Employee Engagement

Book Excerpt: Think Like a Privateer, Not a Pirate

Harvard Business School Prof: You’re Probably Over-Using Zoom

Ex-DreamWorks Animation CTO: How the C-Suite Can Foster Innovation

At NASA, Introducing a New Openness to Innovation

Navigating through Chaotic Times

Book Excerpt: Think Like a Privateer, Not a Pirate
Harvard Business School Prof: You’re Probably Over-Using Zoom
Ex-DreamWorks Animation CTO: How the C-Suite Can Foster Innovation
At NASA, Introducing a New Openness to Innovation
Navigating through Chaotic Times

A central element of many innovation efforts is giving employees throughout the organization a way to participate. That can involve: Idea challenges or competitions; training programs; innovation “champion” networks; Hackathons or regular “demo days” for employee projects; or promoting innovation techniques or initiatives through various communication channels.

At the outset, the objective is often to drum up enthusiasm around innovation, or “change the culture” at an organization. But to endure over time, they must be seen as developing a new generation of leadership at the company, building useful skills, or helping to cultivate cost-saving or revenue-generating ideas.

Articles & Case Studies

Keeping Innovation Alive in the Time of COVID-19

“We’ve entered an unstable and economically volatile period that may serve up the biggest challenges of your career,” writes MIT senior lecturer Blade Kotelly, ”and will require every business to innovate in ways they never have before.” Here’s his concrete advice on how you and your team can keep innovation moving forward as teams suddenly go remote…

How to Create a Culture of Experimentation

Relying on intuition often leads teams down the wrong path. Stefan Thomke, a professor at Harvard Business School, explains how to rely on experiments instead.

‘Loonshots’: How to Support Crazy Ideas That Just Might Work

Ideas that have the potential to reshape industries may end up stuck in the corporate basement. So how can companies embrace risky ideas? Authors Safi Bahcall and Hugh Molotsi serve up answers in this video.

Six Tips for Getting ‘Customers’ to Buy What You’re Selling

“One way to ensure alignment,” writes Chris Mayer, “is to think of the innovation initiative as a consumer-oriented business with colleagues as customers.” Mayer, who served as the first Chief Innovation Officer at a large construction company, offers guidance on how to do that.