Innovation Talks

Amy Cannon is the Executive Director, Co-Founder, and Green Chemistry Education Advocate at Beyond Benign, a company, that provides educators with tools, training, and support. Amy also has experience as a research scientist, consultant, analytical scientist, professor, and non-profit organization leader. She has the world’s first Ph.D. In Green Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Boston and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Saint Anselm College.

Amy joins me today to discuss sustainable innovation through green chemistry. She shares why green chemistry is essential as well as how she sees a rising demand from industry and consumers. Amy highlights the principles of green chemistry, the central role of chemists in solving significant challenges, and the process considerations such as waste and energy consumption. She dissects the need to build green chemistry into the educational systems for chemists, biologists, and scientists and the essential role of peer-to-peer communities and social networks in supporting change.

“In my mind, all of a sudden, chemistry was now the solution; it wasn’t the problem.” - Amy Cannon

This week on Innovation Talks:

●     The importance of green chemistry and its increasing demand from consumers

●     The twelve principles of green chemistry and how chemists can reduce waste and hazards while addressing issues such as global warming

●     Looking beyond the chemical and considering the process

●     The importance of building green chemistry into the educational systems of future scientists

●     Green chemistry training for K-12 and current industry professionals

●     The essential role of social networks and peer-to-peer support in implementing change

●     The open-access and free-of-charge resources and materials available for educators at Beyond Benign

Resources Mentioned:

●     Consumer Goods Trends: Environmental Sustainability

●     Green Chemistry Commitment

●     Take Action for the Sustainable Development Goals

●     UNEP

●     Podcast: Innovation Centers: Merging Corporate and Higher Ed Needs

Connect with Amy Cannon:

●     Beyond Benign

●     Beyond Benign on Facebook

●     Beyond Benign on Twitter

●     Beyond Benign on Instagram

●     Amy Cannon on LinkedIn

This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

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Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners like you.

For additional information about new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon’s monthly newsletter, where we share news and industry best practices! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com and click here.

Have you ever been in a meeting, and the conversation jumps around? One minute you might be talking about an idea, and then all of a sudden, someone is expressing their feelings about the idea, and the idea is almost killed before you bring out the facts about it. Or, someone brings up another idea, and you jump over to it. You may end up leaving the meeting feeling like some great topics were brought up, but they were not adequately discussed, and the meeting drifted on, and never got back to them.

If this sounds familiar, then you may want to try the Six Thinking Hats Method.

In today’s episode, I share the concept of the Six Thinking Hats methodology and how it can be implemented in modern meetings. I share how you can make thinking more of a process and a way of executing a way of being. I reveal the thinking hat colors, what they represent, and how they bring fairness, balance, and equal contribution into meetings, creating better outcomes. I share two examples of how the methodology can bring structure to meetings and ideation sessions. I also share how we successfully used the Six Thinking Hats methodology at Sopheon and how it has benefited our cross-functional and divisional alignment.

“If you have a meeting with a group of people and you put them into different modes of thinking, it allows you to focus.” - Paul Heller

This week on Innovation Talks:

●     The thinking hats' colors and the modes of thinking they represent

●     How to use the thinking hat colors to focus on a mode of thinking and bring structure, fairness, and balance to a meeting

●     An example of how the Six Thinking Hats methodology can be used to ensure all members contribute

●     How to create a safe place for expressing fears, worries, and concerns

●     How to create cross-functional alignment and team working across divisions

●     How to leverage the thinking hats for innovation

Resources Mentioned:

●     Book: Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono

This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeart

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners like you.

For additional information about new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon’s newsletter, where we share news and industry best practices monthly! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com and click here.

John Mansour is a Product Management and Product Marketing Trainer, Coach, and Thought Leader. He is the Founder and Managing Partner at Proficientz. He has more than 25 years of practical experience in marketing communications, sales, and technology product management, working in start-ups to Fortune 1000 companies. He has held senior management roles in healthcare, software, retail, hospitality, and distribution companies. John was the Chairman of the Technology Association of Georgia’s Product Management Society from 2006 to 2010. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Operations Management from The Ohio State University.

John joins me today to share how innovation is a result, not a process. He reveals how his company helps technology companies focus on customer outcomes through product management and marketing. John highlights why investing time to understand your customers, as well as your products, is preferable over simply running a process to find innovation. He shares how the shift from Waterfall to Agile development strategies has helped product managers. John also reveals the challenges design engineers face, such as not having context and a perspective when building products.

