Larry Pendergrass

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Tenet of Innovation #10: Recognize that innovation can be managed

The process of creating commercial products involves generating information and moving from high risk and uncertainty toward very low risk and great predictability. By the time the products and services are in production, our expectations are for high quality and certain yields, cost, and performance. And yet we know that, by its very nature, risk is inherent to the innovative process. The... More

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Tenet of Innovation #9: Give your people the time and resources they need

In 1967, Charles Hummel wrote the classic essay “Tyranny of the Urgent,” which spoke to the hearts and minds of many of us caught up in the rush of the modern world. Far from creating the 1950s ideal of a life freed from trivial tasks, technology has simply caused us to pick up the pace. The pressures of increased global competition and the demands of Wall Street have done the... More

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Tenet of Innovation #8: Create a “yes, if” environment rather than a “no” environment

It’s been written that the typical product development environment has five types of contributors: the Creator, the Advancer, the Refiner, the Executor, and the Flexor. (See Leadership Resources, using the Inscape Publishing material “ Team Dimensions Profile .”) According to this model, the Creator tends to create ideas, whereas the Advancer promotes ideas. The Refiner... More

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Tenet of Innovation #7: Understand that ideas come from everywhere

Often, we turn to a few top individual contributors to act as our innovation generators. And these innovators usually have a well-deserved reputation for creative ideas. But sources of innovation for your business and technologies could be waiting for you in the most unlikely places. If you take the time to listen, and sometimes just observe with eyes un-obscured by current assumptions, you... More

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Tenet of Innovation #6: Hire a diverse workforce and watch for opportunities at the intersections

Have you ever walked into a new job and found that your background allowed you to see long-standing problems from a different perspective than those who had been working on them for years? You’ve brought a new set of eyes to the problem, perhaps applying skills from another business or technology discipline, bridging the gap between your past experience and these new challenges. Your... More