Who should win the $3,690 FEI ticket?

Last week we announced that we have one (1) $3,690 Front End of Innovation ALL ACCESS PASS to give away.

We have now chosen FOUR (4) finalists, and you get to help pick the winner by sending us a "I vote for x" message on either:

1. Twitter by @reply to @innovate


2. Our Continuous Innovation Group on LinkedIn


3. The original Facebook discussion


4. Adding a comment on this blog post below

Do this by midnight GMT on March 28, 2010 and we will announce the one (1) winner on March 29, 2010.


The four finalists answered the following question in their own words - What is the 'Front End of Innovation'?:

1. "Front End of Innovation is a growth opportunity for professionals interested in learning more about innovation in a conference setting in historic Boston. Many professionals will be there to share what they have learned,discuss best practices and invoke good discussions on various related topics. There will be many ways in which to participate - speakers, group discussions, panels, etc. It looks like the best conference on this topic and being new to innovation, I personally would love to win this and attend!" - Suzanne Switzer Hernandez


2. "To me, the 'Front End of Innovation' suggests what is emerging - not what is currently understood. The meeting of design thinking, intrinsic motivation, collaboration and truly cross-enterprise and -boundary thinking. Too many areas of ourlives - government, education, traditional business management - have so much entrenched baggage that they become paralyzed and move nowhere. FEI represents the opportunity to shed the blinders and really look at these challenges in a new way, engage people in this examination and rethinking of these challenges as something that's not a dead end, but a whole new beginning." - Jason Pamental


3. "FEI is hope...potential magic...without limits...democracy of the best ideas...because those of us who actually do this stuff called Innovation know that the best outcomes require many "in-comes"...many inputs...in short, the better the FEI, the better the Innovation probability and possibility. Viva FEI!" - Luis Solis


4. "Biz 1 + Biz 2 spark Biz 3 + Biz 4 + Biz 5. Biz 3 + 4 + 5 spark Biz 6 - N. FEI is like a snowball rushing down a hill, gaining momentum with every iteration." - Tom Chevalier

Which of the four finalists' answers shows the most clarity, passion, or humor?


The winner will be chosen by my tabulation of votes from you the Blogging Innovation readers. Please vote now!


You still can save 20% on event registration when you use our discount code "FEI2010BRADEN".


Editors's note: The ticket for the contest is being provided by the event organizers, not Blogging Innovation, and is conveyed at their discretion not ours. Winner is responsible for paying their own travel costs to the event and any other expenses.


Don't miss an article - Subscribe to our RSS feed and join our Continuous Innovation group!

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

LG Contest - Imagine the Future of Mobile Phones

LG Mobile Phones is partnering with crowdSPRING to announce a new competition to define the next generation of mobile communication. If you are a U.S. resident (citizen or green card holder) age 18 (or age of majority in state of residence) and older, you can have a chance to design your vision of the next revolutionary LG mobile phone and compete for more than $80,000 in awards. Exercise your creative imagination and let your ideas be heard. You don't have to work for LG to make an impact on the future of mobile communication!


Your assignment: Imagine the future of mobile communication

Deadline: April 26, 2010


What they're looking for:

Predict what's next. What do you think the next generation of mobile phones should work or look like for the U.S. market in the next 2 to 3 years? We are asking for your help. We're NOT looking for a long list of specs or phone ideas that already exist. We're looking for a cool new concept or 'big idea' supported by usage scenario and user experience illustrations.

Go to crowdSPRING for more information.


Don't miss an article - Subscribe to our RSS feed and join our Continuous Innovation group!

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

24 Hour Contest for Vijay Govindarajan Webinar Ticket

This is only a 24 hour contest, so act fast!

You only have until midnight GMT March 17, 2010 to enter this contest.

On March 18, 2010 at 1:00PM ET, Vijay Govindarajan will be conducting an online seminar titled "Reverse Innovation: A New Strategy for Creating the Future".

HSM Global has graciously donated one (1) $99 ticket for this contest. One lucky person will be able to attend this special event for free.


To enter the contest, do one of these two things before midnight GMT on March 17, 2010:

1. On Twitter, send @innovate an @reply with "Reverse Innovation contest entry" in the tweet


2. If you aren't on Twitter, add a comment to this blog entry with an alternative way of contacting you (your LinkedIn profile URL or website contact form url for example)

There will only be one (1) winner, selected at random.

If you would like to skip the contest and attend the webinar, click here to register - use code H5MW3B and save $20.


Stay tuned!

In two weeks we will be starting an Innovation Scavenger Hunt for a chance to win a $2,000 ticket to the World Innovation Forum in New York City on June 8-9, 2010. In the meantime, as an added value for our loyal Blogging Innovation readers, we have also negotiated a $200 discount on this great event when you register with our discount code "INNOVATE".


Editors's note: The ticket for the contest is being provided by HSM Global, not Blogging Innovation, and is conveyed at their discretion not ours.


