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Creative Business Digest
The Creative Business Digest is my summary (together with my comments) of articles on business creativity sourced from publications from all over the world. My intention is to keep you updated and at the same time stimulate your thoughts on creativity relating to your business.
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CREATIVE BUSINESS DIGEST Issue No. 7.1 © Dr.YKK (Dr.Yew Kam Keong) , Chief Mind Unzipper www.mindbloom.net , DrYKK@mindbloom.net This Issue No. 7.1 issue of my Creative Business Digest highlights the Adobe’s creativity culture, international competitiveness and innovations in packaging and advertisement. I I hope that they will provoke you to think of new concepts in your future approaches in these areas. The CBD is my summary (together with my comments) of the latest articles on business creativity sourced from publications from all over the world. My intention is to keep you updated and at the same time stimulate your thoughts on creativity and innovation relating to your business. I welcome your comments and feedback. Do feel free to circulate this newsletter together with my contact information, to your friends and business associates. Please email me if you want to stop this FREE subscription. Thank you.
Adobe IdolIn American Idol fashion, product managers unveil new concepts in front of a panel of colleagues they hardly know, looking to gain traction for their ideas. This is Adobe's Champion Showcase, a quarterly event in which the company plans to rev up innovation. Even if the judges do not see commercial potential, the idea has a second chance when it is posted on an employee brainstorming site. Once interest is indicated, the manager can get help from Adobe's internal market-research group Source: Fastcompany, May 2007 Dr.YKK’s Comments TV shows are a good source of ideas and Adobe has tapped into this source to showcase new software ideas which may otherwise never see the light of the day. Isn’t it time that your organization do something similar with elements of fun, competition and audience participation? International competitiveness Harvard professor Pankaj Ghemawat says that Thomas Friedman's bestseller The World Is Flat a sensationalist statement. He says foreign direct investment accounted for just 10 percent of total global investments between 2003 and 2005, which means that 90 percent of investments actually were domestic. Other areas related to internationalization such as international migration, and international telecommunications, research and education, charitable donations, patents, stock investments and trade account for less than 10 percent of GDP. It is evident that the world is not flat. International competitiveness begins at home and requires constant innovation. As international competition strategist and Harvard professor Michael Porter says: "Paradoxically, the enduring competitive advantages in a global economy lie increasingly in local things - knowledge, relationships and motivation that distant rivals cannot match." Source: Taipei Times, 18 May 2007 Dr.YKK’s Comments Never take any opinions, even experts’ at face value. It’s good to get alternative opinions. Can you identify any belief or entrenched practice which needs to be reviewed to keep pace with changes? Pepsico Innovative Packaging Design Pepsico has launched the Green Label Art project for Mountain Dew, marrying the introduction of the first aluminum bottle in the U.S. CSD category with gorgeous, breathtaking, visually arresting designs by an eclectic group of non-traditional designers, including skateboarders, tattoo artists, vinyl toy developers, etc. These designers know their audience and Mountain Dew is leveraging their edgy appeal to create breakthrough, on-brand creative. It's brilliant and beautiful. Source: innovationecosystem.blogspot.com 17 May 2007 Dr.YKK’s Comments There is a saying that your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness. Examine the strengths in your company management system, culture, policies, etc which might have become your weaknesses that could be exploited by your competition. Advertisements on Baggage Carousels The Simatai Marketing Group launched its first slew of adverts in China's busiest airport, the Beijing Capital International Airport. The airport has 15 baggage carousels ( 8 for international flights and 7 for domestic), and traffics 48 million visitors annually. These adverts remind travelers to China that certain products and services offered elsewhere are being introduced in China for the first time. The advertising space can be purchased in three-, six- and 12-month intervals, and creative can be updated throughout the ad buy. Airports in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Dalian and Xi'an are slated to offer ad space later this year, along with as-yet-unnamed airports in the United States. Source: MediaPost, 14 May 2007 Dr.YKK’s Comments There are always new ways to promote your company’s products and services. Famed British entrepreneur Richard Branson, for example uses unexpected and sometimes controversial techniques to promote a new business that attracted media attention. Bear this in mind the next time you launch a new product or service.
