Archive for June, 2011

Jump Start the Idea Process for Maximum Efficiency

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Innovation begins with just one great idea – built upon, tested, retested and executed with care. It can take thousands of ideas, over the course of weeks, months or even years to reach that one great idea that will bring Innovation and profitable growth to a company. The goal of successful innovation is to get to those monumental moments quicker and more often in order to stay ahead of your competition. That innovation effort is only possible through Idea Management – by holding ideation sessions within your organization. Be sure to create and maintain an idea hopper so you don’t lose any ideas that could potentially pay off later on.

There may be naysayers of ideation sessions, who claim they do not work or that there is no room in the budget. However, it’s all about that small percentage of ideas that make it through the process and produce immense payoff for the company. We’ve all seen that one innovative idea or product that’s catapulted sales and increased shareholder value tremendously for an organization. All it takes is that one great idea among thousands.

Do not overlook the importance of ideation sessions in the process of achieving Innovation. To maximize efficiency, invite your customers and salespeople to participate. It’s a golden opportunity to hear the needs of your consumers, and salespeople can produce invaluable insights about the marketplace. Include other departments of your organization as well, even the ones labeled “not creative” because it would be a shame to miss out on a potential opportunity. Everyone is a consumer so all opinions are relevant.

A diverse group, forced to perform out of their comfort zone, produces the highest quality work. So hold your ideation sessions outside of predictable times and locations – try it at a client’s office or a third party venue. Avoid Monday mornings, Friday afternoons or right after lunchtime when energy levels drop. Most importantly, accept every single idea that comes through without objection or ridicule. By asking the right open-ended questions to unlock new insights and discoveries, to narrowing down to specific concepts, you can jump start the idea process and reach the next “Aha!” moment sooner than your competitors. A concept that doesn’t work at the moment could prove to be successful later on down the road – so store best practices. Maintain an idea database, cross fertilize and keep those ideas until the right technology or cost is possible.

Robert’s Rules of InnovationTM is focused business innovation, with Robert Brands’ goal to bring one new idea to market every year. For more tips on Idea Management and the 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival, see Robert’s Rules of InnovationTM published in March 2010 by Wiley.

 

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Blogs, IDEA MANAGEMENT | No Comments »

Greenwashing: Electric Cars and Innovation Stalled

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Electric cars seem like the socially conscious, feel-good investment among environmentally friendly consumers. In corporate boardrooms, the innovation seemed well liked indeed.

 

What’s not to like? Cars like the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt reportedly can drive for a day or more on a full electric charge. The Toyota Prius reduces a tank full of exhaust to the whir of a hybrid electric/ gas engine.

 

The numbers are astonishing. The Nissan Leaf is considered the most fuel efficient vehicle in the U.S., tallying 106 mpg on the highway, and 92 in the city. The Volt gets 95/90. The Smart fortwo electric drive gets 94/79. Compared with the 16-cylinder, eight liter Bugatti Veyron, which chugs one gallon for every eight miles, the electrics and hybrids are downright stingy.

 

Manufacturers are riding the hype to strong brand awareness. Nissan’s international brand appeal accelerated at 17% – more than that of any other automotive brand, notes Millward Brown Optimor-devised’s “BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands” . Analysis attributed the growth of Nissan’s brand awareness to the debut of the Leaf. After all, it had been named both European Car of the Year and World Car of the Year, both for 2011.

 

Turn back the leaf – or look behind the hard-to-find recharge stations – and you’ll find deeper questions about electric cars. Prices are high, charging stations remain scarce, re-charge cost is unknown, batteries are expensive to replace – and environmentally costly to dispose of.

 

The real question to ask: Is society being “greenwashed” into accepting electric cars? Like whitewashing, greenwashing is the process of covering up a questionable product’s failings in the cloak of environmental friendliness. Buying products made of recycled packaging; ethanol-enhanced gasoline or an electric car is a good first step toward environmentally friendly consumer practices.