Don't miss an article - Subscribe to our RSS feed and join our Continuous Innovation group!

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Chance to win a $3,690 Front End of Innovation Ticket

You've been waiting patiently, and now the time has come...

We have one (1) $3,690 Front End of Innovation ALL ACCESS PASS up for grabs. The winner will get:

• access to all three days of the event (May 3-5, 2010)
  
• access to four additional conferences taking place simultaneously on-site
  
  • The Beyond "Open"... Summit
    
  • Eco-Innovation
    
  • The Annual VOC Summit
    
  • Service Innovation
  
  
• and more

To enter our contest and have the chance to win this ticket you must be on Facebook, but the rest is easy:

1. Head over to our new Facebook page and become a fan


2. Then answer the following question in your own words - What is the 'Front End of Innovation'?, by either:


• Clicking on the discussions tab and responding to the topic there


• Clicking on the videos tab and recording a video answer to the above question (or upload a video file)


3. Do this by midnight GMT on March 21, 2010


4. We will select and announce five (5) finalists on March 22, 2010


5. Everyone will then be able to vote for their favorite until midnight GMT on March 28, 2010


6. We will announce the one (1) winner on March 29, 2010

I will personally select the five finalists based on the clarity, passion, and potentially the humor of the entry (bonus points for video). So, pretty much anything goes, but anyone posting anything indecent or offensive will not only have it deleted but will be harrassed mercilessly by me and the rest of the community until the end of time.

The winner will be chosen from the five finalists by my tabulation of votes from you the Blogging Innovation readers across Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter @replies, and blog comments here on the five finalists announcement.

There will only be one (1) winner, but for those who don't win, you still can save 20% on event registration when you use our discount code "FEI2010BRADEN".


Editors's note: The ticket for the contest is being provided by the event organizers, not Blogging Innovation, and is conveyed at their discretion not ours. Winner is responsible for paying their own travel costs to the event and any other expenses.


Don't miss an article - Subscribe to our RSS feed and join our Continuous Innovation group!

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

You Might Get Your Problem Solved for Free

hypios.com has launched its first annual "A Problem to Love" promotion. hypios will pay a total of $50,000 to solvers of two of the world's most compelling problems, as determined by visitors to the site.

Teleportation? A cure for cancer? Maybe, maybe not. Candidate problems must be submitted by an employee of some form of research organization - any discipline, public or private. hypios envisions that the two "Problems to Love" will be perennially frustrating research and development (R&D) puzzles. Current unsolved problems on hypios range from the mundane (how to make biodegradable, nonpolluting batteries) to the abstract (a model for frame-dragging that is consistent with Einstein's general theory of relativity - the details of which will not be explained here).

The two top problems will be judged on structure and promise of impact, then posted on hypios for a prize totaling $50,000, giving each problem a fair chance to find a solution. One, chosen by a jury, will be worth $30,000 to the Solver; the other, selected by the public, wins the Solver $20,000 - both paid for by hypios.

The persons that posted the problems receive all intellectual property rights to Solvers' solutions, once accepted.

Is there a problem you want solved?

Enter here


Don't miss an article - signup for our rss feed or our Continous Innovation group today!

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Enter to Win a Free Ticket to The Economist's March Event

Want a chance to win a free ticket ($1,500 value) to The Economist's event - "Innovation Fresh Thinking For the Ideas Economy" at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley on March 23-24, 2010?

It's easy, here is all you need to do is fill in the blank on our LinkedIn or Facebook discussion:

1. When it comes to innovation, I wish somebody would write about ______________.


• Fill in the blank in our Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn.
  
• Fill in the blank in our brand new Facebook page (and become a fan)

Enter by midnight GMT on March 2, 2010. Winner will be announced March 3, 2010.

If you don't want to enter the contest but would like to save $150 off event registration, see the discount code at the bottom of this article.


There will be a lot of great, top-flight speakers at this event, including:

• Clayton Christensen and Michael Porter (by Video Link)
  
• Arianna Huffington - Editor in Chief, Huffington Post
  
• Tim Brown - CEO, IDEO
  
• David Kelley - Head, Stanford Design School
  
• Judy Estrin - Author, "Closing the Innovation Gap"
  
• Scott Berkun - Author, "Myths of Innovation"
  
• Roger Martin - Dean, Rotman School of Business
  
• Paul Saffo - Visiting Scholar, Stanford Media X Network
  
• Matt Mullenweg - Founder, Wordpress
  
• John Kao - Author, "Innovation Nation"

As an added value for our loyal Blogging Innovation readers, we have negotiated a $150 discount when you register using our discount code - "BLINN" - register now.

We hope to see you there!


EDITOR'S NOTE: Winner is still responsible for all travel costs and the ticket is granted at The Economist's discretion not ours. There is only ONE (1) ticket up for grabs in this contest and it will be awarded to ONE (1) winner.


