
Implementing Enterprise 2.0 at Intuit, Part One: Business Drivers
Next up in out series of companies that are implementing Enterprise 2.0 is Intuit. So far we covered Oce and Vistaprint. Intuit is a software company with 8,000 employee’s worldwide that develops tax and financial solutions for consumers, small businesses, financial institutions, and health-care organizations. I spoke with three members of the Intuit team that […]

Definition of Innovation
At the recent E2.0 Forum, I described a particular dynamic I’ve found: there is no set definition of innovation. It’s a concept where everyone has an intuitive sense of what innovation is, but would have a hard time formalizing a definition. Much like the way U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart described pornography: I shall […]

Evolutionary v. Intelligent Design Marketers: Which one are you?
To set the stage… I’m a scientist at heart. Before I got into tech I was working on my PhD in neuroscience. So its with healthy skepticism (a valuable trait in a scientist) that I looked at Intelligent Design – a reformulation of Creationism as the explanation for how we got here and where we […]
3 Cs of Innovation 2.0 – Crowdsourcing, Competition, Collaboration
At the E2.0 Forum in Milan (June 9-10, 2010), I had a chance speak about innovation. Specifically, on the latest advances in leveraging communities to advance innovation. The title of my keynote was: “3 Cs of Innovation 2.0 – Crowdsourcing, Competition, Collaboration”. The presentation is provided below: 3 Cs of Innovation 2.0 – Crowdsourcing, Competition, […]

Fat and Bloated is no way to go through life
Google officially announces Chrome OS’s arrival date as this fall, HP purchases Palm and promptly kills off an Ipad like device with Windows as an operating system, and Apple announces that 2 million IPads have sold in 60 days with rumors that the Ipad is killing Netbooks. Fat and Bloated operating systems (regardless of the […]

Diversity and Innovation – Improve the Person, Improve the Idea
A key aspect of the next generation of innovation is the ability to tap a much larger set of minds in pursuit of valuable ideas. This draws quite heavily from the realms of Enterprise 2.0 and crowdsourcing. The historic method of innovation relied exclusively on a designated few. Now we’re seeing companies recognizing a missing […]

It’s Not Idea Overload. It’s Filter Failure
At the recent Front End of Innovation conference, Wells Fargo’s Michael Duke presented in a session devoted to innovation metrics. He opened with a slide that asked attendees: Which would you rather have? – 1,000 ideas; or – 20 working prototypes With a setup like that, what do you think the general response was? Of […]

Courier & Foldable Tablets are Neither Innovative Nor “Different”
This is a sad “I’ve told you” moment, as I predicted the death of dual-screen tablets, be it the one by MSI or Microsoft’s Courier, which has just been canceled. Says Frank Shaw, Microsoft’s VP of corporate communications: At any given time, across any of our business groups, there are new ideas being investigated, tested, […]

FUD in the House of SaaS – More on Suites
Recently I wrote about the evergreen Best-of-breed vs. Integrated All-in-One Suite debate again, arguing: Call me “old school”, but I also believe in the value of having one tightly integrated system for most business needs, and I believe it’s true not only for large corporations but much smaller businesses. I don’t have CIO’s to back […]

Disruptive Cloud Computing Startups At Under The Radar – NoSQL – Aspirin, Vicodin, and Vitamin
It was great to be back at Under The Radar this year. I wrote about disruptive cloud computing start-ups that I saw at Under The Radar last year. Since then the cloud computing has gained significant momentum. This was evident from talking to the entrepreneurs who pitched their start-ups this year. At the conference there […]

Six Factors in Emergent Innovation
In discussing employee-driven innovation, having a technology platform to deliver on objectives is a key part of a company’s strategy. Hard to get everyone tuned in when you rely only on email and conversations with your cubicle mates. But that’s just one factor. There are many other considerations for companies seeking to vault to the […]

Are Suites Really Sour? The Best of Breed vs. Integrated Suite Debate.
The evergreen Best-of-breed vs. Integrated All-in-One Suite debate is back again. This will be a somewhat long post, so let’s sit back and start with some entertainment first. Episode 2, “Suites Are Sour” is from the mini-series SuiteMates, which I admit I find hilariously entertaining, albeit rather pointless. Why? It’s run by supply chain solution […]

Why The iPad Is Important
Alright, I’ve read the reviews. I’ve the read Cory’s piece about open-ness and closed platforms (and I agree, open is better). I’ve read from the nit-picking details to the high level geekery, and I’m here to say, the iPad is an important device. Of course, some have already heralded it as the inflection point in […]

Avoiding Innovation Chaos inside Companies
Great news…you’ve established your innovation platform to solicit ideas, and gosh, did you get them! Hundreds of ideas. Wow! Now what? It just doesn’t make sense to go into an innovation initiative with only half a plan. As in, a plan to market to employees and get the ideas, but not have nailed down what […]

Three Models for Applying Customer Feedback to Innovation
Customers have always been core to companies’ existence. An obvious statement for sure. Customers are the source of cash flow, and have historically been thought of in marketing and transactional contexts. But in recent years, we’ve seen the rise of a new way to consider customers. As vital influencers of company activities and strategies. Two […]