Showing posts with label Innovation Book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Innovation Book. Show all posts

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Creativity And Innovation Best Practices

Creativity And Innovation Best Practices

Creativity And Innovation in Business Definitive Guide is a 212-page collection of my handpicked 56 Creativity and Innovation best practices, case studies, articles, interviews, and insights on the current state of innovation in business. The eBook provides real-world examples on how the Top Innovators including Apple, Google, GE, Proctor and Gamble, Yahoo, Toyota, Netflix, BMW, Deloitte, Timex, Frito Lays, Johnson & Johnson, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Intel and more innovate and grow their business successfully time and again, especially during trying times. Use this eBook as a guide to find and create game-changing innovations, unblock creativity, and make innovation successful at your business. The Definitive Guide is used by over 500 leading organizations all over the world including Pepsi, HP, EDS, Nokia, major universities, and professionals. Learn more...

Download Creativity And Innovation In Business FACulty EBOOK and Definitive Guide

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Selected references:
Leading eBook on Creativity and Innovation in Business
Creativity and Innovation Best Practices
Creativity and Innovation Case Studies
The Innovation Index
Top 50 innovative companies in the world

The Innovation Index Reports:

The Innovation Index closes 2007 at 66% - 2007 Annual Report on the Innovation Index
Top 50 Innovative Companies in the world - Report on Top 50 Innovative Companies
Annual Report - Chapter One - Total Innovation Activity - 2006 Annual Report One
Annual Report - Chapter Two - The Top Innovator - 2006 Annual Report Two
Annual Report - Chapter Three - The Innovation Insights - 2006 Annual Report Insights
Innovation and Stock Performance Correlation - The Innovation Index and Stock Performance
Learn about Innovation Index Group - Innovation Index Group tracks The Innovation Index

About The Innovation Index
The Innovation Index introduced in December 2006 is a weighted stock price index of the top 20 Innovators in North America.

The Innovation Index returned 66% in 2007, and would have returned 174% over the previous five years (2002-2006). This assumes equal investment in each stock of The Innovation Index as of December 31, 2001. An average of $100 invested in The Innovation Index on December 31, 2001 returned $454 as of December 31, 2007. By comparison, $100 invested in S & P 500 returned 28% or $129, $100 invested in NASDAQ returned 34% or $136, and $100 invested in the Dow Jones Index returned 30% or $131 through December 31, 2007. The Innovation Index beats the S & P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Index by more than seven times over the past six years.

Alphabetical list of the Top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index for 2008 and their stock ticker symbols:

3M Company - (NYSE: MMM)
Amazon.com, Inc. - (NASDAQ: AMZN)
America Movil - (NYSE: AMX)
Apple Inc. - (NASDAQ: AAPL)
AT&T Inc. - (NYSE: T)
Best Buy Co., Inc. - (NYSE: BBY)
Cisco Systems, Inc. - (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Costco Wholesale Corporation - (NASDAQ: COST)
eBay Inc. - (NASDAQ: EBAY)
General Electric Co. - (NYSE: GE)
Google Inc. - (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Hewlett-Packard Co. - (NYSE: HPQ)
Intel Corporation - (NYSE: INTC)
International Business Machines Corp. - (NYSE: IBM)
Merck & Co., Inc. - (NYSE: MRK)
McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD)
Microsoft Corporation - (NASDAQ: MSFT)
NIKE, Inc. - (NYSE: NKE)
Research In Motion Limited - (NASDAQ: RIMM)
The Proctor & Gamble Company - (NYSE: PG)

Updated April 05, 2009

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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Leading Book On Creativity And Innovation In Business

Leading Book on Creativity and Innovation in Business used by over 500 innovative companies including Pepsi, EDS, Nokia, HP and more - An eBook Best Seller

Brand New Edition Released!! Expanded Guide with 8 new chapters and relevant tools!!

212-page collection of over 55 best practices, case studies, and insights on the current state of Innovation in Business at Top Innovators including Apple, Google, Netflix, 3M, Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Toyota, GE, BMW, Deloitte, Frito Lay, IBM, Nike, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Dell, Intel and more. With pertinent articles from the award-winning Creativity And Innovation Driving Business Blog, this Innovation eBook provides real-world examples on how the Top Innovators innovate and grow their business successfully time and again, especially during economic cycles. Creativity And Innovation in Business is a definitive guide and resource that will help you unblock creativity, uncover and create game-changing innovations, and make exponential business growth a reality.

Download Now
"I teach Applied Creativity and Innovation for a College near Toronto, Canada. Your report from the eBook and definitive guide was the primary document used for the work." - Business School Professor

"1) Innovation and growth is not (just) a fuzzy process of screwing around vigorously (SAV) but can be a systematic process,

2) Innovation and growth is not (just) something that happens in a department like R & D or product development,

3) Innovation and growth is not just about products or solutions - it is about creating a transformational change in the way people live, work and play." - Chapter 20, Erich Joachimsthaler, Renowned Author of Hidden in Plain Sight

Who should buy?
The Innovation eBook and Definitive Guide has been downloaded and used by businesses and educational institutions all around the world including EDS, Ericsson, Center for Sales Strategy, IdeaChampions, Acara Global, Byrne Dairy, Cleveland Clinic, Magpie, DOJ/FBI, HP, Hewlett Packard, Intervista Institute, Fryett Consulting Group, Satellite Shelters, ProductVentures, Speakeasy - a Best Buy company, Jarden Consumer Solutions, Hallmark, Infinium, DeakinPrime - Deakin University, Lucas-TVS, McCann Worldgroup, S.P.Jain Center of Management, Suffolk University, RiCoMan, AmpControl, Craig Rispin, Momentive, Champion Laboratories, University of Phoenix, University of Washington, SFR - Neufbox, Attwood as Edison, Academy of Sport, Ideogenesis, Principled Innovation, Meridian Partners, Ananzi, Tangibility, Syngenta Global, Speedy, The Business Lab, Deloitte, Lane Management, University of California at Irvine, Wharton Business School, Babson University, Larsen & Toubro, Nokia, Credera, Pfizer, Bilkent University, Indian Institute of Science, Chic-Fil-A and many more.

