The Innovators Studio with Phil McKinney

I am a believer that constraint based innovation creates better ideas. It forces the team to throw out the old rule book and innovate a new approach. The same applies when you are forced to innovate under financial constraints. While my staff doesn't always agree that constraints are good, in my experience a team that […]

I am a believer that constraint based innovation creates better ideas. It forces the team to throw out the old rule book and innovate a new approach. The same applies when you are forced to innovate under financial constraints.

While my staff doesn't always agree that constraints are good, in my experience a team that got everything they asked for rarely delivered an innovation that had significant impact. Too many resources allows us to get sloppy and lazy when it comes to the execution of ideas.

When it comes to innovation, there are three constraints; 1) time, 2) people and 3) money.

So how would you innovate the financial constraint? The way that has worked for me is to find creative ways to other peoples money.

Here are 4 options:

* University R&D: Participate in university research and development where others are providing a significant portion of the funding. The funding can come from any number of sources including government and other organizations. The key is to find a professor and program that aligns with your objectives.

* Pros: 1) Low cost to fund university research, 2) Long term commitments to these programs creates a pipeline of innovations and 3) Great source for new hires (students working on your program)

* Cons: 1) Takes a long time (patience), 2) High risk and 3) May have limited influence given funding levels and 4) IP/patent issues

* Co-Innovation: A joint effort between you and one other organization.

* Pros: 1) Less complex than other options and 2) Builds long term relationships that typically results in multiple projects

* Cons: 1) Make sure their is mutual dependency on the project, 2) take a long time to get the first project going and 3) IP and patent issues can delay the start

* Startup/Venture Capital (VC)

* Pros: 1) Faster than you think when you have motivated startup and 2) You can use your purchasing power to influence the startup

* Cons: 1) High risk – does the startup have staying power? and 2) Investors have control in direct proportion to their investment

* Ecosystem Innovation: Bringing together a larger group (more than two) to fund and support the innovation effort(s)

* Pros: 1) Shared cost across larger ecosystem and 2) Possible larger impact when a large ecosystem aligns the innovation effort and its use/deployment

* Cons: 1) Complex collaboration requiring strong program management capabilities and 2) Frustrating governance that requires a strong hand from the person in charge

The above are just four examples of how to use other peoples money so that you can innovate under financial constraints. There are many more I'm sure. The message — don't give up.

Listen to the show to hear real-world example of how each were applied that resulted in an innovation coming to market.

Everyday, we can't avoid reading articles that tout the latest and greatest technology and innovation. What we don't see that often is the role innovation can and should play in philanthropy. If you agree that it has a role, how do you bring innovation to philanthropy? This weeks guest, Jared Angaza, has spent his life […]

Everyday, we can't avoid reading articles that tout the latest and greatest technology and innovation. What we don't see that often is the role innovation can and should play in philanthropy. If you agree that it has a role, how do you bring innovation to philanthropy?

This weeks guest, Jared Angaza, has spent his life experiencing and now re-thinking philanthropy so that it does more than just address the symptoms but innovates ways to address the underlying issues.

During this show, we covered a wide range of topics including:

* What started him down this trajectory of re-thinking philanthropy (Katrina)

* The three types of philanthropy and the role each plays (e.g. Mother Teresa)

* His concept of conscious philanthropy

* Why innovation hasn't been applied to philanthropy

* The role companies can play if they can get away from short-term thinking.

About Jared Angaza

Jared is a strategist and philanthropist. For 20 years he has created strategies, brands, campaigns, events and teachings that help us re-imagine philanthropy and transform perspectives. Jared coaches and consults for individuals, brands and governments across the globe and is on a quest to contribute to a more harmonious world.

Jared lived and worked full time in East Africa for over a decade before moving to Costa Rica for the past year and a half. Now he and his family are living in his home town of Nashville, TN as they prepare to launch a few of their latest philanthropic ventures.

Show Links:

* Jared's site jaredangaza.com

* Jared's podcast Inipi Radio

Announcement: New Show!

On The Innovators Network, we are announcing a new show, Kym McNicholas on Innovation which is available on iTunes, Google Play and wherever you can find your favorite podcast. In the last segment of the show, we shared a quick click. Below is the full show: Is Tesla The Future Stockcar of NASCAR?

We've heard the mantra in the past. We are all creative. We are born creative. That is a nice idea but not helpful when you need to call on your muse to be creative when you need to be creative. What are the secrets to personal creativity? If creativity is natural – then why is […]

We've heard the mantra in the past. We are all creative. We are born creative. That is a nice idea but not helpful when you need to call on your muse to be creative when you need to be creative. What are the secrets to personal creativity? If creativity is natural – then why is it so hard?

Creativity Is A Machine

Think of creativity like a machine. If you've ignored the machine, when it need it its not in shape to get the job done. Think of that lawnmower we tossed in the garage and ignored. When we need to use it, its hard to start and runs rough. On the other hand, a well maintained machine is easy to start and runs smoothly.

While it takes time to get your creative muscle in shape, there are a few tricks that I use that will have immediate impact on your personal creativity.

The Power of The Mind

The human mind is an amazing instrument for creativity. It spends its life collecting, cataloging and recalling visual, auditory, physical experiences and information. It then uses that information to help us navigate our day-to-day activities. What we don't appreciate is the role the mind plays in connecting what appears to be random pieces of information to trigger an idea.

We have 1000's of ideas in our head. We just can't seem to put our hands on them when we need them. Sometimes it takes that jolt to shake us awake – something that causes us to see a connection that we've never seen or noticed before.

Your mind in most valuable asset when it comes to your personal creativity.

How do you take care if it?

