Paul Hobcraft

APRIL 24, 2023

So often innovation struggles to be recognized for what it is. Innovation is a critical source of future competitive advantage. To get to a consistent performance of innovation and creativity within organizations you do need to rely on a process, structure and the consistent ability to foster a culture of innovation.

Innovation Programs 189

Innovation Programs Technical Review Innovation Policies 189

BrainZooming

MAY 18, 2016

During a strategic thinking skills workshop for a client, we shared ideas for taking information from varied sources and identifying strategic themes. The picture represents two approaches to strategic thinking skills that analysts I’ve met throughout my career display. You’ll enjoy it! – Mike Brown.

Strategic Thinking 65

Strategic Thinking Analysis eBook Data 65

BrainZooming

AUGUST 28, 2017

How can you develop strategic thinking exercises to envision the future when it’s so easy to let previous experience cloud your imagination? 4 Strategic Thinking Exercises to Envision Future Strategy. Strategic Thinking Exercise: Simulation and Role Playing. ” Yes, the role is different.

Strategic Thinking 68

Strategic Thinking Exercises Strategy Strategy 68

BrainZooming

APRIL 20, 2016

As in, “We’ve learned from experience that we don’t want them drug into other tasks they might be able to contribute to if that causes performance and timeliness to suffer.” Job Descriptions Don’t Define Innovation Potential. They used that as a justification for opting out of strategic thinking.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Innovation Engagement Creative Thinking 40

Leapfrogging

MARCH 19, 2024

The Evolution of Innovation Management Innovation management has undergone significant transformation over the years. Traditional Phases and Gates Processes Traditionally, the phases and gates model has been a cornerstone in structuring innovation management.

Generative AI 113

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Product Development 113

BrainZooming

MARCH 30, 2017

Fanatics introduced disruptive innovation to its marketplace with an agile strategy. It employs technology, focused creative teams, new manufacturing processes, and communications to remove time and waste when creating post-sporting event apparel featuring the winners and exciting story lines. via Shutterstock. via Shutterstock.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Agile Disruption Strategy 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 11, 2017

The topic was trust, and how people that grew up in negative home environments with crappy parents can learn to trust and not trust the right people. I jotted down the questions since I saw them as a strong strategic thinking exercise. A Strategic Thinking Exercise for Determining Trustworthiness. Innovation.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises eBook Analysis 40

BrainZooming

JUNE 6, 2017

We turn to extreme creativity questions to help clients imagine big ideas. It is all part of not ASKING for big ideas ; we use big questions that enhance peoples’ natural creative thinking skills. Based on our experience using extreme creativity questions, they DO tend to yield bigger ideas. Here are five of them: 1.

Creative Thinking 87

Creative Thinking Creativity Tips Exercises 87

BrainZooming

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

Late at night while reading the daily mass readings for the next day and thinking about how one can better understand oneself, I started writing. This list of strategic thinking questions emerged. Strategic thinking questions aren’t only for businesses and organizations. What brings the biggest smile to your face?

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking eBook Tips Creativity 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 7, 2016

Yes, I’m serious about that strategic thinking question. If you struggle with those questions, take a time out right away and do the strategic thinking needed to get back in touch with the love in what you do. Boost Your Creativity with “Taking the NO Out of InNOvation”. Or what your business enables?

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking eBook Strategy Strategy 40

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 3, 2018

If your organization is like most, your new plan calls for some combination of major innovation, significantly improved processes, strong cost reductions, and dramatic growth in the year ahead. Stronger creative leadership to identify productive tactics, make better (and faster) decisions, and successfully implement with a major impact.