If you are a marketing executive, sales executive, information executive, product manager, marketer, product marketer, sales operations manager, sales director, sales consultant, business consultant, product designer, brand manager, marketing manager, VP of products, VP of marketing, VP of technology, research & development director, product director, product marketing manager, marketing consultant, brand consultant, innovation consultant, chief innovation officer, engineer, technology consultant, design engineer, business school professor, business school student, consultant, trainer, management consultant or entrepreneur - this definitive guide is for you! If you are one of the key executives of the company or the CEO, buy this guide for your company!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 - The Top 50 Innovative Companies In The World
Chapter 2 - The Innovation Index - Top 20 Innovators
Chapter 3 - Measuring Business Innovation Success - Key Benchmarks
Chapter 4 - Failures And Stumbles Driving Innovation - Five Takeaways
Chapter 5 - Blocking Creativity And Innovation - Nine Processes
Chapter 6 - Six Ways To Find Innovation - "See with new eyes"
Chapter 7 - Five Principles For Successful Business Innovation
Chapter 8 - Is Innovation Cyclical? - Four Common Blunders
Chapter 9 - Can Leadership Create Innovation? - Ten Leadership Ideas
Chapter 10 - Top Ten Creative Leadership Traits - Be The Leader and Innovator
Chapter 11 - Creating Team Innovation - Seven Characteristics
Chapter 12 - Creating Team Innovation - Effective Teams Examples
Chapter 13 - Creating Team Innovation - Ten Principles To Unleash Innovation
Chapter 14 - The Future Of Management, Creativity And Innovation - Upend Business Models
Chapter 15 - How Much Creativity Is Enough?
Chapter 16 - Co-Creation Driving Innovation At Top Innovators
Chapter 17 - Marketing Innovation Creating Market Leadership
Chapter 18 - Consumer Innovation Best Practices - Six Steps To Lead Innovation
Chapter 19 - The Innovation Gap - Disruptive Innovation versus Sustaining Innovation
Chapter 20 - Are Children More Creative Than Adults?
Chapter 21 - Questions Lead To Creativity, Answers Lead To Innovation
Chapter 22 - Expanding Your Business Innovation Capacity
Chapter 23 - Innovation Insights And Wisdom From Greatest Innovators
Chapter 24 - Turn Complaints Into Solutions, Innovations And Success
Chapter 25 - Why Some Ideas Survive And Others Die
Chapter 26 - Ten Answers For Driving Innovation And Growth At World Class Innovators
Chapter 27 - Strategic Innovation At Deloitte - The "Apple" Of Services Innovation
Chapter 28 - Toyota's Innovation Factory
Chapter 29 - Ipod - Apple's Best Innovation
Chapter 30 - Apple Iphone Rising - Top Ten Innovations
Chapter 31 - Google Versus Yahoo - A Tale Of Two Cities
Chapter 32 - Youtube - $1.65 Billion Innovation And Counting
Chapter 33 - Blockbuster Versus Netflix - Winner Takes All?
Chapter 34 - GE And P&G - Innovations Driving Growth & Six Growth Principles
Chapter 35 - Can Dell Turnaround Dell? Seven Thoughts For Turnaround
Chapter 36 - Innovations Brewing At Starbucks ? Five Takeaways
Chapter 37 - Southwest Airlines Flying High With Ten Innovations
Chapter 38 - Innovations At Microsoft - Four Business Pillars
Chapter 39 - Direct Marketing And Direct Mail Innovation At USPS
Chapter 40 - Disruptor Zune Versus Innovator Ipod
Chapter 41 - 100% Electric Ultra Fast Innovation - Tesla
Chapter 42 - Nike Versus Adidas - The Innovation Game Is On
Chapter 43 - People Innovation - We Think Culture Of Innovation
Chapter 44 - Intel - Exponential Innovations
Chapter 45 - Five Innovations In Software Industry - Intuit Case Study
Chapter 46 - Google Versus Microsoft - The Enterprise Battle Heats Up!
Chapter 47 - Launch Of Tata Nano - A Watershed Moment in Indian Autos
Chapter 48 - How Can GM Turnaround The Business? Is Innovation The Answer
Chapter 49 - Doubleclick A Smart Buy For Google
Chapter 50 - Microsoft Walk-Off Home Run With Aquantive
Chapter 51 - IBM's $5 Billion Cognos Acquisition
Chapter 52 - Top Acquisitions By The Top Innovators
Chapter 53 - Will Yahoo merge with Microsoft?
Chapter 54 - Innovation And Stock Performance Correlation
Chapter 55 - The Innovation Index Annual Report
Chapter 56 - $1 Billion Or The Future

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About the Author:
Sanjay Dalal is an innovator and entrepreneur with over fifteen years of leadership experience in Silicon Valley and High Tech companies. Dalal published over 200 articles in the last two years on the real-time state of innovation in business at this blog on Creativity and Innovation Driving Business, and introduced the Innovation Index in December 2006 that correlates business, innovation and stock performance. Dalal was the president and managing director of the innovative investment company, Innovation Index Group, that systematically invested into the Top 20 Innovators of the Innovation Index. Dalal filed joint U.S. Patent on "Hands-On Labs" for delivering live, hands-on training over Web Meetings. Dalal has launched innovative products such as WebEx Training Center and WebEx Sales Center to market, and grown product line revenue to tens of million dollars in annual revenue. Dalal holds executive certification on Leading Management Teams from Cornell University, and is an engineering scholar graduate in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. Dalal completed graduate education in Computer Science at Arizona State University. Dalal secured the first position in the 50th William Lowell Putnam Math Competition. Dalal volunteered as a basketball coach on three separate occassions for Fremont NJB, Irvine NJB, and Rancho Middle School 7th graders, as an art master for 2nd graders at Turtle Rock, and as the secretary in the School Site Council. Dalal was a member of the Technology Advisory Committee for the Fremont School District containing over 40,000 students. Dalal is a Web 2.0 adviser for Cal State Fullerton, Extended Education and a lecturer on "Making the business case for Web 2.0." Dalal was a member of the Dean's Leadership Circle of The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine, and a guest lecturer at the University of California, Irvine for the Strategic Innovation class. Dalal is an active Rotarian at the Rotary Club of Newport-Irvine.

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Sunday, March 22, 2009

Questions lead to Creativity, Answers lead to Innovations

  • Creativity begins with asking questions…
  • Innovation happens when you find answers…
  • No questions, no answer
  • More questions, better answer

“The important thing is never to stop questioning.” - Albert Einstein

Ask “This List of Questions”

  • People ask these questions about objects and actions.
  • People ask these questions in any situation.
  • Certain questions may be silly or misplaced for certain situations.
  • Often these questions lead to the most creative ideas.
Let us begin with your question…
  • My Question is:
  • ____________________________

Selected references:
Leading eBook on Creativity and Innovation in Business
Creativity and Innovation Best Practices
Creativity and Innovation Case Studies
The Innovation Index
Top 50 innovative companies in the world

Say, your question could be: "I just released my new user interface. And a majority of my customers hate it. What do I do now?"

There is an old saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

Facebook released their new interface last week, and loyal Facebook users are voicing their disapproval in hordes. Remember, Facebook got popular as a platform without much user feedback in the early years.

Now that Facebook has millions of users, user feedback becomes paramount!

One has to ask these questions:
1. What feedback did Facebook product managers get from their users before they designed the new interface?
2. Did Facebook get this right? Was this feedback accurate? Was it from a large base of users?
3. Did Facebook design and deploy the new interface properly?

What will Facebook do now?

