Failure Forums: Complexity Theory and the Role of Failure in Driving New Business Models

Driving corporate innovation is far more complicated than most observers realize.  During my Innovation Development days I knew that successfully launching a new initiative was a long shot. but looking back I had greatly underestimated all of the forces at play, especially the internal politics.  As many organizations are mining “big data” to make better business decisions some companies are looking to mine their “innovation data” to better understand these internal and external forces that determine an initiative’s success or failure.

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Who’s to Blame for the Christmas Gift Delivery Failure – Amazon, UPS, or Us?

Much was made this last week over United Parcel Service’s (UPS) failure to deliver packages before Christmas.  The media seemed to border on delight in sharing the stories of customers who were upset that their packages didn’t arrive in time.  As I heard these stories played over and over again I kept wondering how we got to this point.  Last minute shoppers who were Amazon Prime members could order their gifts on December 22nd and still expect them to be delivered anywhere in the country before Christmas with free two-day shipping.  But when some gifts didn’t arrive in time who’s to blame – the retailer, the shipper, or us, the consumer?

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A New Year & New Opportunities: The Importance of Building Your Personal Brand

Over the last few years I have frequently helped friends and colleagues in their search to find new work opportunities.  Every time I start our conversation by asking how they are building their personal brand.  I know that it sounds a bit ridiculous but in the age of an abundance of job candidates, how are they going to stand out?  How are they building their exposure to their professional network to improve the odds that they are found?

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Facing Failure: The Bridge for Youth Shares Their Story So Others Can Learn

The truth is that nonprofits experience failure just like every for-profit business: new initiatives fall short of expectations, the synergy of partnerships fails to materialize, or expansion plans overburden an organization’s cash flow.  But because nonprofits are so reliant on donations and grants to fund their operations even mentioning the word failure can be lethal.  The perception, and perhaps reality, is that no donor wants to think that their contribution is being wasted and no foundation wants to report back to their board on “failed” investments.  The result is that “safer is better” and failures are frequently covered up.

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Leadership Notes: Moving Beyond Being Thankful by Investing in Employees

2076e18a-4df2-11e3-ad63-12313b08ba6c-originalAs families gather in the United States this week to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday there will likely be a common inconsistency in their stories.  Many will likely be thankful for the job that they currently have even though they are considerably dissatisfied with that job.  With the economic downturn organizations have been so focused on squeezing out costs from their operations that most have neglected investing in their people.  The result is that most employees are at a historically low level of engagement with their employers.

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Failure Forums: Learning from Best Buy Media Label – Redline Entertainment

Seven years ago my team had just shut down the first of our two concept stores that we were running for consumer electronics retailer Best Buy.  My team had spent the last two years operating these concept stores in an attempt to understand more about the opportunities in “small box” retail.  During that time we had learned a ton and as a leadership team we were adamant that we needed to share what we had learned with the rest of the company.

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Risk Taking, Failure, and Performance Management – Shortcomings of the Nine Box Tool

Most leaders want their organizations to be innovative but just saying it isn’t enough.  If they want their people to take risks and innovate they have to create a culture that can support and endure the ups and the downs of driving innovation.  Driving sustained innovation requires the right people, processes, & tools.

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