Don't miss an article - signup for our rss feed or our Continous Innovation group today!

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Cisco Announces $250,000 iPrize Competition v2.0

by Braden Kelley

Cisco has announced its second Cisco iPrize Competition. At stake is a $250,000 Grand Prize that will be awarded after eight selected finalists have the opportunity to present their innovation idea to Cisco's selection commitee using Cisco Telepresence.

The first Cisco iPrize was awarded to an idea focused on reducing the energy consumption in the electrical grid. This idea is currently undergoing development in Cisco. But the winners are back at it again and have entered an idea in Cisco iPrize v2.0.

I had the opportunity to do a video interview with Sharon Wong, Director of Business Development in Cisco's Emerging Technology Group about the competition:

Interview with Sharon Wong about Cisco iPrize from Braden Kelley on Vimeo.

In this open, global competition entrepreneurs submit proposals and collaborate to create the seed idea for Cisco's next billion-dollar business.

You have until April 30, 2010 to submit your idea. Idea submissions should fall in one of four categories:

1. The Future of Work: New solutions that accelerate and change the way we do business


2. The Connected Life: Technological inspirations that dramatically improve living conditions and disseminate culture


3. New Ways to Learn: Next-generation solutions that transform when, where, and how people learn.


4. The Future of Entertainment: New solutions that change how people play together

Below on the left you'll find a video of Marthin De Beer announcing the Cisco iPrize Competition and on the right you can watch Guido Jouret speak about some of Cisco's views on what makes a big idea:



You can submit an idea by yourself or you can work together as a team. Once ideas are submitted, iPrize community members can vote for the best ideas, and otherwise engage with the community of people who have submitted ideas. For complete rules and other information, please check out the Cisco iPrize Questions and Answers.


Enjoy this post? Subscribe to our RSS feed and join our Continuous Innovation group!

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Top 10 Innovation Articles of 2009

by Braden Kelley

Thank you to everyone who entered our last contest of 2009 for a chance to win one of three copies of Gary Hamel's latest book "The Future of Management" ?

Lady luck has spoken and I'd like to announce the three winners of their very own copy of "The Future of Management":

1. Cathy Olofson


2. Ashish Thomas (claimed)


3. Peter Vander Auwera (claimed)

Alternate: Bill Davis

Contest Winners - Please contact me with your address so I can mail you your book.

First, let me say that it was incredibly hard to come up with this list. I've come across lots of great articles this year that I can't find anymore. Luckily a lot of the really good innovation articles end up on our site, but for sure I've missed lots of great innovation articles published this year. So, apologies in advance if you thought your favorite article should have been included. You can always include it below as a comment.

Here in no particular order are Blogging Innovation's Top Ten Innovation Articles of 2009:

• Top 10 Tips for the Innovation Leader by Paul Sloane


• Popularity Contests: Why a Company Embraces One Innovative Idea but Shuns Another from Knowledge@Wharton


• Five Ways to Create Innovation Throughout Your Life by Matt Heinz


• In Search of Innovation by John Bessant, Kathrin Moslein and Bettina Von Stamm


• Four Quadrants of Innovation by Hutch Carpenter


• 21 Great Innovation Methods by Paul Sloane


• The New, Faster Face of Innovation by Erik Brynjolfsson and Michael Schrage


• Innovation Perspectives - Ideas are Not Enough by Rowan Gibson


• Innovation through the Eyes of a Child by Braden Kelley


• Your Innovations Aren't Immortal by Scott Anthony

Are there any others you would add to the list?

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Expanded Contest - Top 10 Innovation Articles of 2009

by Braden Kelley

Would you like a chance to win one of three copies of Gary Hamel's latest book "The Future of Management" ?

Well, if you've got a Twitter or LinkedIn account, then you've got an opportunity to maybe win one of three copies of this book.

To enter on Twitter:

1. Send an @reply message to @innovate with the URL of your favorite innovation article


2. Make sure that your tweet includes "2009 contest" in it


3. Submit your entry by the end of December 31, 2009 (GMT)

To enter on LinkedIn:

1. Submit a news article URL to our Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn (1,700+ members) or add a comment to someone else's submission there


2. Make sure that you begin your submission title or comment with "2009"


3. Submit your entry by the end of December 31, 2009 (GMT)

I'll announce the three winners on January 1, 2010.

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Contest - Top 10 Innovation Articles of 2009

by Braden Kelley

Would you like a chance to win one of three copies of Gary Hamel's latest book "The Future of Management" ?

Well, if you've got a Twitter or LinkedIn account, then you've got an opportunity to maybe win one of three copies of this book.