Can it go about face and go back to the old interface? This would make Facebook look rather pedestrian. It's similar to Nintendo or Microsoft releasing their latest version of Wii or Xbox, and recalling it. But, this is web software. So, Facebook can go back to the older version. Or better yet, create an intermediate version, rather fast, to please the larger majority of users.

The longer Facebook takes to respond, the bigger this problem potentially becomes. Facebook does not want this to become news story on a Jay Leno or David Letterman for sure...

Or, Facebook, can wait, and try to ride it out... Can they do this?

What are we doing here? We are asking a lot of relevant questions about the situation Facebook is currently in.

Questions lead to new discoveries, new ideas, increased creativity. And when one finds answers to these questions, they often lead to innovations.

Here is The List of Questions that one must ask to unlock the creativity, and spark new ideas before solving any problem, creating a new innovation, embarking on a new opportunity - (adopted from eCornell and Roger Shank's book):

The first list is the Object Rules:

1. Where From
Where did you get XYZ? Is it easy to find this?
2. Function
What do you do with XYZ? Who wants XYZ?
3. Enablement
How did you get XYZ? What resources?
4. Habits
How does doing XYZ fit? What changes?
5. Associated Objects
What goes in, around, with XYZ?
6. Results
What will you do after XYZ? Before XYZ?
What if you don’t like after XYZ?
7. Problems
What issues will be caused by XYZ?
What issues without XYZ?
What is the perception of having XYZ?

The second list is made up of Action Rules:

1. Next Event
What happens or might happen next?
2. Preceding and Enabling Events
What caused XYZ? What led up? Able to?
3. Associated Objects
How do you XYZ without ABC? How did you get ABC that enabled XYZ?
4. Other Actors
Who else XYZs? Or creates XYZs?
5. Associated Actions
What happens with or goes along XYZ?
6. Physical Results
Do we want state ABC due to XYZ? Why?
7. Scripts
What else was going on to cause XYZ?
8. Reason
Why did XYZ take place? Facts causing this
9. Alternative Plans
Why don’t we do ABC instead?
Is there a different path to get XYZ?
Who will help us get there, and why?
10. History
What was going on, the frequency and causes XYZ to happen?
11. Emotional or Social Effect
Do you love XYZ? Does it make a difference? Everyone wants XYZ?

So, the next time you are faced with change, roadblock, or beginning new initiatives, ask the above list of questions.

How will Facebook react to the user feedback? I am a Facebook user myself, and will be eagerly awaiting Facebook's answer to this latest challenge. Facebook business leadership must act swiftly before the current situation becomes a juggernaut.
  • Creativity begins with asking questions…
  • Innovation happens when you find answers…
Download my leading eBook on Creativity and Innovation in Business used by over 1,000 professionals, faculty and innovators at educational institutions and businesses all around the world including EDS, Ericsson, Center for Sales Strategy, IdeaChampions, Acara Global, Byrne Dairy, Cleveland Clinic, Magpie, DOJ/FBI, HP, Hewlett Packard, Intervista Institute, Fryett Consulting Group, Satellite Shelters, ProductVentures, Speakeasy - a Best Buy company, Jarden Consumer Solutions, Hallmark, Infinium, DeakinPrime - Deakin University, Lucas-TVS, McCann Worldgroup, S.P.Jain Center of Management, Suffolk University, RiCoMan, AmpControl, Craig Rispin, Momentive, Champion Laboratories, University of Phoenix, University of Washington, SFR - Neufbox, Attwood as Edison, Academy of Sport, Ideogenesis, Principled Innovation, Meridian Partners, Ananzi, Tangibility, Syngenta Global, Speedy, The Business Lab, Deloitte, Lane Management, University of California at Irvine, Wharton Business School, Babson University, Larsen & Toubro, Nokia, Credera, Pfizer, Bilkent University, Indian Institute of Science and many more.

This eBook is a 212-page collection of over 55 best practices, case studies, and insights on the current state of Innovation in Business at Top Innovators including Apple, Google, Netflix, 3M, Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Toyota, GE, BMW, Deloitte, Frito Lay, IBM, Nike, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Dell, Intel and more. With pertinent articles from the award-winning Creativity And Innovation Driving Business Blog, this Faculty eBook provides real-world examples on how the Top Innovators innovate and grow their business successfully time and again, especially during economic cycles. Creativity And Innovation in Business is a definitive guide that will help you unblock creativity, uncover and create game-changing innovations, and make exponential business growth a reality. Learn more...

References:
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Expanding Your Business Innovation Capacity


(Image courtesy: www.techmankanata.com)

"The sudden awareness of the urgent need for change and looking into the future in a more structured way, made this little sexy word (innovation) very popular, trendsetting and chic. However, how would you define innovation? What makes a company innovative?"

According to Mariana Ferrari Quijano, it is better not to define it (the word innovation), but to accept all it's synonyms: change, alteration, revolution, upheaval, transformation, metamorphosis, breakthrough; new measures, new methods, modernization, novelty, newness; creativity, originality, ingenuity, inspiration, inventiveness, shake up.

Mariana has authored a significant article on innovation, titled Innovation: what's in that little, trendy, sexy word, wherein she examines an innovator's determinant factors to survive and grow in downturns. She believes cash flow and balanced (or lean) costs are the two significant factors that can either make or break a company. Further, she alludes that during such periods, a company's capacity to innovate takes its maximum weight, as it supports and increase in productivity based in the human capital.

Which brings us back to the image that I have shared at the beginning from her article wherein she defines a company's Innovation Capacity.

Innovation Capacity =
Employees' Brain Preferences + Innovative Work Behaviors + Innovation Practices

Mariana has conducted extensive research on each element that will induce large Innovation Capacity - by encouraging employees to be more creative and providing them opportunities to experiment, rewarding innovative work behaviors that result in successes, and implementing real innovation practices that allows you to build an innovation factory.

Mariana postulates that innovation is about looking ahead, projecting the future, identifying future needs and creating solutions for those needs. By doing so, a company leads the future in its sector, leaving competitors behind. In other words, innovation is about creating the future.

A pertinent example provided is of PROCESOi:

"At PROCESOi we consider innovation to be a strategy, to increase a companies' present value, keep it ahead of its competitors and create sustainable growth.

Innovation is a three-phase process:

Phase 1: Spark: innovation surges due to an interest, inquisitiveness or concern about the present situation.

Phase 2: Creation: unrest or problems can lead to brainstorming, and the unleashing of imagination to reach a solution or identify an opportunity that had not previously been apparent.

Phase 3: Implementation: when the solution or opportunity is identified, an investment is made to make it happen with the aim of generating new income."

I commend Mariana and her team for the work she has undertaken, and creating a benchmark for measuring the Innovation Capacity. She even defines an innovator (although earlier she did not want to define innovation): "An innovator is defined, as an individual, who has a global way of thinking, is intuitive, takes risks, is imaginative, and often breaks the rules."

