Innovation in Practice Blog
Applied Marketing Innovation
Learning a corporate innovation method begins with formal training, and there is no better place to do that than in graduate businesss school. I am looking foward to meeting the 37 students enrolled in my MBA course at the University of Cincinnati this month. The course, “Applied Marketing Innovation,” is a full credit “special topics” course. It is a fusion of Systematic Inventive Thinking and The Big Picture marketing framework. The Syllabus can be downloaded, but here are some details about it:
This course focuses on how to create value and growth through innovation in new and existing markets. Students will learn the skills of innovation and how to apply those skills within the context of a marketing strategy framework. Students will apply innovation methods across the entire marketing management continuum including strategy, segmentation, targeting, positioning, and the 4P’s. The course will be taught using interactive workshop methods and techniques throughout. Students will first experience these facilitation techniques while learning innovation. They will then learn and practice these techniques so that they can apply them routinely throughout their graduate experience and beyond.
Innovation in Practice: One Year Later
A year of blogging in the innovation space has taught me a few things:
Blogging is discovery. There are a lot of very bright people out there with many useful insights about how to make innovation happen. I’m impressed with the diversity of views and insights, as well as the constant stream of new thinking. Special recognition and thanks to: Amnon Levav, Yoni Stern, Jacob Goldenberg and the whole team at SIT for teaching me the method for innovating. Fellow bloggers like Jim Todhunter, Paul Sloane, Katy Konrath, Jeffrey Phillips, Keith Sawyer and many others for refreshing ideas about innovation. Chuck Frey for the way he recognizes and inspires others (thanks, Chuck!). Fellow J&J colleagues who push the envelope of innovation like Jeff Murphy, Mike Clem, and Shelly Cropper.
Blogging is hard work. It takes a constant sense of awareness of what’s going on around you to spot new blog ideas. To be a good blogger, you need to be an even better at reading and commenting on other blogs (I learned this and everything else about blogging from Chris Allen). Blogging is a conversation. The long tail will prevail. (Read “The Cluetrain Manifesto” if you don’t believe me). I appreciate those of you who comment on this blog and take a different point-of-view. None of us is as smart as all of us.
Blogging gets you noticed. Be careful what you say because people are paying attention. Readership of this blog is growing steadily, and the media and others are taking note.
Patent’s (Value) Pending
The Front End of Innovation blog reports 70% of respondents to their recent survey believe eliminating business method patents will hurt innovation and its practices. The premise is that innovators and entrepreneurs are less likely to innovate if they know they cannot get patent protection. The result surprises me, and it make me wonder what the other 30% were thinking.
The issue stems from whether an inventor can patent an abstract process, something that involves nothing more than thoughts. The courts are saying no. A recent ruling on a business method patent by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said that it was not tied to a machine or apparatus, nor did it transform a particular article into a different state or thing. It did meet the standards set by the U.S. Supreme Court for patentability. Many industries that are not “machine-based” like software makers, Internet companies, and investment houses, are concerned.
The LAB: Innovating a Recruiting Process with Subtraction (October 2008)
Do systematic methods of innovation work on services and processes? This may be the most common question from corporate executives who want to learn innovation methods. This month’s LAB will focus on a familiar corporate process: employee recruiting. The tool we’ll use is Subtraction.
To use Subtraction, we make a list of the components. With a process or service, the components are simply the steps to deliver the process or service. We remove a step one at a time to create the Virtual Product/Process. Working backwards with Function Follows Form, we innovate what the potential value or benefits would be without the component. What would the new process do? Who would use it? Why would they use it?
Discover Where Creativity and Innovation Live.
Get the book today.