To enter on Twitter:

1. Send an @reply message to @innovate with the URL of your favorite innovation article


2. Make sure that your tweet includes "2009 contest" in it


3. Submit your entry by the end of December 31, 2009 (GMT)

To enter on LinkedIn:

1. Submit a news article URL to our Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn (1,700+ members) or add a comment to someone else's submission there


2. Make sure that you begin your submission title or comment with "2009"


3. Submit your entry by the end of December 31, 2009 (GMT)

I'll announce the three winners on January 1, 2010.

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

October's Innovation Contest Winners

Thank you to everyone who entered our innovation contest for October. After much deliberation, I have chosen the three winning articles.

The three winning article authors win one of three signed copies of Bill George's latest book "7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis", and the opportunity to have their article republished here on Blogging Innovation if they so desire.

For now, here are the winners (in no particular order):

1. Innovating with Constraints - by Tim Kastelle


2. Four Things You Should Know Before You Innovate - Glenn Ross


3. Can social media take the place of marketing automation platforms? - Barrett Coakley

If you are one of the winning authors, please send me your mailing address so that I can mail you your book, and your e-mail address if you'd like me to re-publish your article here on Blogging Innovation.

We will be announcing the details of November's innovation contest soon. In November, we will have copy's of Gary Hamel's latest book "The Future of Management" to give away.

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

150,000 Good Ideas

by Kevin Roberts

Ideas are the currency of the future and can come from anywhere, and Google probably knows this more than anyone right now! To help celebrate their 10th birthday, Google invited people to submit their ideas to help make the world a better place for everyone with their special "Project 10 to the 100th."

150,000 ideas were sent in from people living in 172 countries, speaking 25 different languages. There were eight different categories that ideas: community, energy, environment through to health, education, shelter and opportunity, and not to forget the 'everything else' basket. The same people who submitted ideas were then invited to vote on the best ones that should receive the $10 million that Google are going to invest and which should be announced soon.

You can see the full range of ideas here. Some of the finalist ideas were:

• Support efforts to increase young Africans' access to quality education by creating "cyber schools"


• Create a fund to support social entrepreneurship by providing targeted capital and business training to help young entrepreneurs build viable businesses and sustained community change

Coordinate a rapid-response tool for natural disasters; introduce an ecological VAT instead of income tax

• Create an advanced health monitoring system


• Encourage positive media depictions of engineers and scientists


• Create a transportation system that enables electric cars to run on a rail-type system

When so many ideas struggle just to see the light of day, it's wonderful how the project has given people the opportunity to spread their ideas. The project has just finished voting and winners should be announced shortly, when the ideas go to work they will surely help transform the way people live.


Image source: http://www.project10tothe100.com/ideas.html

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Kevin Roberts is the CEO worldwide of The Lovemarks Company, Saatchi & Saatchi. For more information on Kevin, please go to www.saatchikevin.com. To see this blog at its original source, please go to www.krconnect.blogspot.com.

October Innovation Contest Reminder

Have you written an innovation or marketing blog post that you are particularly proud of, or plan to write one?

Would you like the chance to share it with a larger audience and maybe even win one of three signed copies of Bill George's latest book "7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis" at the same time?

In support of our mission to make innovation and marketing insights accessible for the greater good, we are looking to publish the three best innovation or marketing blog posts submitted for this contest.

Here is how to win:

1. Select your favorite blog post highlighting an innovation or marketing insight (or write one)


2. Add the following text with the link to the bottom of your article


• I've entered this article in Blogging Innovation's October Innovation Contest - To show your support for this article, please follow the link and add a comment.


3. Send @innovate an @reply on Twitter with a link to the article so we can find it


• OR, post it as a news item in the Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn with "Contest" in the title


4. We will read the articles submitted by Midnight October 30, 2009 and give the comment volume here a chance to influence of our selection of the three winners

Winning entries will be selected and announced on October 31, 2009 and published on November 1, 2009.

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

October Innovation Contest

Have you written an innovation or marketing blog post that you are particularly proud of, or plan to write one?

Would you like the chance to share it with a larger audience and maybe even win one of three signed copies of Bill George's latest book "7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis" at the same time?

In support of our mission to make innovation and marketing insights accessible for the greater good, we are looking to publish the three best innovation or marketing blog posts submitted for this contest.

Here is how to win:

1. Select your favorite blog post highlighting an innovation or marketing insight (or write one)


2. Add the following text with the link to the bottom of your article


• I've entered this article in Blogging Innovation's October Innovation Contest - To show your support for this article, please follow the link and add a comment.


3. Send @innovate an @reply on Twitter with a link to the article so we can find it


• OR, post it as a news item in the Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn with "Contest" in the title


4. We will read the articles submitted by Midnight October 30, 2009 and give the comment volume here a chance to influence of our selection of the three winners

Winning entries will be selected and announced on October 31, 2009 and published on November 1, 2009.

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Calling All Media and Energy Innovators

The Economist is holding two innovation competitions to find the most exciting, game-changing innovations that will have a marked impact in two key areas: new media and energy. Twelve finalists will be invited to present their innovations to an audience of top executives in the field at events hosted by The Economist. Finalists will also receive complimentary conference registrations (value of up to $2,495). The winning presenter will receive exclusive bragging rights and a free subscription to The Economist.


