Jeffrey Phillips

JANUARY 24, 2023

There are a lot of folks thinking about the implications of ChatGPT, the new AI that has many writers worried about losing their jobs. I've seen posts online where people provided prompts to ChatGPT and found the resulting document to be comparable to a well-written, college level paper. Which has led, inevitably, to the claim that AI will replace humans and take their jobs.

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ChatGPT Creativity Training Change 192

Jeffrey Phillips

DECEMBER 21, 2022

There's a famous quote about tools we use, which says that we first shape our tools, and then they shape us. Meaning, I think, that we are natural creators, meant to solve problems, to create new things. When we create new things, they become valuable and in demand, and to a great extent, at least initially, unattainable until produced in mass quantities.

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Jeffrey Phillips

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

I've been writing about innovation for close to 20 years. During most of that time, I've had the good fortune to lead innovation projects for clients as well. The work I get to do, and the material I see online and read in (yes, I still read paper magazines) has provided a lot of fodder for this blog over the years. There are kids out there, getting ready to graduate from college, who were just being born when I started doing innovation work.

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Jeffrey Phillips

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

I've been a consultant most of my working life, doing all kinds of consulting - starting out in software development, moving on to process improvement, data analytics, new product development and strategy. To paraphrase an old saying, all consulting is good, and some of it is useful. I want to talk today about a point I keep seeing get repeated in many of my strategy and innovation customers, a problem that should be easy to solve but it isn't.

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Engagement Artificial Inteligence Software Review Software Developers 144

Jeffrey Phillips

AUGUST 16, 2022

In a previous blog post, I wrote about the differences between working "in" the business for strategy and innovation versus working "on" the business for strategy and innovation. This dichotomy is a somewhat classic way of thinking about how people spend their time - either "in" the business doing the day to day work that propels the company forward, or time spent "on" the business, thinking about how the business is positioned, its strategy, how it operates.

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Strategy Strategy Roadmap Management 157

Jeffrey Phillips

AUGUST 2, 2022

I've been thinking for years that we have innovation all wrong. We treat innovation as it if requires years of experience, deep knowledge of an industry or a technology, or mastery of a specific subject. I think far too often we fall into the fallacy of expertise, and look for great ideas from people who are deeply experienced in one technology or field.

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Jeffrey Phillips

JULY 27, 2022

In entrepreneurial circles, there's a lot of talk about the concepts of working "in" your business versus working "on" your business. The distinction is that working in the business defines the work that drives the business day to day - going to meetings, answering email, providing products and services for customers. Working on the business is the time you spend thinking about why the business exists, how it should operate and what it should become.

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Underperforming Technical Team Innovation Strategy Strategy 180

Jeffrey Phillips

MAY 31, 2022

One of my favorite questions when I work with software teams is this: given a choice, would you rather work on existing systems in a support and maintenance role, or would you rather work on developing or implementing new systems with new technology? The answers are always the same. About 30% of the group I'll survey is comfortable with the existing systems and code and is happy extending it and maintaining it.

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Technology System Survey Software Developers 130

Jeffrey Phillips

MAY 20, 2022

As you know if you follow my blog, I generally write about the intersection of strategy and innovation. Increasingly, however, we need to invite data into this mix. As more and more data is generated, it creates new opportunities in the strategy realm and in the innovation realm. This post will consider the importance of data in strategy development and execution, as well as in innovation.

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Data Strategy Strategy Innovation 144

Jeffrey Phillips

MAY 12, 2022

I'm lucky to have the opportunity to read and review a number of books in the innovation and strategy space, and I find many of the books have interesting insights or promote new ideas but often aren't overly actionable. However, I've always found the insights of Roger Martin useful. His book - Opposable Mind - is a great book about capturing and merging two disparate ideas or opinions to form new viewpoints, products or services.

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Strategy Strategy Competition Project 111

Jeffrey Phillips

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

I've been thinking a lot about innovation and it's "place" in a corporate structure. Innovation is often so different, so unique and so unfamiliar that many companies aren't quite sure where to place it. Does it belong with product teams, since some innovation is logically focused on new products? Does it belong in a strategy organization, since innovation is often focused on growth?

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Jeffrey Phillips

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

Time was, a few hundred years ago, that a pioneer was a person who left the civilized areas and moved to new lands in search of a better opportunity or a new way of life. When we in the States think of pioneers, we think of people like Daniel Boone, who led people into Western Virginia and then on into Kentucky to find new opportunities and new lands further west.

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Jeffrey Phillips

DECEMBER 28, 2021

Over the last few weeks, Paul Hobcraft and I have developed a series of short videos. The purpose of these videos is to explore a tool that Paul and I created, which we call the Executive Innovation Workmat. The Workmat is meant to help executives understand their role in innovation activities, and to identify the key attributes of a business that must be aligned and in synch for innovation to flourish.

