How to innovate - article by Kevin Taylor

I have just been reading an article by Kevin Taylor (BT Managing Director for Asia-Pacific) about innovation and I thought I would share some interesting remarks Mr. Taylor has made:

• The fear that companies are unaware of the need to sustain innovation during tough times is misplaced. Leaders of successful enterprises know the value of innovation all too well

That is, successful companies appreciate the need for innovation even nowadays while we are experiencing quite difficult economic downturn. Mr. Taylor brings example of significative innovations that have occured during previous recessions.

• Can a company truly think "outside of the box" if doing so might violate its values? Sometimes it takes outsiders to point out the contradictions

Very interesting point. The ability to listen to constructive criticism and propositive ideas from outsiders can be very beneficial even during non-recession

• in the modern world, technology forms the enabling infrastructure for innovation

Well, it's true. Can you think of any real recent innovation that hasn't built upon technology?

• companies weathering the economic storm the best are those with global operations

Interesting point, although I would recognize more distinctive characteristics of successful companies even nowadays -- forward-looking management, correct interpretation of changing costumer habits and needs, etc...

The Crowd Is Wise (When It’s Focused) - NYTimes article

Quite interesting article by Steve Lohr @NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/technology/internet/19unboxed.html?_r=2&th&emc=th

A couple of interesting points to me are:

• "innovation is often portrayed as a numbers game.The more heads, the better" but also "open-innovation models succeed only when carefully designed for a particular task and when the incentives are tailored to attract the most effective collaborators"

I would add that some sort of non-competitive form of collaboration amongts contendants should produce the best results. In other words, social interactions cannot be cancelled out by competition when searching for optimal solutions.

• "Open-innovation models are adopted to overcome the constraints of corporate hierarchies" but also "To succeed, Mr. Chesbrough said, a company must have a culture open to outside ideas and a system for vetting and acting on them"

Hence crowdsourcing isn't just about getting ideas and suggestions from as many people as are willing to provide them, but also about companies culturally enabled to act upon new ideas and suggestions, flexible and ready for (sometimes radical) changes.