Why ISO Standards Fall Short in Innovation Management

Co-authored by Bruno Pešec and Dan Toma. There are companies nowadays that are recognizing the importance of innovation for their long term strategic intent. Some of these companies have had great experiences with innovation in the past and just want to double-down on the effort and professionalize the practice; while others want to do it, […]

The Art of Corporate Spin-Outs: When to spin-out? How to spin-out?

In the volatile economic environment of today, if done right, innovation isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the lifeline of the company. Corporations are constantly seeking ingenious ways to breathe life into groundbreaking ideas, and spin-outs are just one of many ways in which companies can make innovation a viable proposition. “Spin outs” typically refer to […]

Thesis-based Investment or Theme-based Investment

One of the worst mistakes companies make when pursuing innovation-led growth is to sink their money into various investments without knowing why, beyond just ‘it’s a cool technology that can disrupt us’ or ‘it’s the board’s pet project’. Yes, this sounds like the world’s most obvious mistake to avoid, but in our experience, we’ve seen […]

The Innovation Thesis and its Structure

President Kennedy’s address to the joint session of the US Congress on May 25th 1961 can be viewed as the start of the space race: “… I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to […]

Moonshots Are Nice, But do You Have a Space Program?

Probably you are familiar with the term moonshot and if you aren’t here’s a short definition: a difficult or expensive task, the outcome of which is expected to have great significance. As difficult as it might sound, launching a transformational new idea that will have a positive impact on your company’s business, can actually be […]

Why a Career in Innovation Management is a Bad Idea. And What Can You do About it.

Following a career in innovation might sound really exciting. At least in theory, you will have to tap into your creative self, you will get the chance to play with the latest technology, understand the latest trends and overall have a feeling of being ahead of the curve. But in reality, in most companies, following a career in innovation might be the worst choice one can make.

Three Things to Consider When Developing an Innovation Strategy

The process of developing a strategy in companies pre-pandemic was nothing more than an exercise in incremental adaptation of last year’s plan. The pandemic proved that the strategy development process needs to be more dynamic if the companies are to be able to swiftly adapt to new conditions when they arise. Furthermore, strategic planning is […]

Why build a system for innovation

While the debate of innovation being art or science is still raging on we have to admit that not everyone in a large company is going to be a ‘Steve Jobs’. And nothing’s wrong with that. Also, independent of how much your HR department is struggling to attract the best innovation talent, the company will […]

Telcos’ second chance

The dawn of a new technological revolution is upon us. 5G will impact our lives in more ways than we think. Unlike its predecessors though, 5G is a technological paradigm shift, probably similar only to the shift from typewriter to computer. 5G will become the enabler of an entire ecosystem of fully connected intelligent sensors […]