & Olufsen, GN Netcom and Danfoss.

In this Webinar, you'll learn:

Womenomics Trends Data: Female business insights and the innovation potential overseen in the (tech) industry
Made by Men, Bought by Women: How does a female's approach to technology differ from a male's?
Female Interaction Principles for Making the Female Tech Approach Operational: Go beyond pink
4 Female Tech User Profiles: Ways to avoid stereotypic gendered thinking and tools to enhance user focus
Case study Illustrating Potential for User-experience Innovation: How to redesign a specific tech-product (a mobile headset from Jabra) based on insights from female values and a female approach to technology
Female Innovation Strategy Outline: How to meet the preferences of the female users and consumers through innovative research & design process

Presenter: Klaus Schroeder, Design-Director & Partner, Head of Female Interaction Research

Space is limited! Register today!

Details

Date: Wed, Jan 11, 2012

Time: 12:00 PM EST

Duration: 1 hour

Host(s): Front End of Innovation

Share:

Klaus Schroeder is design director and partner at design-people.dk – an international Danish design consultancy specialised in advanced interaction design. Klaus Schroeder holds a Master degree in Industrial design from Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Braunschweig. Klaus combines successful and award winning international design results for the industry with research in the field of interaction and user-experience design and he serves as lecturer and an appointed examiner at different Design Schools.

As head of the 3-year long ”Female Interaction” design research project, co-financed by the Danish Government’s program for user-driven innovation, Klaus Schroeder has become an authority within the field of gendered innovation and gender specific design and has advised both in the United Nations and the European Union.

Philips, IBM, Rabobank, BBVA Leverage Social Media for Innovation & Product Development

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:43:00 +0000

Are you utilizing internal social media to drive idea generation from within the company?

Are you leveraging social media to source great ideas from the outside?

The Front End of Innovation EMEA, taking place 27-29 February in Zurich, Switzerland, has a brand new Full Day Summit on Social Media: The Intersection of Customer and Web 2.0. It’s time you start getting real value from social media – but how do you define its value?

Download the conference brochure.

Join us for this full day intensive, featuring…

• The Social Media Experience:
New Barriers are Fading Floris Regouin, Social Media Strategist, Philips Consumer Lifecycle

• Participatory Service Networks:
The Shift to Distributed Value Co-Creation and Exchange Tini Reiter, Innovation & Change Manager, Observatory, BBVA

• A Culture Based on Trust, Not Control:
Using the Power of the Crowds Maarten Korz, Innovation Manager, Rabobank

• Social Media, Innovation, Digital Re-Invention & Evolution:
From ME to WE – YOU to ME Dinis Guarda, Founder & Director, Timizzer.com, Guest Lecturer, Copenhagen Business School

• The Socially Synergistic Enterprise:
Balancing Internal and External Collaboration to Improve Innovation Marcel Baron, Senior Marketing Manager, innovation Marketing, IBM

Join the top innovation, R&D, engineering, product design, and usability experts at the EMEA’s leading innovation conference. In addition to social media’s role in innovation, we will focus on: disruptive innovation, megatrends and technology, reverse innovation, making innovation repeatable, storytelling, design integration, open innovation and partnerships, mass collaboration, and much more.

PLUS! You will hear inspiring and motivating keynote presentations from: BMW, Procter & Gamble, Mars Petcare, Alessi, Novartis, Henkel, The KaosPilots, and the Author of Business Model Generation

Visit the website for more information.

Please mention your priority code when registering:

FEIEMEA12BLOG and

save 15% off the standard and onsite rate.

To Register:

Visit www.iirusa.com/feieurope

Call: +1.941.554.3500

Email: register@iirusa.com

Due Diligence on your Idea Management Software Decision

noreply@blogger.com (CogniStreamer) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:16:00 +0000

If you’re about to spend your 2011 on a decision to buy an idea management system, here’s some last minute due diligence questions to ask your software vendor (and yourself) before putting yourself out there with a risk. Enterprise software decisions are always a risk. The good news is that a successful decision can bolster a career.

First off, stop thinking of it as an idea management system. Start thinking of it as an Innovation Ecosystem. The new environment is not just to run contests; it’s to assemble all of your smart people in one place in order to facilitate sharing of important information. Ideas are one of those things.

Your new system should also enable people to share other information besides just ideas. Your team members should be able to share germane data that can help the others make informed decisions and ideate. So when challenged I might not have an idea but here’s a link to an article I read, here’s an RSS feed to an industry magazine on the subject, here’s a video I saw, here’s picture of something similar, let’s start a sidebar discussion, here’s a white paper I wrote, a spreadsheet I assembled…well you get it. By sharing this information with the rest of the team, we’re likely to stimulate new ideas.

If the system is only focused on campaigns or contests, why do you need a system? You can just get everyone in a room and ask for ideas once a quarter. The ideation process should be collaborative and ongoing.

If the system is heavily focused on rewards you have to wonder what innovation research they’re reading. If you give away a t-shirt for one idea contest, you better give an iPad for the next and then what? A car? People will participate in the ideation process for the sheer thrill of having their cohort comment on their thoughts. When they get an email that their idea was promoted to the next step, they’ll be sure to submit future ideas. Your smart people don’t need to pick something out of a catalog, they need to know their managers are paying attention to what they’re saying.

You should reward contributions, because if you encourage people to contribute, ideas will be the result. One person’s idea shouldn’t have more value than someone else. Your innovation ecosystem needs to be a transparent democracy. Not a meritocracy where some people’s opinions are worth more than others. After all it’s not the “wisdom of the highest paid person in the room”…it’s the “wisdom of the crowd” we’re after. Again, what do you need a system for in this scenario, why not just get the department into a room and everyone can agree that the boss’s idea was best?

The company offering your innovation ecosystem needs to have two things for it and you to be successful. Their development team needs a founder and head of development with a vision. If the company has fired their visionary and is being run by a venture capital company, you have to wonder about their motives. And second the development group needs to be listening to clients in order to add the right features. If the company is entirely mercenary; not listening, then again their motives are suspect. If they hand you a “kill sheet” that puts down the competition instead of pointing out their own virtues, they’re probably a little too narcissistic (and won’t be listening to you either).

Expert professional services that have accumulated a basket of best practices is a key element to implement a collaborative innovation process at your site. If you’re being told you need the software company’s team to be involved constantly and long term, you’re not getting a very self sustaining environment. Your software partner should help you figure out how to use the system and then step back. Actually, you should see your software partner as an innovation architect, whose job it is to build a sustainable innovation ecosystem at your site, not just install a collaborative software tool and walk away.

So…if they charge you per campaign they’re not supporting your ongoing collaborative process. If they’re being led by a VC firm, they probably don’t have your best interests at heart (they’re getting ready to go public).

· You should be partnering with a company that has been doing this for a while, who offer a feature rich innovation ecosystem based on client feature requests.

· Your software partner should be able to guide you initially and then provide a self sustaining environment.

· You should be buying a system that can serve as the backbone for your innovation culture; a place for all your smart people to assemble, collaborate and share important information.

There are many companies that fit the bill. Invite them in and listen closely.

Ron Shulkin is Vice President of the Americas for CogniStreamer®, an innovation management system. You can learn more about CogniStreamer here http://bit.ly/ac3x60

Ron manages The Idea Management Group on LinkedIn (Join Here) http://bit.ly/dvsYWD . He has written extensively on Idea Management (Read Here) http://bit.ly/b2ZEgU . If you search on “Shulkin” here at the FEI blog web site, you’ll find numerous entries on idea management systems.

CogniStreamer® is used as the backbone for many companies’ culture of innovation. It is the idea collaborative tool to generate ideas. CogniStreamer is both an innovation knowledge management and idea management software tool, available both SaaS and behind clients’ firewalls. It is an open innovation and collaboration platform where internal colleagues and external partner companies or knowledge centers join forces to create, develop and assess innovative ideas within strategically selected areas. The CogniStreamer® portal is an ideal collaborative platform that invites users to actively build a strong innovation portfolio. In addition it provides a powerful resource for internal and external knowledge sharing. The CogniStreamer® framework is used by industry leaders such as Atlas Copco, Bekaert, BPost, Case New Holland, Cytec, Imec, Picanol and ThyssenKrupp. CogniStreamer® represents the best use of adaptive collaborative technology such to harness human skill, ingenuity and intelligence. Plus it supported by a team of experts who have built best practices and lend guidance based on practical experience.

Collaborate to Take Innovation Further in your Organization

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:05:00 +0000

The Front End of Innovation - brings together innovators, R&D experts, and higher customer insights executives from all across the EMEA. The result: an immerse 3-day experience that leaves you with the ability to take innovation further with your organization.

Download the complete conference brochure.

Main Conference Break Out-Tracks... Provide depth and breadth on topics to move from complexity to clarity.

• Business Model Adjacencies: Opportunities Beyond your Core
• Design Therapy: Enhancing Lives… Improving Business
• Profit & Purpose: Aligning Sustainability and Business Objectives
• Fail Forward: Create a Culture of Continuous Learning
• Involve Everyone: Overcome the Not Invented Here Syndrome

Featuring Case studies from:
Alcatel-Lucent, GlaxoSmithKline, Nokia, Credit Suisse, Smart Design, Nokia UK, Hasbro UK, Tetra Pak Packaging Solutions, Nestle Purina, BMW Group, DesignworksUSA, Fahrenheit 212 Europe, Adidas,Vestas Wind Systems, Segway, Royal College of Art, TomTom, Whirlpool, Airbus, Wyndham Worldwide, Nitto Europe, Artesis University College Antwerp, Nestle System Technology Center, Pure Insight, Mars, Siemens AG, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Hype Softwaretechnik GmbH, Intel...

