Overlooked in the digital transformation: Ethical, Societal, Legal, Regulatory issues

A friend and I were talking recently about the dramatic change that digital transformation will create.  The potential impact on our lives is tremendous, from autonomous vehicles that whisk us to and from work, to drones that deliver goods directly to our homes or...

In digital, there are opportunities both fast and slow

In my class today on digital transformation I was fortunate enough to have a great guest speaker, Ramesh Latan, who helped transform Bell+Howell into a digital company.  Ramesh gave a great talk and the students received it really well.One of the key points he made...

As digital transformation unfolds, it pays to be a generalist

I remember the hubbub surrounding Dan Pink's book A Whole New Mind, in which he stated that the future (this was back in the early 2000s) would belong to right brained people, because machines would ultimately automate anything that could be easily documented and that followed...

There's gold in the data - but have we learned the lessons?

For some reason I can't get the song Clementine out of my head.  Perhaps it's because of the line - dwelt a miner, a 49er....  that keeps that song playing in my mind.  We are in a significant transition. One breed of miner - the hardhat wearing, coal digging,...

Innovation building blocks: diverse perspectives and voices

I've been writing a series of blog posts focused on some of the most fundamental building blocks.  These fundamentals are necessary to sustain innovation in corporations, and are most often overlooked or treated as an afterthought.  Some of the building blocks...

Innovation fundamentals: using time effectively

I've been writing an occasional series on some of the fundamental building blocks for innovation success - at least those that I think are critical, intangible and often overlooked.  I've written previously about having a bias for innovation in your culture, seeking...

The Big Nine: digital transformation, opportunities and perils

I've been reading a fair number of books and articles lately about digital transformation.  The concept of digital transformation is still somewhat nascent, still being defined, but increasingly it seems that many of the significant underpinnings of whatever digital...

Demographics is your destiny

In a short break from my recurring posts on innovation building blocks (see articles on innovation bias, finding important unsolved problems and discovery and exploration) I was motivated to write today about demographics and destiny.  As a person who really enjoys...

Innovation Building Block #3: Discovery, exploration and novelty

I'm writing a series of posts about what I consider to be the fundamental building blocks of innovation.  The building blocks I'm writing about are core to doing innovation well over a period of time.  The first building block I wrote about was creating a bias...

Innovation or ERP: which path will digital transformation follow?

I've been thinking a lot about the concept of "digital transformation" recently.  You can't help but encounter it on Twitter or LinkedIn, in business publications and in discussions with customers and prospects.  Everyone wants to know about digital transformation....

Innovation Building Block 2 - important, unsolved problem or opportunity

I'm going back to basics for a handful of blog posts - back to what I call the innovation building blocks.  In the first blog I wrote about the importance of defining an innovation bias in your culture.  In this episode of the continuing series on innovation building...

The digital revolution will not be evenly distributed

I'm writing today about digital transformation, and starting with two of my favorite quotes.  The first, referenced in the title, is from William Gibson, the author of Neuromancer and other great sci-fi books, who wrote:  "the future is here, it's just not evenly...

Culture and innovation bias - the first building block

I'm writing a series of blog posts about the fundamentals of innovation success.  In my previous article I wrote about the importance of fundamentals in any activity, using music and practicing scales as an analogy for understanding the fundamentals of innovation. In...