1. Media Convergence

Do you have the next thrilling new interface, electronic reader, social media idea, mobile device or other novel way for people to interact with media? If you have a media or marketing innovation that you believe will change the way people behave, then you should enter to win the Media Convergence Innovation Competition, taking place in New York City, October 20-21, 2009.




The deadline for entries is September 8, 2009 in YouTube video format. Complete details and rules area available here or by email.


2. Carbon Economy

Do you have the game changing solution for climate change, the next renewable energy source, human-powered appliance or breakthrough use of nano-technology? If you have created a product or service that will improve energy efficiency or will add to the renewable energy industry, then you should enter to win the Carbon Innovation Competition, taking place in Washington DC, November 17-18, 2009.




The deadline for entries is September 30, 2009 in YouTube video format. Complete details and rules area available here or by email.


Good luck to any readers who decide to participate!

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Congratulations to the BIF-5 Contest Winner

Voting is now closed, and we have a winner for my ticket to the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5) conference October 7-8, 2009 in Providence, RI. Here again were the Three Finalists:

1. Creating a Bachelor of Innovation by Dr. Terrance E. Boult, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs


2. Breaking Innovation Barriers by Looking Beyond by Vyoma Kapur, Colspark LLC


3. A Nightmare on Innovation Street by Brad Barbera, KAB Business Research

And the winner is...


Vyoma Kapur of Colspark LLC!

• Colspark seeks to foster greater collaboration between academia and businesses. They believe in creating a dynamic knowledge and information flow between colleges and companies. They do this by giving college students a platform to solve companies' sales, marketing and business problems. By bringing students and companies closer together, they create an environment where the best and the brightest are rewarded. Using the principles of open innovation, effective ideas and solutions are generated for companies. Colspark endorses open communication and open innovation while operating in a secure environment. Companies have rights to confidentiality, while participating students can be rest assured that their intellectual property is protected.

Vyoma wins my ticket to the Business Innovation Factory conference after her article "Break Innovation Barriers by Looking Beyond" received the most comment votes and @reply votes on Twitter.

(NOTE: Travel expenses are NOT included and are the responsibility of the winner)

For those who would still like to go to the conference before it sells out, as a special bonus for my loyal readers I've negotiated a special $50 discount when you enter "BK110" in the payment code field on the payment options page during registration - this will get you in for $1,150. Groups of five or more can get extra discounts.

New storytellers are added each week, but so far they include:

• Don Tapscott, "Wikinomics"


• Jeff Jarvis, "What Would Google Do?", buzzmachine.com


• John Maeda, President, Rhode Island School of Design


• Jonah Lehrer, "How We Decide"


• Keith Wilmot, Global Director Insights, Ideas & Creativity, Coca Cola

If you'd like to explore and discuss innovation issues further, please join our Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn.

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

BIF-5 Ticket Contest Finalists Announced

Lots of people wanted the chance to win a $1,200 ticket to the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5) conference October 7-8, 2009 in Providence, RI, but here are the best entry submissions, the Three Finalists:

1. Creating a Bachelor of Innovation by Dr. Terrance E. Boult, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs


2. Breaking Innovation Barriers by Looking Beyond by Vyoma Kapur, Colspark LLC


3. A Nightmare on Innovation Street by Brad Barbera, KAB Business Research

Voting is now open and you can vote for your favorite entry in one of two ways:

1. Vote by adding a comment to the 1 of 3 blog posts you like best


2. Vote by sending an @reply with "I vote for #x" to @innovate on Twitter

July 31, 2009 - Voting by Twitter @reply to @innovate or by blog comments concludes at 23:59 (no anonymous votes will count)

August 1, 2009 - Grand Prize winner announced


If you're unfamiliar with this excellent event, here is a video of Jason Fried, Founder of 37Signals.com from last year's conference (BIF-4):



For those who just want to go to the conference - as a special bonus for my loyal readers I've negotiated a special $50 discount when you enter "BK110" in the payment code field on the payment options page during registration - this will get you in for $1,150. Groups of five or more can get extra discounts.

New storytellers are added each week, but so far they include:

• Don Tapscott, "Wikinomics"


• Jeff Jarvis, "What Would Google Do?", buzzmachine.com


• John Maeda, President, Rhode Island School of Design


• Jonah Lehrer, "How We Decide"


• Keith Wilmot, Global Director Insights, Ideas & Creativity, Coca Cola

I look forward to awarding one lucky winner a ticket to Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5)!
(NOTE: Travel expenses are NOT included and are the responsibility of the winner)

If you'd like to explore and discuss innovation issues further, please join our Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn.