Pre-conference Full Day Summits...focus on the new future, new users, and how your internal strategy must align with the external landscape.

• Future Trends Summit: Finding the Next Vibrant Ecosystem

• Social Media Summit: The Intersection of Customer and Web 2.0

• Innovation Management Summit: Making Innovation Systematic

Featuring Case studies from:

Credit Suisse, Bayer MaterialScience, TrendDesk, Starbucks, Ericsson, Volkswagen, Philips Consumer Lifecycle, BBVA, Claro Partners, Rabobank, Timizzer.com, Copenhagen Business School, IBM, Google, Philips, Dow Corwing, Swisslog, A.T. Kearney GmbH, TRUMPF, Gruppo Campari...

Unique Interactive and Collaborative Sessions...exclusive to FEI ensure you take action.

• Zurich Trenz®Walk: A Revolutionary Approach to Predict the Future.
Become a “cultural anthropologist” as you explore cutting edge areas around Zurich, all while generating new, actionable trend insights.

• Connect Meaningfully Through a Challenge™: How Do You Sell Innovation Internally?
Work with your peers to create solutions on how to sell-up your idea to ensure buy-in, commitment, and follow-through from senior leadership.

PLUS! You will hear inspiring and motivating keynote presentations from: BMW, Procter & Gamble, Mars Petcare, Alessi, Novartis, Henkel, The KaosPilots, and the Author of Business Model Generation

Visit the website for more information.

To Register:

Visit www.iirusa.com/feieurope

Call: +1.941.554.3500

Email: register@iirusa.com

Please mention your priority code when registering:

FEIEMEA12BLOG

to save 15% off the standard & onsite rate.

Starbucks, Volkswagen, Ericsson go from Megatrend to Business Impact

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

We are excited to announce the return of The Future Trends Summit and Trenz®Walk to the Front End of Innovation EMEA Conference.

Join us in Zurich, 27-29 February as we challenge you to make impactful change by focusing on the future trends that will impact you, your business, and your brand.

Are you looking for cross industry case studies from the most forward-thinking innovation?

Attend the Future Trends Summit: Finding the Next Vibrant Ecosystem

Megatrend Survey: Swiss SME’s Successful through Innovation
- Nicole Brandle Schlegel, Head Industry Analysis, Credit Suisse

From Mega Trends to Business Impact
- Eckard Foltin, Head of Creative Center, Bayer MaterialScience AG

When Future Meets Nature
- Zeynep Arhon, Future Trends Consultant & Accredited Biomimicry Professional, TrendDesk

Humanity in Every Touchpoint of Your Brand
- Jean-Marie Shields, Global Trend Manager, Starbucks Coffee Company

On the Brink of the Networked Society
- Patrick Regardh, Head of Strategic Marketing, Ericsson

Open Strategy: Using Wisdom of the Crowds for Identifying Future Trends
- Caroline V. Rudzinski, Future Affairs Research Group Volkswagen

Download the conference agenda for full details on their sessions.

Are you looking for in the moment insight, inspiration, and applications?

Attend The Zurich Trenz®Walk – A revolutionary approach to predict the future.

The power of trends is in the application of deep cultural insights to real business challenges and solutions. To succeed in today’s consumer landscape, we must blend art and science to spot the trends and quickly translate the trends into actionable strategic opportunities. Join us as we “Cool Hunt” in Zurich to identify these trends which will result in culturally relevant business opportunities, from branding to product development to delivery.

NEW for 2012!

Plus you won’t want to miss our 2 day track on “Design Therapy: Enhancing Lives… Improving Business” with case studies from: Nokia UK, Hasbro UK, Tetra Pak Packaging Solutions, Nestle Purina, BMW Group, DesignworksUSA, Fahrenheit 212 Europe, Adidas, Vestas Wind Systems, Segway, Telefonica, Royal College of Art, TomTom, Whirlpool, and Airbus.

Blog readers save 15% off the standard rate.

Mention code FEIEMEA12BLOG to reserve this rate!

The idea management social network.

noreply@blogger.com (CogniStreamer) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:06:00 +0000

The idea management social network.

You may not know it yet, but you want an idea management social network in your organization. If you don’t have one, you may only get an electronic suggestion box, which is really no better than a static list of ideas. And that’s not going to do anyone any good.

Idea management social networks need to be transparent, democratic and dynamic. And they ARE social networks (click “Like” if you agree :-) ).