In short, this article by Mariana is a must read for CEOs, Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Leaders, and is sure to provide you key takeaways towards driving innovation in this tough economic environment.

Would you like to become an innovator? I invite you to participate in the Innovation Bootcamp workshops:

The Innovation Bootcamp consists of Six Engaging Online Workshop Sessions (details below):
1. Benchmarking and Leading with Innovation
The Business Case for Innovation
2. Unblocking Creativity and Innovation
The Essential Processes and Skills
3. Unleashing Team Innovation
Great Teams Deliver Great Innovations
4. and 5. Business Innovation Case Studies
Learn how Top Innovators Lead with Innovation
6. Building an Innovation Factory
Create a sustainable, scalable Innovation Process

Or, download my leading eBook on Creativity and Innovation in Business used by over 1,000 professionals, faculty and innovators at educational institutions and businesses all around the world including EDS, Ericsson, Center for Sales Strategy, IdeaChampions, Acara Global, Byrne Dairy, Cleveland Clinic, Magpie, DOJ/FBI, HP, Hewlett Packard, Intervista Institute, Fryett Consulting Group, Satellite Shelters, ProductVentures, Speakeasy - a Best Buy company, Jarden Consumer Solutions, Hallmark, Infinium, DeakinPrime - Deakin University, Lucas-TVS, McCann Worldgroup, S.P.Jain Center of Management, Suffolk University, RiCoMan, AmpControl, Craig Rispin, Momentive, Champion Laboratories, University of Phoenix, University of Washington, SFR - Neufbox, Attwood as Edison, Academy of Sport, Ideogenesis, Principled Innovation, Meridian Partners, Ananzi, Tangibility, Syngenta Global, Speedy, The Business Lab, Deloitte, Lane Management, University of California at Irvine, Wharton Business School, Babson University, Larsen & Toubro, Nokia, Credera, Pfizer, Bilkent University, Indian Institute of Science and many more.

This eBook is a 212-page collection of over 55 best practices, case studies, and insights on the current state of Innovation in Business at Top Innovators including Apple, Google, Netflix, 3M, Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Toyota, GE, BMW, Deloitte, Frito Lay, IBM, Nike, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Dell, Intel and more. With pertinent articles from the award-winning Creativity And Innovation Driving Business Blog, this Faculty eBook provides real-world examples on how the Top Innovators innovate and grow their business successfully time and again, especially during economic cycles. Creativity And Innovation in Business is a definitive guide that will help you unblock creativity, uncover and create game-changing innovations, and make exponential business growth a reality. Learn more...

Mariana sums up her article with these lasting words: "innovation is a synonym for Joy and Happiness, and should not be made a "serious business strategy". Joy, because creating, learning, making mistakes is fun, and happiness because achieving far-fetched, almost unbelievable results makes everybody happy. Don't just take my word, ask Steve Jobs."

References:

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Sunday, January 25, 2009

Sanjay Dalal introduces "Creativity And Innovation Driving Business - Innovation Index" Blog and 2008 Best Innovation



Sanjay Dalal, Chief Innovator of InnovationMain.com, and writer of this blog on Creativity And Innovation Driving Business - Innovation Index, introduces the 2008 Best Innovator and Innovation - President Barack Obama and his campaign website: My.BarackObama.com. Why was this considered the best innovation? Read Sanjay's blog article on the best innovation and innovator of 2008, and find out why.

Sanjay also talks about his leading Faculty eBook on Creativity And Innovation in Business - best insights, best practices and case studies at the top 50 innovative companies in the world, and invites you to download this eBook. The Faculty eBook and Definitive Guide is used by over 300 leading organizations all over the world.

Finally, Sanjay invites you to check out the Innovation Bootcamp, a series of online engaging workshops that are sure to jumpstart new innovations at your business.

InnovationMain.com - Creativity & Innovation Driving Business:
Address: 8105 Irvine Center Drive, Suite 900, Irvine, CA 92618
Main Phone #: 1-949-288-6880
Contact Sanjay Dalal at: ceo at innovationmain dot com

About InnovationMain.com

The mission of InnovationMain.com - Creativity and Innovation Driving Business is to provide uncommon insights, strategy and solutions with proven processes that drive Creativity and Innovation at your business, create real market growth and success for your products and services, and achieve market leadership. We make innovation a sustainable competitive advantage, help build an innovation factory, effect and manage change and grow your business. We have considerable experience and expertise in working with small, growing and emerging companies, product and marketing departments, and distributed innovation teams.

Selected references:
Leading eBook on Creativity and Innovation in Business
Creativity and Innovation Best Practices
Creativity and Innovation Case Studies
The Innovation Index
Top 50 innovative companies in the world
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Sunday, June 15, 2008

Social Networking Innovation - Download FACulty eBook and Definitive Guide


Social Networking and Innovation
Creativity And Innovation in Business is a 212-page collection of 55 best practices, case studies, and insights on the current state of Innovation in Business at Top Innovators including Apple, Google, Netflix, 3M, Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Toyota, GE, BMW, Deloitte, Frito Lay, IBM, Nike, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Dell, Intel and more. With pertinent articles from the award-winning Creativity And Innovation Driving Business Blog, this eBook provides real-world examples on how the Top Innovators innovate and grow their business successfully time and again, especially during economic cycles. Creativity And Innovation in Business is a Faculty eBook and definitive guide that will help you unblock creativity, uncover and create game-changing innovations, and make exponential business growth a reality.

1) Innovation and growth is not (just) a fuzzy process of screwing around vigorously (SAV) but can be a systematic process,
2) Innovation and growth is not (just) something that happens in a department like R & D or product development,
3) Innovation and growth is not just about products or solutions - it is about creating a transformational change in the way people live, work and play.
- Chapter 20

Learn More...

Creativity And Innovation in Business asks questions and obtains answers on generating, managing and growing business creativity and innovation through proven processes. It details case studies, insights and stories on top innovators of the Innovation Index creating disruptive innovations and growing market leadership.

Who should buy?
If you are a product manager, marketer, product marketer, sales operations manager, sales director, sales consultant, business consultant, product designer, brand manager, marketing manager, VP of products, VP of marketing, VP of technology, research & development director, product director, product marketing manager, marketing consultant, brand consultant, business school professor, business school student, innovation consultant, chief innovation officer, engineer, engineering student, technology student, technology consultant, design engineer, consultant, management consultant - this definitive guide is for you! If you are one of the key executives of the company or the CEO, buy this guide for your company!

Learn More...

Who has bought the guide?
The FACulty EBOOK and Definitive Guide is downloaded and used by over 550 leading organizations including EDS, Ericsson, Center for Sales Strategy, Ideachampions, Acara Global, Byrne Dairy, Cleveland Clinic, Magpie, Department of Justice, FBI, HP, Hewlett Packard, Intervista Institute, Fryett Consulting Group, Satellite Shelters, ProductVentures, Speakeasy - a Best Buy company, Jarden Consumer Solutions, Hallmark, Infinium, Nokia, Pepsi, LG, major universities, business professionals and more.

