Innovation Archives

Pivoting For Pandemic Success

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at September 17, 2020January 9, 2021 In Category Blog Tags: Crisis Management, Innovation

Times are tough for a lot of people, entrepreneurs included. COVID-19 and the safety requirements associated with minimizing its spread have wreaked continuing havoc on businesses of all shapes and sizes. Despite government stimulus programs, well over 11 million Americans remain unemployed.

While a great many American businesses have struggled during these times and while some have been forced to close their doors for good, others have successfully navigated these chaotic times, pivoting their product and service offerings to adapt and thrive. While many businesses, especially early on in the year, took a defensive posture to preserve their resources, some took a dramatically different approach, finding ways to quickly adapt to meet the challenges of the pandemic head-on.

These are the stories that inspire me. The ones that energize me and steel my resolve that American ingenuity is alive and well. These are the stories that I feel compelled to share with others. Read More…

COVID-19 Change Leaders: Superheroes in Scrubs and Healthcare Allies

By Zad El-Makkaoui

Published at April 13, 2020April 9, 2020 In Category Blog Tags: Innovation, Leadership

Across the globe, neighborhoods have been firing up with the sounds of banging pots and claps as tribute to the medical and healthcare workers who have been risking their lives and their families to serve at the frontlines of this pandemic. We have all seen videos and heard of very human stories about the fatigue, defeat yet enduring commitment these superheroes in scrubs are facing every day. I am sure I am not alone in feeling humbled, inspired, heartbroken and grateful for their change leadership, bravery and selflessness in healing our world.

The systems thinking approach encourages looking at the different parts of a system and how they interrelate. We need to look at the world as a global interconnected system. The medical and healthcare workers are at the epicenter of our system and as they are doing their part, every government, industry, community, organization, and individual is responsible for playing a part in repairing it.

We are seeing several laudable individual and grassroots initiatives supporting our healthcare superheroes. Aside from monetary donations, we are also seeing many organizations creatively leveraging their expertise, know-how, and resources to support our medical and healthcare workers in any way they can. So, we will now turn to a couple of examples of these organizations that are teaching us a thing or two about how true change leadership requires a systems thinking approach. Read More…

Organizational Agility And Resilience – Two Critical Sides Of The Same Coin

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at March 12, 2020March 26, 2020 In Category Blog Tags: Change Management, Innovation, Org Culture

In a world where longstanding business models are being disrupted (many at the hand of a staggering rate of technological advances), you won’t get ten paces without hearing terms like agility and resilience being thrown around. This dynamic has seen the rise of brands like Amazon/Whole Foods, Netflix, and Uber as well as the demise of others like Kodak who failed to see and respond quickly enough to changes in the market. If you’re reading this and thinking that this isn’t something that applies to you, you’re sadly mistaken. Even historically stable industries are being disrupted in ways that require the ability to adapt and transform in order to thrive.

The belief that organizations must master the ability to innovate and drive new products and services to market in order to beat out the competition has contributed to the focus on agility as a critical success factor. These organizations must “fail fast”, quickly learn from mistakes, and adapt to changing market conditions in order to outperform their competitors in the long-term.

The Future Of Crowdsourcing

By Chris Cancialosi

Published at November 25, 2019January 16, 2020 In Category Blog Tags: Data, Innovation

I am a believer in the power of exploration. It is often in the seemingly random corners of life that we find opportunity, brilliance, and possibility. In an effort to open the door to possibility for myself, I spent some time with the producers and participants of Crowdsolve Seattle– a first-of-its-kind event bringing together law enforcement, a variety of experts, as well as several hundred “regular people” from around the world who share an interest in true crime and a passion to contribute in a meaningful way.

Designed and produced by the team at Red Seat Ventures,this event extends upon the team’s prior work producing CrimeCon, a variety of events throughout the year that attract flocks of true crime fans from around the globe. “CrowdSolve came mostly out of attendee feedback over our first three CrimeCon events. Fans told us they wanted to go much deeper into a single case file for the entire experience,” says Kevin Balfe, co-founder of Red Seat Ventures.

CrowdSolve uses a process known as crowdsourcing, an open collaboration process intended to help solve problems, has gained a great deal of popularity in the last decade. Application of crowdsourcing principles have been introduced to a wide variety of situations ranging from medical research, to navigation (think Waze), and even how you book travel accommodations through Airbnb. Crowdsourcing offers an opportunity to bring together large groups of diverse individuals to solve problems with the assumption that diverse groups bringing a variety of opinions and backgrounds can make higher quality decisions than a small group of “experts”. Read More…

HR Disrupts the Family Dinner Routine

By Shawn Overcast

Published at May 30, 2018May 31, 2018 In Category Blog Tags: Innovation

When I was a kid, Friday nights meant pizza and Pepsi. Each week we would call the local pizzeria with the same order – one large mushroom and onion, one large pepperoni, and a bottle of Pepsi. This was delivered to our door by one of a few local teenagers, and we built relationships with our delivery guys as they visited each week. The routine was comforting.

Back then there wasn’t much competition for pizza delivery. But that was about all you could get delivered. We never really contemplated changing up our cuisine because the delivery universe was pretty much limited to pizza. If we wanted to change it up, that meant cooking at home or going to a restaurant.

Today the landscape my kids experience is quite different. The entire casual dining industry has been disrupted in ways many never anticipated. In-house dining restaurants, and even my old pizza place, are being challenged by a variety of options. Delivery services like UberEats and Bite have made it unnecessary to step inside a restaurant and have expanded our dining options. Cooking is different, too. Prepared meal delivery services like BlueApron and HelloFresh have made it convenient to prepare a home-cooked meal without the need to shop – it’s delivered fresh to your door just like the pizza of my youth. But, with an important twist: it’s part of a regular subscription service- no need to call anyone.