Failure2021-06-18T07:55:00-07:00
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The Six Pillars of Innovation Culture

October 6th, 2021|

Every year, IdeaScale asks our customers what their main priorities are for the coming year, and without fail one of the top two priorities is to create a culture of innovation. Every innovation thought leader, every organizational engagement specialist, every pundit or leader in transformation says that this is the secret to avoiding disruption.

Five Reasons Why You Should Think Like a Criminal

August 13th, 2021|

Have you seen the movie The Day of the Jackal? In this 1973 film directed by Fred Zinnemann, Edward Fox plays a professional assassin, the "Jackal," who is hired to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle. It is a compelling thriller in which it is hard not to admire the cunning and guile of the ruthless killer. In the end you feel disappointed that he did not succeed with his audacious plan. It is an example of a genre of storytelling in which the main protagonist is a clever criminal. We seem to find them fascinating. Breaking Bad is about a chemistry teacher who becomes a master drugs dealer. The Sopranos is about a Mafia family. Ozark concerns a money [...]

The Gospel for the 2019 Agenda – Innovation

April 26th, 2019|

About ten years ago, four out of ten people in the world had a Nokia cell phone. We can only imagine how the CEO of Nokia ten years ago would have reacted if someone told him that in 2018 not one of us would have a Nokia.

3 Ways How DRaaS Can Help to Save Your Business

November 15th, 2018|

Disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) is a category of cloud computing designed to protect applications and data against natural and human disasters. It ensures that service disruption of a business is kept to a minimum by enabling a full recovery through the cloud. Most often it is handled by a third-party provider and managed by your internal IT personnel, removing some workload from your IT professionals and giving them peace of mind.

Small Businesses can Overcome Financial Woes Through Innovation

November 1st, 2018|

Starting up a small business can be rough. Even if you possess near-infinite entrepreneurial spirit, chances are that you’ll run into some roadblocks along the way. Whether these obstacles are based in logistics of strategy and implementation of your business model, or even issues with the very products and services you offer, most of these problems can be solved with financial influx.

5 Things that Are Slowing Most SMBs Down

October 16th, 2018|

On your path towards success, your business will encounter numerous bumps, however, some of these problems tend to hold your business more than others. Most of the time, the entrepreneurs behind these SMBs are first-timers, which means that they lack the necessary experience to recognize the gravity of the situation in the given moment.

Priorities for Building an Innovation Culture

October 8th, 2018|

The 97th Floor Mastermind Series recently interviewed IdeaScale about our company, our industry, our vision for the future and more, but we thought that one of their questions about what values we look out for when building a team are worth repeating here for those of you that are looking to build a culture of innovation at your company (whether it’s start-up sized like IdeaScale or not).

Using Failure to Spur Innovation

June 26th, 2018|

It hurts to fail. The feeling of defeat can make even the hardest of workers feel worthless. It’s hard to face the reality that your work or dreams won’t live up to your expectations, and giving up might seem like the next step. However, failure teaches important lessons, and though it seems contradictory, it can often lead to success. Failure gives you the necessary experience you need to improve, but more importantly, it teaches you to get back up.

Six Companies that Thrived after Bankruptcy

June 20th, 2018|

Retailers all over the United States are filing for bankruptcy at unprecedented levels. This is, in part, due to the ways the global economy has evolved. Now, more than ever, retailers are turning to the internet for sales, and consumer habits have adapted. Bankruptcy is an alarming and confusing process whether you’re a CEO of a large corporation or an individual who is worried about the implications it might have on your credit score.

Freedom to Fail, Freedom to Innovate

January 23rd, 2018|

Everyone seems to agree that innovation is a risky business: it involves a lot of experimentation, which often ends up in failure. High tolerance for failure therefore can be considered as a major prerequisite for any successful innovation program.

Don’t “Fiddle” with the Crowd – Ask it Better Questions Instead

November 15th, 2017|

As the examples of successful use of crowdsourcing to address complex technical, business and social issues grow in numbers, so do the instances of failed crowdsourcing campaigns. To make crowdsourcing a widely recognized idea-generating and problem-solving tool, it’s imperative to understand the reasons of why this tool can fail or underperform.

7 Ways Startups can Foster Innovation through Sustainability

August 3rd, 2017|

Here’s a spoiler: 90% of all startups fail. The 10% that make it have one thing in common - they all are bringing in innovation through sustainability. These startups are all about evolving by providing faster results with less wastage. It’s a never ending process of innovating for the present and future generations.

