Tag: Workplace Creativity

What You Need To Know About Your Career

by Bright Osadiaye, posted in Personal Development, Workplace Learning

Remember that you are responsible for your career. If you want to grow your career, you must take action to make it happen.

If you do not do it for yourself, no one is going to craft it for you.

According to Tessa White, ‘If you want something, don’t come at it from why you want it. Come at it from why the company benefits from it.’

‘You are part of the problem. You could have a better work experience if both you and your manager were communicating.’

‘It’s easy to think that everyone else in the workplace can’t communicate, but I’m convinced you are part of the problem.’

‘The conversations you are avoiding are the exact conversations that can give you back a sense of control at work.’

There is nothing as humbling as realizing your blind spot limited your view of the one person thought you knew best of all- yourself.’

‘Every single piece of feedback you hear about yourself, whether neutral or negative, needs to be taken seriously. It’s a wastered-down version of how you are actually perceived.’

‘If your manager hasn’t indicated you are a top performer, you aren’t one. Top talent gets told they are top talent.’

‘Walk through the front door of feedback instead of waiting for it to come to you.’

‘Go where the low-hanging fruit is. Pick the gaps where you can win.’

‘If you want to gain influence in your company, become the expert of your industry, your competitors, and your company. It doesn’t require an advanced degree. It requires only your curiosity.’

‘You won’t have influence until you stop believing it’s everyone else’s job to figure everything out.’

‘You won’t grow in your career if you can’t get comfortable with conflict.’

‘Don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s the wrong job because it’s hard.’

‘The mistakes you make will feel big, but they are a great education you’ll carry into roles where the stakes are even higher.’

‘You have accountability for results by working with people you don’t manage and who may not be incentivized to cooperate with you. It’s like herding cats, except the cats have to actually go in the same direction.’

‘If you don’t champion for what you need, you won’t get what you need.’

If you want your career to grow, you must take action to make it happen. And you can make it happen. Do not give in to fear.

Robert G. Cooper On Creating Value Through Innovation

by Bright Osadiaye, posted in Improve Academy, Innovation Management, Leadership, Management, Workplace Learning

‘The best innovators have four times the sales from new products and more than double the success rate as the worst performers. But why the huge differences?’

‘A superior and differentiated product– one that delivers unique benefits and superior value to the customer- is the number one driver of success and new product profitability.’

‘Building in the voice of the customer is one of the strongest drivers of new-product profitability, and also of time efficiency. But the great majority of companies miss the mark here- with insufficient VoC and no fact-based customer insights.’

‘People don’t know what they’re looking for until they see it or experience it. So get something in front of the customer or user fast- and keep repeating these tests all the way through to formal product testing or field trials. Multiple iterations and product validations- spirals development- are essential when facing fluid markets with customers that are uncertain about their needs.’

‘Manage risk by breaking the process into increments. When the uncertainties and unknowns are high, keep the spending low.’

‘If you want speed to market, then focus– resource your projects properly.’

‘Of the five most important drivers of businesses’ new-product performance, idea management has the strongest impact.’

‘Customer visit teams are valuable for gaining real insights into the customer’s world: the ability to identify and focus on customer problems and unspoken needs, a vital source of product ideas.’

‘Innovative customers are quite likely to have the industry’s next new product, and this lead-user method is one way to uncover what it is.’

‘Your own employees are excellent potential sources of new-product ideas. Yet all too often, internally generated ideas are either mundane or not acted upon. But there are ways to change that.’

‘How does one design a system that integrates many activities and multifunctional inputs and fosters a cross-functional team approach?’

Source:

Robert G. Cooper (2017). Winning at New Products: Creating Value Through Innovation