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Breaking Innovation Barriers by Looking Beyond

This is Finalist #2 of 3 in the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5) Ticket Contest

• Vote for this entry by leaving a comment or sending an @reply to @innovate on Twitter with "I vote for #2" in it.

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If you are a scientist or an engineer, you know firsthand that innovation is neither inexpensive nor straightforward. It is a long convoluted process that starts with investing copious amounts of money into scientific and market research. Furthermore, the desired end result is not always guaranteed. Several projects, if proven less than commercially viable, are halted before they even reach the developmental stage. Others that make it through the new product life cycle take years to be completed.

The importance of innovation is apparent everywhere. Companies need to constantly be in innovation-mode to remain competitive and become more productive. Government and non-government organizations, too, need to embrace innovation to progress forward.

So when innovation doesn't come easy, what can a company do? What can large multinationals manufacturing hosts of products do to prevent being "out-innovated"?

Proctor and Gamble was in a serious situation. At the turn of the millennium, its R&D productivity had somewhat stabilized, yet costs were increasing beyond top-line growth. Inflationary effects were being seen in everything, from labor costs to prices of equipment and raw materials Their existing innovation model, where pretty much everything from conceptualization to development was done in-house in their global research facilities, was proving to be costly.

The P&G management made a bold but wise move. It broke through its "invent-it-ourselves" model and started looking for innovation beyond its walls. It started actively tapping into the open innovation marketplace for patentable research projects. By offering prizes for valuable research data, inventions and other milestones to innovation, P&G was suddenly attracting qualified scientists all over the world.

Open innovation sounds like a rosy concept, but there are several challenges in adopting that model. For one, building awareness and reaching out to the right crowd of industry leaders with total credibility cannot happen overnight. Even for a Fortune 500 company such as P&G, building a global network of professionals in itself requires time and resources. It took P&G years to identify and grow its network of technology entrepreneurs, suppliers and scientists. Not only that, P&G was also tapping into other R&D companies to license research studies which did not get carried to the developmental stage.

To make things easier, P&G approached a third party agent, InnoCentive. The poster child of open innovation and crowdsourcing, InnoCentive provides research and development driven companies with an avenue to leverage its global pool of talent. With over 150,000 members possessing a variety of backgrounds and expertise, InnoCentive was an incredibly powerful tool for P&G to find solutions.

InnoCentive gave P&G the ability to post challenges at any stage of the development lifecycle. Hence, it can engage outside solvers across four different stages of the product development process - ideation, design, product prototype and final product delivery.

Partnering InnoCentive enabled P&G to circulate its technology briefs around in its network and receive hundreds of proposals for each. After careful evaluation, if a solutions is found, P&G's business development team contacts the producer to begin negotiations for licensing, collaboration or other deals.

A number of successful innovations have resulted from the P&G's open innovation efforts. Here are some remarkable ones:

• P&G wanted to boost sales of Pringles potato chips. Its executives came up with a unique idea - to print trivia questions right on the chips and lure consumers into buying them for more than just the taste. To do that, however, they needed ink which wasn't only edible, but that did not break or change the taste of the chips. They did not know if it was worth investing into R&D for this unproven idea. So P&G sought solutions through global networks of scientists, academia and researchers. Eventually, an Italian professor came forth. He already had the ink-jet technology to printing images on cookies and cakes with edible dyes. P&G engaged him and adapted his technology to Pringles potato chips at a much smaller price and time scale.


• In 2006, there was another product upgrade P&G wanted to develop. It wanted to product a "smart" dishwashing detergent, one that effectively displays when the amount of soap dropped into to a sink full of dirty plates is optimal. As with the first challenge, the in-house research required for this project was colossal. Through InnoCentive, P&G found a solution. Another Italian came up with a whole new invention. Right from her home laboratory, she created a dye that would turn the dishwater blue when the right amount of soap is added. For this ingenious solution, P&G awarded her $30,000 in prize money.


• Another successful product was invented when an open innovation technology entrepreneur recommended a special material to P&G. The material, a type of foam produced by a German chemical giant is used for soundproofing and insulation in factories. Seeing that it was being sold in Japan, the entrepreneur contacted P&G wondering if it could be of any other use. P&G, recognizing its potential, approached the German firm to license the material. What followed was incredible- P&G and the German firm co-developed a hit product, the Magic Eraser.

In 2000, only 15% of P&G's new products had elements that came from outside the company. Today, the figure has gone up to 35%. Academia, subject matter experts, government laboratories, and research institutes all over the world are working with P&G to create and license their product innovations. By reaching out to a global pool of talent, P&G has truly overcome several barriers to innovation.


References

http://www.federicibusiness.com/images/Federici_PG0208.pdf

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5258.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS215811+22-Apr-2008+MW20080422

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A marketing professional turned entrepreneur, Vyoma avidly supports and practices open innovation. Earlier this year, she founded Colspark LLC (www.colspark.com), a crowdsourcing platform to help companies tap into student talent for ideas and solutions.

