Killer Innovations

Segment 1: Finding and Keeping Innovation Champions

What are innovation champions?

• Passionate about an idea
• Will do almost anything to see the idea become a reality

Why are they iimportant?

• Give me a person with passion and I can build a team that will succeed
• An innovation champion, in many cases, is the difference between success and failure

How do you find them?

• Ask people "what are you working on that is exciting?".  The passion will come out ...
• Look for people with a unique voice on their passion (blogs, social network sites, etc)

How do you keep them?  What motivates them?

• They want to realize their dream
• Protect them from the corporate anti-bodies
• Give the champion the authority to be the advocate for the vision
• Use proper resource management (constrained innovation) to ensure success 

Be careful to avoid the "1 hit wonders"

• Be aware that champions go through ups and downs depending on the cycle of their projects
• Think two the three projects ahead of your champions
• Challenge them with "hard problems" for them to solve on their next projects

If you are a champion, how do you make yourself known?

• Share your authentic passion
• Contribute to existing projects (show off your passion)
• Create your portfolio

Segment 2: Creativity Exercise - The McGyver/Apollo 13 Method

You are given a problem/objective

Open your desk drawer, purse, briefcase

Only use items you have

Create as many ideas within 20 minutes

Task

• You got to work and realized your forgot to get a gift for co-workers upcoming wedding
• Use only items within your reach
• Each idea you develop must be practical (describe its uses)
• Each idea must be made from two or more items

How many can you come up with in 20 minutes?

List your ideas in the comments ... send me photo's and I will post them ... 

Segment 3: Listener Question

How do you find adjacencies for an innovation? (Byron) 

MP3 for the October 10th Podcast

Flickr photo by edwin11_79