Innovation In Asia - Harvard Business Review

I recently participated in a panel discussion hosted by the Economist Corporate Network in Singapore about innovation in Asia. I started my portion of the discussion by sharing three observations about what I had found unique about innovating in Asia: its unbelievable diversity, both between and within countries (and sometimes even cities); the historical focus of many Asian organizations on replication and cost reduction; and Asia's inconsistent infrastructure (Singapore is amazing, but don't try to schedule more than two meetings a day in Mumbai). But what I really wanted to discuss were the three biggest trends I see affecting innovation in the region.

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Simple, Hard Work + Talent = Creativity - Keith Sawyer

I think Sawyer leaves are crucial component out of this discussion - practice. Nevertheless, a recommended read. I’ve often cited the research of Professor Anders Ericsson, showing that world-class expertise only emerges after you invest 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice.” Ericsson’s research is consistent with a well-known finding of creativity research: “The ten year rule,” the observation that major creative contributions generally don’t happen until a person has been working in an area for at least ten years. (If you do the math, ten years comes out to about 10,000 hours.) Ericsson studied a wide range of expertise–chess players, musicians, and others. In one of his more famous studies, he analyzed how many total hours violin students at a top music conservatory had rehearsed over their lifetimes. The number of hours rehearsed correlated highly with ratings by conservatory faculty.

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Watch as a young Steve Jobs brainstorms with the NeXT team in 1985....

What is quite extraoridnary about these videos is that Jobs saw the Apple computer as a way of revolutionising higher education. The sad reflection as you will see here is that Apple the company revolutionised the computer, music and telecommunications but failed to move the most important contemporary civilising industry - education!!

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The Global Innovation 1000: Why Culture Is Key - Booz and Company Annual Study

Booz & Company’s annual study shows that spending more on R&D won’t drive results. The most crucial factors are strategic alignment and a culture that supports innovation.

Download and read the whole report here.

Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action | Video on TED.com

Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question "Why?" His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers ...