8 Pointers for Building Corporate and Personal Strategies for Social Media

by Stefan Lindegaard

Not so long ago, I hosted an event together with Cheryl Perkins of InnovationEdge. The purpose was to bring together a group of innovation leaders and discuss social media and how to use this for innovation.

It was a great session and we were able to extract several interesting insights on how corporate people view and approach social media. These insights were useful in helping the participants start building corporate and personal strategies for their use of social media. I am sure they can also bring some inspiration to your thoughts on this and thus we want to share this overview of insights:

1. The group defined two aspects of social media:

• Communication of relevant messages
• Collaboration including sharing of...

Big Numbers Kills Innovation

by Stefan Lindegaard

I just read a comment by Mike Hess in my 15inno group on LinkedIn. Mike is Vice President for Innovation Excellence at Medtronic and he is a very experienced corporate innovator worth listening to.

Mike commented on my blog post on the differences between big and small companies and this is what he wrote:

“Large companies also can become paralyzed by the law of big numbers, that is they are looking for a certain amount of growth and it is difficult to think of many “small” initiatives as the right way to reach that goal, so in the interest of focus and prioritization they will seek out several large opportunities – small companies may find an opportunity the large...

10 Practical Tips for Executives on Making Innovation Happen

by Stefan Lindegaard

What can executives do to lead their business units and the company as a whole to become more innovative? How can they innovate how the company innovates?

A key thing is that many executives might understand the issues related to these questions, but they lack simple, practical advice to make things happen.

I am working on a list of such advice. Here are my starting points. It is work in progress and your input is highly appreciated.

• Meet the corporate innovators. Corporate innovators not only have external issues to deal with. Internal bureaucracy and power-struggles can be just as difficult. Executives can really make a difference on the latter if they have a better understanding on what is going on. They need to talk...

Rule Breakers: You Can Make Innovation Happen!

by Stefan Lindegaard

I got some interesting comments to my blog post on how big and small companies are different when it comes to innovation. On LinkedIn, Mark Palmer, a communication advisor, wrote that “big companies preoccupy themselves with competitors, the market and the rules. Small companies are more inclined to make up new rules.”

Having started companies myself and having worked for many years with both startups and big companies, I could only agree on this. Of course, we need rules to play by, but sometimes they do need to be bend – or perhaps even broken – to make real progress.

The idea of breaking the rules – in the “right” way – is intriguing and I did some research on Google. I stumbled...

Why People Fear Losses and Dislike Changes

by Stefan Lindegaard

Roy Luebke had some interesting comments to my blog post on Five Reasons Why CEO’s Don’t Get Innovation.

He wrote:

“Point #3: Social psychology research has shown that people fear loss more than they covet gain. It is human nature. This is a big hurdle for most people to overcome.”

You should check this interesting entry on Wikipedia on this topic: Loss aversion. These are the first sentences: “In economics and decision theory, loss aversion refers to people’s tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Some studies suggest that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains.”

Luebke continued:

“Research also shows that most people really dislike change, somewhere in the neighborhood of 80% of all people. 10% of people can deal...

The Art of Being Constructively Provocative

by Stefan Lindegaard

There is a fine line to walk when your objective is to make other people think and reflect.

For me, this line is very much about being constructively provocative.

Sometimes I go over this line. Not good. I do not intend to offend or harm people so when this happens there is some repair work to be done. On the other hand, I also need to ensure that my posts are edgy enough to provoke some kind of response. If not, what is the point?

This is difficult, but let me share a few tips on this that I have learned over the years.

• Write when you are inspired.

• Write when you are a bit angry.

• Write on topics that you feel passionate about.

• Write...

Are Relationships and Networking Overrated?

by Stefan Lindegaard

There is so much talk about relationships and networking these days. This goes for business as well as personal agendas.

I got to wonder whether relationships and networking are overrated. Do we really need them? Would life not be easier if we did not have all those relations to build and nurture?

No doubt.

However, the flip side to this kind of simplicity is opportunities. Do we want to miss out on them? Most likely not.

The challenge is to find the right balance. This is true for business as well as in personal life.

When Leaders Make a Difference – Input Appreciated!

by Stefan Lindegaard

I am working on a client engagement in which the challenge is to give a team of top executives a better understanding on how they can help make innovation happen in their company.

I am working on two specific messages and I am calling out for corporate cases and examples that can help support these messages.

Message #1 – Let go of control; create the right environment
• An adaptive, learning organization is required. The key role of executives is to create the right environment. I can mention how John Conoley, the CEO of Psion wants the company to be “competitively unpredictable”. When asked how to do it, he replied “I have no idea – but it is my job to create the right...

Charlie Sheen and Innovation People: A Connection?

by Stefan Lindegaard

I just read an article about Charlie Sheen. He is a strange guy. The article had a couple of headlines that made me wonder how this self-acclaimed larger-than-life character compares to innovation people. Maybe there are a few things we can learn – or just laugh about.

Be Yourself

Charlie Sheen insists that he is unique and one-of-a-kind. We can learn from this. We need to be ourselves and allow our colleagues to be themselves. Let’s play to our strengths and use those unique strengths to create strong teams.

Sky-high Salaries

Well, this is not comparable. Innovation people do not make lots of money and never will in this job. Hey, a decent salary and great challenges are not so bad.

The Bad Boy

There...

How to Use Twitter for Innovation and Beyond

by Stefan Lindegaard

In this video post, I share some views and insights on how you can use Twitter for innovation – and beyond. I hope you get some value out of this : – )