Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire

BRADEN KELLEY is the founder of Business Strategy Innovation and has been advising companies, including Microsoft, Misys, Millicom International Cellular, Wunder-man, and HomeAway.com on how to increase their revenue and cut their costs since 1996. Braden is a thought leader on the topic of continuous innovation and works with clients to create innovative strategies, effective customer marketing, organizational change, and improved organizational performance. He has published more than 400 articles for online publications such as CustomerThink and Blogging Innovation. On Twitter, he is an innovation leader with over 6,000 followers. For more information, visit blogginginnovation.com

"Kelley may have become an online media personality, but he's probably more well-known within the innovation community as author of the book Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire, published October 2010 by John Wiley & Sons. I wanted to provide a book that helps people identify and remove barriers to innovation and is an innovation primer for people who are looking to get started," (Seattle Times, 4 September 2011)

• Foreword xiiiAcknowledgments xviiIntroduction 1About the Companion Web Site 5Part I Setting the Stage 7Chapter 1 Blinded by the Light: Vision Blockages 9Overview 9Innovation Vision Example (Alcatel-Lucent) 11Innovation Vision Example (Kuwait Petroleum Corporation) 12There Is No Single Innovation Vision 13Innovation Vision Case Study—Ford Motor Company 14Innovation Vision Case Study—Hewlett-Packard 16Innovation Vision Case Study—Apple Computer 16Innovation Vision Case Study—Nintendo 18Innovation Vision Case Study—Walmart versus Amazon 18Innovation Vision Case Study—Intel versus AMD, Qualcomm, and NVIDIA 19Bringing It All Together 20Chapter 2 Peering in the Dark: Strategy Blockages 23Overview 23Strategy Must Be Based in Reality 24Two Sources of Innovation, One Innovation Strategy 25Time as a Component of Innovation Strategy 25Innovation Strategy Case Study—The Whirlpool Example 26Innovation Case Study—Open Innovation at Procter & Gamble 28Not Just for Corporations 28Innovation Maturity 30Incremental versus Disruptive Innovation 32Innovation Portfolios 33Open Innovation 34Bringing It All Together 35Chapter 3 Setting a Course Blindfolded: Goal Blockages 37Overview 37The Purpose of Innovation Goals 38The Influence of Customer Permissions and Visual Frameworks on Your Innovation Strategy and Goals 39Setting Your Innovation Goals 39Bringing It All Together 40Part II The Innovation Engine 43Chapter 4 What Are They Really Thinking?: Insight Blockages 45Overview 45Four Lenses of Innovation 46Broadcasting the Voice of the Customer 46Trend Spotting, Behaviors, and Needs 48Insights and Execution 50Insights Case Study—Apple iPhone 51Insights Case Study—Apple iPad 52Are You Innovating for the Past or the Future? 56Bringing It All Together 58Chapter 5 Shining a Light on the Customer Problem: Idea Generation Blockages 59Overview 59Generating Ideas 60Idea Quantity 61Idea Quality 62Better Brainstorming 62The Idea Generation S-Curve 63The Nine Innovation Roles 64Bringing It All Together 66Chapter 6 Picking a Winner Without Looking: Idea Evaluation Blockages 67Overview 68You Get What You Measure 68Separate But Equal 69Idea Evaluation Checklist 69Idea Challenges 71Parallel Idea Evaluation in a Serial World 71Saying No in the Right Way 72The Importance of “Not Now” 73Bringing It All Together 74Chapter 7 Going to Market Blind: Idea Commercialization Blockages 77Overview 77Useful or Valuable 78Slow Innovation 79Slow Innovation Case Study—The iPod 79Slow Innovation Case Study—The VCR 83Slow Innovation Case Study—The Internet 83Slow Innovation Case Study—Southwest Airlines 84Slow Innovation—Conclusion 84Idea Commercialization Stories—Apple Designs a “No!” 85Lessons Learned 86Bringing It All Together 87Part III The Organization 89Chapter 8 Have You Had an Innovation Lobotomy?: Organizational Psychology Blockages 91Overview 91What Are You Afraid Of? 92The Impact of Culture 92Organizational Hierarchy of Needs 93Breaking Out of the Mold 95Choose Your Own Hours—A Case Study in Flexibility 96Bringing It All Together 97Chapter 9 Do Your Policies and Processes Keep People in the Dark?: Information and Structural Blockages 99Overview 100Some Secrets of Continuous Innovation Are Nothing New 101Should They Call Them Silos or Bunkers? 103Get Your Hands Off My Bonus 104A Case Study in Breaking Down Information and Structural Barriers Cisco 104Another Case Study—GE and Reverse Innovation 106Bringing It All Together 108Chapter 10 Keeping the Lights On: Sustainability Blockages 109Overview 109Who Innovates? 110Innovating in a Crisis 111Innovation Is Not a Project 111If You Want Systemic Innovation, You Need Systems to Manage It 112Innovation versus Flexibility 114Managing Innovation Is About Managing Change—A Case Study 115Purpose and Passion 119Blogging Innovation as a Case Study in Passion 119Passion versus Obsession 120Innovation Is Social 121Bringing It All Together 123Epilogue 125Appendix A Customer Exploration 131Appendix B Visual Frameworks for Guiding Your Innovation Efforts 139Appendix C The Innovation Baker’s Dozen 161Bibliography 175About the Author 179Index 181