Innovative companies need to leverage new ideas to generate future revenues. Learning how to mix internal and external innovation to your advantage is a profitable skill. So, how does your company seek out innovations and learn to leverage them into a stream of money? Do you remember the invention of the telegraph, the telephone or the fax machine? Thank goodness I don’t remember the invention of the first two, but I do remember when fax machines showed up at restaurants to take orders. These three technologies are well entrenched in society today but there was a time when they were much more novel.
Has the Technology Life Cycle thrown you a curve?
I made the case for scheduling time for strategy development in my post Do you give employees time to goof around? Some do!. I believe all companies should find the right balance for time spent on strategic thinking. How does your company strategize to best use resources for your current technologies? How do you plan for the products that aren’t yet being considered for R&D?The starting point for your answer lies with the technology life cycle curve.
Just what do you think you’re doing, Dave?
I often find myself explaining to potential clients how Visionex can help with both short-term and long-term needs. A great movie analogy comes in handy. I like to use the “Progression to Self-Awareness” discussion. Yes, it’s a reference to HAL in “2001: a Space Odyssey,” and it helps relate how successful businesses should be more like this fictional tale. (I hope that it’s still fictional!) This analogy* is useful as I believe ALL companies should spend time thinking strategically. Unfortunately, too many are stuck in “firefighting” mode.
Do you give employees time to goof around? Some do!
I’ve mentioned before that I believe all companies should invest time in thinking strategically. How much time should you allow employees to dream big? Will the results pay off for your business? Let’s look at examples of how highly innovative companies handle time for creativity. Not coincidentally, all three are profitable technology companies.
The “Power” in “Patent Power” More Than Numbers
The just released who’s who in patenting innovations by Patent Power should be an eye opener for innovative companies. Surprisingly, Cree Inc. with only 129 U.S. patents enjoyed an easy victory for the number one position in the Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers category. How did the smaller company top industry heavyweight Applied Materials with 407 U.S. patents? The simple answer is that these rankings consider the “growth, impact, originality, and general applicability” of the IP for each company.
Turn on Automated Alerts to Tune Out Information Overload When Monitoring Trends
Automated alerts can help you stay competitive with real-time data about very specific subjects, technologies, authors and/or companies. Customizing state-of-the-art reports and automated alerts based on client-specified criteria are essential elements of my business, but there are some out-of-the box resources you may find useful. Automated alerts can reduce your scanning time by notifying you about newly published information.
Put Aggregators to Work for Quality, Timely Info
I’d like to share some additional technical and patent resources that might help others as much as they help me in my business providing research for product development and innovation. Google is popular, but not a good source for piecing together trends: access to a large amount of content dumped in your lap through a single portal is not efficient. Fortunately, there are information resources that provide broad data in a bibliographic form that facilitates finding the information you desire.
Be A Beacon Radio Show Interviews entrepreneur and Strategic Patent Research Expert, Steve Pearson
Steven Pearson helps companies accelerate product development. After seeing companies struggle with disruptive technology he realized that his technical expertise could streamline an often tedious and expensive process. Thus his company, Visionex Solutions, was born.
Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society Welcomes Strategic Patent Research Expert Steve Pearson
Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society welcomed strategic patent research expert Steve Pearson where he shared his experience in helping companies understand how to shift from tactical thinking towards strategic and long-term thinking.
Innovate, Inspire or Imitate – Where does your company operate?
All start with an “i” but what do these words mean to “you” ? In my blog entry “Advice to Samsung” I described what the courts found to be blatant imitation of Apple’s iPhone. Some have said that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” but this doesn’t apply to intellectual property. Minus the legalRead More