Leadership 78

Leadership Creativity Creative Thinking Strategic Thinking 78

BrainZooming

MARCH 31, 2016

We (and by “we” I mean “I”) would like to believe we’re strong at strategic thinking in business. And an appreciation of strategic thinking from a business perspective SHOULD extend over into ALL the decisions we make. It’s easy, when it comes to strategic thinking, to KNOW better.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking eBook Exercises Creative Thinking 40

BrainZooming

APRIL 5, 2016

It seems ridiculous to help a company become better at strategic thinking and marketing without being allowed to tell them how to do it. Strategic Thinking Exercises – 3 Responses to New Ideas. The answer could suggest their strategic thinking wasn’t effective in this situation.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Underperforming Technical Team Brainstorming 40

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 6, 2015

We, however, routinely share how we do things via our methodology, tools, and learnings from Brainzooming strategic thinking workshops. Why Do We Give Away So Many Strategic Thinking Exercises? Strategic Thinking – Exercises and Tools for Creative Thinking and Strategy.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Creative Thinking eBook 40

Leapfrogging

APRIL 4, 2024

Benefits of Facilitating Strategic Planning Offsites Facilitating strategic planning offsites offers a multitude of benefits, from enhancing team cohesion to driving organizational alignment. Improved Focus : With day-to-day distractions left behind, your team can concentrate fully on strategic issues and high-level thinking.

Strategy 100

Strategy Strategy Underperforming Technical Team Exercises 100

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 9, 2015

We facilitated a two-day innovation strategy workshop for an industrial company. During the innovation strategy discussions, we addressed the production process changes from five different perspectives. From a facilitation standpoint, it was the most arduous couple of days of going through strategic thinking exercises I recall.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Groups Strategy 40

BrainZooming

APRIL 24, 2018

Someone wondered about the range of topics included in the disruptive innovation strategy workshop we delivered recently. Even though the workshop spanned nearly ten hours over two days, we had to narrow the content significantly to achieve the client’s innovation objectives. 27 Links to Energize Your Innovation Strategy.

Strategy 88

Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking Exercises 88

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 18, 2015

7 Strategic Thinking Questions When Things Aren’t Working. When things took an unexpected turn the other day, I mentally flew through various strategic thinking questions trying to comes up with ideas to adjust what we were doing. Strategic Thinking Questions – 21 Tips for Reading Someone Else.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Engagement Tips Strategy 40

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 25, 2015

If you have the right people present , and they are in a chatty mood, how can you morph the gathering into a strategic conversation? One way is by introducing strategic thinking questions that steer meandering conversations into strategic conversations. 9 Strategic Thinking Questions to Start Strategic Conversations.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Strategy Strategy Tips 40

BrainZooming

MAY 20, 2016

There are soooooooooooooo many ways to generate creative ideas. Since the idea worked, however, we’re running with the concept and resurrecting a feature name we haven’t used for quite some time: Creative Quickies. These features will include photos and strategic thinking questions or innovation prompts.

Product Development 61

Product Development Creativity Strategic Thinking Conference 61

Leapfrogging

APRIL 4, 2024

In today’s fast-paced business environment, crafting and leading an effective executive team offsite has emerged as a pivotal strategy for fostering alignment, stimulating innovation, and bolstering organizational resilience. Preparing for Success The foundation of a productive executive team offsite lies in meticulous preparation.

Strategy 130

Strategy Strategy Technical Review Groups 130

BrainZooming

MARCH 21, 2017

Short Story: Look for specifics and things that people can actually do or perform to move creative thinking into action. How do you move from creative thinking into action? Two of the client’s senior staff members said this was a question they expected us to answer during the strategic thinking workshop.

Creative Thinking 61

Creative Thinking Creativity Strategic Thinking eBook 61

BrainZooming

MARCH 6, 2017

From a day-to-day perspective in the corporate world, we didn’t necessarily use objective metrics about creative ideas. After talking with a friend, I think the percent of time you are told to pull back your creative ideas because they are too big and bold may be a good way to assess how your creativity is faring in an organization.

Creativity 75

Creativity Underperforming Technical Team Creative Thinking eBook 75

BrainZooming

JULY 5, 2017

I’ll admit it: my views on innovation strategy have been dramatically shaped by working in a Fortune 500 corporation. The size and scale of opportunities you pursue, even in a company that was not always all that innovative, oriented me to think a big team and significant dollars are vital for real innovation.