If you need Creative Solutions to your business problems, please email Dr.YKK at DrYKK@mindbloom.net The author, Dr.YKK (Yew Kam Keong, Ph.D) is an international speaker, trainer and best-selling author on creativity. Dr.YKK is available for keynote speeches, in-house training and problem-solving & idea generation facilitation. He can be contacted at DrYKK@mindbloom.net , www.mindbloom.net . Dr.YKK has written 10 books on creativity including his best-selling book “You Are Creative- Let Your Creativity Bloom”.
CREATIVE BUSINESS DIGEST Issue No. 6.1 © Dr.YKK (Yew Kam Keong,Ph.D) Chief Mind Unzipper, Mindbloom www.mindbloom.net , DrYKK@mindbloom.net
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. R. Buckminster Fuller
Corporate Cafeteria – Hotbed of ideas The corporate cafeteria or eating place is a hotbed for getting ideas. The eating facility is really one that encourages people to share ideas, like at a kitchen table at home. A good example of this is Google, considered to be one of the most creative companies in the world. John Dickman, Google's global food services manager says that Google's free, lavish eateries are one perk that helps the search leader snag the best workers and keep them close to their desks. They are more likely to remain loyal to their company. "We wanted to take away all the basic needs of Googlers," says Nate Keller, one of three executive chefs at Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. The company plies its employees with free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. The main dining cafeteria is a sprawling room of floor-to-ceiling glass, long communal tables, and a stage for company presentations. Some tables are set up for the "dine with a stranger program" to encourage people from different departments to mix. It inspires Google's trademark creativity. Founders Brin and Page often chat with employees over food when they are in town. Source : USNews , 20 Aug 2006
Dr.YKK’s Comments: Encourage your people to eat-in rather than going out. Hold regular idea competitions and offer interesting prizes to stimulate creativity so that your people have something useful to discuss during breaks. Not all competitions have to be related to their work. Just make them fun. The most important thing is to establish a culture of creativity.
P&G Connect And Develop Innovation Model In 2000, realizing that P&G couldn't meet its growth objectives by spending more and more on R&D for less and less payoff , It was realized then that the existing P&G invent-it-ourselves model was not capable of sustaining high levels of top-line growth. Its newly appointed CEO, A.G. Lafley, challenged the staff to reinvent the company's innovation business model. The result is the creation of a Connect and Develop innovation model Betting that external connections could produce highly profitable innovations , Lafley made it as P&G’s goal to acquire 50 percent of our innovations outside the company. The strategy wasn't to replace the capabilities of its 7,500 researchers and support staff, but to better leverage them. Half of P&G’s new products would come from its own labs, and half would come through them. The model works. Today, more than 35 % of P&G’s new products in market have elements that originated from outside P&G, up from about 15 % in 2000. And 45 % of the initiatives in P&G’s product development portfolio have key elements that were discovered externally. Through Connect and Develop—along with improvements in other aspects of innovation related to product cost, design, and marketing—the R&D productivity has increased by nearly 60 %. Innovation success rate has more than doubled, while the cost of innovation has fallen. R&D investment as a percentage of sales is down from 4.8 % in 2000 to 3.4 % today. P&G has doubled its share price compared to the year 2000. Source : Harvard Business Review, 20 Mar 2006
Dr.YKK’s Comments: Connect and develop ideas together with your suppliers and customers. Invite them for idea generating sessions. Customers who complain generally provide the best feedback on your products and services. They could also be a source of great ideas for business. Tap into them.
The
Innovation Killer
Dr.YKK’s Comments: Encourage your staff to pose all sorts of questions relating to your company’s operations. They could be in the form of a white-board placed in a strategic location like the cafeteria, emails, suggestion boxes (make sure there is a response within a time-frame). The best system is one in which others can respond to the questions. The best questions and response are posted, recognized and perhaps rewarded.
How Managers Can Encourage Productive Accidents. In its recent paper, "Accident, Innovation, and Expectation in the Innovation Process," Robert D. Austin and Lee Devin explore the subject of accidental innovation and examine how managers can encourage productive accidents. According to the authors, accidents can often lead to innovation. Examples include a lengthy list of innovations discovered by chance, including anesthesia, cellophane, cornflakes, dynamite, Ivory soap, nylon, penicillin , etc. In order to encourage such innovation, organizations must put in place systems that watch out for accidents and examine them for value; and must seek to generate accidents when they don't happen often enough, seizing on the useful ones, capturing their valuable features, and building on them to add value and give potential for useful accidents. It makes sense to foster an environment in which cross-discipline teams are employed and risk-taking is viewed as an important ingredient in the mix. Source: Harvard Business School WK 5 July 2006
Dr.YKK’s Comments: Announce mistakes and accidents so that everyone in the organization know about them. This serves at least 3 purposes. One, the management sends a message that it ‘s ok to have them. Second, there’s a learning experience and there is a less likelihood of the same accident or mistake being repeated. Third, Have a discussion on them to find out what new ideas they trigger.
