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)

Five Finalists - Innovation Insight Contest

In honor of the impact that Twitter has in democratizing information, Blogging Innovation is awarding a copy of the only business book I know of with a green cover - "Rethink" by Ric Merrifield - and a quick winner's profile on this blog, to the winner of the innovation insight contest.

The voters have spoken and we now have five finalists (as determined by your @reply and comment votes).

I now have the unenviable task of choosing a winner from amongst these five great entries and announcing the ONE (1) winner on July 2nd via my profile on Twitter and on this blog with a quick profile of the winner, their winning entry, and a link to their web site.

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Here are the five finalists (ordered by number of votes received):

1. "90% of what we learn comes AFTER we launch a new product." - Eric Feng, CTO of Hulu - @veget


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


3. Insight in a Marketing-driven company is hindsight, while Insight in Innovation-driven company is foresight. - @Lerou


4. Research is the transformation of money into knowledge - Innovation is the transformation of knowledge into money! - @Lerou


5. Implementing best practice is replicating yesterday; innovation is designing tomorrow. - @paulsloane

If you're not on Twitter, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed to find out who the one winner will be.

I look forward to announcing the innovation insight contest winner tomorrow!


Join the lively innovation discussion on the Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn:


Braden Kelley (@innovate on Twitter)

Vote Now - Innovation Insight Contest

In honor of the impact that Twitter has in democratizing information, Blogging Innovation is awarding a copy of the only business book I know of with a green cover - "Rethink" by Ric Merrifield - and a quick winner's profile on this blog, to the winner of the innovation insight contest.

Vote for your favorite innovation insight before 23:59 GMT on June 30th via one of the two following channels:

1. Twitter - Send an @reply on Twitter with the # of the entry you are voting for and @innovate AND #i140 in the body of the tweet


• This will allow everyone to see the votes


2. Blog Comment - Vote below as a comment - include the # of the entry in your vote

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I will announce five (5) finalists on July 1st on this blog, complete with links to their Twitter accounts.

I will announce the ONE (1) winner on July 2nd via my profile on Twitter and on this blog with a quick profile of the winner, their winning entry, and a link to their web site.

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Please vote by # for one these 30 entries (in no particular order):

1. The sovereignty of your #innovation is often more valuable than its content. - @jsbelfiore


2. "90% of what we learn comes AFTER we launch a new product." - Eric Feng, CTO of Hulu - @veget


3. The key to successful #innovation is learning to channel your inner wise-ass. - @jsbelfiore


4. Do Better Today - What You Did Yesterday. - @pehodk


5. #Innovation is a mirror, which reflects your thought processes. If you see nothing, you're a vampire. - @jsbelfiore


6. Genius in innovation is the clever reapplication of the "obvious" in a non-obvious manner or area - @jmccolgin


7. Solutions come & go based on current technology; but underlying needs of audience transcend time and lead to meaningful solutions - @adamdole


8. Innovation doesn't just fall into your lap - Gijs van Beeck Calkoen


9. Ideas have to be consciously designed - Gijs van Beeck Calkoen


10. The application of a technology follows the generation of an idea, not visa versa - Gijs van Beeck Calkoen


11. Innovation is the intersection of what's possible, viable and desirable. - @ddetlefsen


12. Innovation requires commitment. What is commitment? A chicken is "interested" in breakfast. The pig is "committed" to it. - @ddetlefsen


13. Innovation is change that adds value. In math: I=Magnitude of Change*(addition of good features + removal of bad features) - @ddetlefsen


14. Innovation does not just happen for free or by magic - it's a game you can choose to win - @simontevans


15. Make innovation happen by instilling fear - why? Because chasing an oppt is an option; running away from danger is a must - @bpluskowski


16. Innovation is the process of uncovering problems for which people need solutions, and then developing a valuable and accessible solution. - i360 Insight


17. "Nothing can withstand sustained thinking" ~ Voltaire - @tomludwicki


18. Innovation is like loosing weight. Everyone wants & talks about it, knows its benefits, but most won't work for it. - @ddetlefsen


19. Aligning Business models with market expectations and Challenge the Market with Rapid Demonstrator development - @stefaanvermael


20. Research is the transformation of money into knowledge - Innovation is the transformation of knowledge into money! - @Lerou


21. Insight in a Marketing-driven company is hindsight, while Insight in Innovation-driven company is foresight. - @Lerou


22. Implementing best practice is replicating yesterday; innovation is designing tomorrow. - @paulsloane


23. I do not know who discovered water but I am sure it was not a fish. We cannot perceive that in which we are immersed. - @paulsloane


24. Organizations that have a high % of people initiating innovative solutions 2 social problems are far more likely to thrive. - @DennisHoenig


25. Will not innovate with a scam, will not innovate sending spam. will not innovate if workers cram, will not innovate Sam I am - @chris_townsend_


26. Innovation and creativity seem to peak where the ripples spreading outward from knowledge networks intersect. - @geniusnet


27. Creativity = the contxn b/w 2 seemingly random objects. Innovation = creating market value from two seemingly random objects. - @adamdole


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


29. Humankind's evolution: Stone Age-> Feudal Age-> Industrial Age-> Information Age-> Knowledge Age-> Awareness Age - @CrazyColombian


30. Everything big started small. - @ryantracey

If you're not on Twitter, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed to find out who the five finalists and the one winner will be.