Table of Contents of Creativity And Innovation in Business FACulty eBook

Table of Contents - Creativity And Innovation In Business
Chapter 1 - The Top 50 Innovative Companies In The World
Chapter 2 - The Innovation Index
Chapter 3 - Failures And Stumbles Driving Innovation
Chapter 4 - Blocking Creativity And Innovation
Chapter 5 - Six Ways To Find Innovation
Chapter 6 - Five Principles For Successful Innovation
Chapter 7 - Is Innovation Cyclical?
Chapter 8 - Can Leadership Create Innovation?
Chapter 9 - Top Ten Creative Leadership Traits
Chapter 10 - Creating Team Innovation - Seven Characteristics
Chapter 11 - Creating Team Innovation - Effective Teams
Chapter 12 - Creating Team Innovation - Ten Principles
Chapter 13 - The Future Of Management, Creativity And Innovation
Chapter 14 - How Much Creativity Is Enough?
Chapter 15 - Co-Creation Driving Innovation
Chapter 16 - Marketing Innovation Creating Market Leadership
Chapter 17 - Consumer Innovation Best Practices
Chapter 18 - The Innovation Gap
Chapter 19 - Ten Answers For Driving Innovation And Growth
Chapter 20 - Strategic Innovation At Deloitte - The "Apple" Of Services Innovation
Chapter 21 - Toyota's Innovation Factory
Chapter 22 - Ipod - Apple's Best Innovation
Apple Iphone Rising - Top Ten Innovations
Chapter 23 - Google Versus Yahoo - A Tale Of Two Cities
Youtube - $1.65 Billion Innovation And Counting
Chapter 24 - Blockbuster Versus Netflix - Winner Takes All?
Chapter 25 - GE And P&G ? Innovations Driving Growth ? Six Growth Principles
Chapter 26 - Can Dell Turnaround Dell? Seven Answers
Chapter 27 - Innovations Brewing At Starbucks ? Five Takeaways
Chapter 28 - Southwest Airlines Flying High With Ten Innovations
Chapter 29 - Innovations At Microsoft ? Four Business Pillars
Chapter 30 - Direct Marketing And Direct Mail Innovation At USPS
Chapter 31 - Disruptor Zune Versus Innovator Ipod
Chapter 32 - 100% Electric Ultra Fast Innovation
Chapter 33 - Nike Versus Adidas - The Innovation Game Is On
Chapter 34 - People Innovation - We Think
Chapter 35 - Intel - Exponential Innovations
Chapter 36 - Five Innovations In Software Industry
Chapter 37 - Google Versus Microsoft - The Enterprise Battle Heats Up!
Chapter 38 - Doubleclick A Smart Buy For Google
Chapter 39 - Microsoft Walk-Off Home Run With Aquantive
Chapter 40 - IBM's $5 Billion Cognos Acquisition
Chapter 41 - Top Acquisitions By The Top Innovators
Chapter 42 - Will Yahoo merge with Microsoft?
Chapter 43 - Innovation And Stock Performance Correlation
Chapter 44 - The Innovation Index Annual Report
Chapter 45 - $1 Billion Or The Future
11 new chapters added including Benchmarking Innovation

Learn More...

I am forever grateful to Creativity and Innovation Leaders, Innovators and Bloggers for helping me drive the readership on my blog, and I am looking forward to my blog readers and fellow blog writers downloading and referring this relevant resource on Creativity And Innovation in Business.

Good Luck Innovating!

Sincere regards,
Sanjay Dalal
Chief Innovator
http://www.innovationmain.com

Check out oGoing :: What's going on? oGoing connects You with your co-workers, friends & family through frequent updates & messages to this question: "What's going on?"

Join oGoing today...
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Monday, May 7, 2007

Ten Questions with Erich Joachimsthaler - Hidden In Plain Sight - Demand-first Innovation And Growth

What do Allianz Group, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Axe, GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE), bmw, Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), and Netflix have in common? These innovators consistently and successfully bring to market winning innovations, achieve profitable new growth, and reinvent their business for the future.

Erich Joachimsthaler, founder and CEO of Vivaldi Partners, a strategy, innovation and marketing consulting company, in his newly published book - Hidden In Plain Sight : How to find and execute your company's next big growth strategy - provides us insightful answers to real questions facing businesses today: on creating successful innovations and driving profitable growth - by introducing a new methodology “demand-first innovation and growth” (DIG). Joachimsthaler purports a poignant view of the misplaced state of innovation in the broader market.

I was able to obtain a copy of Hidden In Plain Sight from Harvard Business School Press publicist Michelle Morgan. Michelle also introduced me to Joachimsthaler. Rather than indulge you with my analysis and thoughts on this must-read innovation book and the three-part method of the DIG model, I wanted to share with you something even better: Top Ten Answers from Erich Joachimsthaler himself on my most pressing questions.

One lucky person will win a FREE hardcover book in an “Innovation Raffle” on behalf of HBS Press (ended)

Without further ado:

Top Ten Questions and Answers on Hidden In Plain Sight with Erich Joachimsthaler:

Question #1: Why are key opportunities for innovation and growth hidden in plain sight? Do companies even know about this?

Erich Joachimsthaler: In the book, I discuss four reasons why opportunities are hidden in plain sight. First, is the fact that growing a company requires establishing processes, systems, and procedures. Growth requires that work is divided into divisions or business units which fragments a company’s view of the customer. Second, are strategic considerations. Company often follow mantra’s like: stick to the knitting and therefore continue to invest into a direction that has proven to be right in the past. Third, and this is the most important reason is that American companies today live comfortably in the world of either the product perspective or the customer perspective. That is, there is either a mentality of looking at the world from the product perspective or the customer perspective. Both of the perspectives have one central tenet that underlies them. It is the need-fulfillment paradigm. Find a need and fill it. The problem is that this model is not only obsolete, it is generic and geriatric – time to retire it and send it to Florida. We are facing a dilemma in mammoth proportion in America. Companies need to learn and accept that we are in a world of product proliferation where we already have served nearly every need several times over, where there are over 50 varieties of bottled water, over 78 different Lay’s chip varieties, over 29 varieties of Pop Tarts and over 20 different milk types – no longer the company is in charge, but the customer. Fourth, success begets success. Success also infuses a company with an inside-out perspective. Often times, companies not only don’t see the opportunities, they often don’t know about them in the first place.

Question #2: "We are differentiating our products from competitors' offerings, segmenting the marketplace to identify new customers or consumers, growing through mergers and acquisitions, developing brand new products and extending brands, and actively listening to customers or consumers. We have everything in place to be successful." Is this a fallacy?

