They are a product of “liquid networks”. New ideas are truly born out of chaos, actually, chaotic environments, like those of London’s original coffee houses. They also have notoriously long incubation periods, like Darwin’s theory, for example, which Steven Johnson calls his “slow hunch”. Learn here how innovation happens. You will find out, “Chance favours [...]

The future can’t be analytically derived. Even if you do analyze it, frequently the analytical work, no matter how robust, proves wrong because of something that can’t be anticipated. Of course it’s almost always valuable to think comprehensively about a new business idea. But a healthy balance between analysis and action is always advisable. If [...]

By Nick Jervis What action can you take to ensure that you hold onto your staff and keep your recruitment costs as low as possible? Estimates vary, but to replace a solicitor the total expense in terms of recruitment, lost man hours of the outgoing staff and the training of the incoming member, can exceed [...]

Creativity…”Originality, Imaginative thinking” You’ve no doubt heard about “thinking outside the box”. Very often, business creativity is referred to as thinking outside the box. You can get locked in to your day-to-day operational thinking “inside the box”, and forget totally about the requirements of the need for business creativity. It is very easy to lose [...]

Do you think that Bill Gates thinks there’s a box? Or Warren Buffet? Do you think that Muhammad Ali thought there was a box? What about Sir Richard Branson? How do you think Tiger Woods or Roger Federer would feel if they thought that they had to operate inside ‘the box’. Very often, I hear [...]

By Michael Angier In order to compete effectively, we must look for new and better ways to accomplish our mission. We must find creative methods to delight our customers. And we must find innovative strategies for getting more done with fewer resources. With things changing as rapidly as they are, doing things the old way [...]

By Dr Mark Yates Although most businesses are effectively treading water through the current economic crisis, many astute business owners are looking to the growth of business by utilising what’s commonly referred to as an innovation business model. Innovation and change are often requirements for business growth and many opportunities present in times of business [...]

By Mark Woodcock Businesses need to be innovative in order to succeed in times of economic distress, when consumers are more particular about what they buy, and high quality is no longer separate from value for money. Company leaders are looking for ways in which their organisations can be innovative to beat their competition, maintain [...]

The world of innovation scares many people. Typically, these frightened people associate innovation with HUGE, risk-laden ideas that change things dramatically. To the contrary, “innovation” refers to change and to doing something new. Here, size does not matter. In fact, some very small changes create dramatic innovation. MIND-BUILDING — Where, then, can your innovation work [...]