Innovation at Coca-Cola Co
Mary Minnick heads marketing, strategy, and innovation at Coca-Cola Co. Minnick's top priority has been jump-starting Coke's product development. Under her leadership, Coke has been unusually prolific, launching more than 1,000 new drinks or new variations of existing brands worldwide in the past 12 months. Growth means more than simply boosting sales of Coca-Cola Classic. And innovation involves more than repackaging existing beverages in slightly different flavors. Minnick is exploring new products as far afield as beauty and health care.
Minnick's bigger ambitions would utterly redefine Coca-Cola's image as a purveyor of sugar-laden junk that you shouldn't give your kids to healthy beverages. One of the key areas being explored is "nutraceutical" versions of Diet Coke, or new juices designed to help women with skin care, weight management, and detoxification. Imagine drinks, for example, that are fortified with vitamins or nutrients and provide women the same benefits as a facial scrub or cold cream.
Dr.YKK’s Comments: One of the greatest obstacles to future successes is dwelling on past successes. Introduce changes and innovations when your company can afford the risks not when you are forced to, as then your options will then be severely limited. Keep on introducing something new by taking affordable risk. You never know that you may hit something really big.
Disruptive vs Incremental InnovationsAccording to an INSEAD study, 86% of innovation is incremental innovations with low risk and generates around 30% of current company profits. The remaining 14% of innovation is radical but generates over 60% of current company profits. First, companies must think more radically while simultaneously maintaining an incremental innovation course. Second, companies need to focus more on process innovation. This is a re-thinking on how a market or business currently works and how value could be delivered differently in the future. In other words, companies need to think less about new products and more about how they are delivered via new businesses and new business models. Source: Fastcompany, 15 May 2006
Dr.YKK’s Comments: Incremental improvements are important for improving efficiency and productivity that impact the bottom line. They should be part of operational requirements. Whilst doing so, please bear in mind that major innovations can be introduced at every stage of the business , not just the products. It could be logistics, payment system, delivery, service , etc. Make sure that you communicate this aspect to every member of your staff.
How Infosys encourage original thinking? Narayana Murthy, the co-founder Infosys, of one of the largest IT companies in India says that Infosys has a policy incorporating the ideas of people under 30 in every major decision-making. Once a year, employees below 30 come and make presentations about improving the company. They discuss new concepts, new ways of developing software, new products. On that day, the only people allowed to make presentations are people under 30. There are two levels at which innovation takes place. First, there is the freewheeling environment, the open environment, with discussions, debates, etc. But second, in order to make sure that those ideas are actually market worthy and that the corporation is in a position to leverage those ideas, you need systems and processes. They compress the cycle time and maximize the returns on those ideas. Source: Forbes, 23 Aug 2006
Dr.YKK’s Comments: In the IT industry like Infosys, the views of the young people are very important. This does not mean that you should neglect the views of your older staff. In fact, everyone in the organization is a source of ideas. Perhaps one way to bring out the ideas from every segment of your people is to set aside a specific ideas month for each group. For example, Jan for “Under 30 Group” , Feb for “Over 50 Group”, Mar for “ Women Workers”, April for “New staff working for less than a year”, etc.
The author, Dr.YKK (Yew Kam Keong, Ph.D) is an international speaker, trainer and best-selling author on creativity. Dr.YKK is available for keynote speeches, in-house training and problem-solving & idea generation facilitation. He can be contacted at DrYKK@mindbloom.net , www.mindbloom.net . Dr.YKK has written 10 books on creativity including his best-selling book “You Are Creative- Let Your Creativity Bloom”.
CREATIVE BUSINESS DIGEST Issue No. 6.2 © Dr.YKK (Dr.Yew Kam Keong) , Chief Mind Unzipper, Mindbloom www.mindbloom.net , DrYKK@mindbloom.net
“You can only win the ‘war’ with ideas, not with spending cuts.” – Klaus Kleinfeld, President and CEO, Siemens AG
The IBM Global CEO Innovation Study 2006
The IBM Global CEO Study takes a comprehensive, global look at a topic that is increasingly important to CEOs and government leaders worldwide: innovation. 765 CEOs, business executives and public sector leaders from around the world were interviewed to learn more about their thoughts on innovation. Worldwide, CEOs are not bracing for change; instead, they are embracing it.