Erich Joachimsthaler: Yes, this is exactly and precisely the problem. These practices are the practices that have worked in the past – they have worked during the years where consumers were in search of products and services, where consumers found the station breaks on TV a form of entertainment. Companies are wrong in thinking that listening to consumers is equal to understanding. The problem of huge proportions that American businesses are facing is the fact that our fundamental paradigm of business, the very essence and foundation of what creates the success for business until today is now in question. You have to abandon the simplistic notion of the need-fulfillment paradigm. The complexities of today’s consumers can no longer be measured in terms of a set of attributes, product or brand attributes, that need to be fulfilled or exceeded and that ensures commercial success. You follow this paradigm and you are more likely competing based on features in commodity hell than building a profitable growth business. We have got to retire the outdated notions that the need-fulfillment paradigm serves any useful purpose today in the day and age where over 95 percent of all new products fail within the first year. You have also got to retire the basic notion that consumers can tell you what they want. I am of the opinion that consumers can not know what they have not experienced. It is important that we are not consumer-led, not marketing-led and not product or technology led – we have got to find a new approach to growth which is described in my book.

Question #3: Why is it important for a company to look from the outside in and let go of existing processes and models?

Erich Joachimsthaler: It is a natural human tendency to pursue patterns that have worked and that have made us successful. It is only natural, therefore, that Sony looks at the world in terms of finding more customers for the Walkman. After all, the Walkman has been a huge success and why would hundreds of millions of Walkmans sold be wrong. But this very success can blind executives in not seeing the biggest opportunities in plain sight.

And outside-in perspective, and be mindful, I do not mean a customer perspective, can provide an unbiased and untainted view of the opportunities that a company has. It is a hard thing to do, though.

Question #4: What is Customer Advantage? Is it the same as profitably serving the needs and want of my customers - aka maximizing gains from customers?

Erich Joachimsthaler: Precisely not! Profitably serving the needs and wants of customers is a notion that is reminiscent of the need-fulfillment paradigm. The corollary is that one can profitably serve consumers needs and wants if one has something that is different from competitors and competitors can not right away copy it. Today, the notions of competitive advantage, of differentiation for the sake of differentiation and of serving customers to delight them need to be questioned. Remember the highly differentiated Iridium phone service, a brick-size phone that had an antenna the size of a base ball bat. It came with a 3,000 dollars basic plan plus 7 dollars per minute of calling. Calling of course required that one needed to step outside a building as it would not work inside, and one needed to be clear of buildings after all. Motorola spent billions of dollars in it and there was an enormous conviction that there will be a big market. And it was extremely differentiated. Or do you remember and equally highly touted and buzzed up, hyped up new product, the Segway Personal Transporter, it was highly differentiated and was to change the way we walk and stroll or transport ourselves from point A to point B. There was also a conviction from study after study with consumers that there was a big market. Right? Now, we live in an age where the iPod has become the big success. Now, if differentiation is so important? Can you tell me what the No. 2 MP3 player is? Or No. 3? Then, iPod is differentiated from what? How about the so important iTunes downloadable service? If iTunes is the No. 1 downloading service for music? What is the No. 2 or 3? Have you ever bothered comparing any of the services? That’s my point. I bet you can’t give the answers, because when you achieve customer advantage, the comparison is irrelevant. People have absorbed and assimilated the iPod into their lives. We live many more minutes of our 1,440 minutes we all live from midnight to midnight with our iPods – and that is customer advantage – it is how your product fits into the everyday life of consumers. It is not the simplistic notion of how much my product or brand is different from competitors.

Question #5: What is the changing ecosystem of demand? How do Procter & Gamble and GE address this?

Erich Joachimsthaler: The ecosystem of demand paradigm changes the simplistic need-fulfillment paradigm. It maps the complexities of the everyday lives. Importantly, is the mapping process itself. It does not start with identifying needs and wants using some sort of ganglion marketing research procedure. Instead, it begins with mapping the everyday life of consumers in the case of P&G or customers for GE. The starting point is the GAP or Goals, Activities and Priorities of people. This is the gap that the current product perspectives and the current dominant consumer perspectives totally miss. The GAP is what really matters, here and now, today in the everyday life of consumers. The GAP is however only the starting point. It is only useful if one sees the GAP in the context, the social-cultural context in which one lives. Context is everything! The GAP then focuses on behaviors and we study the behaviors in the context in which they occur. This is a crucial aspect of our model. We believe that the best predictor of behavior is behavior, not attitudes and not opinions or brand reputations. It is as simple as this and it is as complex as this. Starting with this behavioral perspective – what really matters to consumers in their everyday life, we explore unarticulated needs and wants, but also urges, passions, fantasies and desires. As you progress with putting layer and layer of complexity on understanding the demand landscape from this perspective, the contours of the ecosystem of demand emerge. It is powerful rendition of where the opportunities for the business lie. So, you think this is a bit too complex, everything has to be simple. Frankly speaking, I disagree. Remember, we are talking about your wife or your husband or your next door neighbor, would you agree with me that we do not live around simple people? We have got to abandon the simplistic notions of consumer demand that exists today.

How did GE or P&G do it? To begin with, both companies began observing their consumers without the biases of their own products and brands. This has been a near revolution at these companies. Both stories are well described in the book. GE Healthcare for example studied anesthesiologists and their behaviors during key surgical procedures in the operating room. P&G studied people around their everyday lives around their home, not simply when they were scrubbing the bathroom floors. These companies also learned that they needed to reframe their existing businesses and categories and pursue entire new thinking routines in order to really understand their businesses better. An important aspect of their success has been that the new insights from the research led to an entire new search of helping consumers or anesthesiologists that involved multiple businesses inside the company and even communities from outside the company. And even more importantly the entire strategic blueprint for action – in the case of P&G, its marketing model has changed. Today, P&G seeks one to one relationships with over 60 million households in America (more than every second household), it has established their own presence on Second Life, it has established their own social networking sites, it is revamping the entire marketing success model that it itself developed and perfected over the last fifty years.

Question #6: What is DIG, and how is it different from my company's innovation model?

Erich Joachimsthaler: The DIG model is a systematic, systemic and repeatable process to identify and executive innovation and growth strategies. It replaces the existing model of SAV or screwing around vigorously, sometimes also called the fuzzy front end of existing innovation models. In the fuzzy front end, one searches wildly for ideas that then can be put through the classic stage-gate process of new product development. In the DIG model, the focus is not on the product, it is on finding ways of creating a transformational change in consumers’ everyday life. Therefore, the innovation can be a product, a solution, a new technology, a business model, or no product at all. And because it is a process, there is a chance of winning again and again, of repeating the success. It does not rely on the occasional brilliance of one particular executive.

Question #7: Can a company still succeed if it cannot create a complete demand landscape? How did Frito-Lay stay on top of high-profile customer trends by creating a complete demand landscape?