The idea management social network is transparent. There is no anonymity. We’re all responsible for our own actions. This might be painful at first occasionally. But over time a bunch of smart adults take credit (or criticism) for their own thought; they self police. Truly destructive contributions will take care of themselves…the contributors will start to be ignored. Just think about all the friends you’ve “un friend” on Facebook.

The idea management social network is democratic. Everyone’s opinion, everyone’s vote is equal. It was the old guard (perhaps Innovation 1.0) that gave the most credence to ideas generated by the HPPITR (the Highest Paid Person In The Room). We have lots of smart people on our team and we need to be prepared to hear them, encourage people to post their ideas and give them credit when they succeed. If we give more credence to the ideas of certain people, perhaps making their votes more significant, those who have not yet received notice for over-achievement will never bubble up to the top.

The idea management social network is a parallel universe to real life. Preexisting relationships in the real world may facilitate relationships on the idea management social network (“Mmmm…I’ll invite Bill into this conversation. I think he knows a lot about this”). In this new environment all the players reach out to those with a common area of interest (even if they have polar opposite viewpoints) creating productive pseudo-relationships…relationships which might exist only within the idea management social network.

The idea management social network is dynamic. We all have evolutionary interests. Yes, I’ll always like Eric Clapton, starting in 1969 when I first heard him…but as time goes by I also like Luther Van Dross and I have to admit I tap my toes lately when I listen to Katy Perry. The people who I “follow” on the idea management social network yesterday may be supplanted by my new-found passion for the opinions of those who just spoke up about a brand new topic.

Real life is complex. So is the idea management social network. You need to nurture transparency, democracy and dynamic relationships. If you encourage collaboration, the result will be great, breakthrough ideas. Give it a try.

Ron Shulkin is Vice President of the Americas for CogniStreamer®, an innovation management system. You can learn more about CogniStreamer here http://bit.ly/ac3x60

Ron manages The Idea Management Group on LinkedIn (Join Here) http://bit.ly/dvsYWD . He has written extensively on Idea Management (Read Here) http://bit.ly/b2ZEgU .Also search on "cognistreamer" here on the FEI blog site and you'll get a list of my weekly guest blogger entries.

CogniStreamer® is an idea management software tool. It is an open innovation and collaboration platform where internal colleagues and external partner companies or knowledge centers join forces to create, develop and assess innovative ideas within strategically selected areas. The CogniStreamer® portal is an ideal collaborative platform that invites users to actively build a strong innovation portfolio. In addition it provides a powerful resource for internal and external knowledge sharing. The CogniStreamer® framework is used by industry leaders such as Atlas Copco, Bekaert, Case New Holland, Cytec, Imec, Philip Morris International, Picanol, ThyssenKrupp, Vesta and Vesuvius. CogniStreamer® represents the best use of adaptive collaborative technology such to harness human skill, ingenuity and intelligence.

P&G, BMW, Mars Among Keynotes Just Announced for FEI EMEA

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:38:00 +0000

The tradition of legendary keynotes continues with the 2012 Front End of Innovation EMEA conference Line-up. Our keynotes tackle the most pressing challenges from leadership, to reverse innovation, to design, to risk-sharing, and challenge you to make impactful change.

Register This Week & Save 15% off the standard and onsite early rate.

Register by Friday 18th November with code FEIEMEA12BLOG to reserve this rate.

• BMW i Brand: Design Language and the Future of Mobility
Benoit Jacob, Head Designer, BMW i Brand, BMW

• Reverse Innovation in China: The Search for Disruptive New Products & Services
John van der Linden, Technology General Manager Oral Care Asia, Procter & Gamble

• Making Innovation Everyone's Job: People and Culture, Even More than System and Tools Gilles Morel, President, Central Europe & Africa, Mars Petcare

• Business Models that Seperate Leading Companies from Followers
Alexander Osterwalder, Author, Business Model Generation

• Daring Intuition: Living on the Borderline of Possible and Not Possible
Alberto Alessi, President, Alessi

• Risk Sharing Models for Commercialization
Rafiq Hassan, Global Head of Opthalmics, Novartis

• Performance-Based Sustainability: The New Green is Blue
Christian-Andre Weinberger, CEO, SI (Strategy Implemented), Former Corporate SVP, Global Chief Marketing Officer & Chief Sustainability Officer L&HC, Henkel

• Leadership on the Edge: Seven Stories of Personal Development
Uffe Elbaek, Founder and Former Principal, The KaosPilots

Download the conference agenda for full details on their sessions.