 

Just know the whole story. Consider “range anxiety.” This new mental issue plagues owners of electric cars. Owners wonder how long their vehicles will last on a charge. In Europe, a variety of facilities have been built (or are under consideration) to charge vehicles away from home.

 

To that end, the availability of a charge remains a persistent challenge to full consumer acceptance. In Europe, charging stations are comparatively more easily available than in the U.S.

 

The key issue for any concerned consumer is: Where’s the power coming from? Most electricity in the U.S. comes from nuclear facilities or power plants that burn coal or fossil fuels. If an electric car consumes electricity from a charging station itself fueled by a power plant that uses fossil fuel, isn’t the car essentially consuming fossil fuels?

 

What are the “true green” alternatives for today’s electric cars? Solar panels on the roof of homes, feeding power directly to the charging station are one option? Another could be solar panels incorporated into the roof or body of the vehicle itself. Or wind powered recharging stations? We’d first need widespread use of wind farms to bring that solution to bear.

 

Apparently, American consumers aren’t buying it. Sales figures remain soft, leading some to surmise that these vehicles are slow to turn the corner toward broad acceptance.

 

More than innovation will be needed to charge life into the electric car. One only hopes that from the boardroom to the garage to the neighborhood charging station, solutions emerge that shift these vehicles into the next gear.

 

 

By Robert Brands with Jeff Zbar [www.gotwords.biz]

 

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Blogs, INSPIRE & INITIATE | No Comments »

$4 Per Gallon Gas = Energy Innovation

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Long lines at the gas pump weren’t the only product of the twin energy crises of the 1970s. A legislative push toward energy conservation and innovation were also born as a result.

And that’s why one expert believes the skyrocketing price of oil will do the same in 2011.

“History has proven that innovation in the energy industry has almost always been driven by high consumer prices,” said Robert Brands, a veteran corporate executive who now consults with companies worldwide and author of Robert’s Rules of Innovation. “When we had cheap and abundant oil – and low gas prices – during the 1980s, energy exploration and innovation slowed to a halt. We didn’t need it, and we didn’t see an end in sight to the steady stream of oil from the Middle East. So, investors held back funds for new technologies, oil companies stood pat and conservation became a four-letter word.”

According to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, more than $172 billion dollars of government money was spent on new energy technology between 1961 and 2008, with the bulk of it being used during the 1970s. In the 1980s, the spending accounted for only 1 percent of all federal investment.

Brands believes that oil companies, besieged by Congress over taking huge tax breaks amid record profit reports, could earn some much needed political points by taking history’s cue and putting some of that money back into energy innovations.
“When you look at the broad spectrum of what the oil companies are making and compare it to the rate of innovation in alternative energy, it’s like comparing Mount Kilimanjaro to a grape,” Brands said. “Now, most consumers aren’t aware of that truth, because oil companies and ad agencies are very good at making it look like alternative energy is humming along when it’s not. While consumers may not connect those dots, they are very aware of the headlines that show record oil company profits combined with massive tax breaks – especially during a time when federal deficits are threatening them, their children and their children’s children. Today’s energy innovation is a fraction of the total and what should be spend. What’s more, the same old song and dance the oil companies offer with regard to touring how much of a percentage their research and development expenditures are as compared to revenue is a joke, and absolutely no guarantee of success.”

Brands wants oil companies to spark innovation not only because of the positive press it will net, but also because it’s the right thing to do.

“The truth is that many scientists are beginning to calculate an end to the fossil fuel era, because one day, we will run out,” Brands added. “Innovation in this area has been driven by high prices and it has been driven by shortages. When we begin to run out, we’ll experience both, and it will be too late to innovate. We need to do it now, when our resources to commit to it are abundant.”

About Robert Brands

Robert F. Brands, a veteran of companies like GTE, Kohler and Rexam, is president and founder of InnovationCoach.com. Having gained hands-on experience in bringing innovation to market, creating and improving the necessary product development processes and needed culture, he delivered and exceeded bringing “at least one new product per year to market” resulting in double digit profitable growth and shareholder value.

 

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Blogs, INSPIRE & INITIATE | 2 Comments »