THE BIG PICTURE
The Innovative Organization: Learning From Design Firms
INSEAD
Design firms align their innovation processes to discern unarticulated, even unconscious, user needs. Designers generate new ideas based on user insights within an atmosphere of freedom and playfulness. Producing fast and cheap dummy versions to test out concepts means that even when the experiments flop, failures are not negative events but learning experiences. Read more…
Winds Of Change At Dyson
Fast Company
The company’s innovation team comes up with a dozen prototypes, which are modeled and shown off to other engineers every week. The most promising, no matter how seemingly far-fetched, are sent to James Dyson himself. An engineer could work up his prototype and have it in hand by the end of the day. Then comes the long testing process. Read more…
Why Lego’s CEO Thinks More Grown-Ups Should Play At Work
The Huffington Post
Playfulness is at the root of creativity. Injecting a sense of fun into work situations gives everyone permission to be more authentic and to take risks. Out of that comes greater innovation, more collaboration and richer learning. Read more…
Five Ways To Make Innovation ‘Sticky’
The Brookings Institution
Unfortunately, America’s ability to capture the benefits of the domestic scale-up of U.S. technology innovation remains spotty. Making innovation sticky depends on strengthening local ecosystems. Read more…
Are Big Cities Still A Primary Engine For Scientific Innovation?
National Public Radio
Groups of people who are thinking about similar things – when they get together, they’re much more productive than if they were not together. A new analysis from Stanford University suggests that, when it comes to invention and to scientific innovation, it’s not as important as it used to be. Read more…
THE LATEST NEWS
Michigan State University Business Librarian Book Report
Northern Lakes Economic Alliance
If you are going to create new products or services, then The Rainforest Blueprint is insightful in helping you to conceptualize the goal of developing innovation capability and to plan the steps to carry it out. Read more…
Global Cities 2015: The Race Accelerates
A.T. Kearney
Sixteen global cities dominate with their ability to attract and retain global capital, people, and ideas, as well as their future prospects. New York, London, Paris and San Francisco lead in the latest research. Read more…
Iran’s Digital Start-Ups Signal Changing Times
BBC
Western business people returning to Iran in the wake of the nuclear deal may be surprised to find plenty of entrepreneurial drive from a new generation of online start-ups, which have appeared despite years of international sanctions. Read more…
Santiago’s Startup Culture In ‘Chilecon Valley’
The Wall Street Journal
Start-Up Chile in Santiago provides entrepreneurs with $40,000 and a six-month residency visa to launch their businesses. The government aims to turn the city into Latin America’s innovation and tech hub. Read more…
