Our Blog

It's funny how the planets sometimes align around a topic.  This week it's the chicken and the egg question regarding technology and consumer research.  It all started last week when I was talking with a friend from a local technology start-up...

I was thinking about the value of intangibles and the "knowing where to tap" story came to mind.  If you don't know it, it goes something like this: A jet engine manufacturer was experiencing failures in one of their large turbine...

Yesterday I was referred to a blog post written by Danah Boyd, an academic researcher at Microsoft and Harvard.  Her work focuses on the impacts of the internet and social networks on society.  She wrote about a horrible experience she had while presenting...

Last year, I wrote a post about Design Thinking in response to an article in Brandweek that I felt was misleading on the topic. In it, I pointed to Roger Martin's work as some of the very best at describing what Design Thinking actually means. Last week...

It's no secret that I believe that the ability to translate market needs into viable offerings that meet those needs is the key to successful innovation.  It's also no secret that I believe that this ability does not reside in any one discipline, educational...

We've talked about the difference between the innovation process and the development process in terms of the results they are expected to achieve; the innovation process being used to identify market relevant opportunities for innovation, and the development...

A few posts ago, I talked about how an organization's development and innovation processes should be different, as they have different goals.  I then talked about how differences in perceptual skills are better determinants of successfull innovators than the...

I've been reading several articles lately that discuss different processes for innovation.  They typically center around a few main themes; ethnography, rapid prototyping, open innovation, and other ways to connect market insight with opportunities for...

Most organizations have mastered the ability to deliver their products and services reliably and efficiently.  Remember the 99% lists?  As consumers we've come to expect excellence, and companies that don't deliver above and beyond this excellence...

We've changed the name and look of the blog to better integrate with my consulting practice.  The new name for the practice is Synaptics Group, Inc., and the blog will now be called the Synaptics Blog.   These changes should better reflect the...