October 2007 Archives

 Martin Illsley provides an interesting perspective on technology innovation in an article in CNET: Accenture's king of blue-sky thinking | CNET News.com.  He discusses some of the highest profile innovations and thinks about their long term impact.

As I have mentioned in this blog before, in the spirit of full disclosure, I am a partner in a firm called Bridge Consulting International. One of the training sessions that our firm runs for Allen & Overy, the Magic Circle law firm, was described in the Business Section of the Times Online today in an article entitled, Shake, rattle and role-play. The article describes a technique we use to build teamwork among the new graduates entering Allen & Overy:

"The percussion sessions are one of a range of innovative ideas used by law firms to induct new recruits – whether graduates just starting their Legal Practice Course (LPC) or those starting their training contracts – into their particular culture and ethos."

I read this article following  a link from Blognation: The Equity Kicker » Blog Archive » It is tough for big companies to innovate.

The article asserts that it is more difficult for big companies to innovate because, as they grow, they get further and further away from their customers.  Smaller companies, because their business is always on the line, understand their customers better, and work hard to engineer and deliver products or services that precisely meet customer needs. The example that they give is in a business like online auctions, customers should be brought into the innovation process, so that executives can see customer frustrations and opportunities for new service offerings.  Although Ebay is a pioneer in building communities, they may not use these communities creatively enough in building new products.

What do you think?