Innovation Alone Won't Lead to Prosperity by Robert Montenegro There's a great Chris Rock standup bit from the 90s in which he talks about failing a Black History course because he doesn't really know anything about Black History. For every question asked ("What's the capital of Zaire?") his answer is always "Martin Luther King." That bit came straight to my mind when I read Rod Hunter's recent article on innovation in the Wall Street Journal. Hunter argues that innovation has become a meaningless buzzword. "Yet there is ample evidence that the greatest benefits from innovation can’t be captured by state policies. Hunter employs the example of the World Wide Web, invented in 1989 in a Swiss lab. "Rather the companies throughout the world that learned to harness its power for many different uses. So Hunter's point here is that funding innovative research isn't enough on its own. What's your take on Hunter's opinion? Read more at The Wall Street Journal Photo credit: balein / Shutterstock
untitled Giancarlo Zema on Behance untitled Design Thinking for Social Innovation - Featured Topics - Community - TakingITGlobal This month we asked ourselves the question, what fuels effective social innovation? We are pleased to present our featured topic on Design Thinking (DT). Consider this a crash course in the concepts and processes behind DT, as well as in-depth resources that include relevant literature, media, and toolkits for its effective implementation. This article also provides case studies and examples of DT in action to inspire you towards affecting positive social change in an innovative and engaging way. Big Ideas Summary "Design Thinking draws upon logic, imagination, intuition, and systemic reasoning, to explore possibilities of what could be, and to create desired outcomes that benefit the end user (the customer). Design Thinking… What is it, and how is it different than Design? In order to understand how DT works, we need to differentiate it from what we traditionally call Design. DT is an emerging field that originates from the principles of traditional design disciplines. Cross, N. (2011).
untitled Introducing Design Methods This guide is for anyone who wants to understand the methods designers use and try them out for themselves. We’ve grouped 20 design methods into three categories: Discover, Define and Develop. These are based on the first three stages of the Double Diamond, the Design Council’s simple way of mapping the design process. Methods like these are used all the time in our work with clients. Discover Creating a project space Observation User diaries Being your users Brainstormin Fast visualization Choosing a sample Quantitative surveys Secondary research Hopes and fears Define Assessment criteria Comparing notes Drivers and hurdles Focus groups Customer journey mapping Develop Character profiles Scenarios Role playing Blueprinting Physical prototyping 1. What is it? Creating a dedicated area to organise project materials, work and meet. What is it useful for? How can I do it? Find - or make - a dedicated project zone. 2. Pick your scenario and record your observation with photos or video. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
untitled How to Improve Your Critical Thinking Skills As an entrepreneur, you make decisions every day that affect the success of your products, the loyalty of your employees, and the overall health of your business. To make the best decisions possible, you need to think critically and quickly to pick out any flaws in your processes that might harm your business. When you think through a problem, your thought process is naturally colored by biases, such as your point of view and your assumptions about the situation. Each of those biases affects your reasoning. "Critical thinking is a way to intervene in your thought process," says Linda Elder, an educational psychologist and president of the Foundation for Critical Thinking based in Tomales, Calif. Related: How to Sharpen Your Decision-Making Skills Try these three strategies to help you think through a problem effectively. 1. Once you identify your purpose, it should inform every step of your decision process. 2. To do that, articulate your own viewpoint. 3.
untitled 4 Ways to Share Business Intelligence to Build a Happy Work Culture What’s the secret to happy employees? Having no secrets. When it comes to your team’s happiness at the workplace, sharing really is caring. Here are 4 ways to share business intelligence to make your team happy, engaged and productive: #1 Share Accomplishments Sharing what everyone’s gotten done every day is the foundation of employee engagement. By sharing accomplishments, you build team cohesion around a daily rhythm of getting stuff done and making progress toward an ultimate goal. Tools like iDoneThis make it simple to share progress and accomplishments regularly. iDoneThis is a dead-simple, email-based status report tool. #2 Share Task Assignments and Objectives Sharing task assignments keeps everyone posted on what everyone else is working on, from the CEO down through the whole organization. Tools like Asana make it easy to share task assignments and objectives. "Thank You Note Letterpress" by Robert Barney on Flickr. #3 Share Appreciation #4 Share Ideas Conclusion
How To Use Teamwork to Make the Dream Work By Kristen Gramigna, BluePay Despite your desire to create a brand identity that cultivates lasting customer relationships, increases awareness, and serves as a meaningful point of differentiation in the marketplace — your employees greatly impact your delivered customer experience. Yet, the quality of service they provide customers directly relates to their pride and value of being part of your business. Give them a reason to care. Leverage this inherent nature of small-business work life to your business-model advantage by cultivating the ideologies of holacracy — a non-traditional business structure embraced by brands like Zappos — to place equal accountability on each employee. Allow your team to shapeshift. Manage from the sidelines. Orchestrate social exchange. Give credit where credit is due. Kristen Gramigna is Chief Marketing Officer for BluePay, a credit card processing firm that caters to various types of businesses. Request Website Magazine's Free Weekly Newsletters