Gregg Fraley

It occurred to me that as a cultural trend spotter and scanner, I’ve not posted about current trends in my own field of Innovation.  No time like the present!  Like any industry or concept things fall in and out of fashion. This is just my view, but a fairly well informed one. So, here are my 10 thoughts about innovation trends, in no particular order: (see below for more thinking about each item) 10 Trends In Innovation (March 2011) 1. Creativity is getting more lip service but less action. 2. Risk Aversion is still very much part of the big company scene. 3. Lack of Resources is the number one excuse for not innovating. 4. Idea Management Systems and Product

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While trying to escape the business world for a few hours last evening (aka “male channel surfing”) I happened upon a Heston Blumenthal TV program on Channel 4. Kudos to Channel 4 for producing Heston’s Mission Impossible. It’s a must watch for those interested in innovation. Period. The program is all about Heston’s efforts to dramatically improve the food on British Airways.  Wow, a good start, it’s an iconic brand, and a brand in trouble. The program concept is not new; Blumental made a similar effort to update the menu at Great Britian’s classic diner, Little Chef. What is new, and very worth watching if you are an innovation person, hell, a business person, is the clarity of the program

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I’ve been asked by intelligent people why I bother with Twitter. The short answer, for me, is — marketing. But, it’s not only marketing and that glib answer will hardly suffice for those who really are seeking to understand the phenomena.  I passed 7,000 followers this past week, and I consider that an accomplishment. Now, not everybody needs to have that kind of Following, in fact, depending on your goals, 100 or less might be exactly what you want.  Your goals with Twitter will be different if you’re playing for yourself, or for an organization. They’ll be different depending on your personal desires. This post is more about how and why an individual might get to Tweeting, see my 7

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Heads-up! There’s a great creativity post on Mike Brown’s excellent blog, Brainzooming. It’s a listing of 37 articles on ways to be more creative.  I’m kicking myself because I’m not on the list! I realize that even though I’ve written about 300 posts related to creativity, and a book — I haven’t written a piece that explicitly takes on that challenge.  I would argue that my “Magic Jacket of Creative Behavior” post comes darn close!  Well, never mind, no time like the present to make a change — I’ll make the next list with this post! There are a lot of ways to be more creative, in my list below I’ve tried to focus on fundamental Ways of Being that lead to

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I’ve had the pleasure over the last week to devour a new novel from British writer, Gary William Murning.  Murning is the author of If I Never, a fine book, a thriller, I reviewed here last year. The new offering is essentially a fictionalized memoir titled Children of the Resolution. To say the least, Murning has upped his already fine game in his second major work of fiction. He did it by reaching into his past — and his heart.  The only thing I don’t like about this book is the cover art. Quite aside from the content of the book, Murning has decided to self-publish, a gutsy move, and a brilliant one in my view. His publisher (Legend Press) passed,

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I’m busy these days writing a manual for my new company, Kiln.  Writing a technical document is a mixed blessing.  It feels like you’re doing something that will provide value, that feels good, and — it’s often slow going. The manual is for a new innovation process which we’re calling FuseTrail. More about that in future posts, but as part of that effort I had some fresh thoughts about factors that impact innovation. I had all the usual suspects down, things like, respect for ideas, supportive culture, persistence, and talented people. I paused while writing and thought about what was stopping some of the organizations I’ve worked with — and it came to me — the obvious, Courage. This will be

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I read with some interest, and, frankly, surprise that Intel and will.i.am are joining forces. They’ve named the rapper “Director of Creative Innovation.” Read the PR Blurb in Daily Finance for the spin on the story. This is really interesting.  Some quick thoughts: 1. will.i.am is undoubtedly a creative force as an artist. The Black Eyed Peas are monster hit makers and captivating performers. Beyond his hip-hop cred, his song “Yes We Can” used in the video for Obama during the 2008 election was nothing short of inspirational (I just watched it again, tears in my eyes). He’s dabbled in fashion, producing, acting, and more. The man has creative chops, absolutely no doubt. As a symbolic kind of guy for creativity,

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Very quick post, but if you want to see an amazing glimpse into the future, check this out: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=176790 I do wonder why they didn’t use older people as the models, but otherwise… kudos to Honda for the U3-X. It would be nice to see similar videos in other industries, any suggestions?

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I just finished reading a wonderful novel, The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga. It’s a brisk story told in first person by a young Indian entrepreneur.  I won’t say much more about the story, but it’s a good one, and deserving of the accolades and prizes its received. Perfect airplane reading, and, it has me thinking about how an entrepreneur gets started. Kudos to Adiga for writing a compelling, dark, fascinating examination of poverty, opportunity, and wealth. A White Tiger is a rare breed in the wild, and the metaphor was used in the novel to describe how challenging it is for a young Indian, mired in the mud of deep poverty, to move from virtual slavery to being an

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How do we get more companies on board to do the new dance, the Idea  Management Adoption Slide?  It’s Holistic! I wrote an article two years ago that stated managers will lose their jobs, at some point, for not adopting Idea Management Systems (IMS).  Those who read this blog know I’m an advocate and believer in IMS, and I’ll point you to the original article (Idea Management, the Measure of Innovation) for all the good reasons and concrete benefits. I’m not the only one who thinks this, I found a more recent blog post by Ron Shulkin, who wrote comprehensive piece on the topic. I haven’t heard of anyone losing their job yet, and there is anecdotal evidence of more adoption

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