Innovation Articles

By Michael Plishka

Three Words That Will Alert You To Opportunities for Innovation and Growth

Jan-20-17

These three words, “I don’t understand…” alert us to niches. When designing products and services, we must play in those niches . And as we’ve seen, those niches can be comprised of millions and millions of people.


What Makes Innovations Sticky and Contagious?

Dec-18-16

Innovations get adopted when people’s paths cross. And they need to be sticky and contagious. Put them out there so they’re easy to try. The best ones end up letting you see the world and yourself a little more clearly.


How to Make Sure Prototypes are Useful, Even When They Fail

Nov-28-16

It worked flawlessly for 4 minutes and 25 seconds… And then it didn’t. The VP smiled and said, “I get the idea.” After getting through the embarrassment of the failure, the team learned what went wrong, and got to work testing variations of the failed component. The new versions didn’t fail, and the product went on to eventually make millions…


How to Use A.C.E. to Improve the Quality of Your Ideas

Sep-16-16

Name at least 10 ways to use a brick. Take a couple minutes and write them down. Odds are, the first few ideas on your list are the same as mine. You also probably had a tough time getting past the first four or five, right? That’s actually totally normal. The first ideas are the ones that everyone has. The next ones are the ones that are the money-makers, the ideas others didn’t think of. So, how do you get past the first few ‘meh’ ideas and get to the good ones?