Innovation with how we represent the results of our hard earned labor — money — and how we transact business with it has been going on for thousands of years. Metal coins for commerce go back to the third century B.C. and paper money was introduced by Kublai Kahn in the 1200s. The disruptive idea…
We all do a lot of sitting. In our daily work routine it seems there is barely enough time to move from office chair to airplane seat to the conference room before fatigue and poor health begin to take a toll on our bodies. It’s becoming a dangerous epidemic and an occupational hazard for those…
Today there are so many ways available to share information. Collaboration and social dissemination of information are done through a variety of means including workshops, focus group sessions, communities of practice, teleconferences, video conferencing, net meetings, idea portholes and Web applications. Many corporations have also gotten a taste of the success that can come from…
No matter where I go in the U.S., or what type of industry I work with, I see a common challenge across almost all companies. Many industries have significantly cut back the financial resources they have earmarked for innovation. This situation is having impact on innovation leaders and their teams, as well as the companies’…
Transdermal patches were approved by the FDA and first marketed in the early 1980s. They have advanced significantly since then and are now available to treat a limited variety of conditions. Most of the patches work in the same general way: Medicine is applied to the adhesive side of a patch that is placed on…
Manufacturers today are facing a broad array of challenges as they strive to develop products faster, improve efficiencies, and streamline their marketing and sales organizations. Manufacturing is a diverse field, but there are common themes among many of the businesses that represent the industry. This includes the need to reduce time and cost to market,…
I was surprised to discover how easy it is to create urban farms in areas where people most need inexpensive, fresh food. Urban-farming is really taking off in cities such as Detroit and Cleveland. Check out this article from Fast Company, on how cities can transform disused land into tomorrow’s (healthy) dinner: 4 Tips For…
One retailer in Asia is doing something innovative to attract shoppers during those quiet times when most stores are empty. Korean retailer Emart set up several 3D QR code sculptures throughout Seoul that –when the sun shines on them just right–can be scanned for discounts. Shoppers need to scan between the peak sun hours of…
As part of my innovation consulting efforts, I’m getting more heavily involved in the area of biomimicry and the idea of using nature as a guide to providing technological insights. The exploration of nature and its processes to yield innovative solutions to complex problems is an interesting and novel approach that not only researchers, but…
I’ve talked before about the growing science of analytics, where companies are using data to make better decisions faster, throughout their organizations. Analytics is going beyond traditional sources into the realm of text. Analytics naturally came about as a result of today’s prolific generation of electronic data. The amount of numerical information created every day…
