Beyond the Obvious


Book Description

The Killer Questions Your Company Should Be Asking Generating and executing great ideas is the key to staying ahead in a rapidly changing world. It seems so basic. Why is it so hard to actually get right? According to innovation expert Phil McKinney, the real problem is that we're teaching people to ask the wrong questions about their businesses--or none at all. There has to be a better way. In Beyond the Obvious, McKinney will help you use his proven FIRE (Focus, Ideation, Rank, Execution) Method to dig deeper and get back to asking the right questions--the ones all companies must ask to survive. Full of real-world examples, this book will change the way you operate, innovate, and create, and it all begins with battle-tested questions Phil has gathered on note cards throughout his career. Shared for the first time here, these "Killer Questions" include: What are the rules and assumptions my industry operates under? What if the opposite were true? What will be the buying criteria used by my customer in 5 years? What are my unshakable beliefs about what my customers want? Who uses my product in ways I never anticipated? These questions will reframe the way you see your products, your customers, and the way the two interact. Whether you're a company of thousands or a lean startup, Beyond the Obvious will give you the skills and easy-to-follow plan you need to make both the revolutionary changes and nuanced tweaks required for success. Praise for Beyond the Obvious "Human beings are creatures of habit, so getting ourselves and our teams to think beyond the obvious is a challenge we face all the time. Phil McKinney is an innovation expert, and his killer questions and hit-the-spot anecdotes provide a great way to get out in front of opportunities we otherwise won't see." -- Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Escape Velocity "I've always believed that asking the right questions is the essence of design. Phil McKinney proves that point with this wonderful set of killer questions that will jumpstart-or greatly enhance- your innovation efforts." -- B. Joseph Pine II, co-author, The Experience Economy & Infinite Possibility. "Product Innovation is a prerequisite to building great brands. Phil's questions are a prerequisite to building innovative products." -- Satjiv S. Chahil, former global marketing chief, Apple"




Tools for Innovation


Book Description

It is widely known that innovation is crucial to sustain success in business, government, and engineering. But capturing the effective means of fostering innovation remains elusive. How can organizations actively promote innovation, which arises from a complex combination of cognition and domain expertise? Researchers across an array of fields are studying innovation, with exciting new findings suggesting that science is beginning to understand how it can be cultivated. It is now more important than ever for seemingly distant fields to share conclusions and, in concert, translate them into viable applications. In this unique and exciting collaboration, engineers, cognitive scientists, psychologists, computer scientists, and marketers explore the practical methods that support innovation and creative design, from different ways of thinking and conceptualizing to computer-based tools. The authors present research on processes as well as on the evaluation of existing methods. Their lessons drawn are at the forefront of the interdisciplinary movement to use science to help organizations thrive.




Innovation Tools


Book Description

A presentation of the most successful innovation tools available to lower the risk of innovative projects and activities.




The Innovation Mode


Book Description

This book presents unique insights and advice on defining and managing the innovation transformation journey. Using novel ideas, examples and best practices, it empowers management executives at all levels to drive cultural, technological and organizational changes toward innovation. Covering modern innovation techniques, tools, programs and strategies, it focuses on the role of the latest technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence to discover, handle and manage ideas), methodologies (including Agile Engineering and Rapid Prototyping) and combinations of these (like hackathons or gamification). At the same time, it highlights the importance of culture and provides suggestions on how to build it. In the era of AI and the unprecedented pace of technology evolution, companies need to become truly innovative in order to survive. The transformation toward an innovation-led company is difficult – it requires a strong leadership and culture, advanced technologies and well-designed programs. The book is based on the author’s long-term experience and novel ideas, and reflects two decades of startup, consulting and corporate leadership experience. It is intended for business, technology, and innovation leaders.




The Innovation Tools Handbook, Volume 1


Book Description

In today‘s fast-moving, high-technology environment, the focus on quality has given way to a focus on innovation. From presidents of the United States to presidents of Fortune 500 companies, it is clear that everyone thinks innovation is extremely important. The challenge is that few people stop to define why innovation is important to understand w




Vintage Innovation


Book Description

What is Vintage Innovation?Vintage Innovation redefines innovation not as "new and flashy" but as "better and different." It isn't a rejection of new approaches or cutting-edge technology so much as an embrace of the old and the new.It's the overlap of the "tried and true" and the "never tried." It's a mash-up of low-fi tech and new tech. It's the idea of finding relevance by looking back and looking forward. It's a focus on timeless skills in new contexts. It's the idea that innovation happens when teachers take a both/and approach as they empower their students in the present to prepare them for an uncertain future.If you are a teacher, you are an innovator. You are the experimenter trying new strategies. You are the architect designing new learning opportunities. Apps change. Gadgets break. Technology grows obsolete. But one thing remains: teachers change the world. And one way to do this is through a vintage innovation approach. With vintage innovation, teachers ask: How do I innovate when I don't have the best technology? How can I use vintage tools, ideas, and approaches in new ways? How can I use constraints to spark creativity? How do I blend together the "tried and true" with the "never tried?"




