View of Failure in the Startup World: A Video September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation.Tags: Creativity & Innovation
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The New York Tech Meetup, Start Up Stories, has created a video about failures in the startup world. The video explains that overnight successes never really are overnight. FourSquare, for example, was not a two year success story, but a thirteen year failure story before that. The one common theme among the stories presented? That failure meant greater learning opportunities.
To watch the video, head here.
Scrunchie Lean March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in 5S & Visual Management, Creativity & Innovation, Lean Tools & Techniques.Tags: 5S & Visual Management, Creativity & Innovation, Lean Tools & Techniques
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The applications of lean visual management tools are often surprising. Mark Hamel, at Gemba Tales, relates one simple but highly effective visual control using scrunchies – a simple elastic hair tie. Mark’s friend and lean convert Lisa uses a green scrunchie to identify her laptop power cord among others when it is plugged in, and uses the scrunchie to fold up and store her wire on the go.
For photos and Mark’s post, head here.
Better Ideas Through Failure December 19, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, workforce.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, workforce
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In order to pitch for a prospective client for kitty litter, Amanda Zolten put a tray of used kitty litter under the meeting table. No one knew it was there until she informed them. Her risk – and the risk of others – is being rewarded more often now, according to an article at Wall Street Journal. Risk, the article notes, can lead to innovation and increases the chance of success. When failure occurs, it is shared and tolerated so as not to repeat the mistake. Failures are not condemned and covered up.
Head on over here to read the article.
Better Ideas Through Failure December 19, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, workforce.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, workforce
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In order to pitch for a prospective client for kitty litter, Amanda Zolten put a tray of used kitty litter under the meeting table. No one knew it was there until she informed them. Her risk – and the risk of others – is being rewarded more often now, according to an article at Wall Street Journal. Risk, the article notes, can lead to innovation and increases the chance of success. When failure occurs, it is shared and tolerated so as not to repeat the mistake. Failures are not condemned and covered up.
Head on over here to read the article.
Three Big Reasons Why We Procrastinate –and What We Can Do About Them November 17, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, personal productivity.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, personal productivity
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Julian Fong, writing at Lateral Action, talks about procrastination and how it can be handled. Fong highlights several key reasons for procrastination, including not knowing what to do, not knowing how to do it, and various forms of psychological resistance.
Check out Mr. Fong’s Lateral Action post here.
Three Big Reasons Why We Procrastinate –and What We Can Do About Them November 17, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, personal productivity.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, personal productivity
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Julian Fong, writing at Lateral Action, talks about procrastination and how it can be handled. Fong highlights several key reasons for procrastination, including not knowing what to do, not knowing how to do it, and various forms of psychological resistance.
Check out Mr. Fong’s Lateral Action post here.
Can the Postal Service Fleet Become a Data Collection Network? April 20, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, new products and technologies.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, new products and technologies
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Michael Ravintzky, chief counsel to the chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, says the Post Office can avoid insolvency. His plan is to transform a typical mail truck into a data-collecting machine. As the mail is delivered, weather information is taken, as well as information about air pollutants. The Department of Homeland Security and other governmental organizations could become customers of the Post Office for this information.
Check out the SmartPlanet article here.
Can the Postal Service Fleet Become a Data Collection Network? April 20, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, new products and technologies.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, new products and technologies
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Michael Ravintzky, chief counsel to the chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, says the Post Office can avoid insolvency. His plan is to transform a typical mail truck into a data-collecting machine. As the mail is delivered, weather information is taken, as well as information about air pollutants. The Department of Homeland Security and other governmental organizations could become customers of the Post Office for this information.
Check out the SmartPlanet article here.
Balancing Product Cost and Innovation February 21, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, manufacturing.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, manufacturing
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With product costs of manufacturing structure reaching as much as 80%, and with low-cost competitors continually arising in both established and emerging markets, innovation can be daunting. This is due to the fact that few organizations can innovate without raising costs. Among the solutions presented by the authors of the IndustryWeek article include creating a base product from which variations can be quickly made.
