Archive for the ‘Tips’ Category

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Cashing In On Intellectual Property

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Maximizing Innovation by Translating Intellectual Property into Revenue

What’s in your IP cupboard?

Progressive companies create innovation teams. They invest countless man-hours, dollars and other resources in investigating and pursuing innovation. Yet they often leave their intellectual property untouched, thereby failing to translate patents and other IP into revenue opportunities.

American industry and academia hold some two million current patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Yet, the vast majority remain idle. In a tight economy – and even in the best of times, failure to exploit existing patents for profit means more than money’s being left on the table. New opportunities – and the possibilities they spawn in kind – are lost.
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Posted in Blogs, VALUE CREATION, VALUE CREATION | 1 Comment »

The Reward of Innovation

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

Innovation is ultimately about return on investment at the end of the New Product Development process. With the success of a new product launch, everyone benefits – from shareholders and company employees to the consumers. Innovation done well reaps market share gain, new products and new features. Essentially, everyone wins.

The last imperative of Robert’s Rules of Innovation is Net Results, Net Reward, meaning recognizing the people who contributed to the development of a new product. It’s important to reward actions with incentives for sustainable effort.
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Posted in Blogs, NET RESULT, NET REWARD, NET RESULT, NET REWARD | 2 Comments »

Accountability: The Foundation of Sustainable Innovation

Friday, May 21st, 2010

In Robert’s Rules of Innovation: a 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival, author and Innovation Speaker Robert Brands shares his 10 imperatives to nourish Innovation – the lifeblood of any company. Of Robert’s 10 imperatives, one of the most important and the most difficult to achieve is Accountability.
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Posted in ACCOUNTABILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY, Blogs | 2 Comments »

Reward Tips

Monday, February 8th, 2010

The fruits of your team’s labor benefit all. These successes must be rewarded – and in the appropriate manner:

  • Innovation and ROI: true Innovation results in value creation for all stakeholders – in terms of financial return, increased market share and enhanced profitability; this is the ultimate goal of your sustainable Innovation program.
  • The Right Rewards: rewards and recognition systems can take many forms, from a bonus percentage based upon new product sales to peer acknowledgment and awards.
  • Recognition: Pride…a thorny problem solved…the personal satisfaction of a job well-done – these are some of the intrinsic motivators that make creative people tick.

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Posted in Blogs, NET RESULT, NET REWARD | No Comments »

RROI # 9: Observe and Measure

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Observation and measurement – in terms of the performance of the program implementation needs to be built-in as a recurring element :

  • What’s Measured, Is Treasured: And that’s just human nature, so be sure to check and recheck performance – monthly.  No exceptions, no excuses. What gets measured gets done.
  • What to Look For?: the key performance indicators and metrics include:
    • R&D spending as a percentage of sales
    • Total patents filed/pending/awarded/rejected
    • Total R&D head count
    • Current-year percentage of sales attributable to new products released in the past year/three years/five years
    • Number of new products released

For a recent survey on Innovation Measurements see:  http://www.innovationcoach.com/resources/survey/ “What do you measure?”

For more Tips see “Robert’s Rules of Innovation” by Wiley, March , 2010

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Posted in Blogs, OBSERVE AND MEASURE | 1 Comment »

Value Creation Tips

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

In the discussion of optimizing sustainable Innovation programs, here is the key: Value Creation.  The real challenge is successfully managing the process and ensuring that the positive outcome results in superior return-on-investment (ROI).

  • A Means to an End: Think of Innovation as a process that uses intellectual capital to generate positive business results and, in the process, new findings – which spurs more Innovation, and leads to further financial returns, etc. etc.
  • The Customer is King: The value proposition is the key to successful Innovation.  Develop an Innovation with high perceived value to your customer, and strong sales will follow.
  • IP Protection: Part of the three-legged stool (technology – business acumen – law) I referenced earlier, IP and patent protection locks in your competitive advantage that supports the sales results and market share increases that result in overall stakeholder value.

Posted in Blogs, VALUE CREATION | 2 Comments »

Ownership Tips

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Everyone involved needs to feel truly part of the process and it’s incumbent upon the driver to knock down “us-versus-them” roadblocks in cross-divisional teams.  To wit:

  • Who’s Driving This Thing?: Your program for sustainable Innovation must have a champion, a true driver of the process.
  • Where’s the Passion?: Select associates who care and are truly passionate about the product and the effort.  Kick disbelievers off the bus – this is too important for naysayers to derail.
  • Different Strokes for Different Folks: Assign a specific task to a dedicated “owner” – this is critical to unleashing the best performance out of each member of the project team.

Posted in Blogs, OWNERSHIP | No Comments »

Training and Coaching Tips

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Effective training and coaching is one of the pillars of success to any sustainable Innovation program.  These tips will help the process go as smoothly as possible:

  • Share the Joy: As well as the frustrations – communicate what is working and not working.
  • Pick the Right Coaches: Not everyone has the psychological make up to be the coach.  Knowledge is key, obviously.  But the coach needs to be able to motivate, mediate, create camaraderie and a sense of selflessness.
  • The One-On-One Touch: Individual coaching provides the privacy and attention that breeds success.  I’ve found that discussions regarding areas for improvement are received and acting upon much better in a private session, away from peers, listening-in.  This can be especially critical with new employees and/or team members.
  • Basics First: Make certain project management basics are taught, applied, and re-taught.

For more Tips see the book

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Posted in Blogs, TRAINING & COACHING | 3 Comments »

Motivating Innovation

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Human resource executives command many tools to foster innovative workplace cultures.

However, investing in innovation may be viewed by some organizations as too risky at a time when they are scrutinizing every expenditure, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) notes in its 2009 Workplace Visions article, “Innovative Work Teams in a Challenging Business Environment.”

For organizations up to the challenge, though, the SHRM researchers point out, “it’s the kind of strategic investment that will pay dividends now in the years ahead.”

Motivating Innovation Motivating Innovation PDF

Posted/Reprinted with  permission of the Society for Human Resource Management (www.shrm.org), Alexandria, VA, publisher of HR Magazine. © SHRM

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Posted in Blogs, INSPIRE & INITIATE | 1 Comment »

New Product Development Tips

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Remember, “creative” and “structured” need not be mutually exclusive concepts.

  • Open Wide: Keep the idea funnels wide open.  As Stage-Gate’s Dr. Cooper advises, find and fill the product “white spaces” – untapped marketplace opportunities.
  • Sharpen Those Teeth: Make sure your Go/No-Go decision checkpoints have “teeth.”
  • Widen the Innovation Highway: Make the system lean, adaptive, flexible and scalable, in order that you can simultaneously process different types and risk levels of projects.

For more Tips see “Robert’s Rules of Innovation” by Wiley, March , 2010

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Posted in Blogs, NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS | 2 Comments »

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