A Nightmare on Innovation Street

This is Finalist #3 of 3 in the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5) Ticket Contest

• Vote for this entry by leaving a comment or sending an @reply to @innovate on Twitter with "I vote for #3" in it.

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"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."
- Arthur Ashe

Picture this. You're in a large, dark basement. You need to find your way out before the boogeyman gets you. You've watched this boogeyman get people you know, people like you. The threat is real, and imminent. While fumbling around for a light switch that you can't find, you stumble upon a pack of matches. You know that a match will not possibly light the entire basement. It may just light up a corridor that looks promising, but leads to a dead end. It may serve as no more than a signal to the boogeyman of where you are. But sitting in the total dark doesn't seem like the best of options, either. Your heart pounds, almost audibly. What do you do? Do you light the match and see where it can lead you? Or do you remain in the dark until you find the light switch?

If you are operating under tight resource constraints (and these days, who isn't?), you may recognize that this is the innovation world you face every day. You desperately want to - need to - innovate, but you are in the dark about emerging technologies, consumer trends, and competitive movements. Optimally, you'd like to throw on the light switch and see clearly into all of those areas, but the costs of market research studies, consumer testing, innovation management software, and outside consultants are beyond your reach. You can study innovation best practices, but how do you implement processes that come from the perspective of an organization that has more global R&D centers than you have employees?

Before trying to answer that, let's evaluate if this is really a general problem worth worrying about. Here are some statistics from the US Small Business Administration:

• Small businesses represent 99.7% of all US employer firms.


• Those small businesses employ about half of the US private sector workforce, and 40% of the high-tech scientists, engineers and computer workers.


• Small businesses generate over 50% of the innovations that come from US companies

According to research by the National Federation of Independent Business, the top concerns among independent business owners are business costs - particularly those such as health insurance, energy and inflation. Those things must get paid before any investments in innovation. This really is a crucial dilemma faced by the majority of the business world.

History has much to teach us about situations in which an individual or group must battle against bigger, better-equipped adversaries. Think David vs. Goliath. Leonidas vs. Xerxes. William Wallace vs. Edward Longshanks. Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed, Mr. T, and Drago the Soviet Giant.

On the political battlefield, it's called guerrilla warfare. Translated to the innovation space, this viable and important strategy is "Guerrilla Product Development." Adapting the lessons of guerrilla warfare to innovation leads to a number of important tactics:

• Arming your personnel with the resource of time.


• Learning astute anthropological observation and online survey tools.


• Leveraging available online information.


• Engaging actively in online social networks.


• Listening to and using customer feedback.


• Building a network of thought leaders and experts can advise you.


• Conducting ideation and concept development by training internal facilitators.


• Enhancing rapid decision-making and adaptability.


• Attacking niches that bigger players overlook or avoid.

While space does not permit a full exposition of such tactics, let me offer some true success stories of such guerrilla NPD.

While developing innovative ergonomic products, a business team wanted to get into the minds of ergonomists and purchasers of ergonomic products. Taking the standard research approach was going to cost tens of thousands of dollars, which was tens of thousands more than was in the budget.

Time for guerrilla tactics! An ergonomics convention was taking place in Las Vegas. After the team developed a questionnaire, a team member flew out to the convention. Armed with $250 in poker chips, this guerrilla operative stood outside the event and offered a $5 token to anyone willing to spend ten minutes on a survey. During the two-day event, over fifty professional ergonomists, consultants, and corporate representatives were interviewed, often volunteering far more than the requested ten minutes of their time. The interviewer, having both subject matter and specific business expertise, was able to probe deeply on questions that arose during the interview process. The total cost was less than $1,000 in expenses, while the information was worth tens of times that.

When resource constraints prohibited the use of outside market research, a business team became their own ethnographers. Forming pairs of cross-functional colleagues, including engineers, designers, marketers, and supply chain professionals, the group networked with local businesses, suppliers, and customers. At the cost of a few business lunches, some personal car mileage, and $100 in digital voice recorders, critical information was gathered, synthesized it into key unmet needs, and translated into unique new products that you will see in the market in the not-too-distant future.

When purchasing relevant market data was cost prohibitive, another business team conducted internal online research. The hard work was not in collecting the information, but rather in piecing the information together into a cohesive whole. The results of that research led to a successful entry into one profitable and growing business category, while wisely avoiding another category that started out with promise, but went quickly into decline.

These guerilla tactics are like matches in the dark. They are not intended to replace the light switch, but rather to provide whatever light is available when that switch is not an option. Please note that any financial cost savings don't come for free! The financial costs are replaced by opportunity costs. For example, when engineers are engaged in market research, it is at the expense of their engineering time, for which they are presumably better trained and inclined. These suggestions are not intended to replace traditional methods, but are rather meant to supplement them.

