Innoversity

23 DIVERSE IDEAS FOR THE YEAR TO COME

FastCompany December 27th 2002- Twentythree high profiles within a range of different sectors and disciplines have given their different views, opinions and expections about the year to come, and they certainly ARE very different. So read them and get inspired, maybe there is something for you to benefit from in the year to come.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BOARD ROOM DIVERSITY
New Zealand Herald November 20th 2002 - There is nothing about the importance of having a diverse board of directors to make the right decision and avoid to many wrong ones. And there is nothing new about the fact that most boards seem to be self-sustaining because directors feel more comfortable among people similar to themselves. But it is great to see it documented with raw statistics as is the case in this article.

HOW IKEA DESIGNS IT'S SEXY PRICETAGS
Business 2.0 October 2002 - Learn how the very untraditional approach to design at IKEA has turned the organisation into what it is today. By deciding on the price, then the manufacturer and only then the design, IKEA manages to revolutionize the market of furniture - and a very low cost.

BUSINESS UNORTHODOX: THE CASE OF PLAY (.pdf)
August 2002 - This great paper explains some of the great unorthodo methods and viewpoints offered by Play in Virginia. Get a peak into the way they work and think about innovation and get inspired from their real life cases on how to generate creativity and innovation which will directly influence the bottom line.

PEOPLE WHO CAN REBUILD THE CITY
New York Times June 26 2002 - This article by Professor Richard Florida urges the City of New York to rebuild Lower Manhattan for diversity and innovation after September 11. To build for inclusion and thereby attract the people who were already heading for the Lower Manhattan Area thereby replacing at least some of the financial industries

DIVERSITY IS NOT DANGEROUS, MERELY INSPIRING (IN DANISH)
April 2002 BizReport - This article by Susanne Justesen from Innoversity.dk exhibits a warning against similarity and closure in Danish Business life. Recruiting for executive boards, top management positions and employees alike seems to focus too much on similarity and too little on diversity. And we need a major shift in Denmark in this regard if we do not want to fall behind when it comes to innovation and new thinking. 'Cause if we all look alike - who do we expect to come up with new ideas??

NEW DEVELOPMENTS, RESEARCH AND IDEAS IN MANAGEMENT
April 2002 MIT Sloan Management Review - This highly interesting article emphasises the importance of innovation, and none the least the importance of diversification in this effort.

DIVIANTS INC
March 2002 FastCompany -if you want to catch the wave of the future, you have to start surfing a lot closer to the Fringe, At the beginning of every transformation in society or in the market is a deviant on the fringes, it rarely happens in the midst or center of attention. Deviants often make us nervous, we often do not like them, but we need them: as Vito Corleone advised in The Godfather: "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer." , which is what this article is all about: we need to have diversity if we want innovation to think new and differently.

HEAVY.COM: HOW PUNKS FOUND NEW WAYS IN BUSINESS
March 2002 - This short case description from the Austin Cronicle describes the success story of Heavy.com and how the diversity within Heavy.com and between Heavy.com and their competitors have contributed to their large success within the media.

SHELL: MANAGING KNOWLEDGE TROUGH NEW WAYS OF WORKING
January 2002 - This booklet has been compied by Shell International Exploration and Production's Organisational Performance and Learning (OPAL)Team. Its contributions come from Shell EP's network of operating units around the world - the people who make their business. It talks about the use of storytelling to help manage knowledge and innovation - a true case study made from within.

IMPLEMENTING A BENEFICIALLY DIVERSE ORGANIZATION
InformationWeek January 2002 - The benefits of diversity are pretty clear: people who can incorporate multiple perspectives and who aren't afraid to experiment are more likely to innovate. But how do you get from here to there? Guest columnists Heather E.Bock and Charles Greco explain the process.

INTERESTING SURVEY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF INNOVATION
Personal Computer World December 6th - This survey tells the story once again about how important innovation is and should be perceived to be - especially in times of crisis as seen in most countries at this point in time. Bain & Co. has asked 200 senior executives about innovation, and in this article you can learn about their answers.

GARY HAMEL ENCOURAGES INNOVATION - NOW
Fast Company December 1st - In times of crises Hamel elaborates on the importance of the future instead of focusing too much on the past Survival is not merely about making it to the next financial quarter, it is about sustainable survival and growth, in which innovation becomes a must

MAKE USE OF EBAY TO INSPIRE NEW THINKING AND INNOVATION
BizReport November 25th - This article brilliantly explains how to exploit eBay for more that just getting a good deal on vintage goods and other stuff. eBay seems to be great for spotting new trends among your customers: what are they looking for? Which products will get the most hits? Why are these products so popular? And what can be learned from that.

