Timing of innovation – Getting the odds on your side
When it comes to innovation, there are countless ways things might go wrong. However, one of the most prevalent ones is incorrect timing. If you manag…
Foresight
Opportunities in the Noise
Following on from Part 1: Contagion: The Truth of the Matter, and our four part focus on the novel Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak this week, one of our …
Prototyping the Future
Hope: Anticipating something good to come in the Future. You do not expect what you already have, although you can expect it to continue or end. To ho…
Tomorrow thinking for CEOs
What will tomorrow bring? I am a fan of Peter Hinssen. His “The network always wins” is brilliant. The key message from that book is clock speed. In h…
The urge to converge
All the textbooks will tell you that to build a successful business in a competitive industry you have to bring something new to the party. Something t…
Design Thinking & the Uncertain Future VUCA
Competition is increasing, and there is a greater chance of differentiation, as long as it is quickly acted upon to identify the opportunities offered …
5 ways global brands can survive in a world of hyper-localism
What kind of strategy should brands follow in the age of Trump and Brexit? Should they take note and subtly imitate emerging nationalisms in most world…
Can Luxury and Sustainability ever be compatible? Cultural Spying at the Packaging Innovation/Luxury Show 2017.
We’ve all been there: That feeling of “Why am I here?” when we attend a trade show connected with our industry: The interminable schlep round stall aft…
Hippie 2.0 and the swing back
This is the last in my Californication series that has looked at the influence of California on our new radical technologies. The thought pieces consi…
Pitfalls (and pratfalls) in target group selection for innovation?
Naturally in order to have a successful new product, you have to have a group of consumers willing to buy it. So I think it’s important that innovation…
Bots allowing knowledge workers to work even smarter
This week 20 years ago IBM's Deep Blue defeats Gary Kasparov in a game of chess. Deep Blue’s victory against Kasparov represented a major milestone in …
Democracy innovation and return of social led engagement
Given the continuing impact of technology on the political arena and the growing perception that big tech has become big brother. This piece considers …
Robots and artificial intelligence in the shape of us
Robots and Artificial Intelligence have been part of our everyday lives for some time, be it with our smartphones or a laundry folding application. Th…
Leaving the robotics labs and coming to a workspace or home near you
My piece builds on my comments and feedback on fellow Future Shapers considerations in the Automation Apocalypse. Without giving all the details away …
The New Old, innovation in the age of the 100 year life
One of the founding principles of The Future Shapers is that Next Generation Organisations deserve Next Generation guidance. In helping businesses and …
Are you future obsessed ENOUGH?
My obsession with the future wasn’t always defined. Or perhaps even diagnosed. I did have that funny feeling when I was headed to a banner event like…
Innovating for a mass market with less stuff
Consumers are changing how and what they buy. They are reassessing whether they need to own possessions, either by sharing or more consciously deciding…
Why it’s not about the oats: innovation requires foresight
Many innovative new products fail. I believe that too many innovation teams focus on their own innovation capabilities and neglect brand and culture. T…