Participants:
-- Andrew Kaldor, Manager of Lead Generation and Downstream Breakthrough Research
ExxonMobil
--Jay Mathur, CEO, ValueIdeas
-- Wayne Puglia, Platform Leader, Corporate Innovation, Kraft
-- John Seely Brown, Former Chief Scientist of Xerox and Director, Emeritus, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
-- Bill Wittenberg, Co-Founder and CTO, Maven Networks
Andrew Kaldor – “Innovation techniques exist but are still much more of an art than a science.” “Leadership and people are the key. You have to develop people and skills in order to sustain innovation.”
Wayne Publia – “Good systems in the hands of good people can do great things. Good systems in the hands of bad leadership, do nothing.” “Think about the business as if you owned it. Owners know they have to innovate or they won’t succeed.”
John Seely Brown – Be prepared for something terrible to go wrong, especially in radical innovation. Must be able to live through that, which is one reason venture capitalists hire teams more than projects – they know a good team can work their way through the things that go wrong. “Be willing to delegate to people way down in the organization the ability to make major mistakes. Give them a chance to make major mistakes early in their careers.”
Bill Wittenberg – “Innovate in everything.” “Hierarchies are counter to innovation.” “Lunch is the most important meeting of the day.” “Combine different knowledge across and outside the organization. It’s all about communication among people.” For an interesting example of Maven Networks’ product see the “Masters and Commanders” trailer.
Jay Mathur -- “Innovation is neither fuzzy nor mystical. Mange the portfolio. Innovatoin is everybody’s business. If you don’t disrupt yourself, someone else will.”
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