Check out the article here.
Balancing Product Cost and Innovation February 21, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, manufacturing.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, manufacturing
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With product costs of manufacturing structure reaching as much as 80%, and with low-cost competitors continually arising in both established and emerging markets, innovation can be daunting. This is due to the fact that few organizations can innovate without raising costs. Among the solutions presented by the authors of the IndustryWeek article include creating a base product from which variations can be quickly made.
Check out the article here.
The Company as Community: Threadless Puts Everyone in Charge February 4, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, customer focus, new products and technologies.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, customer focus, new products and technologies
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William C. Taylor at Fast Company seeks to know how a clothing company that puts the customer in charge can succeed. Fans of products are often full of suggestions and ideas, and the clothing company Threadless decided to let them in on the business process. Customers submit t-shirt designs, which are then voted on, and the most successful are judged by the company based on commercial criteria, and winners receive cash, credit, and compensation if their designs are reused later on.
Check out the Fast Company article here.
The Company as Community: Threadless Puts Everyone in Charge February 4, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, customer focus, new products and technologies.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, customer focus, new products and technologies
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William C. Taylor at Fast Company seeks to know how a clothing company that puts the customer in charge can succeed. Fans of products are often full of suggestions and ideas, and the clothing company Threadless decided to let them in on the business process. Customers submit t-shirt designs, which are then voted on, and the most successful are judged by the company based on commercial criteria, and winners receive cash, credit, and compensation if their designs are reused later on.
Check out the Fast Company article here.
7-½ Steps to Innovation January 22, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, culture.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, culture
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Because innovation has become such a popular word, Roy Luebke has offered a handful of thoughts about the innovation process. They’re worth taking a look at. For example, doing what is natural to the company. Companies, Mr. Leubke explains, have histories and cultures, and it is important to respect those when solving a customer problem.
Check out Mr. Luebke’s Innovation Weblog article here.
7-½ Steps to Innovation January 22, 2011
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, culture.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, culture
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Because innovation has become such a popular word, Roy Luebke has offered a handful of thoughts about the innovation process. They’re worth taking a look at. For example, doing what is natural to the company. Companies, Mr. Leubke explains, have histories and cultures, and it is important to respect those when solving a customer problem.
Check out Mr. Luebke’s Innovation Weblog article here.
Embrace Mistakes as a Source of Learning and Invention December 13, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, personal productivity.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, personal productivity
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Generally when employees in companies make mistakes – or when a student makes a mistake in school – the correct answer is immediately handed down, and there is no incentive for actually learning anything. Jeffrey Baumgartner, writing at Innovation Tools, says, for example, there is a natural tendency to seek the right answer out on Google. Ignore that impulse and rely on each other. Mr. Baumgartner also says mistakes can be valuable on-the-job training. Why let lessons learned from those mistakes go to waste?
Check out the Innovation Tools article here.
Embrace Mistakes as a Source of Learning and Invention December 13, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, personal productivity.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, personal productivity
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Generally when employees in companies make mistakes – or when a student makes a mistake in school – the correct answer is immediately handed down, and there is no incentive for actually learning anything. Jeffrey Baumgartner, writing at Innovation Tools, says, for example, there is a natural tendency to seek the right answer out on Google. Ignore that impulse and rely on each other. Mr. Baumgartner also says mistakes can be valuable on-the-job training. Why let lessons learned from those mistakes go to waste?
Check out the Innovation Tools article here.
The Urbee Hybrid: The First 3-D Printed Car December 13, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, green business, new products and technologies.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, green business, new products and technologies
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3D printing has reached a new height and level of sophistication with the completion of the Urbee Hybrid car. Using 3-D printers, which create layers upon layers of material, the Urbee Hybrid averages 200 miles-per-gallon on highways and 100 miles-per-gallon in the city. Beyond those obvious environmental positives is the ability to precisely coordinate design changes to the car.
Check out the FastCompany write up here.
