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Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way “Lead, follow, or get out of the way!” It’s a harsh phrase with a big punch. The meaning is clear: either lead, follow the lead of others, or get out of way so others can execute on the plan. Generally, I think we can all agree that, …
Is It Possible to Turn Breakthrough Innovation into Project Management? What’s the difference between project management and new product/service innovation? I think most people would say that the biggest difference is that, with innovation, companies have to figure out what their target customers want/need in addition to figuring out how to deliver results. The Jobs-to-Be-Done …
Demystify Innovation and Growth Strategy If you want to be successful at innovation and growth, you must understand these 5 truths: 1. Innovation is not inherently risk and messy. The way most organizations go about understanding their target customers’ unmet needs is risky and messy. By dramatically reducing “market risk” (i.e., the risk that people …
Becoming An Employer of Choice I don’t need to tell you that the competition for talent is intense. Many companies continue to turn away customers because they don’t have the people to meet the demand. This was brought home to me anew recently when I got a first-of-its-kind request for a proposal. Instead of helping …
Effective Ways to Reduce Innovation Risk (Published by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) June 7, 2022)
When Being Customer-Focused Isn’t Enough Many organizations proudly promote being “customer focused” in their vision, mission, values and/or culture. I think we can all agree that this is a good thing because, for starters, without customers, there wouldn’t be a business. And probably all of us can cite many reasons why we like doing business …
Putting Jobs-to-be-Done into Action Some of you may remember that I shared a video a few months ago from which the still shot above was taken. “Squat University,” an online strength-building fitness company, used the video to demonstrate why “strength training is something we should do for the rest of our lives. It allows us …
This False Belief is Killing Innovation Most people think innovation is inherently risky and messy. That’s understandable when you consider that about 50-90% of new products fail. And yet, studies have repeatedly shown that the primary reason for high failure rates is misunderstanding the customers’ needs. Some experts claim that 90% of all new businesses …
How JTBD Reveals Latent Unarticulated Needs Success at innovation requires that we remember “the drill is not the hole.” The drill is a solution designed to help customers make a hole. Other solutions could be a pick, punch, a laser, or some yet-to-be-invented tool. The customer need is to “make a hole.” People confuse customer …
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