innovation + creativity

Wired? Number 8 Wired!

BY Heath RowFri Dec 19, 2003 at 11:22 AM

It's a shame that this column about New Zealand's culture of adaptability and creativity is no longer available online. Considering such efforts as the Weta Workshop's work on the Lord of the Rings movies -- and the country's ...READ»

INNOVATION | 2 comments

Where Do You Get Your Ideas From? III

BY Heath RowFri Dec 12, 2003 at 5:52 PM

Continuing the conversation sparked among FC Now readers by John's entry about where ideas hit people, ATG shares some thoughts in the "Blog Without an Interesting Name." Dismissing my method as unrealistic, ATG advocates OneNote -- ...READ»

INNOVATION | 8 comments

Where Do You Get Your Ideas From? II

BY Heath RowFri Dec 12, 2003 at 11:02 AM

This isn't so much about where I get my ideas as it is about what I do with my ideas. Having spent some time with Rolf Smith and Durwin Sharp not too long ago in Houston, I recently picked up a trick from their playbook. In my left ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

File Under: Bad Idea

BY Heath RowThu Nov 20, 2003 at 2:11 PM

Talking garbage cans: Just what we need to keep the city streets clean.READ»

INNOVATION | 7 comments

Learning from the Long-Gone

BY Heath RowWed Nov 12, 2003 at 12:19 PM

Every week day, Fast Company transmits an inspirational quote or idea-oriented statement to subscribers of our First Impression newsletter. Today's First Impression email has sparked a lot of reader feedback -- via email as well as ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

Creativity Scene

BY Heath RowThu Nov 6, 2003 at 3:07 PM

Adweek recently asked several top advertising creatives, "What's your creative Bible?" The books they recommend are by turns surprising -- and inspiring: Jamie Barrett, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners: When Advertising Tried Harder, ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

Re:Combining Ideas

BY Heath RowThu Nov 6, 2003 at 1:36 PM

In response to a previous entry, FC Now reader Steven asked, "Are there any guidelines or best practices for combinatorics and recombination?" Putting my Google goggles back on, I can't find a lot of tips and tricks, but I did come ...READ»

INNOVATION | 1 comment

I Free Your Pain

BY Heath RowWed Nov 5, 2003 at 11:49 AM

In yesterday's report on Bill Carper's talk at Ad:Tech 2003, he highlighted the importance of identifying a key pain point when working to solve problems. Lois Carter Fay of the MarketingIdeaShop and Jim Miller recently wrote an ...READ»

INNOVATION | 2 comments

Intrapreneurialism? II

BY Heath RowFri Oct 31, 2003 at 10:47 AM

Early results in a recent Fast Company poll don't bode well for large companies' innovation and creativity. Since we first asked whether FC Now readers think large companies can be entrepreneurial less than 24 hours ago, almost 300 ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

Intrapreneurialism?

BY Heath RowThu Oct 30, 2003 at 12:54 PM

During the boom, I saw two trends converging. On the one hand, small, startup companies sought the scale and stability of larger, more-established traditional organizations. On the other, larger firms coveted the creativity and ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

The Innovation of Tradition

BY Heath RowWed Oct 29, 2003 at 4:32 PM

In a New York Review of Books essay published earlier this month, Charles Rosen explores the role history and tradition play in innovation and creativity. In the piece, he considers short-sighted business strategies in the light of ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

Chicken Power

Tue Oct 7, 2003 at 12:39 PM

Charles C. "Sonny" Dinsmore and his company Earth Resources Inc. has found an innovative and renewable energy source underfoot: chicken manure. Dinsmore and his company was recently awarded a $1.13 million grant from the DOE and the ...READ»

INNOVATION | 1 comment

Re:Conference III

BY Heath RowWed Oct 1, 2003 at 6:58 PM

Company of Friends member Naomi Moneypenny reports on MIT's Emerging Technologies Conference late last month. Among the highlights: Idea Factories Leave invention to those who are best at it. Reinvent Venture Capital In line with ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

Re:Conference II

BY Heath RowTue Sep 30, 2003 at 2:13 PM

Company of Friends member Renee Hopkins recently confblogged the Innovation Convergence gathering in Minneapolis. Her report touches on the difference between creativity and innovation, how to calculate the return on innovation, ...READ»

INNOVATION | 1 comment

The Urge to Converge

BY Heath RowMon Sep 29, 2003 at 11:03 AM

As a followup to the previous entry about divergent thinking, today's edition of the InnovationNetwork's email newsletter touches on convergent thinking as a problem-solving method. Convergence can help make sense of an ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

What the World Really Needs Is...

BY Alison OverholtThu Sep 25, 2003 at 2:59 PM

More office supplies?! That's what Staples thinks -- they're sponsoring a contest called the Invention Quest, hoping to discover the next Post-It note or paper clip. If you have the winning invention, you win $25,000 and royalties ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

Quotes of Note

BY Heath RowWed Sep 24, 2003 at 11:32 AM

FC Now reader Daniel recently cited T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom. In yesterday's edition of 48 Days' email newsletter, there's a quote from that book that I think is worth sharing -- and considering in terms of ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

Innovation Conversation

BY Heath RowTue Sep 23, 2003 at 7:10 PM

The editors of the Association for Computing Machinery's online journal Ubiquity recently interviewed Andrew Hargadon, an associate professor at the University of California-Davis' graduate school of management. In the lively ...READ»

INNOVATION | 2 comments

Clash of the Titans

Tue Sep 23, 2003 at 12:40 PM

CNN reports that Microsoft has set its sights on Google, and is developing its own search technology. It's a classic "build versus buy" scenario, and something that many will perceive as a battle of good versus evil. It should be ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

The Urge to Diverge

BY Heath RowMon Sep 22, 2003 at 11:30 AM

During the Houston Company of Friends coordination team retreat earlier this month, the group's leaders spent some time developing convergent and divergent ideas for future activities and projects. Basically, divergent thinking ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

Tools for Tots II

BY Heath RowThu Sep 18, 2003 at 7:10 PM

FC Now reader Chuck Musselwhite comments: Children envelop two things that companies need to to embrace: simplicity and durability. If companies would focus less on gadgets and more on making things simple and built to last, markets ...READ»

INNOVATION | 1 comment

Tools for Tots

BY Heath RowMon Sep 15, 2003 at 4:06 PM

Chuck Sword owns DHS Diecast Collectibles, a construction and truck model distributor. But his 11-year-old son Zach got frustrated that he couldn't play with many of the products sold by the company because they were too fragile -- ...READ»

INNOVATION | Comment

Innovation, Not Enhancement

BY Heath RowThu Sep 11, 2003 at 3:43 PM

In July, the Innovation Exchange at the London Business School released the 2003 Innovation Management Survey, a 22-page report that studies best practices companies use to balance innovation and incremental improvements. Among the ...READ»

INNOVATION | 1 comment

Patently Absurd

BY Heath RowTue Sep 9, 2003 at 1:01 PM

Totally Absurd Inventions is a Web collection of some of America's "goofiest" patents. Updated weekly, the site highlights the lighter side of innovation, featuring such inventions as the Geek Pouch, Airplane Moisturizer, and Skin ...READ»

INNOVATION | 3 comments

A Conversation with Stephen Shapiro

BY Heath RowThu Sep 4, 2003 at 4:40 PM

Stephen Shapiro, author of 24/7 Innovation and former head of Accenture's process excellence practice, stopped by Fast Company's Boston office for a brief meeting earlier this afternoon. Currently researching his next book, Creative ...READ»

innovation + creativity

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