The Urbee Hybrid: The First 3-D Printed Car December 13, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, green business, new products and technologies.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, green business, new products and technologies
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3D printing has reached a new height and level of sophistication with the completion of the Urbee Hybrid car. Using 3-D printers, which create layers upon layers of material, the Urbee Hybrid averages 200 miles-per-gallon on highways and 100 miles-per-gallon in the city. Beyond those obvious environmental positives is the ability to precisely coordinate design changes to the car.
Check out the FastCompany write up here.
Lateral Thinking Stimulates Creativity and Innovation December 13, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation.Tags: Creativity & Innovation
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According to Paul Sloane at RealInnovation, lateral thinking can stimulate creativity and innovation because it forces individuals to think from the side rather than vertically. Lateral thinking differs from conventional or vertical thinking because it encourages the thinker to understand that there are polarized ideas, searching for different ways of looking at things, and taking chances. An example would include writing down all of the major ideas that apply to a particular situation, and then challenging them deliberately. Another lateral thinking example would include asking “what if”: what if a dog fundraiser targeted fewer, wealthier donors than a myriad of middle class donors?
Check out Mr. Sloane’s Real Innovation article here.
Lateral Thinking Stimulates Creativity and Innovation December 13, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation.Tags: Creativity & Innovation
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According to Paul Sloane at RealInnovation, lateral thinking can stimulate creativity and innovation because it forces individuals to think from the side rather than vertically. Lateral thinking differs from conventional or vertical thinking because it encourages the thinker to understand that there are polarized ideas, searching for different ways of looking at things, and taking chances. An example would include writing down all of the major ideas that apply to a particular situation, and then challenging them deliberately. Another lateral thinking example would include asking “what if”: what if a dog fundraiser targeted fewer, wealthier donors than a myriad of middle class donors?
Check out Mr. Sloane’s Real Innovation article here.
How to Think What No One Else Thinks October 14, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation.Tags: Creativity & Innovation
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How can an individual think of things that no one else thinks of? The answer is to take a different approach on the issue. There are dominant ideas in every field. The innovative thinker challenges dominant ideas in order to conceive new possibilities.
Read this brief but thought-provoking article at RealInnovation.com, here.
How to Think What No One Else Thinks October 14, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation.Tags: Creativity & Innovation
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How can an individual think of things that no one else thinks of? The answer is to take a different approach on the issue. There are dominant ideas in every field. The innovative thinker challenges dominant ideas in order to conceive new possibilities.
Read this brief but thought-provoking article at RealInnovation.com, here.
How Do You Reinvent Something as Common as the Padlock? October 14, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, new products and technologies.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, new products and technologies
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Introduced in 2009, Master Lock’s Speed Dial is the first “directional” combination lock. It replaces a series of numbers with a sequence of up-down and left-right movements (like a video-game cheat). FastCompany magazine talked to Lea Plato, one of the designers who worked on the lock, about how the lock came to be and why it’s easier to use than what we’re all used to.
Read the full article here.
How Do You Reinvent Something as Common as the Padlock? October 14, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, new products and technologies.Tags: Creativity & Innovation, new products and technologies
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Introduced in 2009, Master Lock’s Speed Dial is the first “directional” combination lock. It replaces a series of numbers with a sequence of up-down and left-right movements (like a video-game cheat). FastCompany magazine talked to Lea Plato, one of the designers who worked on the lock, about how the lock came to be and why it’s easier to use than what we’re all used to.
Read the full article here.
Stepping off the hamster wheel: How to stay creative even when you’re insanely busy October 14, 2010
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation.Tags: Creativity & Innovation
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In IBM’s survey, 1541 CEOs, general managers and senior leaders cited “creativity” more than any other attribute as crucial to their success in the current economy. Firms are crying out for innovation for two reasons: a desire for organic growth and avoiding the debilitating effects of mass distraction like email, twitter, interruptions, and multi-tasking. What can you do to counteract the forces of mass distraction and cultivate your creativity? Author Robert Tucker offers two suggestions that may help. Read them here.
