Brad smith ceo intuit. Innovate in 30year old company? A: te

Brad Smith CEO of Intuit or more famously known for developing QuickBooks and the Intuit innovative culture. Innovation is a process and Smith has created an environment that promotes two ideas in his company. First, he creates teams and gives them the tools and time to come up with new ideas that will change their customers world. Second, he provides a culture that's allowed to present failing ideas in their search for the next great idea. How does your company stay innovative?



By de Bono Consulting

12 Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creative Thinking

A fellow de Bono Trainer gave me 12 Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creative Thinking which is completely accurate. As innovative thinkers, we can learn something from this great list on creativity.

1. You are creative. Believe it!
2. Creative thinking is work. You will have more bad ideas than good ones, but those bad ideas lead you to the great ideas.
3. You must go through the motions of being creative. You must practice your ideas to become better at them.
4. Your brain is not a computer. Your brain cannot tell the difference between actual and fantasy experiences. (Think about Walt Disney)
5. There is no one right answer. Aristotle said it best it is either A or not-A.
6. Never stop with your first good idea. Always strive to improve your good ideas because that improvement may lead to your greatest discovery.
7. Expect the experts to be negative. Experts look at new ideas with absolutes and self censorship about their expertise.
8. Trust your instincts. Don't be discouraged by others opinions.
9. There is no such thing as failure. Celebrate your failures and review what you have learned from them.
10. You do not see things as they are; you see them as you are. All experiences have no meaning until you interpret them.
11. Always approach a problem on its own terms. Always consider other peoples points of view on the problem.
12. Learn to think unconventionally. For knowledge is limited to current knowledge, while imagination has no limits so embrace imagination.

The de Bono tools have helped thousands of people worldwide to think more creative in a systematic way that helps capture all your ideas on POST-IT NOTES!

By de Bono Consulting

The art of innovation | Guy Kawasaki | TEDxBerkeley

de Bono Consulting

Infusing Innovative Thinking Into Six Sigma!

Did any of you read the article by Don Peppers on Six Sigma? Peppers did a great job bringing to light the lack of innovation tools in the Six Sigma process. The Six Sigma process was designed to plan, predict, document, adjust, and improve the current work process. For this purpose, Six Sigma is a great tool and meets all of the companies objectives. If the company is looking to be more innovative, then the company should be looking for a tool that promotes innovation like Lateral Thinking or any other innovation tool. I think that comparing Six Sigma process improvement to Innovation is like comparing "oranges and apples." They both may be fruits but their taste, look, and purpose are completely different.

If your company is looking to implement the Six Sigma process, I would recommend that the objectives be clearly identified and communicated company-wide so that the company does not try to accomplish innovation objectives with a process improvement tool. Here's a thought, may be 3M was not looking for innovation in Six Sigma but process improvement?

By de Bono Consulting

Cement Your Reputation as a Leader of Innovative Thinking

To celebrate the European Year of Creativity & Innovation Edward de Bono, currently European Ambassador for Thinking 2009, has launched an online competition to find his greatest students.

All creative thinkers who use de Bono methods are invited to submit their success stories in a very creative way—by blogging on one of Edward de Bono’s newest websites. Find out more at http://www.debonosociety.com/profiles/blogs/edward-de-bono-launches-online.

Note: de Bono Consulting will be happy to help any client or trainer in our U.S. network write your story. Just follow these easy steps:

1. Call 515-278-1292 to arrange an interview time.
2. Spend 15 to 30 minutes on the scheduled phone interview with our writer, Kathy Myers, co-founder of de Bono Thinking Systems
3. We’ll develop your story and send it back to you for your editing/approval.
4. Then follow the directions at the website above to post the story as a blog.

Can't think of a success story? The contest is open until the end of December, 2009. Call us to talk about designing an application of the tools, executing, and documenting the results this fall. We'll support you each step of the way!

For examples of de Bono success stories, order my book, Innovation Case by Case. The book includes 20 accounts of situations where de Bono thinkers applied the tools and achieved notable results.

-Barbara Stennes, de Bono Consulting