Our thinking appears in marketing articles and publications around the world

The “human library” has its roots in the city library in Malmö, Sweden, which allows curious visitors to check out living people for a 45-minute conversation. Th e experience is designed to confront prejudices and promote understanding. Th e people available to be “checked out” at one point included a gypsy, a transvestite, a blind man, a journalist and an animal rights activist. The conversations are intended to allow people to learn about the life and beliefs of an individual who has been misunderstood, stereotyped and often avoided.

The word, innovation, is so over used that it’s almost lost all meaning. Yet, as with all aspects of business, innovation evolves. Innovation will remain the process by which newness comes into the world, but the how of innovation is in flux. New business landscapes, new technologies, and the wearing out of old models require us to reimage how we innovate.

A serious threat facing most brands in dynamic markets is the loss of relevance because the category or subcategory that they are serving is declining. Customers are no longer buying what the brand is perceived to be making. New categories or subcategories are emerging as competitors’ innovations create “must haves.” Remarkably, this dynamic can happen even if the brand is strong, customers are loyal and the offering has never been better, thanks, in part, to incremental innovations.

While the role of the ideation session, in its myriad guises, holds a place in the innovation firmament, and while the role that inspiration plays in such sessions is hardly to be questioned, we challenged ourselves to think more broadly about the role that inspiration plays throughout the innovation process. Ultimately, we determined that an inspiration-driven approach to innovation fundamentally changes how each process step looks, feels and, most importantly, the value it delivers.

The only way to grow, with rare exceptions, is to engage in substantial or transformational innovation that will be a game changer, that will create new categories or subcategories defined by qualities that customers deem “must haves” and protected by actively managed competitive barriers. Healthy organizations often have plenty of ideas that potentially qualify but get killed off before reaching the market. As a result, an opportunity to create a platform for real growth is lost.

Good business ideas occasionally die an unnatural and premature death. While benchmarks, stage gates, and filters can help prevent bad -- and costly -- decisions, sometimes ideas are just ahead of their time. Revisited periodically, a company’s inventory of dead and discarded ideas may become the source of new opportunities.

James Walker and Kevin O'Donnell share their takeaways from the recent Consumer Electronics Show Las Vegas.

Business Book Review published a summary of Andy Stefanovich's new book: Look At More.

Prophet contributed to the 70th anniversary of the GfM (Swiss Marketing Association) through 7 articles published in their symposium. Articles in English and in German

Jay Milliken and Andres Nicholls discuss how strategy-led design and understanding customer behavior are the key elements for the success of Emart.

In his article Joseph outlines the typical behaviors that can kill creative thinking.

In this article, Andy, Fred, and Jesse explain how every organization can become a productive source of inspired and actionable ideas by practicing the Inspiration Discipline.

Andy Stefanovich's new book, Look at More, teaches you how to harness inspiration by thinking differently - and to encourage others to do the same. Using Stefanovich’s proven LAMSTAIH approach (Look At More Stuff, Think About It Harder) business leaders and employees can develop the practical skills, leadership behavior, and cultural mindset to consistently create ideas and drive innovation.

In this article, Joseph explains why it is important for companies to pay attention to trends and understand if they are relevant for their category and brand.

Andy Stefanovich shows how organizations can be engineered to create an innovation competence. Engineering innovation should include five key drivers: mood, mindset, mechanisms, measurement, and momentum.

Andy uses the example of the Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport to show three ways to "recombobulate" to better deal with the known uncertainties of today's business times and re-spark your creative edge.

Joseph Gelman talks about innovation and how it can change your perception of a product. He provides 4 concepts to foster innovation: Inspiration Safaris, Human Libraries, Thief and Doctor, and the Worst Idea.

Catherine Strotmeyer takes four workshops examples: Frito Lay, GE, Trustmark, and Timberland to explain that workshops can be highly effective for engaging individuals and teams around innovation challenges and bringing new ideas to the business.

There is one crucial question for any marketing executive: How do I develop a new product or service that is innovative, differentiated, and generates growth?  This article explains the LAMSTAIH methodology (Look at more stuff. Think about it harder) - a powerful tool that puts employees in the center of innovation within a company.  *Please note this article is in Spanish.

For years, companies have been equating performance with speed and “lean” thinking. They have invested in streamlining processes, reducing costs and applying stringent “Six Sigma-esque” criteria to kill ideas that don’t deliver ROI. What they do not do is explore the world of possibilities.