In addition to these exciting keynotes, hear best practices case studies on disruptive innovation, social media, innovation management, future trends, design integration, mass collaboration from top innovation executives from:

Adidas, Airbus, Alcatel-Lucent, Artesis University College Antwerp, A.T. Kearney GmbH, Bayer materialScience AG, BBVA, BMW Group DesignworksUSA, Copenhagen Business School, Credit Suisse, Dow Corning, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Fahrenheit 212 Europe, Firmenich Flavors, Firmenich Perfumery, GlaxoSmithKline, Google, Gruppo Campari, Hasbro UK, HYPE Softwaretechnick GmbH, IBM, Intel Corp, Mars Incorporated, Nestle Purina, Nestle System Technology Center, Nitto Europe, Nokia, Philips Consumer Lifestyle, Pure Insight, Rabobank, Royal College of Art, Seek Inc, Segway, Siemens AG, Smart Design, Starbucks Coffee Company, Swisslog Warehouse & Distribution Solutions, Telefonica, Tetra Pak Packaging Solutions, TomTom, TrendDesk, TRUMPF, Vestas Systems, Volkswagen, Whirlpool, Wyndham Worldwide and more.

Videos Needed: Front End of Innovation 2012 Event

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:43:00 +0000

STORYTELLERS WANTED!

We are currently planning a mini Film Festival during the “Storytelling” section of the 2012 FEI Program.

We are looking for corporate innovators who have used videos to sell an idea forward internally within their client-side organization (not a commercial for external use).

If you have a video you’d like to share at the event, please email Kelly Schram, Conference Director, kschram@iirusa.com by December 2^nd.

No Time to Innovate

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Take an Innovation Vacation

A popular set of questions that I get asked repeatedly by clients and audience members includes the following:

We know we need to innovate, but who has time?

How do companies balance the day to day operations with the need to innovate?

Without a budget to allocate people to innovation, how can I make innovation part of people’s day jobs?

We all know that when it comes to business, and life in general, that there are two major constraints we all face – and often trade off one against the other – those two constraints are time and money.

Every organization may understand the need for innovation, but it is difficult to execute in a repeatable way because so many of our organizations are set up to maximize the extraction of value from today’s operations and do a poor job of balancing this admirable and necessary goal with the need to develop tomorrow’s revenue and profit-generating operations.

Some organizations set up research and development departments, new product development departments, corporate venturing arms, incubators, or skunkworks to try and address the needs for future revenue and profit streams, but this limits the number of people that can potentially contribute to the potential innovation process and success of the organization – and isolates the efforts from other valuable perspectives and inputs.

Other organizations like Google and 3M also have some of these structures, but in addition try and say to employees that they can spend up to a certain percentage of their time on innovation projects (or whatever work-related pursuit they might want). In 3M’s case the figure is 15% and in Google’s case it is 20%.

There is only one problem with percent time.

The day-to-day deadline pressures and fire drills never disappear in any organization (even an innovative one), and so often the joke goes – sure Google employees get 20% time, but only if it’s on Saturday or Sunday.

So what’s the solution?

Well, after talking with the folks at Intuit as part of the research for my next book project, I’ve come to discover that they approach the time for innovation problem slightly differently.
Instead of just allowing people to spend up to a blanket 10% of their time on innovation projects, instead they allow employees to accumulate that time and then schedule time off to pursue a specific innovation project, often doing so at the same time with 3-4 other employees so they can collaborate on the project idea and push it forward.

I like to call it taking an innovation vacation.

I think this is the best approach I’ve heard so far to balancing the needs of the day to day business and its need for predictable resourcing, with the desire to invest in innovation to sustain the business into the future.

Allowing employees to schedule a collaborative innovation vacation achieves SEVERAL key business goals:

Predictability - It allows managers to do capacity planning and schedule around the employee’s absence

Retention - Allowing employees to take a week or two here or there to pursue an innovation project they are interested in, is likely to lead to higher job satisfaction and retention

Collaboration - If you encourage people to take their time off as cross-functional groups, we know that not only do diverse teams solve problems better, but we also know from EMC’s data on innovation submissions and finalists that projects pursued as teams instead of by individuals are 33% more likely to make the final cut

Increased Organizational Performance - Organizations that have deeper networks and stronger cross-functional knowledge (more T people) are more likely to work together more efficiently, have fewer blind spots, have higher employee engagement, and just have more fun

Time out for a sanity check. 10% time equates to about five weeks a year, and 20% time would equate to about ten weeks a year. So, if you choose to pursue an innovation investment strategy like innovation vacations, you must plan accordingly in terms of staffing (factoring in of course that most employees won’t make full use of it), but I believe it can be done and should be done – for the long-term health of the business.

We try and convince people to allocate 10-15% of their income towards retirement so that they have money to provide for themselves when they grow old and retire, why shouldn’t an organization allocate a similar percentage?

What do you think, could you establish something like this in your organization?

What would you do with an innovation vacation?