The feedback from these CEOs include:
• Business model innovation matters • External collaboration is indispensable • Innovation requires orchestration from the top. • Think broadly, act personally and manage the innovation mix • Make your business model deeply • Ignite innovation through business and technology integration • Defy collaboration limits • Force an outside look...
Conclusion
Source: Expanding the Innovation Horizon: THE IBM GLOBAL CEO STUDY 2006
Dr.YKK’s Comments: Every CEO should get a copy of the above full IBM Report to study for implementation. Organisations need to build a culture of creativity and a system for translating ideas into business innovations that bring growth and profits. The guidelines in the report provide a good starting point. However, each organization need to develop its own culture and system of innovation. In this case, an external expert who looks at things from a new perspective will contribute significantly to the effort.
CEOs Need To Embrace Innovation CEOs must view innovation as a blueprint rather than a brainstorm. For too long we've viewed innovation as a creative process that leaps from the minds of imaginative people like Albert Einstein or Steve Jobs. It's time to change that view. Innovation today is a reliable, measurable process that yields dependably positive business results. Here are five steps companies can take to achieve consistent and dependable innovation:
Source: Industryweek, 6
Sept. 06 Dr.YKK’s Comments: It has been clearly established that innovation begins at the top. Therefore any mind-set change through training must necessarily begin at the top. Company leaders must therefore ask themselves this question , “ Have I and my senior management personnel been trained in creative thinking and innovation?” . If the answer is “No” , it is time that they start now, if not, the company may miss the boat, lose its competitiveness and ultimately may even lose the business. A simple way to get this started is to get a speaker to give a 1-2hour presentation during their regular business management meetings. This of course should be followed by a well planned program to impart creativity skills to people throughout the organization. Unconventional Banking
Arkadi Kuhlmann the chairman, president, and CEO of ING Direct USA calls himself anti-banker's banker .He tweaks the noses of hidebound bankers for lacking creativity and nimbleness. The bank has gone from nothing to three million customers, $51 billion in assets and $37 billion in deposits within five years. It boasts of $42 million in assets per employee, versus an industry average of about $5 million.
Arkadi’s unconventional banking system includes:
Unburdened by old legacy systems, ING Direct has been able to leverage technology and low-cost distribution-Web and phone only-to offer higher returns over most rivals, for instance , a 4.2 percent on a one-year CD compared to 3.73 percent market rate. Source: BankTechNews Dec 2005
Dr.YKK’s comments: If a highly regulated industry where the banks need to actually please the regulators, can be innovative and break conventional banking rules, how about your company? Isn’t high time to consider doing your business differently? Of course, the critical factor for success is not just the ideas but how well you implement those ideas. Arkadi started from day one when he was appointed to head ING direct USA. It’s never too late to start. Create a Fertile Environment for the Seeds of Innovation to ThriveThe first step to creating an innovative organization is to understand that "ideas come from everywhere and from everyone." Encourage everyone to use their imagination and ask "why not" and "what if" questions. At this beginning stage, no idea is too crazy. This is what you can do to stimulate the creative process and come up with new ideas. 1. It's useful to reengage the childlike wonder we all had as children. Start to become amazed at the ordinary aspects of everyday life. 2. Scrutinize your competition; learn more about different industries. How could certain principles or themes in your personal hobbies or interests be applied to your business? An almost infinite source of creativity is Mother Nature; study the natural world around you. 3. Get your customers involved in this process. Ask them about their current problems. Ask them what they'd love to see you offer, produce or do to better serve their needs. Ask them to share their "why not" and "what if" ideas. 4. Every department (Eg. HR, Finance, Accounting, etc) must be expected to offer ideas. Source: Market Wire, 12 Sept. 2006
Dr.YKK’s Comments: Encourage your people to challenge the current assumptions about your business by asking questions, even the so called “stupid questions”. Follow Google’s example of having a strategically-placed whiteboard white-board where anyone can pose questions or express an opinion. It is important to know that ideas can come from anyone not just people from the R&D department. The best time to change is when things are working well for then the risk involved is much lower.
Crowdsourcing
Business model innovation is happening at a lightning clip. First there
was outsourcing, then open-sourcing, and now crowdsourcing.
