innovation

Quotes of the Week

Image courtesy of Photography by jscreationzs/FreeDigitalPhotos.net An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. ~Edwin Land, Inventor Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity. ~T. S. Eliot, Poet Creativity can be described as letting go of certainties. ~Gail Sheehy, Journalist Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work. ~Rita Mae Brown, Writer Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous....

Quotes of the Week

“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.” ~Leon Suenens, Clergyman, 1904-1996 “When all think alike than no one is thinking.” ~Walter Lippman, Writer and Reporter “Capital isn’t so important in business. Experience isn’t so important. You can get both these things. What is important is ideas. If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and...

Quotes of the Week

“Just as energy is the basis of life itself, and ideas the source of innovation, so is innovation the vital spark of all human change, improvement and progress.”~ Theodore Levitt, American economist and professor “Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time.” ~ Bill Gates. Microsoft “You have all the reason in the world to achieve your grandest dreams....

Feeling blue towards Creativity

What does the colour blue mean to you? Do you think of the open sky and how it represents freedom? Or do you visualize the deep blue sea and feel its peace and tranquility? Would you believe that blue can cause feelings of creativity? According to Rui Zhu and her colleague Ravi Mehta from the University of British Columbia blue can prompt creativity. This is the result of the...

Getting Input to Maximize Creativity

Your supervisor requests that you hold a meeting with the development team to discuss strategies to attract new clients. You want to ensure success and know that this can only be accomplished with the input of your team members. In fact behavioural scientist, Patrick Laughlin has shown in his book Group Problem Solving, that getting input from a group can produce a better outcome than relying solely on one problem solver....

Getting Buy in for Your Idea

With the new year in full swing you may believe that it is your time to make a difference. Perhaps stepping out of the shadow of your coworkers or showing your supervisor what you can do. In How to Get Your idea Approved, author Amy Gallo reveals the 3 essential strategies to utilize when seeking approval for an idea. Two Heads are Better than One Before scheduling that formal...

Quotes of the Week

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. ~Margaret Mead If you have the courage to begin with, you have the courage to succeed ~David Viscott It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation ~Herman Melville The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense ~Albert Einstein It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves ~Edmund Hillary...

Global circle-why, how, what

Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action has a simple but influential model for inspiring leadership all starting with a golden circle of why, how and what. The question “Why?” is however, the most important for making a difference. He talks about Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers, arguing that Inspired Leaders, regardless of size and industry; think, act,...

Quotes of the Week

“Good sayings are like pearls strung together.” ~Chinese Proverb “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” ~Joshua J. Marine “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” ~Jonathan Swift “Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.” ~Fyodor Dostoevsky “Human success is a quotation from overhead.” ~ Charles H. “The best way out is always through.” ~Robert Frost...

Quotes of the Week

“You cannot be a leader, and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too.” ~Sam Rayburn “Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.” ~George S. Patton “Leadership is intentional influence.” ~Michael McKinney “Let him who would be moved to convince others, be first moved to convince himself.” ~Thomas Carlyle “He who has learned how to obey will know how to command.”...

Quotes of the Week

“One measure of leadership is the caliber of people who choose to follow you.” ~Dennis A. Peer “Doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting different results, is the definition of crazy.” ~Unknown “They can because they think they can.” ~Virgil “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” ~Dorothy Bernard “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” ~James Joyce “Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but...

Quotes of the Week

“Ninety-nine percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses.”  ~George Washington Carver “You can not always control circumstances, but you can control your own thoughts.”  ~Charles Popplestown “All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.”  ~Ellen Glasgow “Comedy is acting out optimism.”  ~Robin Williams “You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself.”  ~Nelson Mandela...

Integrating the “i” in Innovation

Be it the lustrous design of Macbooks, the ingenuity of Itunes, the master mindedness of iPhones or the exclusiveness of iPods, Apple without fail has captured and flabbergasted each market it enters by modernizing old ideas. The secret behind the success story lies in the innovative corporate culture Apple has adopted over years. Innovation is indispensable for their economical competitiveness and sustainability. The elemental essence of the company is...

Innovation at the Speed of Google

Last week I had the opportunity to hear Shannon Deegan, Director of People Operations at Google, speak at the Strategic Capability Network.  Not only is Shannon incredibly personable and energetic (we had a chance to chat before his presentation about our hometown of Montreal) but his presentation was fascinating.  He shared how Google attracts and keeps great talent and encourages them to innovate even if it doesn’t directly impact...

A New Paradigm for Creativity & Innovation

I love Dan Pink. Why? When I started my business 7 years ago most friends and colleagues thought I was crazy.  They asked why I would leave the safety and compensation of corporate life for the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship.   They were right and I began to question myself until I read Dan Pink’s book Free Agent Nation. He made me realize that I was part of a...

The Opportunity Cost of Innovation

Today, there is one major quality required for leaders: innovation. Who immediately comes to mind? Most likely, this person is probably under the age of 30. We are too quick to associate the younger generation with creativity and innovation. A young prospect is bound to lead the future generation on a path of success with a substantial understanding of technology and social trends, right? Probably. But, will this modern...

Where Did All the Innovation and Creativity Go?

During challenging economic times, companies tend to avoid risks and stick to what they know.   This results in discouraging innovation and creativity which actually fuel growth (do you have a source to support that?) in the long run. How do we get back on track to greater creativity and innovation? In an article published by the Harvard Business Review titled Innovation: Who Else is Doing it?, Rosabeth Kanter states...