* Republished from Innovationexcellence.com with permission of the author.

About the Guest Author:

Braden Kelley is the author of Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire from John Wiley & Sons. Braden is also a co-founder of Innovation Excellence and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy.

P&G’s Search for Disruptive New Products and Services

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:43:00 +0000

FEI Europe is now FEI EMEA!

Based off of your feedback, the 2012 event features an expanded geographical focus - with more perspectives to allow you to leverage expertise from across the globe to drive innovation forward and reprioritize in the face of complexity.

Download the full programme to see what we have in store for you in Zurich in February

To Register: Visit www.iirusa.com/feieurope
Call: +1.941.554.3500,
Email:register@iirusa.com
RSVP on Facebook

Please mention your priority code when registering: FEIEMEA12BLOG

Don't miss Procter & Gamble's much anticipated Keynote Presentation on Reverse Innovation on Tuesday 18th February

World Class Innovation in China: The Search for Disruptive New Products & Services - John van der Linden, Technology General Manager, Oral Care Asia, P&G

In the next decade a more "normal" balance will be restored in the world economy. This might feel "uncomfortable" for people in the West in general, or even multinationals with deep Western roots, as it means not only giving up "power", but also having to embrace a reality that western "values" and "thinking patterns" are NOT what everybody aspires to. Within that reality, winning in the developing eastern markets is key - and within this innovation is fundamental. This session covers a simple framework of lessons learned during 10 years of innovation work in China - where, although culture is really different, it can be harvested for actual superior innovation. It might be less "predictable" vs. a more linear western innovation process, but it might be superior if you are searching for "disruptive" new products of services.

FEI EMEA offers you more content choices than any other event-allowing you to customize your learning across 8 different areas.

Get the depth and breadth of topics you need now, including:

• Future Trends: Finding the Next Vibrant Ecosystem

• Social Media: Next-Gen of Customer-Inspired Innovation and Co-Creation

• Innovation Management: Making Innovation Systematic

• Enhance Business Value: Growth Opportunities Beyond your Core

• Design Innovation: Uniting Design with the Front End

• For Profit and Purpose: Aligning Sustainability and Business Objectives

• Fail Forward: Create a Culture of Continuous Learning

• Involve Everyone: Overcome the Not Invented Here Syndrome

We hope you will join us at the best FEI EMEA conference yet. See you in Zurich in February.

Collaborative Ideation is a lot like the show Survivor. There are winners and losers.

noreply@blogger.com (CogniStreamer) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:18:00 +0000

Collaborative Idea Management Systems are mini experiments looking into human behaviors that result in out of the box thinking. They’re not just electronic suggestion boxes.

When you get a bunch of smart people posting ideas and then invite others to comment, you invite chaos and disruption. If you’re lucky, the serendipitous discovery of great (breakthrough, revenue producing, cost saving) ideas pop up.

Collaborative Ideation is a little like the show Survivor: When you log into the dialog about ideas you get to see who prospers, who gets double crossed, and who gets voted off the island.

The communities that form in a collaborative idea management system are complex. With hundreds of users from different disciplines, interests and locations, an exponential number of viewpoints are boiling in that ocean. In some companies one negative comment can kill a (good) idea but before the inventor even notes that comment, a dozen different positive ones can smother its effect.

New words get created in this dialog. And suddenly people are remarkably “frank” with this new found anonymous organizational engagement. Management may be frightened by what they see. Innovation managers might be rapidly adjusting different users’ permissions as a result. But there is a beauty to this madness enabling constant surprise. After a thorough discussion a word meaning “bad” might start meaning “good”. You say two rights don’t make a wrong? I say: “Yeah, yeah”.

Even if one doesn’t know it when they type a certain idea… it may prove to be a giant risk for the author and the company. By the time new voices pick it apart, the organization may have changed its outlook sufficiently where the new idea is not only acceptable but easily embraced.

With different outlooks comes different ways of looking at things.

People who live in countries where the women wear headscarves probably pay more attention to facial features.
Polite societies are hesitant to talk about private topics.
Engineers look at the company’s ability to manufacture the new product someone suggested.
Financial people look at the idea’s ability to generate cash.
Marketing people think about how their customers will look at the new product idea.

Each different contributor sees the world through their own particular lens.

Rewarding people in a collaborative environment is tricky. It is not a one-to-one relationship. First off you have to reward people for behaviors that are constructive. Sometimes it’s indirect. So for instance it’s better to reward people for contributions not necessarily for ideas. Because if people submit lots of contributions you’ll end up with lots of ideas.

And it’s not usually just one person who is responsible for a good idea. It is usually a bunch of people submitting similar ideas that get clustered together into one superior concept. In fact one criterion for automatic idea promotion should be “the most similar ideas suggested” (not just votes). So how do you reward all those people? Do you give the reward to the strategist? Do you give the reward to the one who put in the most work (comments, invitations, analysis)? Each has (different) value.