Here are some key guidelines to follow:
Dr.YKK’s Comments: You can start crowdsourcing in a small way by inviting a specific group of people to be members of your exclusive product or service users’ club. Invite them to your meetings to get feedback and new ideas. Treat them like VIPs and they could be your frontline in testing out your new products or marketing concepts. Besides getting ideas and building good relationships, they could also become your best marketeers! You could then build on the success achieved by widening the scope and membership into a truly “crowdsourcing” as explained in BusinessWeek.
Avoid best practices
Industry leaders
don’t imitate; they innovate.
If you want your organisation to be the leader in the
industry, avoid ‘best practice’ processes. Leading companies don’t
follow what everyone else does. The majority of companies aim for
operational improvement by “doing things differently, whereas the
industry leaders innovate by “doing different things”. Products can be
copied, but people and culture cannot. Committed, capable organisation leaders are absolutely essential if the innovative approach is going to work. Other critical success factors include an enterprise architecture that can support change and governance.
Make operational innovation a way of life, rather than a project; outsource only as a last resort; accept short-term imperfection and build, not buy, IT capabilities.
Innovative leading companies — for example Dell, Wal-Mart and Starbucks
— have some things in common. They don’t like to imitate; they challenge
assumptions in the industry; they treasure their people and they know
they won’t be leaders in the industry through reaction. Source: Computerworld, New Zealand 18 September, 2006
Dr.YKK’s Comments: This is an important principle that I teach in my creativity in business sessions. I call it “zero-based” planning so that our minds will not be trapped by the present situation nor try to copy our more successful competitors as in following best-practices. In this way, we can come out with some of our own novel ideas. This does not mean that we ignore current realities. They need to be brought into the picture in the process of preparing our ideas for implementation.
The author, Dr.YKK (Yew Kam Keong, Ph.D) is an international speaker, trainer and best-selling author on creativity. Dr.YKK is available for keynote speeches, in-house training and problem-solving & idea generation facilitation. He can be contacted at DrYKK@mindbloom.net , www.mindbloom.net . Dr.YKK has written 10 books on creativity including his best-selling book “You Are Creative- Let Your Creativity Bloom”.
CREATIVE BUSINESS DIGEST Issue No. 6.3 © Dr.YKK (Dr.Yew Kam Keong) , Chief Mind Unzipper, Mindbloom www.mindbloom.net , DrYKK@mindbloom.net
Innovation through Imitating Nature
Janine Benyus was the first to identify the discipline of innovation through Imitating nature which she dubbed “biomimicry”. She considers this process as “the conscious emulation of life’s genius. According to her, by emulating the patterns and designs and strategies in plants, animals, and ecosystems , corporations can become cleaner, leaner, and more consistently innovative. For example, ceramic manufacturing could emulate the self-assembly of abalone shells; adhesive tape could be patterned after geckos’ feet; and computer chips could be designed to assemble themselves through crystallization, just as microscopic algae called diatoms assemble their shells. More important, each of these innovations (and many more) could be produced with a fraction of the environmental liability - and in many cases the cost - of conventional industrial processes. In nature’s innovation and resilience, Benyus sees the keys to achieving sustainability. The holistic value of biomimicry is that it encompasses the product, the process, and the whole economy . You mimic the form for design, you mimic the process for manufacturing and chemistry, and you mimic the ecosystem within which companies operate. Companies like GE and Wal Mart are already jumping into the biomimicry bandwagon and reaping business rewards. Isn’t it time you do the same? Source: strategy+business , Autumn 2006
Dr.YKK’s Comments
Nature is the greatest innovator. All original creativity comes from nature. We just adapt nature’s creation to come out with our own. Perhaps it is time that we should utilize biomimicry in solving problems and to come out with new ideas. This can be done by connecting whatever problem we have with a specific area of nature. It could be a flower, an ecosystem or even the weather patterns. As biomimicry champion Benyus says, in nature’s innovation and resilience, we see the keys to achieving sustainability while reducing costs.
BMW Innovation
Helmut Panke ,the CEO of BMW (retired in Sept. 2006) focuses on innovation, on technology, and on marketing yet promoted a culture of strong cost controls driven by cost targets. He proves that these elements considered by many to mutually exclusive can in effect co-exist with each other. Panke’s management principles includes:
Source:
BusinessWeek, 16 Oct 2006
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