Meanwhile there are hundreds of data mining, data warehouse and flexible reporting tools but similar scenarios like the one described by O’Bierne happen probably every day in most companies. I also experience this in my job over and over again. In my special case it concerns especially HR figures and reports. To my mind the keywords to explain this phenomenon are flexibility and habit.

This quote deals with the core of my dissertation which is about “systems to support new concept development”.
Although I like this illustration because it demystifies innovation, it is a bit simplified. The way from the creative element to an implementable innovation concept is not trivial. Quite the contrary – the so called “fuzzy front end” is one of the most discussed parts of innovation management throughout the corresponding scientific literature.

You may be interessted in reading “The PDMA toolbook for new product development” for more detailed information.

credit: MasterNewMedia

Studies show that the click-through rate of ads on social networking sites is extremely low—simply because people don’t go to these sites to seek information about specific products. Therefore, the advertising-based business model has had only limited success on social networking sites.
If the purpose of advertising is to influence consumers’ purchases, our research shows that there is another way to influence their behavior. Imagine that Sony wants to promote its new digital camera. Sony can either advertise on Facebook and accept a very low click-through rate, or give away free cameras to several Facebook members (potentially at a lower cost than advertising) and generate a viral campaign. Our research shows that this viral campaign is possible.
Sunil Gupta, Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School

credit: More4kids

To my mind that’s really one of the crucial points! Most people that I would call “creative” are also not what one would call “conformed”. So let’s start to show our kids also to color the space outside the lines in their paiting book – at least from time to time.

credit: Ricky Schmidt

I think it is critical to systematically identify what I would call “downturn needs.” There are many different kinds of such needs. First, there are needs that are created by the substitution effects I spoke of earlier. Second, there are needs that emerge because of the availability of excessive time or the unavailability of productive employment. These are by way of necessities. In addition, there is also a need for affordable luxuries. After all, just because consumers are cutting back doesn’t mean that they do not still enjoy products that give them pleasure and entertainment—or even distraction from the difficult times around them. The third category of needs is a more obvious one: products that deliver value for the money spent on them. When consumer budgets are tight, such products will have plenty of appeal.
Bhaskar Chakravorti

I really recommend to read the whole interview – it introduces a refreshing pragmatical approach to what people willingly call “times like this”.