TIGER Talk “Pivoting Innovation: New Ways to Drive Growth” Urko recently had an opportunity to speak at Innovate New Albany, one of the startup incubators in the Central OH area. About 50 people attended from local companies, large organizations and startup entrepreneurs. Jessica Pirro of Innovation New Albany wrote the recap below. This information is …
3 Reasons Why Nike is Effective at Driving Growth One of my favorite companies to watch is Nike. They keep doing things right, including driving growth at more than 10 percent annually even with sales of $30.6 billion last year. But that’s not what inspires me; their big numbers are just evidence of their effectiveness. …
The Difference Between Innovation and Creativity What is innovation? It’s one of those words that gets bandied about as if we all know what it means. And, perhaps, at a casual conversational level, we do. But when it comes time to be innovative or execute innovation, opinions vary regarding what it is and how to …
The One Thing You Must Do to Remain Flexible in Disruptive Times There’s an internal IBM PowerPoint slide making its way around the internet that declares, “The Digital Disruption Has Already Happened.” It cites the following evidence: World’s largest taxi company owns no taxis (Uber) Largest accommodation provider owns no real estate (Airbnb) Largest phone …
How to Acquire More Clients (and Maintain Your Integrity) We’ve all been manipulated into buying something we didn’t need. This type of selling behavior is particularly egregious for professional service providers because it is the antithesis of being a trusted advisor. Not surprisingly, a high percentage of professional service providers — attorneys, accountants, architects, consultants …
How One Business is Disrupting Its Market I don’t write food or restaurant reviews, but I admire any organization that changes the game and distinguishes itself in a crowded field. One such organization is the fast casual restaurant Hot Chicken Takeover (HCT) in Columbus, Ohio. It’s disrupting the fast casual restaurant market by competing on …
Dinosaur or Dynamo? How to Stay Relevant in a Rapidly Changing World Hasn’t the internet rendered public libraries nearly obsolete? That was the question in my mind as I watched Patrick Losinski, CEO of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, receive his “CEO of the Year Award” from Columbus CEO Magazine. I was wrong, at least about …
A Short Meditation on Customer Needs (Modeled after “If-by-whiskey,” the famous 1952 speech by Noah S. “Soggy” Sweat, Jr.) On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me where I stand concerning the commonly held belief that …
Increase Your Innovation Reward While Reducing Risk Many executives believe that innovation carries a risk-reward trade-off that dictates, “Any money invested in innovation can generate higher returns only if there is a commensurate higher risk of failure.” While the risk-reward trade-off theory makes a lot of sense when investing in mutual funds, it should not …
How to Innovate: Start With the Customer Innovation isn’t just for technologists or scientists. At its core, innovation is about finding a new way to address an unmet need. Organizations that learn how to identify their customers’ unmet needs before generating ideas can become excellent at innovation. If you ask the right questions of the …
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