“Innovation is a result of understanding your customers better than everybody else.” - John Mansour

This week on Innovation Talks:

●     How Proficientz helps B2B companies—primarily in the technology space—with delivering products that have more quantifiable value to the customer

●     How product management relates to innovation and why the business approach should consider what customers are trying to do, why it’s important to them, and why they can’t get there

●     Why innovation is a result of understanding your customers better than anyone else—including themselves

●     How to structure front-end conversations with potential customers and define the success customers will get with your solution before you build them

●     The differences between the product manager and product owner roles and why they should not be combined into one role

●     What will drive companies in the B2B space to become more customer-focused

Connect with John Mansour:

●     Proficientz

●     John Mansour on LinkedIn

●     John Mansour on Twitter

This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeart

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners like you.

For additional information about new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon’s newsletter, where we share news and industry best practices monthly! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com and click here.

And just like that, we have hit episode 100! It’s been a surreal experience hosting this show about innovation with guests from Sopheon and other companies and industries in the innovation space. It’s been a joy to be part of your day whenever you tune in on our latest episode. If you’re new to the show or innovation, and this is your first episode, I curated a short list of shows as a starter pack for you.

In this episode, I share some of my favorite episodes for special reasons. I describe my experience during a recent innovation event in Copenhagen and what I realized about the people in the innovation space. I explain why these shows aren’t exactly the best of the best but simply personal favorites. I highlight a few that I think are worth listening to. I also discuss our unique guests and the people I look forward to having in the future.

"This is not necessarily the A-list or the 'best of,' but more of a starter set." - Paul Heller

This week on Innovation Talks:

●     What I did in Copenhagen recently and my thoughts on the 100th episode

●     The starter list of episodes to listen to

●     Why choosing from the many guests we've had is challenging

●     The reasons why some of these episodes are dear to me

Resources Mentioned:

●     Episode 3: The Impact of Software Eating the World on Product Innovation with Greg Coticchia

●     Episode 21: Unique challenges of innovation in the Aerospace and Defense industry

●     Episode 28: A deeper dive into Portfolio Management with Noel Sobelman

●     Episode 30: Innovation in the Chemical Industry with HC Eppich

●     Episode 31: Taking a systematic approach to the product management process

●     Episode 33: Necessity for Innovation Accounting

●     Episode 34: Corporate Startups and the Importance of Entrepreneurial Thinking

●     Episode 36: Circular Economy in the Chemical Industry

●     Episode 37: Sustainable Innovation Through Green Chemistry

●     Episode 39: RE:Think Innovation with Carla Johnson

●     Episode 40: Evidence-Based Innovation Portfolio Management

●     Episode 43: Rapid Learning Cycles

●     Episode 46: Realm of Sustainability

●     Episode 47: Ambidexterity in Business Innovation

●     Episode 53: Dual Innovation with Ralph-Christian Ohr

●     Episode 57:

Dan Balcauski founded Product Tranquility, a firm that helps businesses grow and increase their bottom line through intelligent pricing and packaging strategies. Dan defines pricing not as an end goal, but as a means to a more efficient business plan that will sustain customer interest for the long term. In the last episode, Dan talked about the company’s genesis, the services they offer, and what most businesses get wrong about pricing.

In part two of this series, Dan discusses why start-ups should be cautious about copying what Fortune 500 companies do. He shares how customer segmentation affects your pricing strategy. He explains the elements of business packaging and how to ensure you don’t overwhelm your sales team. Dan also describes why you should think of pricing as a process.

“Modern marketing falls into understanding segmentation, targeting, and positioning.” - Dan Balcauski

This week on Innovation Talks:

●     Why start-ups shouldn’t copy what Fortune 500 companies are doing

●     How customer segmentation impacts pricing

●     Why pricing and packaging are functions of your positioning

●     The elements of business packaging

●     Dan’s advice for those who don’t understand pricing

Connect with Dan Balcauski:

●     Product Tranquility

●     Dan Balcauski on LinkedIn

This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeart

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners, like you.

For additional information around new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon’s newsletter where we share news and industry best practices monthly! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com and click here.

Dan Balcauski is the founder and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility, a firm specializing in value creation and helping clients boost productivity and growth and improve customer loyalty. He provides strategic pricing and packaging consultations to high-volume B2B SaaS CEOs. Dan is also a Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management program leader and is part of Toptal’s Top 3% Worldwide Product Management Professionals.

Dan joins me today to describe Product Tranquility, its services, and how they help businesses develop pricing strategies that lead to growth. He explains what most companies get wrong about pricing and his definition of pricing from the viewpoint of value. He discusses value cascade and the best ways to understand your customers. Dan also shares why pricing isn’t necessarily a primary driver of business growth.

