You are in a rush to put together an innovation initiative and increase competitive advantage. We love your enthusiasm and we can help so what is the problem? Few innovation initiatives pass the planning phase in part because of a disproportionate short-term focus. Some argue there is an innovation deficit because organizations have become so short-term focused. Rising from the planning phase is difficult when the necessary long-term phases of an initiative are disregarded. Current systems, processes and mindsets can not only discourage innovation from existing in the present but can also prevent necessary change from taking place to enable development of an initiative to increase innovation in the future. Developing a successful innovation initiative that moves past the planning phase requires a common vision and diverse cross-organization buy-in gained through communication, understanding and reinforcement over the long-term.

Brightidea has recently joined forces with a number of diverse companies, listed on our partnership community website. The partnership community website also provides links to relevant articles, invitations to Brightidea groups and information on past and upcoming events. We invite everyone to browse the site at http://partners.brightidea.com.

If you are interested in learning more about Brightidea's partner program, please contact Paul Tran at ptran@brightidea.com.

There is concern over the state of our economy. I am not going to attempt to deny that fact and we are all aware of the negative effects. So how could I see the glass as half full? Because concern sparks curiosity – we have learned more about the commercial paper market, credit default swaps, knitting, accountability and regulation. And because concern causes us to think about how to manage resources more efficiently – we have been presented with a new challenge and will need to come up with creative ways to solve it in order to achieve long-term strategic objectives. We are presented with knowledge we wish to gain in conjunction with a problem we wish to solve. We are presented with a perfect environment for increased innovation.

BrightIdea and Xpree are collaborating to deliver prediction market benefits to users of the BrightIdea Innovation Management Platform. Prediction markets have long been a way to determine the outcome of certain events or metrics (who will win the election etc). A prediction market works by aggregating knowledge from an employee or customer crowd using a betting mechanism and typically provides exceedingly accurate forecasts.  Xpree's clients have seen forecast error reductions of upto 50%.

We are exploring how we can use prediction markets to determine how an idea will perform in the real world.  If we greenlight this innovation ... How much will it cost to develop? When will it really launch? How much will it sell in the first year? These and other questions can be answered to help an organization predict outcomes in order to analyze and filter innovations.  In addition, by establishing realistic expectations of key metrics (time to market, sales forecasts etc), budgets and targets can be set to maximize success.  Learn more about this approach at http://www.xpree.com/our-solutions/open-innovation-markets

We need to hear from you ! Will functionality like prediction markets be valuable to you? Will it help you better manage your innovation management processes in your BrightIdea System? 

If you're interested in learning more about this collaborative effort, please contact Paul Tran at ptran@brightidea.com.

As BrigthIdea clients, we want to ensure that we continue to build and foster partnerships that bring value to our system. Thanks for your feedback.

Innovative cultures aren't just those full of casually dressed creative types outputting unpredictable bursts of revelation in acquaintances' basements. Innovative companies also aren't just those full of carefully manicured fingers scanning documents outlining intricate policies and strict timelines regarding management of innovation pipelines. Innovative companies are generally those with innovation cultures and culture is far too complex to be specifically defined. There are however observations that have been shared.

People inside and outside an organization all talk about the company. They talk about things they’ve seen, heard and experienced. Those things together loosely define the organization’s culture. When we think of innovative companies, we think of cultures described as networked where employees are empowered and feel ownership. We think of an appreciation for experimentation with high employee joie de vivre. We think of a clear awareness of the future and high expectations. We think of innovation as a social norm where when you ask someone why he’s innovating, he looks at you a bit perplexed as if you just asked him why he ate his most recent meal.

Culture is complex and developing an innovation culture first requires understanding current culture by listening to what people inside and outside the organization are saying. Developing an innovation culture then requires a set of tactics to turn innovation in your organization into a social norm. Some suggest focusing marketing messages on just how normal innovation is in the organization to help people believe they work in a company with an innovation culture - and by all means be innovative yourself! There’s no specific definition of an innovation culture but I see it being a bit like confidence in that believing you have it gets you half way there.

Vote for Brightidea.com's WebStorm 5.0 in the 2008 Forrester Groundswell awards!

I am excited to announce that our on-demand innovation management platform, WebStorm 5.0, is an entrant in the 2008 Forrester Groundswell awards. Because winners are voted on by users, we need your help!

Show your support and vote now by visiting the Brightidea.com submission page:

http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/embracing/brainstorm.html#reviews

You can also review the submission for and support our strategic partner Mensa Process by visiting the Mensa submission page:

http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/embracing/mensaprocess.html#reviews

Voting is open now until October. Thank you in advance for your support!

Join John David Wynett, Managing Director of Mensa Process, as he discusses how companies like Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company and Bayer Healthcare are using Mensa Process and Brightidea to solve some of their most difficult challenges.

Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Times: 1:00-2:00 PM ET OR 4:00-5:00 PM ET

Learn how some of the world’s brightest minds are driving growth by:

·      Generating Unique Insights

·      Solving Complex Problems

·      Developing New Products

·      Discovering New Whitespace Opportunities

·      Naming New Products

·      Extending Brands

Mensa Process is an Innovation consulting firm that taps into some of the world’s smartest and most creative minds to solve complex problems for corporations. To generate breakthrough thinking Mensa Process uses Brightidea’s proprietary platform, which allows its brilliant members to brainstorm online, whether they’re around the corner or around the globe.

Join us for an illuminating discussion about generating and identifying breakthrough ideas!

Please RSVP by email to Paul Tran at ptran@brightidea.com for either of the above sessions.

It used to be sufficient to keep a pen and paper bedside to record “a ha” moments in the middle of the night. That was the sticky note innovation process – sticky notes being the result an “a ha” innovation moment themselves. We now understand companies don’t have time to wait for one in a million ideas to come sporadically in the middle of the night. Companies today need to develop an overall innovation culture with more effective innovation processes.

Developing an innovation culture requires consistent communication and well-defined metrics. Nearly everyone is familiar with the sticky pad and its effectiveness. How familiar are your employees, customers and shareholders with your innovation process – is everyone on board and contributing to help reach your innovation goals? How effective is your innovation process – do you track participation rate, origin of ideas, decision cycle, accuracy of financial projections, time to implementation or even simply where ideas go after submission?

Let’s face it, innovation is by nature an elusive process! But with consistent communication and well-defined metrics, you can be proactive and develop an innovation culture with effective innovation processes in any organization. Go ahead, write “communication and metrics” on that sticky note to remind yourself. Or better yet setup email submission for your Brightidea system and email it to yourself as a draft idea!

Meet and Collaborate with other Innovation Leaders!

Date:   Friday, September 12, 2008
Times: 12:00-3:00 PM PST
 
Brightidea will be hosting a roundtable discussion in San Francisco for selected Innovation Leaders from various industries and companies. The purpose is to meet other BrightIdea customers and share success stories and build relationships.
       
Learn directly from other Innovation Leaders on how they are driving Innovation in their organizations!

- What are Innovation Leaders doing currently?
- What are Innovation Leaders planning?
- What barriers were overcome to drive Innovation Culture in an organization?

Each company will have 10 minutes to present how they manage innovation in their own company.

If you want your company to be represented at this roundtable, please send an email to ptran@brightidea.com.

Philip -- Introduction -- Innovation Budget

I think I'll spend the first half of my first blog posting introducing myself. My name is Philip Brocoum and I work in the professional services department of Brightidea. If you are one of my clients, you probably already know who I am! If you're not, you may still recognize my voice because I do many of the Brightidea Online University videos. I'll often act as the liaison between you and our technical team if or when any problems arise. In general, I make sure that your system runs smoothly, that you are trained and up to speed in its operation, and that innovation in your company is a success.

Now that the introduction is over with, I'd like to share with you an interesting article that I came across on the Internet at the URL below about having annual innovation budgets for every employee in your company.

http://thenonbillablehour.typepad.com/nonbillable_hour/2004/10/what_is_your_in.html

The general idea is that people just flat-out get innovation budgets every year. They don't have to ask for it, they don't have to get approval, they don't have to draft proposals, they just have money to spend on innovation. And it's not just departments, but every single person. I can't even begin to express how great an idea I think this is.

How often do you think someone has an idea, goes to their boss and says, "I have a great idea," and then their boss says, "Interesting. Write up a 50 page proposal and we'll see where it goes," and then that someone thinks to himself, "Oh, nevermind." I bet it happens constantly. The bureaucracy and level upon level of management at large companies is famous for stifling innovation. Giving people annual innovation budgets will allow them to innovate without the red tape.

The idea even goes beyond that. Suppose I get $2000 (a number I pulled out of my hat) a year for innovation. I could spend a couple weeks on my little pet project, no problem. However, if five of us band together and form a team we now have $10,000 to spend. Maybe five other people like the idea but don't want to enter into any time commitment. They can simply give my team their budget and suddenly we have $20,000 to spend. If our idea ends up being a success and managers and higher ups start paying attention to it they might start to donate their money as well. You can see how it could easily start adding up.

Think how much money is normally spent managing ideas and evaluating ideas. Think how much time is normally spent sorting through ideas and getting approval for the good ones. Giving people a small budget of $2000 a year (and encouraging them to form teams) may well pay for itself many times over.

Besides, when given the option of either spending $2000 on a cool idea, or NOT spending $2000 on a cool idea, who's going to refuse?

Anyway, I'd love to hear your feedback on this idea. Clearly, it isn't for everyone, but when do you think it would work best? Have you ever tried something like this before? If so, please let us know how it went!