Science Sifting


Book Description

Science Sifting is designed primarily as a textbook for students interested in research and as a general reference book for existing career scientists. The aim of this book is to help budding scientists broaden their capacities to access and use information from diverse sources to the benefit of their research careers.The book describes why the capacity to access and integrate both linear and nonlinear information has been an important historic feature of pivotal scientific breakthroughs. Yet, it is a process that our students are rarely, if ever, taught in universities. This book goes beyond simply describing the features of great scientific breakthroughs. It discusses the basis for accessing and using nonlinear information in the linear research context. It also provides a series of tools and exercises that can be used to enhance access to nonlinear information for application to research and other endeavors.Topics covered include focal points in scientific breakthroughs, the use of concepts maps in research, use of different vantage points, information as patterns, fractals for the scientist, memory storage and access points, and synchronicities. Young researchers need useful tools to help with a more holistic approach to their research careers. This book provides the useful tools to support flexibility and creativity across a long-term research career.




Simulating Innovation


Book Description

Christopher Watts and Nigel Gilbert explore the generation, diffusion and impact of innovations, which can now be studied using computer simulations. ø Agent-based simulation models can be used to explain the innovation that emerges from interact




The Innovation Tools Handbook, Volume 2


Book Description

In today’s fast-moving, high-technology environment, the focus on quality has given way to a focus on innovation. From presidents of the United States to presidents of Fortune 500 companies, it is clear that everyone thinks innovation is extremely important. The challenge is that few people stop to define why innovation is important—to understand what’s driving the need for more innovation. We all agree that more frequent innovation is important, even necessary. There is actually a growing body of evidence that indicates that looking outside of your company (rather than purely looking internally) and to customers’ needs, using the tools in this Handbook, will lead to more innovative ideas. Responding to customers’ needs is the key to a successful business. You can use these tools to talk to customers—satisfied ones, unsatisfied ones, potential customers, people who would never buy your product or service, and also people you have never considered as a potential customer. In addition, these tools will help you ask your competitors’ customers about what makes them happy with the current businesses and offerings in the industry, why they buy or do not buy from you, your competitors, and other industries. These tools will help you understand the steps in the customer journey they need to take, what delights and frustrates them, and what their pain points are. The three volumes of The Innovation Tools Handbook cover 76 top-rated tools and methods, from the hundreds available, that every innovator must master to be successful. Covering evolutionary and/or improvement innovative tools and methodologies, Volume 2 presents 23 tools/methodologies related to innovative evolutionary products, processes, and services, or the improvement of existing ones. For each tool, the book provides a definition, identifies the user of the tool, explains what phases of the innovation process the tool is used, describes how the tool is used, supplies examples of the outputs from the tool, identifies software that can maximize its effectiveness, and includes references and suggestions for further reading. Ideation is about developing ideas on how to seize identified opportunities. What are the possible answers to your breakthrough questions? Having a deep understanding about the customer, their needs and pain points, as well as the existing solutions (i.e. business models in the industry) will naturally lead to new ideas. How seriously you do your discovery homework using the tools in these Handbooks will determine not only how fast you create ideas, but about how likely these ideas are to succeed. Tools and methodologies covered include: 5 why questions, Affinity diagrams, attribute listing, brainwriting 6–3–5, cause-and-effect diagrams, creative problem solving model, design for tools, flowcharting, force field analysis, Kano analysis, nominal group technique, plan–do–check–act, reengineering/redesign, reverse engineering, robust design, SCAMPER, simulations, six thinking hats, social networks, solution analysis diagrams, statistical analysis, tree diagram, and value analysis. The authors believe that by making effective use of the tools and methodologies presented in this book, your organization can increase the percentage of creative/innovative ideas by five to eight times its present performance level.




Making Makers


Book Description

This is a book for parents and other educators—both formal and informal, who are curious about the intersections of learning and making. Through stories, research, and data, it builds the case for why it is crucial to encourage today’s youth to be makers—to see the world as something they are actively helping to create. For those who are new to the Maker Movement, some history and introduction is given as well as practical advice for getting kids started in making. For those who are already familiar with the Maker Movement, this book provides biographical information about many of the “big names” and unsung heroes of the Maker Movement while also highlighting many of the attributes that make this a movement that so many people are passionate about.