“Intelligent price management starts with intelligent value management.” - Dan Balcauski

This week on Innovation Talks:

●     Product Tranquility and how they got started

●     What people get wrong about pricing

●     Dan’s definition of value in pricing

●     Value cascade and the best way to understand your customers

Resources Mentioned:

●     Book: The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably by Thomas Nagle and Georg Müller

Connect with Dan Balcauski:

●     Product Tranquility

●     Dan Balcauski on LinkedIn

This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeart

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners like you.

For additional information about new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon’s newsletter, where we share news and industry best practices monthly! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com and click here.

The Innov8rs Conference has hosted conferences for innovators in various industries since 2011. They’ve hosted in over 25 cities globally, from San Francisco to Sydney and Singapore. They have multiple programs that promote an atmosphere of creativity and discussion surrounding the future of innovation. I went to the Innov8rs Conference held recently in Austin, Texas, and I found it to be one of the largest and most engaging conferences in a long time.

In this episode, I share my thoughts on the recently concluded Innov8rs Conference and why I found a lot of value during my time. I explain how it promoted discussions and engagement despite being a large gathering. I describe some of the topics I was fortunate to sit in, especially regarding the future of innovation and ESG. I also share some of the interesting points regarding internal innovators and innovators hired.

"This was a good chance to talk with other people, peers with other companies, and share success and challenges." - Paul Heller

This week on Innovation Talks:

●     My experience during the Innov8rs Conference

●     What was impressive throughout the conference

●     Sitting at the ESG round table

●     The six shifts that will shape the future of innovation

●     How corporations can beat start-ups at innovation

This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeart

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners like you.

For additional information about new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon’s monthly newsletter, where we share news and industry best practices! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com and click here.

Noel Sobelman is a partner at Accel Management Group, a business and consulting company that gives clients in the tech and life sciences data-driven competitive advantages in innovations and operations. With 35 years of professional experience, Noel has become an expert in innovation. He is responsible for directing a wide range of transformational initiatives in the areas of management and innovation. He’s also a frequent speaker and writer on innovation topics, having addressed innovation’s effectiveness in disrupting legacy systems.

Noel Sobelman joins me today to describe the five keys of transformative innovation. He details his passion for innovation and the articles he’s written. He discusses what the five keys are and how they solve many problems regarding innovation management and strategy. He explains how leaders can appropriately allocate resources to high-value projects. Noel also shares his thoughts on leadership in the innovation industry.

“Leadership needs to continually combat that tendency toward complacency” - Noel Sobelman

This week on Innovation Talks:

●     Writing about innovation and building transformative innovation

●     The five keys of transformative innovation

●     Finding the roadblocks that prevent transformative innovation

●     Properly allocating resources based on strategy and alignment

●     What leaders should change to become more effective in resource allocation

Resources Mentioned:

●     The Journey toward World-Class Innovation: 5 Keys to Successful Implementation

Connect with Noel Sobelman:

●     Accel Management Group

●     Noel Sobelman on LinkedIn

This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeart

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners, like you.

For additional information about new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon’s newsletter where we share news and industry best practices monthly! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com and click here.

Greg Coticchia is the President, CEO, and Member of the Board of Directors at Sopheon. He is an award-winning sales leader, market expert, product manager, and business strategist. He has almost 40 years of experience holding leadership positions across organizations and institutions in finance, education, and cybersecurity. Greg is also the Board Director of the Product Development Management Association or PDMA.

Greg joins me today to describe his thoughts on the future of innovation and how Covid-19 spearheaded the technology we will likely use forever. He explains some of the benefits and hindrances of the pandemic as it relates to innovation. He shares his thoughts on sustainability and how it’s directing the course of innovation. Greg also discusses a few examples of companies adjusting to new customer habits.

“Technology isn’t always the right answer. Sometimes, it’s just a change in behavior or process or some other way of achieving the same result.” - Greg Coticchia

This week on Innovation Talks:

●     The future of innovation

●     The benefits and drawbacks to innovation resulting from Covid-19

●     Habits that changed as a consequence of the pandemic

●     How Home Depot addressed their customers’ number one problem

●     Innovations that were direct results of the pandemic

●     Why a lot of B2B companies are in a supply chain

●     How sustainability and innovation work together

●     Examples of innovation with sustainability in mind

Connect with Greg Coticchia:

●     Greg Coticchia on LinkedIn

This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeart

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners, like you.

For additional information around new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon’s newsletter where we share news and industry best practices monthly! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com and click here.