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Brad Barbera is the founder of KAB Business Research, a consultancy focusing on Innovation Training, Ideation Facilitation and Management, and Business Intelligence.

Win a Ticket to Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5)

Would you like to go to the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5) conference October 7-8, 2009 in Providence, RI, but can't afford the $1,200 ticket price?

I have a ticket to the Business Innovation Factory conference (a $1,200 value) that I can't use because of a scheduling conflict, and so I am offering this ticket as the grand prize to an innovation contest here on Blogging Innovation. The event sold out last year and despite the economy, the limited number of spots this year will go quickly. If you're unfamiliar with this excellent event, here is a video of Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com (@zappos) from last year's conference (BIF-4):




Here is how you enter the contest:

"Write an interesting blog entry (1,000 words or less) that tells the story of a barrier to innovation and how it was overcome either by your company or by another company (citing sources if this isn't your personal experience) and submit it using our contact us page."


Grand Prize (1): One ticket to the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5) conference (NOTE: Travel expenses are NOT included and are the responsibility of the winner)

Finalists (3): All three finalists (including the Grand Prize Winner) will have their articles published on Blogging Innovation


The logistics of the contest will be:

1. July 29, 2009 - Open submissions until 23:59 GMT


2. July 30, 2009 - Announcement and publishing of the three finalists' articles - Voting begins by Twitter @reply to @innovate or by blog comments (no anonymous votes will count)


3. July 31, 2009 - Voting by Twitter @reply to @innovate or by blog comments concludes at 23:59


4. August 1, 2009 - Grand Prize winner announced

For those who just want to go to the conference - as a special bonus for my loyal readers I've negotiated a special $50 discount when you enter "BK110" in the payment code field on the payment options page during registration - this will get you in for $1,150. Groups of five or more can get extra discounts.

New storytellers are added each week, but so far they include:

• Don Tapscott, "Wikinomics"


• Jeff Jarvis, "What Would Google Do?", buzzmachine.com


• Bill Buxton, Microsoft Research, "Sketching User Experiences"


• Grant Harrison, VP of Consumer Innovation, Humana


• John Maeda, President, Rhode Island School of Design


• Jonah Lehrer, "How We Decide"


• Keith Wilmot, Global Director Insights, Ideas & Creativity, Coca Cola

I look forward to receiving everyone's submissions and awarding one lucky winner a ticket to Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5)!

Good luck!



If you'd like to explore some of these issues and discuss them further, please join our Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn.

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Braden Kelley is the founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Innovation Insight Contest Winner

Congratulations to Evelyn Hannon!

Evelyn has won the Innovation Insight Contest and a copy of "Rethink" by Ric Merrifield.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their favorite innovation insight or quote, and to all of you that voted. I hope that you had fun with the process. If you have any suggestions for future contests, please add them as a comment to this blog post or send an @reply on Twitter to @innovate.

Here is the winning entry from @Journeywoman (Evelyn Hannon):

"Question all rules. 1900 Olympics only 15 women took part. It was feared if she ran too fast her uterus would fall out."

While all of the entries were great, there were a couple of things that struck me when I read Evelyn's entry that aren't explicity in the text:

1. Smart organizations don't see innovation as an effort, but as a movement. Too often we let the "rules" limit us, instead of seeing the rules as something to test against in stages over time.
   
   
   • Why have things always been done a certain way? Why is it a rule?
   
   
   • What prohibits us from doing them differently?
   
   
   • What changes would have to occur for a particular challenge to become easier?
   
   
   • What changes would have to occur for a constraint to no longer exist?
   
   
   • What insights can we uncover from apparent contradictions?
   
   
   • What is our plan for achieving the collective incremental changes that will result in an overall rule change?
   
   
2. Too often the "rules" are determined by the companies building the industry over time.Disruptive innovations often occur when a new entrant seeks to understand what customers think the "rules" should be.


• Industry "rules" are usually built around operational efficiency goals


• Existing airlines believed the "rules" were focused on hub-spoke efficiency and network size


• Southwest Airlines recognized that customers believed the rules of the industry should be based on price, customer service, and convenience (point to point travel)

Are you questioning the rules?


Here is a bit more information about the winner:

In 1982 when few women were doing it, Evelyn Hannon put a backpack on and went out into the world to travel solo. An early adaptor on the web, in 1997 she began telling her travel stories online at Journeywoman.com which today is the largest online travel resource for women. Her mandate remains to inspire women of all ages and at all stages of their lives to travel safety and well, and to connect female travelers around the world. Now approaching 70, Evelyn continues her travel writing and is considered the guru of 'how to' in women's travel. Each morning Evelyn sends out one JW Tip of the day to over 2000 Twitter followers. TIME Magazine named her 'one of the 100 innovative thinkers of this new century' for the work she does on behalf of 'women travelers.'


If you're passionate about innovation, join the lively innovation discussion on the Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn:


Braden Kelley (@innovate on Twitter)