THE INQUIRING MINDS BEHIND 200 YEARS OF INVENTIONS
New York Times October 21 - A great article celebrating the 200th anniversary of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The article reports from a Round Table bringing together the members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and their insights and recommendations for inventions and innovation in the future.

INNOVATION WITHIN THE PC INDUSTRY
PC Magazine October 15 - Read about this year of innovations within the PC industry, follow the stongest players of the industry in their battle for being on the forefront of technology. The article does become rather technical at times, but it also provides an interesting peak into what the industry managed to introduce during the last year, and what they expect to launch within the nearest future.

THE LOCUS OF INNOVATION
Red Herring September 27 - A colum by Jason Pontin on the future of innovation, which he describes to be biotechnology and nanotechnology and NOT within IT and communication as stated by so many others

THANKSGIVING FOR INNOVATION
The Economist September 19 - An article celebrating the importance of innovation in growth, by issuing a serious of Innovation Awards to mark that innovation accounts for an equivalent of 50% of general economic growth.

INNOVATIVE MODEL
The Entrepreneur September 2002 - This article offers a portrait of Joe Reiman, the founder of Brighthouse.com - which (somewhat similar to BrainStore in Switzerland) sells ideas for a living. By making use of a four-step model, Brighthouse is an idea factory making helping customers with eahc of the four "heartstorming" steps - 1) investigation, 2) incubation, 3) illumination and 4) illustration.

HOW GOOGLE SEARCHES ITSELF
FastCompany July 2002 - Google is by many (certainly by me) rated as the very best search engine around, continuing to renew itself and offering still new and improved services. But how do the keep up their pace of innovation to keep so much ahead of their competitors - read the article and learn

ENABLING INNOVATION
Red Herring June 20 - This article describes the role of venture capitalists and financiers in innovation in general. The article is based on interviews with 'Top 100' companies who are asked to describe the role of financiers in how financial services firms nurture innovation. The result is quit different from what one would tend to expect.

BMW: DRIVE BY DESIGN
September 2002 FastCompany - Learn how BMW, Chief of Design Chris Bangle and his 250 design engineers, artists, color experts, clay modelers, ergonomic specialists, computer experts etc. have proven to be the heading the automobile industry with their radical approach to carmaking.

OVERCOMING INNOVATION BARRIERS
April 2002 The CEO Refresher - An article which provides a thorough look into the necessity of continuous innovation. Very often the barriers to innovation seem difficult to pin-point, but this article does a brilliant job in discussing the following barriers: focus on problemsolving, too much focus, innovation directed from without (external consultant and advisors) and finally the limits posed by being too focused on finding ONE solution.

NO RISK NO REWARD
April 2002 FastCompany - This very instructive article emphasises the importance of continually taking new risks, thinking big and exploring new territory; i.e. innovation and creativity is necessary during both up and down periods - maybe even more so during periods like this.

PUTTING INNOVATION BACK ON THE AGENDA
March 2002 ManagementFirst - An interesting article about how large corporations such as Intel, 3M, Virgin and others have managed to maintain an innovative environment which continues to foster creativity and innovation, even in times of crisis

FRESH START 2002: ON THE ROAD AGAIN
January 2002 FastCompany - After suffering through the worst years in its history, Yellow Freight System hired Bill Zollars to drive an old-economy company in a new direction. Now, almost six years later, Yellow is faster and more reliable and caters to customers like never before.

DIVERSITY WITHOUT EXCUSES
September 2002 Fast Company - Far too often organisations claim that they would very much like to increase their organisational diversity. But when you ask recruiters why they they fail to do so, you will get the answer that it is impossibly to find talented diversity. This article sets out to explain how to build a more diverse workforce - and get rid of the excuses.


MANAGING DIFFICULT PEOPLE
April 2002 The CEO Refresher - Diversity is about working with and leading people who are diverse from yourself, and usually it is not a Innoversity Network approach to label people, whether positively or negatively. And certainly not as difficult - btu by translating diffucult into diverse og different, the article provides some relevant guidelines which may be used for dealing with collegues who act agressively, who feel victimized or how want to rescue others. A very short but interesting guide for dealing with 'difficult' people



DOES DIVERSITY DRIVE PRODUCTIVITY?
February 2002 Sloan Management Review - Different experiences and points of view don't, by themselves, make work groups more productive. The important factor is how people interrelate. This article describes the two seemingly contradictory camps within diversity research: those who feel that diversity leads to better performance because diverse perspectives will add a creative edge and those who feel that diversity impedes performance because diverse teams are less cohesive.



A GLOBAL DIVERSITY STANDARD
Diversityatwork.com January 2002 - This article presents the work of Trevor Wilson, a highly reputed diversity expert, who coached and consulted clients such as IBM, Ernst and Young, Shell and South African Breweries