Strategy 84

Strategy Strategy Learning eBook 84

BrainZooming

MAY 6, 2016

At the 2016 Brand Strategy Conference, Antonia Dean, Director – Marketing, Brand Development, & Strategy at The Estée Lauder Companies covered the strategic thinking ideas behind creating an entrepreneurial environment in a large company. Ask them to provide concrete examples of when they devised creative solutions.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Underperforming Technical Team Company Culture 40

BrainZooming

JUNE 19, 2017

The tall structures store grain for processing, and you learn as a kid that they can be both combustible and explosive. 3 Conditions for Explosive Creative Thinking Skills. Reflecting on grain elevators led me to consider explosive creative thinking skills , and the parallels between the two. Creativity Goes Boom!

Creative Thinking 81

Creative Thinking Creativity eBook Exercises 81

BrainZooming

JULY 23, 2018

Today, Monday, July 23, we’re launching the new Brainzooming book, Idea Magnets: 7 Strategies for Cultivating & Attracting Creative Business Leaders. My objective in writing this new book was to help individuals cultivate their personal strengths as Idea Magnets, attracting other Idea Magnets through their creative energy.

Leadership 53

Leadership Creativity Strategy Strategy 53

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 10, 2015

We’re with a client today, delivering a strategic and creative thinking skills for sales workshop. As an outgrowth of the workshop, here is a strategic and creative thinking skills compilation comprised of articles that support the Brainzooming workshop we’re delivering. Mike Brown.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Creativity Strategic Thinking Underperforming Technical Team 40

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 4, 2016

I attended a presentation on cultivating a creative culture delivered by Michael Perman, formerly of Gap, at The Marketing Conference last week in San Francisco. During his keynote, Perman discussed twenty-plus three-day creativity sessions he organized while at Gap. What mix of creative diversity will drive implementation?

Groups 91

Groups Creativity Conference eBook 91

BrainZooming

JUNE 21, 2017

We were listening in on an internal innovation strategy call conducted by one of our clients. The team was wrestling with a concern voiced by the organization’s senior leader that its complete innovation portfolio wasn’t capable of yielding the financial impact he is seeking. via Shutterstock.

Strategy 117

Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking eBook 117

BrainZooming

JANUARY 15, 2016

Sometimes creative thinking challenges come from inside your own head. In many organizations, however, substantial creative thinking challenges come from leaders and cultures that may say they want new thinking, but seem to do everything they can to scuttle creativity. Mike Brown.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Creativity Brainstorming Strategic Thinking 40

Leapfrogging

APRIL 4, 2024

These retreats are not merely a change of scenery but a strategic move to foster innovation and alignment among the top decision-makers of your company. An effective offsite should culminate in a strategic plan that outlines specific goals, timelines, and metrics for success.

Underperforming Technical Team 100

Underperforming Technical Team Leadership Design Exercises 100

Paul Hobcraft

MARCH 10, 2017

How can we establish Innovation as the vital link to a process of change and strategic direction options? One that lifts the debates of managing today’s business by linking it into the future and then turning this thinking into a series of plausible and coherent set of activities? Innovation can drive change, change is required.

Innovation 124

Innovation Agile Change Learning 124

BrainZooming

MARCH 22, 2016

Delivering a creative thinking workshop , I was eavesdropping on conversations at five tables full of attendees. One group was starting to use one of our creative thinking exercises. When this takes happens, creative thinking exercises becomes just that many more boxes to shut down ideas that are off the beaten path.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Exercises Creativity Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

MAY 3, 2016

We were working with a client and sharing the value of our extreme creativity strategic exercises to boost creative thinking skills. Another reason to embrace extreme creativity questions is they provide a more beautiful, amazing mental landscape to inspire creative thinking skills.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Creativity eBook Tips 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 9, 2018

Vickie’s drive to strategize, revise, and improvise in the name of extreme creativity and productivity is as fierce and inspiring as ever, making her a natural choice for an interview on the Brainzooming blog. Now Streaming: Extreme Creativity and Vickie Howell. But some things remain constant.

Creativity 0

Creativity Video Project Marketing 0

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 22, 2019

In business, you’re usually equal parts discovering problems AND using creative problem solving to address the issues. Yet, a client approached us to design and conduct a cross-operation innovation strategy engagement focused solely on identifying problems. They wanted to leave the creative problem solving for later.

Creativity 52

Creativity Exercises Survey Groups 52