Tag Archives | Leadership

Bad Innovation Systems Beat Good Innovators (Almost) Every Time

By on March 26, 2017

W. Edwards Deming once famously stated: A bad system will beat a good person every time.  What was Deming trying to convey with this quote? It wasn’t an attempt to get people to give up trying because failure was certain. It was an attempt to get people to understand the importance of the system and […]

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The Case for Dual Innovation

By on April 7, 2016

The first time I was advocating the idea of a dual innovation approach, here also referred to as organizational ambidexterity, is now more than 5 years ago. At this time it became pretty obvious to me that this concept – academically worn-out but deficiently or not at all put into practice in most organizations – would be of increasing importance […]

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A Model for Integrative Innovation Management

By on March 21, 2016

In previous posts, I have shared my view on important cornerstones for successful innovation management systems. As pointed out several times, balanced and up-to-date innovation management requires organizational ambidexterity, i.e. the capability to explore novel offerings and capabilities while simultaneously exploiting existing ones. In the following, I would like to summarize and complement these thoughts by suggesting an innovation management model that may help organizations to innovate more […]

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Innovation Requires Dedicated Management

By on July 19, 2015

For quite some time, I’ve been advocating the idea that successful and sustainable corporate innovation management systems should be based on the following cornerstones: Organizational ambidexterity: Sustainable innovation management is required to account for organizational ambidexterity, i.e. optimizing existing businesses and developing new businesses have to be driven in parallel. Failing to achieve an individually optimal balance will not lead to company success in the short and long […]

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Innovation and Organizational Culture

By on February 14, 2015

Recently, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has published key findings of their latest “Most Innovative Companies 2014” survey. Beside the annual ranking, headed by the top three companies Apple, Google and Samsung, some insightful outcomes with regard to organizational and cultural requirements have striked my eye. According to BCG’s research, successfully innovating companies approach innovation as a system. The system is rooted in experimentation, […]

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Innovation and Serendipity

By on May 23, 2013

In a previous post, I have pointed out the importance of diversity for innovation and organizational adaptability. Diversity is a crucial precursor to serendipity. In the Power of Pull, John Hagel, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison emphasize the rising need for serendipity: We need to find ways to attract relevant innovators and edge participants […]

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Integrative Innovation

By on February 19, 2013

Some people I’ve been collaborating with have recently encouraged me to open up an own blog. After having given it some thought, I decided to do so. I’m launching a new site and platform titled “Integrative Innovation” to share ideas and perspectives on innovation. You might ask: why “Integrative Innovation”? Is this yet another buzzword? I don’t think so. I rather […]

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Innovators Hold Strong Visions Weakly

By on February 3, 2013

In one of my previous posts I discussed the crucial distinction between need and solution. Innovation is about matching these two components – i.e. solving a customer problem (desirability) through a viable business model, leveraging feasible products and services – in a novel way. It’s important to note that solutions are not represented by products […]

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