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Jeffrey Phillips

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

I've been asked a number of times, by companies large and small, how to create an innovation capacity that lasts. This is a really interesting and important question, with a distinction. Note that what my clients are asking for is to create an innovation capacity that outlasts a product need, or market gap, or executive team member. After all, most (probably 90%) of all innovation projects undertaken in large corporations are reactive projects trying to respond to a market threat or competitive

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Jeffrey Phillips

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

GE, once a large conglomerate, has announced that it will divide itself into three companies , a healthcare company, an energy company and an aviation company. There are a few things I'd like to comment on about this announcement, but what is really interesting (at least from an innovator's point of view) is that we get to have a live experiment about the innovation capabilities and capacities of three sister businesses, all entering the market at the same time.

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Jeffrey Phillips

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

I found an article today on the web that was published by the Wall Street Journal in September 2021 , that claims to explode the myths about innovation. I was excited to read it, because 1) I like things that explode 2) I like myth-busting and 3) I am always curious to see what people who aren't in the actual corporate innovation space believe about innovation.

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Jeffrey Phillips

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Since I am an innovation consultant, working with Fortune 500 companies to build innovation capacity, and I regularly blog on this site about innovation topics, I often have the opportunity to review new books about innovation. In the coming days I will review two books, one by an old friend (Roger Von Oech) and one by a professor at INSEAD who I have not had the pleasure of meeting.

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Innovation Idea Generation Innovation Processes Leadership 144

Jeffrey Phillips

OCTOBER 12, 2021

Since innovation is a difficult and often misunderstood word, or perhaps just because it is used to mean different things in different contexts, it can be difficult to understand why innovation at an entrepreneurial company or a startup is different from innovation in a corporation. I think the matter is obvious, but I wanted to explore the challenges and issues of innovating as an entrepreneur and contrast them with the challenges and opportunities of innovating in a larger corporation.

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Jeffrey Phillips

OCTOBER 6, 2021

For many years, in writing this blog, and in leading innovation projects for my clients, I tried to advocate for the benefits of innovation. After all, as the saying goes, sell the sizzle, not the steak. Benefits that could be achieved from innovation seemed the right way to convince business executives and government officials that they should commit to innovation projects, and eventually to innovation capacity.

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Jeffrey Phillips

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

For years, actually almost two decades now, I've been working with corporations, government agencies and non-profits to help them generate new ideas and create new products and services. From new medical devices to new banking products, to new consumer appliances and more, I've worked on a number of innovation projects in a wide range of industries.

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Innovation Agile Product Innovation Course 250

Jeffrey Phillips

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

I've been thinking a lot lately about innovation in corporations, first, because that's what I've been doing for close to twenty years, and second, because I kept wondering when the switch would flip and we'd see more consistent innovation from large corporations on a continuing basis. After all, innovation isn't really all that hard - good ideas will pop up all the time.

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Innovation Agile Culture Competition 157

Jeffrey Phillips

AUGUST 26, 2021

I've been writing, speaking and consulting about innovation for over 15 years, and I'm constantly amazed by the different perspectives and definitions about innovation. What can be a real positive force in an organization often turns into a neutral or even negative, because it is over-hyped, or does not deliver on unrealistic expectations, or is considered a one hit wonder.

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Innovation Project Underperforming Technical Team Brainstorming 209

Jeffrey Phillips

AUGUST 20, 2021

I have friends who work for IBM and other large corporations in the Research Triangle Park, some of whom are experiencing whiplash. After all, they've been sent to work from home, returned to the office and then sent back to work from home several times. All before Covid struck. Covid has only caused the process to repeat. When they were sent home, the argument was that it did not matter where people worked and the company could save money by downsizing buildings.

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Collaboration Innovation Industry Technology 130

Jeffrey Phillips

AUGUST 13, 2021

As a writer, you are at risk of "jumping the shark" when you start quoting your own material. However, I could not help going back into my archives to dredge up a post I wrote almost ten years ago, which was entitled Innovation Fast and Slow. At the time I was writing this post, I was concerned that too many companies were under too much pressure to speed up their innovation activities and generate some interesting new ideas.

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Innovation Underperforming Technical Team Tools Innovation Processes 167

Jeffrey Phillips

AUGUST 11, 2021

I've been thinking a lot about how innovation, both how it is done, and who does it, has changed. Going back into history, innovators were the rare people (Newton as an example) who had time and talent to innovate. The vast majority of the population were so occupied with simply living, or so uneducated, that they did not have time to imagine a new way of working.