Erich Joachimsthaler: Yes, in reality, we cannot completely map the entire ecosystem of consumer demand – it is an evolving process. We prefer to get a very good rendition of the contours of the demand landscape, then dig deep – hence the acronym DIG. We do always focus on a specific component of it first – what we call the demand landscape. At Frito-Lay we identified the moments around which Lays is currently consumed during the 1,440 minutes we all live. We then identified other moments in everyday life that are relevant. We then analyzed the trends in each of the moments. For example, a moment in the office is impacted by different trends than a moment at home or on the go. And mind you, we did not begin with deep dive of people’s psychology around snacking and studying product attribute configuration or emotional drivers of the Lays’ consumption experience.

Question #8: How and why did Allianz reframe the opportunity space? Was this needed? Was Allianz successful?

Erich Joachimsthaler: In the case of Allianz, the emphasis was on reframing the opportunity space. This was so because in the insurance business, particularly the personal liability insurance business, there was the feeling that there were no innovations possible. It is an old and very traditional business. It is a business that matured and consumers simply buy based on the lowest price or annual fee.

At Allianz, the personal liability business was important to the company. Allianz was by far the leader in the market with a significant price premium. Where do you go from here? The feeling was that new competitors only force the market into the wrong direction - lower prices and cheapened services through telephone trees and outsourcing arrangements in low-cost countries.

Allianz was able to rethink the entire personal liability business and it was done not simply based on largely visionary ideas but forty concrete innovations that the executives in part themselves came up with, by looking at the demand landscape in totally new ways – using the 12 BIG (breakthrough innovation and growth) lenses that are described in the book.

Question #9: How does BMW create sustainable Customer Advantage? What could BMW do differently?

Erich Joachimsthaler: The BMW story in the book describes how this company has understood their demand landscape and how it has developed a portfolio of cars ranging from the BMW brand, the MINI brand to the Rolls Royce brand – a premium car manufacturer that sells over a million automobiles! The chapter in the book describes how the company has developed a strategic blueprint for action (the third component of the DIG model), that captures a relevant part of the ecosystem of demand. In this example, the component of the blueprint described is the company’s world-class brand management system. You will learn how the company adopted an entire new model of branding for the MINI than the success model it used for the bmw brand. And hence, they have drawn in different consumers for the MINI brand than for the bmw brands. The chapter illustrates how the DIG model opens up strategic options for building profitable growth that one would not otherwise see from a traditional business as usual perspective. At bmw, the innovation, the breakthrough was not another technology, but the innovation was about the brand management approach and how it created a deeper affiliation and hence customer advantage.

BMW has done a lot of things right and what they can do differently now is never ever forget and be mindful that innovation – even at BMW where innovation has such a strong technology core – goes far beyond its habitual technology domain and into brand management, design, and new business models. I think the story in the chapter vividly describes this BMW difference.

Question #10: What drives Apple's innovation and growth? Is Apple better at connecting with and engaging consumers?

Erich Joachimsthaler: Apple’s innovation and growth is first and foremost driven by inner conviction about the outer world – a conviction that is manifested by Steve Jobs and largely led by him and people around him.

This conviction is about changing how consumers live around music or entertainment. It is not merely a product focus, although it might appear this way. Apple has created the transformational change that I talk about in the book, it has created the customer advantage as I define it. It has changed the way we find out about music, the way we select music, buy music, listen to music, store music and discard music – in short, it has changed how we manage music in our lives (something that is fairly important to all of us), it also has changed how we manage video, etc.

It is not merely a better experience from competitor X, but it is a transformation of our lives, a part of our lives and Apple moves on doing the same with our entire digital lives, watch the launches of iTV and iPhone.

If Apple merely would define a set of needs and wants and then seek to fulfill it, they would ask consumers what they like or dislike about the Walkman and then create a better Walkman. I think that model of need-fulfillment paradigm is NOT at the core of the Apple process. Instead, Apple develops a notion of the changing consumer landscape. Think about around 2000 or 2001, there were already some consumers who downloaded songs from Napster and Kazaa. They see how the demand landscape is changing and they develop their own thinking, what I call structured thinking, around how to create a transformative experience for consumers. They don’t rely solely on consumer input and focus groups. In the process, Steve Jobs reframes the entire opportunity space for Apple – from a computer company, to a music company (Apple happens to be now one of the largest music retailers), to be an entertainment company. You ask about connecting with consumers? What would Madison Avenue recommend you? They would say: you need to find an emotional message that creates a connection with the consumers – touting functional and emotional benefits and achieve a clear positioning relative to competitors. How would that look like? Most likely a message, communicated over TV that clearly explains the principal benefits and the reasons to believe this benefits to targeted consumers. What would a marketer recommend? He or she would recommend that Apple segments the market into those who like more noisy music versus the sophisticated music lover who perhaps listen to classic music. And if you look at what Apple did, it seems they have followed little of the standard advice from marketers or advertising professionals. Connection and engagement does not happen on the small screen, the TV set or the large screen, but it happens in the 1,440 minutes where consumers live and work and play. Engagement and connection for Apple has nothing to do with emotionalizing the difference of iPod over the Walkman or touting superior product attributes. Look at their advertisements. Their marketing program or advertising program cannot be printed on paper or shown in little films called TV or cinema spots. Their program of connecting with consumers is about the 2,000 accessories that they have licensed to Bose and other companies so that we can absorb and assimilate the iPod into our 1,400 minutes we all live every day.

All Important Question: What are the top three takeaways from Hidden in Plain Sight that help companies internalize the DIG agenda?

Erich Joachimsthaler: The important takeaways are:
1) Innovation and growth is not a fuzzy process of screwing around vigorously (SAV) but can be a systematic process,
2) Innovation and growth is not something that happens in a department like R&D or product development – innovation and growth is a company-wide activity and only if you have a process can you also engage the entire organization,
3) Innovation and growth is not about products or solutions – it is about creating a transformational change in the way people live, work and play – and in order to achieve that, the innovation can be a product, a solution, a technology and new business model like at Netflix or no product at all. It could even just be a management innovation like brand management at BMW or a better supply chain management process.

If you follow these three takeaways, there is a chance to win again and again and to achieve a larger transformation of your company, and reinvention of the business for the future.

Selected references:
Top 50 innovative companies in the world

References:

Erich Joachimsthaler: Hidden In Plain Sight - How to find and execute your company's next big growth strategy

HBR IdeaCast with Erich Joachimsthaler

Apple, GE, P&G and Starbucks are 4 of the Top 20 innovators of The Innovation Index
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Thursday, May 3, 2007

Innovation Treasure Hunt by Michael J. Silverstein

Michael J. Silverstein in "Trading Up" conceptualized the "new luxury" paradigm shift driving today's consumer shopping habits - paying high prices for goods and services that are appealing, cool and emotionally satisfying including shoes, golf clubs, music, home, food at fancy restaurants, beauty products and more.