How do you fill it up?

The Skill of Observation

The skill of observation is tied to being able to see with “new eyes”. What I mean is the ability to see something as if you are seeing it for the first time. This ability to see with “new eyes” then allows you to see problems and opportunities that you most likely overlooked in the past.

Why have you overlooked them? Because we all fall in to the trap of comfort and familiarity. We let repeated patterns lull us in to a state of looking past the opportunities that right in front of us.

My trick with observation is to be 1) deliberate about look/observing/documenting everything with my customers and prospects and 2) Look for anything that is impacted (or impacts) time and money.

Time and money is where 90% of innovations are found. By focusing on looking specifically for areas impacted by time and money, we force ourselves to focus our observation and thereby see things we have overlooked in the past.

My Most Valuable Secret to Personal Creativity

My go-to tool to get my creativity going is to ask questions. If you've been a longtime listener/follower, this may not come as a revelation. I've talked about the power of questions for years and its the basis for my work in innovation and creativity.

With that said, most people don't take the time to really think about what questions they should be asking. They look for the easy way out by searching for a list of pre-canned questions on some site.

Your challenges are unique and you should take the time to ask well formatted open-ended questions that challenge an assumption.

If take the time to craft some well considered questions, you will be surprised what you might learn.

 

As an officer in two public companies and a Board member for a third public company, I've seen up close and personal the challenges executive leadership faces when trying to balance achieving the quarterly results while knowing that they need to make long term investments in research and innovation. This short-term thinking on quarterly results has […]

As an officer in two public companies and a Board member for a third public company, I've seen up close and personal the challenges executive leadership faces when trying to balance achieving the quarterly results while knowing that they  need to make long term investments in research and innovation.  This short-term thinking on quarterly results has had a significant impact on large organizations ability to prioritize long term strategic investments.

In a recent article in The Atlantic titled “How To Stop Short-Term Thinking at America's Companies“, Alana Semuels calls out the risk and challenges caused by the growing focus on the quarterly results. When I read the article, it struck a cord and brought back the memories of the struggles and frustrations I experienced. As the person responsible for the R&D and innovation portfolio for the companies I worked for, I was frustrated that “my boss didn't get it” while also understanding the pressure they were under. It was the classic no-win situation.

Short-Term Thinking

Some key points discussed in the today's show included:

* The focus on quarterly results is the result of how CEO's and their teams are compensated.

* The “blame” for this focus? Quarterly results will deliver the best results to the shareholders.

* There is a shift in how long “us” hold on to our investments. In 1960, the average was 8 years while in 2016, it shrank to 8 months.

* 80% of CFO's from the 400 largest public companies admitted they would sacrifice “economic value” to meet quarterly results!

* Share buy backs don't work and redirect cash away from R&D, innovation and workforce investments.

* Most equity is held by pension funds and other institutional investors who are focused on long range investment. Therefore, the belief that shareholders are focused on the short term in suspect.

* 4 ideas to encourage long term investment covered in the article:

* Create a corporate tax structure to encourage bringing money back to the US (repatriation).

* Accelerated depreciation by allowing 50% of an investment in equipment to be deducted immediately.

* Increased government spending in support of R&D and innovation.

* Incentivize  investors to hold assets longer by graduating tax reduction over longer period of times.

* Structure voting rights for shareholder tied to how long they've held the shares.

* You can have an impact:

* Think about your own investment strategies (e.g. your retirement, etc). Are you part of the “short term” problem?

* Send the article and this  podcast to your manager, CEO and your government officials.

* We can have an impact. We need to have an impact.

Additional Resources:

* How to Stop Short-Term Thinking at America’s Companies: U.S. companies are hyper-focused on quarterly earnings. What can be done to push them to invest more in the years and decades ahead? by Alana Semuels of The Atlantic

 

Innovation is not constrained to individuals, teams or organizations. In some cases, the best to way to innovate is when entire industries comes together to share the effort and the investment necessary. Industry innovation is one approach that is commonly overlook and undervalued. In today's show, we talk with John Osborne who is General Manager […]

Innovation is not constrained to individuals, teams or organizations. In some cases, the best to way to innovate is when entire industries comes together to share the effort and the investment necessary. Industry innovation is one approach that is commonly overlook and undervalued. In today's show, we talk with John Osborne who is General Manager of R&D at The Kroger Company and is the Chairman of the Board of the ZigBee Alliance.

The ZigBee Alliance is a standards organization around the ZigBee wireless stack used in everything from light bulbs to industrial sensors and monitors. To innovate with an organization such as Zigbee, you need to bring together 400 members and get them to align their efforts to the benefit of everyone involved. Not an easy task.

In today's show on industry innovation. John and I discuss:

* Comparison of innovating inside a large company to that of driving industry innovation.

* The early history of Zigbee.

* The transformation of ZigBee to being the platform/stack for IoT (Internet of Things).

* The challenges of getting large industry organizations to align and execute.

* What does “participation” look like in organizations like ZigBee.

* How do members take advantage of the standards and technologies created in organizations like ZigBee.

* What does the future look like fot IoT and ZigBee.

* How ZigBee is being used that most consumers are not even aware of.

Today's Guest: John Osborne II

John is currently the Chairman of the Board of the zigbee alliance (a global SDO) and General Manager of Research & Development at The Kroger Co. John’s expertise is in computer science combined with business management, negotiation and purchasing disciplines. He has been responsible for enterprise wide operational and technical projects budgets worth millions of dollars. He has a number of patents and co-authored a global technical specification for zigbee. John graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Ohio University.

Show Notes/Links:

* ZigBee Alliance

* John's personal website

* John on LinkedIn