Seven Good Reasons Not to Innovate

June 27th, 2017|

Innovation is risky. Customers are not asking for it. We are already successful… Getting momentum behind significant innovation is difficult, and sometimes it’s easier for a business to stay in what they deem a safe spot. Let’s look at seven arguments that inhibit innovation as well as their counter arguments.

Why Your Business Transformations Fail

June 6th, 2017|

Ambitious and impractical business schemes can often lack the fundamental elements needed to make them a reality, leaving huge expense and casualties of the blame game in their wake. The business world is littered with the remnants of unrealised programs and unsuccessful plans for development, several of them so high profile as to have attracted national notoriety.

The Innovator’s Dilemma: Lessons from Kodak

May 24th, 2017|

I guess everyone knows the tragic story of the EastmanKodak Company: founded in the 19th century, dominating the photographic film market during most of the 20th century and finally collapsing into bankruptcy in the early 21st century, shaken by a new technology they had once decisively initiated.

Where to Start with Innovation? Begin by removing the Barriers

May 24th, 2017|

Surveys show that the large majority of senior executives see innovation as critical for their businesses but what if you want to make your organization more agile and innovative where should you start? You could launch a big initiative with grand statements, training classes and an ideas scheme but you tried all those last year and they fizzled out. It is better to begin with a brutally honest assessment of what is preventing innovation from happening today.

Considering International Expansion? Get Ready To Think Outside Your Comfort Zone

May 16th, 2017|

Globalization is great for business: it opens up new markets and allows businesses to bring in revenue and talent from all over the world. However, the first steps into international expansion can be fraught with growing pains, forcing companies to waste time and money on efforts that don’t gain any traction in foreign markets. To avoid this, company leaders have to get ready to embrace change and innovation outside their normal comfort zone. Here’s why it’s important to get comfortable with discomfort when you’re considering international expansion.

What Do the Best Innovation Programs Have in Common?

March 20th, 2017|

An in-house innovation program is becoming a common fixture in the most competitive organizations. However, in a recessed economy, these research & development programs can sometimes get eliminated, because they struggle to prove or articulate value.

Intrapreneurial Success: Leading Disruption, Managing Change

February 27th, 2017|

Embracing an intrapreneurial mindset, which intentionally disrupts things from the inside out and often from the bottom up, is a radical concept for companies that thrive on stability and predictability. However, if an enterprise is committed to developing its innovation capability through intrapreneurship, three groups of people must be mobilized to make it happen: leadership, stakeholders, and innovation support.

Exploring the Power of Pause with Leadership Thought-Leader & Korn Ferry Senior Partner Kevin Cashman

February 24th, 2017|

In today’s episode of the Innovation Ecosystem podcast, Kevin Cashman discusses with Mark the rationale and research behind "The Pause Principle," which aligns strongly with the notion of “creating space” explored by previous guests like David Allen, Lisa Bodell and Heiko Fischer, among others; about Kevin’s new interest in the concept of “story mastery”; and finally some fresh insights into the qualities of a great versus a good leader.

Making Innovation More of a Science And Less of an Art

February 21st, 2017|

One of the greatest challenges facing innovation professionals is to find the right approach to a given innovation problem. Whether that’s instilling the innovation mojo in a large corporation or simply helping teams become more innovative, the ways to do this seem to be more of an art than a science. However, during the last ten years there has been a strong push to turn this art form into more of a science.

Democratising Elite Performance Tools with Dr. Andy Walshe

February 17th, 2017|

Currently leading Human Performance for Red Bull, Andy works with hundreds of international athletes and business leaders to develop and implement elite performance models. In today’s podcast, Andy and Mark sit down to discuss the intricacies of human potential and how certain qualities of elite performers resonate across sectors, industries and arenas; how companies can evolve to enable more talented employees to excel and his project Human 2.0 which looks at how new technologies especially in the arena of Artificial Intelligence encourage us to explore our own potential at a much higher level.

Supporting Innovation with Autonomy and Accountability

January 30th, 2017|

Innovation tends to thrive in an environment where there are less bureaucratic restraints and an appetite for calculated risk. However, without a structured management system in place, experimentation can go awry and great ideas risk falling by the wayside. This is where accountability and autonomy can provide the essential framework to support the innovation process to its full potential.