In his new book, "Treasure Hunt", Silverstein with John Butman shows that the same consumers are not only buying at Victoria's Secret and Panera, but also are going to Costco and Home Depot and getting the same emotional satisfaction. In essence, shopping has become fun and rewarding, an adventure, a "Treasure Hunt". One reason for this: the growth of both low-end and high-end consumer categories and innovations in goods, services, designs, marketing and selling.

Silverstein notes that on the one hand a consumer buys a venti latte at Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) for $5, on the other brews coffee at home for 40 cents, and uses the savings to buy an Apple Nano (NASDAQ: AAPL). How can a business target both the high-end and low-end consumer? How do innovators such as eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), Dollar General, H. E. Butt (H.E.B stores), Commerce Bank, Tchibo, Aldi, Bath and Body Works, McDonalds, and more cater to the "bifurcated consumer market"? It's a double-edged sword - the offering has to be exciting enough for "trading up", or enough of an emotional bargain to go "treasure hunt." Anything in the middle is a treacherous fall.

Silverstein provides a detailed process for continued consumer-driven innovation. The process requires a detailed prework that includes mapping the competitive landscape, determining the consumer dreams, dissatisfactions and anomalies, global patterning, cost structure breakdown, and moment of truth diagnostic. If this sounds too complex, Silverstein provides a simple yet ingenuous checklist of five questions whenever he is out shopping and looking for new products:

1. Does the product clearly have technical, functional and emotional benefits?

2. Is there a clear consumer target?

3. Is the product displayed in a store in such a way that consumer would describe it as "stunning"?

4. Is there a pattern of continuous innovation?

5. Is the consumer fundamentally engaged in such a way that she wants to say "Yes"?

Silverstein observes several changes contributing to the growth in bifurcation of consumer market – high-end and low-end – over the next decade. Finally, the author provides a six-step call to action for the innovators to lead, innovate and grow:

1. Don't wait for the market to move. Be ahead of the curve.

2. Engineer out dissatisfactions in your product.

3. Hunt for value in the trade-up and trade-down segments of your market.

4. Inspire a continuous search for cheaper, better, more value...and better, better, better.

5. Attack the category like an outsider who is looking at a blank sheet.

6. Pursue the market with energy and relentlessness.

Apple, Starbucks and eBay are 3 of the top 20 innovators of The Innovation Index.

References:

Treasure Hunt - Inside the Mind of the New Consumer - Michael J. Silverstein with John Butman
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Thursday, January 4, 2007

The Innovation Index up 3% in 2007

The Innovation Index is off to a fast start in 2007, gaining 3% in just the first two trading days of the year. NASDAQ is up 2%, whereas S & P 500 and the Dow Jones Index are essentially flat during the same time frame.


The Innovation Index closed at 71.64 on January 4, 2007, up 2.26 points from the closing price of 69.38 on December 29, 2006.

The Innovation Index has benefited from adding Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) which is up 5% in just two days, and America Movile (NYSE: AMX) which is up 2%. Besides Yahoo, Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Intel (NYSE: INTC) are all up 5% in 2007. Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) is red hot, and leads the pack, already up 8% in 2007. RIMM was up 94% in 2006. Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) is also up 4% in 2007, having already gained 60% in 2006. Other notables include Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) and Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) gaining 3% each for the year. Out of the top 20 Innovators, only Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) is in the red at -1%.

Intel made the big news today. Analysts believe that Intel had strong results in December 2006, and quarterly profits will beat forecasts. Meanwhile, Yahoo, which dropped 35% in 2006 and was bound for a correction, announced partnership with Dash Navigation to include Yahoo Search in Dash Express. "When a user (driving a car) enters their search term into their Dash Express, the device wirelessly begins a Yahoo! Local search, and presents results as a listing of nearby businesses." The innovative Yahoo enabled navigation will go to market in Spring 2007 in California, and nationwide in Fall 2007. eBay, which dropped 30% in 2006, is also up 5% in large part due to innovations in business model. eBay will begin charging sellers a nickel more for items with a starting price of between $1 and $9.99 starting later this month. Dell, down 16% in 2006, is up on news of expansion of global supply chain and manufacturing operations in Singapore; also, if Intel has a great quarter, Dell results are also bound to be better. Google is expanding overseas in China by investing into Xunlei Network Technology Ltd., a Chinese peer-to-peer file sharing network operator. Shenzhen-based Xunlei operates China's biggest video downloading service, with 50 million visitors a day, tens of millions of downloads a day, and installed base of over 80 million users (according to China Daily). Google may perhaps acquire Xunlei in the future and gain significant market share in China (similar to buying YouTube). Wal-Mart announced that its December sales were 8.8% higher benefiting from strong sales in electronics. Finally, Southwest Airlines is going to fly higher with lower oil prices, increased routes from Dallas, and new routes from Denver and Washington Dulles. Forbes and Motley Fool are bullish on RIMM based on the highly profitable Q3, 2006 results.

The Innovation Index has returned 119% over the last five years. $100 invested in The Innovation Index on December 31, 2001 returned $219 as of December 29, 2006. By comparison, $100 invested in each of S & P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Index returned $124. The Innovation Index beats the S & P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Index by 77% over the last five years.

The Innovation Index Annual Report

I am planning to post an annual report of the top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index during the second week of January, 2007. The report will include insights gained from the top 20 Innovators, top Innovations introduced during 2006, lessons learned, 2007 projections, and observations on Disruptors challenging the top 20 Innovators.

About The Innovation Index

The Innovation Index introduced in December, 2006 is a weighted stock price index of the top 20 Innovators in North America. America Movile (NYSE: AMX) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) were added to The Innovation Index at the end of 2006.

The alphabetical list of the top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index along with their stock ticker symbols are presented below:

3M Company - (NYSE: MMM)
Amazon.com, Inc. - (NASDAQ: AMZN)
America Movile - (NYSE: AMX)
Apple Computer, Inc. - (NASDAQ: AAPL)
Cisco Systems, Inc. - (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Dell Inc. - (NASDAQ: DELL)
eBay Inc. - (NASDAQ: EBAY)
General Electric Co. - (NYSE: GE)
Google Inc. - (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Hewlett-Packard Co. - (NYSE: HPQ)
Intel Corporation - (NYSE: INTC)
International Business Machines Corp. - (NYSE: IBM)
Microsoft Corporation - (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Research In Motion Limited - (NASDAQ: RIMM)
Southwest Airlines Co. - (NYSE: LUV)
Starbucks Corporation - (NASDAQ: SBUX)
Target Corp. - (NYSE: TGT)
The Proctor & Gamble Company - (NYSE: PG)
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. - (NYSE: WMT)
Yahoo! Inc. - (NASDAQ: YHOO)

The Innovation Index will analyze the positions and standings of the top 20 Innovators at the end of each year. For 2007, there will be no further changes in The Innovation Index.
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