Gregg Fraley

Idea Generation Fails How to Hose Your Next Idea Generation Project* If you want to improve , get the training This post is a self-explanatory graphic for the most part. Those who regularly do Idea Generation don’t need my text below (but don’t be smug, even one of these fails can do you in).  I posted this graphic on LinkedIn a couple days ago it got so much attention I thought I’d do a bit of explaining. These fails — and solutions — are the result of 30+ years of research and hands-on innovation consulting work. And these fails are democratic — they will hose a session or project in any industry, in non-profits, associations, or in economic development. Start-ups

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Why Don’t B2B Companies Use Qualitative Research? Qualitative Studies Lead to Insights, and Innovative Results Open-ended Questions Are Powerful Qualitative research is an effective way to understand your market better. Consumer product companies spend a great deal of time and money doing qualitative, essentially, talking to consumers. They often use the focus group method, but also do one-on-one interviews, and observational research or ethnographic studies. It’s an integral part of their innovation process. The findings, the derived insights, can be profound. It’s the perfect start to an innovation process. B2B companies do qualitative much less frequently. They’re missing the boat — qualitative is arguably more effective in B2B markets. Qualitative research is often misunderstood, that might explain why B2B hasn’t embraced it widely. Weirdly,

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Training Accelerates Innovation 94% of managers are unsatisfied with their companies innovation performance. 70% of CEO’s see innovation as a key driver of growth. That’s what McKinsey says in this article. Why then is corporate America so woefully undertrained in innovation fundamentals? Energy is Not Enough, Get Training in Innovation  When I step into a room to facilitate a strategy, innovation, or idea generation session I usually find a great deal of energy. Almost always. People really want to do good work. What I also often find is inexperience that cripples their desires. Specifically: No fluidity in free-associative divergent thinking necessary to innovate — people do not know how to think like innovators! And yes, this can be trained. Inappropriate

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Authentically Different Conference In recent years I’ve become a bit anti-conference. I still go to some but I find the formats tired. The formula favors big name authors and speakers who sometimes miss the mark. The agenda is so jammed you don’t have time to talk to your peers. The social events are fun, but a bit… forced. So, you may be surprised when I bend over backwards to promote Intrapreneurship Chicago 2016.  The event is going to be held at the TechNexus accelerator in the River North area. Chicago area innovators and intrapreneurs, take note. June 22! This conference is authentically different. And highly useful if you are a real working Intrapreneur. 90% of the conference attendees will be

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Keep Punching, Stay True to Yourself and Trends, Make Things The demise of Radio Shack., it’s depressing. Much like Kodak you read the history of events and can point to several ideas not done that could have saved them. You can also point to many ideas they tried that were clearly the wrong bets. Hindsight is better than foresight, but still, if they’d stuck to their original values they might have survived. Radio Shack substituted short sighted management tactics for real innovation and invention and that’s ultimately what killed them. They lost the sense of who they were as a company and that led them down a lot of innovation blind alleys. A once loved brand in consumer electronics, and a

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Outsourcing innovation project management might be the most strategic money you spend this year. It’s not a new idea but it’s one more companies should consider. It sure beats doing nothing. See my Seven Essentials for hiring below. But first: If you’ve not got an innovation plan in the process of being executed, right now, you are treading water and will eventually drown. So what’s stopping you from kicking off an innovation initiative? I often hear resources. What I hear from top management: “we don’t have the time or resources for innovation projects, we’ll start later this year.” I get it. How is it possible to do this separate thing that requires its own focus and resources while keeping the

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Many companies started 2014 with the good intention of “getting after innovation” this year. Was that your organization? How’s that going? Are you jumping for joy or singing the blues? Some companies have worked hard and consistently at innovation all this year. They started the year running and got things done. Look at the slew of announcements Apple just made (to be fair the watch took years). Other companies made a good start but got caught up in the red tape of too much process. So, it’s September now. For those of you who’ve been busy keeping up with business operations and haven’t had time to do formal innovation this year, all is not lost. Consider: Quick & Dirty Innovation (QDI) “Wake up

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Coming back from a trip to Toronto (visiting with the amazing Min Basadur) I spotted an interesting billboard at O’Hare airport. IBM suggests they can help “Remove the Blind Spots from Your Business” — by using Big Data and analytics. The visual of a man at a kind of virtual desktop that has visibility to ships, trucks, retail, and factories indicates that if you can just know more about what’s going on out there you’ll have nothing to worry about. If only that were so. I’m not bad rapping IBM here, I’m sure they can indeed provide lots of interesting insight using Big Data and analytics. Many companies would be well served to do a better job with this. Using

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What kind of action can you take, today, to advance your dream? What action can you take today to make real your invention, your new business idea, or art project? This is a post about taking creative action. All the great ideas in the world, all the wonderful concepts, all the ground-breaking thoughts we have are useless unless we get into real world action. It’s an easy concept to forget for people who love ideas, concepts, and imaginative thinking. Somehow — we are such great rationalisers — the good vibes generated when we have those lovely thoughts feel like action. But sadly they are not. Every day that slips by without real world forward progress on our creative ideas is

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