Failure to reward properly can cause people to leave or merely have their heart leave their work. When an effort is complex, rewards must be complex, too. Rewards take many forms like communal values such as dignity, compassion and mutual respect. Money and other tangible items (t-shirts, cars, iPads) are too simplistic and easily monopolized which inevitably fail to do justice to everyone’s varied contributions.

Lastly you can best encourage participation by asking people what they’re likely to want to do anyway. No point asking for a financial analysis from a marketing guy, no point asking for marketability from a quant. A select group of challenges that appeal to the mindset of the community will get clicked on. A spirited discussion on a topic where everyone has an opinion will stimulate collaboration. And once again, collaboration leads to ideas.

(Sidebar, don’t bring up the famous arguments that will never get resolved. I don’t participate on Facebook when the issue is Republican vs. Democrat, Pro-Life vs. Women’s Rights, nor the most violent of arguments….Mac Vs. PC.

The point is collaborative idea management systems have a life of their own. Groups of people with common areas of interest find each other in order to work on a project. Behaviors are noted and experts become apparent.

You just have to be risk taker enough and willing to create Eden. Then watch hopefully to see if anyone takes a bite of the apple from the tree of knowledge. It might be painful, your idea shot down, but you never know: Your best ideas sometimes bubbles up to the top with everyone’s agreement. It’s worth the risk.

Ron Shulkin is Vice President of the Americas for CogniStreamer®, an innovation management system. You can learn more about CogniStreamer here http://bit.ly/ac3x60

CogniStreamer® is an idea management software tool. It is an open innovation and collaboration platform where internal colleagues and external partner companies or knowledge centers join forces to create, develop and assess innovative ideas within strategically selected areas. The CogniStreamer® portal is an ideal collaborative platform that invites users to actively build a strong innovation portfolio. In addition it provides a powerful resource for internal and external knowledge sharing. The CogniStreamer® framework is used by industry leaders such as Atlas Copco, Bekaert, Case New Holland, Cytec, Imec, Philip Morris International, Picanol, ThyssenKrupp, Vesta and Vesuvius. CogniStreamer® represents the best use of adaptive collaborative technology such to harness human skill, ingenuity and intelligence.

INDUSTRY ALERT: OFFICIAL CALL FOR FEI PRESENTERS

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie M. Russo) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:47:00 +0000

CALL FOR PRESENTERS: Front End of Innovation US

Call 646.895.7330 or email kschram@iirusa.com by November 1, 2011

Front End of Innovation US

Event Date: May 15-17, 2012

Location: Peabody Orlando, FL

INDUSTRY ALERT: OFFICIAL CALL FOR PRESENTERS

The Institute for International Research (IIR) is currently seeking presenters for:

The 10^th Annual Front End of Innovation US

May 15-17, 2012

The Peabody Orlando, FL

The Call for Presenters is now open for the 10th annual Front End of Innovation event. Due to the high volume of submissions, we suggest you submit your proposal early and no later than November 1, 2011 to Kelly Schram, Program Director at kschram@iirusa.com.

Only corporate/client-side speakers will be considered. If you are a consultant or a solution/technology provider, please see contact details below for sponsorship/exhibit opportunities. Speakers receive FREE admission to the conference.

FEI is all about the Experience. We are looking for the following types of submissions:

· Solo Presentations: Priority will be given to presentations that highlight NEW information on case studies that haven't already been shared at another event.

· Panel Contributors: We are looking for panel contributors to submit a short description of what unique angle or perspective you'd like to share within a specific topic.

· FEI Facilitators/Moderators/Interactive Sessions: Collective intelligence is the key to innovation. We are looking for expert facilitators to conduct a collaborative activity or discussion.

On the following Areas of Interest:

· Business Model Adjacencies

· Creating Buy In

· Creativity

· Design Thinking

· Future Trends Summit

· Getting a Product off the Ground

· Industrial Design

· Innovation Culture

· Innovation in a Down Economy

· Leadership & Innovation

· Metrics, Measurement, ROI

· Partnering & Co-Creation Summit

· Portfolio Management

· Reverse Innovation

· Social Media

· Teamwork

· Voice of the Customer

Sponsorship & Exhibit Opportunities:

If you are interested in sponsorship or exhibit opportunities please contact Sarene Yablonsky, Global Business Development Manager at syablonsky@iirusa.com or 646.895.7474.