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Innovation Underperforming Technical Team Creativity Tools 144

Jeffrey Phillips

AUGUST 3, 2021

I grew up on a farm, so to some extent it's no surprise that I have always been fascinated by plants. When I hike in the woods, or work in my garden, I can see how the trees, flowers and other plants position themselves for the sun. Even in the densest forest, where you would think the undergrowth has no chance of direct sunlight, you will find plants that find small patches of sunlight.

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Jeffrey Phillips

JULY 7, 2021

As readers of this blog (and you know who you are) are bound to know by now, I am a movie fanatic. I love good movies, average movies, older movies and so forth. I like movies that I can quote, and also like movies that are based on my favorite books. I am one of those people who is constantly astounded when I say " African or European swallow " and people give me a blank look.

Innovation 157

Innovation Project Disruption Change 157

Jeffrey Phillips

JUNE 29, 2021

I'll start out this post by noting that I like ice cream. In fact, one could say that I am a connoisseur of ice cream. I like to eat ice cream at home, and when I am traveling I like to sample the local styles and flavors. Wisconsin, for example, has a lot of custard shops. Italy has delicious gelato. And so on. A childhood treat was a visit to Baskin-Robbins, which is famous for its range of 31 flavors.

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Jeffrey Phillips

JUNE 21, 2021

I am a huge fan of trend spotting and scenario planning. Most companies simply do not understand the insight and the power that developing and interpreting trends and scenarios can provide. Instead of being caught off-guard or surprised by emerging markets or emerging segments or new technologies, wouldn't it be much better to be aware of, or even prepared for, what is going to happen?

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Jeffrey Phillips

JUNE 16, 2021

I'm writing a series of blogs based on questions that I regularly receive about innovation. In my last post, I wrote about the staffing plan necessary to sustain growth and innovation , basing it in part on the Pareto rule. That is, 80% or more of your staff should be focused on the "core" business, keeping it humming and generating funds to pay for the other 20%, which should be focused on the next and the new.

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Innovation Culture Trends Course 144

Jeffrey Phillips

JUNE 9, 2021

I'm often asked how many people should be employed in innovation work in larger organizations. As if there is a magic number! For those of you who remember the Hitch hiker's guide to the Galaxy , the actual number is 42. Of course, with that and a towel, you can accomplish almost anything. It's a joke only Hitch hiker fans will appreciate. But the question about staffing for growth, new products and innovation is an important and interesting question.

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Innovation Product Development Resources Course 157

Jeffrey Phillips

MAY 19, 2021

Now that the COVID outbreak is increasingly in the rear view mirror, at least in the US, I thought it might be time to consider what innovation lessons the outbreak has for us. Over the next few weeks I'll work up a couple of blog posts about what I think the outbreak, our reaction and the aftermath of COVID can tell us about innovation, creativity, new product development and more.

Innovation 157

Innovation Technical Review System Innovation Processes 157

Jeffrey Phillips

MAY 11, 2021

I've been noodling lately about what new way of thinking or new perspective or approach we can bring to companies and organizations that may help break what I think is a current innovation gridlock. Today, a LOT of companies are talking about innovation (and digital transformation) and some are practicing what I'd like to call innovation theater - that is, doing some window dressing around innovation without actually committing to a real innovation program or deep change.

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Innovation Change Innovation Programs Examples 261

Jeffrey Phillips

MAY 5, 2021

As we leave the COVID lockdown and the economy picks up steam again, I think many businesses will recognize a need for more generalists on their team. That could pose a problem since so many people have structured themselves and their careers as specialists. I'll start by admitting that I am a generalist, so in some ways this post may seem self-serving.

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Underperforming Technical Team Agile Data Analysis 284

Jeffrey Phillips

APRIL 26, 2021

David Bowie sang a song about change called Changes. He spoke about the need to change - to "face the strange" - and find a new reality. Another band - Rush - talked about change as well. In their song Tom Sawyer, they wrote that "changes aren't permanent, but change is". What these rock stars and others help us realize is that change is constantly confronting us, as people, as society and as institutions.

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Change Strategic Thinking Course Strategy 201

Jeffrey Phillips

APRIL 15, 2021

There's a famous saying, attributed to Marshall McLuhan, who is reported to have said - we shape our tools, and then our tools shape us. Supposedly Churchill said something similar, only about buildings. I think what was attributed to McLuhan is true - we shape our tools, and then they shape us. From the earliest stone axes that were crafted by hand, to the latest software on the web, we create our tools, and then those tools shape who we become.

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Software Review Creativity Culture Tools 239

Jeffrey Phillips

MARCH 30, 2021

With all due respect to Jack Nicholson, who said this line in A Few Good Men, and to Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the words, most companies cannot handle the truth about the wants and needs that their customers have, because the truth is inconvenient at best, and often ignored at worst. It is far easier to assume you know what customers want, and further to assume that they want what you have already.

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