An established best practice in idea management is providing feedback to participants. It is in fact, crucial to the success of such voluntary systems. Every idea contributor wants to know that his or her idea has been seen and considered. Obviously, they also want to know whether the review team... Read More

In terms of innovation management processes, concepts perform a somewhat delicate balancing act between ideation and product development. An idea needs to be explored from a variety of angles in order for its potential to become clear. However, as experts spend more time looking at it, they may be... Read More

Active in roadmapping, but encountering difficulties? During a webinar on Product Line Roadmapping by Paul O'Connor of The Adept Group, a majority of participants indicated that this was their case. It may be of interest therefore to touch on some issues I noted recently after discussions with... Read More

Few people can start a buzz quite like Elon Musk. Even his cars get people to stop and stare as they drive down the street. Me? I actually offered a guy at my gym money if he’d let me drive his Model S around the block. (He declined. Turns out if you spend $70,000 on a car, you’re not willing to... Read More

A recent virtual series, The Consumer Goods Innovation Exchange, brought together innovation and new product development professionals from leading consumer goods firms such as PepsiCo and Kimberly Clark to share their stories of success and lessons learned in their journey to transform the... Read More

I attended the recent ASTP Conference in Oslo, and was fortunate enough to be there as the conferenced honored one of the key people behind the success of that organization who is leaving that organization. She certainly can be described as a magician when it comes to managing a conference. It was... Read More

I’m a fairly organized person, but I have my moments. Occasionally I misplace a thing or two, but rarely something like house keys that sends me into panic mode. Usually instead whatever I uncover is often a serendipitous little find. Read More

Preparing for an upcoming portfolio review? Engaging in strategic portfolio planning? Then it is important to check whether sufficient progress has been made on the top innovative initiatives. Or has development been slower than planned, because the targets set in the strategic portfolio have been... Read More

The failure rate of new products is often over 50%, and can be as high as nine out of ten in some industries. A recent conference, Best of Food and Beverage Packaging, featured innovation professionals highlighting the implications of technology and trends in food and beverage packaging. Their... Read More

My usual office view is a beautiful one. From my desk at the Wellspring offices, I can see straight east in downtown Chicago, with a great view of the John Hancock building. This last week, however, that view changed a bit as the company picked up and moved to Louisville, Kentucky – just for a day. Read More