CALL FOR PRESENTERS:

For consideration, please e-mail kschram@iirusa.com with the following information by November 1, 2011:

· Proposed speaker name(s), job title(s), and company name(s)

· The main theme you plan to address

· Which format you'd like to present

· Please indicate what is NEW about the presentation

What the audience will gain or learn from your presentation (please list 3-5 deliverables)

Learn New Techniques for Naming And More: Complimentary Webinars

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:23:00 +0000

At the 2011 Future Trends event, Nina Beckhardt of The Naming Group presented the fascinating session "Innovating Brand Language: How to Balance Differentiation and Consumer Understanding."

If you'd like to learn more about naming, consider joining us for a complimentary web seminar “Choosing a name with confidence using new research techniques” on Thursday, October 27, 2011 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/381109592
Use priority code MWS0043TwitterBlog when registering

Selecting the right name for your product or service is one of the most important decisions a company can make – yet many traditional naming research studies create more questions than confidence. Can we risk something abstract? Does your category call for a name that is literal? In addition, what does well in brainstorming or qualitative might not pass muster with a broader audience who may be rating a name purely on appeal.

With this webinar, BuzzBack invites you to learn new techniques for naming. Through case studies, we'll demonstrate how you can integrate online qualitative techniques with scores and quantitative metrics to understand:
• what your name communicates and why
• visuals and imagery associated with the name
• emotional reactions elicited
• how memorable your name is

Featured Speaker: Brendan Light, SVP, Research & Development, BuzzBack Market Research

Plus, join us for these other web seminars in our ongoing series:
On Thursday, November 3rd, join IIR and Autonomy for “Understanding the Voice of the Customer: How to Effectively Gather and Leverage Customer Insight from Multiple Channels to Deliver a Superior Customer Experience”

Join us on this webcast and learn how you can easily gather and leverage data from all customer touchpoints to deliver a superior multichannel customer experience. Learn how you can easily:

• Collect real-time customer insight across channels
• Discover and act upon emerging customer trends
• Deliver a more personal and targeted customer experience
• Increase customer loyalty and reduce churn

Register here: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/dfkvlnr43efw

Then, on Tues, Nov 15, 2011 at 1:00 PM EST join us for ”Targeting: How to Effectively Reach the Unidentified 90% of Your Audience”
Find out how to discover high value segments and the best way to optimize against these segments over time to maximize response. Learn how you can efficiently leverage insights from all your marketing channels to transform the effectiveness of your initiatives for the highest return on spend.

Speakers:
Mallika Chakravarti, Subject Matter Expert, Autonomy
Annie Weinberger, VP Marketing
Register here https://cc.readytalk.com/r/va5mqstr90z3

Imaginatik announces groundbreaking solution for the “back end” of innovation

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Results Engine provides missing link between idea collection and measurable innovation results

BOSTON, Mass., Oct. 17, 2011 – Imaginatik plc (AIM: IMTK), the founder of the Idea Management technology category, announced today the release of Results Engine, the world’s first comprehensive idea-graduation platform. This major new offering represents Imaginatik’s latest breakthrough in the quest to support all phases of the enterprise innovation cycle.

Imaginatik will unveil Results Engine at the Back End of Innovation conference in San Diego this month. Presently in beta trials with numerous current clients, Results Engine will be available to the general public Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Results Engine is a cloud-based platform that allows business leaders to manage, track, and develop ideas into full-fledged innovation projects, using processes (including stage gates) they may customize according to their needs. With Results Engine, a company’s leadership will chart its innovation portfolio across the organization, and tie metrics on business value back to innovation projects and the ideas that created them.

“No longer is the back end of innovation an elusive, hard-to-manage hand-off from one department to the next,” explained Luis Solis, president, North America, Imaginatik. “Results Engine integrates the innovation model from front to back, providing that bridge between idea collection, innovation development, and launch.”

This new software technology works directly with Innovation Central, Imaginatik’s award-winning enterprise innovation platform, by allowing managers to cluster ideas into projects. It provides transparency into the innovation process by keeping track of all actions performed on those ideas, and increases accountability by providing a measurable system for idea implementation. Leaders can use this data to calculate their return on investment.

Results Engine will premiere at the Back End of Innovation Conference in San Diego Oct. 17-19, 2011. For more information visit www.imaginatik.com. For press inquiries contact Bryan Mahoney, Imaginatik plc, at bryan.mahoney@imaginatik.com or 617-960-4713.

About Imaginatik
Imaginatik partners with today’s innovation giants, and creates tomorrow’s innovation leaders. Our mission is to help companies develop sustainable innovation capacity within the organization. Through the right mix of best-practice advice, program management expertise, and an award-winning software platform, we help our clients reach their full innovation potential. Imaginatik is the trusted partner of leading global organizations including The World Bank, NYSE Euronext, Lubrizol, Medco, Cargill, State Farm, Whirlpool, CSC, Chubb, Bombardier, Xerox, and Goodyear.