Gregg Fraley

I’ve decided to take the battle of Doing Innovation to the streets. Literally. Okay, it’s not a battle, it’s a conversation, but it’s definitely a road trip, and definitely about the Doing. I’m heading down to Orlando, FL to attend the Front End of Innovation Conference (FEI) taking place May 15, 16, and 17. Instead of doing the boring (and convenient) thing of taking a cheap flight from Chicago to Disneytown, I’m opting to drive through the heartland and a bit of the south — I’m going Gonzeaux (“GAWN zoe”) on my way to FEI. FEI is an amazing event, and, wouldn’t it be great if that innovation “conversation” was happening all over? And online? As I Go Gonzeaux I’m going

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While ordering a grande Americano with room at Starbucks the other day, I noticed a counter display. It had a stack of cards with the title “Let’s Create Jobs for USA” across the top and then below it a red, white, and blue wristband. It’s elastic and not the usual plastic you see in these things, and, it has a coupler made of metal with the word “invincible” engraved on it. They requested a $5 donation.  I read the cards and bought one on the spot. I’m proud to wear it. The answer to my question of whether a wristband can create USA jobs is an emphatic Yes. There are already innovation success stories. I’m a wristband-come-lately — this has been

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I’m in Cincinnati next week to help pitch a recycling business concept to investors. It’s an exciting idea — taking waste plastic and transforming it into high value-add products. This is not a social innovation business, it’s a for-profit venture that just happens to be clean, green, and job creating. The newco is called Integrated Green Technologies (IGT) and the good news is the business plan couldn’t be more clear or exciting. This business could make a great deal of money and in a fairly predictable, not-so-long time frame. In theory, it’s an investors dream, relatively low risk, high return, a chance for explosive growth (this is my opinion, investors get in touch with me — gregg@greggfraley.com — to see

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Today’s post features Random Notes. Bits and pieces not quite full blog post worthy, but worth telling (hopefully). Random Note #1a. — Scott Anthony is at it again. The Innosight innovation maven has just released The Little Black Book of Innovation, how it works, how to do it. This is not a review — I’ve only gotten to page 53 — but I’m liking the tone. This is good stuff, and I’ll have more to say on this later, but am particularly looking forward to reading about the 28 day program he’s suggesting. Anthony wrote another innovation book that I reviewed awhile back The Innovator’s Guide to Growth. This new book would appear to be less academic and more practically oriented.

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The world is at least one third introverts. Some would say half the population. The people you work with, your family, your spouse, many of these people do not want to have to shout you down to be heard. Creativity has a lot to do with self-expression. If that is not happening with one third of a team there won’t be much productive work or innovation. Collaborative work means people need to be self-expressed in groups with a mix of introverts and extroverts (and as noted earlier this wee, with different creative styles). As Susan Cain has pointed out in Quiet, introverts are often drowned out. Secret Wish #11 is a wish for air time. This is a person, Julia,

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My last blog post, by far, was the most viral piece I’ve written in four years of blogging. Provocative titles and edgy content seem to win readers. And it would appear that creative style is a hot topic. If Steve Jobs Worked For You, You’d Probably Fire Him, is about a concept called Creative Style. Creative style can be measured, there are a couple of great assessments available. One is the KAI (Kirton Adaptor-Innovator Inventory) and the other is FourSight. Creative style is about how you think, how you solve problems. Steve Jobs was probably a high Innovator on the KAI. Innovator’s think “different”, while Adaptors think “better.” And listen carefully —both are creative. Edison was thought to be a

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There is a great deal being said and written about the late, great, Steve Jobs. He was a complex personality — and a remarkable leader. Folks often overlook the personality piece and focus on the leadership. After reading another article about his leadership style, it got me thinking, What if Steve Jobs Worked for you? Imagine if you will a young Steve Jobs, fresh out of not graduating from college, twenty something, energetic, but not expert. You might hire him because he’d probably interview well. Once onboard your company you give young Steve something lower-level to do. You might not see he works long hours because you’re not there at the same time he is. You might get upset that

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It might be the most obvious innovation infarction of all. Nonetheless, quite deadly. The latest innovation self-suicide factor is simply avoiding hard work. People, innovation is Never easy. You might be fooled now and then when something goes smoothly, but I’ll bet you a dime to a dollar (a pence to a pound) it’s an incremental innovation. Nothing wrong with that, but breakthrough’s require hard work — blood, sweat, and tears. Cue Paul Robeson  singing Old Man River. Or maybe we recall the famous words of Ringo Starr “Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues, and you know it don’t come easy.” Innovation — it don’t come easy. I’ve observed recently an organization that has done

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The buzz around Susan Cain’s book Quiet: The power of Introverts in a World That Just Can’t Stop Talking continues to build. Watching her speak here in London last week it’s clear she’s hit a cultural chord. As of today, #33 on the Amazon chart. Introverts clearly have a tough time making themselves heard. She’s also quite right that extroverts tend to dominate the group processes we see in various organizations. Cain emphasizes solitary work and reflection, and no doubt, there is not enough of either. I’m not sure she understands that with proper training and facilitation, and just good listening skills, a lot of the challenges she identifies for introverts can be overcome. The value of group work and collaborative

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I had the pleasure last week of hearing the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. For those of you whose “woo” detection meter has just started clicking, well, hang in there, I think you’ll see the business relevance in a moment. The experience of meditating with 3000 people at Royal Festival Hall was refreshing and energizing. The focus, even before the man spoke, was on breathing. The guided meditation we all did together had us simply being mindful of the breath going in and out. When you do this, it’s actually difficult to not be “in the moment.” Thich Nhat Hanh’s comments were amazingly simple. And yet, the elegance of his poetic and wise words almost masked how deeply practical

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