Why are some companies terrible at innovation?

Yesterday's Top Manager's Perspective class was focused on how a company should expand - finding adjacencies that leverage the core competency. We determined that this is extremely difficult for some companies and in fact, can destroy value for shareholders as the management pours money into building a new product line. We determined that when management has failed to diversify the portfolio, they should return the earnings to the shareholders so that they can diversify on their own (via investing in other companies).

I left the class thinking about expansion and innovation. In particular, I thought about how difficult it is for management to fundamentally change the goals and operating structure within an organization. Why do managers find enterprise innovation so difficult?

Thankfully, I have Google to thank for the following tidbit of information. The Fortune 1000 Executives Perspective on Innovation finds that 47% of companies do not have a team or process in place to brainstorm ideas and/or evaluate which ones to invest in. Shocking!

While this is not what I was originally looking for, it is still a rather interesting read, so enjoy.

The ultimate irony: attempt to save time results in 10 hour project and little sleep

I'm taking a really neat business design class. We have been learning how to create a visual representation of our ideas. The first assignment - due this morning, was a description of ourselves. The catch?
The description was in the form of a map. Aka, a solar system of characteristics, thoughts, feelings, people and places that are a reflection and/or helped to create us. The assignment was interesting as I ended up doing a bit of soul searching and made some discoveries about myself.

The second part of the assignment was the creation of a non-verbal essay. Same topic. My plan was to create a collage of things that I think best represent me - inner and outer attributes. The best part was I was going to use different materials glued to the board to create a tactile experience as well. I think a physical medium would have been the best way to represent me as I enjoy using all my senses. Did you guess that things didn't work out exactly as planned?

Well, I spent far more time than allotted working on my financial management presentation. I had the materials gathered, However I wasn't able to print the photos that I planned to use. Plus, my computer is still broken so I don't have access to the greater part of my photo collection. Due to time constraints, I opted to make a video as I had been led to believe that with free editing software, editing was going to be a breeze. What a joke. I have a pc, so i used the default software, movie maker. And ran into problem, after problem, after problem. I recorded mini videos on my iPhone so that I could string together moving and still photography - nope! File format not supported. Plan B. I'll import b-roll video from you tube. Nope, can't do that either. In the end, I handed in a truly uninspiring static slideshow. No music either because apparently the iTunes download was too advanced. Seriously. No music - after spending $20 as the track I wanted had to be purchased as an album.

The irony of it all is the fact that this crappy product took 10 hours to put together. In that amount of time I would have had an amazing collage!

Meh! After only 2 hours of sleep, I'm up again and at the airport. Even though I likely failed this assignment, I'm determined to create that collage, just to prove to myself that it would have been great.

Thanksgiving Gets Cancelled

My thanksgiving weekend was cut short after a Financial Management meeting went MUCH longer than expected. Such is life. Thanks to the iPhone Face Time application, I was able to virtually enjoy supper though, as my father called to share the joys of family dinner. It looked delicious. I had a bag of chips to eat and a spreadsheet for company.

The Business Model Canvas Guide

Friday morning is the only day that I have morning class.
9AM - Innovation, Foresight and Business Design.
I'll admit, I'm out of practice trying to catch the bus during rush hour. Last week I tried to drive and ran into a plethora of car trouble, traffic and parking issues. This week I missed the bus.

Sigh

I guess that's what happens when the class content is too long to fit within the scheduled 9:15-11:15 time slot. Typically, it runs from 9-11:30. Luckily, every week, my mind is blown, so I'm happy to spend the extra time.

Today, we had a guest speaker from ennova, a consulting firm that specializes in business model development. We used the Business Model Canvas Guide to contrast the business models of Apple and Blockbuster. Essentially, after looking at every aspect of the respective business models in 2001 and Present day, we were able to see how necessary it is to be flexible in your business model. The model should be fluid and management should recognize the signals that indicate a change in consumer desires, and should reexamine the business model and make appropriate changes as necessary.

the PITCH

Entrepreneurship has an interesting team recruitment process. Much like real life, we each had to pitch a business concept in class. The catch?

We had only 1 minute. Seriously, 60 seconds to pitch our business idea and hopefully attract 3 additional people to work on the idea.

I did my best to stand out. I developed a cute logo, printed in colour, practiced my pitch and presented as enthusiastically as I could. The result? I have managed to recruit 1 of 3 necessary teammates. I now have to convince 2 other people to abandon their ideas and join my team. How stressful!

Come on folks!

Eat your frogs first

I heard a funny expression from our entrepreneurship guest speaker, Sarah Prevette from Sprouter.com last week, 'eat your frogs first.'

I realize that this was not the thrust of her lecture, but for me, it was the most poignant moment in the 20 minute talk. The gist of the expression is to do the things you don't want to do first thing in the morning.

Filling out forms, various paperwork, paying bills... all of the items that you dread - complete those tasks first thing in the morning or else you will be haunted by them forever!

What frogs will you eat today?