Tag Archives: Innovation

Barbed wire networking

Man has always found ways to communicate, Social media is not new, it is just the tools we are using today are upgrades of those we used yesterday. Alex Bell patented the telephone in 1876, after many inventors had played … Continue reading

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6 ingredients for SME success

The post on the 2 tools SME’s need  in early August  led to a comment that, whilst the headlines of focus and discipline made sense, the challenge is in implementation. Fair comment. So, how do you build the needed focus … Continue reading

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“Design” is a verb

Design is often used as a noun, “I will do a design for you” is common. However, when you think about it, design is not just a thing, an end product, it is a process of moving from an idea, … Continue reading

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Design doing

Steve Blank is one of the real thinkers in the innovation space who gets out there into the weeds and gets stuff done. The illustration at the top of this post is one from a recent post on his blog … Continue reading

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6 challenges (and 3 rules) of content creation

The single biggest stumbling block I see to successful digital marketing is not the technology, or the money, desire, or need, it is simply the unwillingness or inability to create relevant, engaging content of value that suits the context in … Continue reading

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Future of Urban Agriculture

  How we deliver good quality food and water to an urbanised and growing population around the world is the challenge of the 21st century. We have gone from a largely subsistence existence to a highly urbanised one in 200 … Continue reading

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9 thoughts for SME’s on Friday 13th.

  Walk under any ladders yet? It seemed appropriate to have a think about some of the silly superstitions that infest the world of marketing, and proffer a view about the reality. “The internet will never be a good marketing … Continue reading

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7 ways to argue constructively

  Debate and argument fills a vital role in all parts of our lives, it is what makes us human, this capacity to be able to think and communicate, rather than just react. For an extended period with two different … Continue reading

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Energy, Innovation, technical capability, and common sense.

It seems to me that the most important emerging driver of success in the economy that must drive innovation and value delivery, is the intersection of technical capability and power generation. Oil has driven the geo politics of the C … Continue reading

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Compelling data on what next.

Mitch Joel may have flogged his Twist Image agency to WPP, but hopefully he keeps on writing his blog and alerting us to terrific stuff like this presentation Winners and Losers in the Digital age,  by Scott Galloway. Read the … Continue reading

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4 point strategic rural reality check

There is plenty in the press about the role agriculture will play in the post mining boom era. “Asia’s foodbowl” and other such optimistic clichés get front page coverage. I have been sitting in Armidale (NSW) for a few days, … Continue reading

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8 ways to build a hypothesis testing mind set.

The most successful people I have seen over 40 years of business share one crucial characteristic. Curiosity. The successful are insatiably  curious, it spans all aspects of their lives, not just the parts that are spent working at what pays … Continue reading

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Organised serendipity

At first sight, “Organised” and “Serendipity” are at opposite ends of the scale, almost mutually exclusive. Serendipity occurs by chance, when the stars align, the unexpected happens and not by any organised process, or so we are led to believe. … Continue reading

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3 core questions of strategy.

Often I find myself engaged in conversations with those running small businesses who believe they have discovered the next  big thing, the idea that will change the world, or at  least their business. It can be  as simple as a … Continue reading

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The elusive location of value.

We all seek value, we set out to buy when we find it, but all too often, we settle on price as the measure, when price is only one component of the mix of factors that makes up “value”. The … Continue reading

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Value development process.

Innovation is a process, mostly it is managed for better or worse with some sort of stage-gate process. Sensitive project management of innovation is vital, the context of the project, the culture, management engagement, business model, the source of resources … Continue reading

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The year of analytics

In Australia today, January 26, it is “Australia Day”, the day we Aussies, or most of us, think the place was started, conveniently ignoring the thousands of years of habitation before Captain Philip turned up with a bunch of convicts … Continue reading

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14 Marketing Trends for 2014

It may be a bit later in January than most blog posts prognosticating about the coming year, but at least they are different from the pack, so here goes.. Simple is the new complicated.  All the conversations about social media, … Continue reading

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2014, better or different

Its the  new year, 2014, January 6 to be exact, and I have been ruminating on the “List” every blogger accumulates and publishes early in January in the hope that they get noticed, and build some momentum for the year. All … Continue reading

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The Value Gap

Engaged in an innovation portfolio management assignment a while ago, we struggled to define why one project should continue to suck up resources in preference to many other seemingly worthy opportunities. We tried all sorts of models, financial and strategic, … Continue reading

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