I look forward to announcing the five innovation insight contest finalists!


Join the lively innovation discussion on the Continuous Innovation group on LinkedIn:


Braden Kelley (@innovate on Twitter)

140char Innovation Insight Contest

In honor of the impact that Twitter has in democratizing information, I'd like to give everyone a chance to win a copy of the only business book I know of with a green cover - "Rethink" by Ric Merrifield.

The rules for entering the contest are simple. Send us your favorite innovation insight in 140 characters or less* via one of the two following channels:

1. Twitter - Send your favorite innovation insight as a tweet on Twitter with @innovate AND #i140 in the body of the tweet


• This will allow everyone to see all of the innovation insights submitted on Twitter by doing a search for #i140


2. Blog Comment - Post your innovation insight below as a comment in 124 characters or less


• This is to level the playing field for people who post a comment vs. a Twitter tweet

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@reply and comment voting from 00:00 GMT to 23:59 GMT on June 30th will decide the finalists.

I will announce five (5) finalists on July 1st on this blog, complete with links to their Twitter accounts.

I will announce the ONE (1) winner on July 2nd via my profile on Twitter and on this blog with a quick profile of the winner, their winning entry, and a link to their web site.

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Here are the entries so far (in no particular order):

1. The sovereignty of your #innovation is often more valuable than its content. - @jsbelfiore


2. "90% of what we learn comes AFTER we launch a new product." - Eric Feng, CTO of Hulu - @veget


3. The key to successful #innovation is learning to channel your inner wise-ass. - @jsbelfiore


4. Do Better Today - What You Did Yesterday. - @pehodk


5. #Innovation is a mirror, which reflects your thought processes. If you see nothing, you're a vampire. - @jsbelfiore


6. Genius in innovation is the clever reapplication of the "obvious" in a non-obvious manner or area - @jmccolgin


7. Solutions come & go based on current technology; but underlying needs of audience transcend time and lead to meaningful solutions - @adamdole


8. Innovation doesn't just fall into your lap - Gijs van Beeck Calkoen


9. Ideas have to be consciously designed - Gijs van Beeck Calkoen


10. The application of a technology follows the generation of an idea, not visa versa - Gijs van Beeck Calkoen


11. Innovation is the intersection of what's possible, viable and desirable. - @ddetlefsen


12. Innovation requires commitment. What is commitment? A chicken is "interested" in breakfast. The pig is "committed" to it. - @ddetlefsen


13. Innovation is change that adds value. In math: I=Magnitude of Change*(addition of good features + removal of bad features) - @ddetlefsen


14. Innovation does not just happen for free or by magic - it's a game you can choose to win - @simontevans


15. Make innovation happen by instilling fear - why? Because chasing an oppt is an option; running away from danger is a must - @bpluskowski


16. Innovation is the process of uncovering problems for which people need solutions, and then developing a valuable and accessible solution. - i360 Insight


17. "Nothing can withstand sustained thinking" ~ Voltaire - @tomludwicki


18. Innovation is like loosing weight. Everyone wants & talks about it, knows its benefits, but most won't work for it. - @ddetlefsen


19. Aligning Business models with market expectations and Challenge the Market with Rapid Demonstrator development - @stefaanvermael


20. Research is the transformation of money into knowledge - Innovation is the transformation of knowledge into money! - @Lerou


21. Insight in a Marketing-driven company is hindsight, while Insight in Innovation-driven company is foresight. - @Lerou


22. Implementing best practice is replicating yesterday; innovation is designing tomorrow. - @paulsloane


23. I do not know who discovered water but I am sure it was not a fish. We cannot perceive that in which we are immersed. - @paulsloane


24. Organizations that have a high % of people initiating innovative solutions 2 social problems are far more likely to thrive. - @DennisHoenig


25. Will not innovate with a scam, will not innovate sending spam. will not innovate if workers cram, will not innovate Sam I am - @chris_townsend_


26. Innovation and creativity seem to peak where the ripples spreading outward from knowledge networks intersect. - @geniusnet


27. Creativity = the contxn b/w 2 seemingly random objects. Innovation = creating market value from two seemingly random objects. - @adamdole


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


29. Humankind's evolution: Stone Age-> Feudal Age-> Industrial Age-> Information Age-> Knowledge Age-> Awareness Age - @CrazyColombian


30. Everything big started small. - @ryantracey

And some of my own to help stimulate thinking (@innovate):

• "Innovation is a gift. What are you doing to ensure employees want to give it?"


• "An innovation leader's job isn't to provide the answers but to provoke the thinking that gets you there."


• Knowledge Management is more about "How do I?" while Innovation is more about "Why don't we?"


• "We must create clarity in innovation strategy, goals, and participation for a continuous innovation culture to be created."

I look forward to seeing your favorite innovation insights!


Braden Kelley (@innovate on Twitter)